#Complex Discussions

[its-queenofthesilence]

The Line Between Life and Death | Hercules/Encanto Crossover | Part 4 of ?

Chapters: 4/? Fandom: Encanto (2021), Hercules (1997) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Miscarriage? Relationships: Hades/Persephone, "Abuela" Alma Madrigal/Pedro Madrigal, Agustín Madrigal/Julieta Madrigal, Hera/Zeus

Summary:

Hades and Persephone have spent centuries on centuries waiting for the day when they could finally have a child of their own. And after thousands of years watching all his unborn children die before they can even be born, he will do anything to make sure his little girl survives. Thankfully for him, there is a father in Columbia who is just as desperate as he is to save his children. And who might just be willing to trade for the very thing that would let Hades save his daughter....

“Babe, I didn’t mean it!” said Hades, avoiding the mug that hit the wall behind him. He intended to go after his daughter but his wife stopped him, tearing him a new asshole. “I don’t care if you didn’t mean it! She’s your daughter, not a mortal who went back on a deal Hades! You can’t just manhandle our daughter when she says something you don’t like!” screamed his wife.

“This…this is because of those Mortals, we never should have left her with them for so long!” Pleaded the God. He feared little, but a good husband feared their wife’s wrath. “No, Hades. She is a teenage girl, in an unfamiliar place who was ripped away from the only world and family she has ever known! Clearly something you have had little experience with. Have you met a teenage girl? I have, many, both mortal and immortal. And I can tell you, they all scream at their parents that they hate them at some point or another. The point is you cannot treat her like that! I asked you to give her time, not even twelve hours ago and you immediately go back on your word!”

“I was trying to make a joke, baby!” The God explained, trying to back peddle.

“I don’t care, she doesn’t find it funny, she was already scared and now you’ve traumatized her further. She freaked out this morning when she realized her clothes had been changed, you can’t do that Hades!”

“I was trying to help!” Snarled the god in question, his temper starting to get the best of him. Smoke was billowing angrily around him again.

“No, you were acting like your father!” snapped Persephone. “You're treating her the same way he treated you and your brothers. You’re always going on about how Zeus was a brat who was coddled by your mother, did you maybe think what he did was because of how Chronos treated him? You’ve put your father on a pedestal your entire life as the firstborn son and I’ve stayed out of it but I hear things from my mother and from my aunts and Zeus, even Poseidon, he didn’t have a good time. None of your brothers did. Far from it. Your father wasn’t strict, he was abusive Hades, and this is what you’re doing now to our daughter!”

“My father wasn’t that bad!” He snapped back, causing yet another explosion of fire and smoke. If it were anyone but Persephone, they would be cowering but she held fast, not even fazed. “Yes. He. Was. And your mother enabled him.” She said slowly, through forced teeth. The god opened his mouth but he was cut off by his wife. “Fine, you want to pretend like you had an perfect upbringing and Zeus is responsible for all your heartache? Fine, go ahead. But I’m not going to be like your mother and let you treat our daughter this way.”

She doesn’t wait for an answer, pushing past him and leaving him alone in the wreckage of what was once their kitchen. “I…I…” There is no point in trying to argue further, she’s already gone.

“Mirabel?” Persephone opened the door to the bedroom, hoping to find her there but instead she was met with nothing. “The Princess didn’t come back this way, Your Majesty.” Said one of the guards posted by her door. “In fact, we haven’t seen her since you both left to have breakfast.” She cursed internally. She might be Hades wife, but she couldn’t summon mortals or souls in this domain. Items sure, but not people. That was strictly his thing, being that this was his Underworld. She considered getting her husband but quickly decided against it.

She quickly summoned a scrying orb from their chambers and flicked it on, looking for their daughter. Oh no, she was outside the palace. Somehow she had gotten past all the guards and had fled out into the Underworld proper. That was bad, very bad.

“Oh Mirabel, what have we done?" Persephone whispered, her brow furrowed with worry. She knew the Underworld was a dangerous place, even for a goddess. There were countless hazards and threats that could harm her vulnerable, mortal-born daughter. Shades, furies, even the very landscape itself. And while people might respect and fear Hades, and not want to risk going against him, they had not made the announcement yet to their people that their daughter was even home. They would just assume she was some lost mortal (It happened on occasion, usually drunk college students trying to summon Hades and instead ending up here.) in the Underworld.

She needed to send someone after her, someone who knew the landscape best. But not Hades, and not Cerberus or the guards of the palace, because that would just scare her more. Thankfully she knew just the imps for the job. “PAIN, PANIC.” She called, summoning the fraternal twin demons to her aid.

The two small, imp-like demons appeared in a puff of smoke, bowing clumsily before Persephone. "You called, ‘Seph?" The blue one, Panic, asked. With Hades, they had a strictly formal relationship, neither of them would dare to call him by a nickname or with such informality. Persephone however, loved the pair and thought of them as her own kids in a way, much to the annoyance of Hades. Ever since the failed invasion of Olympus, Hades hadn’t bothered with the pair much, feeling that they botched his one chance at avenging his parents and taking his birthright. He would put them in the Pit but he knew he would never hear the end of it from his wife. So they mostly just kept her company now…when Hades wasn’t around, that is.

“There is my two handsome imps! How are you?” She cooed, before her expression turned serious. “I apologize, this isn’t a social call. I’m not sure if Hades told you, but our daughter is back home. And in typical fashion, he scared her and now she’s somewhere, vulnerable, out in the Underworld. I was hoping my two favorite little guys could go get her. “

Pain and Panic exchanged a nervous glance, shifting uncomfortably under Persephone's pleading gaze before melting like butter. "Your daughter, huh?" Pain rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Uh, yeah, we heard about that. Crazy stuff." Panic elbowed him in the ribs, casting an anxious look towards the door. "W-What he means to say is, of course we'll go get her! Anything for you, 'Seph!"

Persephone beamed, clasping her hands together. "Oh, you two are the best!" She leaned down, planting a kiss on each of their cheeks. "Now hurry, she couldn't have gotten too far. Bring her back safe, okay?"

Pain and Panic saluted sloppily. "You got it, 'Ma!" With that, the two demons disappeared in a puff of smoke. Hopefully, they would be able to find her before anything harmed her.

When he agreed to do another vision, he had hoped he could get out of it or at least delay it by saying his room was not in good condition right now to do one. Mind you it wasn’t, lots of sand piling up and the bridge was destroyed. And also he knew that no one would want to climb the stairs to begin with and there was a reason he had kept the elevator hidden (to prevent people, really his mother from being able to bug him so easily.)

He also mentioned that even if everyone did make the journey, his vision room was kind of small, and couldn’t fit them all. Well, it could but it would be tight quarters. Of course, no one was having that. Especially Antonio who had watched his favorite cousin (sorry Luisa and Isabela) be ripped away from him on his birthday.

“You can do it in my room!” Out of everyone, Antonio had the most open, flat space and was less concerned with all the sand that was going to end up everywhere from the vision (It didn’t just magically disappear after he was done. He had made the mistake of doing a vision in Pepa’s room, one time, and he never heard the end of it, his sister claiming she was finding sand everywhere for months.) as his room was an animal themed one and had beaches and sand galore everywhere already. Clean up would not be needed. So he relented. And now the entire family was around him in a circle, some sitting, some standing, waiting for him to start.

It was a bit nerve wracking to be honest, Camilo and Antonio and even Luisa had never even seen him do a prophecy and his mother…well, she didn’t like the sand whipping around. Which fair enough, it got everywhere and it hurt a bit if you walked into the circle, but still. Julieta and Agustín were standing the closest to him, gripping each others hands as they stared at him desperately.

‘Do it for Mirabel, do it for Mirabel’ he chanted, internally. Standing in the middle of the circle he had drawn, he began the process. Raising his hands, the sand began to rise, whipping around him. A similar scene as before began to play out. Mirabel, standing in a crowd watching her family take a picture without her, then it shifted into a crowd, Antonio standing at the front reaching for her, and a faceless man, Hades, trying to drag her into a pit with Cerberus. “It’s just the same thing!” He shouted over the noise and sand.

(“What do you think sisters, do you think I should show him?”

“Atropos , stop toying with them, you already know the answer. Unless you’d like to lose our best chance at retirement !"

“Fine!”)

“No! There has to be more, Bruno there has to be more!” Shouted Agustín. “Wait! Do you see that? Look! It’s a butterfly, just like the ones on Mirabel’s skirt!” The mustached man shouted, pointing out the small glowing butterfly that appeared in the sand. “Follow the butterfly!” Confirmed Alma, not caring about the sand hitting her and choosing to enter the circle to grasp her sons hands. “Mamá..” She shushed him. “Focus! Bruno, we need to see!” He squared his shoulders, turning back to the image. He followed the butterfly, watching the image shift into an man and woman who appeared to be of Mediterranean descent (He couldn’t tell what nationality exactly.), easily in their nineties, before it turned into an envelope with a name and address on it.

Herbert and Maggie Armstrong,

164 Oakwood Lane

Sunnyville, CA

USA

Bruno could hear Julieta over the sand repeat it to herself over and over, in an attempt to memorize it before the image changed again to show Mirabel, arms out and walking towards them, a saddened Hades and what he assumes to be Persephone behind her, holding each other. And then the vision ended, the sand falling, leaving behind the final image etched in a green tablet.

The family stared at Bruno in stunned silence, processing the new information from the vision. Alma was the first to speak, her voice trembling with emotion. “I don’t understand this, and how those two people we saw could help but if what we saw is correct, we need to go to America.”

“America? How? Do you know how expensive that would be, let alone finding how to get there? Aside from the fact that we have not been outside of the Encanto since we were born, the country is still filled with violence and unrest. And the world is still recovering from the second World War!” Pepa, exasperated and even more confused than she was before.

“Well, clearly there has to be a way, if this vision is any indication.” Suggested Félix, frowning. In the background, Camilo was also frowning, but for a different reason. He was looking at the vision in his Tio’s hands with deep scrutiny. “Hey, uh what are these tablets made of, by the way?” he asked. "It doesn't look like glass."

