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Freddie and Grace are really important to me, because their friendship is the heart of this story. Even if you romance other characters, that never changes, because Freddie is so important to Grace and who she is as a person as she undergoes all this change. And it kills me that no matter what, even if you do save her, one of them will outlive the other.

So to fix that— and I know it doesn’t work that way because she can give up the eidolon if you don’t take this route, but —I had this idea that Grace taking the Throne of Hades is the reason why she is able to save Freddie, and why, when Grace does eventually fully embrace being the Underworld’s master, it is as a new Idol, as death becomes her domain.

I just love the idea of humans believing in the Idols again, and then through that belief, accidentally creating a new eidolon inside Grace by assigning her the dominion of Death, since Hades is gone.

It doesn’t happen all at once. 

Like all things, it starts out gradually, quietly without people realizing it’s happening at all. Something they didn’t realize was growing inside of Grace, because she was too busy doing her job, of speaking for the Idols as their spokesperson and managing the dead with Persephone’s guidance and help. 

In the game, Freddie and Grace sing about growing old together, and it is one of the painful ironic foreshadowing seeded in the songs. Because they must realize by the end that it isn’t going to happen with Freddie as an immortal and Grace being mortal. 

But what if, they prepare for that, emotionally and mentally brace themselves for it, the pain of losing their best friend…And then it just…doesn’t happen?

They don’t notice it at first. You lose track of time and age even as a regular mortal. Most people only realize the weight of age and time when their bodies start to fall apart, or someone says something that gives them psychic damage. But because Grace and Freddie are so used to using each other as a measuring stick of time, they don’t notice it. 

Until someone mentions that Grace doesn’t look like she has aged at all. In your 20s-40s, your face doesn’t change THAT much. So they just shrug it off at first. They keep doing their thing, and Grace starts to learn the ropes of the Underworld, because they all know at some point she will take over. She starts to be able to DO things there, god-like things that she reasons that she can do because thar is what comes with the territory of the job. After all, being the Ruler of the Dead made Orpheus different, she thinks, not realizing (or Freddie remembering) that Orpheus was technically a demigod, a child of the Idols. 

More time passes. And Grace doesn’t age. More…years, decades, really. She still doesn’t age. And it’s a little bit… confusing.

Meanwhile, Grace becomes a household name, not just because she is the Idols’ spokesperson but because the Underworld is starting to get populated and people know her as Queen of the Dead.

Because they know the story- the real one of Persephone and Orpheus. Of her and Freddie, and how she saved the Last Muse. They heard it from her, and the other Idols too. 

And as more people fill the shades of the Underworld, they go in knowing that Hades was a cruel ruler, but now there is a new Queen, who is a kinder, more compassionate ruler of the Dead. Someone they don’t have to fear. Her name is Grace, meaning favor and blessing, the very thing she gave to Freddie, her best friend, as her first act as Queen. 

And then, one day, a person dies and someone they love goes up to Grace and pleads for her to bring them back. And Grace actually does, by accident, all while insisting that she can’t (even though her heart really wants to).

It just happens. 

And then that is when the shit really hits the fan. Because what the fuck is going on? Leave it Grace to full upend the system, on accident, AGAIN.

It turns out that somewhere along the lines, all that belief in HER turned into something. As Apollo said, no one remembers how the Idols were born. Just that one of the ways their powers emerged is because priests assigned them dominion over it. And eventually they remember that in Greco-Roman mythology, there were goddesses named the Charities, or as the Romans called them, the Graces. 

And thus a new eidolon line is born, as Grace becomes the first new Idol in nearly 2000 years.

Everyone thought that they beat the prophecy as a result of the Trial and kicking out Athena. Because of the word “continue,” they figured, well, they didn’t continued the same way they had, so it is a technicality.

But actually it was this: The Idols cannot continue (new eidelons cannot be born) as long the Last Muse (Freddie) lives. 

