#asphodels have a LOT of connections to death

[sideprince]

Today's hot take: when Harry started his first year at school, Snape expected him to appreciate the opportunity and the escape Hogwarts gave him from his abusive home, just like Snape had at his age. Snape gives him an opportunity to prove himself and Harry lets him down. I have no doubt that Severus 'I corrected the text and made it better' Snape read all his books in anticipation of going to Hogwarts, and showed up knowing as much as Hermione did on her first day. He calls on Harry in his first class because he's curious about Harry and wants to know how clever he is, and when Harry doesn't know any of the answers, Snape assumes it means Harry is taking his place at Hogwarts for granted.

He doesn't yet know Harry is abused at home, but he does know that he's an orphaned wizard living with Petunia who Snape knows the measure of enough to know she won't have started hating wizards any less than when they were kids. He likely sees that Harry is thin and bears signs of neglect, because he knows them firsthand. I think he may have had a hope that he might connect, in some way, with his once best friend's son, and when Harry shows up looking like James and seemingly not having opened a single book, Snape assumes he has no curiosity and is arrogant like James had been. And to be honest, Harry could have done better; if he'd read through the books with real interest instead of just flipping through them, he might have been able say, "I don't know what happens when you combine asphodel and wormwood, but I do know that wormwood is an herb and asphodel is a flower."

“Potter!’ said Snape suddenly. ‘What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?’ Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione’s hand had shot into the air. ‘I don’t know, sir,’ said Harry. Snape’s lips curled into a sneer. ‘Tut, tut - fame clearly isn’t everything.’ He ignored Hermione’s hand. ‘Let’s try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?’ Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn’t have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter. ‘I don’t know, sir.’ ‘Thought you wouldn’t open a book before coming, eh, Potter?’ Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at the Dursleys’, but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi? Snape was still ignoring Hermione’s quivering hand. ‘What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?’“At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching towards the dungeon ceiling. ‘I don’t know,’ said Harry quietly. ‘I think Hermione does, though, why don’t you try her?’ A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus’s eye and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased. ‘Sit down,’ he snapped at Hermione. ‘For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren’t you all copying that down?'

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Ch. 8

A lot of people like to read this moment through the lens of Victorian flower language, but there's also a lot going on between the characters. Harry had "looked through his books" but that isn't clear to a teacher who can only see his baffled face, contrasted with Hermione who knows every answer and has clearly put in effort and interest. I think Snape has high expectations of his students, in part because he doesn't understand or value how brilliant he really is himself and assumes others should have similar abilities. He doesn't appreciate that Harry, like most people, can't just recall information he read casually and didn't deliberately study.

Harry, for his part, is also not academically minded. He was given a rare, incredible opportunity to escape a terrible home situation and spent a whole month with little to do but wait until it was time to go to Hogwarts. An entire identity that he was unaware of and that connected him to his parents was suddenly revealed, and his textbooks were the closest thing he had to understanding their world, and all he did was peruse them. Even if he wasn't the smartest kid or an academic like Hermione, if he's read them with the curiosity many others would have had in his situation, he would know what at least some of the ingredients Snape mentions are, even if he doesn't know what the various effects of combining them is. Snape asks an array of questions and there isn't a single moment where Harry shows any sign of recognizing what he's talking about even remotely. If he'd read his books with any real interest, he would at least be going, "I remember seeing this... damn I don't know what the books said, though" in his head, even if not out loud. We're seeing the narrative through his lens, but there's no sign of him recalling anything, only his defensiveness at how unfair it is that Snape thinks he didn't crack a book open when he did - and yet Snape might as well be speaking Greek to him. I don't think Snape's biases against him were fully justified, but I do think there's truth in Harry having a certain degree of hubris and an ease with which he accepts that he's a wizard - special, privileged, destined for greater things - that resembles James.

The other thing I think is worth pointing out about the above excerpt is not only that Snape has given Harry a chance to stand out and prove himself in order to see what he does with the opportunity, he also ends this moment by telling the other students to copy down what he's saying. He hasn't lost sight of the fact that he's still teaching, and we see this in him again and again, most especially right after he's killed Dumbledore, when he's still teaching Harry to close his mind even as he fends off his attacks. Through this whole scene, even though it seems like Snape is taunting Harry and singling him out to make him look foolish, what he's actually doing is teaching and gauging Harry's personality. Every word he says is knowledge he's passing on to his students, and he demands that they take them as such.

[blepsweirdfandomthoughts]

Something Something about Odysseus

Now that we got everybody's favorite nobody in the game (Odysseus), I’m expecting his own arc to go through with one or more of the following peoples, in terms of likeliness

Penelope. The plot of the odyssey is literally him going back to her,so where is she? Did my boy put in all that effort for NOTHING? (granted he had some affairs along the way but uhhhh)

Circe: Witchcraft! Specifically the plant moly is in the game which directly connects to the time OD used it to evade her pig spell. Also the romantic drama (cos they did have children together) that somehow leads to his death (either way, it’s a long story). Maybe she could act as a support character?

diomedes: it’s the Athena bois back together! Basically the other Trojan war bromance that still falls under “Ancient Greek sexuality is pretty fluid and doesn’t fall under modern terms”. So MAYbe there’s a chance for Supergiant to play with the fluidity of sexuality here yanno? Because yes Penelope is his one true love but uhhhhhhhhh…yeah that’s a lot of affairs and maybe more than a bromance?

Telemachus: This could be more of a mention within the games dialogue, but cmon man OD’s gonna have to mention his family and if they’re in asphodel or not.

Telegonus: speaking of family….it would be really funny if telegonus was included (considering that he killed his dad, in one way or another depending on the myth), which means more drama between OD, Circe, Telegonus, Telemachus, AND Penelope (trust me the family tree gets weird)

Argos: Let us pet the good boi.

[anmylica]

Chapter Three: A Certain Shade of Gold

Read The Fields of Asphodel on AO3

Catch up on Tumblr 01 02

The lashings and beatings seemed to go on forever, and in some ways that was true. Time had no meaning for the dead. They didn’t change, didn’t progress, didn’t grow. They were only what they were: shades of their former selves. Killian knew this; he wasn’t an unfamiliar stranger with the concept of frozen time. He had never experienced timelessness in quite the same way as this neverending, never-changing torture, though.

The lashes progressed to beatings with a cane. Then came the punches and kicks. Then came the periods of solitary confinement. Killian spent a lot of his time unconscious during those periods. When he was dragged in for another round of torture, he swore he wouldn’t give into what Hades wanted, but it was hard to endure that kind of endlessness. The only thing that kept him going was his faith that Hades had no idea what he was referring to when he talked about Killian’s hope. 

Killian had no hope to relinquish. But still, Hades persisted onward in pushing Killian to let go of something that he knew didn’t exist.  What Killian didn’t know at this point in time, but Hades knew and recognized, was that hope could take many forms. Death often destroyed hope, but not every form of hope was touched by death.

Time didn’t matter in the Underworld, so Killian couldn’t have said how long had passed since the torture sessions had begun. He had honestly begun to sort of tune out the relentless pain until it was nothing but background noise, a fact which cheered him up long enough to endure the session until he was finally granted the oblivion of unconsciousness back in his cell. Then he dreamed.

He dreamed of Emma, of how they had left things between them as he tried to punish her for going against his wishes with the Darkness. He dreamed of the terrible, harsh words he had said to her during his short tenure as a Dark One. He dreamed of the pain he knew he had inflicted on her family, his friends, and her son, who he viewed to be as good as his own. Those dreams made his heart ache, for he knew instinctively that Emma was experiencing the very same ones as he.  Those weren’t the worst he had, however. The worst dreams were the ones where he had returned to Emma, embraced her to him in a bone crushing hug, each raining kisses over each other as rain fell softly down around them. He dreamed of the life they could have had in that Victorian house down by the sea, the children that could have been theirs, the memories they could have made, and the life they could have lived together. 

Those were the ones that burned deep within, the visions of could have been fueling the despair he knew to the very depths of his soul that Emma was feeling too.  That was perhaps the worst part of this whole ordeal, knowing that she was hurting. He hoped she could move on, that this experience didn’t cause her to reconstruct her walls against her family. He hoped that his love had been enough to change her for the better, to allow herself to have built enough connections between her heart and those who loved her to find solace and peace with his passing. He hoped she remembered him fondly throughout her years, if she even would remember him at all. He hoped he could let her and their blossoming love go. 

But an even deeper, darker, more selfish desire reared up and consumed him at that thought. This desire was what had made him stay a pirate after he’d turned to piracy in vengeance for Liam’s senseless death. He wasn’t proud of this desire, but he couldn’t quite tamp it down; he wasn’t strong enough to. Deep down, he truly hoped she would never move on, and when she finally arrived in the Underworld after a long and content life, he could be there to greet her. Then they would both move on to whatever came next, hand in hand as they were supposed to be. He felt this so strongly he nearly burned with the longing, and was nearly consumed by it every time.  

He didn’t like to admit this, for he wanted to be selfless with her, but he couldn’t deny it, even if only to himself.  Every time he’d think about this, he’d end up right back here to this selfish desire. This was beginning to be his way of knowing how much time had passed since his last torture session because Hades would usually show up after he finally accepted that he felt this way and drag him right back to the throne room and repeat the beatings. 

One of Hades’ minions (Killian didn't know his name) had just begun the process for the fifth time when Killian felt his heart skip a beat. He felt a pull on his heart leading to the outside of the throne room so strong he gasped. It felt like his heart had been restarted. He felt more complete than he had since his death, but he didn’t know why. He lurched as another blow connected to his back.

Just before the minion could land another blow, a ray of bright golden light burst through the throne room. A rainbow was left flashing across the ceiling once the golden light passed through, a magical northern lights in a funereal setting. The minion stared at the ceiling, confused, but Killian knew what this was.

“Emma,” he breathed out, love and hope surging through his entire being. Then, he felt a brief pain as the minion gave him a hard blow to his head, and Killian was aware of nothing more.

Emma didn’t see the flash of golden light and the rainbow trailing after it, but the other denizens of the Underworld certainly did.  It blew people’s newspapers out of their hands down Main Street, knocked off several people’s hats and forced them to chase after the missing articles.  The light and its subsequent breeze ruffled the brunette curls of a pretty blue eyed woman stopping traffic at a crosswalk to allow kids to cross.  The light caused a chill to go down a dark-haired man’s spine as he looked up from the notes he was writing about the latest woman who’d been separated from her baby by death.  The commotion knocked over an open bottle and spilled a good bit of expensive rum inside a bar that was run by a curly haired man who scowled at the mess as he moved to mop it up.  The denizens of the Underworld  all stared at the golden light and the rainbow that tumbled after it, and then they looked around themselves in wonder as the Underworld suddenly seemed to be just a little bit brighter.

Rumplestiltskin was the only one of the group who saw the golden flash of light.  His only reaction was to raise an eyebrow before stating, “You should start by having a look around.  The Underworld is a rather complicated place.”

“I’ll say,” Emma breathed as she took in the deadened grass and the gray husks of poplar trees that grew (were they even alive and able to grow?) stilted around them.  

She breathed shallowly, grimacing a bit at the sulphuric smell in the air.  The red glow in the sky made her feel as if she had stepped into some sort of Twilight Zone, and there was no way back to normalcy.  The entire place felt oppressing and hopeless.  How on earth could they possibly expect to find Killian in time to save him?  She wasn’t going to succeed, couldn’t even begin to hope that she’d actually manage to change his fate…  She started breathing harder, panting at the paralyzing fear, that feeling of being caged in, that suddenly gripped her heart.  There was nowhere to run; there was no way out of this realm, and no way to achieve what she’d set out to do. Instinctively, she grabbed at the ring that hung around her neck, and took a deep breath.  The sudden panic vanished as quickly as it had come on.  It was just the atmosphere.  She could do this.  She just had to be strong and fearless.  She took her first step straight into the depths of Hell.

The group moved forward, as if awaiting their cue from Emma, and went through the archway.  They all looked around themselves in amazement.  Everything was dead, or at least it looked like it.  The colors were all muted, as if they had been bleached away by the decay that permeated the air.  After they had walked for some time, they all stopped short.  Somehow, without quite realizing how, they had walked right up to Main Street of Storybrooke.  It was an exact replica, but there were many shops closed and some minor damage along some of the buildings.

“What is this place?” Snow breathed out, startled by what she was seeing.

“I thought we were in the Underworld,” Emma replied uncertainly, her brow furrowing in confusion. Had they been portaled back home somehow?

“The Underworld takes on the appearance that its lord and master wills it to,” Rumple replied.  “For some reason, he sees fit to make it appear familiar to us.”

For some reason, Emma thought that was a peculiar explanation, but before she could think more about why the Dark One’s statement bothered her, her father asked a more logical question.

“Well, where do we start looking?” David asked no one in particular.  

“I guess we split up?” Emma suggested, at a loss for what to do next.  God, how was she supposed to lead them?  This wasn’t Neverland; she was under a completely different set of rules here. She hadn’t even been here for five minutes, and already her leadership was unraveling at the seams. She felt another wave of anxiety wash through her. She had to get it together, or none of them would survive. She mentally shook herself and took a deep breath, trying to ease the anxiousness she felt.

“Well, you can do whatever you wish.  I want no part of this. When you’re ready to give up on this foolish endeavor, you can find me in my shop.”  Rumplestiltskin moved to walk away in the direction of the place he had just mentioned.

“Hang on!  You said you were going to help us!” Emma protested. Wasn’t it just like the damn Dark One to jump ship when nothing in it directly benefited him? She should have just put the Darkness back into him and shoved Excalibur through his chest when she had the chance. She’d have saved herself some damn trouble. Killian really did have the measure of this guy.

“I actually did no such thing,” Rumple responded, turning to address her.  “I agreed to open the portal to the Underworld and bring you here.  I have fulfilled my end of our deal, and now my services are no longer required.  Good luck.  You’re going to need it,” he sneered and stalked off in the direction of his shop. Emma rolled her eyes.

Regina scoffed.  “Well, we don’t need his help anyway.  I think splitting up might be the best way to cover more ground.”

“Regina and I can go check out Granny’s, maybe?  Hook did have a room he was renting there, I believe?” Robin added.

“We can go by what’s supposed to be my office first,” Regina nodded.  “There might be some sort of census record telling us where to find him.”

“Yeah.  That’s actually a good idea.  Mom, Dad, could you guys maybe check out the loft on the chance he might have gone there?”

“Yeah, sure.  If he’s not there, we’ll meet you all at Granny’s,” David said.

Snow added, “I think it would be a good idea to swing by the library first real quick.  It can’t hurt to look in too many places that Killian liked to go, can it?”

