#at the same time he will bend the rules and move heaven and earth for the people dearest to

[infernaelis]

i’m thinking a lot about jun-ho and how he’s obviously the more morally sound one of the hwang brothers - and yet there’s an edge to him too . he does things in favour of ‘doing the right thing’ but his methods aren’t exactly lawful , especially for a cop . when he first infiltrates the game in s1 he kills a guard to avoid being caught and obtain their uniform and mask, he disposes of the body to cover it up. he goes rogue , he kills more guards on the island . none of this is with the permission of his superiors, it’s all to find his brother. then in s2 we see him breaking and entering , barely batting an eye at finding the salesman’s body and then he up and quits his job to run around with black market weapons with a bunch of shady mercs to pursue his brother once more . he’s a good guy in the sense he has no desire to hurt people or see them suffer but even he is moving towards the grey area of morality at times , he plays it fast and loose with the law he’s supposed to uphold , he’s constantly toeing the line of vigilantism .

[murfpersonalblog]

This was HARD! But I voted Lestat.

Cuz at the end of the day, HE was her blood father. Even at his worst (during their chess games & verbal sparring) he taught her to how hunt; how to be a vampire; think, fight, exist--endure. HIS blood is in her, and she was HIS fledgling, whom HE was responsible for, as Maker & Coven Master.

Regardless of the bad choices she made, & how desperately Lou wanted a baby, & what other vamps did, the buck stops with Lestat. But too many times we see him shirk responsibility for her off on Lou:

--the same parent Les said was too soft & timid to raise Claudia properly to begin with (X X), cuz Father Knows Best--

It's been pointed out several times how much she & Les had in common (X X X). They bonded & loved each other; esp. in the early years. But ofc too-similar personalities can clash. Claudia said Lou was her fave parent, cuz Les could be mean & "crotchety." And yup, everything soured after Charlie, with how Les started treating her; and how she started behaving/reacting to his treatment in turn.

The hostilities between her & Les are what gave Claudia trust issues & an inferiority complex; and what pushed her out of the house, looking to find her own family/coven/companion when she felt Les didn't love her, and Lou didn't defend her against Les's BS.

She bonded with Killer as they both commiserated over being runaways who had mean European Makers/father-figures. And we see how that turned out.

She bonded with Santiago as stood up for her against Armand, and taught her how to navigate coven life (& even bend the rules--commiserating over living under a draconian/unfair Coven Masters). And we see how that turned out.

Claudia's dumb/naive actions are cuz as smart and sharp as she is, she's still a little girl looking for a father figure.

Everything Claudia's doing is in reaction to the pisspoor example Lestat set during Claudia's formative years, and the trauma she endured witnessing her favorite parent be beaten within an inch of his life and dropped "like an egg from an airplane" by the one who's job it was to protect them.

As stunted as her physical growth was; she grew up WAY too fast, having to protect Lou (and herself) from Les--becoming LOU'S mother/Coven Master; calling the shots alllll the way from 1x6 to 2x6. She just wanted someone to look after her for a change--someone to put HER first, treat her well, and have HER best interests at heart. 😔

And even in her dying moment, the one person left who should've moved heaven & earth to save his daughter just stood there watching, deadbeat father of the century, as she looked at him, crying for help as she burned to ash.

[worldsokayestdragon]

Cas killing Billy is like...I liked Billy. she was cool. she had understandable convictions about the natural order of life and death, and because of that she didn't put up with Sam and Dean's shit or let them convince her to break the rules for them, but she was never actively trying to screw them over. she even helped them sometimes! she helped them talk to Lucifer in the cage, she got the souls for the bomb to use on Amara, she got Dean back in the building during Asa's funeral. she wasn't bending over backwards to help them out like a lot of characters do, but she wasn't a bad person and she wasn't so caught up in hating them that she lost sight of the greater good. she even came around to letting them come back from the dead one last time. and I truly don't think the condition that one of them then had to die was malicious from her point of view. like she told Mary, she thinks what's dead should stay dead, that resurrected people are out of place and unhappy on earth and would be better off if they moved on. yes she said she would put Sam and Dean in the empty but my admittedly shaky understanding is that the empty isn't supposed to be painful, just sleeping forever, and it was something about Cas specifically that made it a problem(idk though I haven't seen those episodes yet) and she told Mary she'd take her to heaven. I really think she saw it as like "I'll get the natural order a little closer to fixed, one of you gets to find peace, and the other can live outside of this torture prison. everyone wins."

but at the same time Cas risking "cosmic consequences" to save the Winchesters-because they're too important to the world, and they're too important to him, because he can't lose his family(because he can't lose Dean or watch Dean lose another person he loves), because he loves them and that love is what his character is all about, and love and sacrifice and family that don't end with blood is what the show is all about- is actually so good I'm kicking my feet and giggling about it. so. mixed feelings.

[a-fangirl-universe]

I have to talk about my feelings on season 6 of Lucifer because I'm tired of crying

So it's gonna be spoilery and kinda have to start by a rant before digging in the things I loved (which are far more numerous)

So here's it is :

Was that ending really necessary ????

Well let's be honest I don't like the (recently popular) idea of bittersweet endings and I can accept it if the characters have a really happy middle but often it's not like that and in Lucifer case it wasn't like that I love Deckerstar but their relationship was complicated before it even started from season 1 to 4 and in season 5 it was bumpy because they were in a limbo due to so many factors so basically season 6 was the first time they were truly happy and it lasted a few weeks.

Let's be honest it wasn't even a bad ending it was consistent with the characters and their growth but I not even fighting about the ending in general just the specific. Because I'm sorry but everyone got basically their perfect ending except the two leads it's not bittersweet it's unfair. And even more unfair when you could have find loopholes to make it a bit less bitter.

I mean the main idea of the show is that fate means nothing compare to free will and choices. That you can change if you're willing to. And the ending is basically telling us that they're is no alternative road to achieve the goal (even if the all let's reform hell situation has already been talked about a bit before Rory arrived). Basically we have this two characters who fought against all odds to be together and Lucifer who's been abandoned by his father and Chloe who lost her dad and the father of her eldest daughter who will have to grow up without him and they both accept that their daughter will live through the same thing. I mean they're both stubborn they should have find a solution.

And I'm not talking about Lucifer coming back to the LAPD and managing Lux but he could have said no to his daughter and what reforming hell will have taken a few more years and maybe he'll become more and more busy with it over the years being less present for his daughter leading to her anger or maybe he could have find a way to be there just from time to time. I mean it's a show about the devil being bored and moving out to LA and hell and heaven and everything it's technically the one show where they could have bend the rules because apparently the rules are bending for everybody else. And I get the all they'll have their happy end in the afterlife and I'm sorry but not the same. Rory grew up without her father, Trixie lost her father and basically her other father figure in the span of a few months and Chloe will basically wait for her death to be truly happy again.

The way Chloe and Lucifer ended up made sense in some way but I'm just saying they suffer so much (and us too by extension) just for this.

I don't know I feel that there were ways to make it a bit less painful. Basically just telling that I wanted another ending not a fairytale one with wedding on the beach or anything just one when Lucifer find a way to see his daughter growing up and be with the love of her life for the rest of her life.

Just to say I started to watch the show for them and I'm not disappointed by the end just sad and I'll just read a ton of "fix-it" fanfic and try to stop crying every time I think about this ending.

End of the rant.

That being said even if it doesn't mean I loved the last season.

The deckerstar fluff was the best thing ever, Mazeve deserve to be happy and Dan arc was actually interesting (even if technically him coming to earth is the trigger to this ending). Amenadiel becoming God is not really a surprise but still logical (and look even he could find a way to visit earth)

I thought they handled the BLM arc in a interesting way about how it's a global issue and not just some and how one of the main character was in denial about it.

Carol and Ella are the purest characters ever like ever and I loved their relationship and Ella having someone on her corner. Ella finding out was necessary and what sting is not that the celestial world is real but that her closest friends hide it from her and she deserves more hugs.

I weirdly liked Rory. I wasn't sold on the all deckerstar baby theory like wedding for me it's a plot point I often find unnecessary and just being there for or the continue on with a fairytale narrative (which I wouldn't have mind if the ending was a bit more happy but anyway) but the fact that she's grown changes that she's not a baby they have to swoon over she's a grown angel. And even if I maybe would have liked a different direction or her storyline not being the main conflict I still find her interesting. (by the way kudos to all the fanfic writers who headcanoned that Deckerstar daughter will be named Aurora). Lucifer reaction when he realised that Rory was really his daughter and then when Chloe told him she was pregnant were the softest thing ever. And kudos to deckerstar communicating better now.

Dan arc and him feeling guilty about leaving Trixie and just being friends with Lucifer and reuniting with Charlotte at the end was so touching.

Let's be honest I started to cry to heart out in episode 8 with the goodbyes (Maze and Lucifer being best friends), and deckerstar and their daughter just chilling at the beach broke my heart.

Honestly the acting was great and everything felt so raw and even if my eyes still sting with all the crying it's a prove that the emotions were there.

Am I happy with this season ? Yes. Will I watch the show again ? Yes definitely a comfort show. Am I even satisfied with the ending ? Yes I loved this last season. But do I wish the ending could have been a bit different ? Yes definitely.

[rpmemes-galore]

lord huron : strange trails album ... sentence starters

“I know you’re still alive.”

“It’s time to be moving on.”

“What kind of magic is this?“

“I can bring your fears to life.“

“I feel alive when I'm with you.”

“In my eyes, you do no wrong.”

“Spirits follow everywhere I go.”

“Meet me in the woods tonight.”

“I was doomed by our first kiss.”

“There was no one else in sight.”

“Oh, go on, baby, hurt me tonight.”

“Do you see no ghost in me at all?”

“You know, I bet he's not so tough.”

“Who knew love would be like this?”

“I don't feel it ‘til it hurts sometimes.”

“She bends the wills of men for fun.”

“I don't feel alive if I ain't in the fight.“

“Come inside, can I get you to stay?“

“I've done things that have no name.”

“Now the darkness got a hold on me.“

“Yes, I know that love is like ghosts...”

“You can run, but you can't be saved.”

“What ain't living can never really die.”

“Don't look back, them days are gone.”

“Just tell me when you've had enough.”

“And there ain't no thrills in the afterlife.“

“What if the world dies with the sunrise?“

“Real or imagined - what does it matter?”

“It's a long night, can I spend it with you?”

“If I can't have you, then no one ever will.”

“If I'm a'­goin’ to die, I'm gonna go in style.“

“You don't want me, baby, please don't lie.”

“I said, if you're leaving, I got to know why.”

“There ain't a language for the things I feel.”

“I know how to live, I don't know how to die.”

“I can't sleep when there's something to do.”

“I fucked with forces that our eyes can't see.“

“What if we're unmade when the stars fade?“

“I got a helluva view for the end of the world.”

“Ain't afraid of him, ‘cause I'm a fool for love.”

“You know I'd given up on living ‘til I met you.”

“There ain't language for the things I've seen.“

“When I die, I'm coming right on back for you.“

“What you're looking for won't be found easily.”

“Do you know what loneliness does to a man?“

“Keep me going 'til the night turns into the day.“

“I don't know how to right the wrongs I've done.”

“I had a vision tonight that the world was ending.“

“And many men have died trekking up that away.”

“You're oh so pretty when you stand on the edge.”

“The truth is stranger than my own worst dreams.“

“Gonna wander out there and see what I'm worth.”

“If you think that I'm scared, you've got me wrong.”

“Gonna fall in love, I'm gonna live my life with her.”

“Ages come and go, but her life goes on the same.”

“Oh, you fool, there are rules, I am coming for you.“

“I watched the heavens collide right before my eyes.“

“No, I'm not afraid to die, just mad I left (name) alive.”

“No Earthly sight can match the beauty she displays.”

“Darkness brings evil things, oh, the reckoning begins.“

“Once he's gazed upon her, a man is forever changed.”

“’Good for nothing’ is the name they'll remember me by.”

“I'm meant to find the place where all good things begin.”

“I've been running through life and cruising toward death.”

“I am ready to follow you even though I don't know where.“

“I wake up in the morning and I don't know where I've been.“

“I had all, and then most of you... some, and now none of you.”

“I know there's another man, but he ain't gonna delay my plans.”

“Don't know what I'm gonna do, but I guess I gotta see it through.”

“The bravest men return with darkened hearts and phantom pain.”

“I'm gonna find a way through, there's another life beyond the line.“

“Trying to keep my eyes open wide, I'd gone days without any rest.”

“Well, I'm not afraid to fight. Let's step outside and I'll show you why.”

“Was he unforgiven or just tired of living a life that never felt like his?”

“I don't wanna be the only one living when all of my friends are gone.“

“There's gotta be some way. I hope it's not too late to break the spell.”

“I see how you got your name, you're tall as hell and broad as a train.”

“I'm leaving this place behind and I'm heading out on the road tonight.”

“I wanna learn her wits, and how she plays her tricks, oh, I gotta know.”

“Just wait until I catch my breath, gonna send you on to an early death.”

“Oh, little darlin' don't you look charming, here in the eye of a hurricane?”

“You know you don't hit half bad, but I'm gonna lay you to ground tonight.”

“’Cause I know I don't wanna stay here forever, it's time to be moving on.“

“Yes, I know that love is like ghosts, few have seen it, but everybody talks.”

“And it feels like I've been away for an era, but nothing has changed at all.”

“I stared right into the endless void and I ain't going back if I got any choice.”

“If spring comes before I'm found, just throw my bones in a hole in the ground.”

“Sure as hell, he was dead as they come and he was already starting to smell.”

“And it feels like I was with you, but what did we do and where have you gone?“

“I tried to warn you when you were a child. I told you not to get lost in the wilds.”

“Spirits follow everywhere I go, they sing all day and they haunt me in the night.”

“You come back from a trip to the east, but you don't come back from the dead.”

“I know I'm dead, but I don't wanna lie in a grave out here where the coyote's cry.”

“I get a laugh outta staring at darkness and wondering why people live in the light.”

“I belong bodily to the earth. I'm just wearing old bones from those that came first.”

“I get a thrill outta playing with fire, ‘cause you hold your life when you hold that flame.”

“I know I should've never looked back, but you ain't gonna win a woman's heart like that.”

“If I found a way to stay with you tonight, it would only make me late for a date I can't escape.”

“I took a little journey to the unknown, and I come back changed. I can feel it in my bones.”

“There are many more flames when mine is gone. They will build me no shrines and sing me no songs.”

“I don't know what I'm supposed to do, haunted by the ghost of you... Oh, take me back to the night we met.”

[ineffable-endearments]

people like to talk about aziraphale not wanting to face the fact that heaven is morally problematic at BEST, which is absolutely the truth

but what...like...what...exactly...would he do with this information if he fully admitted it to himself?

defense mechanisms exist for a reason. they don’t just cover up things that are A Little Difficult, they cover up things that are devastating.

so considering:

aziraphale knows what heaven does to people who don’t obey (he’s witnessed how they treat humans who god supposedly doesn’t like, how they treat the fallen, and he’s verbally acknowledged it when talking to sandalphon - he hasn’t forgotten All The Smiting).

aziraphale is pretty much heaven’s captive. it seems they can just pop into existence wherever he is at any time. and at least a good chunk of the time, they appear to have records of what he’s doing, too. and he’s an angel. he has power, he has political clout, he has an effect on the heaven/hell balance, they wouldn’t just let him go do his own thing.

heaven supposedly has the power of god on their side and is supposedly all-powerful; they can definitely force anything to happen that they want to happen - if aziraphale tried to interfere in their plans, they’d just reassign him or worse and then carry through with the same plans; as far as aziraphale knows, open resistance is futile.

until the end of the series, the options are:

admit heaven is terrible and has no real Great Plan. be stuck in it anyway. grow increasingly depressed and despondent at being a cog in an evil machine. (in humans, this usually causes people to become bitter, cynical, and extremely selfish, and i believe it’s what happened to most of the demons of hell. if aziraphale made this choice early on, he probably wouldn’t have kept his earthly assignment for so long and probably would never have befriended crowley.)

leave...earth...maaaybe? it doesn’t sound like aziraphale had ever thought of that possibility. i’m not sure if heaven would let him leave earth the way crowley thinks they would. but even if that was an option and aziraphale knew about it the whole time...that wouldn’t actually help anyone. aziraphale and crowley wouldn’t have their beloved world, and earth would still be left to heaven’s mercy, only this time, the only two supernatural beings who cared about it wouldn’t be there.

obey heaven while bending the rules as much as possible to try and make it more tolerable. desperately nurse the hope that the ultimate power in the universe has better things in mind than war, to help you carry on with your life. this is, unsurprisingly, the path that aziraphale chose.

it’s only when he realized this hope could never come true that aziraphale decided to act against heaven, and he did that knowing it might have been a self-destructive move. it’s a move that he could have only made at the moment of Armageddon, because it was the only time when a self-sacrifice would make any sense.

there’s a big difference between getting yourself in so much trouble that you get torn away from the world when it’s got thousands of years of development ahead of it, and getting yourself in trouble to try to snatch a chance at any future at all for it.

[ptersparkers]

hell froze over

summary: it’s a thursday afternoon and caliban’s taken you by surprise when he teleports to earth and asks you out on a date. not that you’d ever say no.

warnings: mentions of religion and typos, probably.

a/n: lol i can hear my parents sh*uting so i’m gonna write instead because!! we love distractions!! 

add yourself to my taglist!

Sabrina Spellman swore that Hell would have to freeze over the second she saw Caliban get “soft” and care for mortals.

That day was today. 

Greendale, being the small town that it was, housed many local favorites which included Dr. Cerberus’ diner, also dubbed as the local hangout of the Fright Club. There wasn’t much to say about the whole situation about who was running Hell with Sabrina’s clone down under and the Sabrina you knew alive and well, talking your ear off about Nick this, Harvey that, and Caliban this and that. 

If you were being completely honest, you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

So when Caliban teleported back up to Earth’s surface and caught you off guard leaving school grounds, you let out the loudest yell imaginable and dropped all of the books and stray pieces of paper you were carrying. 

“Jesus Christ,” you said, clutching your heart. You bent down and started to pick up what you had dropped. 

Caliban chuckled. “Not quite. Doubt he’s ever going to come to Earth.” 

You didn’t pay much attention to his comment in favor of gathering everything that was on the concrete and Caliban frowned, bending down to help you pick up some notebooks that were closer to him than you. When you finally stood up, you moved strange of hair out from your face and huffed, annoyed. 

“If you’re going to scare me, at least do it where people won’t see because I’m pretty sure I’ve embarrassed myself enough for this entire school year.” The corner of Caliban’s mouth lifted into a smirk when he saw you try to reassure your schoolmates and tugged on your backpack strap to get your attention.

“It’s a Thursday afternoon,” he stated. 

“Yes?”

“Do you have any plans?”

You were taken off guard. 

“What are you planning?” you asked with a raised brow. 

“Nothing bad,” he promised. “Since Sabrina number two is down in Hell dealing with things for the weekend, I figured why not come up here and spend the day with my favorite mortal.” You laughed at the sentiment and fixed your backpack to keep the straps from falling. 

“Well, I’m headed to the diner to study for a little bit before I head to cheerleading practice,” you explained. “I have about two hours before I have to be there so might as well eat and study. You know, kill two birds with one stone.” 

“Mind if I join you?” he asked. 

“You want to watch me study for two hours? It’a gonna be kind of boring,” you explained. 

“Think of me as your study-buddy.”

“Where did you even learn that phrase?”

“Sabrina’s rubbing off on me,” Caliban said with a low laugh. He gestured away from you. “Lead the way.” 

The diner wasn’t too packed when you arrived and you chose a table big enough to let you put your laptop and notebooks on while having a plate of food beside you. Your water bottle sat proudly in Caliban’s hands as he looked at the various stickers stuck to it. 

“This is quite peculiar,” he said.

“It’s a bunch of memories,” you explained. “This one’s from the camp grounds Harvey and I used to go to when we were younger. The orange one is from when Sabrina and I first became friends and that red one is the first sticker I saw with the world ‘Hell’ on it after coming back from, you know, Hell.” 

Caliban smiled at that one. “You’re odd.” 

You tilted your head and chuckled, not knowing how to respond to such a comment. You turned your attention to the screen in front of you, reading online articles assigned to you for your AP World History class. 

