#I searched up some of my posts and lord be hold they're not there

[onyourowndaisymae]

mistletoe mayhem

a/n: i wanted to get out a festive little piece before the holidays are over. sorry for the lack of posting-- i am so sleepy all the time. also i just got my wisdom teeth out so if this is nonsensical i do apologize. i am on several pain meds

characters + content: lucifer, satan, asmo, solomon, simeon x gn!reader

word count: ~1.3k

prompt: it's christmas at the demon lord's castle. drinks are flowing, music is blasting, and you're caught up in the fun of the party with everyone in the main hall. when you slip away to grab yourself another drink, however, you collide with another body in the doorway. who is that? and what's that above your head, dangling from the doorway... is that... mistletoe?

"Lucifer?"

colliding with the solid chest in front of you knocks some of the breath from your lungs. yet, you don't tumble to the unforgiving ground. you look up and see red eyes searching your face, gloved hands steadying you by the underside of your arms to keep you on your feet.

he breathes your name easily. "watch your step."

"my bad," you reply. you didn't even realize you were clutching the front of his coat until you let him go. lucifer's lips curl into an easy smirk as he crosses his arms.

you readjust your clothes and start to wander off with a polite nod, but his hand catches your arm again. "wait a moment."

"huh?"

his gloved finger points above you to the top of the doorframe. there, dangling above your head, is a bundle of mistletoe. you should have known lord diavolo would have the place decorated in such a way-- he'd been asking you for weeks about human traditions for the festive season. you must have told him about this one somewhere along the way. judging by the look on lucifer's face, he knows what exactly that leafy sprig means.

"mistletoe, is it not?" lucifer starts, then seems satisfied when you nod. "i owe you a kiss. if you'll allow it, of course." the smoothness of his offer makes your cheeks split with a delighted grin.

"i'd be offended if you didn't."

"and we can't have that, now can we? not during the holidays." and with that, his lips meet yours.

"Satan?"

a sharp swear hits your ears as strong hands catch you, gripping your shoulders with startling intensity as he somewhat forcibly props you back onto your own two feet.

satan's cheeks are flushed as he looks you up and down once more to make sure you're alright. his fingers find your shirt and dust you off once more for good measure.

"are you alright?"

"i'm okay," you answer, now secure in your own footing. "thank you for catching me."

"sorry for running into you in the first place."

there's a gap of silence. he shifts awkwardly on his feet, eyes flickering up above your heads to the top of the doorframe.

"is there something up there?" you ask. your gaze flits up above you to find a leafy sprig adorning the doorframe.

"if i'm not mistaken," satan says lowly, cheeks aflame and eyes darting from yours, "that's mistletoe. there's a human tradition where two people kiss if they're caught under it together-- i assume you've heard it?"

"i have."

there's another beat of silence where satan looks hesitant-- his body is angled towards yours, leaned in ever so slightly in interest, but his mouth doesn't move. the words won't come out. you can tell he's interested in the tradition, but he doesn't want to pressure you because of the tumble you almost took. you'd find it more endearing if it wasn't so silly.

"... do you want to give it a try? 'tis the season and all."

he lets out a breath you had noticed him holding and nods, scarlet in the cheeks as his fingers brush against yours. satan's lips find yours-- soft, grateful, melting into your touch as voices of your friends and family fade into the background.

"Asmo?"

"oh!"

two arms wind around your body, pressing you against him as the two of you fumble together lightly. you eventually find yourself unscathed and on your feet once more.

"sorry, hon, i didn't see you coming," asmo murmurs, fingers flitting over your form to help fix your hair and crumpled outfit.

"i'm sorry, too. i wasn't paying attention when i came around that corner. are you okay?"

"i'll be okay. now that i've got you alone, actually, i've been meaning to ask you about something."

a delighted little smile crosses his lips, and he takes your hands in his to coax you closer.

"anything, asmo. what's on your mind?"

"this whole mistletoe tradition solomon was telling me about, is it true? you really make out with someone under this plant? it sounds to me like one of the best human traditions i've heard in awhile."

"it's more of a kiss than a full make-out, but yes, sure, i do suppose it's an interesting tradition."

"and what's the plant look like?"

"uh, it's this leafy green little thing, usually tied up somewhere on the ceiling or in doorframes."

"like that?" asmo lifts a finger from your intertwined hands to point up with a devious grin. sure enough, above your head, you spot a sprig of mistletoe.

"you knew that was there, didn't you?"

"well i wanted to try out the tradition myself. and there's no one i'd rather do it with than you! so maybe i bumped into you on purpose to get you under here with me. is that so bad?"

as you find yourself leaning in to ring in the holiday season, you can't help but think maybe bumping into asmo under the mistletoe was a gift itself, even if it was a silly plot on his part.

"Solomon?"

"mc!"

your bodies bump together uncomfortably, and the two of you fumble together to stay standing. solomon's boyish laugh rings through the area, and you can't help but laugh a little yourself at the absurdity of almost bowling each other down on your way through the doorframe.

"are you alright?" he asks, giggles subsiding into a softness as his eyes scan you for any minor bruises or bumps.

"I'm alright. are you?"

"i am. better now that i have you alone."

"oh? and what is that supposed to mean?"

"did you happen to notice the mistletoe above us as you were walking this way?" solomon asks. your eyes drift upwards with his to see the plant hanging above your heads-- probably mistletoe, considering it's decorating the castle for the party, but honestly you'd never been close enough to know what it's really supposed to look like.

"not until now. assuming that's what that is."

"you think i'd lie about that?" he teases.

"oh, for sure. anything to get a kiss."

"ouch," solomon whines, pressing his hand against his chest to cover the emotional wound your words left. "i would never go so far as to deceive you. if i wanted a kiss, all i'd have to do is ask."

"that's true," you murmur, leaning in as he brushes his knuckles against your cheek.

silence.

"anyways," solomon starts, pulling away with a chesire grin and turning on his heel.

"solomon! you bastard! i thought you were gonna--!"

before you can protest further, his lips are on yours, grinning and kissing you senseless as he backs you up against that very doorframe-- to ensure you stay caught under the mistletoe, of course.

"Simeon?"

a gasp comes from the body you collide with, as sharp and unexpected as the collision you found yourself in. the body bumps into the doorframe with a muffled noise of surprise.

"oh, i'm so sorry! i didn't see you coming!" the apology is out of your mouth before simeon's fully steadied himself on his feet, but he's already chuckling jovially and reaching out to comfort you despite nearly tumbling to the ground.

"i'm sorry," he replies. "i should have been paying more attention."

he reaches behind him to adjust his cape, but his gloved fingers brush something caught in his hair and he frowns. you pull it out for him-- it's a decoration. leafy, green, christmas-y. you look above you to see the hook from which it hung in the doorframe now swinging empty after your collision.

"did i knock that over? i'll have to apologize to barbatos." simeon mutters. then, after a moment, "what is that?"

"mistletoe, i think."

"mistletoe?"

"it's a human realm plant," you tell the angel, twirling it in your fingers. "we hang it up around christmas time. it's for couples. when you stand underneath it together, you're supposed to kiss."

"oh," simeon answers quietly, cheeks heating up at your simple explanation. he looks pensive for a moment. "should i hang it back up?"

"huh?"

"well it sounds like a good excuse to kiss you, and i'm not one to let that chance pass me by. or can we just--?"

he gingerly slips the mistletoe from your fingers and holds it up above you, grinning bashfully. no more words are needed-- you answer the angel with a sweet kiss to mark the occasion.

[harmoonix]

Moving my body like a

nympho

⚸°Lilith Astrology Observations°⚸

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

*This post includes more types of Lilith's energy in your natal chart. These are

Lilith (h12) Mean Lilith ⚸ (this is the most common Lilith we find in our charts astro.seek or astro com)

Lilith (h13) True Lilith ⚸

Lilith asteroid (1181) ⚸

Lilith's DARK Moon (h58) ⚸

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

(Some observations can be 18+)

⚸-> Lilith (h12) harshly aspecting Jupiter are crazy in bed, these can be the type of people who often go for more rounds. Just because they cannot hold it themselves

⚸-> Lilith (h12) or (h13) in Water/Earth signs indicate dark feminine energy, which is not bad at all because often this energy is send to the native by their ancestors/ or by their higher self

(And yes Lilith can also indicate things you gained from ancestors or being protected by ancestors)

⚸-> Lilith (h12) or (h13) in Fire/Air signs indicate the light feminine, which can be easier felt because of their personality. Natives with these placements can often have a big ego and likeable personality

⚸-> Lilith (h12) - in 6th/11th house love to praised for their work, these people have a big influence in their workplace

⚸-> Lilith (58) - in Scorpio/8th house > My Lord, these people are dark, they can be very revengeful/evil if someone does them dirty, also their sexual energy, Lorddddd >>>>>

⚸-> Lilith (58) aspecting the Sun > They embody the dark nature of their higher self easier, these people are full of intensity and power, these people can often attract powerful people in their lives

⚸-> Lilith (h12) - conjunct/square/opposite Moon > one of the most powerful aspects to have in your chart, they have an specific magnetic 🧲 field around, something that makes people to wonder about them.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

D E V O U R

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚸-> Any of these Lilith in the sign of Leo ♌🦁 > they have a big pride and they are very confident. Loyal and appreciated by others

⚸-> True Lilith (h13) - aspecting Mars > Literally demon/angel of sex vibes, thet dream about it, they seek it, they desire it...They just want to eat your soul at this point

⚸-> True Lilith (h13) in Taurus Degrees 2°. 14°, 26° > They embody so much feminine vibes. Their true nature is feminine/no matter in the gender, these people are feminine inside 💠

⚸-> Lilith Asteroid (1181) in the 5th house > These natives are looking for intensity in love at every corner, i tell you this placement makes people to wife you up

⚸-> If Lilith asteroid is aspecting the asteroid Aphrodite (1388) the native has a very dark beauty > meaning they're majestic wearing dark colors/dark makeup 💄, and omg they're so sassy

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's in the signs or Gemini ♊ or Virgo ♍. The native has an seductive voice And people often ignore that. But they forget these Lilith's are ruled by Mercury

⚸-> Lilith (h12) aspecting the ascendant is so intense that most people with these aspects attract so much envy and hate from others

⚸-> Lilith (h12) or True Lilith (h13) in the 7th house can attract toxic partners in their relationships, be aware of people who show toxic behaviors at the first meeting cus' it may be a big red flag

⚸-> Lilith Asteroid (1881) trine/sextile Moon > it may be easier for them to be in their feminine energy. Because the energy here is calm and in harmony with their aura/personality.

⚸-> Lilith (h12) conjunct Saturn might be so though, people with these placements are so rebel. They're very dominant and don't want to listen to anyone just them. They may often have scandals with older people than them or with authorities

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's in the sign of Sagittarius ♐ are very carefree and in searching for their own freedom, most people with these placements could've raised in strict families. So their freedom was banned pretty much

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

S E X • P O I S O N

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚸-> Lilith (58) in the 6th house/Virgo can often end up to use sex as a key to something they want, which is not 100% positive, either way they're very practical during the act and they're have an unique duality between their personality

⚸-> It may be hard for people with True Lilith (13) - Venus aspects to find a partner, because they can often met people who want only sex and one night stands

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's in the sign of Aries ♈🐏 can indicate a big rebellious nature. A true leader and someone very powerful in terms of stability. They're also very dominant in most aspects in their lives > Men with these aspects please marry me..🫶🏼

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's in the sign of Aquarius ♒🏺 are very humanitarian people and they cannot stand for people who do others wrong, or for people who hurts others. They hate conflicts and they hate the chaos that is upon earth

⚸-> True Lilith (h13) - Eros (433) aspects > Oh Lord, they're extremely sexual and beautiful, I always imagined this energy as an angel of sex/demon of breaking beds, kind of thing

⚸-> Lilith (h58) aspecting Pluto > Oh my, this aspect embody the Phoenix archetype, rising from the ashes when they're hurt and come back wayy stronger

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

F E M M E • F A T A L E

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚸-> Asteroid Lilith (1881) opposite/square Mercury can be great at lying though, they can lie people as a key to get what they want and to make others to believe their lies

⚸-> True Lilith (h13) in Cancer Degrees > 4°. 16°. 28° give an "innocent" vibes to others. Sometimes they can have that "holy" vibe and that can make attract more people

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's in the sign of Pisces ♓🐟 have to use intuition as a key to make themselves more aware of the people around them, they're so dreamy and hypnotic though. one touch and you dream about them all night

⚸-> Okay here it comes THE MOTHERRRRR, Any of these Lilith's in the sign of Cancer ♋ 🦀 (THEEEE MOTHERRRRRRR PURRR). Their nurture energy makes people to be into them instantly. no wonder why men with these Lilith signs have boobs kinks... People with these placements be like "come here let me hug you, 2 seconds later they're hard/wet"... (😭)

⚸-> Lilith (h12) or Lilith (h13) aspecting MC (Midheaven) or in the 10th house, can manifest an sexual energy the way people see them. They be like "Omg you saw that person? Omg yass they're so hot"

⚸-> Asteroid Sirene (1009) aspecting the True Lilith (h13) or Lilith (h12) > You're the mermaid who wants to f*CK with pirates. And then you drown them in the ocean, so cute 🥰 first you sing to them then you say "Sikeeeee" 😇

