#something something they're immortal but they want a death in each other

[wispforever]

possess

#naruto #kakuhida #hidakaku #hidan #kakuzu #every time i color something i say i'll never color again and every time i wade through an ocean of suffering to get here #coloring my beloathed #anywho something something they both are protective and possessive of one another #and they show it in semi aggressive ways to keep the themselves safe from all the pain that comes from getting overtly close to someone #but they both know how the other loves #relies on #and worries about them #something something they're immortal but they want a death in each other #if I have to die let it be you who kills me #romantic homicide #instead of saying I love you lets fight and hurt each other inthe ways we've given each other permission to #this is how we show our love #I'm normal #this is a normal blog #cw choking

[bamsara]

what are your most favorite tropes? :3c

IM SO GLAD YOU ASKED:

Near death experiences

Emotional revelations due to said near death experiences

Enemies to Friends to Lovers

Mutual Pining but they believe its unrequieted

"you're my worst enemy but you're so important to me"

Drunk chapter where at least One fist fight happens

Bridal carry after someone gets injured

Slow Burn...of course

"i got you this gift because it benefits me and im not telling you how" (the benefit is seeing the other person enjoy the gift)

Force Alliances or Temporary Truces

"I don't like killing but I'll do it for you"

"I prefer to kill my problems but I won't, for you."

Or: "This person has no idea how many people I've killed in order to protect or provide for them and I'm going to keep it that way."

Mean or Villian Character is actaully a really good Sibling/Parent/Child,ect and has someone they care about

Or better, Villian character adopts child AND is a good parent

Everyone knows the pairing likes each other except for the pairing

Temporary (or non-temp)Amnesia

"I learn your favorite things because I plan to use them against you one day" (proceeds to not do that) (proceeds to get them food or items that persons likes just because they like them)

Breaking and Entering. Literally.

Person A is in love, Person B says they're not but they're 10x times worse actaully

Slip-of-the-tongue/Accidental confessions. Doesn't have to be love confessions but just "whoops i was not supposed to say that"

Biting as a love language

One is feral and bloodthirsty but is put in the position of 'protecting an idiot' because the other is also feral and has no self-preservation. Both characters must be badass, just equally stupid

Kiss on the head/cheek while the other person is sleeping

Bloodstained kiss

Heat-of-battle confession about something

Protagonist refusing to become villian or repeat villian mistakes, not in a 'owo i cant do that its bad' and more like 'fuck you you dont get to see what you wanted to make of me'

Signifier of 'this is my friend/family/lover'. Could anything between a ring, a jacket over someone's shoudlers or scent marking, anything

"if im immortal, then you gotta be too or we both dyin"

Knight x Their Charge

Human x Non-Human

Sunshine x Grump

Character that looks sooooo cute. Oh he's a little fucked up actaully

"ahhaha he's such a freak haha. i need him carnally."

They are mortal enemies. They are also best friends.

Hostage / Rescued trope plus Hostage / Doesn't get to rescue because the hostage killed everyone already

Plot info that's missing that's vital to the story and it's revealed that One of the pairing or someone in the group knew the info the entire time

"I said mean things to you because I hate you, so why am I feeling guilty now"

There was only One Bed

Really competent and scary character is really GOOD at a harmless and charming small hobby completely uncharacteristic to their public persona

Nightmares. And then sleeping in the same bed because of nightmares

Cultural differences / Language Barrier

Character gets so surprised flustered they trip over something or break something and it topples and it starts a chain reaction like a cartoon

There are more but these are some of which I can remember off the top of my head. I've written many of these myself in several of my stories and will continue to do so until the end of time, esp my faves

#writings #writing list #trope list #sara shush

[indigo-casson]

something that i've been thinking about lately is the parallels between star wars: andor/rogue one and tamora pierce's trickster's queen duology. primarily because the star wars brainrot is real and the tamora pierce obsession is forever, but also because they are kind of both tonal and thematic departures from their main 'verses in some similar ways?

in both the star wars verse and the tortall verse, the majority of the media has focused on one individual (or a small group of individuals) who make a profound difference in the world. Whether that's alanna singlehandedly finding the dominion jewel/becoming king's champion/making way for female knights, or luke skywalker blowing up the death star, or daine and numair going to the divine realms during the immortals war, or anakin skywalker becoming a sith and dooming the republic, most of the original material has seen battle and political change as something that is affected by either an actual chosen one or simply a single very plucky and well-placed individual.

trickster's queen and andor, however, really look at rebellion as something that has to be done by a diverse group of flawed people who work together despite their differences. mon mothma knows that her role is raising money. ulasim, chenaol, and the other members of the raka conspiracy each take their individual roles in the rebellion, and recognize that even though they might not want to work with aly or the luarin nobility, they need their skills and influence to make it happen.

both stories also show rebellion as extremely costly and something that requires making tough calls. nobody has their hands clean by the end of a civil war. notably, trickster's queen explicitly narrowly avoids having the protagonists kill a group of 5 year olds. luthen is ready to kill cassian when he becomes a liability, and cassian does kill lots of people, including some allies whose only "crime" is being susceptible to giving up rebellion secrets.

in rogue one, we don't like davits draven because he orders jyn's father killed, and that just feels wrong. jyn is our heroine and it upsets her, so emotionally it's distressing. but of course, draven and cassian and jyn are all working towards the same goal. draven did what he had to--galen erso is a liability as long as he's alive. dove and sarai's little brother elsren has to die because he's a direct heir to the throne, ahead of his sisters. it doesn't matter that he's five and totally innocent. as long as he lives, a luarin has a greater claim to the throne than a raka, and as long as that's true, the rebellion can't succeed.

in the star wars original trilogy, people for sure die! i'm not trying to say that they don't, but it's definitely not something that's shown affecting our protagonists on a deep, emotional level. they're all side characters, or else they come back as force ghosts. the prequels are uh. fucking tragic, but at the end of it, almost all of our heroes make it out. even the casualties of the war are droids vs clones, which is to say, totally interchangeable cannon fodder on both sides!

the number of character deaths in the tortall 'verse is fewer, probably because it's primarily created for middle grades, but even when people do die, they're either demonstrably bad people or minor enough characters that the emotional resonance isn't the same.

by contrast, at the end of trickster's queen, almost the majority of the main conspirators die in battle, not to mention those who don't even make it to the final conflict. at the end of rogue one, all of our heroes are dead, and people aren't exactly making it out of andor s1 in good shape either. more than half of the aldhani team dies on that mission.

I could go on further, but I think my main takeaway is that once you've invested a lot of time and attention and fandom into a 'verse, you have a lot more leeway to tell different kinds of stories. tamora pierce could not have written trickster's choice until after the values and world of tortall were so clearly established, and if she had, it wouldn't have had the impact that it did. similarly, part of what makes rogue one/andor so striking is the fact that it is such a departure from the preexisting values and story format of star wars.

for every chosen one we see in media, there are hundreds of people working behind the scenes to make their big, death star destroying moment possible. the only way to improve society is through collective action, and part of that is that everyone's hands are going to get dirty. i think lots of people want to imagine that they could be like luke skywalker and swoop in 2 weeks before the battle of yavin and become a hero, but the fact of the matter is that that's not how the world works! war requires us to do things that would ordinarily go against our values, but in the context of a drawn out, bloody, thankless battle, maybe we decide the ends justify the means.

#analysis #i don't particularly imagine that anyone will read this because it is so niche lmao #but the brainworms wouldn't leave me alone #star wars #long post #tamora pierce #tortall #tricksters queen #andor #rogue one

[avelera]

I definitely don't need more WIPs right not for Dreamling, but sometimes it is fun to brainstorm a total nonsense fanfic-y premise played totally straight, which is why I'm fondly remembering the Cinderella Dreamling AU I brainstormed on one of the servers.

(Canon Divergence AU, because that's how I roll)

2022 rolls around and Hob and Dream are friends. Just... friends. Hob would love there to be more. He sometimes suspects, more like wishes really hard, that Dream would like more but, as usual, the guy isn't talking if he does. And Hob is too chicken to ruin the friendship they finally achieved to do something so uncouth as proposition his oldest friend.

He comes to the sad and perhaps inevitable conclusion that Dream has had all the chances in the world to say something so the only conclusion is that Hob's just not that interesting to him in that way. Stands to reason. The more Hob learns about the Dreaming and Dream's fantastical realm and all his adventures, the more Hob's almost single-minded dedication to living a normal life despite his immortality seems a bit... dull.

Enter Desire. Or Death. Or both. This is fanfic-y nonsense, after all, the point is there is a device and the device is our fairy god-person who is also sick to death of watching Dream pine from afar but is also a huge fan of chaos.

They (let's go with Desire for now, even if the trope is a bit overplayed, because it seems like their sort of thing) offer Hob a proposal. The chance to go into the Dreaming each night to woo Dream. Best of all, it will be with Desire's protection of his identity and a small amount of magic to create a persona for wooing Dream that won't be immediately obvious.

Oh, also, Dream is throwing a big fuck-off bash for Faerie or some other Dreaming ally so there's gonna be a party for weeks up there. Perfect place to slip in a new stranger. (Hob is a little charmed by the idea that he gets to be the stranger for once.)

Enter: the Knight of Roses.

Basically, Hob creates a persona into which he pours all of charm, wit, and courtier's polish from 600s years of life. If nothing else, he's having the time of his life at what is essentially a fancy magical masquerade ball where he gets to try his damndest to sweep Dream off his feet.

And it seems to be working. Hard to tell with Dream. But each night, Dream seems excited to see the Knight of Roses again.

(It is working. It's working very very well. The Dreaming is awash in flowers. Dream spends every waking moment he's not at the ball pacing his quarters, interrogating his subjects as to how in the world he can't get to the bottom of who this is, and every person who could nominally be considered his friend including his siblings and subjects are tearing their hair out with how sick they are of hearing about the Knight of Roses.

Hob doesn't hear about it though in the waking because Dream is in love with him and doesn't want to ruin any chance they might have together someday by agonizing over a mysterious guest who is probably some trick sent by Desire or Lucifer or someone to mess with Dream. He has no idea how right he is and how wrong he is not to bring it up to Hob.)