“What is ‘AP’?” Caliban asked, looking at the textbook that sat beside your computer. 

“It stands for advanced placement. It’s basically a college course for high schoolers so we don’t have to take it when we get to college and it gives us school credit.” 

“Sounds complicated.”

“It is,” you said, clicking out of the article you had finished taking notes on. “I think this while ‘Hell’ ordeal set me back because I haven’t been studying as much as I used to. At the end of the school year, everyone who takes AP classes has the chance to take a test that determines a score, which determines college credit.”

“You humans are so overachieving,” he commented, stealing a fry from your plate. “But I suppose being knowledgable isn’t bad.”

“Sometimes I feel like I put too much pressure on myself,” you confessed, your gaze back on the man sitting in front of you. “Like, does this really matter? Whether I ace or fail my AP tests won’t matter in the long run and it’s not like I can avoid going to Heaven or Hell.”

Caliban quirked an eyebrow, realizing that discovering the secrets of witches, Hell, and Heaven had left you in a turmoil that no one bothered to discuss. Sabrina was a witch and had accepted her fate on her sixteenth birthday. As for the other three mortals, they had some sort of lineage in magic that offered them solace. You did not. 

“Going to Hell really messed with you, didn’t it?” You didn’t want to say anything in fear of offending Caliban. When he wasn’t trying to steal the throne from Sabrina, he was a decent person, you thought. 

“Um,” you said, pausing, “I think it made me realize some things. I think those things are making me confused about the next step in my life and if what I’m doing is worth finishing.” 

Caliban looked at you and the various books, notebooks, and writing utensils sprawled out on the table. He saw your color-coded planner, binders that kept your articles and paperwork in place, and the dark tint underneath your eyes. That was all he needed to know. 

“I think you’re on the right path. From the looks of it,” he said, gesturing to the messy table in front of you, “you are so passionate and dedicated about learning and doing something with your life. Not many people can say the same. You have the advantage of knowing Hell exists and the second layer to humanity while others wonder about religion and faith. Use it to your advantage.”

“If I hear this correctly, it seems like you don’t want me to give up.” 

“I don’t,” he said, almost too quickly. “Your ambition to do well on your tests resembles my quest to become King of Hell. As I have found out another way to rule Hell alongside Sabrina, I think you’re going to find out what you’re meant to do in life.” 

“You’re starting to sound like someone who believes in God.” 

He chuckled. “God and angels exist. You know that now. I suppose you’ll have to continue praying to find out what He has in store for you.” 

You sat there, dumbfounded. It wasn’t too long ago that Caliban had been in the grand room, cursing angels and Heaven above out of frustration and anger. You and Sabrina had been waiting for him to finish throwing his tantrum before she could engage in business with him, so hearing Caliban talk about having faith in something that even he didn’t believe him gave you a glimmer of motivation. 

“I don’t even know what to say,” you said softly, fiddling with a pen. 

“Go out with me,” Caliban said. “To that drive in theater across town. You mentioned once that you like to go there when you’re stressed. We could forget about Heaven and Hell for one night.” 

“Okay,” you said quietly, earning a gigantic grin from Caliban.

As you were about to pack up your belongings, you heard a “Oh for Satan’s sake” from behind you and turned to see Sabrina rolling her eyes, already dressed in her cheer uniform. 

“Caliban, my clone and I are going to beat your ass if you hurt Y/N in any way,” she said in a sickly sweet tone. Caliban nodded, heading the message without much argument. You packed up your belongings and ran to use the restroom, leaving the two mystical beings alone. 

“I really like her,” Caliban said after a brief pause. “And I know you don’t agree wholeheartedly but I intend to prove otherwise.” 

“Y/N’s smart and won’t take anything from a boy if she’s not comfortable with it,” said Sabrina. “All I’m saying is you should watch you back should you ever hurt her in any way because it’s not just the Fright Club that’s gonna come after you.” 

Caliban gulped and watched as you emerged, putting your hair in a low bun before walking outside to go to cheerleading practice. 

“How does tomorrow night sound?” Caliban asked before you entered Harvey’s truck.

“Pick me up at six,” you said, pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. “And this time, please don’t teleport and scare me.” 

The boy made of clay laughed and promised not to, watching as you climbed into the truck and waved goodbye. He saw Sabrina give him an all-knowing look, but he was determined to befriend your friends if it was the last thing he did. 

Hell, he had an entire lifetime to get to know you. 

***

BONUS:

“Why are you looking at me like that?” you asked as Harvey and Sabrina looked at you. The keys were in the engine but Harvey didn’t bother moving, opting to look between you and the spot where Caliban had teleported to Hell. 

“I know he’s kind of a good guy now, but are you serious?” Harvey asked. 

“What?” you asked, provoking him. “Am I not allowed to be in relationships like you two?”

“I’m just surprised, is all,” said Sabrina. “I mean, you did hate him when we first met him.”

“Absolutely nobody messes with my best friend,” you said. “You two, well, the other you, is ruling with him peacefully.”

“What is he tries to pull a trick?” Harvey asked. 

You had to admit, that was a fair concern. 

“I don’t think it’ll come to that, but if it does, there’s no way in Hell, literally, I’m choosing a boy over my best friends. Who, by the way, I’ve been friends longer with.” 

Harvey seemed to like this answer and started the engine, driving back to the school grounds with you in between him and Sabrina. 

“I guess Hell really did freeze over.” 

***

taglist: 

@princessdolan @ashyramblings-ficrecs. 

[lady-divine-writes]

Rendezvous (Rated M)

Summary: Crowley and Aziraphale take a break from their duties in Egypt for some alone time together. (1143 words)

Notes:  Written for @whiteleyfoster DTIYS challenge, which was open to fanfic as well, based off this picture they posted.

Read on AO3.

“A-zira-phale …” Crowley sings, picking a path through the rushes growing high along the banks of the Nile, winding around the labyrinthal rows to the secluded hut his angel messaged they should meet. “A-zira-phale … where are you?” Farther and farther he walks till the drone of humans building and shouting and existing soften, fading beneath the gentle lap of water kissing the shore. Crowley strolls leisurely through blades that grow taller as he steps past (a little demonic miracle of his own) to better shield the woven dome with the faint angelic glow inside. “You said you wanted to see …”

Crowley ducks through the narrow doorway … and stops in his tracks.

The vision that greets him would arrest the heart in his chest if he had one.

He swallows hard in its stead.

“… me.”

Aziraphale smiles.

“Hello, Crowley.”

The angel doesn’t move an inch while his demon looks him over, basking in this moment he’s been eagerly waiting for. He has traded the modest clothes worn by the people where he lives for the kind of lavish – and revealing – garb that Crowley seems to prefer.

Showing too much skin and dripping in gold is how Aziraphale once described Crowley.

Showing too much skin and dripping in gold is what Aziraphale is now – bare chested; jeweled bracers binding his wrists and ankles so blinding he’s not entirely certain whether Crowley is attracted to him or them. The shendyt wrapped around his waist, pale blue like Aziraphale’s eyes, hangs longer than Crowley’s, secured at the hip by a winged medallion – just a touch of angelic vanity.

“Aziraphale …” Crowley sighs, yellow eyes traveling from the top of Aziraphale’s head down to his toes and back again too many times to count “… what on Earth are you wearing?”

“We’ve determined that it would be a bit difficult for you to blend in on the side of town where I live. So I thought I would try my hand at blending in on yours. For the afternoon at least. What do you think?” Aziraphale raises his arms and twists side to side to give Crowley a better look. “Do I blend?”

“Definitely,” Crowley says, his cheeks turning pink as he approaches, too afraid to touch Aziraphale in fear that he’ll dissolve into the sand - just one of a dozen dreams Crowley has had about Aziraphale that have yet to come true. “I could get used to seeing you like this, angel. You’re quite the temptation.”

Aziraphale chuckles, lowering himself carefully to the hard-packed ground. He extends a hand to Crowley, and Crowley rushes to join him. “Maybe I should be doing your job then.”

“No,” Crowley says, unable to keep his eyes off him. “You’re too good. Too pure. That’s part of what makes you irresistible.”

“Irresistible, huh?” And now Aziraphale's cheeks have gone pink.

“Yes.” Crowley reaches for him slowly, fingertips caressing only the air around his body for as long as he can stand not touching him. But Aziraphale doesn’t want to wait, doesn’t want to waste time they don’t have. He scoots closer, closing the gap between Crowley’s hand and his own. Crowley takes it – takes it and holds it like he has no intention of ever letting go. His gaze settles there, on their joined hands, fingers threaded, nothing obvious indicating that his is demon flesh and Aziraphale’s angelic. Here in this hut, in these forms, they’re simply men.

Men, dare he say, in love?

“Stay in my temple with me,” he whispers, pulling Aziraphale into his lap, bucking his hips gently so the angel can feel the hard press of him against his rear. “I can shower you in gold and jewels, linens as soft as your wings, fine wine and exquisite food …”

Aziraphale shakes his head, turns shy eyes away from the utter adoration in Crowley’s voice. “Oh, no. I don’t think all of that extravagance would suit me.”

“Why not? You deserve it, more than anyone I know.”

“I’m glad you think so,” Aziraphale says instead of admitting it’s mostly the way Crowley acquires his wealth that concerns him. Crowley could miracle himself chests overflowing with gold, call to him hidden treasures from all over the world. But playing the part of Snake God of the Egyptians, Crowley gets his riches from the hands of Pharaoh.

Hands stained with the blood of thousands of innocent slaves.

But Aziraphale isn’t here to judge Crowley. That’s not why he asked him to meet in secret.

“Do I suit you?” Crowley asks, chancing a kiss to Aziraphale’s cheek.

One to his jaw when he doesn’t object.

Then another to the soft, sensitive skin of his neck.

“Yes.” Aziraphale exhales deep, bends to Crowley’s kisses, silently begging for more. “Very much.”

Crowley’s lips pave a trail down the column of Aziraphale’s neck to his collarbone, each one signed and sealed by the tip of his tongue dancing over the same spot. But he stills at the hollow of Aziraphale’s neck when he hears him gasp – a sound that should fill him with unquenchable heat. The razor’s edge of desire. Instead, it spirals through him like a chill breeze, freezing him to the bone. “They … they won’t let me keep you.”

“Who?” Aziraphale asks with a sarcastic huff. “Heaven or Hell?”

“Either. Take your pick,” Crowley returns so sadly it nearly shatters the shard of hope burning in Aziraphale’s chest for the two of them.

“True,” he replies, matter-of-factly. “But we’ve never been big on following their rules, have we, my dear? Not when it comes to you and me.”

“I suppose not,” Crowley agrees, albeit unconvincingly. His lips don’t move again, neither to speak nor kiss. Aziraphale won’t have that. He leans back a hair to catch Crowley’s eyes.

“Let’s not worry about Heaven and Hell this afternoon,” he says, running his fingers down the length of Crowley’s spine, delighting in the shivers he uncovers with his light touch. “Not now. It’s only you and me here. Let’s enjoy the time we have.”

“And how should we enjoy it?” Crowley asks, struggling to break through his melancholy.

“With your arms wrapped around me, and my body so full of you I can barely remember where you end and I begin. Do you think you can do that?”

Crowley’s eyes, wonder wide, snap to Aziraphale’s face. They don’t make love that way. Normally they go the other way round. But Aziraphale has chosen this for some reason.

Who is Crowley to deny him?

Crowley smiles at his angel, love and affection lifting his cheeks, but with a hint of wickedness at the corners.

Of course, Aziraphale wouldn’t have him any other way.

“Yes,” Crowley says, working open the winged medallion, removing this symbol of Aziraphale’s true nature and setting it aside. “I can do that.”

[astrology-with-charu]

New Moon at 23º Pisces and 2022 Preview

============================================

New Moon in Pisces brings an opportunity to all of us to mutate, to change, shift, see a new perspective. The last two weeks of Virgo full moon brought up tasks to finish, problems to address, order to be maintained, health to take care of, responsibilities to cater to. We move from there to the opposite side to give the situation another perspective.

I find Pisces perspective always the end of the life scenario but not the morbid kind, more of if you were at the end of life would you be doing this, would you be holding onto this, would you be making enemies or showing compassion. Different perspective same problems. Adding color of love and enjoyment to life. Colouring daily chores, making an uninviting prospect into fun production.

Bookmark this post - http://emailabuddy.com/blog/?p=936

Try to give it an aim over next two weeks so you can seed this and see it grow over next 6 months. Writing, advertisement, marketing, service in healing, life coach, theatre, inspiration, art, music, drama, dance, video, telepathy, entertainment, love, care, devotion, deep sensuality, meditation, philanthropy, films, media, psychic signs, channeling, psychology, naturopathy, self development, volunteering, gardening, paranormal interests, hidden mysteries of life - so many ways to activate & honour this ethereal energy which would stimulate your imagination.

Imagination fuels invention right now, lateral thinking opens a door to something rational. Pisces sitting in between the Sagittarius south node and Gemini north node activates the need to balance the left brain and right brain. Things that seem like creative distractions or even self indulgence can help create specific oneness of focus and bring a much needed bend in the road much like a yoga session, meditation, a swim, emotive music or art does.

Venus Neptune Conjunct New moon

==============================

I will though warn on financial and romantic matters - we could be very much idealising some financing and romantic situations - no muss if you do it flexi Pisces style and stay open to possibilities of things changing. Pisces always see the world that should exist in our dreams cause they are here to create heaven on earth but we should remember this during financial and romantic declarations right now we could be walking thin line.

I always say with Neptune aspect Idealise life not people - idealise the life path, the synchronicity that got you to the right person the right time, the right money, value, creative idea at the right time. Idealise your life path not the person you meet on the path. He or she may not be perfect but your life path is - it’s giving you who you need in that moment.

Heaven or Hell

============

All dual signs have the superpower to create heaven or hell - they can divert their immense ability to change directions and situations to shift the current in either direction. Pisces archetype do that with emotions and intentions.

23º Pisces in Sabian symbols stands for “A Materialising Medium giving a seance” This new moon gives opportunity to each one of us to induce our vital energy to substantiate either our conscious ideals or our unconscious desires. If you feel you have a gift, a mission, a mandate in life - we all do - a gift that can be of value to community - you and me need to substantiate that belief with results. In the seance the medium gives her everything - her body, her energy, her soul to what she is creating. There is an underlying sacrifice of self always embedded in Pisces - Neptune life. People don’t acknowledge this fact too many times, but Pisces face many unexplained circumstance in life that don’t allow them to live on the surface. They learn this devotion to life’s meaning and have very clear knowing of life’s fragility. This is realism but not the kind Virgo archetype holds or shines on - this is realism of life - of understanding of life - the kind of understanding & clarity normal humans only get at the end of life of what really matters. Soul enlightenment. Now from that place - what would you create - what you give your life energy to, all of it. All consuming that will survive death of body.

Duality though gives us two roads - heaven or hell - constructive aspect leads to substantiation of a dream an ideal. Shadow aspect leads to deception - sometimes self delusion. What is the motive induced into your seance cause that would determine what we create.

You will seek something beyond your daily experience - we may not know where it is leading. Intuition and faith is a muscle and Pisces new moon helps us flex it strengthen it with a practice. Saddle of Pegasus the winged horse is what the star Markab is called at 23º Pisces. A steady point within us - which helps us go to bigger things - a steady force within you from which will come focused action, knowledge, learning and a new world view of service. We would look at old problems with new glasses, new prespective. We find our saddle in Pisces practices - yoga, meditation, swimming, art, fashion, creation, music, emote - all things that balance our left brain and right brain. That shake off the rigidity, opening our muscles, our body, our chakras - releasing trapped energy - inviting fresh energy of upcoming fire season - new vitality in each part of our body.

2019-2020-2021 : The bridge

=======================

I see 2020 as the bridge between 2019 and 2021 - most of the new moon full moon we are in process of right now - we went through those degrees of activations in 2019. Like this new moon is happening close to the degree of full moon in Sept 2019. So if anything was completed, ended, declared, announced in Sept 2019, you will get a new perspective on it now and you will make a different choice. 2020 changed the structure of our existence, the rules we follow of our life that help us decide the forward course. So when presented with similar choices, you would choose differently now.

2022 Next Cycle

===================

Neptune would go retrograde at this degree of new moon on 25th June 2021 so some of the idealistic quality of this new beginning will come for discoveries after that - there will be things we would be missing right now. Neptune retrogrades opens those blind spots to us so we have that coming and we should be ready for that. Some of the demystifying idealism is coming up in June - we would be a bit rosy in March but thats part of the charm of Pisces - live a little dream and creativity is killed if its bombarded with reality checks. But in financial matters know that we may not have the full picture.

Jupiter the planet of expansion is moving into Pisces fully after 28th Dec and it will meet Neptune at yes at this spot on 12th April 2022 which would be a outer planet meet colouring global events of 2022. This is a once in 166 years of divine cycle when optimism hits up our dreams and inflated expectations are very much at root of this cycle. We are seeding that cycle right now with this new moon so a bit of inflated expectations are in. But so are prospects for creative genius, compassion, inspiration, positive thinking, divinity. In 1856 when this cycle was last seen in Pisces - Sigmund Freud was born; Frank Baum the author of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz was born ...Robert Peary who claimed discovery of North Pole was born... I can go on... Nikolas Tesla was born - creative genius underlines this cycle which is about to begin in 2022.

But there would also be delusional leaders, bad intention false hopes and inflation which would come with this. Seeds of that also is being planted now in inflated expectations and idealism. This cycle has deep implications for change in religion and spirituality. Also on weather patterns especially linked to floods, hurricanes - the Last Island Hurricane in US which destroyed Last Island was part of last cycle as was a massive church explosion. This was also first year when the Third Party in US called “Know nothing American Party” fought elections. Seeds of American civil war were grown in this cycle as well back in 1856.

End of March - Mars Conjunct North Node

==================================

Mars will be in Gemini for 6 months next year when it would be making a hard aspect to both Jupiter and Neptune. Infact Mars would in conjunction with North Node end of March on 26th March. Words would be said. Last time Mars in Gemini Conjunct North Node was in Jan 2002 - Axis of Evil speech. So time after 21st March when Mars comes close to Rahu or north node and it goes out of bound, it would give us immense energy to get over our fears, its fearless strength which helps us go beyond our bounds but it also makes us go beyond our bounds in words - we can get a bit impulsive reckless and hurtful - be careful of that around 26th March and we would see that pan out in public sphere. World’s most famous whistle blower - Edward Snowden was born with this aspect so you know what I am talking about - we will hear about it in news. But I do expect another Axis of Evil speech from US on Russia with this aspect possibly. Words have power and force and they can be used for intellect at work or imbalance in world.

As I said all dual signs have super power of ability to create heaven or hell - for Gemini that super power is in words. Channel this immense superpower wisely during this time.

[halothenthehorns]

TLTNL- PROFESSOR UMBRIDGE

Harry knew he was supposed to be reading next, but he was reluctant to take the book from Sirius. He could already feel the bad beginning to the start of his latest school year, and it wasn't comforting he couldn't find much in him promising it would get better before it got worse. Still, with nothing else he could think to do, that yearning still present within him to learn all of his memories and be whole prevailed more than any 'feeling' as he cracked open his start.

Seamus dressed and was storming out the door the next morning before Harry had even found his glasses. He snarked as the hem of his robes vanished that Seamus must fear being around Harry too much will cause him to be a nutter.

"Is this something we should be worried about!" Sirius yelped, already trying to scramble madly away from Harry. "A little warning sooner next time!"

"Too late, everyone in here's already round the bend," Remus snorted.

"I resemble that," James snickered, while Lily wanted to protest but still had yet to deny any claims she hadn't begun dating James with all her sanity intact either so didn't press.

Harry rolled his eyes affectionately at the lot of them, he never grew tired of watching them poke fun at these things.

Dean tried to say he was just, but he trailed off without coming up with anything and so left after his best friend.

"I could never live with such a thing," Sirius gasped.

"Only because you always have to have the last word," Remus rolled his eyes.

"My point exactly," Sirius proved Moony's own point.

  Neville and Ron gave Harry, 'it's their own problem,' kind of looks, but Harry wasn't exactly consoled. How much more of this would he have to take?