In all their records, the eidolons can only be transferred to a living body.  There were stories, sure, of eidolons surviving without a body, but it, for sure, cannot be transferred into a dead one. 

Until Grace put the eidolon inside of Freddie when she was dead. 

And not only did Grace do it without dying, doing so brought Freddie’s dead body back to life, fully healed and presumably reincorporated from where it was in the Reliquary.

For the brief moment, when the eidelon was out of Grace and inside Freddie, the Last Muse was dead. 

(As Freddie would say, Buffy the Vampire Prophecy Girl rules apply.) 

So the prophecy was true and Athena was actually quite right about the death part. Freddie had to die so that Grace could break the rules of life and death, so Grace could give up her godhood, so that they could start a Revolution that results in people believing in Idols again, so that new eidolons could form and rise. 

It takes extraordinary will and sacrifice to create a miracle, and that miracle, the story of Grace doing the impossible to save Freddie and the living proof of their love, is what truly gets people to believe. 

After all, the history of humanity is nothing more than a collection of enduring stories of hope and joy, of grief and pain— stories for people to believe in. 

And what better way to usher in the new age of the Idols than a revolution sparked by an act of pure love, like something out of the legends and epics of old? 

🙂

Annabel: *Is actively trying to get everyone to perceiveLenore in the role of a dashing rogue*

random student, blushing: That Lenore.. kind of a dashing rouge sorta gal ain’t she?

Annabel:

Annabel Lee & Fears: A Short Essay Based On Ep70

Here it is, folks, the truest crux of Annabel’s character, her deepest fears is not going mad or even people discovering she’s not as put together as she tries to appear, but rather:

Was that gambit of constant scheming and using others worth it, Annabel? Was always trying to think ten steps ahead and always keep yourself in a position of power and control truly worth it, because how can you ever be trusted when all you do is play 5D chess with everyone?

There is is, folks!!! Just like her greatest strength- her cunning willpower- is centered around a certain bright moon, Annabel’s greatest fear is rooted in Lenore. The deepest, darkest trenches of her soul, the one thing that would shatter her heart and send her lungs choking fer breath? The killing blow that would end her and make all these charades worthless? It’s Lenore seeing her constant conniving and asking Annabel, “Why would I be any different? You already have no problem using everyone else as a pawn, how could I ever possibly trust you, Annabel Lee?”

The way Annabel is SUCH a great morally grey character, y’all tell me you love hot villains yet many a time I’ve seen people calling Annabel too heartless. She’s the opposite! She cares!! SO MUCH!!! She would burn the world down if it meant kissing Lenore one last time, to the point where her deepest fear is losing Lenore in the process of trying to protect her. All Annabel knows is using manipulation to gain the upper hand because simply being born a woman in the Victorian era she was so throughly disadvantaged by such a horribly misogynistic society that girlypop had to scrape together any form of control she could. Annabel wants so badly to protect Lenore but all she knows are her own methods of protecting herself, which involves plausibility deniability and facades and sometimes sheer cruelty, and that’s where the conflict arises. From the start Annabel assumed Lenore and her had the same understanding of this ‘fake enemies’ ploy going on but surprise surprise babygirl, not everyone is overthinking four parallel universes ahead like you do. This boils over into her lover having doubts on what’s real and what’s not, which then culminates into Lenore asking if Annabel is using her affections as empty currency to get what she wants, and Annabel’s first move to tell Lenore to fucken kill her????

“To you alone, I have left myself completely defenseless.”

The drama of it all!! The shattered facade leading to exploding vulnerability of it all!! The dim sun sparking out into a heat death just to prove her sincerity of it all!!! The exposed innermost organs ripping out my heart with my bare hands and begging you, “Do you see it now? Do you see the way it beats for you and only you? Tell me you see it, tell me you see me…” of it all!!