“Yeah, we can do that,” David answered Snow.  He added to Emma, “Where are you going?”

“That’s fine,” Emma replied to her mother and then looked at Henry.  He nodded encouragingly.  “I'm going to check out my place, and I think I’m going to go down to the docks on my way.  If this whole thing is a copycat of Storybrooke, The Jolly Roger, or some version of it at least, might be docked down there.”

“I’m going with her,” Henry stated.

“Then it’s settled.  We’ll all meet at Granny’s in one hour.  Hopefully we’ll all find something worthwhile,” stated Regina.  They all turned and began walking towards their assigned locations, all the while unaware of the god that was watching them through a magic ball.

Hades kept his watch on Emma as she separated from her friends and family and headed as fast as she could to the docks, her son scurrying after her.  His blood boiled at the thought that this woman thought she could come to his domain and upend everything that he stood for. Hades didn’t let souls go; he entrapped them for all eternity. He resolved that Emma Swan was going to join his collection. He would use her, break her, and keep her. After all, what better fate could await a savior than being unable to save the very people they were there to protect?

Hades smiled a cruel, evil smile. He moved to sit down on his throne, stepping over the prone body of her paramour chained to the torture wall. He poured himself a glass of red Pinot noir wine, the finest vintage he could find in any realm, living or dead, and sipped it pensively.

“Panic!” He called out softly. Hades knew his minion wasn’t far off, awaiting his orders for how to react to their new guests. 

“You called, milord?” Panic asked as he stepped forward out of the shadows.

Hades took another sip before he answered. “How would you like to cause a little mayhem for our new friends?”

Panic smirked. “All of them?” 

“As many as you can get to in one hour,” Hades amended.

“Who should I start with first?”

“The most susceptible. I’ll leave that up to you.”

Panic bowed a very uncoordinated, elaborate bow. “I shall do as you command at once, sir!” The imp disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Hades leaned back in his throne, slouching a bit, and threw one leg over an arm. He sipped idly at his wine for a while, pondering over Killian’s prone body. In order for his plan to start, he had to divert his attention away from the defiant pirate captain. This was, perhaps, the first time he had cut a session with the mortal short since Jones’s arrival in the Underworld. He stayed in that position for several more minutes, contemplating his next move, when a shudder passed through the air. Distantly, he could hear the screams of panic in his streets. He smiled another cruel, evil smile. 

With a lazy wave of his hand, Killian Jones was returned to his cell in solitary confinement. He would continue his persuasion of the pirate later. First, he had to make sure Emma Swan started to lose her hope. Killian Jones was the least worrisome of the two in regards to that pesky feeling. Emma Swan was the Savior of the Enchanted Forest; her hope was sharpened beyond a normal mortal’s. Her hope could prove to be her salvation down here, and he needed her hope severed from her to fuel his revenge. 

Oh yes, it was time for Emma Swan to be broken beyond repair, and Hades was going to make damn sure that she crumbled. Nothing else would help him succeed as much as this. He stood up and just before he vanished in a whirl of black smoke, he glanced at a clear cylindrical column just off to the side. It was only about halfway full of a swirling maelstrom of kaleidoscopic liquid, but soon it would be full. Then he could begin to repair the tool he needed to finally storm Mount Olympus and get his revenge. But first, he would go to personally keep an eye on proceedings and maybe even introduce himself to his unwanted and unwelcome guests.

[studentofetherium]

Saw you were asking for asks so here we go: Thoughts on worldbuilding? you talked a bit about it on your monster girl posts but I’d like to what you like/dislike in regards to it, what you’d like to see more of and what series has the one you like the most.

a pet peeve of mine with worldbuilding is making everything centralized or making one single trait define the entire world. MTG falls into this problem a lot with the way that it often picks a single theme to build around. sometimes, it works, and can lead to large worlds which feel their size, but a lot of the times, it falls flat, leading to worlds which feel one-note and poorly thought out

to run through some examples:

Ixalan is a masterclass in worldbuilding. the concept itself is really simple: there's an island with dinosaurs and treasure. pirates and vampires want the treasure, while the natives want to be left alone. all of these is built on simple tropes (conquistadores, pirates, south american indigenous peoples, dinosaurs) and uses them to build the setting. however, importantly, the titular island of Ixalan, which is where the natives, both human (they hang out with the dinosaurs) and merfolk, live is only one small part of the world. the fact that there are two distinct native groups on the island is itself a way to develop the world, as it doesn't feel mono-cultural while still allowing them to pull from similar real-world inspirations. however, the most important thing is that the outsider factions, the vampires and pirates, come from elsewhere. they have their own homes that they come from and we only see a small piece of it. the vampires come from vampire spain which has all its big politics going on. but we don't really see much of the larger world, only hints of what it's like, which helps make it feel larger and more varied

on the other hand, there's something like Amonkhet, the Egyptian-inspired world. there's one city. and a desert. and that's it. the world has a curse which causes anyone who dies on this world to come back as a zombie, which comes into play in multiple ways. the world of Amonkhet has a culture of honorable death, where champions will fight for their living gods to earn the honor of being killed. when that happens, they're put in a big necropolis. more on that later. everyone else becomes mummies (because egypt, you see) or ends up in the desert. the desert is also crawling with horrible demon monsters. that's all the first layer of the world. that's all it has going on. except. also the world was destroyed and reshaped by an interdimensional dragon who became its god-king, and he's spent decades harvesting dead heroes from the necropolis to turn into his interdimensional army. at the end of the first story set on this world, he kills nearly everyone, including the gods, then takes his army and fucks off. the problem here is that the world is not only shallow, being made up of a single city and a single basic idea (people become mummies), but it exists purely to serve a single narrative, that being the Bolas-as-godking story which was only one part of a larger story

Kaldheim sits in the middle ground of this problem. the world itself is highly detailed and deftly crafted. it takes inspiration from norse mythology and as such has ten separate worlds all connected by the world tree, all roughly inspired by the nine realms. these have their own cultures and aesthetics and each serve a unique role in the larger world. the problem is that the world was only visited for a single set, and thus, wasn't properly explored, which makes a lot of these worlds feel one-note. i can't name any of the worlds off the top of my head (i can remember 9/10 in broad strokes, at least: BW: valhalla, UR: giants, UG: shapeshifter lake, BR: demon hell, UB: ice zombies, WG: humans, WU: the asphodel fields, RG: trolls, WR: dwarves, but i forgot elves). despite the width of the world, each of these is very simple in concept, which is a problem when the story lingered on none of these and barely even showed a few. i'm sure this world has more depth than it feels to have, and i do really like it, but because it was so poorly explored, the norse theming feels like a weak gimmick. there is no sense that this is a larger world because it all has to be explained that there are all these settings and areas around rather than having them be shown and demonstrated, not helped by an in-universe rule saying that denizens of a given realm cannot easily move to a different realm, thus making the overall world feel less cohesive

another way this issue manifests is in the writers clearly only thinking of specific areas of the world that they care about. this is most infamous for harry potter, with the different schools around the world and how poorly thought out they are, or how the Nasuverse doesn't really touch on places that the writers don't care about often, which leads to the global south being frequently ignored. for smaller works, like the average monster girl manga, i don't fault them for not thinking about this too much, because they know what they are and they aren't global, but when something is truly global (like the Nasuverse) the lack of attention to these areas becomes glaring (like Africa not existing outside of Egypt or Southeast Asia not existing outside of India) (in case you can't tell from everything else about my account, i adore Type-Moon and everything they do, but i think it's important to recognize their issues and remain critical of them) (also part of why i harp on this point so much is that i think it would be fascinating to explore the way that the systems of the world interact with and matter to these other parts of the world when they otherwise feel ignored and forgotten. at least LB7 is taking place in South America)

again, you don't need to go all out with every world or every setting. know what you are and don't overstep yourself, but if you're trying to go broad, don't become one-note or make the places you're overlooking feel obvious

[changeling6]

mortalworkers

Lyrics

mortalworkers is part of the album death and all her memories.

[Clarification: Yes, the song is supposed to be spelled mortalworkers while moralworkers are spelled w/o the t.]

In the story behind the album, moralworkers are people who handle both birth and death as the people of that realm view them as inherently linked. The main character in the story is a moralworker chosen specifically to deal with criminals and traitors. After preparing the body of a rebellion leader, she meets said leader's ghost. The leader cannot move on without the moralworker and they form a pact to save the realm from destruction.

The song mortalworkers refers to morticians and funeral directors. It discusses accepting the inevitability and mystery surrounding death. For me specifically, it's me trying to accept the possibility that there might be no afterlife at all after death. While I practice hellenic paganism and believe I'll go to the Underworld when I die, I still allow myself the acceptance that their might be nothing. It's still a terrifying thought that I could just cease to exist but I know I can't live forever and I'm going to die and there's nothing I can do about ceasing to exist.

[First Verse Analysis]

The first verse discusses the mundanity of life. We have routine, we try to stay alive, we may take risks, or we may avoid anything and everything in fear of dying. Then the verse describes my particular anxiety and a tug of war of trying new things or staying in my bubble and agonizing over missing out of stuff.

Cities of gold and rivers of earth refer to both heaven and the rivers of the Underworld. The cities of gold line refers to religious trauma I endured and how there were two places, two extremes. You either follow the "correct" religion without ever truly knowing if you were good enough to go that city of gold, or you suffer and burn in the fiery pits of hell. And that contrasts directly with my current religion where there are three places: Tartarus, the Asphodel Meadows, and Elysium. Tartarus is meant to be for the objectively bad people like murderers. You directly choose things that lead you to Tartarus. Then you have the Asphodel Meadows where most people go. It's not a life of suffering and it's not a life of glamour either. Then you have Elysium where people favored by the Gods end up; people who were heroes. It just made more sense to me. It helped my anxiety around death and find peace in it. More than anything, the Gods helped me find peace in it. There's a place where horrible people end up and there's a place that people can actively aspire to go to but it's not bad if they can't achieve those things.

[Pre-Chorus Analysis]

The pre-chorus describes the thesis of the song which is the possibility that there might not be anything after death. A lot of people want to know they did good and that they can reach paradise but it's possible they won't have anything. Just the void. Then the line referring to "eight minutes left in eternal sighs" refers to the death of the sun. If the sun died, it'd take eight minutes before the sun's corpse could reach us. So, if you had eight minutes left before you died, what would you do?

[Chorus Analysis]

The chorus is about the anxiety that exists around trying to accept the chance of no life after death. That acceptance is a barrier in trying to decide how to live your life, how to take risks but with the understanding that it's okay if a risk isn't taken. It's a frustrating balance.

[Second Verse Analysis]

The first chorus is meant to be an epiphany that leads to the second verse which discusses the freedom that is accepting death as an inherent part of life. How, even with people who you will never meet in your entire life, we are all connected by birth and death.

[Bridge Analysis]

The bridge is mostly me talking to myself before I finally resolved an identity crisis I've had since childhood. I felt very empty and dissociated then and like I had to please everyone and thus I had to mold myself to do so. But then the pandemic happened and all the isolation brought out the truer parts of me and thus the empty shell I used to be died.

[chrysanthemumgames]

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Hey everyone! I'm Jess (JJ) Laurier, and you're on the dev blog for Fields of Asphodel, an interactive fiction work-in-progress about the ancient Greek Underworld and its misfit residents. I'm excited to share this story with you all!

This blog will have the occasional update, the occasional bit of art, and reblogs of things people have made for the game. Asks are welcome, though I’m a little slow.

Summary, characters, and the like under the cut!

Fields of Asphodel is a game in which the player takes on the role of the Greek pantheon's deity of spring, on the eve of their (decidedly political) marriage to Hades, Lord of the Dead. After the constantly-simmering feud between Zeus and Demeter results in the rather unfortunate circumstance of a marriage neither party really consents to, the PC is whisked away to the Underworld, an unfamiliar realm that is all but the antithesis of fair Olympus.

There, they have the chance to make what they will of the lot they have drawn. The residents of the Underworld are an unusual, and unusually-accepting bunch, and there are friends or possible romantic connections to be made as well as a rather odd supporting cast to get to know, from the ever-bickering Moirae sisters to Hades's young adopted daughter Makaria to Kerberos, the gigantic, fire-breathing, three-headed dog.

But for all its charms—if indeed the PC should find any—the Underworld is not without its problems, and when a mysterious wasting disease afflicts Lethe, the river goddess of oblivion, the entire balance of life and death may be in jeopardy. It will take the PC, as well as the rest of the cast, to not only cure the affliction, but solve the mystery of what's causing it, and deal with the ever-spiraling fallout of the dead beginning to remember.

Of course, I shouldn't be misleading—the game is mostly about the relationships between its characters, and found family.

The PC, Deity of Spring (M/F/NB): Raised by their mother Demeter, in a rather confined situation that they can have resisted or cooperated with. Now, on the whim of Zeus, they’re Consort of the Underworld. Shape their skills and personality, deciding what and how they contribute to the problem before their new home!

Hades, God of Death (M): That guy you’re married to now. Also King of the Underworld, but mostly just tired and uncomfortable.

Hermes, God of Passage (M): And travelers, and thieves, and loads of other things. Energetic, boisterous, youthful psychopomp who doesn’t quite feel he fits in anywhere.

Charon, The Ferryman (NB, he/they): Patient, serene guide of the dead with more than one uncomfortable secret.

Pyriphlegethon, The River of Fire (NB, they/them): Better known as Pyri. A burst of energy in a gloomy Underworld, if maybe a tad dense.

Alekto, Minister of Punishments (F): Leader of the Erinyes, also known as the Furies. Suspicious of the PC’s presence, and a grump.

Hekate, Goddess of Witchcraft (F): One of Hades’s chief advisors. Confident, curious, and fighting off the last vestiges of a long millennium’s loneliness.

Hello again, everyone. FoA's writer here. (I'm also one of the two writers of Diaspora, but that's another can of worms.) :)

Thanks for reading this far!

My little single-person venture is, a tad presumptuously perhaps, called Chrysanthemum Games. Someday, I would like to be a full-time writer, but for now I do what I can to write like I already am and hope everything else falls into place eventually.

If you like Asphodel, and would like to offer some support, I do have both a Patreon and a Ko-Fi (see above for links). It might interest you to know that the Patreon features the Build-in-Progress (BIP), a feature by which I update monthly with whatever I've written that month, whereas most people only see complete chapter updates. There's also art and bonus content and previews and process notes, as well as more frequent progress updates than I do for tumblr.

I track the tags ‘asphodelgame,’ and 'chrysanthemumgames' but if you want me to see something it’s probably safer just to @ me.

[interact-if]

Day 3 of the People With Disabilities Month Featured Author Interviews! Next up, we’ve got...Jess! 