Secret Identity shenanigans ensue, of course, until we hit a breaking point with drama, tears, etc etc the usual for the trope because of course (gasp!) Hob is the Knight of Roses and there never was any need to create a separate persona because Dream was also agonizing over whether Hob was interested and Hob was so chill around him he assumed he was misreading all the signs. (Hob was working so, so hard to appear that chill around Dream.) Identities are unmasked and everyone lives happily ever after.

(But Hob is keeping the outfit once they're officially together, because Dream really, really liked the romance of the whole Knight of Roses identity but he likes it even more now that he knows it's Hob and not an evil trap laid by one of his enemies.)

#dreamling #the sandman #fic ideas #plot bunnies #that I will probably never write #mostly because it's too formulaic and it would be SUPER LONG to give it justice #free to a good home I suppose?

[goodnightmemes]

INTERVIEW WITH THE VAMPIRE (1994) SENTENCE STARTERS

❛ So you want me to tell you the story of my life. ❜

❛ What were you going to do? Kill me, drink my blood? ❜

❛ I'm flesh and blood, but not human. I haven't been human for 200 years. ❜

❛ I couldn't bear the pain of their loss. I longed to be released from it. ❜

❛ You lack the courage of your convictions. Do it! ❜

❛ Don't be afraid. I'm going to give you the choice l never had. ❜

❛ Your body's dying. Pay no attention. It happens to us all. ❜

❛ No words can describe it. Might as well ask Heaven what it sees. No human can know. ❜

❛ You'll get used to killing. Just forget about that mortal coil. You'll become accustomed to it, all too quickly. ❜

❛ There's nothing in the world now that doesn't hold some...Fascination. ❜

❛ The dark gift is different for each of us. But one thing is true of everyone. We grow stronger as we go along. ❜

❛ That's more like it! Anger! Fury! ❜

❛ Remember: Life without me would be even more unbearable. ❜

❛ You must know something about the meaning of it all. ❜

❛ They know about us. They watch us dine on empty plates and drink from empty glasses. ❜

❛ Forgive me if I have a lingering respect for life. ❜

❛ Perfect! Just burn the place! Burn everything we own! Have us living in a field, like cattle! ❜

❛ What if there is no Hell? Or they don't want us there? Ever think of that? ❜

❛ You're in love with your mortal nature. You resist what can bring you peace. ❜

❛ We're predators, whose all-seeing eyes give them detachment! ❜

❛ It's your coffin, enjoy it. Most of us never get to know what it feels like. ❜

❛ Kill them swiftly if you will, but do it! For do not doubt you are a killer! ❜

❛ My philosopher. My martyr. "Never take a human life.” ❜

❛ Pain is terrible for you. You feel it like no other creature, because you're a vampire. ❜

❛ Evil is a point of view. God kills indiscriminately, and so shall we. ❜

❛ A little child, she was. But also a fierce killer, now capable of the ruthless pursuit of blood with all a child's demanding. ❜

❛ Remember, never in our home! ❜

❛ Time can pass quickly for mortals when they're happy. With us, it was the same. The years flew by like minutes. ❜

❛ More melancholy nonsense. You grow more like [name] daily! ❜

❛ Do you want me to be a doll forever? ❜

❛ Can't I change like everyone else? ❜

❛ Be glad I made you what you are. You'd be dead now if I hadn't. ❜

❛ You will never grow old. And you will never die. ❜

❛ I thought of all the things I'd done and couldn't undo. And I longed for one second's peace. ❜

❛ He will never let us go. ❜

❛ What is it now? You irritate me. Your very presence irritates me! ❜

❛ Is that supposed to frighten me? ❜

❛ I came to make peace with you. Even though you're the father of lies. I want things to be as they were. ❜

❛ Why do you say such things? ❜

❛ I promise I'll get rid of the bodies. ❜

❛ We forgive each other then? ❜

❛ Good night, sweet prince. May flights of devils wing you to your rest. ❜

❛ Should we burn him? Bury him? What would he have liked? ❜

❛ You've been a very, very naughty little girl. ❜

❛ We deserve your vengeance. ❜

❛ For what could the damned really have to say to the damned? ❜

❛ There are no vampires in Transylvania? No Count Dracula? ❜

❛ I've searched the world for an immortal and this is what I find! ❜

❛ No one will harm you. I won't allow it. ❜

❛ Vampires who pretend to be humans pretending to be vampires. How avant-garde. ❜

❛ Do you know what it means to be loved by Death? ❜

❛ You die when you kill. You feel you deserve to die and you stint on nothing. ❜

❛ But perhaps...this is the only real evil left. ❜

❛ I know nothing of God. Or the Devil. I have never seen a vision, nor learned a secret that would damn or save my soul. ❜

❛ You fear too much. So much you make me fear. ❜

❛ There is but one crime among us vampires here. It is the crime that means death to any vampire: To kill your own kind. ❜

❛ Danger holds you to me. ❜

❛ Love holds you to me. ❜

❛ You would leave me for [name] if he beckoned you. ❜

❛ Is that what I should do? Let you go? ❜

❛ If you want to save her, send her away! ❜

❛ The world changes. We do not. Therein lies the irony that finally kills us. ❜

❛ I need you to make contact with this age. ❜

❛ A vampire with a human soul. An immortal with a mortal's passion. ❜

❛ You are beautiful, my friend. [name] must have wept when he made you. ❜

❛ I knew him. Knew him well enough not to mourn his passing. ❜

❛ Your evil is that you cannot be evil! And I shall suffer for it no longer! ❜

❛ I haven't tears enough for what you've done to me! ❜

❛ Oh, God! I love you still! That's the torment of it! ❜

❛ Who'll care for me, my love, my dark angel, when you are gone? ❜

❛ Bear me no ill will, my love. We are now even. ❜

❛ What has died is the last breath in me that was human. ❜

❛ Your only company will be your screams. ❜

❛ Maybe it was to quench those tears forever that I took such revenge. ❜

❛ You can teach me this? To be without regret? ❜

❛ What if all I have is my suffering? My regret? ❜

❛ I know you regret nothing. You feel nothing. If that's all I have left to learn, I can do that on my own. ❜

❛ You've come home to me then? ❜

❛ I'm a spirit of preternatural flesh. Detached. Unchangeable. Empty. ❜

❛ That's it? No, it can't end like that. ❜

❛ What I wouldn't give to be like you, to have your power, to have seen the things you have seen. ❜

❛ You want a companion. You want a link to the outside world. That's me. Take me.❜

❛ Do you like this? Do you like being food for the immortals? Do you like dying? ❜

❛ I assume I need no introduction. ❜

❛ Still whining. Heard enough? I've had to listen to that for centuries. ❜

#rp meme #rp prompt #inbox meme #ask meme #askbox meme #roleplay prompts #roleplay meme #sentence starters #rp memes #rp prompts #*movie

[fatecantstopme]

All My Life

Pairing: Elijah Mikaelson x wife!reader

Summary: Klaus wants to use you in his plans, but Elijah is terrified of losing you. Marcel makes a massive mistake that could end in tragedy for all involved.

Warnings: Mentions of death, mild cursing.

Despite his external levelheaded calm appearance, Elijah Mikaelson was filled with intense emotions that threatened to overwhelm him at any moment. Unlike his siblings, he'd learned how to bottle his emotions and bury them deep down. Very few people would ever notice the turmoil behind his deep brown eyes, but you always did.

650 years of knowing him certainly helped, but it was the 650 years of loving him that really did the trick.

"Hey handsome, what are you doing in the cellar?" you asked as you walked down the stairs.

Elijah held up the bottle of scotch he'd been drinking and offered it to you. "Would you like a drink, (Y/N)?"

You raised your eyebrow and shook your head with a sigh, but you took the bottle from his hands and took a drink. "Do you want to tell me what's bothering you?"

He took the bottle back from you and took a long drink. "Now why would you think something is bothering me?"

"Perhaps because you're sitting in the cellar drinking your weight in scotch? Anyone with two eyes would look at you and immediately know something is wrong."

He looked up at you and you saw a sea of emotions in his eyes. You kneeled down in front of him and placed a hand on his thigh. "Talk to me, Elijah."

"I don't want to burden you with my thoughts."

"Your thoughts are never a burden. I know you and Klaus had a fight. Was that what bothered you?"

He sighed and nodded. He never wanted to show his emotions in public, but it was different with you. However, his argument with Klaus had sent him into overdrive. He was incredibly angry and frustrated, but mostly he was terrified. 650 years of loving you more than life itself and he could lose it all in a single conversation.

You could see he was warring with himself over something. You were worried about him. "Tell me what happened."

"Do we have to talk? Can we just sit here and enjoy each other's company?" He asked softly.

"Elijah," you whispered, "as much as I'd love to sit here quietly with you, I need you to open up. I know you're not okay."

He sighed and reached for you, pulling you into him. You let him hold you against his chest for a moment before pulling away. "Sweetheart," you said softly.

"Klaus wants to use you to remove Marcel and his vampires from the quarter."

You looked up at him in surprise. "What?"

"You're the strongest witch we know, which makes you the best option for combating Marcel." He sighed. "But it's too dangerous. He has Davina and 100 vampires on his side. I don't want to lose you."

"Oh sweetheart, is that what you're worried about? Losing me?"

He nodded. "The risk is too great. Any one of those vampires could try to kill you and Davina may be young, but she's strong."

"I'm immortal, Elijah. They're not going to be able to kill me."

He shook his head. "Not any more."

You pulled even farther away from him. "What?"

"Marcel got several witches to help Davina break your linkage spell."

"How do you know?"

"Marcel requested several of the quarter witches assist Davina in a massive spell. My understanding is he wanted to break the link between you and Nikalus, with the intent of attacking him."

"Attacking an immortal original hybrid? That sounds like a fantastic idea. What is he thinking?"

"Marcel is aware Nikalus cannot be killed, however he can be desiccated via magic. I believe that is his plan. Niklaus will be out of the way and no one will stand between Marcel and his 'kingdom'."

"How do you know about this?"

"Sophie informed Niklaus. Niklaus informed me."

"And then he suggested using me?"

Elijah nodded. "In traditional Nikalus fashion, he did not suggest, he demanded. I do not want to put you at risk, especially now that you are vulnerable. We argued about it, which you already know. I've spent the last hour sitting down here enjoying this 150 year old scotch."