Oh baby the way Annabel still retains this deep fear of Lenore not truly believing in the “only thing that’s real” to her, the way her lover’s ghost still lingers and haunts her and is then ripped up from her innermost psyche like a desecrated grave and given form by Ada’s power. The way, after all this time- and I mean all this time from Lenore’s constructed resurrection, to their relationship blossoming into a wedding, all the fucking way up to that bell tower scene, the fucken way Annabel still never truly let go of her fear that Lenore doesn’t see her, doesn’t see how she alone bashed through all of Annabel’s walls and made a home where her heart laid. I’m sure during their living relationship all the way until the wedding Annabel’s fears were greatly settled, but it’s the fucken way these panels implied that this wretched heartache never completely left Annabel’s guilt-wracked soul.

I just know, okay I just KNOW, that even up until she was putting her wedding dress on Annabel still questioned if she even deserved this happy ending because she still feel phantoms of guilt fer this betrayal. This comic only furthers this implication of unabsolved guilt when it’s made clear as day that Annabel’s biggest fear is Lenore not believing in her love. And before anyone argues how Annabel can currently feel guilt fer betraying Lenore when she hasn’t recovered the memory yet, I’ll argue back that from the very beginning of the comic these two were inexplicably drawn to each other even when they had NO memories. Therefore, even if she doesn’t have the explicit memory, I highly doubt Annabel’s subconscious would ever let go of something as huge as deeply hurting the one person she truly cared about in such a wretched way.

Fuck, dude, I mean Annabel’s greatest fear wasn’t even Lenore dying- which was already a huge thing if y’all remember her tearstreaked, panicked, “What is left? If she’s not here, what’s the point?”- no her greatest is Lenore!!! Not!!! Believing!! Her!!! Like yeah losing Lenore physically definitely would’ve cut so deep even her bones would bear the scars, but losing Lenore in the form of the other woman walking the same ground as her but choosing to stay away?? Call her fucking selfish because some people would rather have their other half still be alive even if they’re not by their side, but Annabel ain’t one of them that’s fer sure. Babygirl has spent a lifetime perfecting the craft of deceiving others fer her own gain, but the ONE TIME she’s genuine her heart is to be called nothing more but empty??? Oh babbyyy that’s gotta fucken hurt.

The thing is, I don’t think Annabel really loves herself all that much. I really don’t. A huge focus on self-preservation doesn’t necessarily mean one really loves themselves, and when we add the aforementioned guilt she carries? Plus, the fact that Annabel being forced to swallow down her anxiety attacks from a young age could easily lead to her having a rather sour view of her 'not normal' self? Yeah no yeah, I truly don’t think Annabel loves herself that much, if at all. So really, this line is adding immense insult to already grievous injury. Not only does Annabel deeply fear Lenore not believing her affections to be true, she also fears the New Yorker misconstruing her as nothing more but a shallow as hell, prissy, little pampered damsel, a role pretty much everyone else regulates her into whether she wants it or not (right from the beginning, before she even set her schemes in full effect, Annabel was already explaining, “Ada wanted a queen, so I gave her one”). Lenore, the only one Annabel had believed to ever really see her fer her, is now discrediting Annabel’s vulnerable affections AND seeing her as that unloving ice queen like everyone else?? Horrible terrible horrible!!! She may have a ribbon threatening to strangle her right now, but it’s clear that ghost!Lenore’s words are what truly cut her down to size. Y’all seeing that fucken pain in Annabel’s eyes? Her worst fear is just so… personal.

Which actually leads me to my next point, which is how just before Annabel’s worst fear is revealed in stark, horrifying detail, we see Prospero’s. Lemme just preface this by saying what Prospero went through is n o t any less terrible and is a super fucken mega valid fear/trauma, but let me cook y’all just hear me out. Prospero’s fear seems to be about medical malpractice and/or being conscious during a painful operation that likely went south (aka ‘oh shiiitttt he fucken DEAD-‘), and that’s fucking tragic as all hell. Yet, okay let me cook here, it’s more… I don’t want to say general, because that does NOT mean his fear is any less significant but it’s like. Way back when, death via medical bullshit was more or less fairly common, especially during wartimes (which is the era I headcanon Prospero to be from); meanwhile, Annabel’s fear is so uniquely hers, it’s borne of a culmination of specific experiences tied together by her relationship with Lenore.

