#the misunderstanding that melted matthew

[the-chosen-fanfiction]

The Chosen ABCs Of Romance | Matthew

ABCs Master List

Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

Matthew enjoys to sit and talk about life somewhere in the dunes on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, away from prying eyes. After all, he is very aware that being seen in his presence might get people away from him. You often reassure him that you want to be seen with him, but he is adamant about it. Upon asking how he thinks this is going to work if you’re ever going to be married one day, he gets flustered and doesn’t know the answer. Whenever you talk about life, you enjoy the snacks you’ve brought along.

Beauty - What do they admire about their s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

Matthew is of the strong opinion that you have the face of an angel, but perhaps it is your appearance combined with your kindness towards him that prompted that belief of his.

You are very appreciative of his honesty and in turn his genuine approach to things. What you see is what you get and he doesn’t try to appear different from who he is.

Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Since physical touch is not necessarily something Matthew was used to before he met you, he tries his best, which means that you sometimes have to ask for a hug outright. However, once the tension is broken, he melts into it and just clings to you for hours on end if needed.

Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

Because of his past choices, Matthew had never expected to find a significant other to share a future with. On one hand, he loves the prospect of getting married and having children, but he is too afraid to bring it up out of fear to lose you. Even though you make it plenty clear that you want to be with him for the rest of your life, it takes him some time to figure that out.

Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

Honestly, Matthew is quite passive when it comes to things. Often, you are the one to take initiative, but you don’t mind it. It is part of his nature and you love everything that he is, so you don’t see any issue in taking the lead in things. Of course, you always make sure that he is comfortable in the relationship.

Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Like any other relationship, there are frustrations that sometimes seem to come to the surface. The arguments between you and Matthew have mainly to do with miscommunication, so you have found a way to get to the bottom of things quickly by voicing what you heard, what you interpreted it as, and what the other meant to say. That way, you often solve these misunderstandings by just taking a step back and calmly evaluating the situation.

Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

There was a time that Matthew felt incredibly lonely in life, so when you come along, he is immensely grateful for your presence in his life. Every little thing you do for him is locked away deep inside his heart, committed to memory for whenever he feels uncertain.

Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

Matthew is an open book when asked for his opinion on things and never holds back. This means that he will also point it out whenever you have a huge pimple on your face or dark circles under your eyes. As mentioned earlier, what you see is what you get, so no, Matthew keeps no secrets from you. 

Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helping them overcome personal problems?

You have inspired Matthew to trust in God more than he did. Due to his past, he has strayed from Him for a long time, but now that he’s got you and started following Jesus, everything in life suddenly seems brighter. Also, he allows you to every so often coax him out of his comfort zone.

Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

The sweet and innocent Matthew wouldn’t even realise someone is flirting with you until you point it out later. No, he doesn’t get jealous easily, simply because he isn’t very aware of people trying to court you, and because he is well aware that you’re as loyal to him as he is to you.

Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Your first kiss comes months into your relationship in the form of a few brief pecks every now and then. It honestly gets you frustrated so one day, you just tell it to him upfront that you want to finally have a proper kiss with him. Flustered, Matthew agrees, and even though it is quite awkward and experimental, it is nice nevertheless. 

Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

When it comes to confessing, you are the one to do so, because Matthew doesn’t even know what to do with his feelings, let alone tell you about them. Still, he subconsciously gave you plenty confirmation that he had feelings for you without him realising that he was doing so, like calling you ‘extraordinarily beautiful’ and ‘the sweetest woman he has ever known’, which makes you more confident in telling him that you feel the same. 

Marriage - Do they want to get married? How do they propose? What would the marriage be like?

As mentioned before, the prospect of marriage is both exciting and terrifying to Matthew. Still, he has learnt from following Jesus that he should not shut down just because he is fearful. After gathering enough courage and confidence in knowing that you want it, too, Matthew finally asks you out of the blue during a walk one day. When you ask for him to confirm what he just said because you were afraid that your ears had deceived you, he is initially stuttering and embarrassed, fearing that you’d rejected the proposal, but when he repeats himself, you respond with a loud and clear ‘yes’.

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

Matthew doesn’t really do nicknames, so at first, he just calls you by your first name. However, he can’t help but let the words ���my love’ slip every once in a while, which you don’t mind at all. You have a plethora of nicknames for him, but his favourite has to be a simple ‘sweetheart’.

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Matthew has no filter when it comes to gushing about you, but Philip doesn’t mind listening to him. Whereas others rather head somewhere else whenever Matthew goes on one of his lengthy monologues about how amazing you are, Philip gladly remains at his side.

PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

Frankly, Matthew rather keeps most affection behind closed doors, finding it a bit awkward to be all snuggly in public. However, he eases into it the longer your relationship carries on. Eventually, he even is the one to initiate hand-holding whenever you’re travelling, and he is definitely not opposed to you falling asleep against his shoulder while sitting at the fire at night.

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

Intelligent as he is, Matthew remembers everything about you. Every single thing you tell him, he can retell in great detail. This means that he never forgets any important dates, nor any of your preferences. It makes for the most wonderful unexpected gifts every now and then, whenever he brings your favourite pastry from the market or knows when to comfort you whenever your cycle is at that time of the month.

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Oh, sweet Matthew. He is trying his very best, asking the men for ideas on fun dates, asking the women about what you would like most, and of course that eventually reaches your ear as well. Not that you mind, for his thoughtfulness makes up for any kind of surprise he may have planned.

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

This man is your biggest supporter through everything. He just wants you to be happy and that in turn makes him happy. It is an upward spiral, because whenever you see him being content, it also sparks your own wellbeing.

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice up your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

Matthew enjoys the comfort of your routine together. You have learnt how to approach your relationship in a way that works best for both of you, which means certain traditions with the occasional challenge to step out of your comfort zone.

Understanding - How good do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

He is still learning the ropes when it comes to reading social cues, and even though you are patient, it is sometimes a little frustrating. Even though you know he is trying his hardest, it means sitting down with him every so often to give your perspective of a situation and explain the preferred response from him. In turn, you learn a lot from him, too. For example, that not everything is as obvious as you picture it to be. He also tells you a lot about the way his mind works in certain situations. In short, it is a learning process for both of you.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it worth in comparison to other things in their life?

Besides Jesus, you are the most important person in Matthew’s life. After reconciling with his parents, he introduces you to them, beaming with pride and joy about having such a wonderful woman to call his own. Alphaeus and Elisheva grow extremely fond of their daughter-in-law in no time, seeing how you treat their son with dignity, patience and respect.

Wild Card - A random Fluff headcanon.

Matthew loves - loves - loves it when you gently scratch his scalp whenever you’re cuddled up together. It gives him a feeling of safety.

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

Once you two get to cuddling, Matthew is clingy to the point you end up almost suffocating under his weight on your body. Play with his hair and he is a puddle in your arms, and if people could purr, he would be.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

Matthew will barely sleep or eat whenever you’re away, anxiously waiting for you to return. Even if you’re out doing something mundane like going to the market with the other women, he barely does a thing until you’re back in his presence. Honestly, it’s a little worrying at times. The other Disciples try to help him through it as much as they can.

Zeal - Are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

The same way he gave up everything for Jesus, he would do anything for you as well. He would follow you anywhere if it meant being with you, giving up all the luxury and comfort he is used to. Ever since meeting you, everything else has just faded apart from the Messiah, so he finds absolutely no difficulty in making sacrifices for you.

[yhwhrulz]

Charles Spurgeon's "Morning & Evening" Devotional: October 7th

Morning

“This do in remembrance of Me.”

Matthew 26:26-30

The same night in which he was betrayed our divine Lord instituted the sacred Supper, which is to his people the perpetual memorial of his death, and is to be celebrated till he shall come again.

Matthew 26:26

And as they were eating that is to say, while yet the Paschal feast was proceeding; so that the one feast might melt into the other

Matthew 26:26

He could not have meant that the bread was actually his body, for in his body he was sitting at the table, and he could not have two bodies. Nobody could misunderstand these words of Jesus unless they wished to do so, or were too devoid of reason to comprehend anything. Jesus meant evidently the bread represented his body, and should be to them in future the sign that he was really incarnate.

Matthew 26:27

As if he foresaw that the Papists would take away the cup from the people, he expressly bade them all drink of it. The plainest language of command is no bond to those who are given over to the delusions of Rome.

Matthew 26:28

The cup was the instructive token of his blood, for it was filled with the blood of the grape. Jesus is meat and drink to his people; their necessary food, their dainty luxury; their staff of life, their exhilaration and joy. How sweet to reflect that the memorial of our dying Lord is not a funeral wailing, but a festival of rest; not a superstitious rite, but a simple, joyful commemoration. It is a pity that by kneeling some of our brethren have missed the instruction which an easy reclining or sitting posture would have given them, in Jesus, believers have entered into rest.