“Uh, I don’t know? Stone? I never thought about it.” Bruno offered, distracted by everything else. “Wait, that is a good point, these don’t look like glass…Tio, can I see this?” Asked Isabela, holding her hand out expectantly. Confused, he handed it over without a word. Isabela turned it over, running her fingers on it, eyes narrowing.

“I think, we have our answer on how we can get to America….money wise that is.” she said slowly, looking at the family.

“Uh, how? Mind explaining sis?” Luisa glanced between her family, just as in the dark as them. “Well, if there is one thing good thing that came out of being Abuela’s perfect little doll (She could see her grandmother wince.) is that I spent a lot of time looking at engagement rings with her and Mariano. This isn’t glass, or just green stone. It’s pure Jade.”

“What? That can’t be correct!” Alma all but ripped it out of Isabela’s hands, looking it over. “Hmm! We could take it to the jeweler in town! He could confirm if it is or not! And then, if they are, we can pawn them….maybe not here, we do a lot of trading rather than using money but I’m sure we’re going to have to pass through other cities and towns on our way to America. Tio, how many of these things do you have lying around? I know I still have the one you gave me about Mariano…you know I’m just realizing you said the man of my dreams would be betrothed to another, not married…” Dolores said trailing off, eyes glazing over.

“I tried to tell you! Also, uh, a few, maybe a dozen or so. But what if people ask us why we have a bunch of jade tablets with images on them?” asked Bruno. “You could just break them into pieces, like you did with the other one.” Antonio offered. “Fair, probably still a lot of questions about why we have so much jade, but better than people asking about what’s on them.”

“Right, so if we do this and they are jade, we’ll need a few days, maybe a week at best. Time to prepare, tell the town, get our affairs in order…Fe-”

“No! If you are about to say me and Agustín should stay here, you can forget about it. We have just as much magic as you Alma, as in none. Mirabel is my sobrina and his daughter, I am going with you. We all are. We’re doing this as a family, no one is staying behind.”

“I am.”

Everyone turned. Pedro had mostly been silent. “Unfortunately, I am unable to go with you. I skimmed the agreement I signed…The clauses Alma, not the deal itself! But I do know that one of the caveats is that I am bound to this valley, I can’t leave it.”

“Ca..what other clauses were there Pedro?” she asked, head in her hands. This was just great! The ghost sighed. “I don’t think he thought to put it in the agreement, or maybe he thought you wouldn’t try and get Mirabel back, but it states that I, and just me, am not allowed to try and stop him from completing his side of the deal, before, during and after. Or the gifts and house would be forfeit.”

“Screw the gifts, we-” Pedro held up a hand. “It also states my soul would be forfeit as well and I would be doomed to an eternity into his Pit of Souls, whatever that is.” He finished explaining, cutting off his daughter.

Everyone was quiet. “It’s fine, don’t worry, I’ll watch over Casita and the town while you’re gone…I’m not sure how…uh, wait, I know animals can see and hear ghosts, so if Antonio leaves one of his bird friends, we can use them to pass along messages!” Everyone averted their gazes, not responding. The boy in question looked at his family, first excited at the idea of being able to help but now confused. “Mamá? Papá?” he asked, looking at Pepa and Félix with hurt.

“Toñito, you’re still a baby! It’s dangerous out there, you need to stay here!” Pepa leaned down to look her son in the eye, watching his lip tremble.

Antonio's face fell, his eyes filling with tears. "But I want to help save Mirabel! She's my Mira!" he cried, his voice thick with emotion. Pepa pulled her youngest child into a tight embrace. "I know, mi amor, I know. But it's too dangerous - we can't risk anything happening-”

“NO! I’M GOING TOO!” Antonio was known for being a shy and quiet kid, so hearing him yell was shocking. He crossed his arms, scowling. Bruno pinched the bridge of his nose before addressing his, only by ten minutes, older sister. “Pepa, I know you don’t like it, none of us do but the vision shows Antonio along with the rest of us, and even if you tried to keep him here, he would probably try and go on his own. Would you rather leave him, risking the chance he runs off to God knows where as soon as we leave, or having him with us, safe and in our sights? And his gift would be an asset.”

“…I hate when you are right.” The middle-triplet said after a moment of silence, not wanting to look at her brother, scowling. “You mean all the time Pep’?” Bruno smirked, and Pepa’s gaze softened. “Aye, I haven’t heard you call me that in forever, not since before the wedding….”

Bruno groaned. “I don’t know how many times I need to tell you, that wasn’t a prophecy! I was making a joke because I knew how stressed you were!”

Pepa sighed, wrapping an arm around Antonio and pulling him close. "I know, Bruñito. I know."

She pressed a kiss to the top of Antonio’s head, her expression softening. "I just worry, that's all. But you're right - if the vision showed Antonio there, then he needs to come with us." She looked up, meeting the gazes of her family. "We'll all go. As a family….except Papá, of course.”

Pedro nodded solemnly, accepting the limitations of the deal he had made. "I understand. I may not be able to join you physically, well you know, but I'll be with you in spirit." He gave his family a reassuring smile, though the pain in his eyes was evident. "Take care of each other out there. Bring our Mirabel home."

“We will. Familia, we all have our assignments: Julieta, start cooking. We will need food in case of injuries out there and a stash for emergencies here. I will inform people to see Dr. Cruz for anything not serious or can’t be solved from waiting it out. Casita can give it out if people come to the house. Agustín…you are the only one with experience being outside of the Encanto, and I know you have old camping gear laying around, find it. If you can’t, go around town and find some.” Alma paused, thinking. “Félix, help him. Isabela, I want you to bring this tablet to the jeweler, confirm if it is jade. Luisa, go see Senior Ríos (Alma could see the way Luisa immediately became red in the face, she would have to ask about that later.) and get some donkeys and horses. Maybe even carts if he has them. Take Antonio with you.”

“Camilo, Pepa, I want you to go around and ask people in town if anyone has kept a prophecy from Bruno. Unlikely, but we need as many of these as possible. Bruno, go get the ones you do have. and Dolores, I want you to find any information you have on this…Underworld, and also how we can get to America. Try the traders. I’m going to talk to the town.” The Matriarch finished handing out their tasks. Everyone was in agreement. “Check my library ‘Essy’! The bookshelf with the little stuffed donkey on the top shelf.” Luisa called over her shoulder to her cousin as everyone began to scatter.

They were going to get Mirabel back, or die trying. Hades be damned.

Mirabel wasn’t sure where she was running too, in all honestly. She just knew she had to get out of here. Unfortunately for her, she had no idea where to even begin. She was surrounded by unfamiliar territory and had no indication of where an exit to this place was. She could spy the golden city in the distance, she wondered what it was. She could go there, but she didn’t know what THERE was!

As she fled blindly through the winding, rocky paths, Mirabel couldn't help but glance nervously over her shoulder, half-expecting the towering, rage-filled figure of Hades to come barreling after her. But so far, there was no sign of pursuit. It seemed her “father” - if she could even call him that - and Persephone were content to let her go for now. She had to force herself to keep moving, it was hard when her hand was burnt from where she had been grabbed. It hurt, a lot.

She ran for what must have been miles, through the twisting, narrow paths of rock and stone, lost and inconsolable. Smacking right into someone and causing her to fall to the ground with a loud grunt as essentially ran into what was a wall. She hissed, as rock and stone dug into her legs and arms.

“Well, well. What do we have here sisters? Looks like a mortal got lost. Such good timing, I was feeling hungry for seconds.”

Mirabel jerked her head up. A tall woman with long black hair and pale skin stood over her. Her face was smeared with a blood-red substance. She was absolutely beautiful, until Mirabel looked down and saw that her lower torso had been replaced with a large, serpent like tail. The woman smiled a large, cruel grin revealing a set of sharp fanged teeth.

Mirabel's eyes widened in fear as she stared up at the monstrous woman looming over her. "P-please, I don't want any trouble," she stammered, trying to scoot backwards on the rocky ground. "I'm just trying to find a way out of here." She glanced behind the…woman? and noticed three other creatures just like her and the body of a man, his body drained and torn apart. She looked back at the woman’s face. That wasn’t just red like blood, it was blood.

The woman's grin only widened, her serpentine tail swaying back and forth behind her. "Oh, but you've already found trouble, little mortal." She let out a bone-chilling laugh, her red-stained lips curling into a cruel smirk. "You see, we don't get very many visitors down here. Especially not pretty young things like yourself."

Mirabel tried to take a step back, but the woman’s tail lashed out, wrapping around her waist and squeezing like an anaconda, causing Mirabel to gasp as air was forced out of her body. “I haven’t had a teenage girl in a while, usually it’s just frat boys. I’m going to enjoy this.” Baring her teeth, the woman lunged to bite her only to be stopped by a scream.

The Lamiae's head snapped up at the sound of the scream, her gleaming fangs halting just inches from Mirabel's terrified face. Her serpentine eyes narrowed as she searched for the source of the disturbance.

"Who dares interrupt my meal?!" she hissed, her grip on Mirabel tightening painfully.

Two small, imp-like creatures, suddenly appeared in a puff of smoke, landing clumsily between the Lamiae and her prey. One was skinny and blue with a long nose and the other was stout and red. The woman paused, eyes narrowed. Everyone knew who Pain and Panic were, the sniveling little lapdogs of King Hades.

“Y-you must release her at once!” Said the red imp. The Lamiae gnashed her teeth together, irritated by her meal being stopped. “And why would I do that? What authority do you two think you have?” She grinned viciously, looking at her meal and licking her lips. “She’s the Princess. We’ve been sent to collect her on behalf of the Queen.” The blue one said simply. The monsters face turned to horror, dropping Mirabel and then kneeling, as well as a serpent could. “Your highness! I apologize, I did not realize you had returned home already! Please forgive me!” She bowed, cowering. No one was stupid enough to go against Hades.

“Well, it’s not her you need to ask for forgiveness, it’s me.”

How he appeared without a sound, she didn’t know. But she did know she never wanted to see Hades again. The Lord of the Underworld strode forward, arms clasped behind his back. Hades approached the cowering Lamiae, his piercing gaze boring into her. "You dare lay a hand on my daughter?" He growled, the air around him crackling with barely restrained power. The Lamiae trembled, her serpentine body recoiling in fear. "I-I'm so sorry, my lord! I didn't realize - " He raised a hand, ready to strike her down.