Everything Elijah had told you had you reeling. 645 years ago you had been gravely injured and almost died. If Klaus hadn't found you in time, you would have been dead. Once he healed you, he had a witch create a linkage spell, tying you to Klaus. Essentially, everything that happened to Klaus happened to you and vice versa. However, his immortality also extended to you. As such, you did not age, never got sick, and you'd live as long as he did.

Elijah had been irate when he'd discovered what Klaus had done. In part because Klaus had taken away your choice for immortality, but mostly because Klaus had chosen to tie you to him, despite the fact that he knew how Elijah felt about you. Klaus adored you and that has never changed. Elijah grew to accept and even appreciate Klaus's constant desire to protect you. You never had a desire to be a vampire, so the fact that you could spend forever with Elijah without losing your magic meant everything to you.

"Klaus is willing to risk my life?" you asked in surprise.

"Of course not," Elijah stated. "He insisted that you'll be perfectly fine, but he cannot assure that. And there is the issue of the linkage spell...we don't know the ramifications of breaking it."

You sighed. "I can always reinstitute a linkage spell...perhaps even using you this time around."

Elijah looked at you in a strange manner and you were struggling to determine what he was thinking. "Elijah? What aren't you telling me?"

"You can't do the linkage spell."

"Why not?"

"The spell was very complex and as such certain things were required to conduct it."

"Certain things?"

"Niklaus never wanted you to know what it took to perform the spell." He sighed, clearly wishing he didn't have to tell you either. "The witch who created it used expression. And the complexity of the spell required the creation of an expression triangle in order to channel the energy needed to complete the spell."

You sat in a stunned silence. That may not have meant much to Klaus, but it meant a lot to you. "Did you know?" you whispered.

"(Y/N)..."

"Elijah. Did you know?"

He sighed. "Yes, I knew."

You closed your eyes. The weight of what he was saying was overwhelming. Klaus had killed 36 people just to link you to him. You would have rather died or even become a vampire over murder. "We can't do that, Elijah. It should have never been done in the first place. Expression magic is powerful, but dangerous. Klaus shouldn't have ever done this to me."

"If he hadn't, I wouldn't have been able to spend the last 645 years with you."

"Oh, Elijah. I know, I know." You grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles gently. "We'll figure this out. And while I'm pissed at Klaus, I can't let Marcel hurt him."

"(Y/N), Marcel had you unlinked so he could go after Nikalus without harming you. I don't think he understood what it would mean or how the spell was completed all those centuries ago."

You realized he was right. Marcel was trying to protect you. You weren't surprised by that. You'd been a mother-figure to Marcel when he was growing up. Even now, he still cared about you and you cared about him. "I can't hurt him, Elijah, but I can't just let him come after Klaus."

"Yes you can, (Y/N). My brother will be fine. We will find a way to bring him back in the future. He kept half of our family in caskets for centuries, I think he can stand being desiccated for a while."

"Elijah," you scolded lightly. "We will not stoop to his level. Besides, he has done everything he can to protect me for 6 centuries. I owe him this."

Elijah sighed. "You owe him nothing, my love."

"I owe him my life," you said softly. You touched Elijah's face gently and he leaned into your hand. "I know you're worried, but I am still extremely powerful. That much hasn't changed. I can take Davina and the other quarter witches, even the vampires won't be too much of a challenge."

"You're always so confident, so brave. I wish you didn't have to be."

You smiled. "Would you love me as much if I weren't?"

"It is impossible for me to love you more than I already do, but it might be nice to have a wife who plays it safe sometimes."

"What fun would that be?"

**********

Elijah finally agreed to follow you upstairs into the courtyard, where Klaus was waiting.

"Where the hell have you been?" Klaus asked, clearly annoyed at his brother.

"I needed time, brother."

Klaus looked at you for the first time since you'd entered the room. Your expression answered all the questions he wanted to ask. "(Y/N)," he began.

You held up your hand to silence him. "Don't. You don't get to speak to me right now. I am choosing to help you because I owe you my life, but after that, I'm done. Elijah and I will be leaving the Quarter."

"You can't leave!" Klaus protested.

"I'd like to spend the rest of my days, however many I have, with the love of my life. I have no desire to spend them fighting a war I want no part in." You had already begun to formulate a plan in your mind, a plan that would likely take a whole lot more power than you had to give.

"Rest of your days? (Y/N), we can do another linkage spell--"

"Brother, enough," Elijah interjected. "She has made up her mind."

"She doesn't get to just decide to die, Elijah."

"You never should have taken her choice in the first place."

Silence descended on the two men, both suddenly struck with the inability to speak. You stepped between them, magic flowing freely from you. "Fighting gets us no where. I won't do the spell, Klaus. I can't. There's no situation in which I would be okay killing 36 innocent people just so I could live. It's not worth it--I'm not worth it."

You could see how desperately Klaus wanted to argue with you, but his mouth remained shut. You turned your gaze to Elijah and you found yourself wishing you could relieve him of his pain, his sadness. But you couldn't. "I'm sorry, my love, but I can't abandon him when he needs me most."

Elijah nodded his understanding, always willing to trust you completely. He knew you were more than capable of making your own choices and he trusted that you would make the right one. He just didn't realize what this choice would cost.

"If you'll agree not to argue, I'll release you," you said sternly, looking back and forth between them. They both nodded their agreement, and with a wave of your hand, they found their voices once again.

"I don't agree with this," Klaus grumbled.

"You don't have to," you said pointedly. "You made the decision to rile up Marcel. You chose to make this city a battle ground. Everything from that moment forward is on you."

With that, you inhaled deeply and walked away from them, allowing the spirits to guide you where you needed to go. Steeling yourself for the challenge ahead and the ramifications of your own choices.

Elijah and Klaus both tried to follow you, but the boundary spell you'd placed around the building kept them from leaving.

"(Y/N)?" Elijah said softly, tears filling his eyes.

"I'm sorry, love," you said gently. "You can't come with me."

"(Y/N) you will remove this spell at once," Klaus said sharply.

"You should know better than to try and order me around, Niklaus." It had been a long time since you'd used his full name. He understood the full weight of it even before Elijah did. You saw his eyes widen and he began to beat his fists against the barrier as if he could somehow break through it with nothing but brute strength.

Tears filled your eyes as you silently said your goodbyes to them both, knowing this could be the last time you'd see them. Your gaze met Elijah's one last time and you saw the moment of realization cross his features. Tears filled his eyes and you saw the desperation pooling within them.

"(Y/N)," he whispered, voice broken. "Please."

"I love you, Elijah. Always and forever."

The moment the words left your lips, you turned away from them and moved down the street quickly, never once glancing back. You knew if you did, there was no way you would be able to do what needed to be done.

**********

"You just had to have New Orleans, didn't you? Couldn't leave well-enough alone?" Elijah asked angrily.

"This is my home, my kingdom."

"It was, Niklaus, but it hasn't been yours for over a century. Why couldn't you just leave Marcel alone?"

"I saved him. I raised him!" he bellowed.

Elijah just shook his head, heart too heavy to bother arguing further. "I truly hope this city is worth it, brother."

Klaus was silent, knowing full-well it wasn't worth your life.

**********

"Marcel!" you called as you entered the church. You were surprised to feel his presence here of all places.

Marcel appeared before you as if by magic. "(Y/N). What are you doing here?"

You gave him a pointed look. "I think you know why I'm here, Marcellus."

He winced at the use of his full name. You didn't use it in a condescending way, but in a motherly way, which only made it that much harder for him to hear. "You shouldn't be here," he said quietly.

"Perhaps, but I don't have a choice now, do I?"

"You always have a choice."

You shook your head. "He is family, Marcel, and I owe him my life."

Marcel looked down. "I'm sorry for breaking the linkage spell."

You sighed. "As am I."

Something in your tone scared him. When his eyes met yours again, he saw the emotions swirling in them. "(Y/N)?"

You gave him a tight lipped smile. "The spell was my lifeline and my strength. I'm going to die, Marcellus, and soon. So I might as well do it protecting the people I love."

Surprise lit up his face, but he couldn't move, couldn't think. He was frozen in place. He could feel the streams of power coming from you and it terrified him. He'd never believed you would ever hurt him, but he suddenly wasn't so sure.

Davina felt your presence and came down the stairs, trying to fight against your power, but she was no match for you. Marcel tried to call out to her, to tell her to run, but he couldn't. Davina cried out in pain, her body dropping to the ground, hands holding her head.

All over the city, witches were dropping to the ground and screaming in agony. It lasted for mere moments before every single one of them suddenly fell silent, bodies collapsed on the unforgiving ground, minds unconscious.

Your eyes flicked back to Marcel. "You have to understand, Marcellus. I have to protect them." Not just Klaus and Elijah, but the witches too. You would not let them die at the hands of your family.

He looked at you, eyes begging you to stop.

"They will awaken, but they will have no powers. They will no longer be a threat, therefore they will be safe."

He had no idea you held that kind of power. He knew you were strong, likely a product of your age, but he'd never understood the depths of your power. Power that stemmed from your bond with the world's only truly immortal hybrid, a bond that was now broken.

"I will not kill your friends, the vampires. But I will issue a single warning. A warning which must be heeded by all who hear it." You closed your eyes and called out to every vampire in all of New Orleans. Each one of them heard your voice ring out in their head, "You are given a choice, children of the night. Leave New Orleans by first light or die by nightfall tomorrow. None will be spared."

The moment the words had left your lips, you dropped to the ground, breathing heavily. You'd released Marcel from his hold without meaning to, but you simply didn't have the strength to hold him any longer. You'd had a feeling that breaking the linkage spell would do more damage than any of you had hoped, and it appeared you were right. You could feel the end nearing, your body was dying, the power that had kept you alive draining from you.

"(Y/N)!" Marcel called out as he crawled over to you. After what you'd just done, perhaps he shouldn't care, but he couldn't help it. He picked up your semi-conscious body and began to carry it to the place he knew he was most unwelcome, but he couldn't just leave you alone to die.

**********

"Elijah! Klaus!" Marcel yelled as he reached the entrance to their ancestral home.