Matthew 26:29

Symbols were not for him, though useful to us: we shall ere long with him enjoy the reality which the emblem could but feebly typify.

Matthew 26:30

Brave was the heart which could sing with death before him: surely that hymn was a battle psalm defying death and hell. In like manner let us sing in all times of trial and temptation, and so glorify our God.

1 Corinthians 11:23-29

The apostle Paul gives us a full account of this Supper, which he received by express revelation. He thus writes: 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.

1 Corinthians 11:29

For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily without faith, reverence, and sincerity of soul

1 Corinthians 11:29

eateth and drinketh damnation or condemnation

1 Corinthians 11:29

He insults the ordinance by staying in the emblem and seeing no further; his heart is not occupied with the death of Jesus, he does not use the Supper as the Lord intended. Let us pay great attention to this, and mind how we behave at the Lord’s table.

According to thy gracious word,

In meek humility,

This will I do, my dying Lord,

I will remember thee.

Thy body, broken for my sake,

My bread from heaven shall be;

Thy testamental cup I take,

And thus remember thee.

Evening

“Let not your heart be troubled.”

John 14:1-14

After the supper was over our Lord addressed his disciples in language full of loving concern for them. He knew that his absence would greatly distress them, and therefore he poured forth a stream of consolations. How many thousands of tried believers have been comforted by these gracious words? All Scripture is as a garden of sweet flowers, but this passage may be compared to the rose, for its marvellous beauty and sweetness.

John 14:1

Though I die do not doubt me, rest in your Saviour as you do in your God.

John 14:2

His absence would not grieve them if they remembered the errand on which he was gone. We may well spare the bodily presence of Jesus from this world now that we know he has gone to prepare our eternal resting place.

John 14:5

Probably his notion was that our Lord would go to Nazareth or Galilee or some remote place to be anointed king, and prepare places for his followers, and therefore in his cool, thoughtful, practical way he sought for information. He did not know that the Lord referred to his return to glory.

John 14:6-8

Here another good disciple betrayed his ignorance, he had not yet grasped the idea of the essential union of the Father and the Son.

John 14:9

Till the Spirit of God illuminates the mind we learn little even from the best of teachers. God was in Christ most evidently, and yet Philip did not perceive it.

John 14:10 , John 14:11

What meaning can there be in these words if Jesus be not Divine, and one with the Father? No clearer statement of his Godhead could be given.

John 14:12

As God, the Lord Jesus not only had infinite power in himself but he was able to delegate it to others. His apostles wrought great miracles, and his believing disciples worked mighty spiritual works, so that more converts were brought to the faith by their testimony, than were called by the personal ministry of the Lord himself; and this, because through the Lord’s ascension into glory the Spirit of God was more fully given.

John 14:13 , John 14:14

“Good prayers,” says Bishop Hall, “never come weeping home. I am sure that I shall receive either what I ask or what I should ask.” If the best of blessings are to be had for the asking, he who will not ask deserves to go without.

Can we mourn as broken-hearted,

We who hang upon thy love,

Jesus for our sake departed

To thy Father’s house above?

Source of all our consolations,

There we our Forerunner see:

In those lasting habitations

Thou hast found a place for me.

All our hopes and souls we venture

On thy never-failing word,

Sure into thy joy to enter,

Sure to triumph with our Lord.

Copyright Statement This resource was produced before 1923 and therefore is considered in the "Public Domain".

[pokeeart]

The Misunderstanding that Melted Matthew

Act 1

Outside of the school, Matt and Kimberly sit together under a tree in the courtyard. Both are looking dejected and upset. Students mull about in the autumn weather. Kimberly clears her throat and Matt turns his attention to her.

Kimberly: Matt, there’s something I think we should talk about.

Matt: I’ve been thinking the same thing. And I agree.

Kimberly: What? Really? That makes this easier then...Matt, I’m glad you understand. I did really enjoy the time we spent together. (Kimberly stands up and offers Matt an apologetic smile before walking off and joining a large group of girls further down the courtyard.)

Matt: Uh. Wait what. (He stands and shouts after her) I thought we were talking about global warming! Kim?! Kim! (He goes to run after her but bumps into Gene)

Gene: Watch where you’re going mop-head! (He purposely sticks his leg out to trip Matt)

Matt: (falls) Ouch. (He watches as Kimberly struts off stage with her gal pals) Oh...I guess that’s that…

Gene: What? Your girl finally got the hint and left?

Matt: It’s not like that! We had a misunderstanding is all.

Gene: (disbelievingly) Really. What could you two have an intelligent conversation about that would be controversial?

Matt: (weakly and staggering to his feet) Global warming

Gene: Hawhaw! Everyone knows Global warming is a hoax mop-head. Get with the times. (Gene walks off stage)

Matt: Why is everyone ignoring this important issue...My girlfriend broke up with me! Over global warming! (screams)

(Mr. Keon quickly rushes on stage and heads to Matt)

Mr. Keon:  Matthew! What is the matter? Please stop screaming.

Matt: (has not stopped screaming) My girlfriend left me over global warming!

Mr. Keon: Kimberly left you over something so trivial? I guess the rumors are true.

Matt: (abruptly stops screaming and says curiously) What rumors? That she’s cheating on me?

Mr Keon: That she’s a republican. (pause) Matthew, I’m sure the two of you could work out some kind of compromise. Not everything has to be black or white.

Matt: I don’t think Gene would appreciate that, Mr. Keon.

Mr. Keon: And why not?

Matt: (matter of factly) He sure does know a lot about white stuff and would probably tell you that it’s the most important of things. He doesn’t like the color black too much.

Mr. Keon: (straightens up and looks around for Gene) Oh really?

Matt: Oh yeah. Gene knowns a lot about colors.

Mr. Keon: We’ll see, won’t we? (He speed walks in the direction that Gene disappeared to) Good luck with your relationship, Matthew.

Matt: Uh, thank you? (Mr. Keon exits) I wonder why Mr. Keon is in such a hurry. I thought he was all about the new art classes. Huh. (Matt looks around in hopes of seeing Kimberly, but spots his best friend, Miller instead)

Matt: Miller! My man! (jogs over to Miller) I need your advice.

Miller: Advice? What happened? Finally thinking of dropping that calculus class?

Matt: What? No, but I should do that. Kim left me! I got to get her back, man! Help me out.

Miller: Matthew, some relationships end because it’s time for them to. Everything comes to an end. (He sips from his coffee cup and gives Matt a snotty look)

Matt: Okay but like. It was a misunderstanding. Kim thinks one way about it and I think a different way and we totally got mixed up.

Miller: Is this about her cheating? Because I got to tell you man, you should have seen it coming.

Matt: (not listening to Miller at all) She just doesn’t care as much as I thought she did.

Miller: Exactly, Matthew. Lack of care is not healthy for the relationship.

Matt: I guess you're right. But I always thought just because we have different opinions doesn’t mean we couldn’t get along. Like, hearing other people’s opinions might help reunite our standpoint. I’d do anything at this point, I can compromise with her choice.

Miller: (perks up) So you’re saying that you wouldn’t mind if she heard other opinions with yours?

Matt: No, I think that would be great! Then maybe she would get what I mean when I talk about adaptation.

Miller: (smirking) I think I get what you’re saying.

Matt: That’s a relief. Nobody seems to get what I’m talking about.

Miller: Nah I hear you. Do you, uh, know where Kim is right now?

Matt: Probably with all the girls at the slushie place. Why?

Miller: I’m going to offer her my opinion, you know what I mean. (he nudges Matt) If that’s cool with you?

Matt: That would be amazing! Yes, go for it Miller.

(Miller exits and Matt walks around the courtyard think of what to do next)

Act 2

Matt sits in the lunchroom by himself. He looks around and notices how he is one of the only people to be sitting alone. He wonders where all of his friends went. Enter Mr. Keon, looking displeased.

Mr. Keon: Matthew. I very much need to speak with you.

Matt: Oh hey Mr. Keon. Sure, I’d love someone to talk to.

(Mr. Keon sits across from Matt)

Mr. Keon: This is about what we discussed earlier.

Matt: The color thing?

Mr. Keon: (unhappily) Yes, the color thing. I’m glad you brought the issue to my attention Matthew. After talking with Gene I realized that he isn’t the only kid in this school with a color problem.

Matt: I didn’t know people could have a color problem. That’s kind of strange don’t you think?

Mr. Keon: Yes, it is odd that people have such a hard time accepting different colors and treating them equally.