Jess, author of Fields of Asphodel and co-author of Diaspora

People With Disabilities Month Featured Author

Fields of Asphodel is a game in which the player takes on the role of the Greek pantheon’s deity of spring, on the eve of their (decidedly political) marriage to Hades, Lord of the Dead. After the constantly-simmering feud between Zeus and Demeter results in the rather unfortunate circumstance of a marriage neither party really consents to, the PC is whisked away to the Underworld, an unfamiliar realm that is all but the antithesis of fair Olympus.

There, they have the chance to make what they will of the lot they have drawn. The residents of the Underworld are an unusual, and unusually-accepting bunch, and there are friends or possible romantic connections to be made as well as a rather odd supporting cast to get to know, from the ever-bickering Moirae sisters to Hades’s young adopted daughter Makaria to Kerberos, the gigantic, fire-breathing, three-headed dog.

But for all its charms—if indeed the PC should find any—the Underworld is not without its problems, and when a mysterious wasting disease afflicts Lethe, the river goddess of oblivion, the entire balance of life and death may be in jeopardy. It will take the PC, as well as the rest of the cast, to not only cure the affliction, but solve the mystery of what’s causing it, and deal with the ever-spiraling fallout of the dead beginning to remember.

Of course, I shouldn’t be misleading—the game is mostly about the relationships between its characters, and found family.

Fields of Asphodel Demo | Diaspora Demo | Discord | Author’s Ko-fi | Patreon | Kraken Studios Ko-fi | Kraken Studios Patreon | Read more about Fields of Asphodel [here] and Diaspora [here]

Tags: Romance, Mythology

(INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT UNDER THE CUT!)

Q1. So, tell us a little bit about the projects you're working on! 

Well, currently I’m working on two IFs, Fields of Asphodel and (with my awesome friend August) Diaspora. Asphodel is a retelling of the Hades and Persephone myth, but a lot more queer and less… you know. Weird and problematic in myth-typical ways. So it boils down to ‘child of Demeter politically manipulated into marriage with Awkward Single Dad by third party,’ but the story can proceed several different ways from that premise. Fundamentally, I think it’s about becoming yourself, and the comfort of acceptance, and belonging.

Diaspora is by far the longer project in the making. I think we’ve been working on it since… maybe 2014? 2015? I’m not sure. It’s been slow, but the thing’s nearly a million words and almost done, so that’s exciting. It’s a mid/low fantasy about a raiding culture expelled from their home territory by a war. The player character is the child of Chief Roise of Clan Maghnus, and what’s left of your clan comes south in search of a new place to live. You take over a pretty nice island, only to find that the big empire who already owns it isn’t too happy with you. It’s about culture clash, and what home means, and trying to find the best way forward when there are no perfect people, or options.

Q2. What has been your favorite thing about interactive fiction as a medium? What are some of the biggest challenges?

I  think my favorite thing about IF is the nuance that it allows. It’s a bare bones medium—there’s words, and at maximum some basic visual assets otherwise, but just as often none of that. It means the focus is the story, and it also means you can really dig into that. Flavor it with subtle variations, and in general just kind of… give it the kind of descriptive detail that something like a video game can’t usually have, with the variation that a novel can’t. It’s an interesting middle to be sitting in.

Challenge-wise, it really gets draining sometimes, doing all of that. It’s rewarding in its way, but sometimes I have to remind myself that ‘even if 95% of people never see this, it’s important to have here for the 5% that do.’ It can get tough, writing sideways instead of forward, especially if you really want to go forward!

Q3. What is something you're excited to explore within your work?

I take myself to have a lot of pretentious interest in things like imagination and the power of narrative, haha. So a lot of my personal interest comes from playing around with stories, either ones made up by me, or new takes on ones made up by other people. But I guess less broadly, I like being able to make and share characters that are a little different than most of what happens in the mainstream. And the themes I pick are all ones that interest me personally: what home is, what belonging is, change and compromise and how much of those things is too much and how much isn’t enough—all that sort of thing.

Also, as far as Asphodel goes, I’ve heard it described as a ‘comfort IF’ and honestly, that appeals to me. I wrote its characters as people I would want to be surrounded by—and the story isn’t meant to stress anyone out. It can and will get high-stakes, but exploring how to do that without making something that’s actually anxiety-inducing to play has been an interesting experiment.

Q4. Has your disability influenced your work? Whether it's worldbuilding, the design, the process, and positive or negative--what is your advice in working with your disability and being creative?

Sure they have. My Autism just kind of influences how I see and exist in the world, and that apparently comes through so much in my writing that not only did at least a couple readers know I was Autistic before I did, but at least one was prompted to seek (and received) a diagnosis of their own by relating strongly to some of the neurodivergent options and characters in Asphodel.

My physical disability is something I’m still coming to terms with, because it isn’t something well-known or talked about and it’s generally invisible to other people. Because of this, it’s sometimes hard to recognize myself as disabled, and especially hard to ask for help. But it comes through in small ways in my writing as well, I think, and I’m interested in exploring it more in the future. 

As for working with a disability and being creative… I think that’s going to be an answer that varies with every disabled person! For me, routine and habit are extremely important. If I fall out of a daily progress habit I can come to an abrupt halt, and it’s much, much harder to get started again. I also can’t do too many things at a time, but I do need to do more than one. It helps keep the wheels greased, so to speak. It doesn’t all have to be IF, of course—sometimes switching mediums can be helpful too. Some people can’t write every day, though, and that’s just fine. What works for me won’t work for everyone; not even every Autistic person.

I encourage people who are struggling with this to experiment, but give the experiments time to show their results. If you’re like me, you may not have realized you’re disabled/ND/whatever for much of your life, and maybe even learned to do things the way other people have always told you to do them or how they ‘should be’ done. But even if that’s true, you might find it’s immensely better if you use your particular brain to your advantage instead of trying to cram it into someone else’s mold. I admire people who can sit down and crank out 10,000 words in a day and then take a week off before the next bunch (or not!), but I sure can’t. I have to do a much smaller amount, consistently. Neither way is right or wrong, they just work for different people. 

Q5. what's an accessibility issue you see glazed over a lot in IF? and what accessibility features would you like to see implemented more in IF?

I think for me at least a lot of games assume that I (or, well, the reader) am/is much better at interpreting tone than I actually am. I’m not the absolute worst at it by any means, but I definitely struggle sometimes, and I can’t count the number of times I’ve unintentionally picked an option that’s totally at-odds in the following text with how I imagined it to be. I’ve personally chosen to fix this in Asphodel with an optional system of symbols that helps indicate what tone the choice has. It’s not a perfect system, but I think it’s better than nothing. I’m sure some people can write clearly enough that this is obvious from text alone always, but I’m not one of them!

Maybe less prominent but still something I’ve noticed is that a lot of player characters are assumed to be totally comfortable in situations that would make my skin crawl, haha. Loud gatherings, for just one example. I can see why sometimes this is just the character I’m playing, so it doesn’t bother me much (especially because I don’t self-insert), but I do always kind of have a little laugh about it. One pretty easy thing to do would be to give options just for discomfort with more things like that, I suspect. The writer could make it necessary to do anyway, make the character just kind of mask it, if it’s required to move the plot forward, but little things like that can make a big difference. I guess that’s not really an ‘accessibility feature’ in the usual sense, but it’s something I think about a lot from the perspective I have as a disabled person, so there it is.

Q6. What is something you'd love to see in interactive fiction?

I think a lot of people are afraid to write disabled characters. That’s understandable in a way, because a lot of them have been poorly-done, in the history of fiction, but I’d like to see more people try. It takes research, and intentionality, but it can be done. I suspect, though cannot confirm, that one of the reasons behind this in IF is that people aren’t really sure what role such a character could play, and I further suspect that this is because a lot of people, through no fault of their own, really have no idea what life with disability is like.

So to those people I say: we’re as widely-varied in what we can and can’t do as everyone else. Please consider looking at what roles you want to fill in your story and choosing some to give to disabled characters. Research will go a long way, but do a little more than you think you need, just in case. And make sure that you’re listening most carefully to the voices of disabled people themselves, rather than their parents, doctors, and the like.

Q7. Any advice to give to aspiring devs?

I think this whole interview has been packed with unsolicited advice, but I guess as a final note I’d just say… if you’re interested in trying a project, try it! I know there’s a lot of hurdles that can get in the way of that—worries that you aren’t good enough, or that no one will read it, or that you’ll never finish it, or what-have-you. I’ve experienced, and from time to time do still experience, all of those things.

But I’ve figured out the secret: there’s no such thing as talent. Just persistence. You are good enough, and you’ll get better as you practice. The only person you need to write for is you; people will show up (if you want to share) because if something is you enough, it’s going to resonate with someone. It just is. And if you don’t finish… well, is that so bad? You’ll have learned something that doesn’t work for you, and probably a lot of other things besides. If you think it’s worth doing, and have a story you want to try and the ability to at least make the attempt, then you’re golden. If you need permission, I hereby give it to you—and for all my fellow tone-challenged people, I say that all with complete sincerity.

[thebigqueer]

Ok, here we go. Dark!Bianca idea. Shortly after the events in the desert, a severely injured Bianca is found by agents of the Titans who were shadowing the quest party off-page. She is brought back to Titan HQ and is convinced to join their crusade against the gods while her friends and family think she's dead. Jump ahead to BotL, instead of Kelli the Empousa, it is a mysterious masked assassin who attacks Percy and Rachel at Goode. The events mostly play out unchanged until Geryon's (1/8)

ranch, where instead of Bianca, it is the ghost of Maria di Angelo who is revealed to be sending Iris messages to Percy about Nico, while also strongly hinting that Bianca's still alive. Jump ahead to Mt St. Helens, Percy fights the assassin again, and during his stint on Ogygia, Percy begins to put two and two together after the assassin demonstrated skills similar to the Hunters. At Antaeus' Arena, the assassin is finally unmasked to reveal a still-alive but scarred Bianca, replacing (2/8)

Ethan Nakamura as the demigod enforcer. Percy is convinced that Bianca is being mind-controlled and goes to Mt Tam to rescue her as well as stop Kronos. However, when he confronts her, Bianca reveals that she's operating of her own free will, feeling vengeful against the gods for robbing her of her life and having pledged her loyalty to her new Titan master. Kronos intends to make Bianca the prophesy kid, promising her the free will she craves so badly as well as promising not to hurt (3/8)

Nico. Going into the Last Olympian, Percy and Nico are both determined to convince Bianca that she's making a mistake, and this time Nico's duplicity is not to simply learn about his mother but to try and summon her spirit to get through to Bianca. At the same time, Kronos gradually starts treating Bianca as less of an ally and more of a tool, and the Titans' actions cause her to have doubts even though she dosen't know what else to do. It all comes to a head in the final battle.(4/8)

Nico returns from the Underworld by himself early, giving Hades an ultimatum to come and fight or hide. Just before the final attack, Kronos sends Bianca to infiltrate Olympus to disable the magic defenses, but Nico arrives to intercept her and make one last bid to save her. They fight, with both begging the other to stand down even as they slug it out. Finally, just as Percy arrives to chase Kronos, the battered siblings' duel ends when Nico gives another ultimatum. He throws down his (5/8)

sword and gives Bianca, now reduced to fear and frustration-induced tears, the choice between perusing her grudge and allowing herself to continue being Kronos’s slave or doing the right thing. Finally able to make a legitimate choice of her own, Bianca chooses to turn her back on the Titans. She still ends up wounded, but unlike Ethan in canon, Nico manages to save his sister while Percy and Kronos have their final battle. After everything ends, Percy petitions for Bianca’s pardon along (6/8)

with the rest of his list, though Bianca turns it down, realizing the harm she almost caused to the person she loved more than anybody else. She is given a reduced sentence in service to her father, and though she does not properly forgive any of the gods that hurt her, she does recognize that the spite and anger she felt would only lead to more death. Nico gets to visit her occasionally, and she starts a road to redemption that Luke never got the chance to take. In HoO, Bianca is (7/8)

more of a background character, but it is she that finds Hazel in Asphodel and alerts Nico to her. Overall, dark!Bianca is an anti-villain who’s affiliation with Kronos is clearly drawn from her pain and grief over the gods’ interference in her life, but her saving grace is her brother. Nico manages to pull her out of the darkness and save her from becoming the same monster Luke became. What do you think? (bear in mind, this is my rough draft) (8/8)

Okay, WOW. Anon, I am actually going to start a petition to make you the new Percy Jackson author because that was such an interesting plot to read.

First of all, I love that you replaced Bianca with Ethan. As interesting as he was in the series, and as much as I loved his character, after reading through your rough draft, I feel like Bianca would have been a much better character to use throughout PJO. Her arc could have been expanded upon and completed thoroughly, and it could have made a lot of sense. Ethan felt more like a representation of "demigods turned to the other side," which I get is the point, but I loved the way you used Bianca because with your plot, her character could have been used so well to properly show how easily the Titan army manipulated kids.

Furthermore, I feel like your plot with Bianca could have been a much better way to use her character throughout the series. From my interpretation, in canon she seemed more like a stand-in tool just to enhance Nico's own character arc and his motives, but your plot for her would have actually given her some kind of foundation and an actual arc for her to go through. You've given her such an interesting character and I think it really provides more justice to what she could have been.

I also love the way that not only did you give her a better arc, but you also enhanced Nico's own arc and the plot, too. Her death in the books seemed more symbolic to him and a turning point in his character, but with her character in your AU, it's both important to Nico and Bianca. You've given her an actual character, and you've set up such an interesting conflict between Nico and Bianca.

Additionally, I love the divide you've created between them. I think that - based on what we know about her in the books - as much as she loves her brother, Bianca also feels very limited with him because of how she's been forced to grow up and be his savior. She understands that he's only a child, though, which I think could also play into her own hatred for the gods - they've not only destroyed her family, but now they're forcing her to take the role of an adult when she's a mere child, too? She was never angry at Nico - she was only ever mad with the gods.

Maybe that's something that Nico also feels bad about, and maybe he tells her about it when they're standing each other down. Maybe she lets him know that she never hated him or felt that he was bringing her down.

Also, I want to add that I adore the way you put them on opposite sides. It sets up such an interesting dynamic to their relationship because here you have two people who love each other so much, but they're on two different sides of a large war. They're both too stubborn to go onto each other's sides, and Nico knows Bianca's only going to get herself into more danger. I just love the potential that has for both of their characters.

I know Percy had a large fear about Nico being another kid to join Kronos' army, so I bet Bianca being on his team would have left Percy incredibly terrified for Nico, too, because he knew how much Nico loved Bianca. Would he have been nervous for Nico's ability to change his mind? Nico knows he'd never join Kronos, but would Percy have known?