Both men appeared almost instantly. Elijah saw your body in his arms and he nearly broke down. Klaus, on the other hand, was immediately filled with rage.

"What have you done to her?" he snarled.

"She did it to herself," Marcel said softly.

Elijah tried to get to you, but the boundary spell was somehow still in place.

"Go," you whispered, voice barely audible. "I can't hold the spell much longer."

Marcel stared at you and realized you were protecting him...one last time. He didn't want to go, couldn't say goodbye. There was so much he wanted to say, but there was no time. He had to go, whether he wanted to or not. "I'm sorry, (Y/N)," he whispered as he gingerly placed you on the ground.

"I know," you murmured in return.

He looked at the two furious vampires locked within the walls of their home and knew he couldn't stay. Not if he wanted to live. He gave you one last look of sorrow before disappearing into the wind.

You gave Marcel as much of a head start as you could, knowing he would need it. "Don't follow him," you whispered, eyes locking on Klaus's.

"This is his fault," he said angrily.

"It's not," you paused to catch your breath. "Do not chase him. Just let him go. For me."

Both Klaus and Elijah were silent.

"Give me your word."

"I give you my word," Elijah said softly.

You knew without a doubt that he would keep it, but you needed to hear Klaus give his as well. "Klaus?"

He stubbornly looked away.

"Consider it my dying wish, if you must."

That got his attention. "You're not going to die."

"I am dying, Klaus. The longer you take to give me your word, the less time you have to say goodbye."

"Niklaus," Elijah prodded insistently.

"Fine. I give you my word, (Y/N)."

"Good." You released them and immediately felt a wave of relief. That was the last spell you were holding in place and the moment it was broken, you felt air return to your lungs.

Elijah was by your side immediately. He very carefully lifted you up in his arms and carried you to your shared bedroom, laying you ever so gently on the bed.

"There must be someone who can help her," Klaus insisted.

You shook your head. "Not in New Orleans, anyway."

"What? What did you do?" he asked.

"I bound the powers of every single witch in the city."

"(Y/N)," Elijah said softly, hand running through your hair to push it out of your face. "The power that would require..."

"I know," you whispered.

"Plus the message to the vampires? (Y/N), you don't have an immortal hybrid to feed off of anymore. You can't be using that type of magic," Klaus said.

"I'm sorry you both heard that. I didn't have the power to exclude you from the spell. It would have taken too much of my strength and concentration."

"It's okay, my love. Just rest. You need to get your strength back," Elijah said gently.

"My darling Elijah," you murmured, hand slipping into his. "I won't survive the night."

"Of course you will. You're strong," he insisted.

"Elijah, I can feel it. I'm dying."

He finally allowed the tears to flow freely down his face. It was one of the few times in the last 6 centuries of your life together that you'd seen him actually cry. It was enough to break your heart. "Oh, my love," you whispered as you reached for him, pulling him into your arms and holding him against your chest.

Your own tears streamed down your face, but you did your best to be strong for your husband. You knew what he could become without you...without his humanity...and you were terrified he would turn it all off just to keep himself from feeling this pain.

Your eyes met Klaus's from across the room and he looked just as devastated as Elijah did. His pain was different; he blamed himself, and perhaps rightfully so. "I must go," he said as he hurriedly headed for the door.

"Klaus," you called.

He turned to look at you, emotion clouding his face.

You had enough strength left for one simple sentence spoken directly into the hybrid's mind. "Protect him, Niklaus, always and forever."

Klaus looked down, doing his best to hold his tears at bay. He looked back up at you and gave you a firm nod, acknowledging your words and, in his way, giving you a promise.

You watched him walk away, a painful realization coming over you that this would be the last time you ever saw him. You looked down at Elijah and held on just a little tighter. You wanted more time with him...you would have given anything for it. You'd had more time with your husband than most people were ever lucky enough to have, but you still wanted more.

Elijah lifted his head and quickly wiped his face, regaining some of his usual composure. "I'm sorry, my love. I just...I don't want to lose you."

You nodded. "Nor do I."

"How long do we have?" he whispered.

"Hours, at most," you said softly.

He closed his eyes and breathed heavily. "Where do you wish to spend those hours, my love?"

You offered him a small smile. "I think you know."

He met your gaze and gave you a warm smile. "I suppose I do." He scooped you up in his arms and moments later you found yourself laid out on a soft blanket in the middle of the rooftop garden. You'd always loved this spot and you had many fond memories of your time with Elijah there.

"The sun will be setting soon," Elijah murmured as he sat down beside you.

"It will be a beautiful thing to see before I die."

Elijah swallowed thickly and you felt a pang of sadness. "Let's not talk of death now. Let's instead, reminisce."

You smiled up at him and you snuggled in close to him, wanting to be as close as possible for as long as possible. "That sounds wonderful."

You began to talk of some of your favorite memories, of moments you'd long since thought you'd forgotten, of adventures shared with those you loved. Elijah's favorite memories all had you in them, which both made your heart soar and ache in equal measure.

The longer you talked, the weaker you became. The sun was slowly traversing the sky, beginning its slow decent. You knew your time was short, but you couldn't bring yourself to say goodbye. Not to him.

As if he could sense your thoughts, Elijah pulled you even closer. "I would be remise if I did not tell you what is on my heart. I have no desire to have regrets."

"Tell me, then. I'm listening."

He sat up and faced you, taking your hands in his as he spoke. "You have brought a beauty and a joy to my life that I never would have had without you. You gave my life purpose, direction...meaning. You have my whole heart, my darling (Y/N). Always and forever."

Tears streamed down your face, having no energy to fight them. You didn't have words to voice your feelings, your love for him too intense for words. With what small amount of strength remained, you sent a wave of pure emotion straight into him, everything you couldn't say wrapped in a blanket of love only he could feel.

Silent tears fell from his eyes. "Please don't go," he whispered.

You pulled him back down beside you, arms wrapping around his large frame. You couldn't say anything, couldn't reassure him or comfort him. There was nothing you could do except hold him.

The sun had begun to set, painting the blue sky with beautiful shades of pink and orange. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" you asked softly.

"It is." His voice was clouded with pain, but he did his best to remain stoic for you.

"Promise me something, Elijah," you said suddenly.

"What is it?"

"Leave New Orleans. Leave Klaus. Go and live your life for you. You've spent far too long taking care of others. I don't want you to spend another 1,000 years putting yourself in last place. You deserve better."

He looked down at you and your gaze was so ernest, so pleading, that he couldn't find it in himself to say no. "I give you my word, (Y/N). I will not stay in New Orleans."

Your body relaxed against him, comforted by his promise. You knew there were plenty of loopholes, but Elijah would keep his promise to you. He never went back on his word. Ever.

"Will you stay with me?" you murmured.

"Always and forever, my love," he whispered back, placing a kiss to the top of your head.

Not long now...the sun had set and the stars were shining beautifully in the velvet night sky. Each passing moment brought you closer to the end. Despite your unnaturally long life, you found yourself unwilling to let go...you didn't want to die.

"I'm not ready to die," you whispered so softly that no human would have been able to hear you.

Elijah felt a pang in his chest at your words. The tone with which you said them nearly broke his heart right in two. "Nor am I ready to lose you."

There was, of course, another option. An option you had never considered before. You raised your head to look into his eyes.

He knew what you were thinking from your look alone. "I thought that was never an option," he whispered.

"We've never been in this situation before," you answered gently.

He looked away and shook his head. "I do not wish to make you a monster."

You reached for his cheek and turned his head back to you. "You're not a monster."

"Perhaps not in this moment, but I am capable of monstrous things."

You laughed lightly. "And I'm not? I just bound the magic of dozens of witches to protect one very immortal hybrid."

"You did that out of love. It's different."

"I beg to differ."

He shook his head firmly. "It would be unfair of me to turn you, (Y/N). You would lose your magic...your contact with the spirits, with nature. I could not take that from you."

"I believe it's my choice, is it not?"

"You need my blood, so I think it's our choice."

You sighed.

"I choose to protect your soul. I will not turn you."

There was such finality in his tone that you didn't even bother to argue with him. Besides, you didn't want to be a vampire. You just wanted to live.

He knew that better than anyone, perhaps because he knew you better than anyone.

The two of you laid there in a comfortable silence, sharing what you knew would be your last moments together. There was nothing left to say, nothing left to do. Neither of you were capable of saying goodbye, those words too difficult to formulate.

"Are you really just going to lay on this rooftop and die?"

You turned at the sound of an annoyed voice behind you. "Yes, Niklaus, that was my plan." You were surprised that he had come back, never one for goodbyes himself.

"I came up with a better one. Come, there's not much time."

Elijah stood up. "Brother?"

"Both of you, come on. We don't have time for an argument."

You looked at Klaus warily, using Elijah's body to pull yourself up. "What's the plan then, Klaus?"

"Just come with me. Please."

Klaus wasn't one to beg, so you found yourself stepping towards him on instinct. Your body had other plans as you began to collapse. Elijah caught you easily and pulled you up into his arms.

"See? She's already too weak to move. We're running out of time," Klaus insisted.

"Then lead the way, brother."

You found yourself being transported at an uncomfortable speed. The two men moved with the unnatural speed gifted to their species and you quickly lost track of your location. When you finally stopped moving, you were surprised to find yourself in the middle of the bayou.

"What are we doing way out here?" you asked in annoyance, an uncomfortable feeling settling deep in your bones.

"It was the only place I could find a witch who still had their magic," Klaus said.

"He's lucky I owe him or he likely would have gotten a stake to the heart for his troubles," a new voice said from behind you.

Elijah turned around to face the newcomer, giving you a view of the woman's face. "Sophie," you said softly.

"What are you doing in the bayou?" Elijah asked.

"After I gave information to your brother, it wasn't safe for me in the Quarter anymore, so I came out here. Apparently it's a good thing I did," she looked pointedly at you.

"You know why I did it."

"Yes, but that doesn't make it right."

"Perhaps not, but it was a much better option than killing them," you said firmly.

Sophie looked down. She knew full-well what Klaus was capable of and he was certainly not above murdering every single witch in the Quarter just because he could.

"Why are we here?" Elijah asked softly, breaking the silence.