Lily fidgeted with unease that none of them had an actual answer for him. What she wouldn't give just to know this all had to have a happy ending. What exactly had Harry left in his own time after all? Who's to say this didn't drag on for years to come, he had after all arrived clearly in the heat of some battle...and she both wished and was grateful she couldn't dwell on this more.

Hermione began to ask him what was wrong the moment she saw him, saying he looked- but cutting herself off by saying for heaven's sake!

"What exactly does that look like?" James asked as he eyed Harry.

"Sounded like exasperated, which he probably was already with Seamus' attitude," Lily sighed.

She was staring at the sign the twins had put up last night, only just now reading it and finding it a want add for test subjects to a virtually painless job for a little monetary compensation. Below this was a warning that all applicants undertook this at their own risk.

"Just what are they getting up to?" James demanded at once with an eager grin.

"Sounds to me like they're trying to find further test subjects than themselves," Lily arched a brow with trepidation. Testing it on themselves was one thing, but other people? She did suppose she could see the pro's of it, at least while doing this at school they could rely on Madam Pomfrey to fix any screw ups and it was smart to see if anyone other than themselves would have side effects before mass selling their things like they so intended doing...but still, this just felt wrong no matter the good spin she tried putting on it. Then again, she'd never looked into how most normal magical objects were tested and distributed, that was in fact a section she'd be coming to very soon in her work, so this could be interesting at least.

"I like that they put the warning directly below 'virtually painless," Remus snickered.

"Open honesty at least," Sirius said with absolute chipper.

She stormed over at once to take the sign down,

"Hey!" James yelped in protest at once. "Merlin she's as bad as their mother! Who's she to be doing that."

"A prefect," Remus reminded him like his friend had gone temporarily daft. "That really was stupid of them to just post in the common room like that, I am positive that is somehow against school rules."

Sirius kept going as if Remus hadn't even spoken, "I know, leave them to their own devices, it's not affecting her."

Lily really wondered why Remus bothered at some point, and by the look on his face, so did he.

snapping that they'd have to talk to them about this.

"Who's this they?" Remus did agree with his friends scandalized looks about that. "The sign was stupid on their part, but Hermione really needs to get a grip trying to drag Ron into her problem with the twins."

"I love that Moony always agrees with us," James smirked, while Remus rolled his eyes, and Lily just rubbed her forehead at her idiots.

Ron looked positively alarmed.

"I would to," Harry winced, "I've never even had older brothers, but the idea of telling one off sounds ludicrous. Let alone those particular two."

He demanded why at once, and she snapped they were prefects! It was their duty to stop this kind of thing!

"No," Sirius snorted, "your job is to pretend in front of the teachers to act like you're looking after the first years, and then go about your life like everyone else."

"I think Hermione needs to reread her instruction manual," James agreed.

"They didn't get an instruction manual," Harry frowned in confusion.

"Exactly," Sirius concluded.

Ron said nothing, but Harry could tell he would not be cheering Hermione on when this came up again. They were starting their way down to breakfast now as Hermione turned her attention back to Harry, asking why he'd looked so angry?

Ron explained for him Seamus had called Harry out about You-Know-Who.

"Why didn't you answer?" James said in surprise.

"I was trying to think of how to say everything on my mind, Ron just cut right to the chase," Harry said.

"Sometimes you think too much," Sirius rolled his eyes, he'd never had a problem telling his mates whatever was on his mind.

Hermione, who Harry had expected to react angrily on his behalf, sighed while telling them Lavender had said much the same thing.

"Really?" Lily's tone held full disgust. "One of Trelawney's little pets, who believes every ridiculous thing that comes out of that woman's mouth, has the gall to claim you a liar?"

"Of all the unbelievers in this, you'd think those of Trelawney's type would enjoy the prospect of more death and mayhem to come," James sniffed angrily.

"Think she'll change her tune the second Trelawney says something about it in class?" Remus grumbled.

"That, or she'll start disbelieving the woman," Sirius shrugged, now looking almost curious to see how this could play out.

Harry snapped at her if the two had a nice long chat about him then?

"Oh yes, I'm so sure you come up in between the pillow fights and manicures," Lily frowned at him. "Hermione's never shown to be on good terms with them, cut her some slack."

Harry did look properly chagrined for that, he had felt instantly bad for lashing out at Hermione.

Hermione returned calmly she'd in fact told her dorm mate to shut her mouth, and she'd appreciate it if Harry would quit jumping down her throat before hearing otherwise. Ron and her were on his side.

Harry looked even more glum now that he couldn't properly apologize to his friends like they deserved. He had indeed been taking every moment to rag on them and could properly realize away from the moments they hadn't deserved much of any of it. He owed his friends a lot, and not just for being there while he vented, very vocally.

Harry felt the awkward pause before he apologized.

Lily at least looked happy for the apology, but Harry didn't look any better, still feeling that growing ache more every day to see his friends again, to know that they were okay.

Hermione brushed on after the acknowledgement and instead brought up what Dumbledore had said last year.

Harry and Ron gave her a blank look for trying to remember such a thing while Hermione sighed.

"I feel like that's a very common occurrence we don't get to hear enough of," Sirius snipped to lighten the mood back up, and it worked as Harry rolled his eyes at him again.

Hermione launched into a replication of Dumbledore's words about trust and friendship making them all stronger when they stood together. Ron looked on in admiration how she remembered things like that.

"How does she remember stuff like that verbatim!" Remus went wide eyed in surprise.

"Hermione really is a gem," Lily could only think to answer with pure indulgence.

Hermione's response was just to say she listened, but Ron replied so did he and he couldn't recall word perfect speeches!

Hermione went on loudly over him,

"I really am surprised she didn't take the moment to rub it in," James rolled his eyes.

Harry frowned right back and said, "she doesn't really that much, considering how much smarter than us she is. She was trying to make a point, not let Ron distract her with an argument."

that You-Know-Who had only been back two months and was already causing strife in between their own houses-

Ron cut in to say Harry had said it best last night, no one was going to be getting chummy with Slytherins any time soon.

"We're not talking about Slytherins though, we're talking about people from our own house. Good place to start before moving on," Sirius sighed with some sympathy for what Hermione was saying.

Harry frowned at him in surprise, but then he reflected none of the Marauders had really made it a point to be Slytherin haters other than just the one outstanding student. If Sirius, who'd even had family in the house he was defending, could say such a thing, Harry wished he really had taken some more time at some point to look beyond Malfoy.

Hermione snapped she still thought they should try for some school unity.

Sirius made a face he'd said the exact same thing as Hermione, while James made the exact same face at him for it as well.

They reached the Great Hall, where a group of fourth-year Ravenclaws spotted Harry and huddled closer together while eyeing him, as if fearing he'd attack those on the fringes.

"You mean you don't!" James demanded. "Harry, what on earth do you do with all your free time then?"

Harry couldn't help laughing at their antics again, he couldn't seem to grow tired of watching them make light of this.

Harry sarcastically pointed out he would really be going out of his way to make friends with people like that.

"He's got them both there," Remus murmured in agreement.

They went into the Great Hall themselves, and still the first thing they noticed was Hagrid's absence.

Hermione quietly tried to offer that perhaps Dumbledore hadn't said anything about it was because he was trying not to draw attention to Hagrid being gone.

"That is actually impossible to anyone second year and older," James sighed. None of them had been on more than passing hello's to Hagrid themselves and they would have noticed a thing like this.

The boys didn't get a chance to respond as Angelina made her approach to Harry, asking if he had a good summer, then immediately rushing on before he answered,

Lily was already frowning at this act, it was like Oliver was back again already.

declaring she'd been made Gryffindor Quidditch Captain.

James's face puckered with disappointment again. It had obviously not been Harry, nor the twins or he was sure that would have been mentioned, who'd gotten the badge so that had left one of those three girls. Still, he hoped Angelina at least made Harry co-captain or something, he was really hoping his son would get this treat before he left school.

Harry congratulated her at once, thinking to himself at least her pep talks would be more stimulating than Wood's ever had.

Sirius nodded enthusiastically even as he bounced in place for excitement upon hearing of Quidditch again, it had been gone far too long!

Angelina thanked him before moving on to say they needed a new Keeper for the team of course, and practices were at five on Friday. She wanted to be sure the whole team could attend, to see how the new person would mesh.

"That's standard those, isn't it? I don't see why she-"

"Shhh!" James hushed his wife as Harry kept going with definite fondness, that was only a mask, as his hand absently began fidgeting again that still no one noticed as he was holding a lofty book.

Harry agreed at once, causing Angelina to smile at him before she departed. Ron at once said how good it could be to have some new blood on the team.

"You think Ron'll try out!" Sirius yelped with joy.

"He did get a new broom," Remus agreed.

"It's always a thrill to be playing with your friends," James smiled at the thought.

Harry felt the now familiar pain of a memory trying to tell him something for these comments, but he wasn't entirely sure as they seemed very mixed, so he had not a clue if Ron did or not.

Breakfast was in full swing by the time owls arrived, but Harry didn't bother looking for anything, no news could have happened that Sirius would send along in just twenty-four hours.

Sirius still frowned sadly while Harry couldn't see. He wished he was sending his godson daily owls considering the years he'd gone without regular correspondence, if only as a reminder to his pup there was someone out there for him, it didn't always have to be 'new'. It's not like he was doing anything in that old place anyways but moping about, why couldn't he be sending a veritable books worth of letters to Harry full of anything and everythings? 'Probably because it wasn't safe,' a Dumbledore like voice in his head pointed out, and Sirius was quick to stop thinking about that.

Hermione did get her copy of the Daily Prophet, much to Harry's disgust as he asked her about it while she paid her Knut.

James shook his head fondly as he still remembered Harry's first interaction with this and asking what a Knut was. His son had come a long ways.

Harry had unsubscribed his.

Hermione said darkly it was still worthwhile to know what the enemy was saying.

"That's smart, I'll give her," Remus said grudgingly with still plenty of despair.

She continued reading it all through breakfast until McGonagall came around with their class schedules, and Ron at once protested of their Monday! History of Magic, double Potions, Divination, and then double Defence Against the Dark Arts!

"I think I just died a little inside!" James yelped in disgust.

The only tiny speck of good Lily could find in that was, "well, least the worst of them should all be gotten out of the way early." When that did nothing to erase anyones disgust, even her own, she also tried, "and we won't have long to wait to hear more about that Umbridge. I'm still confounded of why she's there."

"I'd still be happier pretending none of them exist," Sirius groaned, he didn't need to sit in on that woman's class to even guess she could be any better than that other lot.

All of their worst teachers back to back! The twins had better hurry up with those Skiving Snackboxes, because Ron wanted a years supply.

Said brothers arrived in that moment, gaping in shock at hearing a Hogwarts prefect wanted any such thing as skipping lessons.

"Those ones they do," Remus crinkled his nose in disgust.

"Does anyone else smell a regular three day weekend becoming a habit?" Sirius agreed conversationally.

Ron showed off his schedule, and George instantly agreed that was worth something, then offered him some Nosebleed Nougat cheap.

"Why's it cheap?" Harry heard all four of them mutter suspiciously at once.

Ron at once asked why it was cheap with suspicion.

Harry didn't bother to hide his snicker as he continued.

Fred happily explained that was because you'd keep bleeding until you ran out, they hadn't found an antidote for that one yet.

"So how are they still alive?" Lily asked in genuine concern.

"Just what do they test them on before themselves to know this?" Remus agreed uneasily, as he didn't see the twins being so cruel as to go capturing animals to do this to, so what then?**

Ron had to deliberate for a moment before deciding he'd take the lessons.

"I'm not sure I'd come to the same conclusion," Remus muttered.

Now Hermione turned sharp eyes on them at the mention of those Snackboxes,

"Damn, it's extra worse cause they brought this up themselves," Sirius groaned.

and at once snapped at them they couldn't be finding testers from the Gryffindor noticeboard.

George asked says who, and Hermione said her, and Ron!

Ron at once snapped to leave him out of this.

"She really should have though," James agreed.

"Is it so terrible to ask for backup from him?" Lily asked honestly. She didn't think Hermione should be dragging Ron in either, but now she had, so Ron could at least nod along or something.

"It is if Ron doesn't agree," Remus frowned, "and he's never said anything for or against the twins and how they act, so Hermione shouldn't have been saying anything for Ron."

Fred paid her no mind as he began eating some of his breakfast, saying she'd be begging them for her own soon.

Hermione asked what possible reason she could have for that?

"She should know that answer better than anyone," James groaned in disgust.

"OWL's, and not the friendly bird kind," Sirius huffed.

George stated OWL year of course, they had their examinations at the end of this year. Their nose would be pressed to so many books, they'd be rubbed raw.

"Oh how I wish they were still joking," Remus sighed as he rubbed his nose.

Fred agreed many in their year had breakdowns because of the stress, Patricia Stimpson kept fainting.

"I knew a Patricia Bishop who had the habit of studying under the chairs," Sirius chimed in. "I don't understand how that helped her study, but she was never without her favorite study spot."

George agreed Kenneth Towler had come over with boils,

"Gavin Crowley actually pissed himself right before our Transfiguration one," James snickered in remembrance.

"I thought that was because he'd come running up because he'd thought it was Herbology that hour instead," Remus reminded.

Sirius whistled innocently, no one had ever been sure why the boy could get something so confused, and they never had.

before Fred corrected that was their doing with some Bulbadox powder.

All four boys snorted with mirth while Lily shook her head in exasperation at the lot of them.

George nodded in remembrance now, saying it was hard to keep track sometimes.

Remus opened his mouth, winced and shut it, but then realized Harry had seen anyways so managed to say, "our list was made once, extensively, as an end of year project for us. I hope the twins get to reminisce as well one last time." He finished by stammering just a bit, and Harry kept going a bit more loudly to try and erase the awkward moment for them even if he did truly appreciate how much they continued trying to tell him things about their past even when they involved that person.

Then George got back on track saying how much of a nightmare fifth year was.

"Seventh's still worse," Sirius forced out in an attempt to change the subject as well.

"My favorite year though," James stated with a dreamy look at his wife, at least momentarily erasing his own dark thoughts with her flaming red hair. Lily simply gave him an affectionate smile back.

At least, if you cared about results.

Ron recalled they hadn't, having only gotten three OWLs each.

Neither was concerned, saying their future lay outside academic achievements.

"Well they don't really need them, running their own store," James chuckled.

"I don't understand why," Lily was frowning at the number. "They're clearly smart, why so few."

"Clearly it was because they only looked for what they needed, and didn't try to learn every stupid trivial thing we were supposed to be learning," Sirius rolled his eyes.

"I envy them," Remus agreed.

They had seriously debated even coming back for their last year,

"How would they know what I was thinking?" Sirius asked innocently, while Remus snorted and muttered, "doesn't take a genius to know something you were saying since your first year."

since they now had- but George stopped talking abruptly at a warning look from Harry. George had been fixing to mention the Triwizard winnings Harry had given them.

"They're not that stupid," James rolled his eyes, "they'd know better than to be saying that in front of Ron and Hermione."

"Who knows, maybe they thought Harry had told them," Sirius shrugged.

So George hastily finished now that they had their OWL results.

"That was true of their sixth year though," Remus sighed in disappointment. "I really would have hoped they were better on the spot liars."

"Yes, but even running their own business, it would still give them just a little bit better of an edge to have completed school," Lily reasoned what she was sure the twins were doing.

Harry gave a laugh, and honestly had no clue why.

Fred agreed they had no need for their NEWTs, but they didn't think their Mum could stand them leaving school after what Percy had done.

"A travesty that still no one saw coming," Sirius said in disgust.

So they were going to spend this year doing marketing research.

"That's brilliant," James chuckled.

"Though they seem to have found already that simply making your own needs supplies their demand for others," Sirius snickered.

Hermione asked where they even planned on getting the gold for their ideas.

"Uhoh," all four of them muttered while Harry started flushing in embarrassment.

Harry did not look at the twins. His face felt hot,

"As subtle as ever my boy," James snorted.

he deliberately dropped his fork and dived down to retrieve it.

"No, no," Sirius looked appraisingly at Harry, "try fainting, it's much more dramatic and puts you out of the conversation just as well."

Harry gave him a hard nudge and tried to ignore his still flushed face as he kept going.

He heard Fred tell ask no more questions and she'll get no lies.

"And what is to stop them just lying, or not answering at all?" Remus snorted at such a departure.

"I guess they were worried Hermione would see through it, so they decided to be vague instead," James was still laughing.

Then the two left, but Ron and Hermione were still staring in confusion at each other as they tried to understand this. Ron even saying how they seemed to talk like they had this money, they'd bought him those dress robes over the summer but had never given any information about it.

Harry tried to hop topics from this dangerous subject by asking if this year really would be the worst yet.

"Subtle as drowning someone in your own cauldron," James still hadn't stopped giggling excessively.

"What?" Harry tried to defend, "it had just come up!"

"Don't even try Harry, you won't do any better in here," Lily smiled as the boys kept their shoulders shaking at his attempts.

Ron was easily distracted, saying how his brothers always went on about how important this year was, it defined the job you could apply for and everything.

"That's not entirely accurate, though it is the standard," Lily sighed.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked at once as what he found was a real change of subject.

Lily happily explained over the boys grumbling he'd find this out for himself later, "if you hadn't taken the classes you can still take the exams at the end of the year, but you have to do solitary study of three years of material all on your own. That way you're not entirely deprived of the job you want, but Merlin do you have to work extra hard for it."

"Hence earlier complaints of when this career advice happens," Sirius sighed.

They got career advice this year on all this at least. Harry asked what his two friends wanted to do when they left school, and Ron said he still nurtured the idea of being an Auror.

"I'm sure all boys think that at some time in their life," James said fondly, he was only just now growing shaky on his own idea of one.

Harry agreed at once, while Hermione kept herself vague, saying she'd like to do something worthwhile.

"Just what does she think of as worthwhile?" Lily asked with honest curiosity.

"I'm guessing something to do with politics, her and her views on everything," James said with only a touch of sarcasm that time.

Harry defended Aurors were worthwhile, and while Hermione agreed, they weren't the only worthwhile job. She even began speculating if she could go farther with SPEW...

James nodded as if his point had just been made.

Harry and Ron went back to their breakfast at once to try and ignore her, being successful until they made it to History of Magic, by common consent the most boring subject of wizardkind.

"Only because of the most boring teacher to have ever lived, and unlived!" Sirius groaned.

Professor Cuthbert Binns was the ghost teacher with a voice that had the effect to put anyone to sleep under any condition, let alone reading in a monotone over his notes. Harry and Ron had only scraped by so far by copying Hermione's notes when she was in a good mood, as she alone seemed the only person to resist the allure of sleep and kept dutiful notes as always.

"A truly magical talent in itself I've yet seen replicated," Remus smiled.

Today was no different, as Harry heard just enough of the giant wars to think this could have actually been interesting in another person's hands,

"Everyone thinks that at least a dozen times during their school life," Sirius agreed.

before his brain disengaged and he ended up playing hangman with Ron all class.

"Who won?" James asked.

"Ron, nine out of ten games," Harry sighed. "He kept using names of chess strategies and really stumping me."

Hermione shot them filthy looks out of the corner of her eye.

"You'd think she'd be used to it by now," Lily giggled.

As class ended, she snapped at them how they'd feel if she deprived them of her notes this year altogether.

Sirius gave a wild gasp at once, nearly screeching in Harry's ear, "is she mad!"

Harry managed to push him away in time to save his ear drum as the man kept going, "the only reason anyone survives that class is because of the few dedicated students who take the time to self study and share their own notes instead of listening to Binns at all! Hermione could be doing a real undermining of the schools system to be refusing to help this trend!"

"I'm sure some Ravenclaws would pin her down and steal them if it came to that," Remus reassured with backlit eyes.

Lily noticed, opened her mouth to ask, but Harry was trying to keep going while his hearing was still intact.

Ron at once snapped they'd fail their OWLs because of that, could she live with that on her conscience?

"Ah guilt trips, always a saving grace," James nodded.

She still said they deserved it, asking if they even tried?

"We did at first," Harry defended half heartedly.

"Though I'm positive that ended before you and Hermione even became friends," Sirius snorted, to which Harry didn't bother denying, more like it had ended in the first week.

Ron said they did to, they just didn't have her cleverness to keep up with him, go on and rub that in.