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's in the sign of Capricorn ♑🐐. Show a lot of respect and success, they're may have been raised in traditional ways with strict/though parents with hard lessons. And that's what made them who are they today. An powerful human being

⚸-> Lilith (h58) at 3°, 15°, 27° degrees can cuss a lot or talk dirty when they're mad, one thing is clear they can get so sassy and they have the words at them always

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's aspecting the Chiron indicate. A wounded feminine. Their energy is to heal their wounds and to be back again in their feminine aura, push away the people who throw you out of your feminine energy though

⚸-> Lilith asteroid (1181) opposite/square Venus. May be the type of person who's always hurt by lovers/relationship or hurt by fact that some of them may be single, on the other hand they have so much love to give

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

V E N O M

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚸-> Lilith (h12) and True Lilith (h13) in the 4th or 8th house can have an karmic family life, for example an generational curse that they may need to break

⚸-> Speaking of karmic life Lilith (58) in the 8th house has to break all the things that keeps them to suffer/to feel bad/hurt, it's not an easy placement but is powerful

⚸-> Any of these Lilith's signs in the 9th house may have suffered from religious traumas/for example people forcing them to believe in a certain religion,god etc.. they can often be attracted into cult

⚸-> Lilith (h12) or True Lilith (h13) in the 11th house may have been betrayed a lot. Or backstabbed by their friends/lovers/people they care about, yet they don't always show that because they don't like to show weakness

⚸-> Lilith (h12) in the 2nd house can be the type of person who's always hungry for something, they're hungry more times a day and need to fulfill that

⚸-> Lilith in Leo Degrees 5°. 17°. 29° > May have a kink for worshipping their partners of vice versa. They also loved to be praised in bed and in their everyday life together with their partners

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

PROMISCUOUS

MOTIVE

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

⚸-> Good day for everyone. Is a new week in the last days of October 🎃⚰️ the most spooky month flies away with us leaving just the memories behind ⚰️🎃

Anywayssss today the theme was kind of spooky/crazy I can say, I liked it to be honest, my fingers kinda hurt from so much editing and writing 🎃⚰️, it was wait the worth for the post tho💅🏼

I want for everyone who watches this post to have a very good start of the week. Full of blessings and good news around the corner, bless everyone ❤️❤️❤️, and prayers for those who are struggling with certain things in life ❤️❤️❤️

Yours truly, Harmoonix

[spicybunni]

I needed to get this off my chest. If you’re willing to write for dad Heisenberg that is. I assume we all agree that Karl is pretty much a lycan or can become one. So how cute yet creepy would it be if fem reader woke up scratching and entering her child’s bedroom only to see glowing eyes(much like Karl’s) in their baby’s crib. Their baby being part lycan has been on my mind for some time. And we need more Heisendad.

FATHER'S EYES (Karl Heisenberg x Fem!Reader)

Awww Heisendad sounds so good in theory but it doesn't align with my headcanons of him. 😭Which is why this was so fun to write! I kinda switched some things round but I hope you like it, tbh writing this made me so sad for Karl??? I don't know why?? 😭💕

WARNINGS ⚠️: POST PARTUM PANIC / BABY MISSING FOR A MOMENT / FLUFF

The sounds of scratches and floorboards creaking woke you up. The sounds in question could be heard in the hallway connecting your room to the nursery. You checked the dinky clock next to your bed. It was 2:30 in the morning. You rub your eyes, attempting to wake yourself and see what your baby is up to.

Post partum has been kind to you in many ways, but with sleep? Not so much. You were always a light sleeper to begin with. But after giving birth to Lord Heisenberg's child you were always on alert yet exhausted for sleep sometimes. Karl offered to be with you and try to help with your adjustment to motherhood. You refused his offer, needing time away from his factory and robots and just....him. The factory was no place to raise a child, and with his devotion to Mother Miranda's experiments, he would not be able to provide you proper care. He understood your reasons and offered a alternative, a cabin near the village rather than staying in a rusty room in his factory. It was away to where you had privacy to raise your child, but close enough if you needed help from anyone.

It has been 8 months of you bonding with your baby. Setting routines and observing how your child is growing. Ever since the birth you were worried they would come out with powers. So far, nothing you could notice had come up. But Mother Miranda still has yet to be convinced otherwise.

You walked down the hallways towards the nursery room, the scratching noise you heard stopped as you approached the doorway. You didn't even hear the usual baby whines or coos that you're used to walking in on.

Your eyes widen at the room before you, covered in small scratch marks and toys thrown everywhere, but your baby is nowhere to be found.

Blood turning cold and adrenaline pumping. Calling out your baby's name as calm as you can before panicking and searching everywhere for them. But what mother wouldn't? You can't find them anywhere in their crib or the entire nursery. You rush to your bedroom and search for something that might help you.

The cabin had an installed emergency line that connected to the factory. Karl respected your boundaries, but as the mother of his offspring, he had the bare minimum duty to protect you and offer safety from a distance. You've never had to use it for these past months. Now you were struggling to remember where you had put that damn button. You had lit a lantern to get a better view of your stuff.

You almost didn't hear it, but you heard the cry of your baby finally. But it came from neither your room or the nursey. The sound came from downstairs. Quickly abandoning your search that panic button, you fly to the staircase, looking down into the living room to see if you could spot your child anywhere. Nothing still, but you hear those coos, so they must be down there. Rushing down the stairs with the lantern in hand, illuminating your way.

Was this possibly just a result of a growth spurt and they're able to leave the crib now? All the possibilities were fluttering through your mind. but what you came to see was beyond any expectation you had.

There in the corner near a window, you find the child's father, holding them safe in his arms. Lord Heisenberg was rocking them and whispering random nonsense to keep them quiet. They were slightly illuminated by the moonlight shining through the window. He see's the light of the lantern and turns to you. A few things were different from his normal attire, no hat, no glasses, and no hammer. He smirks at you, leaning down to the baby again.

"It looks like we woke mama up, shame on us." The baby giggles at the sound of their fathers voice.

"M-My lord! What are you doing here?!" You approached them both, setting the lantern on the coffee table to the side. You go to reach for your baby to see that they're alright. But what caught your attention was the two glowing eyes that were fixed on you. Covering your mouth, keeping the gasp in that would've escaped. Instead making you shudder at the sight. There were a few dark veins showing around their head too but they didn't show any discomfort or pain...It was a small transformation they had done while in the crib, frustrated their tiny hands and legs weren't strong enough to maneuver over and come to you. So they manifested the strength that had always been within them.

"They're fine (Y/N), just a few minor growing changes...They have awakened some lycan traits. Guess there's no need for further proof the kid is mine.." He tried to humor you, but you were in any mood but to be humored right now. You glance to him unamused and back to your child.

You stare wide eyed at them in your arms, those matching eyes with their father next to you. Bringing their head to the crook of you neck, in an embrace to hide your look of bewilderment. Was this the development that you worried would come? How do you go about child rearing from here?

There was another pending question on your mind though.

"But...What are you doing here?" You looked up at him again from your thoughts. He was looking down at both of you with something akin to proudness.

"If you really thought I was going to abandon you two here without any protection then you're just as dumb as the average villager here. I have this place under a monitor in case of emergencies. I saw them crawl out of the crib and you weren't waking up at all. Figured you could use some ...guidance in this area. Unless you have experience with human mutagens in toddlers." He says the last part mockingly. Of course you don't. You realize he would be the only one that could possibly help you in this situation.

Wrapping his arm around your back, he leans down and pecks the side of your forehead. Karl's golden eyes regard you warmly. You've done a great job in raising his child, but now he must help you.

"Come. Let's go to back to sleep, (Y/N)...Let's raise our child together."

[fedoraspooky]

Okay Spooky, if you don't mind random questions- what's your favourite Disney movie?

Oh I don't mind at all! I'm actually quite tickled to get one out of the blue like this. nwn

But yes! Answer! Uh, well... Honestly a lot of the ones in the 80s and 90s hold a bit of sentimental value to me due to the fact that my dad worked on them. I would always leave the tape running through the credits until I spotted his name. ;w; In fact, on the DvD for Treasure Planet, if you go to the special features you can actually see him in the making of featurette, where they're asking him about how he sculpted the cyborg parts for John Silver! But, er, yes- favorites!

I would say, it's kind of a toss up between two-

I LOVE The Great Mouse Detective. It encapsulates a lot of stuff I like about that era of Disney, and I do enjoy me a good detective story. The animation is smooth and full of character, and has that rough-lined charm of the xerox era, and the backgrounds? Absolutely gorgeous. The story is fun and full of great comedic moments and also moments that downright terrified me as a kid (That Fidget jumpscare and everything leading up to it still gives me the heebie jeebies). But most of all, I love the characters and the dynamics between all of them, especially whatever Basil and Ratigan have going on. Dear lord. Really not surprising this movie ended up being part of my big list of inspos when writing Kilroy. XD

Second movie- and I know some people don't count it as Disney but to hell with it, it was in kingdom hearts so it darn well counts in my book- The Nightmare Before Christmas. GOD, this movie. When it first came out, I couldn't make it past the opening song because I was scared of the clown with the tearaway face. I shit you not. BUT once I was past that, it quickly became an obsession in my little kid mind. My mom actually showed me a PHOTO she has of me from when I was still in my single digits of age, in which apparently I had taken a black permanent marker to my face to draw rings around my eyes and lines on my mouth so I could look like Jack Skellington. My mom still has it framed in her living room to this day. XD But yes, I sang all the songs, I drew Jack and Sally and Zero all over whatever paper I could get my hands on, and I even made a christmas ornament of Jack's head out of sculpey that we put on the tree every year since. It was probably a huge reason that I became such a huge Halloween and spooky-things lover. And even to this day, it resonates a LOT with me as a movie about someone who is just experiencing the WORST artistic burnout. That's really what this movie is about, I've written a whole-ass essay of a post once rambling about Jack's Lament as a song because of the feels it gave me (i tried to find it but idk if i deleted it during a scare of tumblr copyright striking blogs for music a long while back or if tumblr's blog search function is just poop, either is possible).

Anyway I've talked your ear off long enough, my apologies for the long post but sadly that is what happens when you get me talking about stuff I like. <XD ; Every time I say I won't, but then I become this:

[rimeiii]

People were posting resemblances between the different representations of the WHB demons in other media a while back and let me introduce to you the fucker (affectionate) that is GBF Belial. And I implore you to search up Parade's Lust and listen to the song in its entirety. It's a great song and encapsulates Belial perfectly (though I still greatly prefer Paradise Lost over it).

Dude's literally one of my faves in GBF despite him being an antagonist, it's just his raid battle is annoying. And this may have been a snippet from a convo back when his raid first dropped but our sentiments regarding said raid battle remains the same.

Also am I the only one who finds it so unbelievably weird that WHB's Beelzebub has had no overt references to his title as the Lord of the Flies (unless I'm missing something)? One of SMT's renditions of Bubs is a giant fly, and even GBF's has a skill called 'Black Flies' in his raid...

As an aside I love how the Belial trailer in GBVS has a clip of him getting his ass handed to him by Bubs. It really reflects their current relationship; they were forced allies back in What Makes the Sky Blue 2: Paradise Lost, with Belial still being wholly loyal to Lucilius, whose goals (return the world to nothing) are at ends with Beelzebub's goals (take over the entire world).

Also no mention of the entire Fallen race in SMT? They're all demons from the Ars Goetia, and the way some of these demons are so different is quite intriguing I'm ngl. Off the top of my head:

Naberius, or Nebiros, is a necromancer who has one of the most bullshit mechanics in Devil Survivor 2, where he'll continuously revive himself in the place of any living demon teams. In the SMT multiverse, he, with Belial, is responsible for turning Alice into a Fiend by infusing her with demonic magic, causing the human to be driven insane before dying and finally becoming the Fiend she is known for today. All because she wanted to have friends.

Belial is also in SMT! And is so fucking annoying to deal with in Devil Survivor, because he has an NPC stuck in a ring of fire that you have to heal continuously, because she takes damage every turn and her dying is a lose condition. He is a participant of the War of Bel, an ongoing war between the Bel demons to prove themselves worthy to Babel, making them the King of Bel and by extension the king of the demons. He fights the MC as he is the reincarnation of Abel and also part of the War after slaying Beldr. Another fun fact about Belial and Nebiros: in at least one SMT title, the fusion recipe for Alice is Nebiros and Belial, referencing their role in turning Alice into the Fiend we know today.

Eligos, or Eligor, is often an early to midgame demon who specializes in physical skills. He often takes the form of an armored humanoid riding a horse.

Dantalian, or Dantalion, is portrayed as a scholar with many heads, holding a large book. Oftentimes a magic-oriented demon.

Astaroth carried me in midgame SMT Devil Survivor as an early Tyrant demon aha. MP recovery is always nice lmao. He's depicted as a naked, blonde man riding a giant snake.

Morax, in Strange Journey, is the boss of Sector Antlia, the first dungeon of the game. He has a skill called Gehenna, which is a partywide chance to inflict Fear. He's easy as long as you can use ice magic - I fused Apsaras and had other Law demons like Archangel or Hamsa for co-op attacks. Depicted as a humanoid with a bull for a head, he believes humanity's true nature is one of eternal conflict and conquest, reflected in how the latter half of Antlia is a war-torn battlefield.