"Stop it! Just stop it!" Mirabel cried out, her voice trembling with fear and anger. She couldn't stand to see anyone else hurt, even if they were a monster that had threatened her....and eaten someone. Hades paused, his hand frozen mid-strike as he turned to look at his daughter. The Lamiae, seeing an opportunity, quickly slithered away, disappearing back into the shadows.

Hades' expression softened slightly as he gazed at Mirabel, his hand dropping back to his side. "Mirabel, you shouldn't be out here alone. It's dangerous." His voice was gruff, but there was an undercurrent of concern. Mirabel glared up at him, hugging herself protectively. "I don't care.”

“Baby girl, it’s not safe. Come, let’s go back to the palace.” Hades said, trying to corral his daughter. “What, are you going to burn me again if I refuse? Maybe hit me this time?” She looked down at her wrist, blackened and aching.

Hades recoiled as if struck, his expression crumpling with guilt and remorse. "Mirabel, I...I would never hurt you! Baby girl, I love you!” He said, running his hand through his flame. Mirabel just held up her wrist as evidence of otherwise. Mirabel flinched as Hades reached towards her, half-expecting him to lash out again. But instead of grabbing her, he gently took her injured wrist, his touch surprisingly gentle. "Let me see," he murmured, his brow furrowed in concern as he inspected the angry, blistered skin. Pain and Panic hovered anxiously nearby, their eyes darting between the two nervously.

"I'm so sorry, Mirabel," Hades said, his voice thick with remorse. "I never meant to hurt you. I was just...I was so desperate to have you back, to make up for all the time we lost." He sighed heavily, his piercing gaze lifting to meet her wary stare. "I know I have a terrible temper, and I let it get the better of me. I’m…I’m new to this, and I know that’s no excuse. I’m sorry, I mean it baby girl.” Mirabel didn’t respond, looking away. “Please, let’s go back to the palace. You shouldn’t be out here.” Mirabel shrugged. “Not like I have a choice, is it?” She muttered under her breath.

Usually Hades would get angry at such back talk but instead he felt defeated. Persephone words just kept coming back to him. “Your father wasn’t strict, he was abusive Hades, and this is what you’re doing now to our daughter!”

“Baby girl…” He started. "We can keep an eye on her boss." Pain interjected, earning a scathing glare from Hades. "What are you doing, you idiot?" Panic hissed, elbowing Pain harshly in the side. "Shut up!"

Hades turned his piercing gaze back to Mirabel, his expression unreadable. He didn’t like those two, but he was finally listening to his wife for a change. Forcing her back would just worsen it. “She dies or gets injured in anyway, and I am putting both of you in the Pit. Understood? Have her back for dinner.” He looks at his daughter, still silent before frowning and summoning his royal seal and handing it to the less stupid of the pair, Panic. “In case anyone doubts you, don’t lose it.” He reaches out to touch his daughters cheek, but stops himself. “I’ll see you at home baby girl.” As soon as he disappears into smoke, the pair of imps start arguing.

“What were you doing?” Hissed Panic to his brother. “I dunno, she reminds me of us, and how Hades treats us. She doesn’t deserve the same treatment.” Said the shorter of the pair. "She reminds you of us, huh?" Panic sighed, running a clawed hand down his face in exasperation. "Yeah, well, news flash - we're demons. She's a literal goddess. Hades' daughter, no less." He jabbed a finger into Pain's chest, scowling. "You really think you can just treat her like one of us and get away with it?"

Pain shrank back, his ears drooping slightly. "I-I don't know, I just...I felt bad for her, okay?" He glanced over at Mirabel, who was watching their exchange with a mixture of confusion and wariness. "She shouldn't have to deal with Hades' temper, you know? Not like we do."

“I’m sitting right here, you know.”

They both froze, immediately falling over each other to apologize for their oversight. “Don’t, don’t do that. Groveling? Or whatever.” She said, bringing her knees to her chest. "So...you two work for him?" she asked, nodding her head in the direction Hades had disappeared. The blue imp, Panic, straightened up, puffing out his chest. “N-not…well kinda, yes, technically, we’re indebted to him but he doesn’t really call on us to for work anymore after the whole Olympus incident. Mostly we just keep Ma’ company.” 

“Ma’?” Mirabel asked with a raised eyebrow. At once both imps were stumbling over each other. “Well I meant…so…I mean…Don’t tell Hades? Seph’ knows obviously and doesn’t mind but he doesn’t like it when we call her that. Says we’re over stepping our boundaries. And then hurts us….”

Mirabel let out a dry laugh. “Well, we have that in common I guess….He hurts you too, huh?" she asked quietly, her gaze dropping to the rocky ground beneath them. Pain and Panic exchanged a nervous glance, their usual bravado fading. "Well, I mean...yeah, sometimes," Pain admitted sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. "But it's not like we don't deserve it! We mess up a lot and Hades has...a bit of a temper."

“No one deserves that.” Mirabel said quietly, her gaze fixed on the ground. The two imps fell silent, unsure of how to respond. After a moment, Panic cleared his throat awkwardly. “Maybe not but we’re used to it.”

“Well you shouldn’t be!”

The pair froze. Sure ‘Seph came to their aid when she could, but other than her no one had really ever shown any sympathy for their mistreatment. They were used to being treated like second class citizens. “Maybe not….look, we got like…eight hours until we have to get you back to the palace for dinner, maybe we should go elsewhere? The area we’re in is not the best. Especially for mortals. At least let us take you to Elysium.”

As if on cue, an old haggard woman with long claws and gaunt cheekbones dressed in tattered clothing began approaching them, spying Mirabel as an easy target only to be stopped by Panic flashing the seal. “Hades Daughter.” He said simply.

“Ah, my mistake, have a good day your Highness.” And immediately walked off. Mirabel sighed and got up, dusting her skirt free of lint. “It’s either that or go back to the palace, so sure because something tells me I won't be able to find a way out of here even if I tried. Take me to ‘Ely-see-um’ or whatever.”

"Alright, follow us then! Your new pals Pain and Panic will be your own personal Charon across the Underworld!” Mirabel raised another eyebrow. “Pain? Panic? Those are your names? Really?”

“Yep Princess, and don’t you wear it out!” Pain said, bowing with a dramatic swish of his hand. Mirabel smiled, for the first time in over a day, or really in a long time. An actual genuine smile, not the forced ones she put on around her family. She hated Hades (indifferent currently on Persephone) but these two? She liked them.

“So what is this about the ‘Olympus Incident’?”

[paperlit]

We as a fandom moved way too fast past this:

And this:

[jitteryfool]

While I get the intitial surprise and shock that Berenice and her cousin were sharing a sugar daddy and might or might not have engaged in certain activities together with Sterling... I am honestly kind of over all those 'sweet home Alabama' jokes or people just pointing out the incest and nothing else.

Like, yeah. Ok. We all read the chapter. Can we move on from that now? Can we talk about anything else, like maybe what the incestuous element added could mean for Berenice's character and backstory, what it might say about her relationships in life? Were Egaeus and Berenice already in that kind of relationship, or did they only play into it to please Sterling? So many interesting elements to be discussed from this chapter and the revelation of Berenice's life, all shoven aside only for a hundred same bare-bones exclamations of 'they were COUSINS???' and then followed by 'OH but at that time it was seen as normal!'

I'm just. kind of frustrated the mere presence of it is such a big deal I guess? It honestly doesn't come as that much of a surprise because well - it's gothic literature, as the webtoon has clearly established itself. Also, the character is based on 'Berenice' where they are indeed cousins engaged to be married. I would have been more surprised if Egaeus suddenly wasn't Berenice's cousin.

And I just don't see the point on dwelling on it so much for just being there or 'justifying' why it would be there by bringing up how it was different at that time, I guess. It felt, honestly, a little like some kind of moral panic, or more like, a lot of gesturing to make sure people wouldn't think you'd endorse the incestual aspect, even though it honestly isn't necessary because we all already know incest is bad and the story never made it seem like it would endorse it. Also, gothic fiction always had stuff like this, and I would love for people to finally move past the stage of just talking about how it's there and instead start talking about why - story-wise, character-wise - it would be there and what it means or could mean.

[maruniee]

thinking about milo greer.

milo greer, who was never treated seriously; not by his pack, by his friends, hell, even sometimes by his damn parents.

milo greer, the so-called "runt of the litter". the smallest wolf in the shaw pack, constantly belittled by his pack, the people he calls his friends, his family. never taken seriously despite being just as strong-- just as capable as anyone else.

milo greer, who even with his closest friends, is a third wheel. he's never going to be seen as the leader david is, or as social and loveable as ash. forever overshadowed by circumstances he can't control. even when they're all together, it's always david and ash! not david ash and milo.

milo greer, always the afterthought. never enough despite how hard he fights.

[effieotto]

i can’t ever be angry with Sunrise on the reaping, when Suzanne Collins finaly broke the illusion of responsibility being black and white that this fandom drowned themselves on for ten years. Not when she managed to tell us that, even though the majority of District Twelve were political victims who relied on utter submission and obedience as a result of fear, there were the groups who enjoyed it —who’d fun in watching the Games and gambled about tributes chances of surviving, not any different than the dirty rich sponsor. Not when she made sure to approach the Capitol through the new understanding of how intelectual submission and the false sense of safety could create the illusion of freedom that was powerful enough to manipulate some Capitols to do exactly what Snow wanted them to do, while still believing they were ever giving a choice on the matter. Not when she had to watch this fandom segregating Capitol and District for ten year, with the argument that they were both different breed thus they “could never be the same because they were both raised in extremely different conditions and ethos”, and then made sure to spell out that those people didn’t fit in boxes of good and bad. That they were complex people and the ideological discussion can’t ever be widespread. That not all the Capitol supported the Games to it’s depths, and not all District was against the Games to it’s depths. And i am grateful for that! You’ll never make me hate this!!!

