Trigger Warnings

This story deals with disturbing themes and is meant for a mature audience only. Triggers herein include incestual relationships and the effects of inbreeding, blasphemy, graphic violence, crucifixion, rice kneeling, mental illness (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, PTSD), suicide, detailed drug use, semi-explicit sexual scenes, public execution, occult practices and various forms of abuse. It also contains extensive references to Catholicism, religious trauma and the vilification of certain groups. Please be responsible and proceed with caution. Your mental health is important. Reader discretion is advised.

The Nature of Black Magic In Baelor

Black magic is not a tool, not a ritual, not even a practice. It is a sentient, parasitic being that consumes its host like cordyceps. Unlike other magics bound by artifacts, offerings, or intermediaries, black magic operates independently. It does not demand worship or obedience; it rewrites the host until nothing remains but the magic itself. This transformation differs from demonic possession. Where demons are restricted and tethered to their hosts' bodily decay, black magic is boundless. It dissolves identity and reconstructs the host as an extension of itself, a living conduit, not a wielder. The parasite adapts to the individual, shaping itself into the very thing they crave most: perfection, enlightenment, vengeance, love. In this way, it entwines with the psyche, binding its victim through intimacy rather than force.

Unlike conventional substances such as heroin, methamphetamine, or even nicotine, whose withdrawal symptoms eventually subside once the compound fully leaves the body, black magic can't be metabolized or expelled, and the withdrawal state does not diminish over time. Instead, it becomes a chronic condition. Clinically, this state manifests in progressive physical decline: pallor of the skin, pronounced weight loss, tremors, cold sweats, and in advanced cases, blackouts characterized by compulsive, violent behavior.

The change is permanent. There is no cure.

Things You Might Have Missed

- The black Members Only jacket that Atticus wears references Richard Ramirez who wore the same jacket. When Atticus says, "Let's just say it's a stabilizing force in my life," he's quoting the man himself.

- Roman is an unreliable narrator; his interactions with Alice, particularly contrasted with her own chapter, expose this. Roman frames one moment as a struggle to resist something as simple as a kiss when they hide in the coffin, only for Alice’s perspective to reveal him willingly crossing a far more explicit boundary when he calls her.

- If you were to multiply the seemingly random numbers of the passcode to Mariona's phone, you'd be left with 666 (18 x 37)

- There are 33 Christ exclamations (phrases such as "Jesus Christ," "jumping Jesus," "for Christ's sake," "Jesus," "Christ on a cross," and "sweet Jesus.") This number symbolically aligns with the age Jesus Christ was at the time of his crucifixion.

- In Vince's love letter to Sloane, in the chapter, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly, each letter at the beginning of every sentence spells "don't trust him."

- In several scenes with Vince, he uses words that appear Greek to Roman ("weirdacraist," "Kaklesia", "grumpler," "thymomorfos") but are not italicized. These are actually neologisms, made-up words, a symptom of Vince's schizophrenia. Roman mostly overlooks them, since in these states it’s easier for Vince to slip into his mother tongue than rely on a secondary language. The only one Roman truly notices is "grumpler," because it aligns more closely with English given the context.

- Alice and Sloane have the same handwriting.

- Because Roman is the one telling the story, Alice's innocence is filtered through him, so it’s exaggerated and warped until it reads as almost childish despite her being a grown woman. There’s this constant sexualization every time her name is written on a page (Roman even admits to this), and with that, there’s also the steady, overbearing push of innocence. Alice naturally loses her own voice; it gets lost in translation, so you've never actually met her outside of her dedicated chapter, which was a part of the reason it's in the story.

A word from the author

"Baelor comes from a mix of my own experiences, inspiration, and a fascination with too many things to count. I've always been drawn to stories that explore the dark underbelly of society, where beauty and horror are one of the same, and Southern Gothic is built on that very foundation. I spent a lot of time studying the themes of the genre, especially its use of flawed characters and the decayed settings that reflect moral corruption. Religion is also a major element in Baelor, and while I don't come from a strict religious background, I've always been fascinated by how belief can be twisted into something highly corrupted.

Alice's horse, Drifter, is based on my grandfather's horse of the same name. The physical beauty of Sweetness is how I see my hometown, a place that's charm I think is often forgotten. All the colourful southern sayings are surprisingly very, if not the same, as the sayings I grew up hearing from my father. And more than that, the very best parts of Cooper Rhodes are the parts that are wholly my father. Vince's schizophrenia, though I did study medical and psychological sources to ensure the representation was realistic, is also coming from my own personal experience within my line of work as a support worker.

I dedicated four years of my life to creating this story. I watched documentaries on La Cosa Nostra, organized crime during the prohibition era, Jim Jones, Richard Ramerez. I read books of the Southern Gothic genre (specifically by William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor). I read academic and research papers about inbreeding, about organized crime, about the violence and culture in the American South, about religious extremism, historical events, and corruption within not only religious environments, but political settings as well. I've had hours' worth of conversation with people. I spent months creating details that hardly mattered to the story but mattered to me, some of which didn't even make it into the book. Though I'm not proud of it, I sacrificed sleeping, I sacrificed my mental health, and I nearly lost connections with some people because of it.

Baelor is, in its own weird way, my biggest expression yet, and I hold the story and the characters so extremely deep in my heart. It's a horrific story, it's tragic and heartbreaking, but it's also beautiful and passionate, it's unique, and it's flawed. It's something I'm proud of, and I'm not proud of myself often.

I don’t take your support lightly. Every page you’ve read, every word you’ve held onto, means more than I’ll ever be able to say. Thank you for giving your time to something that matters so deeply to me.”