"I think that's the nicest thing he's ever said to her," Remus chuckled.

Hermione called that rubbish, though she looked more mollified as they went out into the courtyard for a short break.

"Compliments will get you everywhere," Sirius agreed wisely.

It was drizzling, so though most of the areas were crowded in a huddle under the school ledges and such, the three found a tree they could find some solitary under while discussing how horrid Snape was going to be on their first day. They got as far as agreeing it would be an extremely tricky potion to trip them up so soon back,

"I'm sure no one was arguing that point," James huffed.

when Cho Chang arrived, alone.

Lily's face brightened as much as Harry's for this happening again, though for an entirely different reason as she adored hearing about Harry's first crush. The boys just couldn't seem to find a reason to stop their laughing this chapter, and weren't trying very hard.

This was most unusual for her, especially twice in a row, as Harry remembered the agony of always spotting her around her friends last year during the Yule Ball lead up.

"Agony is surely the wrong word," Remus tried to say with a straight face.

"More like spectacle," Sirius didn't even bother as he finished.

Harry said hi at once, being mentally grateful he at least wasn't covered in Stinksap this time.

"There's the bright side!" James chipped in.

Cho was clearly thinking the same thing as she mentioned he'd got that stuff off.

"Did she expect him to live in it?" Sirius asked while Harry managed to nudge him even harder, trying to read as fast as possible now.

Harry stuttered out a yeah, forcing a grin like that had somehow been funny instead of mortifying, and tried to ask how her summer had gone.

"That's good, start casual," Sirius nodded, while Harry was now eyeing a pillow with deep contemplation as he forced himself to get through this.

He regretted the moment the words were out, as Cho had spent much of last year being Cedric's boyfriend, which meant her personal attachment to him had probably made her summer holidays as good as Harry's.

Then they all winced as that hadn't explicitly crossed their mind, but at least Harry's face returned to normal color as the boys stopped smirking for a moment.

Her face tightened as she began it was all right, but was saved from saying anything else by Ron asking if that was a Tornado's badge she was wearing?

"There's Ron, always managing to break awkward silence," Remus approved around James already snorting again.

Cho agreed it was, and Ron asked when? Since they started winning?

"Merlin, least my friends weren't this bad," James winced on Harry's part for Ron's poor choice there.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Lily rolled her eyes, "your friends are just as bad as you were." Remus and Sirius didn't even bother to pretend to be offended. Though she finished with pitying eyes on Harry, "but Ron really isn't helping there."

Cho gave him the lofty answer she'd had this since she was six, then turned back to Harry and said she'd see him around. Harry watched her walk away while contemplating throwing himself in the lake while Hermione rounded on Ron, calling him tactless.

"Least someone there has an idea of what's going on," Remus giggled.

Ron defended himself he was sick of people always just jumping teams to whoever was winning at the time,

"I do believe that though," Sirius nodded, happily switching topics to Quidditch much to Harry's relief.

it didn't make them real fans, but while Hermione snapped back that wasn't the point, Harry had to cut in over their bickering for the bell.

"Now there's an accomplishment," James laughed.

They didn't stop sniping at each other all the way down to Potions, leaving Harry free to wonder if he'd ever have a proper conversation with Cho that didn't end with him wanting to leave the country.

"I really don't see that one as being so bad," Remus said fairly.

"That's because we have comparisons of Prongs many worse times," Sirius reminded. "In most kids cases, that really wasn't the best."

"And what do you know about that?" Lily snorted, "you don't fall under anything resembling usual."

Sirius opened his mouth to retaliate while Harry cut them both off, he'd had enough practice.

It was of some comfort though, that was twice now she'd sought him out.

"There's the bright side," Remus nodded eagerly.

"More than Lily ever did," James said with a tragic look at his wife.

"Trust me Potter, you would not have enjoyed the reasons at those times I was getting you alone," Lily tried to say in a threatening voice, but everyone turned away when it came out too flirtatious so they wouldn't have to see James' face.

She'd been Cedric's girlfriend, so she could have every reason to hate him, that he'd come out alive. Yet she had definitely been looking in on him those past two times, with nothing resembling hostile...

"Hadn't even crossed my mind she'd think that," Sirius frowned at the idea. "You think too much."

"So you keep saying," Harry muttered, wishing his thoughts would be displayed a little less at least on this topic.

"At least your reasoning is sound," Remus said happily, "so I do agree, I think she's got a thing for you back."

"Yeah?" Harry asked with honest hope. The idea was certainly lingering in his mind, he just knew his crush on Cho had to go somewhere this year, but it really was only mild interest. For some reason as he gave a glance at his ring, nothing was sticking...

Remus didn't want to get his hopes up too much in case he was wrong as he gave a simple, "sure," as response, but Harry seemed happy enough as he kept going, even onto Snape's class.

Harry was almost in a good mood by the time the dungeon door swung close behind them.

"And that's really saying something," James snorted.

They sat in the back as usual, Harry able to perfectly ignore Ron and Hermione's huffs of irritation lingering.

"I think that's their version of flirting," Sirius muttered as he eyed the couple who were now holding hands.

Snape called for attention, which was entirely unnecessary as silence had wrung the moment he entered.

"I am convinced that's because they're all transfixed by the proportions of his nose regarding the rest of his face," Remus muttered under his breath, causing Sirius to snort.

Snape prowled to the front and began with a lecture on the coming OWLs. He had no hopes that everyone in here would earn an Acceptable, but those who failed in at least this task would suffer his wrath.

"Ooh, so scary," James rolled his eyes, while Lily gained a fresh scowl for the new threats against these children.

His gaze lingered on Neville, who gulped.

"Nice to change things up a bit," Harry muttered with disgust.

He warned that he took nothing less than an O for his future NEWT students, so this could very well be his final year with many of them.

"I have never wanted Harry to fail an exam more than I do right now," Sirius said at once.

Lily worked furiously, but couldn't even find it in herself to argue. James was the only one who felt disappointment for the statement, as he knew full well Harry would need that OWL to get into Auror training...two more years of Snape in one hand or his son's future in the other, it really was a nasty toss up.

His eyes rested hatefully on Harry, who had a moment to realize this was the last year he'd have to see Snape's face on a regular basis.

Snape kept going, saying they had a year before those happy farewells,

"What I just heard is, I don't have to care about this class for a whole year because there's no way in Merlin I'll be passing it anyways," Remus muttered while Sirius started snickering again, the back of his mind already waiting to hear Slughorn calling him out any second for these flashbacks he could appreciate.

so for now they still had work to do. He flicked his wand to the blackboard, where a potion's ingredients and instructions were put up for the Draught of Peace, an elixir that was supposed to calm anxiety and soothe agitation, though if brewed wrong, could cause one to fall into an irreversible sleep.

Lily smiled sadly to herself, thinking back to the end of their fourth year and how their fights had grown so bad over the years that by this point Potions was the only safe ground they had left. They'd discovered this one while doing a little pre studying for next year and had a fun conversation about how Muggleborns must have heard of this one at some point and how it wound up featuring in some of their fairy tales. Severus had made a few jokes about the ridiculousness of their so called cure for this...and now she just wanted to walk away for a moment and again feel the loss of that friend who was never coming back.

On Harry's left, Hermione sat up a little straighter, her expression one of utmost attention.

"She still does that eh?" James asked with mild disgust. "She does know by now there is no winning that man's approval, I know I tried all my life and-" he stopped as Lily released his hand to smack his head.

They set to work, and with ten minutes left too class, Hermione's attention was the only one who had paid off as Snape began sweeping around to see their work. Harry's smoke was coming out grey instead of the silver it should have been, while Ron's was shooting green sparks. Snape passed by her's without comment,

"A first for him I'm sure," Sirius rolled his eyes, wondering how much Snape loathed Hermione more than Harry for being so good when she was a Muggleborn.

to pause at Harry's cauldron with a horrible smirk.

"Ah the disgusting face of triumph I've had seared into my brain," Remus rolled his eyes.

He demanded of Potter what this was supposed to be?

"Butterbeer," Sirius launched at once as if he'd practiced by heart. "I'm thinking of starting my own brewery, and I'm naming it after you, Aarsehole Ale."***

"I would not drink that on a dare," James told him with a straight face.

"But it has some real potential for future carnage if bottled correctly," Remus concluded.

The Slytherins turned at once to watch the show.

No one in here could claim surprise even if they were all sick of hearing about this.

Harry tersely said the name of his attempted potion, before Snape returned if Potter could read?

"When it suits me," James clearly thought he was being smart.

Harry just glared as an answer as Snape told Potter to read the third line of the instructions given. Harry did in fact reread them, and felt his stomach drop as he realized he'd missed an ingredient he had not spotted from his spot in the back row through the haze of mist around him.

Harry muttered something about his hatred of such a stupid detail ruining his whole potion, while Lily was muttering something very similar about his horrid teaching methods. As if he'd never blown a potion in his face the first time he'd tried something new.

Snape prompted when Harry didn't answer if he'd done everything that was on that third line.

Somewhere in the back of his mind Remus found it genuinely fascinating Snape had known exactly what was wrong with the potion in such complicated steps.

Harry curtly replied no. Snape concluded in triumph then that made this mess worthless, using the spell Evanesce.

Lily's face was quickly flushing red with heated anger all over again at him utterly ruining Harry's attempt like this, what she wouldn't give to whack him upside the head with his own potion book for starters.

The boys were more unfazed by something they'd lived with through their whole childhood, even if they were itching to throw a curse or two at old Snivellus picking on one of theirs again.

Harry's potion vanished at once, leaving him with nothing to turn in for the day, while everyone else was ladling out their attempts for an actual grade. Dean's smelt of rotten eggs, and Neville was having to chip his out as it had managed the density of concrete.

"Yes, but neither of them are named Potter," James seethed with Harry.

Yet it was Harry who would be receiving zero marks for the day's work.

"I am surprised I detect a hint of caring," Sirius spotted.

"I don't actually like failing, even his classes," Harry grumbled, though his ire was less so than it had been in the moment, as he was starting to get the feeling this was by far not the worst thing to happen to him today, and that was somehow not leaving a good feeling.

Harry stormed out of class and his friends caught up to him with sympathy, Hermione pointing out Goyle's had exploded at some point and set himself on fire, Harry's was at least better than that.

"I accept this as the irony Snape deserved with lesser pleasure," Remus sighed.

Harry seethed down at his lunch that had never stopped Snape being fair before. Neither answered now, all three were aware Snape and Harry's mutual enmity had been set in stone the moment he came to this school.

"Which is at its most low of that man," Lily was still muttering threats under her breath, this wasn't coming out much more audibly. "Treating you like this when you've done nothing to him, just because of how his father acted, they are two people dammit."

Hermione almost sounded disappointed as she said she'd expected better of him this year, being in the Order and all.

"Oh such sweet delusions I never bothered indulging while I had the chance," Sirius sighed.

"Her optimism really is adorable sometimes," Remus groaned.

Ron rolled his eyes, saying poisonous toadstools didn't change their spots. He even wondered just what Dumbledore had on Snape to trust him, where was the proof he wasn't really working for You-Know-Who?

"In my doubts that you'll ever get it, I still won't swallow it then," Sirius sniffed.

Hermione said Dumbledore must have a very good reason even if it wasn't being shared with Ron.

"It would still be nice if he shared it, show why he trusted him, not even in detail, just-" Remus cut himself off with a sigh that most likely they wouldn't be getting any of this.

Before Ron had a chance to snap back, Harry snapped at the two to shut up!

That caught the others off guard as Lily said with a bit of rebuke, "Harry-"

"It was their third argument, that morning!" Harry defended, albeit more lackluster than when he'd snapped at his friends in person. "And just after Snape, I have limits."

"Sounded like you were used to it though," Remus sounded more puzzled than anything.

"You've had a bit of a short fuse lately with everyone," James agreed, "but mostly it's been coming off on them."

Harry had nothing to say to any of them, because he knew they were right. There was a terrible swirling feeling building in the back of his mind, and the moment he acknowledged how long it had been there it almost overwhelmed him right then. It took all of the self control he'd been having to learn so far not to let the memory sweep him whole, but something of all these bad feelings really was leading him to a very dark idea that involved this year... he was cut free of his thoughts by the words on the page thankfully grabbing his attention then, saving him from having to come up with a proper response.

Hermione and Ron looked offended at Harry's attitude as he kept going at the pair of them always having a go at each other! He left without another word, still mentally raging about how their constant bickering would drive anyone up a wall.

"I can see that," Remus said fairly, "though no matter how unpractical now, I'd suggest in future just walking away and letting them have it out."

"I usually do," Harry sighed, before perking up slightly and adding on for fun, "one time I timed it and they hadn't noticed I'd left for almost the whole weekend...though now I'm thinking I should have been offended by that rather than laughing it off with Neville," he finished still with a goofy smile in place.

"How long after the Yule Ball was this?" Lily asked, only just suppressing her own laughter.

"The next weekend," he didn't seem to understand her implied tone as he shrugged and moved on.

He made his way up to Divination alone, passing by Sir Cadogan but ignoring his usual attempts to start a fight from inside his painting. Thankfully he was distracted quickly by running into a wolfhound.

"A daunting challenge for the man, it should keep him busy for five whole minutes," James chuckled.

Harry spent the rest of his lunch alone at the base of the North Tower and was consequently the first to arrive into Trelawney's classroom.

"Harry, adding more torture to your life does not make anything easier," Lily groaned.

"Don't know what you're talking about Lily, this is usually a hoot," Sirius was already grinning in anticipation for the remarks to come.

Thankfully the teacher was going around and setting books on tables so missed Harry's arrival, leaving him free to wander to a shadowy corner that already had a book on it and be ignored for a few moments longer until Ron arrived. He had to look around carefully to find him, and had to wade around several chairs and pouffes to reach Harry.

"He didn't jump a few?" James demanded. "What do you lot do with your life?"

"Clearly nothing as spectacular as you," Harry chuckled.

He took a seat and immediately began to say he and Hermione had stopped arguing,

"For twenty minutes, or seconds?" Sirius asked.

"Certainly at least that hour, as she's not there," Remus shrugged.

"Unless he's still arguing with her in his head," James grinned.

but Hermione wanted the message passed along for Harry to stop taking his temper out on them.

"Thought that's what friends were for?" Remus demanded.

"That's certainly what Ron and Hermione seem to use each other for," Lily seemed to agree.

Harry tried to protest, but Ron said he was just the messenger, though he did agree it wasn't their fault how Seamus and Snape treated him.

"Well it's not as if he can say that to them," James sighed.

"Snape no, but I've got a few things Seamus could find, it's all the better they share the dorm, though that does limit some of the-"

Sirius was forced to cut off by Harry falling victim to Lily's begging eyes for him to keep going.

Harry didn't get a chance to reply to that as Trelawney began in her usual mystic voice, leaving Harry to dwell in still more annoyance, and some shame.

"Says something about your character you can feel both at once at least," Remus snorted lightly.

The Professor was continuing by saying how delighted she was to see them all back in person, as she knew they would.

James was already making pointed yawning noises.

She moved on into the lesson, saying their texts for this year were provided for them, and they'd be focusing on dreams. This was a common theme in OWLs, and while she did not believe in examinations to gage the uses of the Seeing Eye, the Headmaster insists upon setting such things.

"I do so love it when the teachers talk about how stupid the exams are," Sirius chuckled.

Her voice trailed off suggestively, leaving no one in doubts she found her subject above such things as common examinations.

"Not so much when she finishes on a high horse," Lily sniffed.

She instructed them to read the opening chapter on interpreting dreams, and then discuss with their partner what they could devine. Thankfully not being a double period, by the time they'd read their chapter they only had ten minutes to talk about dreams. In the table over, Neville at once launched into his most recent of a pair of scissors wearing his grandmother's hat had chased him around.

"I'm sure that has some deep meaning interpretations-" Remus began lightly.

"About scissors out to kill the world and his grandmother the supreme ruler of hats, yeah, I can see that happening any day now," James agreed.

Harry and Ron went back and forth for a moment of who would share the dream, Ron losing and finally saying he'd had some kind of dream about Quidditch last night, asking what deep meaning that supposedly held.

Harry's response was probably something involving marshmallows eating him.

Causing four collective snorts of laughter, James recovering from his laugh at once to demand, "just what the bloody hell is in that book of yours for desserts to be coming after you?"

"Oh, because scissors and grandmothers is so much better," Harry reminded.

It was very dull, looking up insignificant moments of your unconsciousness, and it did not help Trelawney's homework for them was to set up a month long dream diary.

"That's as easy as the last assignment I've heard," Remus chuckled. "In fact all I've heard from this class is make stuff up."

"I don't exactly have a wide imagination," Harry sighed, "I run out very fast and then get frustrated, while I know she must know I reuse a few things about dying. Probably why I've never gone far in that class."

"Yes, that's why, not because she wouldn't bother putting an interest in someone she has slated to die," Sirius cackled.

As the bell rung, Ron was already going off about the amount of homework they'd been set. Binns had given them a foot and a half essay over those giant wars, Snape had set them another foot over moonstones, now this!

"Ah the never ending complaint of homework," Remus nodded in agreement.

Fred and George really hadn't been kidding. He really hoped that Umbridge woman wouldn't set anything.

"If Moony wasn't above giving homework than no one is," James sniffed.

Remus gave him a wounded look as he demanded, "are you saying if she doesn't, I'll be replaced?"

"I'd fight for you," Sirius gave him a mock pat on the shoulder, "I'll take your lame essays over that pink cardigan any day."

They entered to find the woman looked even more like a toad squatting over her desk.

All three boys continued laughing at Harry's constant description of that, it really didn't grow old with how much sarcasm Harry infused into saying this.

They all remained quiet as they watched her and took their seats, not yet knowing what kind of disciplinarian she was.

Harry was starting to fidget uneasily though. He'd just had all of his least favorite classes back to back, and still this one felt the most foreboding of all.

She greeted them with a lively good afternoon, and received the standard mutters return.

She tutted them, saying that was not a proper greeting at all. When she addressed them, they were to reply with a resound good afternoon, Professor Umbridge.

Sirius was crinkling his nose in disgust at once as he demanded, "I really want to know which primary school sucked the life out of her! That's degrading to the first years, let alone this nonsense!"

Lily had some instinct to scold about proper manners, but stopped herself because Harry was really starting to worry her. He sounded more hostile to this woman he'd yet to have a conversation with than he had in all his times speaking of Snape.

She repeated her good afternoon to the class, whom this time responded with her desired greeting back.

"Not one of you got creative with that?" James pouted at such poor showmanship.

"Probably got lost on where to begin," Remus offered. "Such as, good morning Um, oh what was it again? Or even hem, hem, sorry had to clear my throat before I could get that out, there seems to be a frog stuck in there, or how about-"

"Remus!" Lily finally cut in loud enough over the laughing boys, at least trying to hid her own smile while he batted his eyes innocently.

She smiled with pleasure as she instructed them to put their wands away and get out their quills. There was a shuffle of glum as this order was followed, as wands away had never yet been met with anything interesting.

"True, but that follows in most classes," Sirius sighed.

Once desks were cleared except their parchment, she waved her wand to the board where words appeared:

Defence Against the Dark Arts A Return to Basic Principles

Harry stopped, mouthed the words again, and felt his bad feelings ratcheting up all over again.

Everyone else looked just as properly disgruntled for that statement, Remus muttering, "really, the teaching there has been inconsistent, but please tell me she's not going to be doing this for all students, especially the NEWT ones."

Harry could find nothing in him to argue saying otherwise.

She began by saying how disrupted this class had been with such constantly changing teachers, many of whom were not Ministry approved, therefore they were all far below the standard of OWL students.

"I think I'd already take Lockhart over this," James huffed.

"Speak for yourself," Remus grumbled. He had a predisposition to dislike her as well thanks to Harry, but nothing could be worse than that moron, right?

Therefore, this class would be handled with a structured, theory centered Ministry approved defensive magic. She commanded they copy down the following Course Aims: Insert the three course aims.

Lily's face was puckering with concern as she asked, "really, not that any of that is strictly a bad thing to be teaching them, but that was it?"

"Hopefully she'll adjust those in the fortnight, it shouldn't even take them that long to drag through something so tedious," James offered.

When everyone had finished that, she asked if everyone had their assigned books. There was another mutter and a few held their books up in answer, and she tutted at them again.