She saw how little we understood about society and how primitive we’re to develop empathy, and she created Wyatt’s father and Effie Trinket and Drusilla and Plutarch and Proserpina and Panache and the guys who gambled in Twelve and the woman with cat ears and Louella and Silka and Wellie and Great Aunt Messalina and crackhead Magno and Burdock and Lenore Dove and the Peacekeepers who didn’t want to look after Haymitch because they wanted to go to the after party and Woodbine and Willamae and Sid..

Those were people, those were complex individuals, those were imperfect characters that were perfectly described by Haymitch’s innocent teenager eyes and you can pry this gift from my fucking dead body..

[yearnerspermit]

I’ll be honest the way some people talk about this show makes it sound less like they’re interested in the messy nature of people failing and remorse and guilt and atonement and redemption and regret and the capacity to change and the inability to undo what’s been done and unforgivable actions and maybe forgivable people and how you face all of it and continue to live and endure. and more like they want to be sitting in that jury, determining who’s guilty or not guilty, deciding a sentence, and walking away satisfied in the result being final

[jad3-d]

scara: was seen by ei as too emotional and fragile to be a vessel for a gnosis, couldn’t bring himself to kill kazuha’s great grandfather due to sentiment, didn’t hesitate to erase himself to try and fix his past mistakes, is always seen surrounded by small creatures in his official arts, literally carries a little doll he made himself around as a traveling companion, etc.

a lot of people after this event, for some reason: wtf why is he suddenly being soft?

[beannoss]

Something I think about a lot and wonder if maybe gets overlooked in Twilight’s story and as vitally indicative of his character is actually in the very first chapter:

Anya isn’t needed for Strix. Twilight decides to adopt her anyway.

[Spoiler warning: Mostly this post deals with early chapters already in the anime but there is reference to chapter 62, which has not yet been animated and will be in season 3]

Twilight decides it — “I’m going to rework the mission so it doesn’t involve a child because that’s too dangerous” and he’s 100% right! Donovan Desmond is canonically a far right warmonger with fascistic authoritarian aims. His government made liberal use of the SSS — a group to mirror the Stasi — who continue to operate in morally dubious ways (much more likely they’re actively morally reprehensible, though we’ve mostly only had rumours of that so far). From what we can tell, Desmond is at best an absent father and likely actually worse than that: if that's how he treats his own children, imagine how he might treat others. And the timeline seems to indicate that the experimentation performed on Anya was done under Desmond's government — even if Twilight isn't aware of experimentation on children, he is aware of both human and animal experimentation under Desmond's government. Taking all that and also the complexity of Strix's aims, undoubtedly there were other things that could be done, more straightforward if not necessarily easier.

So. Why? Why entertain the change at all? And then, having entertained it, why go back when the reasoning is indisputable?

On the Doylist level, I think Endo wanted to ensure that Anya had some agency within the set up — Endo also does this with Yor. It would be much harder to be on Twilight’s side fully, or to trust him on an ethical level/take him as any sort of moral authority, if he were just straightforwardly using these two people. To have them be active and consenting participants (arguably to actually be affirming the arrangement: Twilight sets it up, but Anya and Yor actually make it happen) even if the audience only knows the depth of their knowledge/motivations/etc currently, shifts the power dynamic in important ways.

But it also the set up tells us important things about Twilight. He is largely impatient, cold, detached in chapter one. His overarching feelings towards Anya are, I think, real annoyance, real confusion, and real impatience. He just doesn’t understand this damn kid and it turns out she’s a person which is frankly unacceptable — he’d needed and anticipated an automaton, ideally of himself in miniature form. (Though I think one could ponder whether Twilight was, in many ways, an automaton himself at this point, but that's maybe for another meta 🙃)

He’s not entirely unmoved of course — we're given to understand he’s affected when Franky tells him how many times Anya’s been adopted and returned, and isn't amused by Franky's joke about names. Franky's comment — "Just don't get attached" — reinforces this. The prospect of “the future” perturbs Twilight when he’s reading the parenting books. His initial reaction to Anya’s kidnap is horror. All these are true too.

Then there’s also this, from earlier in the chapter:

It’s exposition, yeah, and it’s also exposing. "Hopes" and "joys" are very specific words to describe those events. It could simply have been "A marriage? An ordinary life?" but describing them as such — hope for marriage; joy in ordinary life — expose something of what Twilight feels about those two experiences and, on the flipside, they expose what he deems he's lacking. No hopes of intimacy; no joy in (an ordinary) life. There's an argument as well, of course, that he's being ironic but I don't think that actually invalidates the above analysis. Drawing attention to 'hope' and 'joy' at all are revealing, regardless of Twilight's tone in thinking of them. I think it's also interesting this panel, taken in conjunction with a pair of panels in chapter 62, Twilight's backstory. The above is almost a pulled out version of this below panel of Twilight's recollection of his childhood, and of course the returning image of not just a rubbish bin but a rubbish bin on fire when it comes to disposing of his identity:

Back to Strix. Both his final interaction with Karen and the whole everything of the framing of Strix is making Twilight think (and feel, ahem) things that he hasn't for some time. Twilight decides, I’m reworking this. It can’t proceed this way. Not because Anya is a pain in his ass, not because she’s not as (apparently) intellectually advanced as he’d originally thought, not even because he thinks he can find another child who would better be exactly what mission parameters called for. No:

And what changes his mind is Anya asking to come home.

One of the important parts of this to me is this:

He seeks consent.

This moment is a keystone, I think, to understanding Twilight. It’s also more telling than he maybe realises. Twilight is decisive — we all laugh because he spirals at the drop of a hat when his daughter or wife look even mildly upset but outside those (also very telling) scenarios, he makes decisions and he pursues them. Often he makes decisions quickly. He’s a dab hand at it; it’s a large part of why he’s as good a spy as he is.

He’d decided to change Strix.

Anya asks him, in essence, not to.

So, he doesn't.

But it's wild that he entertains keeping her request at all — why? Why even entertain it? It’s dangerous; it’s impractical; there are too many moving parts outside his direct control; Anya isn’t the sort of child he’d wanted for the mission if he’d spent any time thinking about what a child might actually be like; Strix is in many ways an extremely long shot anyway, Desmond could just stop attending for reasons unknown and unrelated; etc.

So, yeah, why? Maybe because of this —

In conjunction, I often think of this moment in the cruise arc:

Twilight first naming the feeling as lonesome, and secondly tacitly conceding that he perceives Yor as a companion and that that relationship is important to him, something to be missed. What makes this for me though is that Anya calls this out "Papa's you're so sappy" and Twilight's reaction is that of someone caught-out. He doesn’t say “nuh-uh!” but he may as well have. Essentially, something landed a bit close to home, hm? Maybe some of that hope for marriage? A soupçon of joy of an ordinary life?

Twilight’s loneliness underpins many of his decisions with his family — probably without him being fully conscious of it. I think he is at least somewhat conscious of it, but also if he looks too closely... Well, best not to. I could fill this post, I think, with images that demonstrate his loneliness throughout the series; that sorrowful/pensive close-up of his eye(s) is one of the abiding motifs for Twilight throughout. I'd probably start with this one from Twilight's backstory arc:

Anya's request plays directly off his loneliness. Still though, he doesn’t immediately capitulate — he emphasises Anya’s choice. Is she sure? The last day has been scary for a child (and for him, but he's ignoring that part) and Twilight, in his increasing recognition that Anya is a person, is probably aware in the back of his mind that he hasn’t exactly been warm or welcoming or at all patient with her. Things that people respond to — he's otherwise excellent at manipulating people, so of course he understands this. So. Given she'd just had this scary experience, given he hasn't exactly been great with her: Is she sure? She wants to come home — with him?

I think the moment may get a little lost because Anya says something riffing off his own earlier thoughts and self-revelation (featuring that shadowed, lonely eye motif again!)

Were this a post about Anya, I’d talk about how it’s an important character moment for her as well by way both of demonstrating her agency/choice and also that she isn’t nearly as dumb as Twilight thinks (and the audience, maybe, also thinks).

But in my view, she didn’t actually need to say anything about it making her cry. I think she could simply have said yes in that moment and Twilight would have agreed.

Twilight’s an unreliable narrator; he’s disconnected from his heart and that shrouds his own motivations from himself — something he actually also concedes in this chapter!

And it shrouds from us just how much he actually understands himself. He’s also a master of deflection. Easy to assume or say that bringing Anya home is just to align with Strix. Nothing more to see here; nothing else going on. But also that ripping off of the mask in the panel above — and the literal 'riiip' sound effects — also indicate to us that this is an unveiling to himself.

In my view, Twilight agreeing to Anya's request, deciding to go back to original mission parameters, actually shifts his motivations, subtly. Now he’s committed not only to the original mission goals, but also to Anya. He needs Anya to succeed at Strix, not only for Strix's sake, but also because otherwise the mission will end and she’ll have to go back to the orphanage, and he’s just agreed with her not to do that (not right away, in any case). I don’t think at this point he’s thinking it’s forever — his thoughts throughout the manga indicate he still expects the Forgers to be temporary. I don't think the shift in motivation is necessarily even conscious, but given the set up, I think something inside Twilight recognises that agreeing to bring Anya home is a compact, jointly engaged. Mostly all this has become subsumed into Strix: he makes decisions. He pursues them. He deflects, even from himself. Of course it's just for the mission; this saved him the trouble of reworking it, of figuring out something else. Nothing more to see; no need to think any more on it. And to be fair to him, Strix is very high stakes, resting pretty solely on his shoulders, so of course that is, objectively, motivation enough. Why even consider beyond that?

But I personally think that to the extent he's aware of it at all, there is something else going on, that he wants to have Anya for as long as it takes him to work something else out for her. If that's the case, then of course, we have Occam’s razor: the simplest solution may be the best one.

Maybe Twilight should just keep Anya himself, eh?

[Image description: gif from Spy x Family season 1, episode 1. Twilight and Anya have just found out Anya passed her entrance exam and are overjoyed. Celebratory, Twilight picks Anya up and swoops her into the air as they smile at one another. End image description]

[farshootergotme]

Controversial opinion, but I don't think I like good dad Bruce Wayne.

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I don't like Bruce being a good dad, but it is hard for me to enjoy it when he's like that all the time. When he suddenly knows how to communicate, or what to do when there's an emotional issue, or that he's now smiling and reassuring his children so easily.