And, knowing that Bianca's now on the Kronos side, how would Percy react? Because he felt pretty guilty about her death in TTC, right? Would he feel guilty that she's on the other side now, too? Would he try to reason with her, only to push her further away? I'd love to see how Percy would deal with knowing that Bianca - an important child of the Big Three - would react to her being there. He was already nervous about Nico joining sides, but having Bianca there would have really scared him.

And the part about Bianca finding Hazel instead of Nico? That was mind-blowing. I love everything about that situation because now that introduces Hazel into the narrative of Nico and Bianca's story. My question for you would be how does Hazel's character change now? How does she fit in with Nico and Bianca? Because in Heroes of Olympus she's clearly very insecure about her relationship with Nico and how he views her, but if she actually knew Bianca, how would she feel? Would she feel more left out (knowing that Bianca and Nico have known each other much longer and have a stronger connection with each other)? Would she be distrustful? And how would the three of them adapt to this additional family member? I have high hopes that by the end they would all love each other very much, but I'm just really curious into how Hazel's addition would influence the dynamic of all three.

And, essentially, it all ends into a somewhat win-win situation. Bianca's still living; Nico's got two new sisters; Hazel now has a new family.

I think this is such an interesting concept, and I'd love to read it. If you ever post it anywhere, please do share the link! This was such an intriguing plot to go through and, again, I think this could have been a much better use of Bianca's character.

Thank you so much for sharing it with me.

[echodrops]

Endwalker Launch Trailer Thoughts

Spoilers for the launch trailer if you haven’t seen it yet. Careful!

1. Why is everyone on social media so excited that Emet-Selch is the narrator? I’ve seen a whole bunch of people suggesting that he’ll for sure be coming back because of this, but... He recorded an entire verbal record of Azem’s story into the constellation stone that WoL is now using. We already heard the first part of this narration in 5.3 during SoS. I feel like the promo material has made it pretty clear that Endwalker is a mirror narrative where WoL will real-time live through a second coming of the Final Days while learning about the events of the original Final Days through Emet-Selch’s recounting. Emet-Selch just so happens to be the narrator because he was the only Convocation member who believed Azem’s story was worth preserving. (Not that I wouldn’t LOVE to see him back though, of course...)

1.5. Emet-Selch’s narration on beginnings and endings, love and loss, is a very strong allusion to Shakespeare (To the last syllable of recorded time;/ And all our yesterdays have lighted fools/ The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!/ Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player,/ That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,/ And then is heard no more...)

2. Looks like we’re getting a classic hero’s journey--WoL is going to set off to stop the Final Days, “fail” like Azem did, die/enter the Underworld/Aetherial Sea, discover the “truth,” be reborn (probably via the power of the Echo), and then finally resolve the Hydaelyn-Zodiark conflict in the way that Azem was originally not able to do. Classic stuff, we love to see it.

3. Is that Sadu Heavenflame in Garlemald? I know they deserve what they have coming, but do even Garleans deserve that?

4. Also saw a boatload of people on social media saying the white flower the WoL is holding is an asphodel (presumably because Pandaemonium’s first tier is “Asphodelos”) but I feel like social media has probably never seen an actual asphodel flower in their life. Leaf and petal-wise, the white flower in the trailer looks closer to chrysanthemum japonense than asphodel... Maybe, maybe if you need some Persephone connection, you could stretch it and say the flower might be a really stylized Narcissus (daffodil) (modeled by someone who has never seen one before)? Asphodel flowers were sacred to Persephone, but the flower that was actually used to lure her to the gate of the Underworld was Narcissus, not asphodel.

4.5. The “bloom that guides and tests” its bearer calls to mind Kathasaritsagara; the flower that measures ones’ conviction is a recurring symbol in non-Western writing...

5. The jagged shape of Hydaelyn resembles exactly the jagged look given to the “Gears of Change” patch art from a million years ago. Damn, what a tidy call back.

6. Anima, Anima, Anima. Letsssss goooooo.

7. Mysterious childish/feminine voice. Don’t know who this is. This voice sounds really different in JP/GER. Someone in the comments suggested Krile? Or a new female character?

8. Mysterious Garlean. My guess is Nerva, but honestly I wish it would be Noah, so we could get an actual end to the Bozja plotline instead of the bullshit field notes sum-up they gave us. (Long shot this might be Nero in new armor but I feel like that would imply a bigger plot twist than I’d expect with his character after committing himself to a life of irritating Cid until they die of old age together seeming to settle in to his defection at last in the 5.x patch cycle.)

9. Ominous dark orbs in the background of the sky; the “threat from another world” or “threat from above” plot line continues to be linked back to at every turn. Also lots of emphases on the mouths of the monsters throughout this trailer--speech, voice, sound, all very important.

10. Completely conflicted on Fandaniel’s line in the trailer. Many ways this could go--could this actually be an early reveal of the fact that he’s not a batshit crazy death seeker and that he really is trying to “save” the world? Or is this a fake out, and we’re hearing the voice of the pre-Sundered Fandaniel trying to originally save his world? I don’t think the clip of Fandaniel actually seamlessly fits into the book-ended clips of WoL here; things might have been spliced to trick us viewers. ALSO, the JP version of these lines sounds SIGNIFICANTLY more distressed and strained. (And the GER line sounds like... they should maybe have gotten German!Dango a better voice actor. XD) Jury is still out on Fandaniel’s actual goals and personality but this is definitely food for thought.

11. All those masks, definitely a call back to Dying Gasp--they symbolize the weight of all the lives lost to the Final Days, the Amaurotines still waiting and deserving of resurrection. A heavy burden indeed.

12. The one who says “It will be ours again, a world free of sorrow” in English is not Emet-Selch, and I actually don’t think it’s Fandaniel or Elidibus. I can’t place the voice right now so hopefully someone else knows who it is, but I actually don’t think this line necessarily goes with the scene it is being played over. Feels deliberately misleading--my first assumption was that this was a new Ascian, but this could actually be just about anyone, since “a world without sorrow” would apply just as well to the current Hydaelyn (being ravaged by Final Days 2.0) as the pre-Sundered world.

13. I feel like Alphinaud’s last lines might be a fakeout, trying to get us to assume the worst and fear for him. The lines are noticeably different in German. Most characters who get “death flags” waved that hard in trailers typically turn out okay (IIRC, Aymeric getting stabbed lol). I wondering if this might actually be a really big fakeout, and instead of Alphinaud actually saying these things, he might be reading them, such as from a letter left behind by the WoL, who will decide to go off to stop the Final Days just as Azem once did. And then line “Tomorrow’s never promised” may serve as a uniting line, shared by both Azem and WoL as explanation for their constant drive to be the one on the frontlines fighting to save the world... Not me over here imagining Azem leaving Hades off with this line to go on another grand adventure far from Amaurot, returning every time except for the one time that truly mattered...

14. The dialogue overall is noticeably different in the German version of the trailer compared to the ENG/JP. @_@ Might have to make a comparison for myself...

15. I fully respect the delay but god, LET ME IN LET ME IN LET ME IN--

[toreaders-fromreaders]

Hello!

Welcome to Part 2 of Chapter 5 analysis where we will cover all things plants!

The format will look a bit different because there is a lot to go over!

If you're looking for tea analysis and other details → Part 1.

Please note, as of the date of this posting, I have only read up to Chapter 31. This analysis may not be the most accurate or relevant.

DISCLAIMER: This is all meant for fun, these thoughts are purely based on personal observations and a bit of research. It is not intended as criticism or critique in any shape or form. I have no idea if these are inadaze22‘s intentions and any confirmation(s) from her will be noted. If you have corrections or inputs, do send them my way. All I ask is that we are kind to one another.

Spoilers ahead! You have been warned!

The Plants: The fruits mentioned in this chapter likely serve no significance, but here is some over-analyzing and over-reaching.

Dwarf Mango

Has direct connection to the Hindu goddess, Saraswati who is known as the Goddess of knowledge, speech, wisdom, learning, etc. (traits are of similar resemblance to Hermione)

The Vasant Panchami festival celebrates Saraswati, and involves the offering of mango leaves.

Families often mark the day of the festival by helping their young children learn how to write the letters of the alphabet and create music (foreshadowing to Hermione helping Scorpius to communicate?)

Fig

This is a massive stretch and something I stumbled upon: The Qur'an has a "chapter" that begins with "By the fig and the olive", perhaps this will allude to another plant in later chapters. (Source: Wikipedia, don't come for me)

In Greco-Roman culture, it's associated with fertility *wink wink nudge nudge* (I'm sorry this fact was too good to pass off)

Lemon

This is the fourth time it has been mentioned, so it's nearly been mentioned in every single chapter and Hermione clearly has a fondness for it (perhaps other characters also share this same appreciate for it....)

It is often associated with friendship, love, and purification, which are central themes of this fic. If going with the order of things, it directly alludes to the story arc and sets the trajectory for Hermione's relationships.

In terms of tea, lemon cuts the bitterness of black teas to bring a brighter tone. Similarly, both Hermione and Draco are likely to enter into each other's lives and bring something new into their respective lives.

Orange

It's not specified what type of orange Hermione has planted, but it's safe to assume that its meant for consumption and her tea blends.

Hermione mentions that it's for the kids, maybe Scorpius will like them too? (This is for the Tangerine Twins and The Child Protection Agency)

Pear

No thoughts just another quote I pulled off the pear Wikipedia page about the first mention of pears in literature: "Therein grow trees, tall and luxuriant, pears and pomegranates and apple trees with their bright fruit, and sweet figs, and luxuriant olives." (Please note the presence of figs and olives, thank you!)

Abyssinian Shrivelfig

Used in Shrinking Solution (foreshadowing?)

Used in Elixir to Induce Euphoria, which also uses peppermint to counteract side effects (reference to Draco Malfoy creating the potion in 3rd Year; unclear as to how this relates to future chapters)

Akra (Calotropis gigantea)

Produces biochemicals that can help with germination and growth of many agricultural plants (Hermione likely uses this to speed up plant growth aside from magic)

Specific strains can be used as poison (I highly doubt this fact will be seen in the fic, but it's a fun fact to run with)

Used in traditional medicine to treat neurological disorders, although this has limited scientific finding (perhaps this plant will be used in one of Narcissa's potions)

Asphodel

Part of the lily family

Associated with death and gloom, and Persephone the Greek goddess (foreshadowing to potential character death, and issues that Hermione and others must face in the Ministry?)

Used in Draught of Living Death, which places an individual into a deep slumber (foreshadowing?)

Used in Vitamix Potion, which briefly provides a boost in energy and sharpens reflexes (foreshadowing?)

Dittany

Used in healing potions (foreshadowing)

Used in Wiggenweld Potion, which is an antidote to the Sleeping Draught and Draught of Living Death, and also requires the use of mint (foreshadowing?)

Kava

Used for her teas (refer to Chapter 3 → tea analysis)

May also be used in Narcissa's potions because of the sedative properties

Ipecacuanha

Archaic scientific term

A Muggle drug that uses this plant to cause induced vomiting was discontinued in 2010 (unclear as to how this relates to future chapters)

Leaping Toadstools

Used for Baruffio's Brain Elixir, which supposedly increases brain size but can cause detrimental brain damage if brewed incorrectly (unclear as to how this relates to future chapters)

Neem

Potentially toxic, and a weed in some regions

Used for Fergus Fungal Budge, which is used to treat ringworm infections (unclear as to how this relates to future chapters)

Wormwood

Used as flavouring in spirits and wines

Used in Draught of Living Death (foreshadowing?)

Used in Elixir to Induce Euphoria (unclear as to how this relates to future chapters)

Used in Shrinking Solution (foreshadowing?)

Used in Vitamix Potion (foreshadowing?)

Used in the Healing Potion in the 2010s by the Statue of Secrecy Task Force (parallel to Terrorist Task Force?)

Bits and Pieces: This section is going to a collection of small details and such that I found to be interesting in their wording and meaning. There’s many ways to interpret them, but for this one I’m just going to leave them here. Maybe I’ll come back and do a full analysis later on.

"Halia" (*cue the tears)

"self-partnering" (refer to Emma Watson's interview for Beauty and the Beast)

"except for a twitch in his jaw and a glimmer of what looked like an odd mix of curiosity and suspicion"

🌱 This marks the end of the plant analysis, and bits and pieces section. 🌱

Thank you for coming along for the ride! Hope you enjoyed and see you on the next one! :)

-C

In case you missed the previous posts:

Chapter 1 → review

Chapter 2 → review

Chapter 3, Part 1 → review

Chapter 3, Part 2 → tea + plant analysis

Chapter 4, Part 1 → review

Chapter 4, Part 2 → tea analysis + other details + bits and pieces

Chapter 5, Part 1 → tea analysis + other details

[the-original-hybrid-niklaus]

♚

𝐇𝐀𝐃𝐄𝐒 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐍𝐄

It was nothing but an ordinary day in Erebos. Hades is busy sitting in his throne and overseeing the entirety of his kingdom from there. He doesn’t like being the ruler of this kingdom and having no throne in Mount Olympus, so he specifically told the Cyclopes and other builders in the Underworld to create the most wonderful palace in the whole universe that it outranks Olympus itself. It wasn’t his fault that luck wasn’t on his side when he and his siblings drew lots and saw which one of them would control each domain. He just happened to be the last one to get the orb representing the domains, and that left him with no choice. So, if he can’t have a seat at Olympus like the rest of them can, he will make one for himself and his future queen, one made from the purest imperial gold and celestial bronze one can find.

It was indeed an ordinary day for the god of Erebos when one of his messengers told him about the rift on the upper world that connects to the Underworld, where souls in the fields of Asphodel may escape through the crack and live once again. Of course, the god was alarmed and ordered his undead servants to prepare his chariot pulled by skeleton horses with rubies for eyes. He may have gone a little overboard because instead of his robes, he’s wearing his black battle armor –the one he used when fighting with Kronos hundreds of years ago–, and the Helm of Darkness that was made by the Cyclopes.

Taking the reins of his chariot, he commanded the horses to gallop. Truthfully, it has been so long since Hades had enjoyed his day like this. It’s not everyday a crevice on his kingdom magically appears that requires his immediate attention. It was a reason for him to go check the Sicily area where it was seen by his messenger. Hades rode like the wind from Greece to Sicily. It was a pretty nice ride, he can hear the cries of the souls from the river Kokytos, also known in the modern days as the river of lamentations, it’s like the only thing that makes him happy in his centuries of ruling the realm of the dead. It was also a reason for him to go to the upper world and see the sun once again. But he saw something more beautiful than that.