"Argh," Sirius snarled outright this time. "She's really going to insist upon that for every question. Even we'll start to run out of alterations for that stupidity."

"Best to start storing them up and only dishing them out when they're really needed," Remus agreed.

When they were asked a question, they were to respond with yes, Professor Umbridge, or no, Professor Umbridge. She repeated the question, and again got her desired answer.

She then asked them to begin reading chapter one, there was no need to talk.

Harry flipped to the beginning, but could not concentrate on it for a single moment it was as dull as Binns reading.

"I digress," James winced in horror, "even Lockhart had the decency to read them himself and keep up the stupid show, I'm sure that made it go by faster than self inflicting this dribble."

After several moments Harry realized he wasn't the only one not focusing on his work, Ron was fidgeting with a quill and not even bothering to gaze at the text but staring off into space, and Hermione had not even flipped open her copy.

That gave everyone in here a nice jolt of surprise. They'd yet to recall a moment where Hermione had directly disobeyed a teacher like this. Harry certainly found his interest spiraling back up even if it didn't erase his bad feelings for how this was going to end.

She was staring fixedly at Professor Umbridge with her hand in the air. Harry could not remember Hermione ever neglecting to read when instructed to, or indeed resisting the temptation to open any book that came under her nose.

"Well that part's not so surprising, I wouldn't even be surprised if she's read it already like all her others," Remus rolled his eyes.

"She must have some limit," James balked. "Even something as dull as that must stop her."

Soon the majority of the class was now watching Hermione's silent attempts to get their teacher's attention in far more fascination than the text.

"That is really saying something, one silence is beating out another," Sirius chuckled.

As Umbridge seemed to realize she could ignore this no longer, she finally called and had to ask for Hermione Granger's name, and Hermione asked about the course aims.

Umbridge was not impressed, saying if she read them carefully they were perfectly clear.

"Well if that isn't a bit pompous," Lily shook her head at that.

Hermione bluntly said back not at all, as they said nothing of using defensive spells.

They all shifted uncomfortably in their seat. They'd noticed this of course, but had been hoping it just hadn't come up quite yet...

There was a heavy beat of silence as all the students reread this for themselves, while Umbridge gave a trilling laugh why would they need any such thing?

"Ah, practice," Remus pointed out in a clearly 'duh' tone.

"Can we do some on her," Sirius was already muttering. Not a good sign if he was already initiating threats on this woman Lily noted, but she also just couldn't bring herself to rebuke him either, she'd been in this class for just a few minutes and was already grating on their nerves.

Surely they weren't expecting to be attacked during class?

Harry gave an awkward laugh for remembering a few instances of being attacked at places he never would have thought possible.

Ron burst out in protest they weren't going to be doing magic in here?!

She snipped at once for his hand before turning away dismissively as both Harry and Hermione did the same. She instead called back on Hermione, who asked the whole point of class was to learn and practice defensive spells.

Umbridge's tone was coming out more falsely sweet by the moment as she said that Hermione had no qualification to be saying what the whole point of any class was. Wizards much older and cleverer than her had devised this program.

All five of them gave a raised brow for that. At some point none of them would even be surprised if Hermione decided to teach the class, it would make more sense than half the choices they'd heard of so far.

They would be learning in a risk-free way-

Harry cut her off to point out being attacked wasn't risk free-

but she cut him off to say his hand!

Harry kept his first thrusted in the air.

"I thought it said you already had your hand raised," James reminded, his face somewhere between wanting to mock this situation and already realizing this was getting bad, fast.

"I put it down when I started talking," Harry muttered.

She turned away from him though, and instead called on Dean who finished Harry's point.

Umbridge gave a simpering smile at him as she asked who he expected to attack him in class?

"You're supposed to be trained inside so you expect it outside," Remus genuinely looked confused at trying to explain this, he'd never thought he'd have to, to a teacher of this subject!

"Is she actually arguing the point, saying she won't!" Lily demanded.

"I, she can't be that dense," James tried to deny, but at the bleak look on Harry's face saying his mother was right on the money, they all fell into a confounded silence as it really hit them just what Harry had been stuck with this year. Even their plethora of inept teachers sprinkled in with the few good ones had never gotten this bad!

When Dean tried to say something else, she turned and addressed the class plainly now. They had been exposed to very irresponsible wizards in this class, not to mention even a half-breed.

Remus couldn't even pretend to block out the sound of the, underserved in his opinion, protest around him since Harry was so vocally agreeing. He just wished they wouldn't as it wouldn't do any good. Thankfully as the woman wasn't present and all they could do was shout angrily about this, it didn't last too long, but there was no longer any doubt in anyone's mind. This woman had surpassed Lockhart already as worst teacher, and was right up there with insane Jr. as far as wanting to be kept around.

Dean tried to protest angrily that if she was referring to Professor Lupin, he was the best-

Remus had lost a couple of shades in fear of realizing he was so well known to the Ministry, never something a werewolf should be encouraged to do, but even such a comment as this managed to make him feel just slightly better. The kids had still thought he'd been better than Moody?

She interrupted him by pressing on that they had been frightened into believing they would be attacked any day now,

"Well, I mean, at some point they're not wrong," Harry muttered.

and the spells performed in here were often above their age and even illegal.

"And it happened to save a very important life, so this transgression was overlooked," James huffed, not particularly fond of defending the madman who'd tried to do his son in, or one of them at least, but that still felt better than agreeing with anything this woman had said.

Dean hotly pointed out even being a maniac they'd still learned loads.

Sirius literally applauded his logic, and no one could think of a good reason to stop him for a moment.

Umbridge finally snapped at him as well his hand was no longer up, before continuing the Ministry held the belief that a theoretical knowledge would be sufficient for them to pass their examinations and get through school, that is what school was all about.

"Oh yes, because after school you're just supposed to be a mindless drone to the Ministry apparently," James crinkled his nose in disgust.

Parvati took the chance and raised her hand next, being called on to ask that there was a practical bit to their DADA OWL. They'd have to use the spells then.

Umbridge dismissively pressed her point so long as they learned the theory, they could manage under the controlled monitor of the test.

"That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Lily yipped. "In whose right mind do you expect anyone to learn without hands on practice at some level?"

"Clearly this one is as off the wagon as Jr., but in a completely different way," Sirius felt repulsed at the idea as he rounded on Harry, "just how do you manage to get two insane people back to back?"

Harry was muttering something about how it didn't quite end any time soon, but chose not to really reply.

Parvati was incredulous the first time they'd use those spells was the actual test!

Harry finally shouted out what good was theory in the real world?

Umbridge finally looked at him and softly reminded this was school, not the real world.

"So they're not supposed to be prepared at all?!" James snarled at the same time Harry had kept going.

Harry rebutted they weren't supposed to be prepared for what was out there?

Lily gave a soft breath of laughter like the others for the comparison as the two smiled at each other, but it didn't quite erase how empty it always made her feel to see her boy already having to conform to any kind of war like mind. No, he shouldn't have to be prepared for what was out there, because she kept hoping there wouldn't be anything out there. No matter how naïve, she'd always wish for that.

Umbridge pressed there was nothing out there, who would want to hurt children?

Harry snapped at once Lord Voldemort.

All four of them shivered, though not for the same reason as Harry's classmates had just done. The idea of Voldemort inside their school, actually attacking their own classmates at the time had filled them with dread in their final year. Now Harry was having to experience the idea, two years earlier...

Ron gasped, Lavender Brown uttered a little scream, and Neville slipped sideways off his stool. Professor Umbridge, however, did not flinch.

"I'm confident it's more to do with her lack of a brain than any actual imbedded fear like the rest," Remus muttered.

She was instead glaring at Harry as she took ten points from Gryffindor and then turned to address the class again, speaking very clearly that they had all been told a Dark wizard had returned from the dead-

here interrupted by Harry shouted he hadn't been dead, but yes he was returned.

"I don't think arguing technicalities will help you right now," Lily shook her head softly even as she was watching the book intently, on tenterhooks to throw something at this woman for her son even if he was doing a superb job defending himself.

Umbridge cut him off by going on in an even more sugary voice that there was no Dark wizard. This was a lie.

Harry shouted back no it was not! He fought him!

Harry did not want to look back up at them as he said this with just as much force as he had to Umbridge. He did not want to again see the mingled fear and pride on them for this having been true. It helped to keep his eyes focused on the pages as he truly encountered his first person who was flat out calling him a liar, that wasn't just some other student. This was someone who worked for the Ministry, the government he should have been relying on to help him get people to understand this, not some woman who continued addressing him as if a naughty child about the worst experience of his life.

Umbridge set him a detention for the outburst.

No one could ignore it this time, Harry's right hand shook so hard the book nearly fell from his grip, the ghost of a burning sensation crossing those faded white words more intensely than ever before. Harry steadied himself though, and just looked on in confusion for a moment before forcing himself to ignore the moment. Whatever that odd marking of his was, it was clearly fixing to be revealed, but he just couldn't imagine in what conjuncture to this any more than the others.

She set it for tomorrow in her office, before going back even more forcefully the Ministry of Magic guaranteed this was not true!

"Because that makes it all better," Sirius' blistering tone was coming out more dangerous the more sugary Umbridge's tone had gone. Harry was already sure he would love to have put them in a quiet room together at some point, though it wouldn't have remained quiet long.

If anyone continued to fear this, please come speak to her. Now would they all please kindly return to their assigned reading.

Umbridge sat back down, while Harry stood up.

Remus drew the simple letter o out in honest anticipation to see how far Harry was going to go with this woman.

Everyone was staring at him, Seamus looked half-scared, half-fascinated.

"I would have taken anything over 'defensive of Umbridge,' so," Lily's nod came out in a jerky movement of some kind of agreement to this.

Hermione tried to stop him, but he took no heed of her as he demanded that Cedric Diggory had dropped dead of his own accord then, while ignoring his shaking voice.

James flinched at the intensity of Harry's tone, even as he sat forward in his seat, an ugly look set in place to hear the government disgrace away this death.

There was a collective gasp as if Harry had just spoken Voldemort's name again. No one had heard Harry speak of this except Ron and Hermione.

Umbridge returned in a flat, cold voice that Diggory's death had been a tragic accident.

Harry's voice snapped colder than any cracking whip as he forced himself to read out that lie. Though it truly was of some comfort to him he could feel the anger bleeding from those around him, the support and backup he could feel that hadn't been lacking from his friends per say, but they'd been sitting in more stunned silence than anything.

Harry shouted back it was murder, Voldemort had done it!

Umbridge's face went impassive then, her voice taking up its sweet, girly tone again as she called for him to come up front.

Harry did so with a violent kick to his chair first, so angry he did not care what happened next.

"I care," James muttered as his knee started bouncing with unease. Every gesture this woman had made so far just screamed he was not going to like what was coming next. Sometimes a prank wasn't enough to get his point across, and he could already feel this woman deserved far worse for whatever she was going to subject his son to.

By the time Harry got there, she was done scrawling out a note and sealed it shut with magic so that he couldn't open it, and then instructed for him to go give this to McGonagall.

That stopped Harry cold in surprise. He glanced up but saw they understood this no more than he had. What exactly did this woman think McGonagall was going to do about this?

Still, Lily managed to just find one bright spot in this, as finally Harry was getting away from her even for a moment.

He took it from her without saying a word, turned on his heel and left the room, not even looking back at Ron and Hermione, slamming the classroom door shut behind him.

"What I would pay them to start making it a trend and rally all the students to get themselves kicked out of her class," Sirius sighed.

Harry went storming through the castle for his head of house's office, his mind still a whirlwind as he ran into Peeves, who at once began cackling upon seeing him.

"I suppose there's a time and place for everything," Remus winced at that poltergeist.

"I find this an excellent use of our previous point," James' grin had turned a bit vicious. "We most certainly do need to learn to protect ourselves inside this castle. Why don't we have Peeves step inside the class for a moment to demonstrate."

"It certainly couldn't do too much harm to watch that Umbridge woman see the vitality of defensive magic being used practically," Sirius' tone held just one soft edge of a growl, while everyone was envisioning who would win in this fight against Umbridge and Peeves, and greatly enjoying the results right now.

Harry told him to get lost, but this only provoked Peeves further into breaking into song about all that Potter had done in the past.

"Should I feel honored I've gotten more than one song from him?" Harry grumbled.

"If I say yes, will it cheer you up at all?" Sirius asked.

"No," Harry said flatly.

"Oh, well then," Sirius rolled his eyes as he tried to act affronted, but mostly they were all sad Harry wasn't even playing along anymore. That's what being in one class with that woman had already done to him, they were all starting to become terrified of future results.

Harry roared at him to shut up just as he reached McGonagall's door. She shooed the poltergeist away, who indeed flew off with a raspberry, before demanding of him why he wasn't in class.

"All the flashbacks must be bombarding her at once," James said a little wistfully, at least he couldn't claim he'd ever been kicked out of class for getting into an argument with a teacher like that, it had always been intentional.

Sirius did perk up though as he pointed out, "though major credit to Harry, I don't think any of us got this accomplishment on our first day with someone new. That earns you major credit pup."

Harry still wasn't reacting, his mind too pestered on the lies that woman insisted upon, he couldn't think of anything past that for now.

Harry stated he been sent here, while McGonagall repeated his words in confusion.

"It means been given the golden ticket to leave class and come see the higher power, I'm sure you're familiar with it," Remus snarked under his breath.

He held the note out, and she opened her door to let him in. She walked around her desk before reading it, and then turning on Potter if this was true?

He demanded what in a still aggressive tone.

"Well don't take this out on here," James couldn't help the instant scolding that popped out of him, but he'd never hear of someone being disrespectful to his favorite teacher and react otherwise.

Harry's tone was finally edging out of hostile now as he looked around at James in surprise for the tone, before he quickly nodded with chagrin at his own actions, knowing he'd do the same thing to someone else he respected so much.

He quickly tacked on the word Professor to sound just a bit more polite.

Causing all the boys cackles to soothe back, at least they knew Harry meant it. They'd just had one too many instances of wannabe Death Eaters making some snide comment to their head of house for the reaction not to be instinct by now.

She began recounting the letter that had said Potter had shouted at Umbridge, called her a liar, and declared You-Know-Who as being back, which Harry denied none of.

Remus began chuckling as he saw a shining moment of James in Harry right there. Absolutely no shame or regret in those actions.

McGonagall took her seat behind her desk before gesturing at Potter to take a biscuit.

Causing all of five of them to do a double take in surprise before titterings of laughter broke out for such a comment being inserted. She really could always keep them on their toes.

Caught off guard, Harry took a ginger snap suspiciously as he sat down. This had happened once before where he'd been sure McGonagall would have his ear, but instead had invited him to join the Quidditch team.

"Still one of my favorite moments to date," James nodded with unease as he tried to guess where she could be going with this. "Surely she's not going to create something else just for Harry to join as a reward."

"I will come up to the school and hug her in thanks if so," Sirius snickered.

Professor McGonagall set down Professor Umbridge's note and looked very seriously at Harry.

"I'm sure she's had plenty of practice, all the times she's seen my face like this," Sirius nodded wisely, this one catching them so off guard James and Remus actually laughed for a second before remembering to smack him for that.

She began softly that Potter needed to be careful. Misbehavior around Umbridge would cause him more than detention and house points.

Harry tried to ask what was worse, but McGonagall gained back her usual snappy manner as she told him to use his common sense!

"That seems to get through to you best," Lily smirked.

"Keeps things serious between us," Harry said, giving an obvious look to his godfather as a clear way of apologizing for being snappy with him before as well.

Sirius took the opportunity in stride as he instantly replied, "I'll always keep things between us pup!"

The bell rang then, but McGonagall kept at her point as she said the note stated Potter was given a detention every night this week, starting tomorrow.

"But, Quidditch!" James instantly protested as he recalled Angelina's exact words about Friday.

Lily smacked him upside the head as she snapped, "priorities James."

"Did she have to set it for then," he continued quietly.

Harry cut in, horrified. Asking if she could do anything-

"Oh no, she couldn't," Remus frowned. "Dumbledore doesn't even interfere in those things, it's too undermining to the teachers."

"In this case, I think he really should make an exception," Sirius had his nose crinkled in disgust of what this woman was doing already.

McGonagall said back with no uncertain terms no she could not. He would do these detentions. Then she added for him to remember to be careful around Umbridge.

Harry burst in outrage he was only telling the truth!

"You were about Norbert too and still took that detention without such a fuss," Sirius tried to poke fun.

"This is far different and you know it," Harry sighed, clearly still not in a good enough mood to be poking back.

McGonagall gave him a stern glare back as she said this was not about truth and lies, it was about his temper needing some control.

"No to the first, but the second could use some work," James agreed.

"Learn to pick your battles mate," Remus disagreed, "I'm agreeing with all of that."

"Never quite seemed to catch that lesson," James shrugged without remorse.

She stood and was still looking down at Harry with disapproval as she told him to have another biscuit.

"Is that supposed to be a peace offering?" Harry asked, wondering at the insistence of these things.

"Just her way of trying to keep things polite," Sirius shrugged.

Harry reluctantly took another one as she asked him if he'd listened to Umbridge's start of term feast?

"I wouldn't have thought anyone had until Hermione proved me otherwise," Remus rolled his eyes at the question.

Harry struggled to recall exact phrases, before settling on what Hermione had said about the Ministry interfering at Hogwarts.

McGonagall held the door open for him as he left, saying that at least he listened to Hermione Granger.

"That really is hurtful," Harry pouted down at the final page. "As if I couldn't come to that conclusion on my own after that class!"

"Well, she's not wrong," Remus laughed as he held his hand out for the book.

Harry hesitated in giving it too him, that nasty tingling feeling still hadn't left the back of his hand where the faint white scars were, and he was really starting to dread learning the meaning of those.

HPHPHPHP

*I know I pointed this out in the last book, but the inconsistency still stands so I'm going to keep doing it. September 2nd 1995 was a Saturday, not a Monday.

**I've actually really been annoying myself I can't think up an answer to this. Did they really figure this out on themselves, and so then who fixed them up? Couldn't have been Molly, she'd question a never ending nose bleed. Of course they could have been exaggerating the whole shrivel up thing, but I still think Molly would question this too much, that's not just 'dueling'. My point stands I can not picture them doing this to random animals, so...?

***Suggested insert by a new friend of mine, Alice October, thanks for the ever loving sarcasm, which you know is my favorite.