"To help (Y/N)," Klaus said simply, as if that explained everything.

That uncomfortable feeling inside you began to intensify. Something was wrong, but you were too weak to figure out what it was.

"How?" Elijah asked again, much more firmly.

"Sophie has a plan."

And there it was...plain as day. If you'd been in your right mind, you would have noticed it right away. The feeling of darkness, and of death, lingered in the air. An oppressive feeling that threatened to drown all those around it. You recognized the feeling from hundreds of years prior, a feeling you had never understood until now. "What have you done?" you whispered.

Klaus wouldn't meet your gaze and that alone told you everything you needed to know. Sophie looked equally uncomfortable, but she wasn't backing away, which meant at some level she was okay with this.

"Do you understand what you're doing?" you asked her directly. "How dangerous this kind of magic is? It will overtake you. It will kill you."

Sophie shook her head. "I'm not afraid. Besides, I'm more powerful now than I've ever been."

"Then you're a fool," you said softly.

Elijah hadn't said a word, but the way his body stiffened told you he knew exactly what his brother had spent the last couple hours doing.

"Elijah," you whispered. "Take me home, please."

He heard you, but he didn't move. In fact, he couldn't move. He found himself frozen in place, as if he were bound to this very position. Even his voice was silenced, his mouth moved but no words escaped.

"I'm sorry, (Y/N), but you're not leaving, nor is Elijah," Klaus said firmly. "Sophie, begin the spell, please."

Sophie began an incantation you vaguely recognized. You struggled against Elijah's hold on you, as if you could somehow escape if he would just let you go. It was useless...Elijah's grip was like stone.

"He can't move, (Y/N)," Klaus said softly.

You looked over at Sophie, realizing what she'd done. "Let him go, Sophie."

She ignored you, continuing her incantation.

"They're all already dead, (Y/N)," Klaus said, forcing your attention back to him. "Do you really wish to waste their sacrifices?"

"Sacrifices?" you yelled angrily. "They didn't sacrifice anything, Niklaus! You killed them!"

"To save you!" he roared back.

"I didn't ask to be saved!"

"I couldn't sit back and let you die. Not when I was the cause," his voice softened. "I couldn't watch you die."

"If Elijah could, then so could you."

"Your death wouldn't weigh on his conscience for the rest of time."

"But it would stay with him, in his heart, for eternity."

"I am not my brother," Klaus whispered.

"That much has always been clear."

Klaus looked away from you, finding your gaze almost too painful to bear. "Use his blood," he said, addressing Sophie.

She nodded and you watched helplessly as she sliced open Elijah's skin, collecting blood from the wound on his arm before it healed in moments. She poured the blood into the bowl on the table in front of her and continued her incantation.

You felt a tingling sensation in your body, one that you had felt almost 650 years ago. The tingling turned into pain, just as you knew it would. Elijah's agony was equal to yours, but he couldn't so much as whimper.

"Please," you begged. "You don't have to do this."

Klaus shook his head. "It's too late, now. Finish it, Sophie."

Fire lit up the bowl, burning all of the contents within it. The fire spread around you, lighting up the pathways of a triangle only the dead could see.

When the fire disappeared, Sophie's chanting ceased, and you felt strength begin to return to your body, flowing through your veins.

Elijah's hold on you softened and he found himself able to move again. "(Y/N)?" he croaked. "Are you alright?"

You nodded. "Are you?"

He nodded.

The color had already returned to your cheeks and he could feel the power radiating from you, just like he always had. Clearly, the renewed linkage spell had worked.

Neither of you spoke, emotions too tangled in the moment. He gently set you down on your feet and you felt as strong as you had ever felt.

You walked over to Klaus and turned his attention to you. "36 people, Niklaus. Was it worth it?"

His eyes locked onto yours and you knew his answer before he spoke. "I would kill 1,000 people to save you, (Y/N). You are worth it."

You disagreed, but you knew arguing with him would make no difference. Instead, you turned to Sophie. "This is your only warning, Sophie. Stop practicing expression magic or lose magic forever."

Her eyes were darker than they'd ever been, confirming that she was already lost to the darkness of expression. "It's the only magic worth practicing."

You sighed. "It will kill you, Sophie. It always does." You shook your head. "You should leave...expression is not tolerated here, especially in such close proximity to the city."

"I depart for California in the morning," she answered swiftly.

You sighed again, turning your attention back to Klaus. "New Orleans is yours, Niklaus, but I'm done. I want nothing to do with you anymore."

You saw the look of pain flash across his face, but he covered it with his usual bravado. "Do whatever you want, (Y/N), but you'll be back. You can't stay away forever, especially from Elijah."

You looked at him in pity, words on your lips silenced by Elijah's first words in what felt like years.

"Wherever she goes, I will follow."

"What?" Klaus asked in shock.

"I cannot leave my heart," he said simply.

You turned to look at Elijah and were overcome with love and adoration for the man you'd loved all your life. He stepped forward and took your hand in his, the warmth you felt was nothing more than your imagination, but you didn't care. For the first time in over 6 centuries you were free. Free to go where you wanted, do what you wanted...just you and Elijah.

"Let's go," you said softly.

Elijah simply nodded and fell into step beside you, ignoring the shocked expression on his brother's face, as well as the words streaming from his mouth. "You won't last a year without me! You'll be back, both of you. You need me."

You walked away without looking back. It's not that you didn't love Klaus, that you didn't care, you were simply angry and hurt. The combination of which gave you the strength to walk away, to leave completely without any qualms.

Elijah scooped you up in his arms suddenly and you let out a surprised yelp.

"Sorry, love. I just figured this would be faster."

You laughed as he sped away from the bayou, heading back towards the city and the home you'd shared for so many years.

The two of you made quick work of the packing and then you were off to the airport, prepared to go wherever the wind would take you.

As always, Elijah used his abilities to get the two of you a private jet to anywhere in the world, so you chose Barcelona, a place you'd never been but always wanted to visit.

"Barcelona, really?" Elijah asked as he settled into his seat beside you. "You should have mentioned something sooner, my love. I would have taken you."

"We've never had the time, Elijah," you said softly.

"We've got all the time in the world now, my love. Just you and me."

"Always and forever?" you asked.

He grinned and kissed your forehead. "Always and forever."

#Elijah Mikaelson x reader #Elijah Mikaelson #Klaus Mikaelson #Niklaus Mikaelson #Klaus x reader #Elijah x reader #the vampire diaries #the originals #Marcel Gerard #tvd #Elijah Mikaelson x wife!reader

[bracketsoffear]

Corruption: Bugsnax (Bugsnax) "The game starts with you finding out about the existence of Bugsnax: fascinating, mysterious and wonderful creatures of legend with big googly eyes that are shaped like food! They taste like the meals you imagine they do, but far better than it had ever been, satisfying you easily with a single one but still leaving you wanting more. As you progress, the inhabitants of the island where they're found ask you to find more and more of them to give them; they're enjoying them, and for each of them, these bugsnax signify something deeper than what it seems at first glance. It isn't just food: for some, they're like family; for others, they're mysterious creatures they grow obsessed to research about; and for others they're the sources of stability in their otherwise intensely unstable lives. One way or another, eating or just being near bugsnax can easily get a hold of you and make you completely dependent on them, making you believe they're the solution to all of your life's problems. The fact that by eating a single one it affects your body structure and turns your limbs one by one into food shaped skin also adds to the horrors that everyone seem to be too blind to, too focused on their own dependence as it builds and builds until, eventually, you're fully food shaped and then your body structure weakens, destroying you and turning you into another of the island's victims, and so become a meal of the meal you had been eating all along. At the end of the day, you find out what they really are: parasites, made in cute shapes with adorable or funny sounds for the sole purpose of convincing you to having them nearby, eat them, and so slowly build up to eating you from the inside out. You are what you eat, and all life is Bugsnax."

End: Grimora (Inscryption) "Her whole gimmick is inscrybing the dead: skeletons, zombies, ghosts, and souls all have a place in her deck. Her cards are played with the cost of bone tokens (gained from the death of one of the player’s cards), and, in her boss fight, her cards don’t tend to stay dead for long (nor do the player’s, as she takes to killing every card the challenger has in play and returning only their corpses). However, what makes her end-adjacent rather than a defier of the end is her commitment to the cycle of death and what it brings—so much so that she’s willing, immortal as she is, to succumb to her own realm and drag the others along with her. She disguises it as a means to end the Scrybes’ ceaseless quarrel and to kill what lies on the disk, but ultimately she, too, fears death, but knows that everything must one day die all the same (so what if she has to exacerbate the process—she has been very patient for the rest of the game, and the Scrybes have long, LONG outlived the lives of anyone real who would care to remember them)."

#the magnus archives #poll #the corruption #the end #winners' bracket #bugsnax #inscryption

[newkatzkafe2023]

Okay, but have you thought about what would happen if there was a Wukong who lost his partner? Going crazy.

So, somehow, he travels to other universes looking to stay with the partner of the alternate versions of him.

Can you imagine the chaos that means?

How do you think each Wukong reacts?

Would they try to talk?

or do they fight to the death?

OK that is an Amazing Question

Well each would be like the 5 stages of grief Except nobody will ever get to acceptance

Like Lmk sun wukong and And the Nezha reborn sun wukong would be the denial stage which is Going to cost them both their sanity.😵😵‍💫

The Anger is gonna be from Monkey king reborn because He'll want vengeance and the blood Of the person or demon who even thinks about hurting you.😠😡🤬😈

Bargaining would be the hero is back sun wukong because he would try to find a way to get you back even if it Gonna cost him his life or someone else's😢

And depression is gonna be poor Monkey king netflix Sun wukong because the sweet baby would not understand why the world continues to be so cruel as to take you the only person Who's ever showed him kindness and love away from him😭

If they were to find you again in a different universe they, of course would have a mental breakdown of relief and disbelief because they found you alive and well when they clearly have the traumatizing memory of your demise. And because you're so empathetic to them, You decide to have them all Because your don't have the heart to take one and turn the rest away when they're all clearly in tears.