Matt: Yeah! Like yellow and brown. A lot of people think they're ugly colors.

Mr. Keon: (shocked) Wow, Matthew. You’re absolutely right. This is the kind of thing the school board needs to hear about. Would you be willing to stand with me and some other students about this issue? You’re insight would be very helpful to the cause.

Matt: Why, I’d love too! I’ve been meaning to join a club for ages, this is perfect.

Mr. Keon: It was a delight Matthew. (stands to leave) If Gene give you any trouble just come to me alright? (Matt gives a confused nod and Mr. Keon exits)

Matt: I didn’t know that the art club was protesting against the school board...Crazy world. (He continues looking around the lunchroom and spots Kelly, one of Kimberly’s close friends)

Matt: (yelling across the lunchroom) Kelly! Hey! How have you been? I haven’t seen you since that party last year.

Kelly: Oh yeah, great times. Look I can’t really talk right now, the girls have this amazing video to show me.

Matt: Video? Is it for a class? (standing up to follow her as she walks off)

Kelly: No, it’s a video of Kim beating the shit out of some guy!

Matt: (horrified) What? No! Kimberly wouldn’t do something like that!

Kelly: Well, she did. It sounded like the guy deserved it too. Talking to her about his creepy opinions or something.

Matt: (having a sudden dawning realization) Oh no. She’d really beat up someone over that? Maybe she’s not the girl I thought she was.

Kelly: When I grow up I want to be her. (Kelly exits and leaves Matt to fidget nervously in the hallway)

Matt: I can’t believe that Kimberly would so something so harsh. I mean I get not agreeing with global warming but beating someone up because they think different? That’s not right. (As Matt talks to himself students walk past him. Eventually Gene spots Matt and storms over to him)

Gene: Hey mop-head! What’s your damage? Sicking Mr. K on me for telling the truth? You don’t deserve Kimberly. Get over the facts.

Matt: Gene! Good. I need to ask you something. Is it right to beat someone up just because their different?

Gene: (a little startled) What do you mean?

Matt: I just mean, like hurting someone because their different is rude and discriminatory. I bet you can understand that.

Gene: (paling) I don’t know what you’re implying.

Matt: It’s like Kimberly didn’t even care to know me and my values. It’s like she didn’t even try to open any of my doors, like she locked me in a closet and forgot she had the key.

Gene: (gasps) Matt.

Matt: You get what I mean? I just feel like if maybe if I’d acted like a different person she’d like me more.

Gene: (outraged) Matthew, no! You’re perfect the way you are! You don’t need her to break down that closet door. Just bust it open, I’ve done it and you have no idea how good it feels. Don’t change yourself for other people, if they don’t agree with you they don’t agree with you. That’s that.

Matt: Jeez, Gene. You’re right! I just need to be myself! You’re the best!

(Gene smiles brightly and Matt returns the gesture)

Matt: Also sorry about that Mr. Keon thing. He super into art I guess. I thought the two of you would get along but what do I know about artists.

Gene: Hey don’t worry about it. You’ve given me something else to think about. (He winks) So really, thank you. (Gene exits. Matt smiles dazedly after him)

Matt: He’s such a great guy.

[skaikruswan]

i absolutely adore lord meowpheus (the fic the name and the man) but it reminded me that I'm allergic to cat hair and i imagined morpheus in an attempt to impress reader pre relationship he overhears them mention that they'd love a cat but can't have one and in what he thinks is a stroke of genius appears as a cat to reader and is very confused as to why reader starts sneezing and looks upset when he's near im allergic to cat hair like he's allergic to emotions

A natural reaction

WC: 1,7 k Ao3

Relationship: Morpheus x reader

Notes: fluff, first meeting, a small misunderstanding, Lord Meowpheus

Dear anon, thanks for the prompt! As you may have noticed, I really enjoy writing Lord Meowpheus. I hope you enjoy!

If you liked this story, i have written others.

You have always wanted a cat; that’s no secret. As a child, you had constantly asked your parents, pestering them with questions. But why can’t I have a cat? What’s an allergy? Can we make it go away? No gift could compare to the glee of finally having your own cat. But nature had other plans and decided to screw you over. 

You wish you could say that your dream of a cat had vanished, but it didn’t. You still spent hours watching cute cat videos, and you own more than one cute cat t-shirt. You still love listening to other people rambling about their cats. 

Cats will always be on your mind. You’ve even talked to the handsome stranger about them. Morpheus. You feel your cheek grow warm as you remember your first meeting. You met him in the park, where he was sitting on a bench and staring blankly ahead as he threw bread at the pigeons.

“Hey. Do you like pigeons?” had been your brilliant first question, and in hindsight you can’t believe that you looked at a man almost too good-looking to be real and decided to use that line as an opening.

“I do not know. But feeding them is a somehow relaxing task. It allows me to rest, if only for a moment.” His voice had almost blown you away, a deep soothing baritone, and you knew that you needed to hear more. 

“Well, I like cats,” you proudly announced. How you managed to keep the conversation going is beyond you. 

Fortunately for you, this had not been your last meeting with him. You’ve always walked through the park, but it became special once you had your little meetings, with Morpheus feeding the pigeons while you usually talk about your day. Morpheus was a very attentive listener, and always asking how you were feeling, but rarely talked about himself. Each time you managed to learn something about him, to lure another detail out of him, you felt rather accomplished. You know that he has an older sister he really likes, an old friend living in London, and that his work colleagues are called Lucienne and Matthew. He doesn’t talk about his job, but something tells you that it’s rather stressful. 

It has been a long day and jog into the park, grateful for the exercise. From far, you see a mop of messy dark hair and a back clad in black, and you smile. Sometimes Morpheus isn’t there, and you head home, a little disappointed but hey, everyone has responsibilities. This time, he’s there. 

“I am glad you could make it,” he greets you, and each time he says things like that, you melt a little inside, feeling like the most important person in the world. You take a seat next to him. 

“I am glad you’re still here,” you answer, and start talking about your day. It is late, later than usual, and the sun is starting to set, bathing the green glass with shades of gold. 

“Don’t you think that this sunset looks purrfect?” You like cats and puns, and now you hope that you haven’t scared him off. His lips quirk as Morpheus let out a small snort, and you feel your heart skip a beat. 

“It is a beautiful moment, and I am glad to share it with you.” You look forward, hoping that he can’t see the big blush on your cheeks. 

Having random people feature in your dreams isn’t that unusual. You once dreamed about dancing with your crush in the rain. However, it still surprises you to see Morpheus. 

“Look who the cat dragged into my dream?” you say, remaining consistent with your cat puns. Morpheus gives you an amused look, and credit where credit is due, your imagination really nailed him. He looks as incredible as he does in real life. 

“I am going to be honest with you. I chose to appear in your dream.” Something about the candid manner he speaks to you gives you pause, and you inhale deeply. 

“We must talk.” You almost want to throw bread at Dream-Morpheus for his terrible choice of words, but you nod, waving at the bench – your current dream was pretty ordinary, a lush park with blooming meadows and all sorts of trees. You try not to think too much about you dreaming of parks, with now Morpheus in it. 

“It will sound extraordinary, but I need to explain something to you,” he begins, and now your curiosity is piqued. 

It turns out that this was the understatement of the century. 

You step into the park and nervously bounce from one foot to the other. Here you thought that you were just hanging out with a ridiculously attractive man, and it turns out that he’s the immortal ruler of the dream world. That would shock everyone. 

You have to be fair; Morpheus has been nothing but understanding and respectful, answering your questions and giving you the space and time you needed. You still had your usual conversations in the park, and you wouldn’t change a thing about it. It feels a little like a courting in period drama. 

“I really want a cat,” you groan, dragging a hand through your messy hair. A friend of yours just got a kitten and you are stuck between delight and envy. Sometimes, you really hate your body. 

“I see,” Morpheus hums in thought, and you both sit in comfortable silence. If asked, Morpheus would tell you tales about places long gone and people who are nothing but dust. But sometimes you would simply enjoy each other’s company. You truly appreciate his patience, but then again, he had time to practice. Your heart is whispering for you to go for it, while your mind is still hesitating.

 In your dream, you find yourself back in the park as usual, but this time, you are not alone. A lovely black cat is slowly approaching you, its golden eyes gleaming. It feels familiar, and you wonder if you know someone who has a black cat. 

“Aren’t you the most gorgeous?” you coo, dropping to your knees and extending a hand. It may have been your imagination, but a smug look has crossed over the cat’s face. But before you could touch the cat and find out if its fur is as soft as it looks like, you feel the telltale prickling in your nose. Come on! You can’t believe that you’re still allergic in a dream! Then again, maybe it is a part of you, just like the sound of your voice or the color of your eyes. Anyway, it sucked. 