By contrast of a more common fear vs something so deeply personal and specific to this one person- because it’s not just unrequited love, it’s being so vehemently denied and misunderstood by the ONE (1!) person who you wholeheartedly trusted in your entire life who also oops mega died on you- this distinction gives way to an almost more raw, more visceral feeling to Annabel’s fear sequence. Again!!! I am not undermining Prospero’s own trauma, I promise!!! But you have to admit that there’s something, from a narrative standpoint, that hits so much harder with how deeply personal Annabel’s fear is. The contrast is even more great when you look at how Prospero’s involved a buncha bloodied hands not really tied to any faces or even any indication of personhood like accessories, scars, etc etc. It could’ve been a group of anyone holding him down hurting him; on the flipside, Annabel is being restrained by one very specific person we see in full view. The faceless crowd who could’ve been anyone at anytime vs the lone perpetrator whose history you know like a second name. It’s just!!! So personal!!!

In conclusion, on the surface level, one would think a character so deeply ingrained in using deceptions and manipulation would have her greatest fear tie into having her true nature revealed to everyone she’d fooled, but then it turns out it’s the complete fucking opposite. What homegirl fears the most is her truest, innermost self not being believed and accepted by just one (1!) person. The way it’s framed is just so heartstabbingly personal, especially when you parallel it to a previous fear sequence just a few panels preceding it. This is it, your honor, this is Annabel’s deepest driving force broken down to its bare essentials. To hell with whatever reputation she’s carefully crafted! Who cares what anyone else thinks of her if she doesn’t believe her, if she doesn’t SEE her. Really, truly see her. Lenore is the defining point that Annabel has revolves around so wholeheartedly, and there’s no point to anything anymore if Annabel loses her. This crux of her character, OHHH BBAAABBYY it’s just so well done because we, as the audience, have been given clear evidence to build up this narrative of Annabel’s characterization fer so long now and to finally see it come together in a fiery explosion of lesbian angst with this latest chapter??? Gods, the writing of Nevermore will never not drive me absolutely insane in the membrane.

*jumping rope* among us babies, infected with rabies,

You can only reblog this today.

I think all of my shiny luck went into this and I’m never going to find another shiny again.

This is felinette in a nutshell

You can’t tell me other wise.

After only 120 battles and 61 eggs

Can you draw dukesaw on their first date from your tag au please? Or them causing mayhem in general?

i feel a spark ignited within me again

also i dont remember what veronica was wearing just pretend i got it right

I’m just going to leave this here…

Reblog if Black Lives Matter to you

Where are those woke white people at!?

Are fedoras really that bad?

YES YES THEY ARE

I drew this months ago and didn’t post it anywhere cus it was in the middle of a slew of bad things a-happening. Anyway

Zag and a lil Knight because my fiance wanted to see me draw them together really badly

Hey guys,

I’ll make this short. Today a racist idiot burned our car completely. It can only be sold for scrap because the motor, brain and sensors are fried.

We’re a family of black latine immigrants. we did not get any stimulus checks. I was forced to drop out cause I can’t pay for college so I’m using my shop to sustain my family, and without a car this is just so, so much more difficult.

I beg of you. If you’ve ever used these:

Please. please consider boosting and/or donating. I’m in complete shambles over this. 

http://paypal.me/mothcharm  http://ko-fi.com/swordknight  https://mothcharm.bigcartel.com

Thank you ♥

I saw people designing Halloween themed pride flags so I thought I'd try it too!! I also posted these to my Instagram @_und3ad :)

Plz give credit if ur going to use these and feel free to request flags:) <3

We stan!!!!

chaotic good

pink in the night

Your Arab aren't you? Have you ever dated a terrorist

nah I’m not into white guys sry