Is just too abrupt after what we've seen so far of him as a parent.

I can't buy this new version of Bruce without any deserved development or previous arc that triggered this drastic change in the way he acts, specially towards his kids. And I get it's usually like an alternative self, and he's always been like that in that kind of universes, but it just feels too easy.

Is like working so hard for something only to be given it without a chance of showing off all the work you've done to get there. Is not fulfilling or satisfying (to me).

And I get the hype, I do, but there's also so much history of the characters that wouldn't have happened had Bruce been truly that great and supportive dad that some portray. It erases too much for me to fully like it.

So, yeah, good dad Bruce I can only enjoy when he's had the proper growth as a character that doesn't erase everything he's done before and instead shows the long journey he had to go through as a person to get to that point.

[its-queenofthesilence]

The Line Between Life and Death | Hercules/Encanto Crossover | Part 3 of ?

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Encanto (2021), Hercules (1997) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Miscarriage? Relationships: Hades/Persephone, "Abuela" Alma Madrigal/Pedro Madrigal, Agustín Madrigal/Julieta Madrigal, Hera/Zeus

Summary:

Hades and Persephone have spent centuries on centuries waiting for the day when they could finally have a child of their own. And after thousands of years watching all his unborn children die before they can even be born, he will do anything to make sure his little girl survives. Thankfully for him, there is a father in Columbia who is just as desperate as he is to save his children. And who might just be willing to trade for the very thing that would let Hades save his daughter....

He waits until his wife is dead asleep, (Ha dead, get it?) before he rises slowly from the bed and out of their private quarters, towards the bedroom down the hall. He pauses outside the door, giving the guards a curt nod as they saluted him before he gestures at them to be quiet.

He opens the door slowly, peeking his head in. He can see her, curled up near the edge of the bed, asleep, likely too exhausted from crying. She’s still wearing those clothes; the ones from the mortal realm and he frowns, as he notices all the embroidery on her skirt. A symbol for each member of her mortal family, even the non-magical ones…well, except the one living in the walls it seemed. Which, fair enough. He steps into the room proper, approaching the bed slowly and once he is close enough, with a flick of his wrist, the outfit turns into a set of pajamas, a pair of pants and a tank top and her glasses (Ah to be in a mortal body and require such things) lift from her face and are placed on the nightstand next to her bed.

He considers just removing the outfit from existence all together, but he knows how that will go, so he just conjures it back into reality and drapes it over the privacy screen and sets the shoes by the bed. Sighing, he lifts her, untangling her limbs and moving her so he can place her properly on her bed. He draws back the blankets and lays her down gently before tucking her in, watching her face furrow in her sleep and he can’t help but brush a curl out of her face.

“I love you, baby girl, please don’t ever forget it.”

Hades sighed again, brushing his fingers through his flame. It would be fine, she just needed time to settle in. He knows she misses them but this is where she belonged. With a kiss to her forehead, he slowly retreated, pausing in the doorway to address her again.

“Good night baby doll….I’m sorry it had to be like this.” The God said as he closed the door. Stalking back to his own room, and slipping under the blankets next to his wife, he can only hope that she’s able to forgive him in time.

“Ha, ha! You are so funny ‘Seph….no, absolutely not.” Hades said, sipping his coffee and reading his ‘Underworld Daily’ newspaper with his trademark scowl. He might not need to eat or drink, given that he was a God (Well, maybe the occasional sip of ambrosia, here and there.), but like many other gods he enjoyed indulging in life’s, or rather in his case, death’s pleasures. He liked his coffee, and a bit of breakfast in the morning. Persephone was cooking; Something she did rarely as usually she allowed the servants to cook for her but she was insistent this morning that she cook for her daughter, on her first, full day home in the Underworld. She was going all out: Eggs, bacon, hash browns, even some waffles thrown in.

“What harm would it do? It would just be six months out of the year!” She said, turning around briefly from the bacon she was cooking to look at her husband with a pointed look. “Because, that’s six months without my daughter! It’s bad enough that half the year I am relegated to only seeing my wife on weekends, let alone our daughter, because your mother refuses to cut the ‘umbilical cord.” The God said, rolling his eyes at the thought of his mother-in-law. Demeter needed to let go, but unfortunately for him, he mistakenly put the deal he made to marry his wife in divine writing. That woman refused to budge and it was enforceable so they were stuck like this for eternity or until his mother-in-law chose to (Unlikely given how stubborn she was.) to cease existing. “But she loves them Hades!” Persephone said, heartbroken for her daughter.

“Doll…babe, I know she does. But she’s a God. She’s going to out live them, and what if she decides to settle down and get married to a mortal? It’s bad enough she’ll have to outlive the rest of her family, but what about children? Our grandchildren? They won’t be gods! Mind you she won’t be having any kids because you bet I’m going to put a stop to that before any boys even think they have a chance with our little princess! But still!” Persephone didn’t respond. That was the main argument Hades made when she agreed to bring Mirabel home early instead of waiting for her natural end. It was a sentiment she unfortunately agreed with. Any children she had while in a mortal body, would be mortal. And not necessarily a demi-god, either.

Persephone bit her lip, turning back to tend to the sizzling bacon. "I know, Hades. I know." She shook her head sadly. "But we can't keep her locked away down here forever. She'll resent us for it." Hades rubbed his face. “It’s not forever…just until she sheds her mortal body.” He said, flicking his eyes towards the plate of food his wife was putting bacon on to. “You already had breakfast! These are for your daughter, and that’s still eighty years!” Said his wife, holding the plate away from him as she sees him eye it. “I know it’s going to be hard…Babe, I know. But it’s better to rip the band-aid off now, before it gets worse.” Gaia Be Praised, she hated when he was right.

Persephone nodded reluctantly, placing the plate of freshly cooked breakfast on to the table. Usually they ate in the main dinning room, which featured a long, almost comically so table but she much preferred the small kitchen and dinning nook in their private quarters, it was more intimate and private and didn’t require her shouting from across the room to speak. "I suppose you're right. It will only get harder for her, the longer we wait." She sighed heavily, rubbing her face. "I just hope she can forgive us, in time."

Hades reached out, gently grasping Persephone's hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "She will, babe. She's strong - just like her mother." He flashed her a roguish grin, his piercing gaze softening with affection. "And she has your big heart. She'll come around."

“….My mother let the news out. They want to meet her.” Persephone said slowly. She knew she had to tell him even if she didn’t want to. Immediately the God spat out his coffee as his hair exploded, causing a loud boom to emanate throughout the palace. "Of course they do! I’m sure Zeus is absolutely thrilled!”

“Oh, when will you forgive him? It’s been eons.” The God of the Underworld laughed darkly. “Forgive him? When will I forgive him she asks? Never! He murdered our parents, imprisoned my brothers, and banished your grandparents and aunts as well, I might add! The rest of the Pantheon may like to pretend it didn’t happen, but I don’t!”

The one thing he loved about the Mortals was their need to distort and twist the stories of his family’s lives. Some of it came from the humans, yes and their short lifespans but other parts were deliberately skewed by his brother in his arrogance to cover up what he did. The biggest thing was the relationships of his family, of who was married to who and who was the child or parent of another. Despite what people thought, Hera and Zeus were not siblings and (Why were mortals obsessed with incest??) and in fact had different parents all together.

In the beginning of the universe, four beings were brought into existence from the Big Bang: Rhea, Uranus, Cronus and Gaia. All were separate entities, none of them were related, except for maybe in a hypothetical sense of all being created at the same time. Rhea married Uranus, not Cronus, and birthed all daughters: Hestia, Demeter, Tethys, Theia, Phoebe, Hera, Mnemosyne and Themis.

Cronus and Gaia however birthed all sons from their union: Hades, the first born son, Oceanus, Poseidon, Hyperion, Coeus, Crius, Iapetus and then Zeus, the baby. Sure, Cronus was maybe not the best Dad, after all Hades got his temper from him, but he wasn’t a bad dad. Very strict and what people would call nowadays, militaristic. He liked things done a certain way. But Zeus didn’t like that, no. Mom always dotted on him, letting him get away with anything while dad tried his best to reign him in. But Zeus was the baby and wanted everything done his way.

So what did he do when Dad kicked him out of Olympus in order for him to learn some independence? Convinced their brother, Poseidon to overthrow their parents, murdering them (Hades didn’t care if it was not intentional, they were still dead.) in the process and then imprisoned their brothers, who refused to pick sides. And what about Hades? He had been the most adamant and against it, actively fighting back. But Zeus was an asshole and didn’t want to imprison him as well, no that would be too kind. Zeus decided that Hades would get to spend all of eternity tending to the Underworld.

Of course Rhea and Uranus got pissed off, and being a gentleman, and not wanting to piss off his new wife and her two sisters that went along with everything, Zeus decided to just banish the rest of the family to somewhere deep in the cosmos. Never mind that most of his brothers and Hera’s unlucky sisters had children of their own at that point, some being literal children at the time, losing one or both of their parents in an instance. And then he made up a story to make it seem like he was this, wise, kind God who did mortals a favor. It made him furious.

And: Hades was first born, if anyone should be in charge of Olympus, it was him.

Persephone sighed heavily, reaching out to gently place her hand on Hades' arm. "I know, my love. I know how much you resent what Zeus did. But holding onto that anger for so long, it's only hurting you." She gazed up at him, her expression soft and understanding. "I know I cannot convince you to forgive him but you know that he expects us to host them since we can’t bring her to them for decades at least.” Hades let out a forced laugh, the blue flames of his hair flickering wildly. "Babe, I will not have that self-righteous, power-hungry tyrant set foot in my domain. Not after what he did!" He slammed his fist down on the table, the wood splintering beneath the force of his blow. Especially when he liked to pretend like it was all a big misunderstanding.

Persephone flinched at the outburst, her grip tightening on his arm. "My love, please. I know how much you hate him, but this is about our daughter. Not your feud with Zeus." She searched his face, her eyes pleading. "For Mirabel's sake, can you at least try to be civil? Besides…you owe him. You tried to murder his son, your nephew, remember? A few times in fact."