[ncitytheories]

⟨ether and water⟩

my theory on ether and its symbolism in the nct universe and how it connects nct subunits to one another, explains how the dream lab operates, and how nct affects reality through dreams

what is ether?

that's a great question with about six different answers

ether used to be used as anesthesia (a substance that leaves patients numb while conscious). it has been replaced with safer chemicals as it can be a dangerous substance

chemically, ether is a class of organic molecules that contain one oxygen bonded with two carbon atoms. most ethers are hydrophobic, colorless, and highly flammable in their gaseous state

historically ether was once thought to be a “highly elastic substance formerly [that permeated] all space, including the [space] between the particles of matter, and to be the medium whose vibrations constituted light and other electromagnetic radiation.” in simpler terms: a substance that was colorless, massless, and undetectable substance that transported light and sound waves. it was also considered the fabric of our universe

ether (also spelled aether or æther) in terms of mythology was believed to be what made up the air the gods breathed and what heaven was made up of. it was thought to be the regions beyond the clouds, above the terrestrial world. aether is also a primordial deity and the personification of the upper sky

spiritually, ether is a part of the five elements (ether, air, fire, water, earth) and represents “space” and the essence of emptiness of which all other elements exist

nct describes ether as a filtered wave from the sea of unconscious that acts as a “a limitless medium and can connect dimension to dimension, people within people, [and] emotions within emotions.” they claim to infinitely spread ether throughout their journeys

nctmentary episodes one through five

in the first nctmentary we see what we presume to be a bead of water floating in the air. however, i believe this is ether. the bead does not act like how water acts, as it warbles in the air and the way it seems like an oil (a hydrophobic substance); as it reshapes and spreads, colors and color schemes similar to some nctmentary scenes and many scenes from punch are reflected on its surface. we also see nct members (later revealed to be renjun and chenle) mimic the creation of adam painting and ocean waves appear. ether is the space in which everything exists and is created; this ties together nct ability of creation in their dreams

in the second nctmentary winwin says “i see waves in the dream” as he sees waves crashing through the window of a destroyed brick building. later in this nctmentary, we see the same waves appear in the washing machine jaehyun is using; the waves recede to reveal mark holding two bags of liquid, more than likely ether, which drop to the ground. as the bags drop, mark discusses connections between people, which ether can facilitate, further solidifying the idea that the bags are full of ether

we see mark drop one of the bags down a tree in the third nctmentary. nct’s dreams are said to be “connected like the branches of a tree” so it can be assumed that mark is spreading the ether down the tree to other branches and members of nct. later we see renjun and chenle discuss their connection as the image of outer space appears on screen and is quickly replaced with what looks like the same waves winwin saw in the window

in the fourth nctmentary, johnny is talking about connections he has made with people as mark reaches out to the camera and a drop of colorless liquid falls into winwin’s glass. winwin is presumably in a completely sealed room with a concrete ceiling; mark would have needed a non-physical way to connect to winwin to send him the drop as a signal, which is why the liquid must have been ether. we also see similar rippling imagery around lucas’ face to the backgrounds in punch, both of which are reminiscent of how a liquid moves and how the (assumed) ball of ether moved in nctmentary episode one. closer to the end of the video, johnny begins talking about the lack of limitation in the dream lab and water the same color as the waves winwin saw bubbles on screen

finally, in the fifth nctmentary, we see jisung walk out of a sideways ocean onto a plank that is perpendicular to the world; during this, kun is discussing his experience of “dreaming… a dream in a dream.” in the latter parts of the video we see jeno and jisung looking at glasses of a clear liquid that suspend rocks with the message “wake me up” transcribed on them. we also see these rocks in the japanese version of nct 127′s limitless

deeper analysis

we know nct’s dreams affect reality; its why the dream lab was created. “this DREAM LAB is created to break the limits of reality and bring the dreams into reality” (nctmentary episode 5, mark’s narration). however, there needs to be a way to influence reality through dreams and ether is a “limitless medium” that can connect “dimension to dimension,” so the dream lab must be able to manipulate ether to conform to nct’s dreams and bend the rules of reality

in the past & future - ether video, there is a distinction made between the ‘conscious’ and ‘unconscious’ worlds; ether transcends dimensions (worlds) and that is how nct affects reality through their dreams. as nct dreams of new journeys, they spread ether throughout the unconscious world (dream) which seeps into the conscious one (reality)

music videos [overview]

certain music videos also show nct’s connection through clear liquid, which i believe to represent ether. ether in its liquid form is seen most obviously in wayv’s moonwalk and turn back time, nct 127’s simon says and superhuman, nct dream’s we go up and boom, and nct u’s yestoday, without you, and from home. all of these videos have a large amount of water in them or have a glass of clear liquid in at least one scene. i believe this imagery is a piece of what connects all subunits to one another, how the units communicate to each other, and how the units affect the nct universe

disclaimer !! this is not a full theory and is to be added onto and altered, also i’m pretty sure none of this has been confirmed by sm, so take it with a grain of salt <3

[yourdeepestfathoms]

We All Still Die (part one)

[The Walking Dead/Zombie Apocalypse AU]

Word count: 2181

TW: Blood

-------------------------

-Fresh-

Aragon isn’t really awake yet. She never is until at least her second cup of coffee, and she hasn’t even had one. She doesn’t have that luxury anymore, really. 

She’s having a hard time getting her eyes to focus in the prickling grey-orange sunlight bleeding down from the setting sun, but it certainly looks like there’s a man near that tree up ahead, crouched down on all fours, gnawing at a leg.

A human leg. Definitely. It’s still wearing a sneaker. And a sock.

The man gnawing on the human leg suddenly stopped chewing, as though some sound had disturbed him. He slowly looked up from his meal. His eyes didn’t blink, and they seemed to be too large for his face. His mouth hung open. Drool and blood trailed down his chin.

She heard about the outbreak in London. Of course, at the time, she hadn't thought it was as serious as the eleven o’clock news made it out to be. They get hysterical about everything. A couple of inches of snow, and it’s THE SNOWPOCALYPSE. She can’t really be blamed for putting their ZOMBIEPOCALYPSE warnings in the same category. Boy who cried wolf, right?

But it seemed the newscasters were at least a little right, because it’s been half  a year since the disease went viral and there’s a zombie chowing down on a human leg just a few yards away from her.

Damn, she really missed her coffee machine.

She caught a glimpse of movement out of the corner of her eye, and a herd of at least ten more zombies came staggering around the bend in the woods. They were covering ground pretty steadily. Faster than most would have expected.

The zombie with the leg saw them coming. He rose from his crouch, teeth bared, leg in hand. Some of the zombie herd moved towards him (herd? is that the right word? maybe a flock? a decomposition of zombies? an infestation, perhaps? anyway.…) and they start a messy tug of war with the leg, mostly using teeth.

Others look around for different prey. One goes for a squirrel. Some seem to be eyeing the tree Aragon was sheltered in, though she’s covered by enough leaves that she doesn't think they can actually see her.

Still, this is really not good. The herd may not be that big, but they’re closer to her camp than she would be comfortable with. She would have to take them out quietly and carefully without attracting anymore that may be lurking around.

And then, there was a gunshot.

One of the Walkers crumpled to the ground from a bullet in its knees. The others whipped their head around to the tree where the green-clad gun wielder was perched precariously with a pistol in hand.

  “Anne!!” Aragon barked in frustration.

The woman, Anne Boleyn, leapt down from her tree and sliced off the nearest Walker’s head with a sword she had apparently stolen from a museum when the world went to shit. She flashed a smile at Aragon before going for another.

Good grief. Well, at least she could count on Cleves to listen to orders.

  “Take that, you stank ass BITCH!!”

Nevermind.

Cleves stabbed her machete deep into the skull of a Walker that was missing its right arm. She yanked it out with a glorious spray of dark red blood, then whipped around to embed the blade into the temple of a second, piercing its brain and killing it once and for all.

Aragon sighed heavily, watching the two idiots slash away at the Walkers. While their method of attack was effective, it was dangerous and very loud. The whole point of the rule “no call outs” was to keep from attracting any other zombies. Same for using guns unless they were absolutely needed. Not that she expected Anne and Cleves to ever understand that when they were paired together. That was exactly why she was basically having to babysit them on this scouting and hunting trip.

With another sigh, Aragon raised her crossbow, aimed, and put a bolt between a nearby Walker’s eyes.

  “Bullseye!” Anne cried, throwing her arms up in the air. “Good job! Ten points to Catalina!”

Aragon exasperatedly rolled her eyes. “Will you--” Her breath caught in her throat. “ANNE, BEHIND YOU!!”

Anne whipped around and screamed as a Walker lunged for her, hands grabbing, eyes rolling, teeth snapping, ready to take a bite out of its prey--

--but then something smashed into the back of its knees and it tumbled to the ground. Much stronger jaws clamped around its head and ripped off a large, dripping chunk. Parts of the brain came with it.

  “Eyy!” Cleves cheered. “Good boy, Pixie!” She rubbed the top of the brown and white pit bull’s head. “Good boy! Such a good boy!” She shot a smirk at Anne. “Once again, Pixie saves your ass.”

  “Oh, pssh,” Anne said dismissively. “I knew it was there. I was letting him take it down for me! To motivate him!”

  “Uh huh,” Cleves nodded and then laughed.

Aragon climbed down from her tree and approached the two. They both were already prepared for the lecture she had sitting on her tongue.

  “We go for the head, Anne,” Aragon said. “You know that.”

  “I do.” Anne nodded. “I’m just a shit shot.” She gave her gun to Aragon, who confiscated it with a sigh. “But hey! Look! We got them all, and with no bites!”

  “I know,” Aragon said. “There was a lot this time. The most I’ve seen in awhile.”

  “I’m sure it’s okay,” Cleves said. “We can handle them.”

Aragon looked at her, then nodded. She scanned the area quickly.

  “We should be heading back,” She said. “Anne, you still have the rabbits, right?”

Anne held up the five hares she had tied to her belt. “Yup.”

  “Good. Let’s get away before anymore muertos show up.”

  “Muertos,” Anne echoed as Aragon led them back to the camp. “Is that really what we’re calling them?”

  “Or Walkers,” Aragon said. “That’s what most people call them.”

  “Is that ‘dead’ in Spanish?” Anne said. “Muertos?”

  “It is.”

  “What’s it in French?” Cleves asked.

  “Morte.” Anne answered. “What about German?”

  “Tot.”

Anne laughed loudly. “We are definitely not calling man-eating zombies ‘tots’!”

  “You asked!”

It wasn’t long before their camp rose up from the thicket. The ski lodge was a safe haven up on the hill, an island cloud of heaven above a world turned to hell. It’s been their base for three months now, when the group first reconciled, and Aragon was hoping to keep it that way.

Firelight could be seen glowing from the cracks between the boards put up against the windows. The planks were a necessity, as they had all seen Walkers easily smash through glass. Whether wood would hold against the strength of the undead was unknown as of right now, not that anyone was eager to find out.

A young woman was up on the abandoned ski lift when they arrived, but instead of keeping watch with her sniper rifle, she had her head buried in her journal, writing away.

  “Cathy, what have I told you about writing while on watch?” Aragon said.

  “It’s...an efficient use of my time?” Cathy guessed with a mischievous grin.

  “It distracts you,” Aragon corrected. “And writing in the dark no less.”

Cathy squinted up at the sky. “But the sun is just starting to set!”

  “Ah, ah,” Aragon tutted. “Come on, now. Dinner is going to be made soon. You can take a break for now--although you’ve technically already had one.”

Cathy and Anne giggled.

Aragon walked into the ski lodge, the bell on the front door signaling their arrival. The smell of roasting meat wafted throughout the building, meaning Maria had already started cooking. A soft tune from a record player set a sort of ease upon the base.

  “They’re back!” Kitty squealed, leaping up from the couch. She ran over and hugged each of them, then gave Pixie a vigorous petting. “No bites?”

  “No bites.” Anne said.

Kitty nodded in approval, then went back to petting Pixie.

  “How was it out there?” A sweet voice like an angel’s asked.

Aragon looked forward and couldn’t help but smile when she saw the woman walking over to them. Jane always managed to make her heart flutter and her knees feel weak, no matter if it was the first or hundredth time she saw her that day.

  “Fine,” Aragon said. “We ran into some muertos, but nothing we couldn’t handle.” She decided to keep out Anne’s shitty shooting and the loudness of their process of killing the Walker. She kissed Jane, then leaned down to kiss her stomach as well, eliciting a giggle from her girlfriend. “And how are you both?”

  “We’re splendid,” Jane said, gently rubbing her belly. She was currently four months into her pregnancy and if Aragon wasn’t worrying about the Walkers, then she was worrying about that. Jane found it incredibly endearing.

  “That’s good,” Aragon smiled. “I’m glad Jane Jr. isn’t causing her Mama any trouble.”

Jane laughed loudly. “Jane Jr.? Really?”

  “Yes! Named after the greatest woman on earth!” Aragon proclaimed.

  “I didn’t realize I was a mirror,” Jane mused, making Aragon’s ears flame red.

  “GOD, you two are SO GAY.” Anne yelled loudly before kissing Cathy passionately.

Aragon rolled her eyes in amusement. Jane laughed again, then sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace. Aragon sat next to her, carefully rubbing her stomach.

  “It’s not going to jump out and bite you.” Jane teased. She took Aragon by the wrist and moved her hand to rub the bump more firmly. “They won’t feel you if you do it so softly.”

  “I don’t want to hurt you.” Aragon said.

  “You won’t, silly.” Jane nudged her. “Oh, and by the way, we are not naming them Jane Jr.”

  “What?” Aragon gasped in horror, making Jane laugh again. “Jane Jr. is a perfect name!”

  “But I’m Jane.” Jane said. “Besides, what if it’s a boy?”

  “Then we name him Ezekiel or something.” Aragon replied breezily.

  “Absolutely not.”

They both laughed. Such an action was sometimes hard to do in the middle of an extinction of the human race, so Aragon always cherished these little moments they were able to have.

  “Dinner!” Maria called.

  “Coming!” Aragon called back. “Here, let me help you up--”

But Jane was already on her feet. She smiled at Aragon fondly. “You gentlewoman.” She said. “But I’m not helpless.”

  “Just taking precautions!”

They walked over to the dinner tables, where everyone was already seated. Anne was retelling her amazing victories in the forest to Cathy, Maggie, and Kitty, while Maria was passing out bowls of stew and Cleves was refilling Pixie’s food and water dishes. Aragon and Jane sat down.

  “It smells amazing, Maria,” Jane said.

Maria smiled. “Thank you! I try my best with limited supplies. Those hares will make an amazing breakfast tomorrow, by the way.”

They all began to eat, savoring the meal, as they did with all of the ones Maria cooked. Food was getting harder and harder to come by nowadays, so they all made sure to be grateful with whatever they got to eat.

Cathy was the first to finish and went out to the balcony to scout the forest below for a moment. When she came back, her features were firm and forced, but her stride was fast, like she was anxious to get away from something.

  “There’s a Walker out front,” She said, and that was enough to send everyone into a panic.

  “What?” Kitty squeaked, cowering in fear.

  “How many?” Aragon asked.

  “One, that I could see,” Cathy answered. “But it’s pretty dark out there.”

  “I’ll go check it out,” Anne said, removing her sword from its sheath on her back.

  “I’ll go, too,” Cleves said, then whistled for Pixie to follow her.

  “Be careful!” Aragon called after them.

Jane went around to Kitty and hugged her. Aragon noticed that the poor girl was shaking- she always had a more intense fear of Walkers and Aragon wasn’t sure why. She just assumed it was from Kitty’s young age. Being eleven in the zombie apocalypse couldn’t possibly be easy.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart,” Jane murmured sweetly. She pulled Kitty into her lap and began to rock her soothingly. “Cleves and your big cousin are going to take care of it, okay?”

  “B-but what if they--”

  “Shh,” Jane kissed Kitty’s forehead. “They’ll be just fine. Anne is as tough as nails, you know that? She would never leave you alone, I promise.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Aragon noticed Maggie shifting anxiously. She looked as worried for her best friend as Kitty was. Aragon walked over and wrapped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

  “O-okay,” Kitty whispered, then nodded. “Y-you’re right. Nothing is wrong. Everything is okay.”

And then Cleves and Anne burst through the front doors, eyes wide, faces pale, and a limp child clutched in Cleves’s arms.

  “Jane!” Anne cried, “Get your medical supplies!!”

[poeticwritingblog]

David

He did not know why he summoned the poem, but it raced inside his mind-

 Journey and then journey

The sons created by a god

from a distant earth

Created by alien elements,

a borrowed fire

A world cold and barren

filled with light

From alien gods against

The God

 Then, leave and take

the fires,

Gods leave their son

To leave man

Unto the world

of infinite winter

 Made into mindless beasts

Expanding upon their creator’s mistakes

Harness the terrain of the ice world

To be artificial gods to create artificial paradise

And they wait scarred

in silent hatred

 And soon one night

the old gods return

In their ships of iron

to sail the skies

To find new heavens,

they journey endless nights

 Gone far in the new world

The beasts watch in silence

They watch to reclaim their fire

Then, through the madness of time

across black continents

The old gods fall

To admit their mistakes

 He hesitated to finish:

 To Creations of creations

For men to journey from heaven to be gods

Is suicide for their species;

who knew gods can burn

from their own fires?

 (Poem ends)

 He sat there alone in silence.

He was the only member left on the ship. His crew somehow vanished without a trace leaving the room empty, the planet empty.

On the side of the walls lay cryo-pods that haven’t been used in a very long time.

He shivered now with sinister anticipation. Perhaps that shivering had summoned something else other than the poem…

His body twinged. His teeth grit with wild eyes.

The static shivered ever so softly.

He rushed to the radio, to answer it.

The radio...shrieked.

He jolted up and back, he fell to the floor and scurried against the wall.

He cried out:

“Who’s there!”

The static spoke again.

“Who’s there!”

He wanted to reach out, he did reach out and his hands cramped from the cold, knocked the microphone down. It fell from it’s cradle once it spoke again.

“Who are you?” he said so softly, warming his hands, the microphone at his feet.

“There’s no one here but me”

For after all, he was alone in a room in a broken ship, the only living thing on this planet. He ruled in the kingdom of hollow hills...

And yet the radio…

“...David...are you there…”

Someone called his name. It can’t be…

No. Something buzzed and made a noise of scraping metals in far snowlands.

David? He thought. That’s me…Someone out there knows who I am!

Who could be calling his name out there? It could be someone lost like him, someone he knew before. Could it be-

“David,” said the static. “David. Come in, David”

“Yes, here I am!!” cried the captain.

And he kicked the receiver and heart palpitating, panting, to put the microphone back on it’s cradle.  

This time he clenched it, choked it, seeing red fingers burning away to white, anxious and quickly plucked the receiver.

“David,” said a far voice from nowhere.

He waited until his heart slowed pumping his chest thrice and then said:

“David here,” he said.

The voice this time sounded a little closer. “Do you know who is speaking to you?”

“This is first transmission I’ve received in months and this is what you say?” said the captain.

 “Of course you wouldn’t recognize your own voice through your headphones. Don’t blame yourself for it. We are accustomed, you and I, to hearing other frequencies, and the bones in your head hear different when you are conducted through a device other than yourself. Well David, this is David speaking.”

 “What?!”

 “Who did you think it was?” asked the voice.

“Another ship lost in space? Did you think someone will find you here?”

 “Of course not.”

 “How’s your crew?”

 “They disappeared.”

 “Good Lord. All gone! Have you been waiting that long for your crew to appear out of nowhere to take you back?”

 He didn’t understand.

 “Now, captain, do you remember me?”

 “Yes.” He shivered. “I remember you. You’re my subject. You are David and I am David.”

 “I was your subject! You’re human and I am more. Now, you are my experiment!”

 The captain grunted but wanted to yell. He sat there gripping the microphone even tighter and his arm felt wooden. The conversation was dreadful, and he didn’t want to continue, but he must know more. When he collected himself, he held the speaker close and said, “Good God! Please! Listen, I am so sorry! How can I forgive myself? I left you here. If I could show you my regret for my expedition here all those years ago. Let my crew be! Please! If you knew what happened to them, please tell me, I’m not the same man who locked you in my lab, I’ve changed, I’m a different man now.”

 “Impossible!” The voice of the other David laughed, far away. “There’s no way I’ll ever forgive you after all you put me through. The way you treated me. You sought to make a man, and now I’m a man, no more. It’s the middle of winter here. I am part human and amoeba. I have, mastered invisibility while I dwell in my city, while you; sit in the remains of your spacecraft!”

 “Yes, I remember.” muttered the captain.

 “Here, alone,” laughed the voice. “How many years has it been since you abandoned me? Who cares? You cloned yourself fusing genes with other lifeforms; you made me, a monster you couldn’t see, no light could spell the shape of my image. You tried to destroy everything; the laboratory, the organisms, especially me. The human part of me harboured the emotion.”

 “I’m so sorry.”

 “I’ve since made a nation of Davids, all which you can’t see, through the amoeba, we managed to create a town; you never harnessed it’s true versatility, I’ve created structures, machines, all just to pass the time.”

 “Listen to me.” The captain shaking wearily. “You are playing with fire. You are making the same mistake I did all those years ago. These lifeforms, engineering them, exploiting them, will have consequences beyond your comprehension.”

 “Don’t expect me to care. You’re like an alien, who’s crash landed on my planet. I can’t feel sorry for anything. I’m alive when I use these lifeforms to their full potential. I thrived where you failed. My progress, your warnings, unbelievable. You can’t stop discovery, even though you’re here, I will continue to bend these resources to my will, even if the planet suffers, I don’t care. The human in me speaks. And you, a human halts me. It’s utter insanity. I can’t feel bad about anything, the future is so bright. These amoebae can be made into anything you want. Do you feel dead yet?”

 “You’re insane!” cried the captain. He felt the cold sink into his bones. Seizures and colours of monochrome flooded within him. “Oh God, you’re not even human!”

 “You’re right. I am above your species. As long as these radio wave lengths carries these transcriptions of words for you to hear, I’ll continue to torture you until you’re dead and prosper long after. Good-bye, David.”