“I am sorry kitty,” you say, blinking repeatedly as your eyes are simultaneously dry and almost watering. God, you hate your allergy. The cat lets out a concerned meow, taking one leisurely step toward you. 

“Shoo!” you scream, cursing your luck. You wish you could touch it, but right now, it needs to leave, you lament internally as you let out a sneeze. The cat gives you an indignant look before hissing once, low and vicious, and then running away. This is why you can’t have things. 

You wake up from your dream, disgruntled and disappointed.

You barely give any thought to the dream as you approach Morpheus at your usual spot. He simply acknowledges you with a nod and you think nothing about it as you sit down. Minutes pass as the silence grows more awkward. He sits perfectly still, and his expression is almost upset. 

“Cat got your tongue?” you ask softly, only for Morpheus to let out a sound between a snort and a scoff. It’s a start. 

“Did you have a nice dream?” he asks, and you can’t help but tilt your head in confusion. You didn’t expect the conversation to head into that direction. Moreover, shouldn’t he as king of dreams know all about your dreams? 

“I dreamt about a beautiful black cat,” you answer, and from the corner of your eye, you see him angle his body a little towards you. Huh. 

“It sucked that I couldn’t pet it. Can you believe that I am allergic even in my dreams?” you continue before it dawned on you. Maybe you could ask Morpheus to somehow make your allergy in your dreams disappear? 

“You are allergic to cats?” he inquires, and you groan dramatically. Everyone knows about this, and you are so sick and tired of reminding yourself of it, that maybe you forgot to mention that small detail to him. 

“Yes, and I hate it with a burning passion.” Why mother nature, why? 

“I see.” 

The black cat seems to wait for you, sitting on a bench, and you let out a long sigh. You really don’t want to shoo the cat again. Why did it come back in the first place? 

You wait for your nose, eyes, or throat to act up, only to be pleasantly surprised when your body remains fine. Have your prayers been answered, at least in your dreams? 

You extend your hand, giving the cat time to approach you. The cat nudges its head against you, and you gasp in glee. Gently, you let your fingers glide over its head and back, marveling at the soft fur. The cat tilts its head backward, urging you to stroke its chin, and you giggle as you do as it commands. It nuzzles your hand before it starts purring, and you give yourself a mental high-five. You are living the dream. 

Too soon, it takes a few jumps away from you, and in a blink of an eye, Morpheus stands where the cat used to stand. You scream and immediately feel embarrassed. 

“You’re the cat!” you exclaim. That explains why it felt so familiar. It makes sense that Morpheus can manipulate dreams, but the fact that he can take on different forms still surprises you.

“I am. I wanted to give you a surprise yesterday, not taking into consideration your allergy. My apologies,” Morpheus explains, and your jaw drops. That’s why he was almost moody today. You shooed Morpheus, Dream of the Endless. For a second, you want to take control over your dream and dig a hole to bury yourself. 

“Thanks for trying and not giving up,” you say instead, tugging away a strand of your hair. 

“For you, always.” He gives you a small smile and you feel your heart leap inside your chest. You are definitely a goner. 

“See you tomorrow?” you ask hopefully, biting your lip. 

“I would not miss it.” 

[writingandchocolatemilk]

Asylum - Chapter One

Hello, welcome to this venture !

This is a fic co-written by myself and @somebratinamask

There are several chapters planned, but for now there are two written. This is a fic primarily devoted to RusAme, but GerIta is essential to the plot and will come up later.

We hope you enjoy.

On AO3. On FFn.

Chapter One : The Delusions of Alfred F. Jones

Alfred F. Jones was an honest, true, good American, and as such, he did not lie. Well, sometimes he had to lie, but that was always for the greater good, for helping people, so it wasn't the same thing as lying-lying. It was like telling kids about Santa, or the Tooth Fairy, because it was fun and for their own good, and that was why Alfred lied, sometimes, but not today.

No, not today when the concerned nurse frowned down at him and asked him: "Why did you go into the burning building, Alfred? Can you tell me that?"

So, Alfred F. Jones said what he said when it wasn't a Santa situation, which was the truth: "Because I'm a fireman."

The nurse, who had kind eyes even if her mouth was set a little hard, looked at him with soft admiration. "No, Alfred, you're not a fireman. Can you tell me why you ran into the fire?"

Of course Alfred was a fireman, he had wanted to be a fireman since he was, what, seven years old? He had been running into smoky buildings for, what, at least six years now? Something like that, after college, and he just hadn't had time to grab his equipment, but people had been in trouble, and so Alfred did what firemen do and ran into the fire.

He told the nurse this.

And then Matthew burst into the room.

"You're an idiot, Alfred!" Matthew said, voice on the edge of hysterics.

"Calm down, Mattie, I'm f—"

"You're not fine! You almost died from smoke inhalation, Alfred, do you understand me!? You almost died." Matt collapsed in a chair and put his face in his hands. "I can't do this anymore, Alfred, I just can't."

God, his brother was so hysterical sometimes. He always blew things out of proportion and always bitched and moaned about how Alfred wasn't being responsible, but Alfred saw an issue and you know what, Alfred acted, that was more than Matthew could say for himself.

But, of course, it wasn't Alfred's job to tell Matt how timid he was. Alfred struggled to sit up under the wires checking his pulse and the IV lines and the oxygen mask, and leaned over to give Mattie a reassuring squeeze on the knee, and a kind smile, because it was alright.

"Mattie, come on now, I've gotten into scrapes worse than this. I'm a fireman, remember—"

Matthew looked at the nurse, eyes wide. "He does this. He's fine for a few months and then he'll do something fucking stupid like this and—and—he's never done anything like this before. It's just—he'll climb trees to get cats or walk around at night being a vigilante he's never… never…"

The nurse clicked her tongue.

…

In hindsight, Alfred should have lied.

He had nothing against the nurse, he was sure she was perfectly fine in her spare time, but also she was sort of a giant bitch.

…

This new nurse, a woman with a smile that was much warmer than the other nurse, took his blood pressures and asked him if he was on any medication, explained her name was Amy, and that she was going to be showing him around, where the bathrooms were, that he had to keep his wristband on with his name.

The whole place was basically a giant circle, with rooms lining either side—well, not a circle, but a square, but it looped around—and there was only one set of doors out, the one that Alfred came through. He had been buzzed in and then Amy had relocked the doors.

"Hey, Amy," Alfred said, giving her a warm smile, "why are the doors locked?"

Well, apparently not everyone wanted to be here, which was fair. Alfred didn't particularly want to be here either, but he wondered if Amy thought he was one of the unruly ones, because of course he wasn't, even if that bitchy nurse had listened to his hysterical brother, but this was a misunderstanding.

Alfred found that if he was agreeable, even if it was silly, people cut him slack.

Still though. He eyed the locked doors as they passed by. And the nurses' station was locked. He watched the nurses—who didn't wear scrubs, even though they were in the hospital—jingle their keys to enter the sections Alfred was barred from.

Amy returned. "Have you ever taken antipsychotic pills, Alfred?"

"Nah, I'm healthy."

Amy nodded, and then explained that he wasn't a fireman—Jesus, what was it with these people? You'd think they had his autobiography run through an antonym machine—and that these pills would help him have a better grip on his "situation."

Alfred smiled and swallowed them down pleasantly enough.

At least Matthew had brought him an overnight bag.

…

Alfred had never had a roommate before.

Alfred watched his sleeping form intently, chin resting in his hand. The only roommate he had ever had was Mattie, and it was exactly as much fun as was to be expected. Matthew hadn't even let Alfred get a dog—can you believe that? Get a dog, like Matt was his dad or some shit.

"Can I help you?" The roommate was looking at Alfred.

Alfred grinned. "Good, you're up. I'm Alfred F. Jones, and I'm a fireman. I hope we can split this rent evenly between the two of us, and I'm getting a dog, so I hope you're a dog person."

The roommate blinked at him. "Hello, Alfred, it's three in the morning. I would appreciate it if you would stop muttering and let me get some sleep."

Ah, so if that was how the roommate was going to be, that was fine. But of course, they wouldn't let Alfred switch roommates, it was too late or early or something, and this other nurse was much bigger and had an actual uniform on, and he told Alfred to get back to bed in a way Alfred was familiar with, because it was usually how people spoke to him before they punched him.

"Hey, easy, big guy! Alright, alright, I'm going to bed. It's just that this guy over here sucks, and—"

"Back to bed, Jones."

Two out of the three nurses so far were giant dickheads. Alfred was not impressed.

