#shaltkill

jukeboxes that somehow work and health department papers that were undoubtedly forged.      smoke and sin in the air,  thick enough to suffocate.      guns on hips,  sharp smiles,  the smell of blood on the first four knuckles—  these are the kinds of promises made to people like him.

outside,  ashley graves claims breath after breath of fresh air,  but he is not saved.      the figure,  tall and dark beside him,  has a cigarette pinched between his fingers.      this is how they meet—  obscured by smoke and the ravenous darkness.      they haven’t seen each other’s true faces.      truth is,  one of them will likely die before they ever get the chance to reveal such wounds.

the nights were getting darker, and everything was happening at the wrong end of a very long tunnel.   

𝐍𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐁𝐀𝐋  𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄𝐒 ↳↳    accepting    (  @shaltkill​  )

[  fix  ]  for  your  muse  to  treat  mine’s  injury

scattered  across  the  bathroom  sink  was  the  dissected  remains  of  a  first  aid  kit.  pulled  apart  and  laid  out  was  adhesive  tape,  plaster  strip  and  wound  dressing,  a  handful  of  safety  pins,  medical  scissors,  a  first  aid  manual,  and  two  rolls  of  medical  tape  and  sterile  bandages.  seth  craned  his  neck  awkwardly  to  see  over  his  shoulder  and  at  the  mirror  behind  him.  his  back  had  taken  the  brunt  of  the  damage  from  the  bar  fight  and  was  now  a  canvas  of  blue  and  purple  bruises  tucked  under  his  wifebeater,  but  it  was  the  laceration  on  the  back  of  his  shoulder  that  had  ushered  the  brothers  into  what  was  once  malvado’s  quarters.

          seth  already  felt  like  a  happy  meal  on  legs  surrounded  by  more  culebra  than  he  would  like,  and  as  ready  and  as  able  as  he  was  to  crack  the  first  snake  that  tried  to  make  a  meal  out  of  him,  he  would  rather  not  tempt  fate  by  walking  around  with  a  seeping  wound.

          ❝  .  .  .  ow,  shit!  ❞  seth  exclaimed  at  the  sudden  sting  of  antiseptic  against  an  open  wound.  ❝   would  it  kill  you  to  give  a  little  warning?  ❞  as  loudly  as  seth  complained,  he  didn’t  recoil  or  pull  away  as  richie  treated  the  laceration,  rather  he  ripped  open  a  patch  of  gauze  and  busied  his  hands  with  cutting  a  few  strips  of  adhesive  tape.

ashley knows the narrative.  his childhood was full of paperback westerns and reruns on henri’s television.   bittersweet memories were those   —   gone in the blink of an eye,   obscured by a splatter of blood and viscera.   he was born under a bad sign,   born to do bad things.   before the graves men were preachers,   they were outlaws,   making graveyards out of bone-white afternoons.   and sure,   ashley’s got a badge on his hip now,   but the outlaw always dies in the end.   the outlaw always dies.

so many, so little time lmao

fire : it's a recurring motif in fdtd and i associate it with a few of the characters ( richie, kisa, carlos, freddie ), but for seth it's very much a symbol of rebirth and awakening while also being something deeply traumatic. all the instances where fire affected him were major turning points in his life, there's the first instance which is ray's death. the second which is when he got it tattooed on his arm as remembrance to richie saving him from the fire. third was when he realized that richie set the fire that killed ray, and the last was it coming full circle when he had to set richie on fire to save him from amaru. furthermore, seth's overall personality is very fiery, he tends to scorch everything and everyone around him whether he means to or not, he kind of embodies it, kind of a personification of it in the way it's both destructive and also representing life, or clarity.

mirrors : or reflections might be a better explanation, but seth's seen looking into mirrors and at his reflection a few times. as a character that struggles to self-reflect on himself, on events and experiences, the mirrors / reflections are moments where seth is grappling with conflicting emotions or where he's trying to process something or center himself. he uses his own reflection to remind himself of who he is.

mongoose : okay, hear me out, they're one of the only small predators that take on highly venomous snakes but they also represent defence, protection, and destroying evil in certain practices, they supposedly represent showing courage in the face of fear, to not run in times of conflict, and they also supposedly symbolise adventure, impulsiveness and rebelliousness.

wolverine : another animal motif, strong, tough, tenacious, supposedly they warn you of your dark sides, the "shadowed places that we prefer to leave alone", understanding the darkness and respecting what it represents, which is more fitting for s03!seth who's come more or less around to accepting the new reality of the supernatural.

white horse of the apocalypse : or conquest, theologically it's been argued whether conquest represents the anti-christ or satan out to conquer the world, or it could represent jesus or the holy spirit and his conquest over evil and i think that represents the duology of seth where he's both this kind of destructive, immoral, force but is also willing to go to beat to save the people around him or the world itself when push comes to shove.

hands : as a motive to represent how seth is very action and goal orientated, always moving, always touching, always doing something with his hands. he uses his hands to both save and protect, as well as inflict some pretty horrendous violence. bonus motif of the neck as it's the most vulnerable part of the body, he got bitten by the person he loved most there, went on to tattoo over his neck in an effort to forget that person, while simultaneously being a metaphorical means of shielding that vulnerability, armoring it up as it were.

the ace : courtesy of eddie for calling him the ace card, it's usually considered the highest rank in the deck but in some card games it's also seen as the lowest by filling the space of the absent "one" card. in his day-to-day, during his moves within the criminal realm of things, seth is very much considered a top dog, he’s very good at what he does, he’s very skilled and competent in his abilities and is considered a high threat. however when he’s spiraling, or when he’s involved within the culebra or supernatural horror realms of things, he’s more of the underdog, he’s often outmatched, he’s considered by supernatural beings to be lower than or inferior to them. ace of spades is also popularly known as the "card of death", typically represents a person that is highly competent in battle, and foreshadows danger ahead which i think is very on brand for him.

the devil tarot : typically represents selfishness, sexuality, knowledge, ambition, indulgence and warns that change is coming. getting seduced by material wealth and physical pleasures, while also implying that someone is living in fear, domination, bondage, being caged by an overabundance of luxury, seth goes through quite a few instances of losing everything that he's tried so hard to gain. the 30 mil in bearer bonds and richie in season 1, malvado's stash of cash and kate in season 2, his and richie's outfit along with his cash and the new friendships he made in season 3.

cain and abel : ties in with richie, there's a lot of sibling rivalry between them and it gets super intense. there's a lot of untapped potential between richie and seth, there's a lot of imbalances of power that switch between them, jealousy, confusion, resentment, tied in with a lot of admiration, respect, love, can't live with him, can't live without him kind of motifs.

      “ that doesn’t mean it didn’t fuckin’ hurt, ” she says, words hissed through chattering teeth. she tries to let logic take over – she’s fine, just going into shock – but understanding what’s happening doesn’t stop her from letting it get the better of her. at the same time she’s telling herself don’t panic!, her breath starts coming harder and faster, like her body is preparing to melt down. they just don’t have time for this.

PENNY DREADFUL SENTENCE STARTERS // accepting 

@shaltkill

   ordinarily, she would have let him in. today, the door stays on the chain and jane whispers her words to him through the little gap. 

“ we’re talking about murder, ” jane says.  she finds it ridiculous that she even has to clarify that that’s completely different to just running tallies on stupid. it’s taking a life – and she has no idea how many people he’s even killed.  the fact that he was so blasé about the whole thing that he even let her watch gives her a chill.

jane looks at him for a moment too long, then scrunches up her face in a way that says fuck it.  the door closes only to open fully seconds later, chain hanging uselessly at the side.