Upon reaching Sicily, where the rift was said to be located, he saw a woman sitting on ground and tending to the flowers and plants on the ground that are withering due to the essence of the Underworld seeping through the trench. Hades pulled the reins that made his skeleton horses stop on their tracks. He took off his helmet and hopped off the chariot to approach the woman trying to save the dying plants.

“Greetings, my lady. I would advise you to step away from the rift as it could cause irreparable damage,” He said politely as he can sense divinity emanating from this woman. She was wearing a white chiton dress and sandals that were gold in color. She wasn’t wearing any jewelry at all. Her hair looked like they were reflecting the rays of the sun back to Hades’ eyes, much like her smile when she turned to face him and smiled. Hades can see her blue eyes glistening as she stared at his black orbs. Her face is full of color, full of life. Unlike his, that has the evidence of death in it.

“Sire, I’m more than capable of taking care of myself and these plants. Thank you very much,” she replied, again, respectfully since she can feel divinity exuding from this strange man wearing nothing but black armor made with stygian iron. She can feel power in the air, power that is much greater than her own. It didn’t take long before she realized that this man is the god of the Underworld. “Please fix this crevice because it’s killing my plants, Lord Hades,” she pleaded. Hades wanted to fix this as soon as possible as well. But now, his reasons have grown in number. He was mesmerized with the beauty of the goddess before him, despite not knowing her name. He feels that the withering of her plants is causing her sadness, and he didn’t really want to see sadness in those eyes. He believes that she doesn’t deserve that kind of pain.

“What is your name?”

“Persephone, my lord.”

“I will do whatever I can, love,” he assured her. And so, the God of the Underworld went to work, moving the ground with his power in order to bring them together once again. Now, he wants her to be his queen. He will give her the finest jewelries that there is in the whole universe, and a kingdom to rule, of course. He will make her a queen. They talked for a few hours, where Hades had learned that Persephone is the daughter of Demeter and Zeus, up until sunset. The conversation they just had is the best he’s ever had in his entire existence. They both have never felt love before in their lives, but they were both sure that this is it.

“Run away with me. Come with me to my kingdom. I will give you everything that you desire,” Hades said lovingly to Persephone. For the first time, his eyes were filled with hope and positivity. He reached for the goddess’ hand and held it between his cold ones and kissed it with his lips. He felt warmth radiating from her palm which battles his iciness.

“I can’t. My mother will weep if I just go with you without her or my father’s permission,” Persephone replied, looking back at Hades’ black, mystifying eyes that were cold, but she could see the sincerity. She could feel something in her heart too. But with her words, Hades grew the confidence and bravery to march to the gates of Olympus and ask his brother for Persephone’s hand.

Admins notes:

• This version deviates from the mythology because I want it to.

• This was for my roleplay account in facebook where I used Joseph Morgan as a face claim for my Hades.

• I don’t like to follow the source material because I don’t like the part where Persephone was abducted and wasn’t even asked for HER consent.

[ulysses-goode]

STATS -

NAME: Ulysses Goode NICKNAME: Uly (pronounced You-lee) GENDER & PRONOUNS: Demi-guy, they/them or he/him BIRTHDAY & AGE: 15th of June (Bastille Day) 1990, 30 years old

OCCUPATION: Resident (Surgery department at Sacred Heart) GIFTED? no HOUSE: none LENGTH OF STAY IN ASPHODEL: 5 weeks (celebrated their 30th birthday in Asphodel

POSITIVE TRAITS: charming, kind, big heart, easily amused, quick-witted, observant, problem-solver, honest NEUTRAL TRAITS: sarcastic, ambitious, proud, stern, high-spirited NEGATIVE TRAITS: arrogant, bossy, judgemental, boisterous, reluctant, demanding, dependent

BIOGRAPHY -

(full biography found here)

Lupus tw, kidney failure tw, homophobia tw, stress tw

SUMMARY: Ulysses worked very hard all their life to get into med-school. They were often bullied and hard to work twice as hard as everyone else. Years of stress over making enough money triggered the auto-immune disease called Lupus which resulted in acute kidney-failure. They were saved through a kidney transplant, and meeting the surgeon who had operated on them cemented the idea that they wanted to become a surgeon too. They did everything they could in school to reach their goal, at the beginning still working part-time to pay of school and the medical bills, hoping to eventually earn enough money for their parents to stop working seven days a week. Once finished with Med-school and going into their residency, they proved to have what it took. Talent and hard work together got them noticed. And slowly the praise got to their head. A residence at Sacred Heart was offered to them, and it stroking their ego, they took the opportunity. Turned out an old friend from med-school was also doing a residency in the same hospital, and she had kept a lot of secrets from them. 

ESTABLISHED CONNECTIONS -

TESSA RAMOS-MONTALVO: Their first ever best friend, a fellow student who they just vibed with. Their friendship lasted a long time, and Ulysses felt like they knew everything there was to know about Tessa. They shared everything together, Uly often taking Tessa along. But turned out they didn’t know everything, when she moved away they were sad, but when they found her again in Asphodel, learning about her connection to the city gradually, they understood they had known very little about her. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS -

PATIENT: Ulysses started their residency five weeks ago. They’re not allowed to completely handle their own patients, but have been placed in the social doctor-bed-side-manner situations multiple times. Including interviews with possible patients and helping with prepping for surgery. 

DRINKING BUDDY - TURNED FRIEND: While given their medication, drinking certainly isn’t something Uly will entertain, going to bars and sipping some jus d’orange with just the teeniest tiniest bit of alcohol is certainly not out of the question. What other way to meet new people? Certainly for someone who is mostly at the hospital. 

F’d UP SLEEP SCHEDULE BUDDY: the hospital will always allow for the wackiest starting and ending times. Uly is one of those people to come in at 2 am and order a coffee. 

WELCOME COMMITTEE: Uly needs to know what they’re into. They know almost nothing about Asphodel, aside from it being very famous as a good place for the Gifted to go to.

BAD BEHAVIOUR: Having worked hard all their life to get to where they are now, Uly is rather arrogant in nature. They have been told that they are talented and will be a great surgeon some day. Didn’t need a gift to be special, is their opinion. 

THERAPIST/PSYCHIATRIST (lupus tw): Given Uly’s illness, they’ve had to deal with the prospect of death at a very young age. They were told that only through a healthy life and the continuation of taking their medication that they would have a chance at a long life. But they were told to seek out a therapist and a psychiatrist on their own, to deal with the mental consequences of the illness. 

HEADCANONS

MEDICATION/THERAPY (lupus tw): Lupus is an auto-immune disease that - once triggered - likely doesn’t go away. Actual medication to get rid of the illness have not yet been found, most patients who have it often live a very healthy life in order to battle the illness. The illness tricks the body itself to attack its own systems, making it think these systems are not part of the body. There are a lot of things that can go wrong, and Uly has had to come to terms with this idea of inevitability. It was a struggle when they were younger, but even now they have their off days. 

THE GIFTED: anyone who asks will get a similar retort from Uly: they could be gifted too, but instead they had to work for it. A very unwanted opinion, but one their arrogance has allowed them for - not to mention learning about Tessa and concluding she too used her abilities to get a step ahead in medicine. They will possibly make a lot of enemies with that opinion, but they are also incredibly aware of their own knowledge that they don’t really care about how it makes others view them.

CARING NATURE: Uly has grown up caring for others, or at least wanting to. They’ve always known they wanted to become a doctor, that was their one dream in life. As a little kid they would always treat the neighbourhood kids if one of them fell or scraped a knee. They are incredibly charming and always stick their neck out to make others feel more comfortable in the hospital. The last thing they wanted is for someone to go into surgery with wrong expectations. 

[anmylica]

I posted 2,264 times in 2022

That's 2,244 more posts than 2021!

8 posts created (0%)

2,256 posts reblogged (100%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@pirateherokillian

@laschatzi

@jrob64

@colinoeyebrows

I tagged 59 of my posts in 2022

#captain swan - 18 posts

#once upon a time - 17 posts

#killian jones - 16 posts

#emma swan - 14 posts

#captain hook - 14 posts

#ouat - 11 posts

#anmylica writes - 5 posts

#the fields of asphodel - 4 posts

#season 5 fix it - 4 posts

#whumptober 2022 - 3 posts

Longest Tag: 98 characters

#s3 really gave regina the foundation for a fantastic redemption arc and then they tossed that away

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Putting this shameless plug for Tumblr. Idk how I’m supposed to put this on here but here we go lol.

0 notes - Posted September 8, 2022

#4

Chapter Three: A Certain Shade of Gold

Read The Fields of Asphodel on AO3

Catch up on Tumblr 01 02

The lashings and beatings seemed to go on forever, and in some ways that was true. Time had no meaning for the dead. They didn’t change, didn’t progress, didn’t grow. They were only what they were: shades of their former selves. Killian knew this; he wasn’t an unfamiliar stranger with the concept of frozen time. He had never experienced timelessness in quite the same way as this neverending, never-changing torture, though.

The lashes progressed to beatings with a cane. Then came the punches and kicks. Then came the periods of solitary confinement. Killian spent a lot of his time unconscious during those periods. When he was dragged in for another round of torture, he swore he wouldn’t give into what Hades wanted, but it was hard to endure that kind of endlessness. The only thing that kept him going was his faith that Hades had no idea what he was referring to when he talked about Killian’s hope. 

Killian had no hope to relinquish. But still, Hades persisted onward in pushing Killian to let go of something that he knew didn’t exist.  What Killian didn’t know at this point in time, but Hades knew and recognized, was that hope could take many forms. Death often destroyed hope, but not every form of hope was touched by death.

Time didn’t matter in the Underworld, so Killian couldn’t have said how long had passed since the torture sessions had begun. He had honestly begun to sort of tune out the relentless pain until it was nothing but background noise, a fact which cheered him up long enough to endure the session until he was finally granted the oblivion of unconsciousness back in his cell. Then he dreamed.

He dreamed of Emma, of how they had left things between them as he tried to punish her for going against his wishes with the Darkness. He dreamed of the terrible, harsh words he had said to her during his short tenure as a Dark One. He dreamed of the pain he knew he had inflicted on her family, his friends, and her son, who he viewed to be as good as his own. Those dreams made his heart ache, for he knew instinctively that Emma was experiencing the very same ones as he.  Those weren’t the worst he had, however. The worst dreams were the ones where he had returned to Emma, embraced her to him in a bone crushing hug, each raining kisses over each other as rain fell softly down around them. He dreamed of the life they could have had in that Victorian house down by the sea, the children that could have been theirs, the memories they could have made, and the life they could have lived together. 

Those were the ones that burned deep within, the visions of could have been fueling the despair he knew to the very depths of his soul that Emma was feeling too.  That was perhaps the worst part of this whole ordeal, knowing that she was hurting. He hoped she could move on, that this experience didn’t cause her to reconstruct her walls against her family. He hoped that his love had been enough to change her for the better, to allow herself to have built enough connections between her heart and those who loved her to find solace and peace with his passing. He hoped she remembered him fondly throughout her years, if she even would remember him at all. He hoped he could let her and their blossoming love go. 

But an even deeper, darker, more selfish desire reared up and consumed him at that thought. This desire was what had made him stay a pirate after he’d turned to piracy in vengeance for Liam’s senseless death. He wasn’t proud of this desire, but he couldn’t quite tamp it down; he wasn’t strong enough to. Deep down, he truly hoped she would never move on, and when she finally arrived in the Underworld after a long and content life, he could be there to greet her. Then they would both move on to whatever came next, hand in hand as they were supposed to be. He felt this so strongly he nearly burned with the longing, and was nearly consumed by it every time.  

He didn’t like to admit this, for he wanted to be selfless with her, but he couldn’t deny it, even if only to himself.  Every time he’d think about this, he’d end up right back here to this selfish desire. This was beginning to be his way of knowing how much time had passed since his last torture session because Hades would usually show up after he finally accepted that he felt this way and drag him right back to the throne room and repeat the beatings. 

One of Hades’ minions (Killian didn't know his name) had just begun the process for the fifth time when Killian felt his heart skip a beat. He felt a pull on his heart leading to the outside of the throne room so strong he gasped. It felt like his heart had been restarted. He felt more complete than he had since his death, but he didn’t know why. He lurched as another blow connected to his back.

Just before the minion could land another blow, a ray of bright golden light burst through the throne room. A rainbow was left flashing across the ceiling once the golden light passed through, a magical northern lights in a funereal setting. The minion stared at the ceiling, confused, but Killian knew what this was.

“Emma,” he breathed out, love and hope surging through his entire being. Then, he felt a brief pain as the minion gave him a hard blow to his head, and Killian was aware of nothing more.

Emma didn’t see the flash of golden light and the rainbow trailing after it, but the other denizens of the Underworld certainly did.  It blew people’s newspapers out of their hands down Main Street, knocked off several people’s hats and forced them to chase after the missing articles.  The light and its subsequent breeze ruffled the brunette curls of a pretty blue eyed woman stopping traffic at a crosswalk to allow kids to cross.  The light caused a chill to go down a dark-haired man’s spine as he looked up from the notes he was writing about the latest woman who’d been separated from her baby by death.  The commotion knocked over an open bottle and spilled a good bit of expensive rum inside a bar that was run by a curly haired man who scowled at the mess as he moved to mop it up.  The denizens of the Underworld  all stared at the golden light and the rainbow that tumbled after it, and then they looked around themselves in wonder as the Underworld suddenly seemed to be just a little bit brighter.

Rumplestiltskin was the only one of the group who saw the golden flash of light.  His only reaction was to raise an eyebrow before stating, “You should start by having a look around.  The Underworld is a rather complicated place.”

“I’ll say,” Emma breathed as she took in the deadened grass and the gray husks of poplar trees that grew (were they even alive and able to grow?) stilted around them.  

She breathed shallowly, grimacing a bit at the sulphuric smell in the air.  The red glow in the sky made her feel as if she had stepped into some sort of Twilight Zone, and there was no way back to normalcy.  The entire place felt oppressing and hopeless.  How on earth could they possibly expect to find Killian in time to save him?  She wasn’t going to succeed, couldn’t even begin to hope that she’d actually manage to change his fate…  She started breathing harder, panting at the paralyzing fear, that feeling of being caged in, that suddenly gripped her heart.  There was nowhere to run; there was no way out of this realm, and no way to achieve what she’d set out to do. Instinctively, she grabbed at the ring that hung around her neck, and took a deep breath.  The sudden panic vanished as quickly as it had come on.  It was just the atmosphere.  She could do this.  She just had to be strong and fearless.  She took her first step straight into the depths of Hell.