…

"Alfred?"

Alfred stood up and gave a little bow to the circle. "Hello, all! I am Alfred F. Jones, the best damn fireman this side of the Mississippi, which is saying a lot, considering how heavily populated the East Coast is! See these burns? I got them from saving people from a blaze! I had smoke inhalation."

Of course, no one was awake this early in the morning, and the nurses took his blood pressure and talked to him in soothing voices and gave him more pills and no one even asked what it was like being a fucking fireman, which was cool as shit, but whatever, fine.

One jumpy kid gave him a curious look. "Are you really a fireman?"

Alfred jumped on the opportunity this—what was his name? Feli-something? This Feli, then—gave him. Yes, you should have seen the fire. Alfred threw his hands in the air, making a whooshing noise of the timbers being eaten—the heat, Feli, you could have felt it from forty feet away, and it was night, of course, so Alfred's eyes had been drawn to the light like a moth to a flame, the cinders flying into the air so high they could have burned the underside of planes—

Which was a thought, because Alfred had a pilot's license, too—

But the fire, yes, and Alfred had just known there was someone calling for help, trapped under a fallen support beam, so of course Alfred had barged in there, searching frantically through the smoke, his glasses practically melting on his nose.

Feli watched, enraptured, captivated by this story, and Alfred was happy he could make at least one friend in this place.

…

The afternoon brought with it drowsiness. Alfred sat on his bed, looking at the bandages on his hands, rerunning the story he had told that Feli-kid, fixing details he had forgotten, like how this woman was worried about her baby and was yelling for help, that was—

"I haven't introduced myself."

Alfred looked up at the shit roommate. "Oh, now you want to talk?"

"Yes, when it's not the middle of the night, I think you will find me much more amicable. I'm Ivan."

Alfred rolled his eyes.

"So, you're a fireman? I heard that little story you told Feliciano."

Ah, so Ivan had been listening. Well, good. "Yeah, but I had forgotten some stuff. There's a lot to it, you know, there's a lot to saving people."

"And being a pilot?"

That's right, that's where Alfred had received his firefighting training. You just don't show up to a big ass fire without training, so they taught that in the air force, in case the planes ever caught fire on the air force ships, or the field, how to save people. Alfred wasn't lying about that, Alfred didn't lie, like everyone kept saying.

Ivan asked after Alfred's hands, and Alfred had to end up showing him the burns, explaining how it had been from moving fallen timbers, and of course he usually wore gear, but there was no time to act, this lady was screaming for her kid and what was Alfred going to do? What was smoke inhalation to saving a child? A baby, two actually.

Sometimes, you just needed to act.

Ivan gave him a look—probably feeling bad he had been a dick earlier. But by this point, Alfred was tired of talking.

…

Alfred didn't like this doctor.

"Alfred, I'm going to need you to cooperate. The only way you can get better is to work with me here."

The doctor was fucking condescending, that's what. There was nothing wrong with Alfred, this was all a misunderstanding, for fuck's sake Alfred was a pilot, he had saved a family from a fucking fire, he didn't need to be in the hospital, right?

And how were the meds making Alfred feel?

Tired, they were making him tired and sluggish. Alfred had slept all afternoon, and then had been kept in his room by another dickhead nurse who said it was too late to walk, so Alfred was left jiggling his knee all night and wondering where the fuck all his shoelaces had gone, and why hadn't Matthew packed him anything to do.

And look, he had a twitch.

"That's a side effect."

To what?

And then the doctor spouted off the name of the medication which meant dick-all to Alfred, and again, they were antipsychotic meds, but Alfred wasn't doing anything psychotic!

It was like having the same conversation on a loop.

…

"Alfred."

Alfred focused on Matthew. "Please tell me you brought something for me to do. I'm bouncing off the walls here, I'm going fucking crazy."

Matt nodded. "I brought you the stuff you keep hidden under your bed."

The good stuff, how did he know where Alfred kept the good stuff? All the good comics collectors would kill to have—

"Alfred."

"Yeah?"

"Alfred, why do you think you're a pilot?"

"Because how else would I have training for the fire?" Alfred held up his bandaged hands.

Mattie nodded. "So, you're in the military?"

"Yes."

Mattie nodded again. "Okay. How old are you?"

"Do you seriously not know how old I am?"

"Of course I do, I'm your brother. Just humor me and I'll give you comics."

Alfred rolled his eyes. He loved his brother, but look, again with the dad shit, the ultimatums! "I'm twenty-four."

"Okay, and when did you go to the military?"

"I—"

Mattie leaned forward. "No, think about it. It wasn't when you were eighteen, right? Because you went to college for a bit, remember? Until you were twenty-two, right? And then we moved closer to our Dads, right? How were you trained and deployed in two years?"

"People are trained and deployed in two years—"

"No, because you were there for the vow renewals, right?"

Alfred frowned. Yeah, that was right, that shit was boring and long and sappy, and Alfred had nearly torn his skin off keeping still that long, but he had smiled and hugged everyone like his Father had told him to do, good boy.

"Alfred, you're not a pilot, right?"

Right, yeah, of course. Who the fuck had been saying he's a pilot? That's stupid—although, of course, he could see where the confusion could come in, Alfred was very trim and had the calm demeanor of a pilot—but Alfred hadn't had the time to enlist, unfortunately, he was busy at school.

And busy with the volunteer firefighters, of course.

But Alfred kept that to himself and Mattie gave him a box filled with, finally, something interesting.

…

Feli was saying something interesting. "I know it's all in my head, I get that, but it doesn't stop me from hearing things, you know? And then you start to wonder what's real or not, because how can you really know, know, you know? Because sometimes you ignore something and it's real."

…

Ivan tilted his head. "What are you thinking about?"

Alfred picked at the scabs on his hands, irritated with them. They were itchy and he was tired and twitchy and the shit Matthew had brought him had only lasted—only lasted for a few hours, and now Alfred was without things to do, and he was stuck watching boring movies and walking outside for like, two seconds.

So that thing Feli had said the other day was eating at him. Because he had sounded delusional, right? That's what Alfred thought, anyways, because how the fuck do you mishear things that are real? Maybe fake things, but it's like when there's a ringing in your ears, you make a noise in your throat and the fake ringing fades back and you can figure out it was just the blood in your ears.

"Yes, Feliciano has schizophrenic."

Right, exactly, Alfred knew that shit, he was wondering more like, well, what was Alfred doing here? Clearly it was a misunderstanding, but Matthew had been here, and Matt didn't do anything without calling Papa and talking for fucking hours on end, so Alfred's parents knew he was here, but Alfred wasn't a schizo, just—

"You're not delusional?" Ivan asked, raising his eyebrows.

Alfred glared at him. "No, I'm not fucking delusional."

"You take the same pills as Feliciano, don't you?"

Ivan didn't know if they were the same pills.

"I do, actually. Small, yellow, with a line through the middle."

Alfred's mind jumped back to that morning, when meds were being passed out. Yeah, yeah, that sounded about right. That's what his looked like, anyways, and yes, actually, he was sure Feli did take the same ones.

"Same ones Feliciano takes," Ivan insisted.

Well, clearly that was just a mistake, then. All Alfred had to do was go to one of the nurses and tell them they had messed up the medication, just knock on that glass and smile like he did and tell them no, he wasn't a schizophrenic, not like Feli—

"That wouldn't work though, would it?" Ivan asked.

Alfred hesitated at the door. Ivan knew what drugs he and Feli took. "Why wouldn't it?"

Ivan gave a casual shrug and leaned back against his pillows. "I could see them messing up your drugs once, twice, maybe even three times. But you've been here, what, two weeks now? You've talked to the doctor how many times, to your nurse Amy, and they keep giving you the 'wrong' drugs?"

"You're saying it's intentional?"

Ivan gave another little shrug and flipped a page in his book.

No, he couldn't just say that and fuck off. But that didn't make sense, Alfred was in a hospital, why would they give him the wrong medication on purpose? Although, none of the nurses wore any scrubs, and that was just sanitary, wasn't it, wearing scrubs? That had been bugging Alfred, and it was weird how they took his blood pressure, what did that have to do with anything?

And the twitch. Alfred looked at his hand that moved without his permission, and how he had been telling the doctor that he was drowsy. Or maybe they were placebo pills, doctors did that sometimes, too, to test medication. That would explain why they were giving it to Alfred, to test it.

Feli was absolutely no help. He had no idea what medication he was taking, or what it looked like, and he had no idea what his official diagnosis was, he just kept saying something about dopamine, which made no fucking sense. Feli had no idea if any of the nurses were registered, he had no idea what the doctor's last name even was because it was slipping Alfred's mind—

Wait, no it wasn't. What was it that Matthew had been saying the other day? Alfred had gone to college.