For the demon kings in SMT, given their associations with the Seven Deadly Sins, they do have their own depictions. The two that I'm most familiar with (and has the largest roles across multiple entries) are Satan and Beelzebub - the latter of which I briefly touched upon earlier. So let's talk Satan first!

Satan, in the SMT multiverse, is on the side of Law, the side associated with angels. As a result, he and Lucifer (the usual Chaos route representative) absolutely detest each other. This is particularly obvious in SMT 2, where he is YHVH's right-hand man and a foe in the Chaos and Neutral routes. Interesting to note is that he betrays YHVH upon realizing His machinations wiped out all life on Earth, which happens on the Law path.

Yeah, the SMT multiverse is kinda fucked up like that. There's a reason why I'm a Neutral route truther, apart from certain endings (like the new Strange Journey Redux endings for all routes).

As for Beelzebub, one of his most relevant roles is as a participant of the War of Bel in Devil Survivor, in which Belial is also a participant. He has a special attack that inflicts the Egg ailment - a ticking time bomb that goes off after one turn, inflicting heavy Almighty damage to the victim and spawning a team of maggot flies right beside the team with the victim. Bring your ailment clears!

As for the angels, apart from the standard SMT fare of Archangels where they're loyal to YHVH's will (although at least once Gabriel isn't as blindly loyal to YHVH as the rest, like in SMT 2), GBF has the Four Primarchs!

Gabriel is the Primarch of water. Kind-hearted and motherly, yet deceptively smart - she destroyed her own wings in What Makes the Sky Blue so her powers cannot be used by the event's antagonist, Sandalphon, to destroy the world.

Michael is the Primarch of fire. A tactician, fierce in battle, and a commander, her close association with combat meant that she had the most trouble adjusting to a peaceful life after the events of What Makes the Sky Blue 3: 000. She tried her hand in acting and is decent enough at it actually!

Raphael is the Primarch of wind. The most silent and thoughtful of the four Primarchs, he is known to be able to heal others using his winds. Also the easiest Primarch to be bullied imo, because Fire has a lot of busted DPS characters in exchange for very limited sustain options (I run Yukata Silva, Wilnas, and Michael - Wilnas has hit 10 mil CA damage with Silva's CA debuff).

Uriel, who was presumably killed by Gabriel in WHB, is the Primarch of earth. Which is ironic in GBF terms, because earth has elemental advantage over water. Anyways, he loves sparring and is the most boisterous among all the Primarchs!

As for other demon references in GBF:

Morax appears once again, this time as Magisa's familiar. Most of her playable forms incorporate her fighting with Morax, usually as a source of additional damage (counted as skill damage for the most part). Also is a dark composition of Summer Magisa, Fediel, and Lich is overkill, because that's my main dark comp...

Mammon is a Primal Beast. Same with Avaritia. They're both event antagonists - Mammon being the main antagonist of Detective Barawa and the Jewel Resort Incident (also depicted as a female in this game!) and Avaritia being the main antagonist of The Inner Light. Both stories are about greed, and The Inner Light in particular talks about how greed can destroy relationships. It's one of the events that made me cry, apart from the What Makes the Sky Blue trilogy, Together in Song, Lonesome Dragoness, Marionette Stars, and you., and Home Sweet Moon.

Leviathan is the Primal Beast who serves as the Auguste Archipelago's guardian. Mellow and gentle, but turned violent due to the Erste Empire's machinations, and the main crew managed to calm him down. Thankfully it never got past the point of going berserk, but the raid battle Leviathan Malice is a decent enough interpretation of what could've happened to him should the Erste Empire continue. Also memed to hell and back because of his sprite, as if he's laughing at your bad drops.

Satan is also a Primal Beast who, ironically, isn't the Satan-adjacent figure (that role goes to Avatar, who looks similar but is a different being entirely). Notably, Satan is part of Lyria's April Fools skin, with him riding on the Demonbream that she's stuck in (it makes sense I swear). Video here - Lyria is the blue-haired girl in white (WHOA-WHOA-YEAH!!!!).

((my wind otk is pitiful - i'm a water and dark main))

Anyways I'll add on to this if I find more, but I just wanna say this sort of shit tickles my GBF and SMT brain a lot. So...

[kate-les-bridge-stewart]

I'm back on my ultrakill bullshit again :)

This time I'm gonna elaborate a bit on the lore behind this au

Warning there will be some spoilers for ultrakill lol

So basically the ultrakill and DW universes are separate but obviously we know the doctor can travel between them anyways

13 had heard some very odd signals coming from the ultrakill verse

She couldnt trace an exact location on the signal, just that it was coming from that universe

As for the message itself, it was even more bizarre.

It was a jumbled unintelligible mess of symbols and otherworldly sounds, with barely audible words scattered throughout

The only phrase she was able to dicifer was a strange man screaming "LORD PLEASE HELP US" (this was from one of the high concil members when gabriel was busy gutting their asses like fish)

Naturally 13 was very concerned so she went to visit the universe and was greeted with, well, a completely dead earth.

She kept trying to trace the signal which was pointing to an entirely separate dimension in this universe, that being hell

At some point she unknowingly got redirected to a signature being broadcast from V1

She did some searching thru the layers and eventually found v1 who had been running around for a while and started looking pretty tired.

Turned out they had killed everything on that layer but got lost for so long they started running low on power

Also I decided they would be completely mute meaning they couldnt communicate with anyone whatsoever, including the doctor (except other machines)

13 was super fascinated by v1 so she took them into the tardis to get to know them and also help them out

The way 13 learned about v1 was... interesting.

She asked "what fuel do you use? You look pretty low there"

V1 pointed at a puddle of something amidst the grass which 13 soon realised was blood

"Blood?" She asked with growing nervousness in her voice

V1 nods without emotion before walking over to the puddle and trying to rub some of it on their arms. They then hold out one arm to show 13 as the blood seeps into their porous chassis

Of course 13 is feeling some very strong conflicting emotions right now. First of all WHY THE FUCK IS THEIR FUEL SOURCE BLOOD????? Second of all, HOLY CRAP THAT IS FUCKING INCREDIBLE HOW DO THEY DO THAT??????

After a while of 13 doing some sleuthing for info about this universe she learns v1 is one of a series of sentient super weapons who got loose and destroyed planet earth. V1 was running thru hell in search of fresh blood to stay alive

Side note one of the ways she got this info was plugging v1 into the tardis where they projected their memory bank onto a screen for her to see

Now I know what you're wondering, "why the hell did v1 not try to kill 13?"

Because the doctor was from an entirely different universe and also a complex alien they initially didnt actually recognize the doctor as a living creature, or anything at all.

Basically they were so confused at what 13 is that the thought of killing her never entered their head

When 13 realized v1 was kind of a ticking timebomb she immediately whipped up some synthetic blood from the tardis so v1 wouldnt try to use hers the next time they got "thirsty"

As for why shed willingly keep a violent superweapon on her tardis? She thinks they're super cool and wants to get to know them

She also sees them as an opportunity to turn something made to destroy into a force for good. Kinda like what 12 did with Rusty the good dalek :D

I'm gonna continue this in another post. Trust me, the brainrot ain't going away any time soon.

[kalisbaby]

Re: that last reblog: while I haven't seen that post myself (because I haven't scrolled their blog for any updates yet and that's only IF they haven't already deleted it), this is why I'm very careful of what I reblog.

Like about Palestine but also in general. I'm not perfect, so something might get through the cracks, but I often draft long posts and articles to read before reblogging. I try to skim commentary for dog whistles and subtle languages that might otherwise fly under the radar. I try damn hard to make sure the information I'm sharing, mostly for my own understanding, is reliable and, at the very, very least, doesn't have some hidden agenda or language that can harm the movement because all you need is an inch; and not everybody who says they're on your side is. Lord knows that to be true.

I still think about how many white people were destroying buildings and causing mayhem against the wishes of organizers and protestors who would be subject to violence and held responsible because of it. Like I legit remember seeing video of some influencer getting all dolled up and holding up a BLM sign while standing in the side of a protest and taking pics for the 'gram.

There are a lot of self serving, cruel, and vicious people who leech onto movements for a plethora of reasons and none of the good; none of them helpful. So yeah we all owe it to ourselves to be smart and use our brains more.

But also, if you're gonna screenshot shit, include sources as well. Like link the tweet or the full article. I can search the thread myself but like, you also gotta do your part as well. ESPECIALLY if you're the one sharing the info in the first place. That's bare minimum.

[bastet-c-haddock]

Excuse me, I'll just brag about my boys for a bit and then go to bed.

Olbaid is The Hermit and Bastet is The Magician

They're both part of a huge project I'm creating called "Lissvaennia": A fantasy world inspired by Plato's teachings.

Bastet is part of the Main Cast, also known as "The Worldwalker" or "The Messenger". He's part of the Sentinels, a group in charge of keeping the Celestial World in peace.

Olbaid is from the Secondary Cast, known as Pan or The Lord of the Mountain. One and only priest of the Creator, Plato's Main God. His work is to keep the forests and biomes safe from the greed of human kind.

Both of them are connected by the youngest prophecy of the new world: The Enuma Elish will return, and only the dwellers of the world can choose the outcome. Show the Seeds of the Apocalypse cruelty, and destruction will ravage the land. Show the siblings kindness, and they'll forge a brighter future.

When both kids were left alone because of an accident, Olbaid is sent to take care of them. The problem is that he is a loner, and used to be a Hellhound so he cannot take care of these children on his own and teach them how to use both sides of their powers, so he looks for someone who can balance him out: Bastet.

Bastet is responsible for training the greatest hero of this new world, and is also a respected figure throught the Sentinels, described as loyal, sweet and kind. Though cursed, like Olbaid, holds no grudges, not anymore at least.

As time rolls on and both become reluctant parents of the siblings, they grow closer.

Olbaid learns to open up and talk of what he thinks or feels, learns that seeking for physical contact like a hug is not bad, learns that letting out some steam is ok as long as he doesn't harm someone in the process.

Bastet relearns what it means to be human, how to let himself go sometimes, to adapt once more to someone who needs you and how to love again.

Both search comfort in each other, more often than not in silence, but silence is loud once you know your partner. You need nothing more than a touch to know what's running through their mind.

Bastet knows Olbaid gets overwhelmed with the kids, his centuries of isolation made it hard for him to get some queues. So he ends up tired every time he has to train with the siblings as he tries to adapt to them.

Olbaid knows Bastet always stands aloof, calm and collected, but sometimes needs to break down and feel protected for once. He can't die, he can't really get hurt (phisically speaking), but sometimes the burden he carries weights him down.

What do you think?

Would you like to know more? Should I post more of my stuff?

[sexyleon]

Yo so I've been thinking about resident evil characters and how they would act on social media and

Leon was peer pressured into getting a Facebook by Ashley and Sherry because "get with the times old man." He exclusively posts memes only 80-year-old grandpas find funny, which is to say they're all puns and dad jokes. His timeline is FLOODED with tags. He doesn't know what an Instagram is, but he regularly uses Snapchat to communicate with the girls.

(Leon Alternative: he has an insta, and it's a thirst trap)

Ashley's Instagram is a mommy blog. She's a former president's daughter so her image is CLEAN. Her Instagram has tons of pics of her and her family: perfect lawyer husband, two beautiful kids, amazing mansion in the countryside of Virginia, and the family golden retriever (no it's not Leon). In between posting DIYs, she posts about important upper echelon events happening in DC, meeting cool people, and the work her anti-bioterrorism foundation is doing to help people. She has a Facebook page dedicated to her Foundation. Her husband has banned her from Twitter.

Hunnigan quit social media because it took over her life. She had everything- Twitter, Instagram, FB, Youtube, Pinterest, Reddit, Tumblr - all lurker accounts (except for Twitter where she was an anonymous verified gossip account). She became obsessive with all of it to the point an intervention was staged and Leon had to hold her down as Helena physically deleted the apps from her phone. Leon still has a couple of scars from the scratches.

(Hunnigan Alternative: she never had social media and never wanted it "guys, my job is to know everything about your lives, I'm not going to do it at home too unless you pay me")

Helena has a FB but never posts on it. It's her only social media. Her profile pic is still the sad empty grey default face. She doesn't have a single post of her own, but everyone posts on her timeline.

Claire is very clearly an activist on all her social media (she has everything). She is constantly getting into fights on Twitter and Facebook, usually calling out bigots and human rights abusers/apologists. She takes her work seriously, and reports on any and all major issues. She promotes her work with TerraSave and constantly uploads fundraisers/charities for bioterrorism survivors. Her insta is used to follow fashion blogs.

Sherry has all your basic social media (FB, Twitter, Insta). She thoroughly enjoys her socials and posts whatever her heart desires at the moment whether it's cute pics, reposting commentary from Claire (or tagging her in political arguments), tagging Leon in dad jokes, tagging Helena in sarcastic humour. Everyone gets tagged in group photos with a "this us," the photo being five angry frogs staring down at someone. She likes to show off her cute boyfriend Jake.

If Leon's bad at social media, Chris is so much worse. He accidentally posts 'Piers Nivans' on his Timeline while trying to search the man up. Chris and Leon take turns resharing the same few pictures of guns and bikes. Occasionally Claire will join in.