The group moved forward, as if awaiting their cue from Emma, and went through the archway.  They all looked around themselves in amazement.  Everything was dead, or at least it looked like it.  The colors were all muted, as if they had been bleached away by the decay that permeated the air.  After they had walked for some time, they all stopped short.  Somehow, without quite realizing how, they had walked right up to Main Street of Storybrooke.  It was an exact replica, but there were many shops closed and some minor damage along some of the buildings.

“What is this place?” Snow breathed out, startled by what she was seeing.

“I thought we were in the Underworld,” Emma replied uncertainly, her brow furrowing in confusion. Had they been portaled back home somehow?

“The Underworld takes on the appearance that its lord and master wills it to,” Rumple replied.  “For some reason, he sees fit to make it appear familiar to us.”

For some reason, Emma thought that was a peculiar explanation, but before she could think more about why the Dark One’s statement bothered her, her father asked a more logical question.

“Well, where do we start looking?” David asked no one in particular.  

“I guess we split up?” Emma suggested, at a loss for what to do next.  God, how was she supposed to lead them?  This wasn’t Neverland; she was under a completely different set of rules here. She hadn’t even been here for five minutes, and already her leadership was unraveling at the seams. She felt another wave of anxiety wash through her. She had to get it together, or none of them would survive. She mentally shook herself and took a deep breath, trying to ease the anxiousness she felt.

“Well, you can do whatever you wish.  I want no part of this. When you’re ready to give up on this foolish endeavor, you can find me in my shop.”  Rumplestiltskin moved to walk away in the direction of the place he had just mentioned.

“Hang on!  You said you were going to help us!” Emma protested. Wasn’t it just like the damn Dark One to jump ship when nothing in it directly benefited him? She should have just put the Darkness back into him and shoved Excalibur through his chest when she had the chance. She’d have saved herself some damn trouble. Killian really did have the measure of this guy.

“I actually did no such thing,” Rumple responded, turning to address her.  “I agreed to open the portal to the Underworld and bring you here.  I have fulfilled my end of our deal, and now my services are no longer required.  Good luck.  You’re going to need it,” he sneered and stalked off in the direction of his shop. Emma rolled her eyes.

Regina scoffed.  “Well, we don’t need his help anyway.  I think splitting up might be the best way to cover more ground.”

See the full post

7 notes - Posted October 10, 2022

#3

Chapter Five: Deal...?

"The Fields of Asphodel"

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If there was one place Rumplestiltskin had hoped to avoid for the rest of eternity, the Underworld was it.  He hated seeing so many of his victims in one place, sneering at him for their pathetically stupid decisions in trusting dark magic to solve their problems, and he hated the gloomy dismality that purveyed the realm.  He hated the persistent sulfuric smell and he hated the black dust that seemed to settle over everything.  

He hated most of all that this was a realm over which he had no control.

He wanted to spend as little time in this place as possible.  Let Emma Swan and her band of do-gooders chase after the pirate; it was no concern of his what happened to the man he loathed more than any other.  The only good thing that could come from being here would be seeing Baelfire one last time.  Rumplestiltskin, having arrived at his shop, opened the door and observed the changes.  Most everything was the same as it had been the last time he’d been here, stuck in limbo with nothing to do but await his judgment from Hades.  Only that hadn’t come; instead, he had been whisked back to the Enchanted Forest only to lose both his only beloved son and his freedom in the same instance.  

There were a few new objects, things which had been lost as the owners’ passed into this realm from the Land of the Living.  But Rumple wasn’t interested in those.  He didn’t plan on staying here long enough to deal with them.  He locked the door and headed to the back room.  He gave another glance around to make sure no one was there, and he stepped up to his workbench.

He set to work collecting his ingredients, including an eyeball, from the stockpile he had saved here.  He created a potion, using the eyeball to guide the magic, and once the potion was ready, took up a crystal ball and dipped it into the potion.  Once a sufficient amount of time had passed, he took the crystal ball out and used his own magic to dry it.  Satisfied, he placed it onto the stand and stared at it, his hands flat on the table to support him as he leaned against it.

Rumple considered the crystal ball for several moments, pondering how to word his command.  Finally, he said to it, “Show me my son.”

The crystal ball filled with smoke that swirled and churned for a moment before solidifying into shapes.  Finally, the shapes formed a picture.  It showed him Belle, eating at Granny’s back in Storybrooke.

Rumple frowned.  Why was the crystal ball showing him Belle?  He said again, more forcefully this time, “Show me my son.”

The picture turned back into smoke and swirled again.  For the second time, it solidified into a picture of Belle.  

Rumple was very confused.  The crystal ball was imbibed with magic that should be capable of showing him what he sought, so why wasn’t it showing him Baelfire?  He watched as Belle shifted in her sleep.  It didn’t make any sense.  Unless…

Could it be?  Could the reason the crystal ball kept showing him his wife be that she…?  Rumple’s heart stopped and his blood ran cold at the implication.  He had left her back in Storybrooke alone, and he was now the Dark One again unbeknownst to her.  He could only imagine what kind of hell he would face if she found out.  Whatever he did, he would have to make sure she never found out that he had stolen the Darkness back.  And to do that would mean that he would have to return as soon as possible to his wife's side.  It looked like he would have to assist in finding the pirate after all.  He really, really didn’t want to have to help them.

He waved his hand to clear the detritus away with magic, resulting in the mess instantly vanishing.  The crystal ball remained where it was.  He took it and placed it on a shelf just in case he would need it later.  Perhaps he could use it to keep an eye on his wife during his absence.  Rumple was just ruminating on a plan to get them all out of the Underworld as fast as possible when the bell from the front of the shop rang and the sound of the door closing echoed to the back room.

Rumple left the room and stepped into the shop area and stopped in the doorway.  

“Hello, Rumple,” said Peter Pan, who was standing in the middle of the room in a black suit, his hands clasped in front of him.  

Rumple blinked.  “I had hoped I wouldn’t see you here,” he said.

“Is that any way to greet your long lost papa?” Peter Pan said.

“You’re no father of mine,” Rumple retorted.  “After all you’ve done, you’re lucky I’m not sending you to the depths of Tarturus.  After Bae?  After Henry?  That’s more than you deserve.”

Pan rolled his eyes.  “Don’t pretend you cared for Henry any more than I cared for you.  You and I both know the only reason you have any familial affection for that boy is because of Baelfire.  If it wasn’t for him, you wouldn’t give Henry the time of day.”

“What do you want?” Rumple asked, tired of his father’s needling.

Pan grinned. “Well that is the question, isn’t it?  I do want so many things.”

“Get on with it,” Rumple hissed.

“I want to be brought back to life.”  

Rumple rolled his eyes.  “That’s impossible.”

“Isn’t it?  Aren’t you down here so Emma Swan can find a way to bring back Captain Hook?” Pan tilted his head in puzzlement.

Rumple scoffed.  “A fool’s errand if there was one.  We all know she’s not going to succeed in doing anything but wasting our time.”

Pan smirked and replied, “Well, be that as it may, I have a deal for you.”

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13 notes - Posted November 19, 2022

#2

Chapter Four: Can We Panic Now?

“The Fields of Asphodel”

Chapter Four: Can We Panic Now?

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Regina and Robin made their way to Town Hall as quickly as they could, making sure to keep a watchful eye on the people milling about just in case the pirate was amongst them. Everyone had the same melancholy, hopeless air of despondency about them. Regina couldn’t help but notice the dead looks in their eyes. She pulled her coat tighter around herself in an unconscious attempt at keeping the sadness at bay.

Robin reached out to place his hand on her lower back as they crossed the street, both needing the contact of each other in reassurance. They finally arrived at the mayor's office without any sign of Hook.

“No luck so far,” Robin stated, looking about, an expression of resignation on his face.

“No,” Regina agreed. Finding Hook was going to be like finding a needle in a haystack. “Why couldn’t he have made it easy for us to find him?”

Robin grinned. “Because he wouldn’t want to make it too easy on you, love.”

Regina chuckled. Hook certainly did like to push her buttons, even if they were on the same side now. Her face dropped at the thought of their last interaction. Regina didn’t have many regrets (they were a waste of time, and besides, had she not done what she did, she wouldn’t have this life that she wouldn’t trade for anything), but she regretted not trying harder to make Hook see sense before he went that far. Had she said something just a day sooner, could all of this have been avoided? Had she refused to back down from him the first time she confronted him about his guilt for what he did to his father (at her behest), would he have listened to reason and allowed them all to work together? Could Emma’s plan actually have worked had they all just put their heads together?

This was the problem with regrets. They were a waste of time. Nothing could change what was done.

On the other side of the flames, a man took shape.  Regina gasped in horror once she made out who it looked like.

“Daddy,” she breathed, her voice a broken and tortured whisper.  

“Are these meant to be your parents?” asked Robin.

Regina sniffed and wiped away a tear.  “I think so.”

“What does it mean that you’re seeing them in the fire?”

Regina shrugged.  “I don’t know, but if they’re here… they must be here because of me.”

Robin put his hand on her shoulder in comfort and pulled her in close.  “You don’t know that.  They may not even be here.”

Regina nodded, wiping away a few more tears.  “I have to find out.”

“We’ll keep our ears peeled in case someone says something at Granny’s, and we’ll look into it further if we have to.  If they’re down here being harmed, we’ll make sure to save them, Regina,” Robin reassured her and hugged her tighter.

Regina returned the embrace and after a moment let go reluctantly.  “Let’s go to Granny’s and see if he’s there.  There’s nothing here but a dead end.”  The two of them quickly left the office and hurried through the rest of Town Hall.  Robin shoved open the door, only to stop short of leaving.  Regina nearly bumped into him, and was about to ask, perplexed, what the hold up was when she spotted what had stopped Robin.

It was Roland.  He was lying on the ground, deathly still.  The world around him had faded to almost black; everything was slowly losing visibility.  

“Roland?” Robin asked with a small amount of uncertainty, not sure he believed what he was seeing.  They had left Roland back in Storybrooke with the fairies.  How did he get down here?

Regina and Robin stared as Roland woke up and slowly stood, turning to face them.  “Daddy?” asked Roland.

“I’m here, buddy.  How’d you get here?” Roland asked, beckoning his son to come to him.  “Come here; it’s not safe for you here!”

Roland smiled and then turned and ran in the opposite direction.  Flabbergasted, Regina and Robin took one look at each other before sprinting off after the toddler.  The boy ran fast, and soon the two adults were out of breath from chasing him.  As suddenly as Roland started running, he stopped and turned to face them.  Regina and Robin stopped too, clutching their sides and panting hard.

“Roland, come here, son!” Robin called. 

A fire started just behind Roland.  Regina frowned in confusion.  Why would a fire just randomly start up in the middle of Storybrooke?  But before she could work out an answer to that question, Roland began speaking.

“You can’t save me, Daddy.  You can’t.  I have to go into the flames.”

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16 notes - Posted November 5, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

The Fields of Asphodel

Chapter 1: Souls of the Departed

Emma startled awake and gasped for breath.  She looked wildly around her, shocked to find herself in the driver’s seat of her faithful yellow bug, the empty, still rides of that amusement park she had gone to one time in Portland with Neal all around her.  It was daylight, with gray clouds covering the sky.  When she and the others had gotten into the boat with Charon, it had been the pitch black of night.  Was she still on her way to the Underworld?

“Hey, Emma.”

She jumped at the voice coming from the back of the car and the rustling of the fast moving of clothing.  She looked in the backseat and stared.  Neal was sitting there smiling at her, looking as if not a day had passed since she had last seen him.

“Neal?” she gasped.

“Yeah.”

“It’s really great to see you!  Wait, where are we?  Am I dreaming?  Is this even real?  How are you here?”  Emma looked around, puzzled that this was even happening.

Neal huffed a soft laugh.  “Yeah, it’s real.  And if it were a dream, there’d be, like, talking doughnuts or something weird like that.”  With that, Neal leaned up, opened the passenger door, pushed the seat in front of him up, and got out of the car.  He quickly got back into the front seat and closed his door.  “Just think of this as a long distance call from an old friend.”

“It really is you,” Emma said in awe.  “I never thought I would see you again.”  And she truly was happy to see the man she had once loved. She was amazed at how separated from the feeling of hurt and betrayal she actually was. She had the sudden thought that it really had been a shame that he had died because of the Wicked Witch; she’d have loved to have had Neal in her life as a friend.

Neal just smiled in response.  “How’s our son?”

Emma smiled.  “He misses his dad, but he’s great.  Growing too fast.”

Neal laughed.  “I bet.  I miss him too.”

Emma laughed as well.  She hesitated for a moment, looking around, before she asked, hesitatingly, “Is this the Underworld?  I was on my way to the Underworld…”

Neal’s smile fell from his face.  “Yeah, I know that's where you're headed. That's kind of why I'm here. Don't go, Emma. Once you get there, it is not an easy place to get out of.”

Emma frowned.  “I’m not just going to give up.  It’s not right, what happened, how he ended up here!”

“Look, I know you're trying to save Hook.  I know you think you’re doing the right thing.  But trust me on this. This won't end the way you think it will.  You need to go back to Storybrooke and forget this.”

Emma stared at him.  “You don’t think I can do this,” she said flatly.  Of course. Neal had always doubted her abilities and undermined her confidence. Why should he act any differently now? 

Neal scoffed.  “I mean, you really think you can?  Against all the dangers the Underworld has?  Oh, it’s easy to get into.  You can check out of it anytime you like, but you never actually can leave!”

Emma shook her head in frustration.  “Don’t quote Hotel California to me.  This isn’t an Eagles song, and besides, that song was supposed to be about hedonism and greed, not Hell.”

Neal shrugged.  “It still perfectly describes the Underworld.  You’ll see what I mean if you actually manage to get there.”

Well thanks for that. What did he mean, “if?” She was already in a boat to that very place, and she had already passed through the barrier! What could possibly keep her out now?

Emma narrowed her eyes.  “Well, where is Killian at in the Underworld, since you know so much?”

Neal shook his head.  “I have no idea.”

“What?”  Emma raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

“I’m not there.  I was able to move on.  To a better place, where I’m happy.  I only came here because I care about you, Emma. Stop what you're doing before it's too late.  Don’t endanger our son and your family and friends over a fling.”

Emma laughed.  “Killian was not a fling, and I’m not stopping.  I’m going to split my heart and give him half.”

Neal gave her a pointed look.  “How do you know that will even work?”

Emma felt a stab of doubt pang through her heart. She didn’t know if it would. All she had to go by was faith that, if it worked for her parents, it would work for her. She hoped it would work. She didn’t know what she would do if it didn’t. 

“Seriously, Emma,” Neal continued. “What makes you think that you and Hook share True Love?”