Of course Ivan knew what medication Alfred was taking, because Alfred had prescribed it to himself. Ivan must have seen the slip. Relief dropped down Alfred's back like warm water, and he smiled.

…

Ivan leaned close enough to whisper into Alfred's ear without Alfred's coworkers hearing. "I see you're still taking your pills."

Alfred pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and looked at Ivan through half-lidded eyes. "Of course I'm taking my pills. It would be dumb to waste the prescription. You're wrong, by the way, Feli and I don't take the same meds. I take Flutix and he takes Harbidrole. It's an easy mistake, really, they do look similar, but Harbidrole is used for schizophrenia, while I clearly don't have schizophrenia."

"Ah, so you're a doctor, now."

Yes, of course. Alfred was a little young, sure, but he was in advanced classes, and he was halfway through his residency before this little incident, he was studying—

"And the firefighting?"

What? Oh, yes, well, that was just on a volunteer basis, just to pad his resume so he could get into medical school, which was difficult enough, but Alfred managed it after only a year and a half at undergrad. It—

"So, if you don't mind me asking, why are you in a psych ward, Dr. Jones?"

Part of Alfred's residency, plus Alfred was feeling very stressed with medical school—

"And what is your diagnosis?"

"Like I said," Alfred said primly, "stress, mainly. That's what Flutix is used for. It has to do with dopamine."

"Oh, dopamine, of course. And dopamine has to do with stress, doesn't it, Dr. Jones."

"Yes." Alfred grinned. "Exactly. Very good."

"What are you studying?"

"Psychiatry."

Ivan tilted his head. "Could I ask you a question, Dr. Jones?"

"Of course. You are in a psych ward, of course, and I am studying psychiatry." Dr. Jones was a man of the people after all, and what was a little free consultation among—

"What would you diagnose me with?" Ivan's lips twitched into a small smile. "If you would allow me to pick your brain."

Well, that was an easy one. Ivan was clearly a neurotic, distrustful, prone to conspiracy theories. Dr. Jones didn't know how to concisely put it, but it was clear in the way Ivan distrusted the medication Alfred prescribed himself, and was generally shifty—

"I'm shifty?"

Dr. Jones blinked. "Yeah, you didn't want a roommate, right? Distrustful of someone new."

Ivan's eyes lit up. "Actually, I'm very pleased with the turn of events that led to my new roommate. Thank you, Alfred, this has been enlightening."

Ivan touched Dr. Jones' elbow lightly as he passed.

Dr. Jones watched him walk down the hall. Yeah, that's right, he could diagnose people, because he was a doctor, but he hadn't much time to really get an in-depth look into most patients' brains because he was still so new on the floor, but he had talked to Feli.

Feli glanced up as Dr. Jones approached and smiled, and boy, did Dr. Jones have some great news for Feli. No, Feli, Dr. Jones, Alfred was a doctor, please, stop deflecting, Dr. Jones had some great news for Feli, he didn't have schizophrenia, he had seizures.

Yes, Feli, that's what make sense, doesn't it? It explained the weird hallucinations, why Feli was so absentminded, a mild form of epilepsy, definitely, Feli should definitely let his primary care doctor know as soon as he saw her again—

Yes, of course Dr. Jones was a doctor, he was only a firefighter on a volunteer basis, and even that was pretty rare, no, listen, Feli, Dr. Jones had graduated early from medical school through an advanced program, and was in the middle of his residency and was here to get a feel of where he would be working, and also due to stress.

…

"A doctor? Alfred, does that make sense to you?" the fellow doctor sitting across from Dr. Jones asked.

"That's Dr. Jones to you."

Dr. Jones sat in stubborn silence and the doctor had the audacity to sigh and shuffle papers in front on him, saying they'll try again tomorrow, Alfred.

"That's Dr. Jones."

…

Dr. Jones sat on his bed, exhausted, watching Ivan, who wasn't doing all too terribly much. Now that Dr. Jones thought about it, both Ivan and Mattie did the same boring shit—namely, read a whole bunch. Didn't they get bored? Dr. Jones got bored watching them, and Dr. Jones was so fucking sick of being bored.

"What are you reading?" Alfred asked, nicking the book from Ivan's hands.

"Excuse me, I was reading that."

Yeah, and it was fucking boring. Dr. Jones walked back over to his bed and bent over the book, picking up where Ivan had left off, squinting through the dense, academic writing, trying to follow dates.

"It's a history book," Ivan said from the other side of the room.

Yeah, Dr. Jones could—

"Are you a fan of history?"

No, not really. It was always so dry for Dr. Jones' taste. It was cool when it was wars or explosions or spy missions, but mostly it was a lot of riots or picketing or death or presidents, and while it was interesting to learn, things like that didn't stick in Alfred's head very well, so he was left with a jumble of information and dates that didn't connect.

"I see." Ivan was clearly trying to get his book back with all this talk, but Dr. Jones wasn't—"What does stick in your head, then?"

"Physics." Alfred blinked at his own answer. "Math. Stuff with right and wrong answers."

Ivan watched Alfred flip through the pages of his book.

Alfred looked up. "I like space stuff. I thought it was really cool they could send satellites to different moons based on the gravity and orbit of other planets. I forget the word for it, but there's a way to make a satellite orbit around another body and then have it slingshot where you want it to go. Maybe it was slingshot-ing. Called that."

"So, my history book isn't very interesting to you, is it?"

Alfred snorted. No, of course it wasn't interesting, Dr. Jones only took it to see what was so fascinating—

"I have another book you might like."

If it was anything like the current book in Dr. Jones' possession—

Ivan sat up on his bed and reached underneath to pull out a plastic bin filled with books, enough to give even Matt a rough time of reading them all, which was saying something, and he moved a few stacks around until he found what he was looking for.

He held it out to Alfred. "Here."

Alfred already had a book—

Ivan waved the book in the air. "Come on, take it. You've read through those comics underneath your bed at least ten times, and I guarantee the book you have in your hands currently will put you to sleep faster than Flutix does."

Alfred stood and quickly exchanged books. Ivan didn't say another word, and curled back onto his bed, resuming where Alfred had left the pages.

Dr. Jones wasn't expecting much when he flipped open to a random page, but to his surprise, it was about space stuff. Granted, it was still boring ass history shit, but it went into the Cold War science behind all the space missions, how spies had stolen information.

Occasionally, Alfred would reach a part in the book that referenced something earlier that he hadn't read, so Alfred would need to flip back, but he would end up engrossed with this new part that led into the thing he had been reading later, so he would flip back and forth and back and forth and back and forth until there was nothing left.

And then Alfred started again.

…

Ivan glanced up at Alfred. "I was beginning to think I had lost you in there."

Alfred handed back the book and took a seat by Ivan on the ground because the chairs were too far away and Alfred had something he needed to do. He handed back the book and then handed him #4 of Mightnighter: Out.

Ivan raised an eyebrow and looked pleased. "I don't think I can spend three days reading a comic, but I will certainly do my…" Ivan actually seemed to get a good look at the cover. "There's… a hammer. And a sickle."

Yes, of course there was a hammer and sickle, Ivan was Russian.

"How did you know I was Russian?"

Well, it was easy with his last name and his accent, so slight that nothing but Alfred's trained ears could pick it up.

Alfred jumped up and nodded, because now Ivan could read about something he liked, as well, something he could connect with and take some hours away so he wasn't fidgety, either, something to keep his mind engaged and fingers from trembling even though he had told the doctor he was sick of the tic—

Ivan held the book back out. "You can keep it."

Alfred had snatched the book before he was even aware he had done it, it was just back in his hands. "You can't keep the comic."

"I wasn't planning to."

…

Few things went in the box, stuff that thieves and spies would spend hours pouring over, the smallest detail, the smallest word, the way the color faded into black or the way the plot twisted together from other stories to merge into a perfect issue that only made sense if you read the other ones, eyes red and tired and those who would spend days and days and days pouring over these things, studying, these are things that went in the box, to keep from those who would study instead.

These were precious things.

…

Alfred wondered, faintly whenever he caught himself waking up, why there weren't any windows in his room.

…

"You seem better."

Alfred glanced up from the table to Matthew, an ocean away on pills and the hard plastic-wood tables were made of. "There was nothing wrong with me to begin with." The words the doctor used came out across his tongue: "I get carried away with things."

Mattie let out a breath of air like a deflating balloon. "How are things?"