Sherry, Claire, Ashley, and Leon are the only ones with Snapchat. Most of the girls' snapchats are just candids of Leon doing Leon things. They all get plenty of "who's your friend in that pic 👀" messages. One time Claire is taking a snap of Leon crashed out on Ashley's sofa chair. His mouth is open and he's snoring and she thinks it's absolutely hilarious. She would have got away with it too if her camera didn't flash and Leon didn't chase her around the house to steal her phone. Of course Ashley and Sherry caught the whole thing on video.

Aaaaanyways, I have a whole post-RE6 AU where Leon, Sherry, Hunnigan, Helena, Ashley, Claire, and Chris all make up the 'Washington D.C. Crew' and they're all best friends and hang out together. If you guys are interested in more, please let me know! Also, I wouldn't mind doing some of these for RE7/RE8 Ethan and The Lords if people were interested.

[asmo-ds]

okay, last request i promise!! mc and asmo are having a sleepover and they're putting make up on each other and it's really cute and fluffy. like ik asmo is the avatar of lust and all but i headcanon him as one of the most fluffy characters in the game idk

Slumber Party

Asmo x GN!MC Fluff

Word Count: 1408

Warnings: MC was bullied in the past :(, They also take a bath together but no funny business what so ever I pinky promise

Summary: Asmodeus finds out MC has never had a slumber party before and he refuses to let their life continue without experiencing a slumber party with the king of slumber parties himself

Ever since MC had arrived in the Devildom, Asmodeus had been inviting them to have a sleepover in his room. No matter how much he begged and pleaded with them to join him one night they said no every. Single. Time. 

The Avatar was beginning to grow worried that MC was scared to be alone with him due to his sin.

“MC, I promise I’m not planning anything naughty!” He gave his best puppy dog eyes as he asked for the nth time to have MC in his room for the night. “I pinky promise all I want to do is normal slumber party stuff! We can do face masks and play with makeup, or we can play truth or dare - or truth or truth if that makes you more comfortable,” he pouts.

“Asmo, don’t worry I know you wouldn’t try anything dirty without my consent, i-its more of a me problem I guess…” MC trails off. 

“Oh?” He cutely tilts his head in confusion, causing MC to sigh and finally tell him why they’d been denying him since day one.

“In the human world I never had many friends,” they start, “and I guess because of that I was never invited to an actual sleepover unless you count one time in middle school when the popular kids had me over and humiliated me all night for their entertainment,” MC clenches their fists at the memory of being taunted after showing up so excited for their first slumber party.

“EH?! Seriously? Did someone invite you just to tease you? What a douche. MC please have a slumber party with me, I promise I won’t mock you or taunt you and I’ll show you a nice sleepover where we both relax and chill together,” Asmo holds MC’s hand in his own gently against his chest in a comforting fashion.

MC stares into his eyes for a moment, searching for any sign of ingenuine intentions. They let out a soft sigh as they fail to find any ill intent inside the fifth eldest demon lord. “...Okay, your room or mine?”

-

At 7 pm sharp, MC makes their way through the house of Lamentation, a bag and pillow tucked under their arms before they knock on the door that is almost immediately ripped open with surprisingly strong yet feminine arms pulling them into the blush-colored room filled with the scent of roses.

They look around and see Asmo had a bunch of areas set up, ready for them to do a night of intense self-care and relaxing activities together. 

“Here, put your bag in the corner for now, and you can put the pillow on the bed! OH IM SO EXCITED!” the rose eyes male squeals. “Where should we start? Makeovers or dress up?”

“Um I suppose we could dress up first so we know the makeup will match our outfits,” MC says shyly.

“Ah! Good thinking! You’re such a cute genius, MC,” Asmodeus giggles giving MC a soft boop on the nose before dragging them to his walk-in closet. 

-

“I knew you would look good in [fav color], MC!” Asmo praises, twirling them around and looking at the two of them in the mirror in their new outfits. “Now let’s get some makeup to match, then we can have a mini photoshoot!”

Asmodeus pulls two chairs in front of his vanity, digging through a drawer and pulling out the makeup he thinks will match their skin tone and outfit, placing them next time as he leans forward with a primer on his hands, rubbing it onto MC’s skin. He puts it to the side before grabbing the foundation and getting to work.

 MC and Asmo post in his mirror taking hundreds of photos. “Wait Asmo can we do duck lips!” MC asks excitedly giggling their head off.

“OMD YESSSS” He dramatically pushes out his lips and MC follows before he snaps a few photos. They laugh as they strike more poses and then perform like professional photographers for each other.

“Are you going to put these on Devilgram, Asmo?” MC smiles hoping he’d think they were good enough to feature on his perfectly aesthetic Devilgram page.

“Duh, who would be so cruel as to keep these pictures to themselves when they’re so stunning!” He smiles selecting a few photos to post. As he is scrolling through all the photos one of MC catches his eye. In the photo, they are smiling and laughing after Asmo had clearly done something to crack them up. He feels his heart flutter knowing he caused that smile and moves that picture to a special folder he keeps pictures of his family in (that he will never admit he actually has).

He tosses his D.D.D onto his soft bed and lets it bounce to a stop as he grabs MC’s hand to go to the bathroom. Once they are in there he pulls out some makeup removing wipes and skincare products.

“Wow I’ve never actually gotten a good look at your bath,” MC stares at the tub of constantly perfectly hot water with rose petals and all sorts of washing products lined along the sides of it.

“Did you wanna do all of the skincare and washing off in there? The bubbles will cover both of us for the most part and I promise not to touch your no-no zones,” Asmo giggles as he sees MC’s eyes widen. 

“Oh- uh- sure! As long as there’s no funny business Mr. Avatar of Lust!” They laugh giving his shoulder a playful shove.

“That’s LORD Mr. Avatar of Lust to you” he jokingly scoffs making MC laugh once more before he turns and faces the wall. “Go ahead and get in I’ll stay facing this way until you tell me to come in.”

After hearing clothes drop and the water move a bit as MC’s body descends into the steamy bubbles, he notices he isn’t actually filled with Lust at the moment, which is rare for him when someone else is in the room naked. He smiles when he realizes that he feels more adoration and relaxation in this situation than anything else.

“Wow MC, it’s kind of odd that I don’t feel lustful at the moment,” he voices his thoughts, “instead all I can think about is how excited I am to just chill out in the bath with you.” He shakes his head and lets out a chuckle.

“Well if you’re so excited then hurry up and get in here !” MC smiles at him as he turns. His eyes stay glued to their face with zero urge to wander elsewhere at that moment. He wishes he could burn that smile into his eyes and see it every second for the rest of his life.

He goes back to his room and grabs his D.D.D putting on his favorite playlist made by both of them and strips getting into the tub, bringing the face wash and makeup wipes with him before he moves through the water closer to MC, who closes their eyes as he raises a washcloth to their cheek.

MC and Asmo spend about a half-hour in the tub, relaxing and washing each other’s makeup off, then MC suddenly gets hyper and makes a mess of his bathroom. “Asmo look!” They excitedly say as they put bubbles on their chin forming a big bubbly beard making Asmo giggle.

“MC please let me take a picture of you right now you look so adorably stupid, sweetie.” Asmo grabs his D.D.D while laughing so hard he nearly snorts.

After he takes the picture and puts back his D.D.D, he gets hit in the face with water and opens his eyes to see MC laughing as they start a splash fight.

At the end of their bath, the floor is soaked with suds and water that had been splashed out by the pair and they cleaned it up before heading back into the bedroom.

“Are we sleeping on the bed together or do you want me to sleep on the floor?” Asmodeus asks.

“We can sleep in the bed together, just -”

“Yeah Yeah, no funny business I know, doll,” Asmo cuts MC off laughing.

After getting under the covers they both did that thing we all do at sleepovers where you can’t stop laughing for no reason and Lucifer came in to yell at them like the Mom he is.

[ninbayphua]

八三夭 《盗墓笔记》 官方主题曲 《所信非神》 That In Which I Believe In Is Not God - ENG SUBS

So this is the first time I've actually properly translated and subtitled a song 😂 I tried to keep to the original wording as much as I could but there are few places where it's kinda vague or where the wording is just too awkward so I went with meaning or my own interpretation of the lyrics instead. 👀

List of Interpretations

1. 与宿命论个主臣 in a word for word translation would be "debating with Fate who is the master and who is the servant" which basically means they're fighting over superiority.

2. 当自己不死之身 is a really interesting one because 当 has 2 different meanings depending on which intonation is being used and this isn't always clear in songs cuz intonations get kinda murky in singing. Anyways, 'dāng' means to pretend whereas 'dàng' means to pawn. Since I interpreted this song as both from Wu Xie's and Xiao Ge's POV I decided to include both potential interpretation in my subtitling. So it can either mean "pawning my immortality" in Xiao Ge's POV or "pretending I have an immortal body" in Wu Xie's case.

Song Overview (Wu Xie's & Xiao Ge's POV):

Ok I read the song as being from BOTH Wu Xie's and Xiao Ge's POV instead of just one but that's my personal interpretation @thosch3i covered most of Wu Xie's POV and my own interpretation of the lyrics are pretty similar so I'll elaborate from there. This is how the song goes for me:

I give you a look with lost innocence of days past and gone that's tucked away in forgetfulness. (This is without question Wu Xie speaking because of the play on words - Tian Zhen)

Let the sound of raindrops gloss over the unsolved questions, let the sharpest blade be sealed away for safekeeping in this instant when life is at its most peaceful (OK, this could be either Wu Xie or Xiao Ge speaking to the other because both of them have a lot of unsolved questions: Wu Xie still doesn't know what happened to his San Shu and Xiao Ge is still looking for answers to his past. Both Xiao Ge and Wu Xie have been referred to as the sharpest blade of the Nine Gates. In Wu Xie's case, it's when he lost his innocence and became 邪帝 in the Sha Hai era. Xiao Ge was shaped to be a weapon ever since he was a baby stolen from his mother so it goes without saying he is the sharpest blade of the Nine Gates. (There's a saying that Wu Xie ended up becoming like Xiao Ge and Li Cu becoming like Wu Xie during his Tian Zhen era which I think is a pretty accurate reading but a discussion for another time.) Basically, regardless of which of them that's speaking they're telling the other to let go of all the questions tormenting them and sealing away the past and the way they've been conditioned to become a weapon for the Nine Gates and just live peacefully in Rain Village from now on - I'm assuming this is post Sha Hai.

My death, my life, it's not up to the ghosts and gods to intervene (Honestly, this can be either Wu Xie or Xiao Ge depending. Both are very stubborn and don't believe in leaving things up to fate.)

a wait of ten years, I've long since stopped smiling, stopped crying, stopped feeling pain, challenging fate to see who is superior (This could be Xiao Ge but I read it as more Wu Xie because of Qin Hao's line in Sha Hai when Hei Ye said "I still feel a bit of pain from time to time" and Wu Xie just straight up said "I've stopped feeling pain a long time ago".)

Pawning my immortality / Pretending I have an immortal body, to leave for you a gateway of life, this life was not in vain. (This is probably my favourite line of the song because is so freakin beautifully written? The reason there's an either or translation for the line I've explained above so we're just gonna do meta here. OK so in Xiao Ge's POV he went to guard the Bronze Gates in Wu Xie's stead to protect him so he could live a happy life. Essentially he is exchanging his immortality for Wu Xie's life because it was initially Wu Xie's fate to guard the Bronze Gates and he'd probably die in the process. Xiao Ge's immortality for Wu Xie having a life of happiness and innocence is worth it to him. He is using his immortality in exchange for a way for Wu Xie to live by going behind those gates. Remember that line: 用我一生换你十年天真无邪 my life in exchange for ten years of your innocence? That's basically what I think they're referring to. The reversed applies. It's Xiao Ge's responsibility to keep the Wang clan in check. Since Xiao Ge sacrificed himself so Wu Xie could live the life he wanted, Wu Xie decided to do the same for Xiao Ge by getting rid of the Wangs completely so Xiao Ge could be free to live the life he wanted when he exited the gates. Wu Xie wasn't trained like Xiao Ge nor did he have an immortal body like the Zhangs or had their self healing and magical qilin blood but he will pretend that he has all of those and take on the Wangs , wiping them out to give Xiao Ge a way out of being used by the Nine Gates again when he exits the gates, giving him a chance to live the life he wants. Even if he knows he could potentially die doing this, it's still worth it to him. Remember that line after Xiao Ge's: 只愿尽我一世无邪换你百载浅笑无忧 emptying all of my entire life's innocence in exchange for a hundred years of your easy smiles and lack of worries? That's what I think the song is referring to.)