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22 notes - Posted October 1, 2022

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[foreversillythings]

with the taste of pomegranate on our lips chapter 3

part one kore chapter three a goddess’ prayer

Sometimes thoughts of Gale kept her up at night, sometimes the loneliness, but when she couldn't sleep, Madge sat at her window and peered out at the moon.

Marvel's twin was Katniss, virgin goddess of the hunt, the moon, forests and protector of young girls. Every night her chariot pulled the moon up into the sky and during the day she hunted through the forests with her companions, freer than Madge could ever dream of. What must it be like to have no master at all? To be able to do whatever one liked? Katniss had her responsibilities of course, but Madge did not want to shirk her duties either. She just wanted to feel foreign grass between her toes, to meet new people and learn of the world outside. Yes, the world was not always safe, yes there were monsters and wicked people, but there was also so much beauty to be seen, so much life had to offer. Katniss was a goddess just like Madge and if she could look after herself, couldn't Madge learn how as well?

Madge stared out at the moon and oh, what she wouldn't give for a just a taste of its freedom.

*

Gale was excited. 

When was the last time he’d been excited about anything? Anticipation too thrummed inside him and it had been ages since he’d last felt like this. So long ago it almost felt like a dream rather than his life. It had been before he’d become lord of the underworld, before the lots had been drawn and he’d been sent down into the dark. Before before when he was only Gale and he would laugh with his brothers and charm pretty girls, when he lived above the earth and knew nothing of loneliness. He’d been happy then, he can remember that (if only barely), and the whole world had been stretched out before them. They’d just overthrown the Titans, freedom was intoxicating and the idea of being king of his own realm had been exhilarating. He had descended to the dead with bravado, too young and foolish to foresee how things would change. It had been chance that had seen him draw the underworld as his realm, Gloss the earth and skies and Brutus the seas, and it was chance he had cursed for so very long.

He’d eventually given up cursing fate, given up wishing he’d become ruler of any other realm than his. Resignation, somewhere in all the years yearning for what had been, crept in and made him hollow. This was his lot, the one he’d drawn that long ago day flushed with their victory over their parents’ generation, and there was nothing to be done about it. He would rule alone in the dark, disliked, feared and unwanted. 

Except, maybe it wasn't his lot.

Maybe, just maybe, there could be something else.

*

Madge had held her tongue for days, but eventually curiosity got the better of her. She plied her loom as she did everyday and when her mother passed by on the way to the kitchen she blurted “So when do you think the next meeting at Olympus will be?”

Her mother turned to look at her with a perplexed raise of the eyebrow and Madge smiled in what she hoped was an entirely unsuspicious manner.

“Soon I suspect, it’s been a while since the last. Why?”

“Oh, well, I...just love hearing about what everyone’s been up to. The other Gods always seem to get up to all sorts of incredible things,” Madge said and it wasn’t even a lie, the tales of her fellow gods’ shenanigans had always provided ample entertainment. Seeder snorted.

“You might love it, but try actually being face to face with them when you hear all about their nonsense. You know how difficult it is not to make a face when listening to Gloss brag about his latest ludicrous infidelity or you have to watch Darius and Cato have a wrestling match in the middle of the room to prove which of them is the manliest? Nearly impossible. Or when Beetee catches Cato and Glimmer in a net in the midst of one their many illicit rendezvous and invites us all to go humiliate them? Not that Glimmer was humiliated, she just wanted to carry on. It was Cato who looked as if he might expire from embarrassment. Or how about that time Gloss suspected a man was interested in Cashmere and to prove it created a Cashmere made out of clouds and sent it to seduce the man? And that’s not even getting into all the love interests of Marvel’s that have wound up as plants. That’s our jurisdiction and yet you’d never guess with the amount of plants he’s made due to his broken heart.”

Madge laughed, just as she always did at how outrageous the stories were, and her mother joined in, the two soon tossing out all their favourite crazy tales. The nymph that tricked Gloss into promising her whatever she desired when he tried to woo her and then promptly told him she wanted him to leave her alone. That time Cato got himself trapped in a jar. When Lyme looked in the mirror while playing the aulos and was so offended at how silly she looked that she cursed the instrument and anyone who played it. And more and more, until they can barely breathe through their laughter. 

The loneliness would come back, the desire to see the world and be free of this house, but for a moment at least, Madge didn’t want to be anywhere but here.

*

Gale had never enjoyed his visits to Olympus, but never had he wanted one to be over as badly as he did this one. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his throne, tapped his foot and earned many a frustrated glare from whoever was speaking, but for the first time in so long, Gale had something to look forward to. Today their displeasure couldn’t touch him. The anticipation could though and it nearly drove him mad, especially as the meeting went on and on and on, long past its usual end. The other gods talked and talked of nothing, argued and huffed and bragged and Gale had to restrain himself from banging his head against the back of his throne. He just wanted this to be over, more than ever before, but the sun was sinking low before he was finally released. He was up almost before Gloss was finished dismissing them and he didn’t even wait for his brother to make his customary invitation for refreshments before he refused it. 

“Sorry brother, but I have to go. So much work to do,” he called over his shoulder and then he was in his chariot, charging swiftly down the slope of Olympus and across Greece. The others would surely speculate about his haste, but he didn’t care. Let them talk, it no longer mattered. His chariot flew across meadows and fields and then he was in their copse of trees, his shadow form already dropping. His eyes searched eagerly, tension in his chest and there she was. Madge was waiting in pale, misty blue with flowered vines woven round her arms. She leaned against a tree, her head tilted back to absorb the dying sunlight falling through the leaves. Her hair shone golden and spilled against the brown bark behind her back and Gale stopped his chariot short to admire her. They were the antithesis of each other, how could she be here? If anyone was to pull away from him, shouldn't it be her?

Life and death are intimately connected; one could not exist without the other 

He felt a grin tug at his lips as he stepped off his chariot and ran a calming hand along Nyctaeus's flank. Madge rolled her head to the side and saw him, her welcoming smile pooling warmth in his stomach. She pushed slightly off her tree and waited, the blue of those eyes drawing him in. He walked towards her and the bitterness he was so used to did not touch him here, his anger left far behind. 

"Hello Gale," she said and he smiled a little wider, her voice turning his name into something wonderful. 

"Hello Madge."

She beckoned him closer and he went, though not nearly as close as he wanted to. She beamed. 

"I'm so glad you're here. Now tell me of the Underworld," she said, her eyes lit up with eagerness. Gale grinned and forced his mind to straighten, even as her proximity drove him to distraction.

"You don’t wish to hear of today's meeting?" he asked and she laughed, her eyes dancing merrily.

"I would but I know better than to ask you," she teased and then lowered her voice to a mocking grunt. "It was the same. Nothing happened, we did nothing and everything was the same."

Gale laughed and shook his head, her giggles meeting his. When was the last time he'd laughed like this? He couldn’t even think of it. Madge pressed a hand to her mouth and fell back against her tree, her eyes twinkling. 

"So no," she said, "I don't wish to hear about Olympus. Tell me of your home."

Home? Was the underworld home? He lived there certainly, had for so long he could barely remember when he hadn't, but had he ever felt at home there? He shook his head; Madge was waiting for an answer, not a philosophical crisis. 

"Well, there are three layers to it. The highest is Elysium where the best and greatest go," he began and Madge nodded, a dreamy look coming over her face.

"Mother has spoken to me of the Elysian Fields, where heroes rest in paradise. Is it truly so lovely?"

"Yes. It is the smallest section of the underworld's realms, but by far the most beautiful. The weather is always golden and warm, the land verdant and lush, the food rich and savoury. They want for nothing nor do they know any hardship or discomfort. It is the land of the blessed and so they delight in whatever pastimes please them, without worry or concern."

Madge sighed. "How wonderful. But where do the rest go? They cannot all find homes in Elysium."

Gale shook his head and moved a step closer, his legs growing bold.

"No, the truly righteous are few. The majority of people go to the Asphodel Meadows. That is the land for those who have done no great evil, nor any great good. They are not so blessed as those who dwell in Elysium, but it is not an awful afterlife. The sun is weaker there, unable to reach so far down and mist hangs ever upon the ground. It is the largest realm of the underworld and the most populous. And beyond that, there is-"

"Tartarus," she breathed and he nodded.

"Yes, Tartarus. Only the most wicked of souls are sent there and they spend their eternity punished for their crimes."

"And the Titans? They're kept there too, aren't they?"

Gale nodded and came closer again, filled with a bravery he hoped was not misplaced. He leaned against her tree with folded arms and tilted his head to look down at her. They were very close now, barely inches between them and she pushed off the tree and turned to face him, her shoulder leaning into the bark just as his was. The wind hummed through the woods and blew hair into her eyes and Gale's hand itched to reach up and brush it from her face. He wanted to be that bold, wanted to woo as Gloss or Marvel would, but caution told him not to take the chance. He did not want to risk this.

"Yes. The Titans are kept prisoner in Tartarus as well, guarded by their half-siblings the Hecatoncheires."

Madge bit her lip. "Hecatoncheires. Do they truly have a hundred hands each?"

"Yes and fifty heads."

Madge's mouth popped open and he grinned, his fingers still yearning to touch her. She let out a breath, her head shaking in disbelief. "I can't imagine such a person. But I suppose the world is full of such things, isn't it? The plants tell me all sorts of stories of giants, monsters and heroes, but it is so hard to believe they’re true."

Gale laughed and slid a little closer, his feet brushing her toes. He felt the contact like a jolt of Gloss' lightning and Madge turned pink, though she did not pull away.

"You are a goddess," he teased and it felt so good, "is it really so hard to conceive of other such beings?"

Madge ducked her head and tucked stray hairs behind her ear, a self-deprecating laugh passing her lips.

"It’s silly I know, but they are only stories to me. I have never met them, have never felt their impact. My world is small, even mortals do not seem entirely real."

Gale frowned and Madge looked out over his shoulder at the meadow beyond.

"My mother will be home soon," she said in a flat voice and Gale did not mean to wilt, but wilt he did.

“I do not want you to get in any trouble,” he said and Madge let out a soft hum.

“And I wouldn’t want to get you in any trouble either.”

Gale looked up and met her wry grin with one of his own. “I suppose you should go then,” he said even though that was the last thing he wanted. She nodded but did not move away, her eyes staring searchingly into his own. 

“I just…I just wish I didn’t have to. I wish there was some way I could stay and talk with you.”

Gale did not know what to say to that and Madge bit her lip, vulnerable eyes waiting for his response. How lonely she must be locked up in that house all day. I know that feeling well, don’t I? That stray lock of hair against her forehead twisted in the breeze and without even really thinking about it, Gale reached forward and brushed it from her face. She inhaled softly, her cheeks reddening, and his fingers burned where they’d grazed her skin. 

“If…if you say my name, if you invoke it in prayer, I will hear. If you call, I will come,” he whispered, the words falling from his lips without thought. She stared at him and he pulled his hand back, the tingle of her still living in his fingertips. 

“Alright, I will. I will call on you as soon as I’m able” she breathed and Gale nodded. They stayed like that for a moment, uncertain, the sun dipping all the way below the horizon. The first of the stars began to peek out and Madge surged up and kissed his cheek, her lips warm and soft on his skin. Gale stiffened, her feather light fingers touching his other cheek and her eyelids fluttering closed. She smelt of fresh earth and wildflowers and a voice in his head screamed that this was foolish, wrong, would never work, but for once, Gale didn’t listen. He rested his hands on her hips, her warmth bleeding through him and burning away his every shadow. Madge clung to him for the single brightest moment of his life and then she was gone, only the sweetest hint of flowers left in her wake. She ran back to her home as the moonlight flooded the meadow beyond the woods and Gale watched her as she went, her hair turned silver and streaming out behind her. He touched his cheek and he could feel her there still.

Madge…

*

Madge was breathless and giddy as she sped home, her feet skipping through the moon drenched flowers. She had never been out this late before and Gale hummed inside her blood, the warmth of his hands upon her, the feel of his skin beneath her lips. She almost laughed to the night, freedom and joy buzzing through her bones. She fell into her front door and slipped inside, her hands pressed to her heart.

Gale, oh Gale, I will call you back to me soon

“Madge?”

She turned and suddenly the warmth left her, an icy chill settling on her shoulders.

“Mother,” she whispered and Seeder stared at her from across the room. Her mother’s eyes widened, her mouth trembled and oh no, oh no oh no no no.

“You were outside,” Seeder accused, fury mingling with the fear in her gaze. Madge opened her mouth but could find no words to answer. She backed into the door and Seeder strode forwards, her face covered over in rage.

“What were you doing outside?” she demanded and Madge shook her head.

“Mother, I-”

“I told you not to go outside!” she shouted and Madge shrank back. Seeder reached for her and Madge gasped as her mother gripped her shoulders.

“What were you doing, what were you doing? Do you want to be lost? Do you want them to take you from me?”

“No,” Madge said, struggling in her mother’s grasp, “no, of course not. I just…I just”-

“How could you be so stupid? How could you?” Seeder cried and Madge felt something desperate building inside of her. 

“Stop it,” she pleaded but Seeder didn’t listen.

“Do you want to be lost? Do you want to be abducted?”

“No, stop it.”

“How could you be so foolish, so reckless-”

“STOP!” Madge shouted and Seeder was stunned momentarily speechless. Madge shoved at her mother’s chest, pushing her away and Seeder went, stumbling as she did. Madge breathed heavily, her heart pounding.

“I was outside because I can’t live like this, I can’t! I’m a prisoner, I’m trapped and I need to get out. I never go anywhere, I never meet anyone. I can’t live like this anymore,” she said raggedly and Seeder shook her head in disbelief.

“Madge, my Madge I am trying to keep you safe.”

“I know, I know. But I’m not safe, I’m miserable. I’m going insane staying cooped up like this, I want to live,” she said, angry tears burning at the corners of her eyes. Seeder’s face began to darken, a violent wind began to howl outside and Madge felt frustration mount within her.

“You are living; a good, safe life. How dare you be so ungrateful? I have done everything for you. I will not listen to this. You will go to your room and you will stay there. Do you hear me?” Seeder demanded and Madge felt like the walls were closing in on her. She’ll never let me go, I’ll never leave. I’ll live forever, and I’ll be trapped here for all that time. No, no, I can’t. I won’t.

“Madge-”

“No! I won’t be your prisoner! I won’t!”

Seeder reached for her but Madge was quicker. She yanked open the door and fled into the rising tempest, the wind tearing at her hair and dress. She ran as fast as she could, her mother’s shouts drowned out in the gale. Madge did not stop, could not, her legs carrying her deep into the woods and away from that damned house, far, far away. She needed to get away, she had to get away, but to where? Where would she go?

