Traps within traps within–
on February 25, 2018 at 12:01 amChapter: The Seventh Power
Characters: Alisin Oberf, Desmond Jones, Meighan McDowell, Mist, Rikk Oberf, Rumiko Tanaka, Shanna Cochran, Will Erixon
Location: The Fans! universe
I have the same forehead tattoo!
And now we’re back for one more Mist bit that mostly works, though Meighan won’t be as crucial to upcoming developments as this may imply. It’s more that it establishes a certain M.O. for him that’ll be important later, after he personalizes the hells he puts people through to be a lot more fearsome than “flamey Fauvist flypaper.”
“Everything’s negotiable” is usually an airy exaggeration, but when you’re dealing with the agents of Hell, it’s worth noting that the set of “everything” includes one’s soul. Mist didn’t ask for a claim on her soul specifically, but he didn’t have to. From the way she said it, he knew she’d give it.And it’s one step forward, one step back for Rikk and Ali: just as he was starting to remember and let her know how much he cares for her, he’s got no choice but to close up again for a reason Will understands but she doesn’t. This won’t be the last time Mist comes between them. Sure, they could talk this out later, just like they could talk later about why he didn’t sing about her to “that witch” and how it’s not what she thought. There’s always “later,” until there isn’t.
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I thought FIB was their enemy but here it seems like they’re working with them.
They are reluctant freelancing consultants due to their proven set of skills and philosophies to deal with sci-fi-like threats.
Wait, is that actually all Meighan is branded for here? I know Mist claims so in a later story, but he always struck me as an unreliable narrator. After all, he didn’t understand what happens with Rikk.
And what happens with Rikk is showing the exact same willingness to negotiate. Not only willingness – he goes to hell and explicitly decides to give up his soul in exchange for saving all his friends. Is there really no moral difference, just that he was lucky enough not to be dealing with an agent?
Maybe it’s that Rikk’s bargain is more explicitly self-sacrificing?
I don’t know if Mist is a literal “agent of Satan” or if he just likes to flavor his persona that way, but assuming it’s the former, this crossover definitely makes the upcoming crisis of faith about God’s existence feel a little weird.
I want to criticize the idea that you can accidentally sell your soul by expressing a willingness to negotiate with someone who specifically said he wanted knowledge (as opposed to metaphysical objects). But of course this did happen in discount Catholic hell; I think there exist flavors Christianity that aren’t so prone to arbitrary gotchas, but Catholicism certainly isn’t one of them.