How were things? That was a question. "I sleep, a lot. And I've walked around that fucking ward enough times to wear a track in the linoleum, but I'm…"

He was what? Alfred could feel it, vaguely, something different, something just on the edge of his consciousness that usually got him going was bound and gagged, like the hum of a TV that was muted, a different sort of noise. It was strange and Alfred was afraid to think about it too much.

"It's good," Matthew said, firmly. "It's a good thing, the doctor said so."

Alfred frowned at this, and something about the phrase scratched at the back of his mind. Mattie told him about his shifts, about how Dad and Papa missed him and sent their love, of course. Alfred had the urge to scratch at his hairline.

"Are they coming to visit?"

Matt sighed again, and Alfred wondered when he had started doing that all the time, like everything Alfred said was the tenth time he had asked the same thing. "No, I don't think so. But I did bring you some things—"

"Why won't they visit?"

Matthew stared at him like a sinking ship. "Because they don't want to. They say it makes them too sad, Alfred, and I'm inclined to agree. What are you doing here!?"

That was a good question, wasn't it?

Matthew let out another fucking sigh. "God, Alfred, what are you doing here?"

"Well, do you have something to say?"

Matthew let out a little laugh. "Do I have something to say—do you think you'll hear it? Or will you just get that deranged look in your eye and start rambling away about some—" Mattie hissed the word: "Bullshit and ruin things again?"

That wasn't fucking fair, Alfred didn't ruin jackshit—

"Yes, you have, and what's worse, you don't even think, you're a million miles away—"

Across a sea— "How the fuck do you know what my doctor said?"

Matthew froze for just a second, in the middle of looking around, of his shoulders slumping. "I didn't, I just know what an improvement looks like."

Alfred stood. "You're fucking lying. You're not my emergency contact, I didn't give you permission to talk to my doctor, it's none of your fucking business about why I'm in here."

Matthew let out a laugh of sharp air. "It's not my business—do you hear yourself? Like I haven't been fucking forced into your business for years—"

"There you go again with that dad bullshit again!"

"What on earth are you—"

"You act like I'm a little kid!" Alfred loomed over Matthew.

Matthew didn't stand, face-to-face with Alfred, nose inches from his own, didn't shove him back, no, Mattie just sank further into his seat. "You are a little kid."

"Leave."

Matthew opened his mouth—

Alfred shoved Matthew, and his brother threw out his arms to stop himself from falling backwards out of the chair. "Alfred what the—"

"Leave and take your fucking party favors with you. They don't make up for the fact you use me to feel better about yourself, that treating me like an idiot makes you feel better because no one gives a shit about you, not Dad, not Papa, and especially not me."

Matt didn't even look up at him. "You're unbelievable, you know that?"

"No, I'm just usually too nice to tell you the obvious, but I'm sick of your sighing and I'm sick of the shit you bring me and I'm sick of you talking to my doctor and I'm sick of all of this!" Alfred whirled to the blond nurse hovering nearby. "And you can tell my fucking doctor that if I hear he's been talking to my brother, there's not a strong enough lock to keep me from leaving this place."

Now Matthew stood. "You're being—"

"Leave."

…

"You talked to my brother."

The doctor looked impassively back at him over his desk. "Does that bother you?"

"Yes, it fucking bothers me. What about doctor-patient confidentiality, doc? What about you not telling fucking lies to my brother about me?"

Oh, but they weren't lies, Alfred, he was just updating Matthew on Alfred's situation, but there wasn't a fucking situation! For fuck's sake, Alfred shouldn't be in here! And it was god damned illegal to keep him here without his permission.

"Matthew was concerned about your delusions, Alfred."

Delusions, delusions, what fucking delusions, those were misunderstandings, those were idiots, those were the doctor saying things about Alfred that just weren't true, maybe you're fucking delusional!

"Clearly, you're in no position to talk right now, Alfred. We'll try again tomorrow."

…

Alfred didn't care about the fucking penguins, or about their stupid fucking eggs, or about how they were still in fucking Antarctica even though they should have fucking died off hundreds of years ago, thousands, millions, the timescale of evolution.

Alfred felt his eyes flicking from person to person until he reached an awfully large gap he hadn't noticed before, and his eyes landed on Ivan, an island in the tightly packed folding chairs of movie night.

"Look at the chick, Alfred," Feli breathed next to him.

Feli kept saying stupid shit like that, while Ivan got to have three chair-lengths of space around him like an asteroid impact.

…

And one that followed Ivan around like a bubble.

…

In the morning vitals line, Alfred could have sat in a chair between Ivan and the next person.

…

At recreation time, Ivan by the window, reading, people moving around him like water around a smooth stone that licked his finger to turn pages.

…

At meals, a table to himself, a fortress, a minefield.

…

Outdoors, Ivan could have been a hiker, alone, the last one on the Earth, walking through a field with his hands behind his back and a tent he could set up in abandoned cities.

…

A lion gripped a gazelle in his teeth while Alfred neatly stepped over the chairs in front of him and sat down next to Ivan. If Ivan was surprised, if Alfred held more interest than the stupid fucking Savannah, he certainly didn't show it.

"People are afraid of you."

Ivan's eyes held only the screen in front of him and did not turn their attention to Alfred. "I am trying to watch the movie. Your voice is loud and distracting."

"You don't give a shit about the movie."

"Interesting conclusion, because I'm watching it."

Alfred looked between Ivan and the projection. "Who gives a shit about lions?"

"Obviously not you."

Ivan's eyes were still glued to the screen and it was pissing Alfred right the fuck off.

"No one talks to you. All yesterday, no one, just the nurses and I would guess your doctor, but it must get lonely. All you do is read books and watch the shitty documentaries and nod when the nurses ask you to do something, and you don't have visitors that often, and you read fast and no one else reads the things you do so you have no one to talk to about them."

Finally, Ivan turned his eyes "So, Mr. Popular is pitying me? I have some bad news: I'm not going to sit at your lunch table."

"I wasn't inviting you." Alfred grinned at him. "But you are lonely. Or something. You didn't answer my questions, see, you're fucking deflecting and that shit doesn't work anymore. I might twitch like a motherfucker but you're lying, Braginski."

Half of Ivan's face was illuminated by the sunlit world an ocean away, and the other half was not. "And what am I lying about, Jones?"

Alfred stood and a shadow ate the projection. "You would totally sit at my lunch table if I invited you."

…

Ivan did not have any more books. He had boxes and boxes full of shit, but he did not have any more books, and Alfred should know, he had been digging under Ivan's bed nearly all evening, pulling out waste of tree pulp after waste of tree pulp and flipping to a random page only to find it wholly uninteresting.

Ivan had watched him at first, but he had soon picked up one of the books Alfred had tossed irritably away and began reading, trusting Alfred enough to look through his precious information. Not that there was much. Just shit.

"You know," Ivan said, licking a finger, "I could suggest a book to you."

No, that wasn't what Alfred wanted. He didn't want a suggestion, he wanted a book to call to him like a beacon, something influential that would change his world view like people had experienced with the Bible, but less boring than the Bible, because Alfred had tried that one and found it both hard to read and also a waste of paper and honestly, did every single book Ivan own try to use the biggest word possible? Like look, here, extraordinary, couldn't they just use great?

Ivan proceeded to tell him about the merits of more precise words to communicate blah, blah, blah. Alfred watched Ivan's mouth move and watched his eyes continue to read as he lectured and the sound wasn't bad, soft. Alfred looked up at Ivan from his position on the floor, his feet under Ivan's bed, and thought about how few people had seen Ivan from this angle, looking up as Ivan read and talked, surrounded by books. And the sound really was quite lovely and Alfred just rested his head against Ivan's knee.

…

Alfred stared at the doorway, counting the shadows that walked by, counting his heart beat, dividing it by six, multiplied by twelve and a half and then subtracting by seven, fingers twitching, restarting when the shadows walked back in front of the door, boots heavy on the floor.

He had asked to go to the bathroom three times and it was only one in the morning, they were going to tell him to hold it if he didn't stop, they were going to call the nurses if he didn't stop—

"What are you thinking about?"

Alfred looked over to the other side of the room and found a companion in bed, sitting up, eyes bright in the gloom.

"I don't want to sleep." Alfred held up his hand and watched his hand trembled. "It feels like all I've been doing is sleeping and I don't want to do it anymore." Like a fog had settled over him, slowing his movements, the whole world banging on his front door and demanding his attention. And the world was so boring.

"It is boring," Ivan said softly, "isn't it?"

Alfred blinked up at him, suddenly unsure if he had spoken aloud or not. "Why are you here, Ivan?"

Ivan head turned away from the light of the hallway, and if there had been a window in this jailcell, Ivan would have been looking out it and considering the question. As it was, he looked at the cinderblock walls and took longer to respond. "Because I was ordered to be here."