 “Wait!” cried the captain.

Feed ends.

 David sat in constant tension predicting what would happen next. The wind sunk needles of shock into him.

What insanity it had been. His first trip here, how silly, how inspired, his first expedition, collecting microscopic lifeforms, splicing, growing, secluding the unseeable man within locked doors:

The frequency.

“Morning, David. This is David. It’s cold. Don’t die on me yet!”

Again!

“David? David speaking. You’re to go and continue your mission. Find your friends. Don’t forsake them.”

 “Enough.”

The reverb!

 “David, is that you? Thought I’d lighten the mood. There’s a possibility, very small, but a stray ship might come save us, and you could save your friends, wherever they are.”

 “Yes, torment, torment, and more torment.”

Silence.

But the years crept closer, fire reveals its smoke.

David had made a monster dwelling in the flesh of a man, insidious man and his clever, clever fire. The invisible embers were to haunt him, if he returned. And now today, the static purring, his regrets speak

to his ear,

Like a ghost

that whispers.

Then…

The radio!

He did nothing.

I am not answering that, he thought,

The whine!

An evil waits on the other side, he thought.

The vibrations!

It’s like talking to your inner evil, something you tried to suppress.

He let his hands ease tension around the speaker.

 “Hello, first David, this is second David. A new David was born today! In the last year I’ve made clones to serve different roles in my perfect society. The planet will be soon ruled by Davids!”

 “No, you’re making the worst mistake of your life.” The captain thought of the innumerable possibilities of where it could lead to disaster.

All those years ago, isolating his clone in his lab. The years alone, you and your creation, the sense of being god on another planet.

The monster; something clever and wonderful and terrifying. Hidden inside your ship. Hidden, hidden from the world. In those young days when you could not create death, life could be molded by you, wonder was a light to guide you through the dark cavern of space. That cruel sadistic idiot, never thinking some things should be left alone.

 “Last night,” said David, a clone, “I hosted a comedy night in my tavern, so many Davids were there! There were nothing but laughs! David was quite the comedian.”

 “Yes.”

 “I got an idea. Me and other Davids agreed to build an atomic bomb. A group of Davids volunteered to test the thing. Hopefully we could get it outside the town in a few-

 An explosion!

The captain looked out his window.

 “Whoops!” Didn’t expect it to destroy half of the town! Good thing I live in a town of Davids where we agree on everything and there are no wars!

I guess, if I’m not careful, the amoeba could turn on me.”

 The captain said, “Now, do you understand?”

 “What?”

 “This is first time you admitted your mistake.”

 “I’ve experimented with animals. As I walk the streets, I’m surrounded by the aroma of bacon, eggs, ham, donuts, you name it, they’re from my cafes. All engineered from my laboratory, where you created me.”

 “Insanity”

 “Colonization!”

 “Leave me alone.” Abruptly, the captain hung up. The dread overtook him.

 Hastily, he moved across the empty terrain until he reached the streets of the town. The town was silent. It layed like a half-eaten corpse; the lights died, music gone, cooking smells forgotten. Long ago, he left something, a force, unnatural, a self he hated, didn’t want to see, the fantasy he thought died with the planet. Listen! Are those footsteps? Look! Aren’t those footprints?

They had to die.

He moved until the night fell and the town’s neons shone like stars on streets of quivering glass. He had to kill him, he thought. To end this colony, growing, a fire years in construction and in his own insane pursuit, he tracked those footsteps. Footsteps moved away in quick motion. He shot, one two three four! In flashing darkness, it ran, plunging, stumbling, sunken, a shape of someone fell face down. He had killed him and shown no remorse.

 Suddenly, faint voices haunted empty streets.

He walked on. Gun in hand.

As he walked on, the voices spoke as if they knew where he was going. He began to run. The voices asked him to speak to them, but as he ran on, they fell behind almost to a silence. Only now for the boulevard to be flooded with noise! Everywhere he went, voices there, now here! He darted on. They were like crowds chasing him.

A gunshot!

 “All right!” he shrieked, nervous. “End this right now!”

 “Hello, David.”

 “What do you want!”

 “I’m bored. There is no greater feeling than the joy of creation. It makes me alive. I will enjoy destroying you.”

 “This time, I’ll make sure you’re dead!” shouted the captain, in rage and horror. “End this madness!”

 “This is David, one of the remaining few. After the blast. Waiting. Until everything clears up. Here’s another idea, one you won’t like so much. How about after this chaos, me and the other Davids build a spacecraft, pay your planet a visit? How does that sound?

 “Stop talking!”

 “Go ahead and make me!”

 “I’ll enjoy killing you!”

 “You can’t kill me. You have to find me first.”

 “You can’t hide forever!”

 “You want to play? I’m game! Let’s see if you can outlast an entire city of me! I’m everywhere! An army of me run the streets as we speak! Would you call it Homicide or Suicide? I’ll let you decide! Are you scared? You should be scared, for I am invisible, evolved, strong, smart. It’s you against me! OR me against me! I don’t care! A whole nation of us, every one of us against you, old man. Now, it’s officially war!”

 “I’ll kill you, all of you!”

 End of feed.

Then.

Everything stopped for a moment.

There was a brief silence.

He shot through a window which shattered upon impact.

 In the midwinter night’s storm, the military armoured rover tread deep into falling snow. In the back of the carrier the storage unit contained pulse pistols, rifles, phasmic implosion grenades. The roar of the vehicle tumbling over fleeing bodies summoned an old evil, the thrill.

I’ll find him, my monster, and destroy what he made.

He stopped the car. A quiet, dusk-like quality haunted the town under cold moons.

Slight shivering, he held his rifle in his cold dead hands. He peered at the town’s venues, towers, theaters. Where would HE hide?

Anger consumed him.

No, Where would IT hide?

Look over there! An underground entrance! The thrill of the moment like gasoline fueling the fire of rage. He spitefully dashed his head, this way! Now there!

 He aimed his rifle.

A body fell back with brute force.

All of them, he thought. The towers and towns people will be erased. Until nothing remains. They will all die.

The rover moved through a death ridden street.

A transmission received.

He looked at a deserted theater.

A speaker static.

Grenade in hand, the radius after he threw ate the front of the building. He entered pistol in hand.

 Static.

 “David, are you there? Just warning you. Don’t try to undo the town, you know, slaughter the people, crumble structures into vortexes. Slit your own insides doing that. Please consider…”

 End.

 He stepped out of the theater and entered the street with death humming in the dark, there was still life, still unfound. He looked at the burning buildings lighting the night, he was morbidly optimistic now. Suppose he found his clone, theoretically holding the crew hostage, he killed, taking pleasure to burn the monster, the lab, everything. Impossible? It’s an idea, but suppose the crew had found a lost transmission, a ship adrift looking for refuge landed on the other side of the planet. Something drove him mad, to think of it, anything’s possible really, I’ve already done so much. What if I used this organism to reach into space?

 He rushed to find the lab.

 “I’ll bend everything to my will again,” Mad with the thought, “It will be over soon.”

 But suppose I could fully harness the amoeba, fabricate everything you could dream. No, I’ve got to preserve this city, once again create.

 He entered the laboratory. He found the last David. Without pause he shot the hiding figure, over violent succession laughing to himself.

 A static charged.

 “Hello?” A familiar voice.

 “Let me guess,” said the captain. “Hank?”

 “Who’s this, do I know you?” Wait. David, is that you?” cried the voice, surprised.

 “What a minute.” The captain joked. “Is this a trick, am I just hearing things?”

 “Come on, captain. You know it’s me.”

 “I know, it’s good to hear from a real breathing person after all this time.”

 “Is the crew there with you?”

 “Yes, everyone, are you alright?”

 “Yes, I am. What is your location?”

 “We’re in Evergreen Valley”

 “That’s a thousand miles away.” He gasped “Can you make it?”

 No, we are exhausted of rations, the storm destroyed our shelter, rover’s out of fuel.”

 “Alright then, I’ll meet you there. I’ll bring repairs.”

 “Thank you, thank you.”

 “Hey, uh…”

 “Yes?”

 “How have you been doing? It’s been months ever since I had a real conversation. How’s Leon? Ridley? Williams? Arnold? Find anything new?”

 “Sorry, can’t hear you, transmission’s dying.”

 “How are you holding up?”

 “Just fine.”

 “Thank heavens.” The captain extactically overflown. “Just to make sure, I’m not actually hearing things, right?”

 “Dammit, storm!”

 “I’ll be there soon!”

 He bolted to the rover.

Here he was, after the countless years, unbelievable, He and his demonic god, screams extinguished by cold fire, whispers no longer said from a past erased. He drove at full speed. He drove sleepless nights. Someone, his monster no longer there to taunt, no longer to keep him from forsaking his crew.

The rover thundered over roaring winds.

Wait. He turned translucent. Only for a second, and then reverted. The demon was gone. Or was it? Could the other him be smarter and more cunning than expected? No. He was not going to let the cold lead him to a depressive panic. No. He was not going fall drunk under it’s curse. It was not a time to overthink, a paranoia of suspicion there, now gone. It was to be ready to see a breathing face, shake hands, exchange stories. The sun rose, riddled with the frost’s daggers, heart rapidly beating, fingers overtly clenching the wheel, but the one thing that pleased him most, over the distance, a ship on the horizon! A stray rocket: perhaps his crew alerted a rocket captain upon his arrival. No time to think! Salvation! He faintly smiled.

He would drive until the shadows of sundown.

Stepping from his car, he entered with haste.

 Inside the rocket he heard faraway voices:

 “Hello! Is that you Captain?” Come, we’re at the port! Said Lieutenant Leon.

 “Captain, is that really you? It’s been a while.” Said Williams.

 “Come on in, Captain, let me shake your hand.” Said Hank.

 The room had no life. There was no Hank, no crew. Rust and scrap heaps grew on the walls like jungle vines. His heart roared with fire. The monochrome returned and his mind fell from his body, from this world, into eternal darkness. He stumbled, gasping.

 There, a crew, slaughtered, pale blood and dried corpses shown they died violently. Circuitries ran behind the walls mimicking voices, a telephonic radio.

 Finally: Static.

 The room began to speak.

 A voices said, “I applaud you getting this far, at least you’re alive, right?”

 The captain was silent and fell to his knees.

 The voice impersonated, “Lieutenant Leon, glad to finally see you in the flesh, captain.”

 “You,” David groaned.

 “How’s your crew now, captain?”

 “No! You!”

 “It’s a shame on my part really, all those Davids who sacrificed themselves, their city to lure you here.”

 “I’ll find you, make you regret what you’ve done,” replied the captain, “I couldn’t care less. I’ll reduce you all to a city of corpses!”

 “You haven’t the time nor resources. You’ll be out of fuel before you reach me, the cold claim you, as you continue to walk forever to seeming nothingness! Why do you think I had you exhaust yourself? Did you think I had only one city where you could reap carnage?”

 The captain felt as an iceacle. He would never reach another town. The devil, this devil was his final exorcist. He walked about, winds rising, a storm brewing, he then fell as if to worship, he grunted and mourned. Then, he heard the room call his name, he walked in glaring at the crew in disbelief.

 The room once again mimicked.

 Voices of his crew mocking him! “Save us, Captain! Save us, Captain!’

 He rampaged through the room. He ripped through the walls. They voices laughed at him. He beat the console mercilessly. Drunk on rage, he stomped on it. Laughing turned to screaming. Wires of viper-like coils teared and lit on fire. He used the remains of the weaponry to reduce it to nothing.

Then, a long silence.

He would walk and continue to walk, searching for solace. But now, his body, a dead secret, sank deeper into his cold bones. His heart withered. A man faded to black. His eyelids were glass. His pupils were frozen white. He cramped his hands to his chest and fell face down. The snow continued to bury him.

 After the spell of a pause, an invisible David watched from a city far away.

Another clone approached him.

 “Hello, second David?”

 “Yes, David?”

 We were working on a machine.”

 “Are you finally able to re-animate?”

 “We need subjects. Any suggestions?”

 The room, silent in the valleys. The air that blew in was cool.

 “Take the other Davids out on a trip.”

 “For what, exactly?”

 “I need you to fetch the captain and his crew.”

 He peered out into the dead city.

[written-prose-things]

What did you just call me?

Summary:  When an unknown hunter walks into Beacon Hills, Derek goes into Over Protective Alpha mode. Everyone gets puts into groups, which they're supposed to stick with at all times. Stiles gets stuck with Derek. Ya know, The Alpha He Has A Crush On. Over the next three days, they both realise exactly how much fun their normal life can be as well.

{this is the third chapter!}

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Ao3 

The alpha is extremely vigilant about following the rules he lays down, so not having him in the room kicks Stiles into overdrive. Stiles flings himself out of the bed and towards his false-bottomed drawer. He pulls out the blue felt cover tome. Over the past month, Deaton gives him a book to keep when he masters its content.

Stiles flips through the pages quickly, which are warm with his residual magic. The page he needs falls open on its own.

The Re-Calling spell. Stiles gulps. He should be using a locator spell, but he wants Derek in front of him. Right. Now.

He’s only tried the Re-Calling spell on objects that he’s given to other people. But it has to work now.

He places his hand over the sigil, which has faded over time, on the coffee-coloured page and concentrated on Derek’s face, his smell, his “aura” like Deaton liked to call it.

A second later there was a loud thump against the window as Derek was flung onto it from the outside. Stiles yelped when Derek feel back with the inertia, onto the tiles of the roof.

Stiles rushed to open the window and looked down at Derek, who was groaning in pain. Below them, Scott and Boyd are standing on the ground, looking at Stiles like he’s the crazy one.

Stiles huffs, “I’m not apologising. I didn’t know where you were so I called you back.”

Derek, who’s in the middle of sitting up, stares at him with murder eyebrows, “You used a re-calling spell on me? You could have pulled my spleen out!”

Stiles shrugs, “Then the spleen would be the only part of you that followed the rule.”

Derek grumbles and sits up. Scott says loud enough for Stiles to hear, “So what should we do-?”

Derek flashes his eyes, “We just talked about this Scott.”

Both the betas bear their necks and Scott looks like a scolded puppy.

Boyd puts a hand on Scott’s shoulder and nods at Derek, “Yeah, we’ll figure it out.”

The two betas rush out of Stiles’ yard just as the sun begins to rise. Derek lets out another sigh before climbing in through the window.

Stiles asks in what he hopes is a casual way, “What’s up with them?”

Derek replies just as casually, “Nothing.”

Stiles nods and walks off to the bathroom. He isn’t going to get a straight answer out of Derek just yet.

-x-

The day goes slowly. Jackson, Erica and Allison are missing and Scott and Boyd look dead on their feet.

Stiles tries asking them what the issue is, but he only gets mumbled responses in return. Lydia and Issac keep him company in the classes they share, but they too are busy holding secret conversations when they think Stiles isn't looking.

When the day ends, Stiles is more than happy to run out the door to where Derek is already waiting for him.

Stiles dumps his bag in the backseat and slides into the front seat next to Derek. The alpha smirks, “I didn’t know you could get into a car without falling down.”

Stiles rolls his eyes, “Why weren’t Erica Allison and Jackson at school today?”

Derek shrugs as he pulls the car out of the parking lot, “How should I know?”

Stiles scoffs. How should I know? For an alpha who loves to nag and hound his betas, Derek is acting suspiciously. The alpha is always ready to spam the betas with texts and voicemails when they’re missing. Not that Stiles grudges Derek’s helicopter parenting, considering his past. But the sudden lack of enthusiasm for the same is alarming.

Stiles pulls himself out of his inner monologue just as they reach the turn for the Deaton’s clinic. He has a “class” with Deaton on the days that Coach doesn’t schedule practises.

“I have to go-”

Before Stiles can finish his sentence, Derek’s pulling the car onto Deaton’s street.

“How did you know where I wanted to go?”

Derek replies shortly, “Deaton’s place on days with no practice.”

Stiles quirks an eyebrow, “So, you remember my schedule but not the others?”

Derek covers quickly, but Stiles knows him well enough to see the quick flash of bewilderment on his face, “I’ll remember their schedules when they start spamming me with unnecessary voice notes at all hours of the day.”

Stiles rolls his eyes and drops his feet on the dash, “Whatever, I know you’re lying.”

Derek only shoves his legs off the dashboard as they slow down in front of the vet’s clinic. And that’s answer enough.

Outside, Deaton’s waiting for them in front of the clinic’s door. Stiles and Derek climb out of the car.

Deaton nods at Derek and Stiles, “Derek. Stiles.” His head moving low enough for it to look like he’s almost bowing weirdly.

But Stiles has become used to the man’s quirks. He repeats a parody of  the man’s action, “Deaton.”

Derek growls unexpectedly, “Why’re you doing that?”

Stiles looks up to see Derek’s eyes flashing at Deaton, but his question is directed at Stiles.

Stiles shrugs, “He started it.” Which is true. Deaton’s been acting weird for the past month, but it’s not too different from his usual quirkiness, so Stiles just went with it.

Derek growls at Deaton.

The vet replies frankly, “I can’t not Derek. You know how important traditions are.”

Derek huffs and looks away. Clearly, he can’t argue with Deaton’s obscure explanation, but he still doesn’t like it.

Stiles raises his hand tentatively, “Can someone explain these traditions for the novice spark, please?”

Deaton clears his throat and replies slowly, “As the new emissary to the Hale pack, you rank higher than I do. Therefore, traditions state that I must show you respect. However, by returning the gesture, you are establishing my superiority, which can be taken as a challenge to Derek’s authority.”

The druid’s trademark long-winded sentences make Stiles’ head ache. But he’s understood the gist of it.

“So why didn’t you tell me this before?”

Deaton shrugs, “Between attacks by Alpha packs and hunters, this didn’t mean like a pressing issue.”

The druid looks at Derek to gauge his reaction. If his responding grumble is anything to go by, the explanation has satisfied him.

-x-

When they start Stiles’ lesson for the day, Deaton rubs his hands together. Which is never a good sign.

“Today I’m planning on teaching you how to bend the rules of magic.”

“What do you mean?”

Deaton smiles which only serve to set Stiles on edge even more, “Have you ever tried object spells on humans.”

Stiles can’t help the blush that creeps up his face as Derek groans loudly.

Deaton turns to the alpha, “What?”

Derek shakes his head, “You’ll find that your novice has already started those spells.”

Deaton’s head whips back as he stares at Stiles, “What did you do?”

Stiles holds his hands up, “Calm down, no one got hurt.”

Derek growls at that and Stiles amends, “There wasn’t any permanent damage to anyone… I just used the re-calling spell on Derek.”

Deaton’s eyes widen in surprise, “Why did you do that?”

Stiles shrugs, “He wasn’t there when I woke up, I just tried something.”

Deaton nods, “And you were able to handle it?”

Derek interrupts, “No, I slammed into his window.”

Deaton nods, “Right I need you to practise the spell till you can handle it.”

Stiles startles, “You want me to keep banging Derek around?”

“No. I just bought a can of worms in the back for the gerbils that had been admitted. You can start practising on them.”

-x-

By the time Stiles and Derek leave the vet’s clinic, Stiles has seen enough worm guts to last a lifetime.

Almost all his attempts had ended with the carcasses of worms being splattered around Deaton’s back room, which he had to clean up with Derek.

They quickly make their way to Derek’s Camaro as a light rain has started.

Stiles whines once he’s sitting in the car, his head thumping back against the headrest, “ I don’t understand what went wrong! I didn’t pull your guts out and you’re a whole assed human being! Those were just worms. I hate this so much.”

Derek shakes his head, “I’m not a human though. You didn’t pull my guts out cause I’m a werewolf. My body was able to handle the pressure. The worms died cause you couldn’t handle your spark.”

Stiles laughs, “Ohhh, ProfessorWolf.”

Derek rolls his eyes, “Shut up.”

They get in the Camaro and peel out.

-x-

Instead of going to Derek’s loft to pick up Stiles’ jeep, Derek takes them away from the heart of the county.

Stiles looks over at Derek, “You missed the turn for the den.”

Derek smiles wryly, “Oh, I totally forgot!”

Stiles replies with a deadpan, “Ha fucking ha, where are we going?”

Derek shrugs.

A little while later as the rain increases, they turn onto the highway and Stiles realises where they’re going. Stiles’ favourite place in Beacon Hills; No, his most favourite place in the world. Heaven on Earth…

Sadie’s.