Not even for a day in my entire life have I ever believed in ghosts or gods, but I spent ten years believing in one person. Even if the world is too cold, there is still your lingering warmth in my heart, I'll still rush into the journey, no matter how unfathomable the wasteland or perilous the path, never questioning whether it's fortune or calamity. Honestly, in my entire life, I've never believed in gods, only believed in them. (This can be both Xiao Ge and Wu Xie because the only person Xiao Ge believes in is Wu Xie - and Pang Zi. Vice versa, the only person Wu Xie believes in is Xiao Ge - and Pang Zi. None of them believe in fate or ghosts or gods but they believe in each other and only each other. Wu Xie is Xiao Ge's only connection in the world - thus the lingering warmth in my hear bit - and I'm pretty sure Xiao Ge also holds a special spot in Wu Xie's heart during the Sha Hai era when he becomes a hardened man. We see that flash of Tian Zhen softness when he's talking to Li Cu about Xiao Ge and Pang Zi. He even admits at the time that he has an obsession: to pick up Xiao Ge when he exits the Bronze Gates and take him home. Also, PingXie is constantly rushing head first into danger for one another? Even Pang Zi made a comment on this in Ultimate Note after the sword gifting ceremony that when Xiao Ge lost his memories, Wu Xie accompanies him on his journey and helps him look for his lost memories; when Wu Xie is in danger or gets into trouble in his obsessive search for answers and his San Shu, Xiao Ge comes to his rescue. Even in Reunion, Xiao Ge says he'll follow Wu Xie on his journey to Thunder City in search of answers and his San Shu. Neither of them ever question whether it is fortune or calamity that will befall them on these journeys. They'll go through hell fire and high waters for each other regardless of consequences.)

Exchanging gazes, in it are new sprouts of innocence, all old hatred tossed and tucked away in forgetfulness. (Xiao Ge talking about Wu Xie - post Sha Hai, now that Xiao Ge is back and Wu Xie isn't emo anymore, we see a bit of his Tian Zhen coming back, Xiao Ge can probably see it too. The edges aren't gone but there are now some softness growing back. There are new sprouts of innocence in Wu Xie's eyes again.)

But there are still spirits to drink together, and extra cigarettes enough to share, if there's us and the rest of our lives, then it is the greatest of good dreams. That in which I believe in is not a god. Entrusting my life and soul to you with a smile on the wretched battlefield, even the gods of death themselves must submit under the sword, the world has too many uncertainties, only this is the sole surety. But even the sharpest blade is also mere flesh and blood, I wish to give him affection and to let him rest and recuperate. (This can be either Wu Xie or Xiao Ge referring to their retired life in Rain Village that having just us - the iron triangle - as well as the rest of our lives then it's the best dream come true they could wish for. Also, Wu Xie and Xiao Ge's only belief is in each other but neither sees the other as a god. Wu Xie is unarguably human and Wu Xie sees Xiao Ge as human instead of a weapon or a god so it works both ways. Both Wu Xie and Xiao Ge are considered to be the sharpest blades of the Nine Gates with a tendency to go against fate and death. In Xiao Ge's case even death must bow its head under his sword and abide by his rule whereas in Wu Xie's case he himself is the sword so to speak and that he has defied death so many times as well as planned the death of the Wangs that in a way, death is under his control and has to do this bidding. I think it's also referring to the saying 麒麟一笑，阎王绕道；天真一笑，麒麟开道 when the qilin - a.k.a Xiao Ge - smiles even the lord of the underworld will make a detour to avoid his path; a smile of innocence - when Tian Zhen a.k.a Wu Xie smiles - the qilin clears the way. Not sure if this was in the original books or if it's just a comment made by fans online or by NPSS during interviews but it's pretty legit interpretation in my opinion. PingXie is each other's only constant in a world of uncertainties and they see the other as a human, not a god or weapon/blade to be used for the Nine Gates. I think after Sha Hai when Xiao Ge exits the Bronze Gates both are so wounded and scarred that they want to do is to give the other affection and for them to rest and recuperate from what they've suffered in those 10 years and more.)

Even a lifetime as a god, there can also be a moment, a minute of being an ordinary human. (Wu Xie referring to Xiao Ge that even though he has lived as a god for his entire life, there are still brief moments where he too can be an ordinary human. Xiao Ge is just an ordinary human, just like Wu Xie and Pang Zi.)

Anyways, sorry about the long post but that's about it I think. I'll add on if I ever think about anything in the future. Hope this post was helpful 😂

[onlyforthebabes]

✨HL playlists by onlyforthebabes✨

(Edited to include 🎵when you know you know (HL6), 🎵close enough to touch (HL11), 🎵burnt romances (HL13), and 🎵too far gone (HL18))

This post is long overdue, but I've finally made a master list of all the HL playlists I've published here. They're listed in the order I created them, so there are some gaps in the numbers where I haven't posted (or maybe even finished) some, but I'll update if I ever publish more! I've put a lot of thought and time and love into these playlists, so I really hope y'all find something to enjoy here.

✨🎶

🎵a truth so loud

HL. The OG. A canon inspired playlist based on some of the most iconic H/L songs. (ft. 1D, Troye Sivan, Ed Sheeran, Lorde)

🎵honey (make this easy)

HL2. There’s no denying the chemistry between them from the moment they meet - so they don’t even try. While discretely hooking up with a fellow X Factor hopeful sounds like just another part of the fun, it’s hard to ignore that this thing between them is way more than physical, and “X Factor hopefuls” has become wholly inadequate to describe where they’re going. But in the midst of all the chaos, it’s hard to resist something this good. (ft. 1D, Hozier, Lizzo, Carly Rae Jepson)

🎵no matter how sweet, no matter how brave

HL3. New fame, new friends, new feelings. Jealousy gives way to mutual infatuation, which evolves into steadfast love. Growing up too fast doesn’t feel so scary when you’ve got someone to hold onto. (ft. 1D, Fleetwood Mac, Niall Horan, The Head and the Heart)

🎵Entirely

HLFOUR. Coming soon. (ft. 1D, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson)

🎵when you know you know

HL6. It's all about that one person... (ft. 1D, Maria Mena, Yellowcard, Beyoncé)

🎵one foot in sea and one on shore

HL10. A traveling sailor whose sense of home is the familiar warmth of local bars, a charming bartender in a seaside village, and a brief affair that leaves them both longing for a life far from everything they know. (ft. Regina Spektor, Bright Eyes, Feist, The Format)

🎵close enough to touch

HL11. Love can be frightening, for sure. (girl!direction) (ft. 1D, Louis Tomlinson, Hozier, Jake Scott)

🎵sunset couldn't save me now

HL12. Part-time suburban youth, summertime neighbors growing up together and blurring the lines of love and friendship; chasing dreams, traveling the world, and figuring out that sometimes home is a person. (ft. Sufjan Stevens, Vampire Weekend, Regina Spektor, Neutral Milk Hotel)

🎵burnt romances

HL13. A canon-compliant au where everything goes wrong, but love finds a way. (ft. The Weepies, Lewis Capaldi, Bleachers, The Head and the Heart)

🎵fell in love with the fire

HL14. Harry's long since accepted that fame comes with a closet. But a chance encounter with a friend from a past life may change everything (or, an au about identity, fame, missed connections, and giving love a chance) (ft. Florence and the Machine, Maren Morris, St. Vincent, Sam Smith)

🎵trip and i fall in

HL15. Undeniable chemistry turns a spontaneous hookup into fast friendship (with some pretty nice benefits). They know from the start it’s not exclusive, but that doesn’t stop anyone from catching feelings. (ft. Zayn, Ariana Grande, Brockhampton, Selena Gomez)

🎵learning to breathe

HL16. Harry and Louis have always been best friends, even within their close-knit group. Closeted, small town kids with little experience, an innocent first kiss turns into an agreement: to experimentally "date" in secret until high school ends. When it’s time to move on, they do. But as the years pass, they can never quite figure out how to let go. (ft. Maisie Peters, Julia Michaels, Lana del Rey, Lauv)

🎵too far gone

HL18. Love, illness, religion, and fear. A kiss between friends on a quiet winter's day changes everything. (ft. Sufjan Stevens, Brand New, Haley Heynderickx, Phoebe Bridgers)

🎵if i'm butter...

HL19. Louis’ an art student who spends his days wandering the city in search of inspiration while his hot-but-elusive craigslist roommate works ungodly hours as a baker. When the pandemic hits and the two near strangers are suddenly quarantined together, they find themselves growing closer in more ways than one. (ft. Relient K, BENEE, Fiona Apple, Samsa)

🎵pretend it isn't strange

HL20. A hopeless wanderer, lost and disillusioned with life, finds himself taken in by a small mountainside community: a friendly local band, a safe place to rest his head, and a stranger who makes it feel like home. Together they learn to let love grow. (ft. Wild Rivers, Ben Howard, Town Meeting, Birdtalker )

🎵yesterday (when you were young)

HL21. Coming soon (ft. Jon Bellion, AJR, Raleigh Ritchie, fun.)

🎵coming up lavender

HL22. New friends who feel like old ones, long drives home up the coast, and finding love in every color. Or, a girl!direction college road trip au (ft. Gretta Ray, dodie, Ingrid Michaelson, Mitski)

🎵it is what it is (till it ain't anymore)

HL23. An impending marriage, a secret affair, and either fate or bad timing. Harry and Louis fall in love one summer in rural Georgia. Years later, they meet again. (ft. Shania Twain, Kacey Musgraves, Gregory Alan Isakov, Andrew Bird)

And lastly, the playlists I've made based on other peoples' stories:

nothing but you on my mind 🎶for Nothing But You On My Mind by @absoloutenonsense

Louis Tomlinson is a PR manager hired to improve the image of royal bad-boy Prince Harry Styles. Unfortunately for him, that means being faced with the Prince's constant innuendos, incessant dirty jokes, and relentless flirting. Louis just wants to make it to Princess Gemma's coronation; once she's crowned Queen, his contract is up and he never has to see the Prince again. (ft. dodie, Julia Michaels, Dermot Kennedy, Lewis Capaldi)

little by little 🎶for Little by Little by @absoloutenonsense

Harry Styles is an omega who works at the London Planetarium, has lived in the same flat for ages, and is happy enough on his own. When he gets home from his first (horrible) attempt at dating in years, a new pregnant neighbor knocks on his door after smelling his cooking. He and Louis quickly become close, but their friendship gets complicated when Harry begins questioning who he is and what he likes. Or Harry discovers figuring out who you are is more complicated than a potato metaphor. (ft. Jordy Searcy, Bruno Major, Lizzy McAlpine, Sleeping at Last)

love after the end of the world 🎶for Love After the End of the World by @mercurial-madhouse

When staying alive is already a constant battle, the deadliest weakness is to be in love. For Harry and Louis, finding each other sits on top of the endless list of What Else Could Go Wrong. (ft. Bastille, Hozier, Fall Out Boy, Lorde)

[onecrazysquirrel]

Christ bless you this morning presenting the Holy Spirit in your midst awakening you peacefully comforted renewed and refreshed feeling joyfully contented allowing you the company of his presence to encourage your heart and mind increasing faith presenting thoughts into your mind of pureness and holiness shaping your thoughts directing them towards righteously focusing on heavenly subjects pursuing godliness inspiring you to follow righteous paths and act in righteous manner bringing you more in line with the mind of Christ drawing you nearer to the Father and closer to his kingdom laying a foundation of hope and setting the mood giving guidance and inspiration shaping the course of the day.

I apologize if this post goes off track or makes no sense me and my mind are contending I'll do my best to keep it together.

It is 2:16AM on Tuesday January 18, 2022

Outside we have a temperature of 24° feeling like 24° they're saying 38° for the high and projecting a low of 34° claiming clear with clouds expected. Street people the projections give hope for a little warmer weather for today giving y'all a break from these harsh climates we've experienced lately hopefully that's good news and works out in your favor may God bless you and be with you guiding you to safe haven keeping you through the night.

I didn't hear much from momma again yesterday she wasn't feeling well and it took her down and made her sleep most of the day, and my sleep disorder put me under I was out all day too so we only touched base for a couple minutes last night. We're still approaching the Father with hope and faith asking him to bless her with healing trusting his grace submitting to his will praising and glorifying him for having performed the miracle claiming it with as much belief as we can produce and hold onto. I'm still asking for the Lord to provide the money that is needed enabling the relief of some of the financial burden that weighs her down. I'm praying still asking if he'll in the meantime provide comfort and release her from the stress and anxiety easing the tension and to provide them with his peace I trust he will.

We are asking for help receiving $150 to aid with bills and expenses please search your heart and help us with this need.

Thank you for visiting spending your time reading and caring for joining us in spirit sharing time in praise and worship honoring God and praying together agreeing as one. Thank you for accepting Christ as your savior being redeemed we praise God for your presence in the body of Christ and thank Jesus for offering himself giving us the gifts of salvation and eternal life. Thank you for everything you do to support us and build us up we really appreciate and love you all through Christ Our Lord and thank you who give from the kindness of your heart gifts helping supply the much needed funds this drive is about. God be with you all drawing you ever nearer to his heart releasing blessings abundantly flowing filling your life with the perfect gifts he's planned in his infallible will increasing your spirit and mind flourishing your growth and stabilizing strengthening and solidifying your relationship and walk with Jesus Christ and providing health and vigor to you body in Jesus Holy name...

[primroseprime2019]

Masters and Students

"Such a shame." Starscream said as he watched the Space bridge explosion, "But I applaud you, Megatron. You certainly made a grand exit."

Echo clenched her fists tightly as she left the control bridge and Soundwave walked over to Starscream.

"Ah, Soundwave, cue the audio/visual. I wish to address the troops." Soundwave only nodded.

All over the screens and throughout the halls, the troops had heard Starscream give out his message.

"The loss of Megatron, leader of the great Decepticon uprising, is certainly a blow to our cause. Yet we mustn't despair of his tragic demise. But instead embrace his ultimate sacrifice and build upon the foundation he laid with an even mightier hand."