And Finally I have a feeling that if it wasn't for their immortality they would Have done something very drastic by now if you know what im Implying😨😰😰😰🔪🔪🔪☠️☠️☠️

Also, I'm gonna get this out of the way the fight to the death thing is completely pointless. They're all equally overpowered😒😮‍💨😑

Just billions of dollars worth of property damage💰🐒

Feel Free to Reblog😊👍

#lmk sun wukong #monkey king reborn #Nezha reborn #monkey king x reader #Hero is back #monkey king netflix #heartbreak #Broken heart Syndrome #tw sucidal ideation #tw: sucidal thoughts #Their in mourning #Mentally ill #emotionally unstable #soon to be yandere #yandere husbands

[medusas-graveyard]

Unhealthy Obsession.

Okay wait actually, remembering how it took a while for Pariah Dark to get sealed off just means that they were some bending in his sworn oath, right?

Okay another angst prompt, consider; softly insane! Danny.

(Tw: Dark!Danny, morally ambiguous? No one's having a great time tbh but like it's poetically soft imo. Also our boy's officially lost it :∆ his words are cryptic.)

Final warning: This is depressingly sad for Danny's part, sure. But he's also unjustified so I'll classify this as [Dead Dove: Do not eat]

Danny's adopted by the Waynes just like, a bit little short time before his coronation (also he's around 16-18 years old because I'm dragging the desperate for validation because he never felt seen unless someone praises him trope). At that time span he's this very rarely seen brother that's absolutely trying his best between juggling his very impromptu 'how to be a proper monarch' lessons (read: the ancients drilling manors, rules, oaths, etc to his poor head because they don't want a repeat Pariah Dark) and being a present family members because he genuinely loves them. (They know about the vigilante stuff and the Waynes understandably backed away from convincing him, seeing how Danny already has shit ton on his plate.)

Until one day something big happens that almost ended the world, and Bruce dies. It was just him and his dad there, with no other bird or bat in sight. No one knew yet— no one needs to know. Kronos' carefully crafted human, no— prince finally shatters after all the pressure, and all he thinks is how unfair the world has been to him.

It's a very, very slow descent to insanity, what he had been through.

He lost so much, he won't lose anything again. And amidst the eerie scenery of a prince cradling the body of his father, was the sight of himself stitching him back together— giving him a new life. He whispered apologies after apologies to the unconscious man; and for a second Kronos would've pitied him.

Except he didn't. He knew he can't.

After all the chaos they finally had each other again, and Danny stood contently as he watched Alfred personally tend to his family's wounds, big or small. He also watched as his family bicker with each other after all they've been through, and realized something; all of this will die.

Alfred, Bruce, his brothers, Cass and Steph— they're all painfully mortal. He'll outlive his family, and in the end he'll be alone. He doesn't want to be left alone.

And what is to do when you realize your family is painfully, awfully mortal?

...you either curse them with immortality, or place a generational curse on them so you'll all meet in every life, of course! (Oh, did I mention about cursing your family so they'll all get reincarnated everytime they die to make them find each other by everytime?)

... except these curses are incredibly forbidden, because they go against the nature of life and death.

Which leads to the sight of Danny being cuffed from his neck, his arms, his wrists, and his legs. His expression is deadly calm, he smiles softly contrast to the Waynes that are watching in horror. He watches as his family's face contorts to something unreadable when his captors reads over his charges, and he couldn't bring himself to feel remorse.

"By the name of the Infinite realms, Prince Phantom is sentence to imprisonment, for the charges of tempering with the cycle of life and breaking the Royal oath."

"He will be serving until the day of his coronation by the terms of the infinite realms, under the watchful gaze of the ghost of time. The guilty may be there farewells before they are sent to their sentence."

Danny smiles at them; soft but undeniably cruel. He bows at them, like how he would bow on days where his father would teach him how to ballroom dance.

"this is not a goodbye, it is merely a see you later." He starts, voice full of merit. "May we meet again, and may the circumstances of our next meeting a better one."

His smile turns sharper then, the contrast between it and his soft eyes sends an unpleasant shiver. "For our destiny are tied, and our Fates will overlap with each other."

"You cannot change our destiny. For the blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb, and our bond has tied us together."

"None of you will run from me— none of you can run from me."

"Because I will chase you down and hunt you until our family is complete."

#danny phantom #dp x dc #batfam #danny fenton #dp x dc crossover #dp x dc prompt #dpxdc #dpxdc prompts #dc x dp #dc x dp prompt #not betaed we die like literally everyone #your boy officially lost it wooooo #this one will actually make me cry if it flops hyd

[daemon-in-my-head]

Just my opinion, but the reason why I love durgetash is simply because they're fucked. It doesn't matter what they do, they will never have a happy end. They've had a horrible life and even their death and afterlife will be anything but peaceful or nice. They're screwed, as screwed as someone can be.

But regardless of that they still want to be together. They're still a ride or die for each other, and it's not even romantic, it can be 1000% platonic, but at the end of the day they are each others main priority. And that's beautiful, even more so when you take into account that it's the worst they could do in their situation. Having these feelings for anybody makes their situation 10x worse and harder on themselves. And yet they still do it.

Even redeemed durge. They may have gotten rid of the urge and bhaals blood but their body was still crafted from Bhaals flesh and that's something they can not escape. They will forever be a bhaalspawn and Bhaal will never be something they can truly put to rest, and now they're potentially even immortal. And one day the memories of Gortash will probably come back, long after he's gone, but now durge is forced to lament what has been until the end of time.

It doesn't matter if platonic or romantic; the two people that have never been given love or affection by anyone very consciously chose to love each other. Even if it's pointless. Even if all its gonna do is hurt them so much worse down the line. And that's beautiful, in a tragic, my heart is ripping apart sort of way.

It's like someone's dying, but in their last minute, this dream they always had finally comes to fruition, and instead of being bitter, they're just glad it happened. After all, the moment they became their gods chosen, they signed their own death sentence. And that just hurts so very nicely.

#bg3 #enver gortash #bg3 gortash #bg3 spoilers #lord gortash #durgetash #gortash x durge #bg3 durge

[lemon-natalia]

Gideon the Ninth Reaction - Chapter 19

at the end of the last chapter i fully thought they were gonna go back to the basement murder lab, glad to see they're not being that dumb

'she used to have nightmares about being on the wrong side of the Locked Tomb, especially after what Harrow had done' see i'm pretty sure i've been spoiled about everything re: all of the dead Ninth kids and all that, but this feels like its maybe referring to something different? also, is the Locked Tomb like an actual physical locked place then, because i was kinda assuming it was just a really creepy metaphor for death

if i'm right in my assumption Gideon and Harrow get together, i find the contrast between how Gideon describes Harrow's appearance and 'pointed face' versus Everything about her descriptions of Corona hilarious

i cannot believe it took me until this chapter to realise that Gideon needed the sunglasses because of the difference in the amount of light present on the First vs Ninth. i honestly just thought she wanted to look cool and make a fashion statement 😭

neither of them brought lights omfg, they're such delightful dumbasses in their own way

oh wonderful another creepy lab, this time complete with an mysterious group photo with the faces crossed out. this really is a video-game setting

more fuel to my crack theory that this is Earth however-many-thousand years in the future: Gideon considers guns to be an ancient artifact. also now i want Gideon to have a gun, i think she could wreak havoc

i really wasn't expecting Harrow to be this explicit about the need to trust each other and be allies this soon. at least she recognises the need to trust eachother now

'walked in at just the wrong moment' again, another ominous reference to Harrow and Gideon's childhood. maybe this and the mention before are referring to Harrow's whole necromancy-ing her parents? but its so vague it could be something else

ok weird ancient note with the words 'give Gideon my congratulations'. given how long that rooms been sealed up, unless there's some strange immortality shenanigans going on, its not referring to our Gideon. but the phrasing still does to me make it sound like its referring to a person ... Gideon's mother had said only that name when they arrived and the Ninth simply assumed it was the name of her child, but perhaps instead she knew some secret about Canaan House, and was repeating that instead?

#lemon natalia reads the locked tomb #tlt #gideon the ninth #the locked tomb #the locked tomb liveblog

[villain-byteniwoha]

ships i like and why i ship them: a small, affectionate rant before bed

zhongchi: probably the first ship i ever interacted with. i may have started playing genshin for them. I specifically remember reading modern, non canon au fics on ao3 when i was still low AR and did not have liyue unlocked yet just to enjoy content of them without spoiling the story too much. those were good times

love the betrayal, the reciprocated manipulations, their individual bloody pasts and their juxtaposing love for humanity/family. the marriage chopsticks. god, the amount of threads I've read explaining those... and ofc you can't forget the official art with them by the harbor with the gingko leaves falling cinematically. i think that's the art that drew me to them lol

there's also something so deliciously tragic about a near-immortal being who's fated to succumb to erosion in due time, falling in love with a mortal man who's always within death's cold embrace. not to mention the subtext of their themes and principles. geo and hydro, stability and turbulence, land and sea, they crystallize when they meet in the middle, etc etc

kaeluc: another pairing I enjoyed the absolute shit out of, way back when I wasn't even playing the game yet. I remember learning about them while I was deep in my mxtx phase, specifically tgcf, and I'm pretty sure I dipped my toes in after I learned that they used to be sworn brothers. keywords here being used to. hook, line, and sinker. before I knew it, I was also reading fanfics about them, but only modern, non canon au ones because genshin terms made no sense to me and i didn't want spoilers. then I played the game. and then—we get Kaeya for free. I mained the shit out of that man for months.

and then. I fully entered the fandom, only to be immediately slapped in the face with the mistranslation issue.

and I get it, honestly, if you like ragbros good for you, I'm happy for you, but me personally, I will scorn hyv until the day I fucking die because had they not messed this up? kaeluc would've have been so powerful. KAELUC WOULD HAVE BEEN SO FUCKING POWERFUL

how could they not be? they're childhood friends but they're also forbidden romance coded, and rivals/enemies coded, but they're also soulmates. they don't just know each other, they're two halves of a whole, they know each other.

and the themes, don't even get me started on their themes. fire and ice, red and blue... paimon's line about them being similar (i.e. kaeya's a shady mf who fights in the day/diluc's a bright fire in the night) is one of the most romantic lines ever. they're sun and moon but only because they complete each other. also, lamp grass and calla lily? that's them as flowers, but they're the other person's ascension material like hello???????? fucking wild.

and ofc this kaeluc section can't end without me mentioning arundolyn and rostam. for those who don't know or have read/heard of those names but never really dug deep into it, arundolyn and rostam were knights of favonius around the same time as the cataclysm, and you can read about them in artifact sets such as brave heart, defender's will; and partially from the elegy bow

the reason they're here is because there are too many damn parallels between them and kaeluc to just be a coincidence.

arundolyn was a claymore user (see: ferrous shadow), he was the "lion of light,"; he was naturally gifted in strength but still trained hard and would later become the grand master of the knights; he'd push rostam to drink wine and tell him to have a little fun; he gives up his title and weapon after rostam dies

on the flip side, rostam was the swordsman who created the art of favonius bladework (see: favonius sword), his title was, "wolf pup,"; when he and arundolyn played as children, he was the stand-in for the champion knight of aristocracy; he "ruled the shadows," by protecting mond with ways the knights did not approve; rostam dies in an expedition to expunge the evils poured forth from the cataclysm...