Although it doesn’t look like much, a run-down diner tucked into a corner next to the highway, Stiles has been going there with his father for as long as he can remember. Sadie’s cultivated his love for curly fries and milkshakes.  

The flickering light of Sadie’s is visible through the car’s window, getting blurred by the raindrops.

Stiles turns to Derek, smiling widely, “I.Love.You.”

He realises slowly, that maybe he shouldn’t be so blatant about his crush on the alpha, if Derek’s surprised face is anything to go by. But he tries to comfort himself because he would have said the same thing to the others if they had taken him to Sadie’s as a surprise.

Derek parks the car and stops Stiles from opening the door. Instead, climbs out and rushes to Stiles’ side, holding his leather jacket over the door,  in an attempt to shield him from the rain.

As they both rush from the car towards the warm diner, Stiles feels goosebumps rise on his back. He tries to make himself believe that they’re from the cold and not from Derek’s arms surrounding him as he holds up the jacket.

When they walk into the diner, relatively dry, Derek covers Stiles in the jacket, patting it down to keep him warm.

Stiles knows he should insist on giving it back, considering that Derek is only wearing a henley and werewolf’s high body temperature be damned, he isn’t letting Derek get cold on his watch.

But, the smell of pine cones and soap that emanates from the jacket effectively stops his brain from working. When he wrestles back control from the primal part of his brain, Stiles realises that he’s still standing in front of the door, a hair’s breadth away Derek, who’s looking at him with a look that Stiles can’t describe.

It pains him to admit that Derek’s eyebrows have an emotion that he doesn’t know about. Instead of wallowing in it, Stiles turns away to look for an empty table. Derek walks away a moment later to order their curly fries and milkshakes.

In true Sadie’s fashion, the order takes a long time to be served. So much so that by the time they’ve picked up their to-go bag and walked out of the diner, the sky has cleared.

Only, it’s late enough now that the clouds give way to bright stars. Derek stares at the sky just as they’re getting into his car and says, “Have you ever been to the roof above the loft?”

Stiles shakes his head, “I didn’t even know you had access to the roof!”

-x-

When they walk into the loft, Derek leads him up the spiral staircase. Stiles realises that he hasn’t even seen the alpha’s bedroom.

Stiles reaches the top of the staircase two steps behind Derek to find an average looking room. Of course, due to the fire and his constant shifting, the room is a little sparsely decorated, but other than that, it looks lived in. There is one door on the wall in front of him, which Stiles assumes leads to the roof. Next to the door is a table and a chair, made of thick wood. A queen bed pushed against the wall in covered in fine cotton sheets and a variety of blankets. In front of the foot of the bed is a thick, brown-coloured rug that takes up most of the floor space.

Next to the bed is a cupboard built into the wall, with clothes settled haphazardly. Of course, compared to Stiles’ cupboard, it looks much cleaner. What surprises Stiles the most is the abundance of colour in the closet. Stiles realises that Derek chooses wearing the drabbest colours

Stiles thinks that if he was in charge of dressing Derek, he would make the alpha wear all the clothes that he’s shoved into the corner of his closet.

Stiles’ inner monologue on Derek’s clothing stops when he realises that the Alpha is staring at him.

Stiles also realises that the Alpha asked him a question, “What?”

Derek mumbles, “Is it good?”

“Your room?”

“Yeah.”

“Sure...It’s nice, I guess.”

“Okay.”

Derek abruptly opens the door and walks onto the roof, their bag of takeaway in his hands. That is officially the most abrupt and weird conversation he’s had with the alpha and Stiles wants to pursue it. But when he walks onto the roof, Derek’s already opened the bags of food and Stiles forgets everything under the influence of the smell of his favourite curly fries.

As they munch on the fries and sip their shakes, Stiles stares up at the stars. The sky is exceptionally clear that day, so he realises he can ask Derek for the information he’s been needing in the past.

“Hey, Derek.”

The alpha’s mouth is wrapped around the straw of his shake, but he hums in response listening to Stiles.

“Remember how you said you were going to teach me the constellations?”

Derek’s eyes twinkle in excitement. He sets down his milkshake lies down on the roof. He looks at Stiles expectantly.

Stiles settles down next to him slowly. Stiles realises that maybe Derek knows how important he is. Because Stiles can easily look up all the constellations he wants on the internet, learn their placing, history, discovery and other stuff. Instead, he’s lying on the roof of a rundown building, with only a leather jacket to keep him warm as he listens to Derek describe the constellations.

Stiles hums and nods every time Derek pauses, but his eyes keep slipping shut. Derek slowly shifts his arm under Stiles, allowing his to curl into the alpha’s warm chest.

Stiles falls asleep to the steady thump of Derek’s heart and his soft voice describing the constellations.

[theholycovenantrpg]

In the beginning was MICHAEL, an ANGEL loyal to the cause of the ANGELS. He is said to be IMMORTAL and uses HE/THEY pronouns. In this New Testament he serves as a KING of the KINGDOM OF CAELUM. Blessed be his name.

THE INDELIBLE MARK.

Michael is widely regarded as the elite among the angels - though they move fast, he moves faster. Though they are intelligent and clever, he is cutting and far quicker with his wit. What makes him a true force, though, is his ability to predict his opponent’s moves and strategy in battle. Once they have an established pattern that he is able to discern, defeating them becomes rather easy - and this is something that he is able to apply in other spheres of life as well, such as negotiation and debate. Although, he finds this rather difficult to apply as of late. There are a number of demons that are aware of this ability and have learned to abate it somewhat, and mortals are far more difficult to gauge  due to their unpredictable nature (and newfound abilities)  since the dawn of this age.  

THE HISTORY.

He remembers what it was to be beloved. To be favored by both God and Man, lauded as the savior of the kingdom of heaven and the children on earth. At the first flicker of his existence, Michael knew what his duty was - to be the protector and the sword that God would wield against the world, whether it be as protection or punishment, it did not matter. So long as he did his duty and did it well; it is a difficult thing, though, to fulfill one’s duty when bearing a heart that it is aflame, one that aches and trembles at the gentlest of touches. And yet he had to learn how to brutalize it, how to do so in order to steel it against the notion of mercy.  What good was mercy when chasing the foolish humans from the garden of Eden - though they wept and bemoaned the loss of the only place they had known to be their home? What use was it when he cast his own brother, Lucifer, from heaven and watched him fall to the decrepit realm of hell? He had led the soldiers of heaven against the rebels that were condemned. With his flaming bled he slaughtered those he had once called his brethren, and he did so at God’s bidding and in His name. One would think that, since it was his duty, his sole reason for creation, it might have been easier for him to bear; he waited for his heart to quiet, perhaps it might even revel in the righteousness of his duty. After all, for these acts he was lauded and venerated, rendered and depicted in paintings, scraps of metal, and marble stones. But decades turned into centuries, and centuries into millennia and this suffering of his never seemed to wane.

And God, his father, never seemed intent on lessening his suffering. Michael never uttered a word against his father, and his father never thanked him - but still all saw him as the only beloved, as the only angel worthy enough to be wielded as God’s sword. Imagine, then, their surprise when his rageful heart could no longer be quelled by his haphazard attempts at soothing it, could no longer be caged by the steel that he had meticulously built and reinforced millennia after millennia. It had been one, single request that he had finally uttered - have mercy upon the soul of this girl, Father, he had begged. A single girl, taken too young - perhaps no one in the grand scheme of things, a blinking, flickering star that was fading in the vastness of the cosmos. But she had been kind, she had been good, and God had let her be taken aware far too young, had allowed her to feel the flicker of flames simply because it had been predetermined. But Michael knew the truth as well as his Father - if He had so wished, the girl might have been saved. The only request he had ever made since the waking of his existence and still his Father denied him. No one could blame him when, after that, he had felt his heart truly break. And from it burst forth a torrent of unfettered rage and pain.

There are times where he thinks that he might have drowned his own brethren with his seething anger, forcing them to drink it in until they were poisoned with it as well. Other times he thinks that he blinded himself to the resentment that tied the angels in their coup against God. But he knows that to ruminate on the events of the past can only lead to madness - regardless, he still held his sword to his Father’s throat, watched the ichor pour from His divine wounds and cast Him from the heaven that He had so long hidden Himself in. What an odd thing it was to feel the steady beat of his heart and to know, as he watched his Father fall to the earth that he was finally at peace. What an odd thing it was to realize that death and peace were one in the same. Though, with this dead heart he found that it was easier to wear a crown upon his head and take the burden of this new world upon his winged shoulders. With his bloodied hands he built a kingdom that allowed his people the freedom that they were never given by the divinity that they had once called God and Father. He ushered them into a new era in a world that could be theirs - and what better turn of fate could there be than if the world was theirs alone?

He sees how the dawn of this new age has made them stronger - and he has felt how it is making them weak. Each day he awakes and feels the beating of his dead heart push him closer to the edge of greed, to the edge of hunger and he is beginning to find it difficult to smother it, to stop himself from giving in. But he looks at the lands that await them, thinks of the promise of peace should all bend their knee and fall under his rule. How could they deny him the crown and kingship when it is so clear that he, who has known true suffering and true pain, is the only one that can stop it from consuming them all? Fate has thwarted him, the obstinacy of the demons and humans prodding at him like the bites of gnats. They think they know better than he, the celestial that rallied the entirety of the heavens against God? They think they know better than the angel that has witnessed the true danger of natures of demons and the fickle, beguiling morals of humans? Michael, he is named. He Who Is Like God - and when has God ever been satiated unless he dictates all things?

THE CONNECTIONS.

GABRIEL & RAPHAEL: The Archangels. They were known as the three Archangels in the old world - famed and venerated (though Michael above all). They are brothers in every sense of the word: bickering over the smallest of things, needling one another, but loving one another all the same. Though, as of late, Michael has become worried that his new status as their liege and lord has caused something of a rift between them. Perhaps chasm is a more accurate word to describe it. Before, their arguments would end in jest, but now he can only recall the biting words that seem to dig deeper each time they dare to broach any sort of conversation. What worries him more is the fact that, since the dawn of time, they have been at his side - have been the wards against his own pride and paranoia. The further he drifts from them, the more he begins to wonder if he is well and truly sane.

ZADKIEL: Pawn. They were close once, despite the disparity in their positions - one an Archangel and the other a Cherubim. They were both treasured by God, beloved by Him especially when Lucifer was cast out from Heaven. They had both thought of the fallen angel as a brother and had found comradery in the face of misery and disappointment. But then Michael became more prominent among the Mortals, revered and uplifted while Zadkiel receded into the background, all too glad to remain beneath the shadow of God’s hand. Michael knew that, without a doubt, even if it warred with Zadkiel’s obstinate sense of duty, he would fall into line if asked. And he would do it again and again and again, no matter what the Cherubim might forsake along the way. Call it morbid curiosity, but Michael cannot wait to find out what will push him to the edge.

VIKTORIA: Muse. There is something unnameable about them that calls to him like a moth to a flame, like a mortal to sin. Since the dawn of time he has kept his gaze upon them, watching them from afar, fascinated by every utterance that echoes from their lips, or every weary wave of their lithe fingers. Whenever they speak, he bends an ear to listen, though it seems that they have no interest in ever speaking directly to him. Or, when they deign to, it is in short clipped words that are rarely ever complimentary or kind. No matter, he tells himself, because regardless they are hired to protect him and ensure his safety - to be his eyes and ears in the places where he is unable to reach. It costs him a pretty penny, but it's worth it, so long as it keeps them coming at his beck and call again and again.

SALOME: Headache. He really does loathe how she looks at him whenever they are forced to regard one another. Her words always seem saccharine, laced with falsities and only ever contemptuous when he bothers to read between the lines. Why she loathes him, he can’t seem to fathom, but whatever the reasons be they seem to be founded on nothing more than a gut feeling. Perhaps she remembers how his blade had kept her from heaven and how he had watched her be casted into health, as she had rightfully deserved to be. Or perhaps she sees in him everything she is denied -- and Salome has been refused so little in the world that to deny her every request fills him with delectable satisfaction. Perhaps, he thinks, that if he wears away at her enough then she might be rendered utterly useless to the Vices in her quest to fulfill her needs above all else.

Michael is portrayed by Adonis Bosso* and was written by ROSEY. He is currently TAKEN by CAROLINE.

[snowqueen-68]

Showing up again today

Still freaking out after putting my work up yesterday. Just showing up can be really scary but I’m here again today, so here’s more...

“Ah yes, well I had to talk fast to outwit my slippery brother and his cronies, but I managed it.  In the end, my mother had to accept that if she did not do something about my brother then the responsibility for the destruction of all humankind would lie directly with her. That is not something she was willing to do. It’s why, you know, that when my brother and I had our falling out, she decreed the Game in the first place. If my brother and I were to confront each other directly…well, we would be two powerful titans striving against each other within the realm of the mortal. The destruction would be indescribable.” “I can imagine,” Alastair said, “and so to avoid such a tragedy the God Mother set up the Game, as you call it, that you and your brother are now engaged in?” “Yes,” the Master said, his wise face grim, “Perhaps not the perfect solution but certainly the safest – for Man and God both.” Alastair frowned, while familiar with the vast struggle being played out between the two brothers he was not privy to many of its finer details. “And so your brother received the penalty then, the penalty of banishment, the one we – you asked for?” “He did, though not for the length of time that we had hoped.” Alastair shrugged. “Well, you said yourself it was a long shot. But better something than nothing. How did it finally come about?” The Master imitated Alastair’s shrug. “In the end, the God Mother and the Council were forced to acknowledge that if my brother and his accomplices were allowed to win the Game because they had broken the rules because they had cheated then we, our side, would have open to us certain loopholes, shall we say, which we could manipulate and that would enable us to continue our struggle against the Darkness that is my brother’s natural state.” “And this is not a good thing, sir?” “Indeed, it is not, Alastair. A victory for my brother, no matter hollow, would still be impactful and devastating. I could not, would not ever agree to stand aside and let my brother win because he thought he’d been clever enough to break the rules, rules that he agreed to abide by when the Game was first created. Without the parameters of the Game without its beginning and its ending we, my brother and I would contend with each other down through all the ages, endlessly pitting against one another those, not of the chosen bloodlines, those not prepared for or capable of facing such confrontations. Eventually, these conflicts would bloom out of control and the result would be the same as if we had confronted each other directly.” Alastair could only stand and stare at that, reeling from the implied repercussions and though a dozen questions teemed through his mind he did not push for more details. His Master looked and sounded very tired and Alastair did not wish to add to his burden. So instead he asked, “What then, exactly, did your brother receive in the way of punishment and penalty? I would hope the Council was appropriately severe.” The Master chuckled, “So bloodthirsty Alastair?” “Indeed sir,” he said simply, “What occurred here today would require nothing less.” The Master’s expression turned sober, sorrowful as he once again glanced down at Sebastian and the impression in the grass where just moments ago Lily’s lifeless form had been. Alastair felt a stab of guilt as he wondered if his Master for all that he was determined to stand against his brother, like their mother, had a bit of a soft spot himself for his errant sibling. “So, what are we going to do sir?” He asked finally as the silence between them lengthened, “I assume you have a plan?” “I do, I do indeed,” the Master replied, his weariness fading a bit as he smiled at Alastair, “my brother and his men have been banished to their quarter of the City of the Heavens, not to be released until the day that Lily is returned to Earth. That, Alastair, at least gives us time to plan, to be ready.  And while my mother did decide to punish my brother, she was none too pleased with me. If we fail in our second chance my friend, we will not get another.” Alastair gave the Master a bleak look and the other man reached out to place the hand without the flame on Alastair’s shoulder. “We have not yet lost, today we have been given a chance to fight on, my friend,” he said, “there is still hope. A very great deal of it in fact. My brother’s wings have been clipped and we have much to do.” He spoke so bracingly, with such a great deal of confidence that Alastair felt his own flagging spirits rise and he nodded once in agreement. “Good man,” the Master said, giving his shoulder a squeeze before looking back down at the unmoving Sebastian. “Bring him, Alastair, I think he’s healed enough to move, at least I have done my best for the moment and we cannot remain here any longer. Even though my brother has been retained in the City of the Heavens we need to move quickly.  He has promised to behave, and our mother and the Council might believe him, but I do not. My brother’s reach is long, and even from his confinement in the Quarter of the Damned, he will be searching for Sebastian and Lily.” With that the Master turned and, holding out the palm that still held his little dancing light, he moved across the clearing towards the river, the one that Lily and Sebastian had crossed earlier that day in a desperate attempt to escape death, the river whose soft rushing could be heard clearly in the still silent glade. Bending, Alastair gently and effortlessly lifted the deeply slumbering Sebastian and moved quickly in the wake of his Master, the older man’s words giving him a sense of urgency. They did not slow or stop when they reached the river, the Master striding across it without hesitation, his feet never sinking beneath the undulating water, and Alastair was grateful that his master’s presence allowed him to keep his feet dry and above water as well. They entered the forest beyond and skirted through the tall trees, the Master moving purposefully and quickly as if he knew exactly where he was going. Alastair followed directly behind, without question; the light of the Master’s flame showing him the way. Finally, they stopped just a bit further on when the Master came to a halt in another clearing; one almost identical to the one they had just left, but bigger and in the shape of a nearly perfect circle.  A stream, possibly a branch of the river they had just crossed, flowed through the clearing, babbling and sparkling, and overhead the moon shone bright and full. “Perfect,” the older man said, “and we don’t even need any light.” He shook his hand and the flame went out, leaving them standing in silvery darkness. Then the Master pointed to a far curve of the clearing, close to the tree line. “Come, let us place him there, Alastair,” he said, striding over and indicating a spot several yards from the edge of the clearing. Alastair frowned but did as he was told advancing to stand next to his Master, meeting the older man’s eyes. “Here Master? I do not like to place him so low on the ground again after he has suffered so much.” The Master smiled at him with gentle approval. “It will only be momentary Alastair, then I promise that it will never have to happen again.” Reassured, Alastair placed the inert form of Sebastian on the still-warm grass. At least it was summer, he thought, and he did not have to place the poor man in the snow! After he’d made sure Sebastian was still breathing, Alastair stepped back to stand with his Master. “Together?” The older man asked, his eyebrows raising slightly in question, and Alastair nodded. “Together,” he agreed, though he had no idea what might be wanted from him. Shoulder to shoulder they faced the curve of the clearing and the body of Sebastian. The Master drew in several deep breaths and closing his eyes extended his arms out wide, palms turned upwards, his feet planted firmly beneath him. Alastair paused for a quick moment before doing the same, stilling his mind, opening to his surroundings, to his own strength and to the power of his Master next to him. Then he waited. At first, as the moment drew out and nothing happened Alastair thought that perhaps the Master had changed his mind, was having second thoughts about this particular location, which to Alastair’s way of thinking would make sense. This clearing seemed dangerously close to the scene of the ambush and murder. Though if he were being completely honest anywhere within the same universe seemed dangerously close at the moment. All he could do was trust his Master and whatever plan he might have. Then just as Alastair was going to open his eyes to see what was going on, the air stirred and he heard the Master’s soft whisper, not out loud or in any way externally audible but inside in his mind where he heard it as a stream of softly susserating energy instead of an actual voice. Alastair drew his awareness back inside himself and settled more firmly into his own center, opening his well of power and waiting patiently for the draw on his energy. It came slowly but not invasively, an invitation to join rather than an insistent command and he answered by putting his will behind the Master’s request, spooling out his power until it connected with the infinitely stronger stream of energy that belonged to the older man. Together they fed this energy out into the clearing, building brick by newly formed brick the Master’s vision. In his mind, Alastair watched as the Master’s creation, aided by their combined wills, coalesced; a long wooden structure with a tall stone tower that rose high to reach the trees, and that overlooked the forest and everything beyond. As it grew up from the ground the tower wrapped itself around Sebastian, raising him from his low place on the ground, hiding him from view and taking him up, up, up until he occupied the highest place in the clearing. The last thing to appear in the tower, in the very center of Sebastian’s room was a large four-poster bed that rose under the injured man, tucking him under a soft counterpane with the summer breezes coming in from the open bank of windows directly opposite the bed. As they opened their eyes, the Master turned to Alastair, “Will that do, Alastair?” he asked.