A Vehicon had spoken up, "With all due respect Commander-I mean Lord Starscream."

"Yes, yes, what is it?" Starscream said.

"If we failed to conquer Earth under Lord Megatron's command, what hope do we have now while the Autobots still defend it?" The Vehicon asked.

Starscream sighed and replied, "Allow me to be crystal clear... I studied for millennia under our former Master. Thus I am equipped to lead you. I, Megatron's true heir, Lord Starscream, Emperor of Destruction!" The crowd of Vehicons looked to each other and talked to one another. Starscream let out a scoff and had Soundwave cut the feed and audio.

"What use are troops who can't rise to the task of inflicting unspeakable destruction in my name?" The Seeker huffed.

"Maybe it's because they actually have loyalty towards someone who's led them for years," Echo spoke up as she stalked towards Starscream, her optics blazing with fury, "you're too cowardly and hardheaded to be a leader!"

"I suggest you watch your tone, Echo," Starscream growled. "Make me, you sorry excuse for a Decepticon!" Echo snapped, her digits turning into claws.

Soundwave stood between his sister and Starscream and Echo stared up at him, her wings shaking with bitterness towards Starscream. Soundwave shook his helm at his sister, silently telling her not to start a fight that she did not want to finish.

Echo clenched her fists tightly before she turned and walked out of the room. Starscream huffed and turned away from Soundwave, "now with that out of the way... Legend tells of one capable warrior, one who exists here upon this very planet, one who can be student to my master."

◊◊◊◊

Optimus sighed as he stood, overlooking the rock formations that surrounded him. It's been a week since they disabled the Decepticon Space Bridge, which resulted in Megatron's demise.

"Optimus, why so glum? This planet – all planets – are finally free from Megatron's tyranny!" Ratchet cheered.

"I do not disagree, Ratchet," Optimus admitted, a very large part of him content in knowing that his family would be safer than they were when Megatron lived, "It's just...a small part of me hoped to change Megatron's mind. Not extinguish his spark."

"Optimus, his vileness was not slain by your hand! But by his own twisted arrogance!" Ratchet protested, earning a hum of displeasure from the Prime, "I'm sorry. I know the two of you have quite a history."

"But the Megatron whom I once fought aside perished eons ago; the day he chose to become a Decepticon," Optimus rumbled before quickly changing the topic, "The Decepticons may be in disarray. But they aren't without leadership. And while Starscream is no Megatron, he is far from predictable." Suddenly an explosion shook the base.

"Decepticons! We're under attack!" Ratchet exclaimed and he and Optimus ran to the source of the explosion. Only it wasn't an attack. It was Rafael's volcano science project.

"It's not an attack Ratchet. It's my volcano," Raf said as he waved his hand against the smoke that started to fade away and his volcano deflated, "or was."

"Hold still, Bulkhead," Miko said as Bulkhead held a small model of the Solar System, "Jupiter needs its red spot. Whoopsie!"

"What... in the Allspark is going on around here?" Ratchet demanded. "Our projects are due tomorrow," Jack said.

Arcee picked up a part of the motorcycle she and Jack were working on. "Maybe it needs one of these doohickeys," she said.

"You're a motorcycle Arcee," Jack said with a smirk, "shouldn't you know how to build a motorcycle engine?" "You're a human, Jack," Arcee shot back, "can you build me a small intestine?"

"Burn!" Miko and Paige said and Firestorm snickered. Jack huffed.

"Well you can't make these projects in here," Ratchet said, "you're making a mess!" "But the science fair's a big part of our grade," Raf said.

"Yeah," Miko agreed, "if Bulkhead doesn't help me finish this model of our Solar System-" "Oh?" Ratchet interrupted, "and what does Bulkhead know of your solar system? Or Bumblebee of your volcanoes? Or...?"

"Arcee of our motorcycles?" Jack asked, earning a look from his guardian.

"Precisely," Ratchet said, "we're not Earthlings and they're not scientists." "But the Autobots are their guardians, Ratchet," Optimus said, "would it hurt to learn more of Earth by helping our young friends with their schoolwork?"

"Well maybe our young friends should learn more of Cybertron," Ratchet huffed. Raf looked over at Paige, "what are you and Primrose working on, Paigey?"

"I'm just holding the flashlight," Primrose said. "I'm painting the galaxies and the constellations," Paige said as she sat on the far side of the main hangar, painting a rather large canvas. Primrose held a Cybertronian-sized flashlight and shined it down on the painting.

"Plus I’m making another project, but you can’t see it yet. Also, Ratchet," Paige said, making the Autobot medic look at her, "if you want- and if it's not too much trouble, can you teach me about Cybertron?"

"Really? You actually want to learn?" Ratchet asked, surprised. Paige smiled and nodded, "what's wrong with teaching a Galatrian about Cybertronian history and culture? Nothing, I'm sure. Plus, I've been meaning to learn about your planet."

Ratchet stared at Paige, completely shocked. "Someone's actually made Ratchet speechless," Firestorm chuckled, "I'm impressed. Ow!" He held his helm when a wrench suddenly decked him in the helm and he glared at Ratchet.

"Alright. I'll teach you," Ratchet said with a soft smile. "Yay!" Paige said happily. Primrose squeaked in surprise when some paint was flung her way and it landed on her faceplate.

"Whoops! Sorry Prim," Paige said with an apologetic smile.

"It's alright. The messier, the better," Primrose chuckled.

◊◊◊◊

Starscream, Soundwave and Echo were currently in the canyon looking for the warrior that Starscream had spoke of earlier in the warship. Though it had struck Echo as odd that they would look in a place such as Earth. And as much as she would've loved to beat Starscream into a bloody mess, she was also glad that Soundwave was here to stop her- most likely electrocute her in a way.

"Starscream." Echo said calmly, getting his attention, "This warrior that you talked about earlier, why in the name of the Allspark would they be here on Earth?"

Starscream said, "During the Great War, so much energon was hidden on this forsaken rock, that our departed master sent some of Cybertron's greatest to guard it-True warriors now lying in stasis, waiting to be reawakened."

"When you put it like that, it actually makes the most sense," Echo said.

"Yes," Starscream replied, "Though it was such a folly that late in life Megatron searched for distant space for warriors, rather than here beneath his feet." Soundwave was still trying to figure out where the warrior was; despite him not saying anything Starscream had said, "What do you mean you can't pinpoint his signal? I know we're close! Boost the power to your sensors!"

Soundwave did this and they found what they were looking for.

"Is that it?" Echo asked. "Yes," he said, "there." With that, he, Soundwave and Echo transformed into their aerial forms and flew up into the air.

◊◊◊◊

Raf was rebuilding his volcano. But he wasn't really paying attention. He was paying more attention to Bumblebee's stories from the war, particularly when Bumblebee mentioned that he hasn't made warrior class.

"Really, Bumblebee? Then how do you make warrior class?" Raf wanted to know, causing Bumblebee to bleep some stuff about experience getting in the way, "But I've seen you in action! You're awesome!"

That was when Optimus decided to intervene, placing his servo on his adoptive son's shoulder whilst saying to Raf, "I second your opinion, Raf. But Autobot lifecycles are much longer than those of humans. And though it may be hard to believe, our young scout still has much to experience."

"Well experience is the best thing to have," Paige said as she walked over to Optimus, Bumblebee and Raf. She was wearing a white shirt, along with some overalls and she was wearing her sketchers shoes.

"You done with your painting already?" Bumblebee asked.

"Yeah. I took it outside on the roof to dry," Paige said, rubbing her hands on the pants of her overalls, 'I think Cliff would've loved it.' She jumped when the monitors started going off.

"Exposed Energon! And it's on the move!" Ratchet proclaimed.

"And since we're not moving it, guess who must be!" Bulkhad challenged.

"Decepticons," Arcee answered as she stood next to Optimus.

"Without Megatron?" Miko asked in disbelief.

"Unfortunately, Megatron's legacy will live on as others rise to take his place," Optimus sighed gravely. "Why am I suddenly being reminded of wolves?" Paige asked aloud, making Optimus look at her curiously.

Optimus turned to his team, "Autobots, you have projects to complete. Ratchet, I may acquire first aid."

Ratchet was a bit hesitant at this, and turned to the three kids currently working on their projects.

"Science fair is a big part of their grade." Ratchet said to his leader, "Perhaps I'm best suited to remain and advise."

Optimus agreed to this, "Very well." He said, before turning to his scouts, "Bumblebee, Primrose, let us see about this energon in transit."

"Can I come?" Paige asked. "No," Optimus, Bumblebee and Primrose said in unison, making the fourteen year old girl squeak.

"You know it is too dangerous," Optimus said firmly. Paige frowned, "well I'm Dauntless enough to face danger!"

"This isn't Divergent," Jack called out. "Watch it, Jackson!" Paige said, glaring at the sixteen year old boy who put his hands up in surrender.

"What would your mother say?" Primrose asked in a playful tone. Paige opened her mouth but closed it and she crossed her arms over her chest and pouted.

Bumblebee buzzed with laughter as the ground bridge opened. Paige let out a meow of protest and she kicked invisible dirt with her foot. Optimus gently rubbed her head before he, Bumblebee and Primrose went through the ground bridge.

◊◊◊◊

Echo watched as Starscream and Soundwave pulled out what was a stasis chamber as she stood back. After they pulled the the stasis chamber out from where it was, they took a step back. "Soundwave, the cube." Starscream said.

Soundwave took out a container containing a single energon cube. He handed it over to Starscream; he placed it in the slot that was provided. The capsule had started to activate.

"The energon infusion!" Starscream said, "It's working!" They were soon blinded by a blue light.

In the distance, Optimus, Bumblebee and Primrose walked out of the ground bridge. They heard sounds just nearby. "Do you guys hear that?" Primrose asked.

"This doesn't feel right," Bumblebee said. "No Bumblebee, it does not," Optimus said, "hold your position and await my command."

Primrose and Bumblebee both nodded.

The stasis chamber opened and reveal the warrior inside; Starscream had stepped forward.

"Awaken warrior!" He said, "Rise and serve your new master!" Echo could tell that he was as large and giant as Megatron was; his color scheme was of green, white and red, and his optics glowed red. And a part of her was glad that he was another Seeker.

He spoke with a booming voice, "Skyquake only serves one master." "Excellent." Starscream said, "Your loyalty and devotion will set a fine example for the troops," he sent Echo a glare, "among other things. No need to be timid, Skyquake. You may bow."

Echo felt her right optic twitch and she ground her denta together to hold herself back. Soundwave placed his servo on his sister's shoulder and gave a light squeeze.

"You fail to grasp my meaning." Skyquake said, "I am here on a mission assigned to me by my one true master- Megatron." "Yes. Him." Starscream said, "Sadly Megatron is no longer with us."

"Impossible." Skyquake said.

"Why is this so difficult for everyone to accept? Skyquake, I located you. I awakened you. Thus I, Lord Starscream, am your one true master!" Starscream snapped.

Skyquake growled, stepping towards Starscream who quickly stepped back. "It has been quite awhile Skyquake." Optimus spoke up, getting his attention.

Skyquake turned to him. "Optimus Prime." He said, "I haven't seen you since the Battle of Technar. Megatron ordered me to annihilate you."

"That was a long time ago." Optimus said.

"That may be, Prime, but my orders still stand," Skyquake said.

"Is this ancient war still worth fighting when so many comrades have been lost and worlds destroyed? If you want to be a true leader, Starscream, then stray from Megatron's path and lead the Decepticons towards peace," Optimus said firmly.

"I would be willing to consider a truce..." Starscream said, "If you are willing to bow before me... Optimus Prime."

"Again?" Skyquake said angrily, "Bow to this!"

Skyquake swung his arm and with one hit, Starscream was sent flying right into the wall. Echo widened her optics in surprise before she transformed into her aerial form and flew up into the air with Soundwave and Starscream following.

"Skyquake, this is a new era. On another world. Side with the Autobots and help me end this conflict forever," Optimus once again pleaded the newly-awakened Decepticon.

"I will NEVER side with a Prime!" Skyquake proclaimed as he ran towards Optimus.

Optimus never saw the next hit coming. So when Skyquake threw a punch at him, he didn't block it. Instead, he let it knock him into a nearby archway. Skyquake picked Optimus up by his shoulders and threw the other around.

Above the ensuing battle, Starscream, Soundwave and Echo watched everything unfold. "What need have we for peace when we have Skyquake?" Starscream asked rhetorically to Echo and Soundwave.

"With some disapline, he will learn to respect his new master," the Seeker continued, "And once it becomes known that Skyquake destroyed the great Optimus Prime under our command, all Decepticons will greatfully bow to us."

Bumblebee and Primrose watched the fight between Optimus and Skyquake become intense. A little too intense for Primrose's liking. Optimus unlocked his blaster and shot at Skyquake twice.

The large Decepticon Seeker pulled out his own blaster and fired at Optimus. Each rapid shot hit the Prime, knocking him back but he still stood on his pedes. Having seen enough, Primrose and Bumblebee ran forward.

"Bumblebee, Primrose, no!" Optimus shouted. Bumblebee fired at Skyquake's back, catching the large Seeker by surprise. He whirled around, his blaster reloaded and ready. With each fire he made, Bumblebee avoided being hit. He jumped from wall to wall within the canyon, avoiding fire. Eventually, one hit Bumblebee, sending him crashing to the ground.