If…if you say my name, if you invoke it in prayer, I will hear. If you call, I will come

Madge fell to her knees in the dirt and dug her hands into the earth, even the voices of the plants lost in the creaking of trees and the screaming winds.

“Hear me Gale, answer my prayer lord of the underworld. Take me away from here, take me away,” she begged and in the time it took her to blink, he was there. A traveling cloak whipped behind him, his hair blew in every direction and his horses pawed the ground, tossing restless heads in the storm. Moonlight hit his eyes and made them shine, the breath stolen from her lungs. He held out a hand.

“Are you sure?”

Madge did not hesitate and placed her hand in his.

“Yes.”

end of part one

*

Just a heads up, the next chapter should be up in about two weeks, rather than the usual one. I'm almost done the next chapter of roses are red, roses are white and I want to focus on finishing that up, which means I probably won't have time to the next chapter of this one done for monday. Sorry!

[dailymolliarty]

The Mouse and the Spider by I’m Over There: Jim Moriarty gets bored. Molly Hooper gets lonely. They’re just two planets revolving around the brilliant sun that is Sherlock Holmes, drawn in by his gravity. And his light. But everybody needs distractions… 

Song as Old as Rhyme by @wherestoriescomefrom:  Hush, the wind is blowing hard. Be quiet, child, sleep soundly - Or the Dark One will steal your heart. [Beauty and the Beast AU]

Nameless by @wherestoriescomefrom: The first name was expected - even welcomed. The second, on the other hand, left much to be desired. And Jim would never understand what it was about it that was compelling. [Soulmate AU: On one hand, the name of your soulmate, on the other - your enemy. Molliarty.]

The Rose Point Manor:  A young woman struggling in an unjust society takes a break from the theatrics of pretending to be her male counterpart, Mark Hooper, and decides to relax at the quiet but foreboding Rose Point Manor. There she comes to a realization that something far more sinister lurks there than at her morgue back home - Victorian AU

We’re Ancient History:  When Molly Hooper had begun her scientific expedition, she never knew her time on the dig sites would unearth more than the dead.

Forget Me Not:  “This melancholy London - I sometimes imagine that the souls of the lost are compelled to walk through its streets perpetually. One feels them passing like a whiff of air.” What happens when two lost souls find each other? Are they still forgotten? - Amnesia!AU

Capture My Good Side: “Photography is all about secrets. The secrets we all have and will never tell.”

Deus Mortis: "You can hide from the devil, but he’ll always find you.“ - Victorian AU

Face Value: “I’m not sure how to describe this nonsense, basically Molly looks good in a moustache and Jim notices.”

Not a Body Farm: Molly really should’ve known better than to download FarmVille on a criminal mastermind’s cell phone, even if it had been a hilarious joke at the time. Since one day she wakes up in a bed in some random farm in the middle of nowhere, and the deed to the property in her name.

Oh God, Not the Westwood!:  In which timid Molly Hooper must hide a heinous crime from a man who likes to watch a murder take place while drinking his morning coffee.

Life Preserver: “Missing you comes in waves and tonight I am drowning.”

Midnight Edition: The Bittersweet: Pop-rocks can be unpredictable. In an instance, a delight to the senses, or startling painful the next - smut

The Bittersweet:  Even delicious things can be sour, at another glance.

Third Date Syndrome: Long bouts of silence and awkwardness on first dates are inevitable, and for the hundredth time Molly wished she was exempted from it.

We’ll Always Have St. Barts: “I wish I didn’t love you so much.” - Casablanca AU

Apex: Molly Hooper thinks fondly of Jim from IT, but can’t get enough of Jim Moriarty - contains smut~

The Parting Glass: After Reichenbach, Molly Hooper is drowning. She receives a package, request and tradition from a very dead Jim Moriarty. She receives nothing but burdens from a very alive Sherlock Holmes.

Rust and Stardust: “The last long lap is the hardest. I shall be dumped where the weed decays, and the rest is rust and stardust.” - Jim is a ghost, and wouldn’t it just figure that he haunts Molly Hooper.

Wild and Precious: “Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” - How Molly fell in love with a ghost, and tried not to waste her life beside him. She failed. - settled in the same universe of Rust and Stardust

Release: Written for the prompt “Jim fucking Molly so hard and so good that she can’t even get a full word out, only moans and half-uttered curses “: In which Jim surprises Molly after work - contains smut~

A Love Outside of Time: There’s a lot of strange happenings at 2945 S Willow Street, shrieks and screams and moans that have terrorized the neighbors and left the house unsold for generations. Can the great paranormal investigator, Sherlock Holmes, exorcise the spirits living there?

Gifts Given and Received: Sherlock ruined Molly’s Christmas gift and Jim is determined to make her holiday better. - ASIB AU, contains smut~

Cabernet Sauvignon: Written for the prompt “Jim’s ready to propose, but wants the event to be special, and so he hides the ring in Molly’s wine. Molly drinks it down too fast and chokes on the ring”: A fluffy slice of life, where Molly makes Jim’s life just a little less lonely.

Power Dynamic: Molly can’t help trying to control the insanity that is Jim Moriarty. A framework for his mind to lean on, a collar to hold him together, a mistress to keep him mostly sane.

Asphodel: “When you need slightly-less-than-legal magic substances, you seek out ‘Moriarty’s Special Imports and Fineries’. A new branch of Necromancy, pathologist-in-training Molly Hooper returns a set of counterfeit goods and receives a job offer in return.” - Fantasy AU

Her beast feature: “As he studied her from afar, Jim thought Molly’s best feature was her neck. He really didn’t anticipate her reaction to Sherlock beating a dead man with a riding crop.” - Molly x Jim, PWP, set at the beginning of A Study in Pink

Junior: So what’s a beleaguered pathologist to do when the UK’s Most Wanted turns up to visit her cat?

Mr Sex: Jim doesn’t ask her what she likes or what she needs; it’s not necessary. But he asks her what she wants - contains smut

Sunday Afternoon: Sleep with Molly Hooper:  Molly canceled their date at the last minute, but no one messes with Jim’s precisely organized calendar and gets away with it.

Why Don’t You Do Right?:  Seb arranges for Molly to get an extra special, early birthday present. Jim gets to learn something new about Molly. And Molly discovers one of Jim’s deepest secrets.

Club Calavera: Downing five zombies doesn’t give Jim the liquid courage he needs to ask Molly a very important question. It only makes him forget that he and Molly are already together.

Happy Birthday, Jimmy Boy: Jim’s never had a good birthday. Molly’s determined to buck the trend. - contains smut

It’s A Nice Day For a [White Wedding]: The wedding of James Moriarty to Molly Hooper can be nothing less than a momentous occasion. In his speech, their best man recounts some of the juicier bits of Jim and Molly’s journey into matrimony.

Cold War: She had to admit Jim was creative. Who else would think to kill three ice cream salesmen from different towns and attach a one-worded note to each corpse, forming the sentence, “Ready to concede?”

My Persuasion Can Build a Nation: In a world where Eurus had a best friend growing up, she doesn’t go to Sherrinford, nor does she turn out as unhinged as she did in canon. However, she’s still Eurus, and her brothers absolutely forbid her from meeting Jim Moriarty. She’ll just have to fix that, won’t she? Also: Matchmaker!Eurus ftw.

What Sober Couldn’t Say: “(11:23 pm) Drinking again(11:24 pm) And since it makes me too sad to go on my blog anymore thanks to you, I figured it’s only fair you become my new place to vent(11:25 pm) You’re probably not receiving these messages anyway so no harm no foul(11:25 pm) Right?” - Molly drunk-texts Jim over the course of several months.

I Wanna Feel Like I Am Floating: “Now the question is…" He vamp-flipped them over so she was lying down and his body was pinning hers. “Should I tie you up and make you take it, or are you going to be a good little vampire and let Daddy have his way with you?” Jim & Molly’s journey: blood-sharing edition.- Vampire!Molliarty AU, s-m-u-t.

Coffin Shopping: Sebastian could only imagine what the other, mostly ancient customers perusing the store must be thinking of the couple in their thirties, bubbling with laughter and fooling around as they ran about in search of the perfect coffin.

Come To Daddy: Jim failed to see how Molly’s physicality could ever not be arousing. The size of her lips did nothing to detract from how amazing she was at sucking cock. The size of her breasts made it no less fun for Jim to cup them in his hands, tease her nipples into hard peaks, suck on them until she squirmed and made those delightful little sounds. - smuttish ;)

Intention: A take on how the brief but unforgettable office romance between Jim from IT and Molly from Pathology began and how it just might become more than just a simple office romance.

An Exchange: Jim Moriarty comes across a familiar face and realises, from just one exchange, that it is not merely Sherlock Holmes that connects them, but a connection of their own.

A Beginning: Jim Moriarty tries to make sense of new waves of sentiment as his office romance with Molly Hooper transits to become something more.

Interruptions: Molly Hooper is made to face a stunning revelation about Jim Moriarty, but it is her reaction that stuns him most.

An Enemy’s Gift: In the pursuit of his greatest enemy, Jim Moriarty makes an unexpected discovery.

On Fanfiction.net:

Life: James Moriarty is in trouble, so much trouble that he fears for his life. He soon learns, however, he has absolutely nothing to fear, not with Molly Hooper around.

Spiders: Molly and Jim have a casual chat laced with hints of their plans, revealing a side to Molly that both surprises and seduces Jim.

(Re)kindle: Jim Moriarty is perplexed at the lasting impression a certain Molly Hooper has left on him. When his rekindled fascination with her meets an unexpected obstacle, an animosity is ignited.

Other fics:

- The Demon I cling to

- The Anatomist

- What Slinks Unseen (one-shot)

- Safety in Small Numbers (one-shot)

- Heart Shaped Buttons  (one-shot)

- I.O.U (in progress, Season 4 AU)

- A change of clothes (one-shot, smut)

- The Uninvited House Guest

- Home is where (one-shot)

- Danse Macabre (one-shot) mine

- Lay your body next to mine (one-shot, mine, smut, dark themes)

- Symmetry (one-shot)

- Kisses for the Devil (one-shot)

- Descend (one-shot)

- Death and the Maiden

- The Number Is (one-shot)

- The Devil’s Own (warning: dark themes)

- Reality of Innocence (warning:smut)

- Gifts (one-shot)

- Thanaptosis (warning: dark themes)

- Pulse (one-shot)

- Yorick’s grin

- Hades (one-shot)

- Gay (warning:smut)

- Oaths, affidavits and Other Lies

- Brain Drain (one-shot)

- Counting Days (one-shot)

- A conversation starter (one-shot)

- Spinning Tornadoes (one-shot)

- Secret Veins and Arteries (warning:dark themes)

- Watching the world burn (one-shot, smut)

- Death and the Maiden

- Unloveable

- Sweet Dreams (one-shot)

- Frozen Feelings

- Forever and Always

- I will burn the heart out of you

- Choke  (one-shot)

- His Dark Mistress (one-shot)

- He saved the last dance for me

- Exsanguination (one-shot, very kinky smut)

- Almost Anyone  (one-shot)

- No Space between Us  (one-shot, smut)

- Brain Drain  (one-shot)

- Between the bars  (one-shot, smut)

- Troubleshooting  (one-shot, smut)

- Falling  (one-shot, smut)

- Knots in this noose of mine  (one-shot)

- Glass shatters softly  (one-shot)

- Victor, meet spoils (one-shot)

- He kindly stopped me  (one-shot)

- Blow the House Down (one-shot)

- The answer is one  (one-shot)

- Strings  (one-shot)

- Heartbeats in the Dark

- The Fox (one-shot, smut)

- Bad Romance

- Lion and the Lamb (one-shot)

- Red Song in the Night

- The Rules Are (one-shot)

- Molly Mine (one-shot, smut)

- Restless Things (warning: very dark themes + Johnlock)

- Intention (one-shot)

- At the End of it all (one-shot, smuttish)

- An Incorrect Deduction

[doubleum]

August 2019 Update:

Hey, you guys are well overdue for some updates and I apologize for that. This year has given me a lot of trials and life culminated to the point where I could no longer cope. However, that's begun to change, and with it comes updates. I have begun the next chapter of Wormwood and Asphodel and hope to have it up soon. That story is my priority and we are nearing the end. Updates for my other stories will be more sporadic.

General Info

I don't follow a schedule. My life is busy and a schedule is out of the question. I ordinarily update at least a few times a week. The last few months have been unusual, but I'm hoping to get back into the swing of things.

Updates can be found here. If I don't post for some time, usually the reason behind it can be found in my profile.

Yes, I have many WIPS. Yes, I'm going to complete all of them. My current projects are Wormwood and Asphodel, Coming Back to You, Eagles and Serpents, and For the Guilty. There are several others that I will begin rewriting in the near future and hope to post soon.

I enjoy participating in competitions and fests. In spring of 2019 I participated in Drarryland, July of 2019 saw Battleships. The majority of my oneshots come from these fests. I also participate in a Facebook competition that occurs every few months. As of August 2019, I'm currently writing a drabble for said competition.

Recommendations

If you want to read some truly incredible work by some of my favorite people in this world, I recommend:

iNiGmA, Vani12, Nita Wolf Cypresswand, Coffee Reveries

Penelope Muir, waterside and Rannaro

A Bit About Me

Hey, I'm Animalium. I'm a 25 year old American. I'm a wife and a mother to a toddler and several animals. My family is my life, but there are many other things that I love as well. My personal Tumblr is Rickmanfoster and my fanfiction specific Tumblr is Animaliumff. In no specific order (other than Harry Potter) my fandoms are as follows:

1. Harry Potter, specifically the character Snape, is my all time favorite. I have a connection with him that I myself don't understand. Remus is my second favorite and can be seen in many of my stories for that reason. I have many ships

2. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. I love the character Nathaniel Plimpton who is like Snape in so many ways, and even compared to him in this tv show. He will also, one day, be a frequent character when I start writing fics for that fandom. I ship Nathaniel/Rebecca

3. BBC's Bodyguard is another favorite of mine which brought along the love of the actor Richard Madden. I ship David/Julia

4. BBC's River is amazing. I ship River/Stevie

5. Studio C/JK Studios. Although this isn't a fandom I would write for, i still consider it a fandom. I don't ship anyone, but Matt Meese and Jason Gray are my favorite actors on the show.

6. Choice's The Royal Romance series. Maxwell is such a beautiful cinnamon roll. I ship Maxwell/MC

I love Alan Rickman, Scott Michael Foster, Richard Madden, Matt Meese, and anything to do with them. I love devastating things. My favorite books, movies, and shows usually involve death and grief. I don't just "like" things often. I either don't care for it, or I obsess. It's a bit of a problem.

All right, if you've read all this then you know far too much about me and I think it's safe to say we're friends. Now, go read!