Hades rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me," he grumbled. "That arrogant brat is just like his father." He fixed Persephone with a pointed stare. "But…fine. Just because I know if I don’t agree, he’ll show up anyway and do that thing were he pretends we’re chummy." He sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping in resignation. “But I expect you to do most of the entertaining!" He stated, pausing to think for a second. He should really scour the Underworld again, as despite it being thousands of years, he still hadn’t managed to find where Hercules and Megara’s souls were hiding in his domain, even with Cerberus's aid. He knew they had to be here somewhere but the Fates were cryptic and of no help when he asked.

Persephone let out a relieved sigh, giving Hades' arm a gentle squeeze. "Thank you, my love. I know this isn't easy for you." She offered him a small, reassuring smile. "I'll make sure Zeus and the others behave themselves. Mirabel's comfort and wellbeing comes first."

Hades grunted, his lips twisting into a wry smirk. "Good luck with that. You know how Zeus and the rest of that lot are - they have all the subtlety of a rampaging Minotaur." He shook his head, his expression growing more serious. "Just...don't let them overwhelm her, alright? She's been through enough as it is." Persephone nodded, smiling at her husband.

“Now, I am going to go get our daughter before the food gets cold….Hades, if I come back and you’ve taken a single slice of bacon off that plate, you can bet there will be consequences.” She said curtly, noticing his hand trying to subtly move towards the plate. Persephone narrowed her eyes at Hades, her gaze unwavering. "I mean it, Hades. Not a single slice." With that, she turned on her heel and headed towards Mirabel's room, her bathrobe swishing as she moved.

Hades watched his wife depart, the corners of his mouth quirking upwards in a mischievous grin. As soon as Persephone disappeared around the corner, he turned his attention back to the plate that had been set aside for his daughter, his fingers twitching with anticipation.

"Just one little slice," He muttered, reaching a hand out towards the tempting bacon. After all, who would miss it? But just as his fingers brushed against the tantalizingly crisp, golden-brown meat, the plate suddenly vanished in a burst of golden light, leaving no trace.

“I said not one slice!” Persephone called from down the hall. Hades just sipped his coffee sullenly.

Mirabel had awoken to a loud bang, causing her to sit up abruptly in confusion. Sleep still clinging to her, it took a moment to remember where she was. Even longer to convince herself she wasn’t in fact still dreaming and she was going to wake up in her bed at home, in Casita. And as soon as it hit her, she started sobbing again. It wasn’t fair!

“Mirabel?”

Mirabel's head snapped up at the sound of Persephone's soft voice. The goddess stood in the doorway, completely different from when she last saw her. She wore no crown and no elaborate dress and her hair was not sleek and perfect like the night before but messy and pulled up in a bun, and she was in a fuzzy pink bathrobe with matching slippers. “I apologize if I am intruding. I was wondering if you would like some breakfast.” The teenager stared at Persephone, her eyes still red and puffy from crying the previous day, let alone this morning. The mention of food made her stomach growl, a reminder that she hadn't eaten since before this whole ordeal began. She hadn’t even gotten to eaten anything at the party! But the thought of accepting anything from these people - these gods who had torn her from her family - made her feel sick.

“I know this is hard, and you probably don’t want to see us, especially your father right now, but please, come eat something. You’ll feel better, I promise.” Mirabel hesitated, her stomach warring with her heart. As much as she desperately wanted to refuse, the gnawing hunger was impossible to ignore. She averted her gaze, her voice firm yet trembling.

“I am only agreeing to this because I’m hungry, not because I like you people.” The girl said simply, lips pressed thin. She paused, squinting, where were her glasses? She could see without them, but not anything more than ten feet away. Even the Goddess was fuzzy from her doorway. She looked down at herself, quickly becoming horrified.

“Where are my clothes?!”

Mirabel's eyes widened as she looked down at the unfamiliar pajamas she was wearing. Her heart raced, panic rising within her. "What did you do?" she demanded, her voice shaking. Persephone sighed, this was going to be a regular thing. “Me? Nothing, but it appears your father redressed you while you were asleep. Your clothes and shoes are right here.” The Goddess indicated. Moving her hand in a small circle, she made the pajamas disappear, and her other outfit reappear on her body, along with the glasses.

Mirabel's eyes narrowed as she glared at Persephone, clutching the hem of her skirt protectively. "Don't...don't do that." she said, her voice trembling with a mixture of fear and defiance. It might be a kind gesture, and instant, but she didn’t like people dressing her without her permission.

"I'm sorry, my dear. I should have asked first." Persephone said gently, raising her hands in a placating gesture. She was going to kill her husband, even when he wasn’t actively trying not to meddle, he still found a way to do it. "Why don't we go have that breakfast I mentioned? You must be hungry."

Persephone was doing her best, truly she was, but sometimes she just wanted to smack her husband. Mirabel sat on the other side of the table from them, eating quietly and pointedly avoiding looking in Hades' direction. He was trying to give her space, but Persephone could tell he was antsy and impatient to have that father-daughter connection. He was sipping his coffee and reading the paper, but Persephone saw him sneak glances at Mirabel out of the corner of his eye. She glares at him when he starts to open his mouth to say something. ‘Don’t say anything.’ She tells him telepathically, earning an eyeroll and a scowl from the God.

Mirabel sat quietly, trying to focus on the food in front of her rather than the oppressive silence that hung in the air. She could feel Hades' gaze boring into her, the intensity of it almost palpable. Every time she dared to glance up, she would catch him quickly averting his eyes, pretending to be absorbed in his newspaper.

The tension was suffocating.

Eventually, Hades can’t help it. “So…whose birthday did I interrupt?” He asked with a smirk, like it was no big deal, over his newspaper. “Gaia Damn It! Five minutes Hades, you couldn’t make it five minutes!” Shouted Persephone, slamming her own mug down and causing it to shatter before she sighed and swished her hand to fix it. Mirabel's head snapped up, her eyes narrowed in a glare as she fixed Hades with a withering stare. "You rip me away from my family, from my home, and now you want to make jokes about it?" She hissed.

Hades had the good sense to look somewhat chastised, his cocky grin fading as he met his daughter's furious gaze. "I...I was just trying to lighten the mood, baby girl." He said, his voice turning soft. Mirabel scoffed, shaking her head in disgust. "Well it's not working," She spat. She pushed her half-eaten breakfast away, her appetite suddenly gone. "I don't want to be here. I want to go home." Mirabel's words hung in the air, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife. Persephone looked pained, while Hades' expression darkened.

“Look baby, I didn’t mean to make you mad, Okay? Let’s start over. How about your old man takes you out and shows you around? I can take you to Elysium, or show you the River Styx. It will be great!” Hades said with a fixed smile.

Mirabel stared at Hades, her expression one of pure disbelief. "You think taking me on some...some tour is going to make this better?" She shook her head in disbelief. "I don't want to see any of this place. I just want to go home!" Persephone reached across the table, placing her hand over Mirabel's. "I know this is all so overwhelming, my dear. But this is your home now." She squeezed Mirabel's hand gently. "I wish there was an easy way to make this transition smoother for you, but..." She sighed heavily. "You're going to have to give it time."

“Why can’t you just let me go home?” She begged.

“Baby girl, you’re a God. You’re going to outlive them and any mortal children, if I even allowed you to have kids, you have as well. It may seem like we’re being cruel but we’re trying to make this as painless as possible for you. It’s hard I know, but it’s saving you pain down the line.” Said Hades. Mirabel stared at Hades and Persephone, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. "I don't care!" she cried, her voice thick with emotion. "They're my family - I love them! How can you expect me to just...forget them?" She shook her head vehemently, a few tears escaping to trail down her cheeks.

"We're not asking you to forget them, Mirabel," Persephone said gently, her heart aching at the pain etched across her daughter's face. "We know how much they mean to you. But you're a goddess now - your life is so much longer than theirs. We just want to spare you the heartbreak of watching them grow old and die."

“I hate you.” Mirabel said, directly at Hades. Persephone was wide eyed. Oh no, this was- Hades exploded, his hair going wild and the entire palace shaking as he stood abruptly from his chair, towering over her, the mist that billowed around his ankles in soft lapping waves, turning into intense tsunamis as smoke and flame filled the room.

Hades' eyes blazed with a primal fury, as he processed what she said. "What did you just say to me?" Mirabel trembled, shrinking back in her chair as the immense power radiating from the god threatened to suffocate her. Persephone stood abruptly, rushing to place herself between her husband and daughter. "Dear, calm down!" She pleaded, her usually serene expression etched with worry. "She's just scared and overwhelmed - you're only making it worse!"

But the Lord of the Underworld was beyond reason, consumed by a rage that bordered on madness. With a flick of his wrist, a tendril of black mist lashed out, wrapping around Mirabel's wrist in an iron grip. The girl let out a strangled cry as she was yanked from her chair, ancient magic burning her skin. Hades loomed over her, his piercing gaze boring into her soul.

"How dare you speak to me that way, you ungrateful little brat!" He snarled, the tendril tightening painfully around her wrist. "I am your father, I have been nothing but kind and you will show me the respect I deserve! Do you know what lengths I went to save your very soul? Hmm? What me and your mother went through to even have you? DO YOU?" Mirabel cried out in pain as the unyielding grip of Hades' magic scorched her skin. Tears streamed down her face as she stared up at the towering, raging figure of her father, his blazing eyes filled with a primal fury that shook her to her very core.

"Monster!" she screamed, the word tearing from her throat. "You're a monster!"

Hades recoiled as if he'd been struck, the inky tendrils of magic instantly relinquishing their hold on Mirabel's wrist. The God's expression shifted from one of unbridled rage to stark horror, the blue flames of his hair dimming as the realization of his actions hit him like a tidal wave.

“Baby gir-” He started, trying to reach for her.

Mirabel didn’t wait to hear what he had to say, she fled, pushing past Persephone who tried and failed to stop her. “I hope you’re happy Hades.” The Goddess said, as she watched her daughter flee, turning back to address him with a stare colder than Tartarus.

“I really do.”