Primrose jumped forward and she grabbed Skyquake's blaster. Skyquake grabbed Primrose and threw her aside.

"Do not miss a single moment, Soundwave!" Starscream instructed, "We shall need visual documentation of Optimus Prime's demise for the historical record!"

Optimus and Skyquake punched at each other, both bots often missing and hitting again and again. When Skyquake knocked Optimus back, Bumblebee and Primrose got up beside their leader.

"He can't transform yet?" Bumblebee asked, confused. "Skyquake has not yet acquired a vehicle mode," Optimus said.

Skyquake charged at the three bots. "Fall back!" Optimus exclaimed. Before Skyquake could swing at the three Autobots, they quickly transformed into their vehicle forms and drove away.

“So time has made you a coward, Prime?" Skyquake called after him as he fired a few more shots from his blaster.

◊◊◊◊

"Let's see. Where is it?" Ratchet muttered as he used his blowtorch to assemble Raf's volcano.

"Um...what is it?" Raf wanted to know.

"You'll find out," Ratchet answered.

"But Ratchet, shouldn't I be doing the work?" Raf protested.

"Zep-yip-yip-yip! Don't touch! Just watch and learn!" Ratchet said sternly as he shooed the twelve year old boy away.

"So we're just gonna help Jack and Miko finish theirs..." Bulkhead trailed off as he referred to himself and Arcee.

"Without my supervision?! You want them to be right, don't you?" Ratchet asked, causing Arcee and Bulkhead to look at each other and give small shrugs. "Then watch a master at work!" Ratchet said eagerly.

"Control freak," Miko murmured. "That's the understatement of the century," Jack huffed as he walked over to Paige who was messing with some wires. She had some scissors in her hand.

"Paige?" Jack called out. Paige jumped and she hit her head, making her yelp and she shouted in pain when the scissors cut her arm.

"Fudge nuggets it all! Jack, don't sneak up on me like that- especially when I'm lost in thought!" Paige snapped. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Jack exclaimed.

Ratchet, Bulkhead, Arcee, Raf and Miko hurried over to them. "What happened?" Ratchet asked.

"I accidentally scared Paige and she cut her arm," Jack said.

"Not to mention, I hit my head," Paige said. "What were you trying to do?" Bulkhead asked.

"Well I was trying to untangle some wires in the main wall because I figured that might give you some trouble," Paige said, "I had a toolbox stashed away."

"Let me see," Ratchet said as he activated his human form and he gently held Paige's arm, "it's a small cut, nothing major. I suggest you let me handle those wires from now on." He started to wrap her arm in some bandages.

"Sorry," Paige said, "thought I could help." "I appreciate that," Ratchet said with a soft smile and he looked at Paige.

She stared at him, her light brown eyes connecting with his light blue eyes. He stared at her, his face meters away from hers. He felt his human heart pounding against his chest and he felt his cheeks warm up.

Miko looked between the two and a sly smile appeared on her face. Paige's phone started buzzing and she picked it up out of her pocket.

She gave it to Ratchet who looked at the text message and his eyes slightly widened. The text was from Marcus and it said: 'make a move on my daughter and your spark is mine.' A shiver ran up the medic's spine and he sighed softly.

"Protective Dad?" Jack asked. "Yep," Paige giggled, "my parents have protective daddy and mommy senses- and they tingle."

"Remind me again as to why and how your parents know about us yet Ratchet and Optimus know them?" Bulkhead asked curiously. "They thought it'd be a good idea to tell me about my home planet," Paige said, "although it sounds weird, coming from me. Plus, Mom said that Ratchet and Dad met when Cybertron still had it's Golden Age. I don't know how to explain it myself."

◊◊◊◊

"We've lost sight of them! Soundwave, why aren't you tracking them?" Starscream screeched, "What? What is it?"

Soundwave was showing Starscream something else. A different map. It wasn't of the area they are currently watching Skyquake's battle with Optimus and Bumblebee. But a map of Earth and the space that surrounds it.

"A second Decepticon life signal? But Skyquake is the only sleeper buried in this area!" Starscream scoffed in disbelief as he studied Soundwave's map closer.

But Echo noticed something perculiar about the life signal. She knew that area well. After all, they were there just days ago.

"The sight of our destroyed Space Bridge! You're not telling us that life signal belongs to Megatron?" Starscream gasped as the realization dawned on them both, "but he was microns from the detination point! Nothing could have survived that blast! Your sensors must be faulty! Ignore the contact! Delete the coordinates!" Echo gave Starscream an icy glare which was quickly unnoticed.

"What am I saying? Of course it must be investigated! If Lord Megatron is up there, I shall bring him home. Soundwave, Echo, remain here and monitor the outcome. When Skyquake snuffs Prime's spark, I must bare witness," Starscream instructed.

With those words said, Starscream jumped into the canyon below. Once he was close to the ground, he transformed into his alternative jet mode and flew away from the canyon. Soundwave and Echo just stood by and watched him leave.

"Must bare witness," Soundwave repeated before he deployed Laserbeak and she flew up into the air.

◊◊◊◊

"Tango 6 Alpha to Station Command. We're picking up transmissions from unidentified technology. Possibly hostile. We are moving to investigate."

"Negative, Tango Six Alpha," Agent Fowler interrupted the communications between the two respective personnel, "This is Special Agent William Fowler intercepting. Strike your report from the record and abide origin coordinates. I'll take it from here."

◊◊◊◊

Down in the canyon below, the chase appeared to be working out in the favor of the Autobots. Primrose continued to drive around the canyon with Skyquake hot on her trail. However, Primrose eventually reached a dead end. Once she did, she transformed into her bipedal form.

"It will be a shame to crush you, young Prime. But it is my duty," Skyquake remarked.

Suddenly, he heard the familiar sound of a truck horn behind him. He turned around and saw Optimus approaching him in his truck mode. Immediately, he started firing shots from his blaster. Whilst taking hits, Optimus transformed into his bipedal form and punched Skyquake in the face.

"Excellent strategy, Primrose," Optimus complimented his scout as Bumblebee drove up beside them.

Skyquake began to get up. "Skyquake, stay down," Optimus instructed as he retaliated with his own punch.

Bits of shrapnel broke off from Skyquake's face due to Optimus' punch. Skyquake fell to the ground weakened. Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee stood above him. He appeared to be defeated.

"Fowler?" Optimus gasped as he looked up and saw a familiar fighter jet.

While Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee were distracted, Skyquake looked up at the jet with a sinister grin. His eyes glowed green as he took in the appearance of the jet.

"Agent Fowler, fall back!" Optimus pleaded Fowler through their radio connection.

In his eyes were the designs of the fighter jet he had just scanned. Skyquake jumped above Optimus. Before either Optimus, Primrose, Bumblebee or Fowler could do anything about it, Skyquake was no longer in his bipedal form. But instead, he was in his recently-acquired alternative mode. His alternative mode was the jet Fowler was flying and Skyquake had scanned. He flew towards the skies at high speeds, intent on finishing his enemies once and for all.

"Well, I'll be a bald eagle!" Fowler remarked as he noticed Skyquake flying next to him.

"Air superiority achieved," Skyquake proclaimed as he fired shots at Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee below him.

Immediately, Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee started running for cover from Skyquake's shots. Needing more speed to do so, they transformed into their vehicle forms and sped away.

"Stealing plans for classified military aircraft will NOT be tolerated on my watch!" Fowler proclaimed as he fired shots at the phoney classified military aircraft.

To Skyquake, Fowler was now his new target of destruction. He fired a group of missles at the government agent. And they are no ordinary missles.

"HEAT SEAKERS!" Fowler gasped.

Fowler was now thankful of his intense compulsory pilot training. With his special maneovers, he managed to avoid the missles. When he reached a dead end, he pulled up immediately. Below him, the missles flew into the rocky cliff face and exploded upon impact.

"I still got it," Fowler boasted rather proudly.

◊◊◊◊

Bits of shrapnel from the Space Bridge explosion remained in space, floating around Earth's orbit.

"No one could have survived this." Starscream said as he looked through the rubble. "As I suspected faulty sensors, the last thing I need now is rumors that Megatron is still..." A painful moan interrupted him and Starscream hesitantly found the source. Megatron's burnt body was present and still in one piece. Every bit of him was charred and black and he had scratches everywhere from his body. There was a large whole in the center of his chest, right where his spark should be. "Megatron.." Starscream said amazed. At the slightest touch Megatron reacted.

"AAARRGGHH!" He roared as he grabbed at Starscream, who's optics went wide with fright. He wasn't sure if Megatron recognized him or not, but just as quickly as the attack started it ended with Megatron going limp again.

"But how?" The seeker said puzzled, until he saw a familiar purple glow. "Dark energon." Starscream leaned into Megatron's unconscious form. "Everyone believes you are deceased, who am I to disappoint them...master." He slowly pulled out the shard and Megatron groaned in pain before collapsing again. "And this time stay dead." Starscream snapped before pushing off his body. Suddenly he heard the chittering sound of Laserbeak nearby as the minicon flew over to Starscream and Megatron.

"Soundwave!" Starscream gasped as he hid the Dark Energon shard, "If you are listening, I have found Lord Megatron. And he is...unwell. We must transport him to sick bay...immediately!"

◊◊◊◊

Down in the canyon, the chase continued involving Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee on the ground and Skyquake and Fowler in the air. Optimus, Primrose and Bumblebee narrowly avoided every shot Skyquake fired. One missle came too close for Optimus' liking. It sent him flying through the air. Optimus transformed into his bipedal mode to prevent potential self-harm.

But Skyquake ignored the Prime. He continued going after Bumblebee and Primrose. They continued to drive through the canyon with Skyquake flying close behind them firing shots from his blasters. Eventually, Primrose drove around a corner and Bumblebee drove up a hill at high speeds, causing him to fly over the top of the hill. Midair, Bumblebee transformed into his bipedal mode and ran across the hot, sandy ground underneath his feet. Skyquake flew above the gap of the canyon.

Bumblebee jumped from the edge of the canyon and landed on top of Skyquake. Immediately, the jet began flying out of control, randomly knocking Bumblebee into cliff faces in the process. From the ground, Optimus witnessed the events between the two. And he immediately knew that Bumblebee would need further support.

"Agent Fowler, we acquire immediate assistance!" The Prime said.

Bumblebee was punching Skyquake and ripping out bits of wiring vital to his bodily functions. Bumblebee's actions sent Skyquake into a crash dive, rapidly approaching the ground below. Immediately, Fowler was hot on their tail.

Bumblebee looked to Fowler and buzzed and beeped his thanks.

"Anytime, fella. Ground floor's coming up fast!" Fowler remarked.

Bumblebee jumped from Skyquake and landed on top of Fowler's jet. Immediately, Fowler pulled up to avoid crash-landing alongside Skyquake. The smoking Decepticon jet continued his crash dive towards the ground.

From the ground, Optimus watched as Skyquake landed nearby with an exploding bang. The burning jet skidded along the desert ground before coming to a stop a few feet away.

"Happy landings, 'Con," Fowler wished cockily.

Fowler flew his jet near the edge of the canyon so Bumblebee could jump off. Once Bumblebee was off of the jet, Fowler flew away. Bumblebee stood by the edge and observed the still-smoking remains of Skyquake. Eventually, he climbed down to meet up with Optimus and Primrose. Together, the three watched as the red optics of Skyquake went dark and his spark gave out.

"Had Skyquake chosen to stray from his master's path, we might not be burying him today," Optimus remarked.

Primrose stared at Skyquake's body and she clenched her fists tightly. Bumblebee glanced at her.

Soundwave and Echo watched the three Autobots from their spot on the canyons. Echo looked to Soundwave, a familiar look in her optics.

Soundwave only transformed into his aerial form and flew up into the air. Echo watched her brother for a moment and she looked back at the Autobots and Skyquake. She shut her optics tightly, holding back tears that threatened to form before she transformed into her aerial form and flew after Soundwave.

◊◊◊◊

"Bumblebee, putting yourself at risk was perhaps not the wisest of strategies. But you performed admirably," Optimus complimented Bumblebee after Ratchet finished checking him over for injuries.

Bumblebee bleeped to Optimus his thanks for the compliment as he stepped out of the chamber. Ratchet laughed gleefully as he heard the sounds of car horns from the hallway. Bulkhead and Arcee had returned with the kids. Jack and Paige hopped off of Arcee while Miko and Raf climbed out of Bulkhead and the two transformed into their bipedal forms.

"There you are! Well, how were my – I mean, our – projects received?" Ratchet asked eagerly.

"Well...," Raf trailed off.

◊◊◊◊

"Miss Nakadai, what planet would that be?" Mr Capizzi asked, referring to the model Miko displayed.

"Um...Cybertron?" Miko answered nervously.

Just as she answered the question, the metallic planet fell off the wire holding it up and rolled around the classroom, causing many kids to jump up in fear.

◊◊◊◊

"It's large, Mr Darby. But is it operational?" Mr Capizzi questioned nervously.

Jack hit the button and the machine went wild. It even left the classroom to terrorize the kids who were unfortunate enough to have free period at this time.