I'll let you connect the dots there. I just also wanna point out, as a final note, that in the favonius sword's description, it says, "the childhood friend and spiritual counterpart of Arundolyn, the Lion of Light, whose name was Rostam, the Wolf Pup." ok. yeah. moving on

xiaoven: i very quickly realized after reading the genshin webtoon that venti was gonna be one of, if not my most favorite character. and i was curious as to who the people wanted to pair him with. keep in mind, this was around 2.0~2.2 I believe, so when I searched them up, the only canon backing I could find was the music scene

and boy, was that scene enough because holy shit, the brain rot these two gave me??? of a god who embodies freedom, and the last remaining yaksha chained to his duty????? they were so thematically opposed and beautiful, it wasn't hard to fall in love with them

by the time 3.0 came rolling in, I've already stopped playing, but that didn't mean i wasn't aware of how we were well fed by canon. from the trailer to venti full on attending the lantern rite and sitting down with the liyue gang; it was one of those interactions that transcended everything

and of course, OF COURSE, they also canonically addressed the fact that venti's music soothes xiao's soul. that's intimate. that's deep. that's so fucking romantic and nice and beautiful in the most tragic way...

also, we can't forget the depictions of god and servant here. the holy themes, the worship. the promise of immortality and foreverness, but also the threat of it. i just think xiao doomed with karmic debt and venti vowed to divine erosion is such a soulmate connection, and I'm also delusional

that's all for now but there's so much more...

#I'll probably make a proper arundostam/kaeluc parallel analysis when I can lol #this got away from me FAST lmao #genshin impact #genshin impact ship #zhongchi #tartali #kaeluc #luckae #xiaoven #zhongli #tartaglia #childe #kaeya #diluc #kaeya alberich #diluc ragnivindr #xiao #venti #bee.texts #gi.texts #rants

[bidisastersanji]

The Old Guard x One piece AU got my brain going brrr and i'm gonna make it your problem now. Center of the matter is I want Zoro and Sanji to meet kind of like Nicki and Joe did (discovering their immortality by fighting on opposite sides and killing each other over and over and then becoming eternal lovers) so I went and did some research for the entire Straw hat crew. Main thing is I wanted to link them to historical events that will give them the right motivations and backgrounds! so here we GOOO

Sanji and Zoro: Because Japan has an isolationist past, the only battle I could find that would work is the Cagayan battles of 1582 in Jakarta between Spanish-Philippine forces vs Japanese pirates (a.k.a Wokou, which are basically pirate ronin) Sanji would thus be a reluctant "Rodelero" sent to South East Asia by his noble family (jokes on them he loves being in the middle of the spice trade and he hates being part of a noble family funding the conquistadores) who one day finds himself fighting a mysterious Wokou samurai Zoro. They're partly isolated from their respective camps when they first kill each other, and again, and again, until they realise they should by all means be dead but they keep healing. After a couple decades of -against all odds- running into each other everywhere, they reluctantly decide to try and figure out what the heck's happened to them together- struggling to communicate at first, then learning each others' language over the following decade, then falling in love and becoming inseparable. This makes Zoro and Sanji both over 400 years old, and they are the same age. Zoro learns about so many sword techniques and Sanji about different cuisines/ leg-centric fighting styles during this time.

all the other straw hats and their historical periods under the cut!

Robin as an Egyptian scholar who died during the burning of the Library of Alexandria in 48 BC/ was killed for researching something forbidden during the declining years of the Roman Period (early 200s) and found out she was immortal this way, making her around 2 millennia old. She spends her time recording history and traveling the world and encountering new cultures. Her long time enemy is religious obscurantism, and the Catholic church spends a lot of resources trying to kill her. (they have conspiracy boards about this immortal witch in the Vatican)

Brook: so ancient he doesn't remember much, other that he came from Kerma culture (2500 BC), loved music, and that his entire village had died from an illness, but he came back. His memory isn't great but if there's one thing he's loved in his Millennia of existence is discovering and learning how to play all the instruments that he could find. He mostly hangs in Vienna nowadays as a music teacher.

Jinbei is a Samoan chieftain from around 1000 BC who one day died during a battle with a Fijian chieftain. When he came back from death he assumed Tagaloa chose him. He loves navigating, sailing, exploring and going on voyages with his people. In more recent times (post european contact) he was forced to ally with the US Navy to protect his people.

Nami: Irish lass from around 800 who's coastal, tiny village was about to be raided by Vikings from Sweden. She made a deal with their chieftain Arlong to go with them and map out the British isles for them to help their raids be more effective and targeted, in exchange for not killing people in her village, and that she would make back the plunder they did not get from this town for them. She started to join their raids to try and make this money, but she died in battle. She came back and they believed her to be some kind of Valkyrie or Einherjer brought back to midgard. She took over the raider's leadership- also Norsemen always had women handle money, which works great here. During her time as an immortal she travels, seeks treasure, double crosses people etc.

Usopp a young double agent/CIA spy from the Cold War who died on a mission. He tragically could not return to his love Kaya because he was afraid of putting her in danger by revealing he was alive to the spies that killed him. He relocates and starts anew constantly, his entire life a web of lies. He's a great marksman/sniper.

Chopper died young of the Bubonic plague in medieval Europe. He resuscitated, tragically his father is infected as well and he's unable to save him- motivating him to get to the bottom of this disease, he decides to become a doctor. Looking like a 15 year old for centuries doesn't make this task easy and he has to hide a lot.

Franky is an American veteran of WWI who was heavily disfigured first, and died later (which is why he's not fully healed and needs prosthetics). He's heavily anti-government from having been sent to fight in such a meaningless war that sacrificed young men like cannon fodder. He learned to fix himself up and make prosthetics and masks for veterans, got into making tech stuff

Luffy is a modern, 21st century 20 something year old from Brazil's favelas. He dies in a gun violence incident (maybe linked to a drug war/gang war where he's been trying to protect his neighbourhood) and comes back, experiencing visions of others like him. He's resolute to find them and make a crew, thinking that with all of them together, maybe they can help liberate the world from opressors and inequality

#it's one am #but i couldnt stop #did all the research i could to match each straw hat with a nice historic period #one piece au #zosan au #zosan fic idea #one piece fic idea #zoro x sanji #i just want the star crossed immortal lovers with lots of lore and cool adventures as #new immortal luffy just goes around collecting these people who have no idea there's others like them #and them going around liberating people #like the scariest undying ten people army that they are #the old guard one piece au #the old guard au #immortal straw hats #straw hat crew #zosan

[earlgarden-archived]

A love that will last an eternity pt. 2

ft. Jing Yuan, Raiden!reader, mention of Qingzu

Synopsis. Just some general dating headcannons of Jing Yuan and you as Raiden Ei :) maybe I will make a general married couple headcannons 🤔

Request. I read your last post about Jing Yuan x Raiden!reader, and my mind has been thinking about some things. Like, how would the reader and Jing Yuan see each other? Bc they're both really busy, so would they just have this long distances relationship until they retire? Which, would be a long time. And considering how popular Jing Yuan is, I must imagine that he has quite a few fangirls, it would be interesting to see how he would handle them. Anyway, this isn't exactly a request, but if you can, I would be interested in seeing something based off of this. Thank you for reading this very long paragraph :)

Not me considering on making this a series

𑁍┊now, to answer the question on how you two would see each other, you know that one cutscene where Kazuha and Raiden Ei had a confrontation (after the Signora fight), Ei kinda just... Teleported there. So I would think she has the ability to teleport, so I think that's how you two see each other. You would just teleport to the Xianzhou Luofu and surprise him there. You know, like this:

𑁍┊or better yet, you jumpscare him while he's doing paperwork in the seat of divine foresight. I can imagine you just popping out from your portal and hug him behind, and him gasping because he didn't expect you to come.

𑁍┊i don't think Jing Yuan would do much about his fangirls, since he doesn't want to hurt his reputation, but also because you seem quite oblivious to their flirts, and just assumed that they were being nice. Like, you would compliment how respected Jing Yuan was, and he would just go along with it.

𑁍┊if things did got too far though, he would tell the fangirls to go away, and that he was busy.

𑁍┊imagine how tired Qingzu is because of how many meetings he's "accidentally" missed, just because he lost track of time when he was with you. He would probably earn another title besides Dozing General lol.

𑁍┊Jing Yuan absolutely ADORES the way the tone of your voice sound slightly higher whenever he mentions desserts. But sometimes he gets a little concerned about your obsession with desserts.

𑁍┊I would imagine the both of you sparring together. After all, you both still have a nation to protect.

𑁍┊I bet enemies would tremble in fear whenever you two fight enemies together. Like, Jing Yuan summons the Lightning lord, and the enemies hardly survived that. And that's when you pull out a flipping sword, and slash all of the enemies into oblivion. Rip all those fallen enemies. Such a painful death 😔

𑁍┊i feel like the most common dates you two would go on would just be pretty simple walks, trying out different foods together, feeding your obsession with desserts the Jing Yuan is getting more and more concerned about-

𑁍┊you two are just a old immortal couple that finally found someone that would stay with them for the rest of their lives 🥺

#jing yuan x you #hsr jing yuan #jing yuan x y/n #jing yuan x reader #jing yuan #hsr x y/n #hsr x you #hsr x reader #raiden ei #raiden shogun #genshin impact #ei

[saccharineomens]

A small Chainsaw Man Analysis

They're referencing this post:

(Sorry i can't respond to your ask directly, tumblr kept crashing)

LMAO ok Anon you win but I can’t promise this will be very articulate or coherent

Ok so when I first heard about Chainsaw Man I heard it was The Manga Of All Time and the anime has been Majorly Hyped and Everyone Loves It so I was curious. Then I went and watched the anime and I was like ‘huh ok I mean. It’s good but it’s not like mindblowing.’