You know, this had been a weird day. Things had already been tense with the uncertainty around Antonio getting a gift or not hanging in the air, like you could physically taste it. He had been holed up within the walls of the house, worried about the cracks and the vision, trying not cry when he heard the family gather for the ceremony. He should be out there, with them. Instead, he was hiding like a coward. He heard gasps, people murmuring about something he couldn’t hear, his mother speaking to his youngest nephew, a dramatic pause and then shouting “We have a new gift.” It was a confirmation, of a few things. The first being that the prophecy was coming true. Whatever the hell the prophecy was. He honestly still couldn’t make heads or tales about it. His leading theory was that Mirabel was going to die, that was his primary belief. Whether the people mobbed her because she thought she was bad luck (being the only giftless Madrigal now), or she committed suicide, he didn’t know. All he did know is while he didn’t recognize the strange faceless fellow, anyone with who picked up a book could tell you who Cerberus was.

He had paced, nervously. Not sure what to do. There was no way to confirm what he thought was true and if she was going to die; how the hell would he explain that to the family? His mother would never accept it, or worse assume it was an ill-omen. Besides, he didn’t know how she was going to die, despite trying multiple times to get an answer. And then the tremors started. They sent him and his rats flying, smashing against the walls. Just as he had stood up, assuming it was just an earth quake, another one came, and then another. He heard people screaming, his mother yelling for people to get to safety as people rushed to safety. He tried to go for safety but he kept being knocked over from the tremors and just when he thought he might die, thinking okay the house is collapsing, it a giant sound filled the air and then it stopped. There were a few loud booms and some yelling but he couldn’t make it out.

He didn’t know what happened after that, just his family returning to the house after about an hour, his mother trying to plead with people to stay calm. He could hear Julieta screaming at someone, a man he didn’t recognize about making a deal without their consent. He could also hear Antonio yelling for Mirabel, and Camilo screaming they had to do something. It was…confusing. And then when the screaming died down, and he returned to his room within the walls, hoping to spy something out the little peak through, he found the wall separating his room from the dinning room ripped open and then being dragged out by Luisa, who proceeded to drag him into the middle of the courtyard where the entire family surrounded him. Everyone but Mir….wait, why the hell was there a ghost that looked exactly like his father’s portrait?!?

"What...what's going on?" Bruno asked shakily, his eyes darting between the faces of his family. “We’ll get to that, but first: do you want to explain to us why you were in the walls? For ten years we thought you were dead! Or gone, or who knows what and the entire time you’ve been right under our noses. Do you know the kind of pain you caused me Brunito? How many nights I spent sobbing? How could you just leave us.” Asked Alma, trying not to cry. Oh look at him, he looked so pale and thin.

“…I…I thought you didn’t care? It’s not like you love me Mama.” He said dismissively. Alma's eyes narrowed at Bruno's words, her expression hardening. "Not love you?" She stepped forward, her voice trembling with emotion. "How could you even say that? You are my son - of course I love you!"

“Because never once in your life have you ever been anything but dismissive of everything I do Mother. Oh Bruno, have a vision about Mirabel, Oh Bruno, why can’t you stop spreading bad luck? Or: Why is it you’re not married yet? What do you mean no one wants to marry you because your mother allowed everyone to treat you like an outcast?” Spat the man. “Bruno, be more like Julieta, Bruno, why aren’t you taller-”

Alma's face fell as Bruno's words sunk in, the pain and bitterness in his tone cutting her to the core. She opened her mouth to respond, but the words caught in her throat, her eyes shimmering with unshed tears.

"Bruno, I...I had no idea you felt that way," she whispered, her voice trembling. "If I ever made you feel unloved or unwanted, I'm so sorry." She reached out, her hand hovering uncertainly near his arm before dropping back to her side. "You're my son - you could never be anything less than precious to me."

Bruno regarded his mother warily, the deep-seated hurt in his eyes making her heart ache. "Could have fooled me," he muttered, his gaze drifting away from her pleading expression.

“I’m sorry Bruno” said Pepa. “This is my fault, if I had just been a better sister, if I had actually been there for you, if we all had….We…we should have never stopped talking about you.” She said sadly.

“Yeah, well you did Pepa! My own two sisters, the pair of you. I expected it from Mom, but not you two. Now, this is nice and all and dandy and I assume Dolores is responsible for why I am here right now in the courtyard, but would someone like to fill me in on why the ghost of my father is staring at me?!”

“Yeah Dad, care to fill him in on what you told all of us earlier? I’m sure he’s going to be as thrilled as we were…well he doesn’t have any daughters, but still!” Snapped Julieta, with a glare at her father. “I’m sorry…what?” Bruno was so confused right now.

“I thought he would be taller! At least seven feet tall! He’s like exactly my height! And where are the rats and the dark aura?” Interjected Camilo, disappointed. No one ever told him Bruno was so…meek looking. As if on cue, a few rats popped out of one of Bruno’s pockets, sniffing the area and then letting out a small squeak.

“Camilo, last time you saw him, you were five! Of course he seemed taller, you went up to his waist at best.” Pepa sighed, she loved her son but he was dense at times. “But, what about when he says your name and then you loose consciousness? Is that still a thing?” He was so disappointed. Bruno looked at him blankly. “I don’t know what to tell you. If you are talking about the time when you were seven and ran into me in the hallway at night while going to the kitchen for snacks, that’s because I startled you and then you tripped and hit your head on the banister going down.” Bruno said, even more confused.

“So, wait wh-”

“You need to eat more.” Julieta was temporarily distracted as she looked over her brother. “You need to put on some weight, I can see your cheekbones! How much food did you have access to in there? I wish you would have let me know, I would have kept your secret…I’m going to need to make you a lot of fatty foods to get you back up to a healthy weight.”

“Uh? What?”

“Your sister is right son, you could stand to gain a few. I kept trying to get Casit-”

“CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!?”

Everyone was silent at once, everyone looking between each other, not sure who should say it. “Mirabel has been kidnapped by Hades, Son.” Stated Pedro, simply, refusing to look his daughter in the eyes. “Wait…as in Hades, the Hades? The Lord of the Underworld, Ancient Greek and Roman God of Death, Hades? That one?”

“Yes, Brunito.”

“Well, suddenly that vision makes a whole lot more sense…” Uh oh, he should have not said that. If he was being surrounded by vultures before, they were now sharks, going in for the kill. “Wait, you actually did have a vision?! What did it show you? Bruno, we need to know!” Bruno shrunk back as his family members surged forward, bombarding him with questions. "I - I don't know what the vision showed exactly," he stammered, holding up his hands defensively. "It was all so jumbled and confusing. I couldn't make heads or tails of it."

Alma stepped forward, her brow furrowed with concern. "Bruno, please. Mirabel is in grave danger - anything you saw could be vital." She gripped his shoulders. "You have to try and remember." He said. “Look, it’s easier if I show you then explaining it, if you let me get it. If you don’t mind…?” He asked, gesturing vaguely in the general direction of his room. “Please, Bruno, we need to know what you saw!” Sighing, he got up and tapped his foot on the floor, allowing Casita to save him time by propelling him to the second floor and outside his still boarded up door. Thankfully Casita seemed to understand, and wasted no time forcing it open, causing Dolores to wince as the door slammed open and sent boards flying. “One minute!” Bruno said over his shoulder. He quickly entered his room, brushing past the unsettling statues of his own face and the staircase towards the secret wall that hid the elevator.

Once inside, it was a quick journey to his vision room where he quickly (But carefully, those edges could be sharp, he knew from experience.) gathered up the shards from their resting place in the sand and quickly descended back out into the main part of the house. Within minutes, everyone was looking over his shoulder as he placed the pieces together on the dinning room table. After a moment it was complete, and everyone was trying to get a look.

There, laid out before them was an image of not only Mirabel, but of Antonio as well; in a way. On the left side of the tablet there was crowd of people; the villagers and the family. Antonio was at the front, reaching towards Mirabel, dressed clearly in his ceremony outfit. Mirabel was being dragged by a faceless figure with flame for hair and mist pouring off of him, holding a leash in his spare hand that was attached to a large, three headed dog, towards a large pit.

“I..I always assumed it was an interpretation of death. I didn’t know who Antonio was at the time, clearly, but I assumed based on the age and appearance of both him and Mirabel that he had to be Pepa’s son and that whatever was going to happen would happen on his 5th birthday. I thought Mirabel was going to die; maybe the villagers would decide she was a bad omen or the family, or maybe Mom would kill her to protect the miracle, I don’t know, I knew Mirabel cut herself occasionally so suicide also seemed like an option.” Bruno finished explaining, looking at the image with a frown. “I never expected it to be literal; she’s being kidnapped by Hades.”

“How? How could you think I would ever hurt Mirabel?” Alma was frozen, a look of shock and hurt on her face. She wasn’t the best Grandmother to Mirabel, she knew that but she would never hurt her! Bruno didn’t respond at first, flicking his eyes away. “I don’t know, you never seemed to like her after her ceremony, I saw a lot of things from behind the walls. You always seemed so on edge around her, so annoyed, and I know how much you care about that stupid candle over us, so it didn’t seem like a huge stretch Mother.”

“Candle? CANDLE?! Do you really think so little of me Bruno Madrigal, that I would put the candle above the wellbeing of my family?” Alma spat, disgusted. “Yes.” The yes doesn’t come from Bruno, it comes from Isabela, tired and quiet. “Yes,” She repeats. “I think we all collectively assumed that you would sacrifice anyone of us it meant the miracle was fine.” Alma whipped around, expecting to hear her family come to her defense. Instead, everyone was looking away from her, eyes fixed elsewhere. Tears welled in Alma's eyes as she looked around at the faces of her children, grandchildren, even the ghost of her husband, seeing the same mixture of apprehension, guilt, and disappointment reflected back at her. "How...how could you all think that of me?" she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

“How? How? I’m a lesbian too afraid to come out to my own Abuela, much less the rest of my family and the town. I spent years making you perfect little flowers and wearing pretty, frilly dresses, always having to be your perfect flower! Luisa is a mess who is constantly over working herself and always taking on too much, and hates herself so much because the idealized version of a woman she’s heard from you her entire life has made her think she’s too manly for love. Dolores is in love with Mariano, and was too scared to say anything because she assumed I loved him and the fact you were putting so much pressure on us getting engaged!” Isabela paused to breathe. “Camilo spends so much time as other people, that he worries he’s going to forget what he looks like, Mama is constantly having to make food, from dawn until Midnight for the stupidest of injuries, Tia Pepa is not allowed to feel, Tio Bruno is an outcast and you treat Papa and Tio Felix like they’re not part of the family, just like Mirabel!” Finished Isabela, gasping and panting. She could already tell her voice was going to hurt in the morning.