◊◊◊◊

"I hesitate to ask, Mr Esquivel. But is it active?" Mr Capizzi whimpered.

To answer his question, Raf pressed the button that activated the electrical volcano. It almost destroyed the entire school.

◊◊◊◊

"Well, on our planet, you would have been awarded the highest honor!" Ratchet snapped before walking away grumbling, "Absolutely no credit whatsoever."

"Speaking of highest honors," Arcee smirked as she glanced at Paige.

"Why are you guys looking at me?" Paige asked nervously.

"I don't believe it. My best friend has forgotten that she was awarded the highest grade in the entire school!" Jack exclaimed.

"WHAT?!" Ratchet screeched before promptly fainting.

"I only introduced and showed my painting and constellations and galaxies to the teachers," Paige said, blushing and smiling shyly, "especially my favorite constellation: Orion and Cassiopeia."

"So what are you guys going to do next year?" Primrose asked them with a smirk.

"They should've strayed from Ratchet's path," Bumblebee bleeped.

"Indeed, Bumblebee. Our human friends would have been wise to stray from Ratchet's path like Paige did," Optimus agreed.

"Hey. You made Ratchet faint! I LIKE THIS GIRL!" Bulkhead proclaimed, causing everyone except Optimus and Ratchet to laugh.

"What happened to your arm, Paige?" Optimus suddenly asked, noticing the white material covering Paige's arm.

"She was surprised by something and cut her arm with a pair of scissors," Jack said, "Aunt Tasha had to put some alcohol on it and wrap it up even more."

"What?!" Optimus exclaimed. "I'm okay," Paige quickly reassured him, placing her hand on his digit, "you're starting to act like my Mom."

Optimus only vented, blowing gentle and warm air against the girl, making her laugh and she hugged his digit.

After the events, Optimus gave Paige a lecture about safety and she half listened and half smiled at the Prime. She was thinking of the last night memory of her parents talking to her about her second planet and how it had become desolated when Cybertron became dark.

"So you met Orion Pax and Megatronus when you were at least my age?" Paige asked her dad curiously. Marcus chuckled and gave a small nod.

"I was at least twenty-one when the War started," Marcus said, "Orion Pax became Optimus Prime. And Megatronus became Megatron."

"So... what are we?" Paige asked, looking to her mom. Tasha smiled softly, "we're Galatrians. And we're very special Magic users. We got along with Cybertronians very well. At least... up until the War began. Galatrians, along with many other Magic users, were either captured or killed by Decepticons and many went into hiding or just disappeared."

"There were many Magic Users we had met just like your parents," Ratchet said, "there was one named Kaitlin Elisabeth Prime."

Paige blinked in surprise and she looked to Optimus who gave a solemn smile. "What was... what was she like? Did you meet her?" Paige asked.

Tasha and Marcus nodded. "We did. She was an amazing and brave Irilian. Even Megatron loved her and she loved him," Tasha said, hugging her daughter close, "and I bet she would've loved to meet you."

Paige smiled softly and she looked at her markings. "What magic can I do?" She asked curiously. "You can do what many Galatrians can do," Marcus chuckled, "your eyes may be light brown but when you use your powers, they change to ruby red. Those are your Galatrian eyes."

"Show us some magic Paigey!" Miko said excitedly. Paige smiled nervously before she closed her eyes in concentration. The markings glowed sapphire blue and apparitions of Sky Children appeared around the base.

Tasha chuckled and shook her head with amusement. Paige smiled softly as a Sky Child walked up to her and gave a happy musical sound.

Paige giggled happily and clapped her hands together with delight. Optimus smiled softly.

After Arcee, Bumblebee and Bulkhead took their charges home, Paige had fallen asleep on the couch and Tasha drove into the base, silently parking her truck on the side.

"Optimus?" Tasha called out, making the Prime and Ratchet look at her.

"Paige insisted on sleeping over tonight," Ratchet said. Tasha chuckled softly, "I see. I actually wanted to talk to you both."

"Of course," Optimus said as he knelt down in front of her.

"If Megatron was found by his... followers, is it possible that he knows about my family?" Tasha asked. "That will not happen," Ratchet said firmly.

Tasha looked over at the still sleeping Paige, "my daughter is no Kaitlin. She's no bright blue dragoness. She's no Valentine."

"Megatron may or may not know that," Optimus said, "he knows the history between you and him. He knows the history between him and your mother." Tasha gripped her arm tightly at the mention of her mother.

"I am not losing anyone else," Tasha said darkly, "I don't care what it takes. I will fight Megatron till my last breath."

"Let us not focus on that now," Optimus said firmly, "focus on your daughter. The only child you have ever brought into this Earth- she needs you."

"And she needs you," Tasha said firmly, placing her hand on Optimus' digit, "just as you will grow to need her." Marcus picked Paige up into his arms and walked over to the truck.

Tasha turned and walked after Marcus but she paused. "Optimus," she said, "no matter what happens... do not let Paige's darkness take a hold of her."

Optimus stared at her for a moment before he gave a small nod. With that, Tasha got into the truck and she drove out of the base.

◊◊◊◊

"The troops will be pleased to hear of our success in rushing Lord Megatron into stasis. Let us hope that our master pulls through," Starscream said. Echo stood in the medlab, staring at Megatron coldly.

Her leader was hooked up to life support cords. No matter what, she was going to guard her leader. Especially from Starscream.

◊◊◊◊

Starscream and Soundwave walked into the control bridge. Starscream paused when he saw a cloaked figure.

"Reveal yourself!" Starscream snapped, "Decepticons, attack!" The Vehicons didn't move an inch.

A dark chuckle came from the cloaked figure. "I'm surprised you think that they would follow your orders, Starscream," the voice said, "you truly have forgotten who I am."

The figure removed her cloak and Starscream widened his optics. A bright orange and white femme with yellow highlights turned to them, her fiery orange optics glowing.

"I have heard of Lord Megatron's... steady recovery," she said calmly, "and while he is in recovery, I shall lead the Decepticons... unless anyone has a problem with that."

Soundwave didn't say anything but the femme somehow knew his answer. The Vehicons in the control bridge stayed silent. Starscream's wings twitched and he lowered his helm.

The femme smirked and turned back to the large screens, clasping her servos behind her back.

[alysmarylin]

The war is over, my love is not

The second part of a fic about Crowley and Aziraphale during World War II, the first part is here (sorry, don't know how to insert proper links):

In this fic Aziraphale and Crowley meet for the first time since 1941 among ruins of Berlin. I'm a Russian myself and I entertained a thought that Crowley made friends with Soviet soldiers.

Aziraphale could smell the scent of Death in the air. He'd been on Earth since the very beginning of time, and he'd seen just as many deaths as anyone could. But it was different there, in ruins of Berlin, where bodies piled up among rocks and metal and ragged cloth. He knew, reasonably, that if the world was about to end, he'd be notified. It wasn't a horseman on a paled mare whose name was Death, not yet - it was nothing but works of Man. And yet, if felt like the end of the world. He was an angel, but even he started to fear that God wasn't there anymore.

Aziraphale came there by the end of April, out of his own will, wishing to help as many souls reach Heaven as he could. He filled those dying of despair and dread with hope and forgiveness, he eased the pain of children he couldn't save, he gave heartbroken mothers' souls respite, he healed festered wounds of those whose flesh was torn apart and rotting.

He wished he could've ended it all, long before it came to that, but one angel couldn't stop the madness of a Mankind, and God... God was silent.

"Animals don't kill each other with clever machines, angel, only humans do that" - he heard Crowley's words inside his head. Oh, to think he believed the guilliotine was the worst they could do... Crowley always turned out to be right. Aziraphale would get angry at him, but in the end, he'd always be right. Last time he saw Crowley, in 1941, they both thought they've already seen butchery and unmatched atrocities. That was before Auschwitz. He wondered, what Crowley would've said about Auschwitz. He wondered where Crowley was.

"Maybe I should've told him".

He often wondered if it was his love for Crowley that kept him going for past 4 years. He'd seen a lot of things that made it hard to still love humanity, or trust God with his ineffable plan. But his will to see Crowley once again - to take him for a long walk or to a dinner out, or just to look at him from afar, made it all worth surviving. Even what he'd seen in Poland. One could never forget those kinds of things...

His eyes filled with tears, despite his best efforts. If only tears of angel could heal the humanity, or just one single human soul.

He walked further from the ruins towards the street, when he hears a sudden noise that broke the silence. Aziraphale stopped.

That was a tank driving down the street, men speaking and laughing in some foreign language. Russians? Might be. It was a time for their victory, after all. It was their time to celebrate and laugh, before they come back to their ravished homes to cry once again.

Suddenly, the tank stopped and one man took off and walked down the street. Other men waved him goodbye as they moved forward.

The man seemed healthy enough to walk, and as far as Aziraphale could see, there was no blood on his face or his clothes. He was dressed in grey or dusty black, and his clothes seemed ragged and dirty, but so was everything else - there was nothing but dirt and blood and ashes around them. The man was walking towards him. His face was covered in dirt as well. And then, as sun came out from the clouds and lighted the entire street, the man's hair shone with flaming red tounges of fire underneath all the filth that covered it.

"A redhead", Aziraphale thought. "It's well past time I stopped shivering at every readheaded man I see". But he couldn't help it. He couldn't take that picture out of his head. And then he heard man's voice.

- You really don't change, angel. All that wreckage around and you're all in white.

He didn't want to believe his ears or eyes. He had already been mistaken for a couple of times before, and that bitter realisation had always been way more painful than no hope at all.

But it was unmistakenly Crowley, thinner than ever, in ragged clothes, white teeth shining like angel's wing, as he was grinning mischovously. His red hair was a huge mess, he was covered in dust, but he still managed to wear dark glasses in all this poorest state of affaies.

- Show me your eyes. - Aziraphale mumbled. - I want to know I'm not hallucinating.

- They shouldn't be surprised to see snaky-eyed lad after what they've done themselves, angel. - Crowley took his glasses off, but then put them back within a moment. - But I still prefer my privacy.

- Oh, Crowley! - Aziraphale grabbed him in his arms, unable to hold tears anymore. - I'm so glad to see you. I've seen such horror, I've.... I've been here since April, and I was in Poland before that, and I almost lost my faith...

- Come on, don't be like that. - Crowley gently pushed him away. - I can't blame you for your tears, though. There were things that could make Satan himself tremble. But it's not demonic work, of that I can assure you.

- I know. Works of Man. Our Lord's most beloved creation. - Aziraphale was well past the point when he blamed Hell for human atrocities.

- Well, I guess it's almost over now. - Crowley gently put his arm on angel's shoulder. - I was planning to go home soon enough.

- Home?

- London, not Hell. You wanna go with me?

Aziraphale felt bad for feeling so much joy amidst such destruction, and yet he couldn't help but smile.

- I do. I haven't been there in a while. The place I lived in was destroyed. My bookshop, though - I hope it's alright.

- I'll have to find myself a new place. Maybe you could give me some advice, I haven't been to England since I left in 1941. I left my Bentley in Paris, in some reliable hands. Well, I hope they're reliable. I have to believe car's fine, or else I won't forgive myself.

- I bet there's not a scratch on it. - Aziraphale smiled. He told himself he'd use all his powers if something happened to Crowley's car. - We can drive home together, if you wish.

- I don't think it's safe, angel. We'd better meet in London. At least there IS London to meet in. - Crowley smiled.

They walked past ruins, as sun was setting down.

- Those soldiers, - Aziraphale asked - That dropped you off... You spoke their language? You speak Russian?

- Why act all surprised? - Crowley sounded a bit offended. - I speak a number of languages, I've been there for a while, you know. Not that I'm fluent or anything, but I made it clear I'm not a German, for a start.

- Have you been there? On Eastern front? - One thing Aziraphale knew of Eastern front, is that young boys came back all white-haired from there, if they were lucky, or unlucky enough to survive it.

- For a while. I've been to a number of places. Not that I want to recall it now, when all this is over.

They reached the crossroads, and Crowley stopped.

- You're here to help people find their final peace, aren't you? - Crowley asked.

- I am. And you? I wonder if Hell still has any work to do, given the...

- I'll just make sure right people will make it to Hell. - Crowley smirked. - That's about all I can do now.

- I hope I'll be back in London by September. If my bookshop is still there, I'll be waiting for you to come. If not...

- I'll find you anyway, mr. Fell. Such a neat surname you made yourself - Fell. But you didn't fall, it's me who fell, no? - Crowley asked teasingly.

- I was never as good as you at making up names, Anthony J. - Aziraphale replied - If you're so good at searching for people, then I'll see you soon.

- Bye, angel. See you.

Crowley turned around and started walking down the street, his tall figure looking completely black in setting sun. Before Aziraphale could make himself start walking away, Crowley suddenly turned around and shouted:

- I told you we'd win!

, before disappearing completely.

He was right, Aziraphale thought. The nightmare of war was almost over. He was daydreaming of them, meeting once again in London, when he saw a tank driving down the street in his direction.

"It way be foolish of me, but..."

He took a bunch of flowers from inside his jacket - a miracle too minor to be noted - and threw it to the soldiers sitting on the tank. He didn't understand what they said - unlike Crowley, he didn't know a word in Russian - but they smiled at him, and Aziraphale laughed himself, for the first time in 6 years.