Then I read the manga all the way to the end of part 1 and I understood.

So the world of Chainsaw Man is set in a Fucking Bleak reality. Like, overwhelmingly so. The fact that devils exist and can murder humans on a whim and it’s basically treated as an unavoidable inconvenience because how the hell can you stop them, really, when they’re functionally immortal? The best you can do is kill them, send them to Hell, and hope they don’t die there and revive back on Earth. The protagonist is a 16 year old orphan who sold parts of his body to pay off a “noodle incident” debt inherited from his father, and then the kid was murdered by the yakuza he owed money to because they decided they liked devils, actually, and didn’t want him around killing them. In CHAPTER ONE. Why would anyone enjoy reading about a story set in a world like this?

Because of Aki, and Power, and the family Denji created with them. It takes a while for the ball to get rolling in the story, because they’re strangers at the beginning, but any manga reader is gonna know what I mean when I talk about how they love each other. Denji comes across as a sex-obsessed, horny teen, but that’s just because he craves emotional intimacy and sex is the only way he thinks he could get it. The truth is that his shower/bath with Power was the exact kind of vulnerability and intimacy he was craving, and it WASN’T sexy. The narrative didn’t treat it as sexy. Denji even notes that it wasn’t sexy, to his surprise, but it was nice to be able to be vulnerable with another person. Then there’s Aki, who imprinted on Denji and Power so hard he straight-up was considering quitting being a devil hunter so he could just live a normal life with his new family. He was willing to abandon his obsession with the gun devil, something that he’d been driving his will to live for years, for them. It was Himeno’s death and the letter he read that made him realize that the life of a country mouse might not be so bad, if it’s with the people he loves. (I know that’s a loaded sentence out of context but manga readers know what I mean when I bring up the country mouse, right)

I bring all of this up to show how even in a grim, dark, depressing world like Chainsaw Man, there is hope; and that hope comes in the form of love. Love in a general, not romantic, sense. Love of having toast and jam for breakfast, love of a movie, love of a family.

Now, to Makima.

Makima is Really Fucking Goddamn Powerful. She is literally reality breaking, almost as much as Chainsawman. (For the purposes of this essay, I’m referring to Pochita/Chainsawman and Denji as separate entities.) Makima is able to control anyone so long as she feels she has power over them, and she has a contract with the fucking Prime Minister. That’s a terrifying power. She’s literally the manifestation of the fear of being controlled.

And that’s a lonely existence.

Pochita/Chainsawman says it himself. When you’re so powerful, you struggle to make connections with people. Either they worship you and put you on a pedestal, or they fear you. You can’t get close to anyone, no matter how hard you try. The only way Pochita was able to do so was because Denji had no idea who Chainsawman was.

Makima doesn’t show this emotional weakness of hers, because it directly opposes her powers. If people saw her as needing connections with other people, they wouldn’t respect/fear her, and she would literally become weaker as a result. (The same way that as Chainsawman becomes more beloved by the general populace as a Hero, he becomes weaker.) But there’s a point where we, the audience, get to see this side of her. In her date with Denji.

Quick recap (of one of the best chapters in the whole manga, thematically): Denji and Makima go on a date at a movie theater. They sit and watch like six movies in a row over the course of the day. The first five are packed with people and are funny/entertaining, but not very deep. Neither Denji nor Makima are very impressed with these. Then…I’ll just post the comic here.

The final movie they see is more of an indie arthouse film. Most importantly, it shares an intimate, vulnerable moment between two people who hug. Denji cries because he sees this thing he craves, as I’ve elaborated on. Then he looks over and sees that Makima is also crying. We already know why, as Pochita said: she is unable to get close to anyone, due to the nature of her powers and the nature of her being a devil. Because of this, Makima craves connections with other people.

Makima straight up tells the audience why she’s doing the things she’s doing. If she has control over Chainsawman, she can have him eat other devils and create a world where those fears never existed. She truly, honestly believes this would make a happier life for humans. But the problem with that mentality is that in a world without bad things, in a world without fear…there’s no good things, either. How do you tell how “good” a good thing is, if you have nothing to compare it against? How can you tell that one in five movies is “good”, if you don’t experience the other four?

Why would anyone enjoy reading about a story set in a world like this? Because despite all of the horrible things that happens, love exists. It shows up over and over and over again. Love exists. It was there. It mattered. It was worth fighting for.

That brings me to the conversation between Makima and Denji I love so much, and why the end of Part 1 works so well.

Makima thinks that a world without bad movies fear would be better. She thinks that in this world, she could be loved. She thinks that in this world, humans could be happy forever because they never suffer hardship.

And Denji knows for a fact that that's wrong, because without bad movies, the good movies don't stand out. You can't say that jam and toast is a great breakfast if all you've ever eaten is jam and toast for breakfast.

And that's why Makima is tragic (because she's never experienced the love that Denji has, and never experienced the hardships he has), and that's why Makima is wrong.

And all of this, the whole conflict of the story, is summed up in three lines between Denji and Makima in a graveyard. It's perfect.

#it's also why i love makima. she's such a great character #chainsaw man #chainsaw man spoilers #chainsaw man analysis #csm #csm spoilers #makima #denji #denji hayakawa #op #axbox #anon

[ineffable-endearments]

The Crow Road and Good Omens: Further-Out Thoughts

Here are a few more thoughts; they're more interpretive yet than the ones in my original post about The Crow Road.

I see some similarities between Prentice and both Aziraphale and Crowley.

Prentice feels this need to believe there's something beyond this life, in large part because this life can be ended so quickly and so easily, and it isn't fair. Throughout the novel, he is never very interested in organized religion; his interest in spirituality is truly about the feeling that there has to be a deeper meaning to existence than this one life.

Likewise, I tend to interpret Aziraphale as willing to consider that the people who make up his institution are fallible, but still stuck on the idea that Heaven is performing an essential role: someone should be up there Doing Good, or, more accurately, encouraging people to Do Good. He has reservations about the existing spiritual establishment and how reflective of truth it is, but he still has this feeling that there has to be a greater power and a greater meaning that can be given to people, himself included, because otherwise, what would be the point?

Then again, there is a nonzero amount of Crowley in Prentice, too (and I know the point is that everyone has a little of each). Prentice is a college-aged young man trying to figure himself out in a world that can be profoundly unfair, and he wants to be allowed to experiment with the idea of life after death. Considering perspectives different from one's parents is part of growing up, after all. Kenneth is determined to steer his sons toward a specific worldview, and as much as Kenneth's perspective on spirituality is supported by the narrative, his stubbornness is also ultimately the thing that gets him killed. Prentice observes his mother's hands-off approach to ideology may have ultimately been more effective.

Doesn't this sound a little familiar? Prentice wants to be allowed to question, and he isn't willing to just shrug and accept unfairness without an argument. When he can't find satisfactory answers, he also tends to drown his anxiety and depression in alcohol and other substances.

All in all, I feel we may have seen the conflict between Crowley and Aziraphale playing out in Prentice's character development; they are the angel and demon on his shoulder, as usual. But the conflict was resolved in the way that I think and hope Crowley and Aziraphale's will be on a grander scale. Prentice ended up having to surrender his philosophy, especially the life-after-death stuff, but then his deep need for a sense of meaning was satisfied much better by finding that meaning here on Earth.

There's also an interesting interaction between the two stories in relation to the afterlife. Namely, The Crow Road takes place in a universe that presumably works just like ours, while we know for sure that in Good Omens, there is an afterlife of one kind or another. We can't be sure how it works, but we've seen human characters in both Season 1 and Season 2 maintain their consciousness after death. I wonder if maybe in the world of Good Omens, human mortality is somehow being exploited by the higher-ups?

Anyway, as a result of this difference, Good Omens also has a special opportunity with the "death doesn't give life meaning - life gives itself meaning!" message. Its main characters are immortal. The book already subverts the whole "oh, being immortal sucks, everyone eventually wants to die" trope by portraying Crowley and Aziraphale's motivation to maintain their Earthly lives instead of starting Armageddon. Season 2 added depth to that, and Season 3 has an opportunity to fully flesh out why exactly life on Earth is where meaning is created even when there is no time limit, even if people don't have the inevitability of death looming over their heads.

Another thought: something a little ironic in The Crow Road is that the incident that led to Kenneth's death "should," theoretically, have made Prentice believe in higher powers, if it was really about that. It certainly convinced Hamish. However, the whole conflict between himself and his father was more about the meaning Prentice sought, so instead, it pushed Prentice toward Kenneth's ideology.

I am wondering if this points toward an event that Aziraphale "should," theoretically, take to mean that Heaven is right or all-powerful or otherwise can't possibly be defied, but which will be the very thing that convinces him the entire system is wrong.

Finally, @loverdosis brought up the great point that memory and history are also major conceptual themes in The Crow Road. In The Crow Road, memory and history give the characters their sense of identity. Prentice also mentions it as one way people can achieve a kind of continuity that doesn't infringe on the importance of life itself. And all of that meshes with Good Omens. So far, Gabriel's plot has involved a very strong focus on memory issues, and through that, we've seen that there is something going on with Crowley's memory as well, although exactly what it is - how much of his memory is missing, who took it, whether he can or wants to get it back - is uncertain. Beelzebub described Gabriel's memories as "All your...you," implying that memories are the majority of what gives Gabriel his identity. The memory wipe punishment is very much a death sentence.

After consideration, I would not be surprised to see memory make a roaring comeback as a theme in Season 3. It could even bring themes of identity and purpose with it.

#good omens #the crow road #go3 speculation #s3 speculation #go 2 spoilers #good omens 2 spoilers #go s2 spoilers #good omens book club