Alma stood in stunned silence as Isabela's words hung heavy in the air. The Madrigal Matriarch's face crumpled, tears spilling down her cheeks as she processed the painful truths her granddaughter had laid bare. "I...I had no idea," she whispered brokenly, her hands trembling. "I was only trying to do what I thought was best, to keep our family strong." She shook her head, more tears falling. "But in doing so, I've hurt all of you." Pepa stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on her mother's arm. "Mama, we know you love us and want what's best. But you have to understand - your idea of 'best' isn't the same as ours." Her expression softened with empathy.

“I’m sorry. I never…I never…”

“We know you are Mama, I can see that. I know it won’t be easy, and there is still so much hurt, but I think it’s clear now that everyone in this family has issues they need to work on, individually and together. You know it’s funny, if Mirabel hadn’t of been kidnapped, we might have never of known…it’s…it’s suddenly so quiet in the Casita, I never realized how much of the life came from Mirabel being here. Singing, dancing…” Pepa trailed off, pausing. “But that’s not what is important right now. Finding a way to get Mirabel back is.” No one had to say anything, everyone immediately turned towards Bruno, eyes expectant.

“You want me to do another vision, don’t you? God f-” Bruno paused, taking note of Antonio being in the room. “Okay, fine…okay so next question, why? Why would Hades kidnap Mirabel? That wasn’t exactly explained.” The seer said, accentuating with his hands to draw the fact to…he was still in the dark about this entire thing.

“Your… idiot father made a deal for the house and gifts in exchange for a stillborn child so Hades could use the body to save his own child. Mirabel is the daughter of Hades.”

You know, Bruno had a bit too much excitement for one day. It only made sense that his eyes would roll back into his head and he would fall flat on his face, unconscious, saved just in time from smashing his head into Casita’s floor by Dolores sliding a pillow under his face. "Hmm! Honestly I was expecting that as soon as Luisa dragged him out.”

[arthur-lesters-glabella]

Okay but I’m kind of obsessed with the call back of Faust through the rope of hair down the tower because it also ties back to the act of cannibalism committed by Arthur in the prison pits. That then sets up a lens through which we view the horrors of the hunt and war in the rest of the episode, both of which cannibalize aspects of humanity through their violence. It’s an excellent setup for how we can view the violence John and Arthur have and will continue to enact throughout the season and how it connects back to their past as well. I know it’s really not intentional but it is still fun to think about.

[kxlluaz]

on my first rewatch of étoile and during episode 2 when Jack is telling Cheyenne she can't "come to new york and piss off the entire company in one fell swoop" (something around those lines, close to verbatim) I remembered how sometime after this moment is when Tobias over in Paris practically does the same thing, calling the entire French company to rehearsal just to not cast all of them and Geneviève says something nearly identical to him. I think its really cool how Tobias and Cheyenne are simultaneously opposites and parallels, kind of like a path forking in the road that leads to two very different outcomes (at least so far).

For different reasons and under different circumstances, they are both incredibly passionate about the work they do, in the sense that they are very particular about their personal art and will prioritize it over everything else. But the reason they turn out rather differently despite starting so similar is because Tobias gets someone in his life who is willing to support him how he needs in order to be freed from the pressures that are making it hard for him to do what he loves. Most people aren't willing to *learn* Tobias and work with him. When Gabin does, it also helps Tobias to start getting better at doing the same, to being more receptive to the collaborative aspect of art.

Side note, I know just how hard this is also as an autistic person who works in live entertainment tech. As much as I enjoy "working with others," it has taken me *years* to make progress in actually working WITH others and not just working around or near them. I can get so caught up in my personal vision of the way things "need to be" or "should be," and forget that the work I do and love inherently *needs* the ideas and experience of many, and is also all the more amazing for it.

But back to Cheyenne. Cheyenne has a similar mentality about the art she creates, like Tobias-- again, with many other factors involved, but what I'm trying to get at is they both come across the same way to most people in the show. She too feels more and more hopeless about the work she does. She explicitly states that she does not enjoy or love it, but it is her calling in this world, her obligation. What she was born to do. Tobias and Cheyenne both have a passion for what they do, and lose it more throughout the show. But where Tobias' love for his work is reinstilled through the support of another, Cheyenne's pressures are furthered and her turmoil worsens. She is not shown understanding or support, but rather her concerns are brushed off (i.e. the slip) and expectations are worsened. Cheyenne doesn't get a Gabin in her life who is willing to stick around, understand her, and help her change.

In the case of the job offer, she's ecstatic discovering something that she feels will rekindle her love for dance. She realizes how she can channel her passion in a way that *she* enjoys and is much healthier for her (physically and mentally). But ultimately, she's the one who gets shit from everyone else involved, despite doing nothing wrong. Geneviève only sees Cheyenne as her étoile, as her top dancer that makes the National money. Once Nicholas recovers, Jack rescinds the offer, understandably so, but he could've avoided getting Cheyenne caught in these crossfires in the first place had he waited to ask her until Nicholas had passed. He's also upset at Cheyenne, for making Geneviève upset at him, and ultimately Geneviève and Jack act like a divorced couple using their child as an outlet for their frustrations with one another. Don't even get me started on Gael just being... Gael. Love him in some ways, but he really could've handled things with Cheyenne better to say the least. Basically, Cheyenne is trying to make herself happy while also being obligated to make everyone else happy, and since it's impossible to please everyone, is turned against entirely instead AND loses the singular light at the end of the tunnel she found. Cheyenne's crash out was so incredibly valid, and it was so heartbreaking to see her get an entirely different outcome from Tobias at the end of season 1, having both started from the exact same spot and being taken in the exact opposite directions.

All this is to say, I really hope Cheyenne gets in season 2 what Tobias got for season 1: somebody to offer her a hand to pull herself up with, to help her take the first step so she can continue the journey.

I know I had a lot more evidence and points to make, like the choreographer for I Married Myself, but I've been pacing in my kitchen typing this for the past half hour and still have episode 2 paused in front of my dinner. I can GLADLY talk about this more and in more detail, since there really is so much to unpack with Tobias and Cheyenne's characters and how they're treated so differently due to their occupational roles (and, dare I say, genders and perceived neurotypes as well). But for now, to those of you who got this far, I hope you enjoyed this accidental mini-character-analysis-rant. Go watch étoile. Or watch it again like me if you already finished it.

[blood-orange-juice]

I just keep thinking about it. I know it's common to complain that everyone mischaracterises Childe and people do mischaracterise him a lot

...but also he's insanely hard to write if you don't mischaracterise him?

He doesn't have witty one-liners and is incapable of banter. He doesn't do angst. He isn't a charming manipulator or an actual maniac

He's painfully practical and proactive much more than he is reactive (yes. despite his reputation) and this means you need to set up actual problems for him to deal with (and we simply don't know enough about fatui or teyvat lore to do it well without lore theorising which not everyone wants to do)

He generally has a tendency to break tropes when you put him in a story and tropes exist for a reason. It's just *hard* to write something engaging with this guy as the main character

I work around it by making him more lyrical/poetic than he actually is, inventing new lore and making him a catalyst for others' stories (he's exceptionally good as a side character, actually) but it's still a constant pain of seeing good story twists fly past me because he would not fucking do it

I think stories about him require either good worldbuilding or a certain amount of OOC/AU to be compelling

or you can write porn what plot. maybe dark comedy also works

[teyrnacousland]

Thinking about Illario again. Illario has been through a lot. Just as much as Lucanis. He lost his parents at a young age, as well as aunts, uncles, maybe even a sibling. He was raised just as isolated and friendless, and was tortured and neglected as much as Lucanis. Illario is very familiar with grief and loneliness.

And Illario knows Lucanis is going to die soon. They both might, they're Crows, after all, but Lucanis has just... accepted it. He seems to almost want it. He refuses to take any step to prevent or delay that fate. He will never decline dangerous jobs, will never quit, and he will, however reluctantly, accept a position that they both know will place a huge target on his back.

And Illario has to live every day knowing that one of his only two remaining family members, and the only person who actually cares about and loves him, the only person Illario really even likes let alone loves, is going to die. Any day now. He has to think about it on every job they do, every day they continue to be who they are; the only surviving Dellamorte heirs. He has to think about all the loss and grief he's been through, and know that the worst is yet to come. Not that he didn't love his parents, but he was young, and it was so long ago. Losing Lucanis, who he loves, who he's known and loved for like 30 years, will be the worst thing he's ever had to experience and he has to know it.

Have you ever known you're about to lose somebody close to you? Have you ever had to wake up every day with the thought that this could be their last haunting your every waking hour? Have you ever found yourself wishing, even if only in the deepest farthest back part of your thoughts, that they would just die already because you can't take another day of worrying and waiting? I have. Anticipatory grief is hell.

And I think that's where Illario is at with Lucanis. Every day is like that, watching Lucanis tightrope along the edge of death and just waiting for the worst day of his life. Illario doesn't want Lucanis dead, not really. (Even if the thought "I'd be First Talon if you weren't here" has crossed his mind.) He loves Lucanis. But Lucanis is going to die anyways, so he might as well just get it over with. Lucanis himself said his calling is death, and Illario's is First Talon. You could, in a twisted way, argue that this is what Lucanis would have wanted.

Illario has faced loss before and come out the other side, so once Lucanis is gone it'll hurt, but he'll be able to start moving on. And Illario will get what he's always wanted: he'll have proven he's the better Crow, he'll be the favourite (by default), and he'll be First Talon, like he wanted. So he'll be fine. Everything will be fine.

[hotdmadness]

Women can be violent and spiteful too, and they are still women. Why can’t female characters be full complex characters on television??