Inverted All Along is a completed Alternate Universe fanfic of the webcomic Slightly Damned. In this universe, Heaven and its Angels torment sinful people, whereas Hell and its Demons reward virtuous ones. The story follows Rhea Snaketail's journey as she is sent to Heaven, and is selected to be the Median escort to Kieri Suizahn's team.
Completed as of December 2023. It can be read here
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This fanfic contains examples of:
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Drazil has a significant amount of lines for a character that never appeared in canon.
- Not counting that one visual cameo.
- Not counting that one visual cameo
- All Crimes Are Equal: Despite her insistence that she doesn't deserve this, Rhea is lumped in with the criminals and murderers.
- Almost Kiss: Kieri and Buwaro.
- Back from the Dead: Rhea and Ramirez.
- Battle Trophy: Rhea steals Kieri's mask after defeating her.
- Beware the Honest Ones: Kieri stands by her principles and prejudice even when all evidence seems to contradict them.
- Defeat by Modesty: Kieri's embarrassment comes from being unmasked, not unclothed. In Angel culture, it's about the same thing.
- Don't Fear the Reaper: Death is said by Buwaro to be "nice". Knowing their identity as Sakido, Buwaro's sister, it makes sense.
- Easy Road to Hell: Even young children can end up in Heaven.
- Embodiment of Virtue: Subverted with Kieri, who is quick to judge everything based on virtue and sin while being far from kind herself.
- Fire and Brimstone Hell: Inverted. While volcanic, Hell is actually a pleasant place.
- God Is Evil: Mother Gaia is the one leading the assault on Medius.
- Heaven Versus Hell: Here, it was Angels that led the attack onto Medius and Demons that came to its defense.
- Hell of a Heaven: Here, Heaven is where sinners get tormented.
- A Hell of a Time: Here, Hell is an everlasting party celebrating life.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Kieri assumes Medians are full of sin and Demons are enablers. When Buwaro turns out to not fit that mold, she really wishes he did.
Buwaro: “Hey, now! Are you...encouraging me to do bad stuff?”
Kieri: “It certainly would be easier to punish you for it!”
— Chapter 4, Without Voice or Face
- Ironic Hell: As a punishment for lying, Rhea gets her tongue burned off. Or at least she would have, were it not for the selection.
- It's All My Fault: Ramirez tried to stop Rhea's murderer, and got killed as well. Both of them feel conflicted about it.
- Justice Will Prevail: Subverted. While Angels claim to want to rid the world of sin, their solution to do so is to eliminate free will and impose their worldview on Medians.
- Light Is Not Good: Angels use Holy Light magic, but they're far from benevolent.
- Might Makes Right: Subverted. Kieri uses her status as an Angel to command Rhea around, but the latter simply refuses.
Kieri: “Median, you seem to forget who is in charge here!”
Rhea: “And you seem to forget that you're not in Heaven anymore. Whatever big name status you have means nothing to me. If I don't want to follow you, I won't.”
— Chapter 2, Snow-Winged Hunter
- Moral Dilemma: Kieri, several times.
- She assumes that Demons are sinful enablers, and would like to punish Buwaro for it; however, he's actually a nice person. It would then make no sense to punish him for something he didn't do.
- She cannot push him to act wrongly either, for it would then be her wrongdoing.
- Moral Sociopathy: Kieri (and Angels) rate Medians according to virtue, and will give precedence to those on top.
- Parental Substitute:
- Iratu took Buwaro into Hell this time, and does care about him.
- While Darius' circumstances were different, he still took care of the three Demon children and gave them his pendants.
- Psychopomp:
- Death accompanies Rhea to the gates of Heaven.
- Subverted with Drazil, who makes her climb the thousand steps to Heaven on her own. Either that, or he'll bring her up as a corpse hanging from his sword.
- Reincarnation Friendship: Following the Final Judgment, everyone is reborn again in a different Medius. Rhea, Buwaro and Kieri are still friends.
- Relieving the Reaper: Sakido.
- Sealed Orders: Kieri doesn't know the whole of Heaven's plans, only Kazai does as he's their team leader. Seraph Angels also withhold information regarding the identity of their new leader.
- Sliding Scale of Free Will vs. Fate:
- The Angels' plan is to destroy free will itself and impose Gaia's light as the only way. Rhea would like to disagree.
- Death's Final Judgment rounds up all Medians and asks them what to do with their world, giving them a chance to change things for the better.
Drazil: “But here's the funny thing about fate, Jakkai. It doesn't care. It doesn't ask whether people deserve it or not. Your fate was written in the Great Book long before you ever stepped foot onto Medius. Your actions, your beliefs...it's all empty air, next to fate.”
— Chapter 1, The Servitude to Fate
- Stairway to Heaven: A gigantic spiral staircase said to be a thousand steps long.
- Sympathy for the Devil: Rhea to Kieri.
- Unfeeling Heavens: Angels are very strict and impersonal. Even on Medius, Kieri thinks of eating food as "indulging in sin".
- Whodunnit to Me?: Rhea and Ramirez.