This clicked into place in Alfred's mind. So that was why people were afraid of him, because he wasn't kept here against his will by the hospital, but by someone else, because he didn't take the same pills in the morning and his responses weren't the same in group. Because someone higher had looked at Ivan and decided to make him come here.

"And why are you here, Alfred?"

Why was Alfred here. It was all people seemed to be asking him these days, and Alfred watched the shadow walk across the door and counted his heartbeat and divided and multiplied and subtracted and almost forgot to respond to a question that had been haunting him the past few days. "I'm not like Feli."

"No. No, you are most certainly not like Feliciano. Which begs the question, doesn't it?"

"I think… I think Mattie put me here." Alfred picked at some weird, dry stuff on his hands, wondering where it had come from, why it was there, when things like this started to bug him when they so clearly hadn't before. Had they? "Do you think that medication works?"

"Flutix?"

What the fuck was Flutix? "No, the shit they give me. The same bullshit they give Feli. Do you think it works? Do you think it's working? Do you—"

"I certainly think it does something."

Ivan's figure swam in Alfred's vision and his eyes burned and his head was full of fuzz and he could feel the darkness pulling him down, pulling his eyelids down and his head started to dip even as he jerked up to try and stay awake and even as Ivan stood and walked over to him and it felt so good to slip into that blank space in his head and give in and Ivan looked down at him and

…

Alfred frowned. "Where did you get that?"

Feli looked up. "Hm?"

Alfred pointed at the brownie Feli was holding. "Where did you get that? I didn't get one, and everyone else only gets Jell-O here for dessert. How the fuck did you get a brownie, Feli?"

Feli looked at the brownie in his hand like he was surprised to see it there, the fucker. "Oh, um, I don't know. It was just on my food tray, and I just thought that I could eat it because it was there—"

"Why didn't anyone else get a brownie?" Alfred leaned over and snatched the paper slip that detailed Feli's food order, and yep, the slip had Feli's name on it, so he hadn't taken someone else's tray by accident. "What makes you so special that you get a good dessert?"

Feli was staring at him with wide eyes, frozen, scrambling for an excuse. "I—I don't know, I just eat what they—"

"No, that's bullshit. They have a locked room and you have to ride on an elevator to get up here, they don't make mistakes, there aren't any windows. You didn't just get a brownie by mistake. There's other shit, too, you get more bathroom breaks at night, and I bet you there's other shit I didn't notice, either."

"Alfred," Feli said, voice bordering on yelling, defensive, "I don't know why I got a brownie." His voice wavered and his eyes were glassy and Alfred wasn't buying that shit for a second. "But I'm sure if I just tell—"

"Alfred." Ivan's voice was like a fire extinguisher, cold and calm and dousing, a tone that could get in your lungs and seep into your bloodstream and calm anger. Alfred hadn't even heard him walk over, and he leaned backwards to look at him. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"

Alfred shoved himself away from the table, glaring at Feli as Ivan gently led him away by the small of the back to the corner of the room, where he stood, head tilted as Alfred explained that Feli was fucking shifty as fuck, the brownie was just the final straw, something was off and Alfred didn't know what but Feli definitely had connections, he had a key to this place, a key or could feed notes through the heating vents to the kitchen—

"Alfred, do you really think Feliciano could pull all that off?"

Alfred watched Feli stare at his brownie, eyes wet and breath hitching, the schizo.

"Right, see," Ivan murmured, "it doesn't make sense for Feliciano to be the one orchestrating any grand brownie heist, does it?"

No. No, Alfred supposed not. No, but he was caught up in something, something he had no idea about, right over his head, a mile high. It was just a matter of who, and of course the obvious answer were the people keeping Feli here, and by extension, the people keeping Alfred here, but why, and what did the brownie have to do with it?

Well, it was obviously a reward, even if poor, stupid Feli had no idea it was. But, if there was one thing Feli was, was talkative, he could talk about the color of the tiles or about flowers or other dumb shit, so he was a spy—

"Come on Alfred, you can do better than that." Ivan looked over his shoulder at Feli. "I do wonder the coincidence, though, don't you?"

Okay, start over, Feli wasn't a spy, he was just a bystander. And Feli wasn't going to put two and two together, obviously, so that just…

Alfred bounced on the balls of his feet. "It has to do with me, I bet you. I'm the only guy in this place who's going to notice something like that, the only one who can put this together. It was a message from…"

From someone, and Alfred felt his brow furrow as he dug for answers.

"Feliciano as a means of communication. Yes, Alfred, I like that. Good boy."

…

Alfred couldn't think. He could feel the thoughts scatter away from him like marbles, ones he was constantly tripping over himself trying to capture, marbles covered in butter. Other thoughts kept interrupting on everything, stupid thoughts that made him hesitate and worry about instead.

When the doctor asked about Matthew, Alfred found himself wondering about Matt, where he was, if he missed Alfred, what he was doing with all of Alfred's stuff, how Dad and Papa were, how Matthew was, if he was still mad at Alfred, and Alfred found himself unable to remember Matthew's number when he tried to call, which just sent his mind spiraling more because what if Matthew had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, it was Alfred who had always checked the alarms and changed the batteries, how the apartment was, how Matthew was paying rent without Alfred's contribution and on and on and on and if Matt was mad at Alfred.

When Feli started avoiding him for whatever reason, Alfred's mind got on about that. Why was Feli avoiding him? It hardly seemed fair and Alfred hadn't even done anything besides out the obvious, so now Alfred watched Feli eat alone like a loser and Feli avoided looking at him and he got quiet and it was just such bullshit that Alfred couldn't comprehend it.

And Ivan. Alfred found Ivan plaguing Alfred's train of thought like a bandit. He had been ordered to be here, what could that fascinating thing mean, and did it have to do with the books Ivan read. He had touched Alfred's elbow and his back and had called Alfred a good boy, and he was always there to suggest something that Alfred hadn't even considered, make Alfred's mind reel with the possibilities and he seemed to like doing it, and he caught Ivan looking at him, head tilted and Alfred needed to figure out who was trying to get a message to him.

During movie nights, Alfred pressed his knee against Ivan's and watched Ivan pretend to ignore him.

Alfred changed in front of Ivan after his showers, dripping wet and slick, humming like he wasn't aware he was doing it, and he reveled in the eyes Ivan had for him.

But.

He needed to get his mind back on topic. He couldn't think. And there was something up with the brownie—

"For the love of God, Alfred, stop with the brownie."

-and so Alfred had a plan. Alfred had big tonsils. When he was younger, he would stare at himself in the mirror, examining his eyes and his eyebrows and his hair and his teeth and the thing that dangled from the back of his throat and his tonsils. He had forced Mathew's mouth open (and nearly gotten a finger chomped off for his trouble) to compare, and Alfred's tonsils were much, much bigger.

"I hardly see what this has to do with the brownie, or more importantly, what this has to do with your special message." Ivan was pretending to read, like he did when Alfred told him his plans.

The next morning, waiting for his meds, Alfred pretended to swallow them as the nurse checked his cheeks and tongue and cheeks, but in reality they were resting on his tonsils. If he flexed his throat right, his tonsils stuck out, catching the pills like a net catching litter from his stream of thought.

Alfred waited for the nurse to move off, and then coughed up the pills into palm of his hand grinned at Ivan.

Ivan looked at the pills. "That was disgusting," he said mildly. "But clever."

"Of course it was clever. I'm clever. Now," Alfred said, flicking the pills through the heating vent, "I can think again."

"And what a delight that will be."

Alfred grinned.

…

Ordered to be here.

Alfred watched Ivan's sleeping form as the words ran over and over again in his head. Ordered to be here by who?

Someone stalked by the doorframe and Alfred watched them without his glasses on and in a half-haze of exhaustion and his mind couldn't connect the two pieces because that nurse was familiar, wasn't he, Alfred had seen him before, he knew it, he knew it.

…

It was like Alfred had downed energy drinks, he felt like he was on top of the world, a map spread before him and he could freely wander around it and no Feli, he wasn't hyper today, this was how he always was, it's just that Feli didn't notice things like Alfred did, not that it's a bad thing.

Well, Feli, it was simple really. Remember the brownie, it was apart of something bigger, something Feli hadn't realized before. It was a test, test for Alfred, to check how with it he was, if he was still trusting the pills they gave out—not that he wasn't taking them—but it had to do with the management. Did you ever notice how everything is locked around here, no, probably not, but the only way in and out: locked. The nurse's station: locked. Certain rooms, random rooms, one where Alfred had gotten his blood tested: locked. It didn't make sense because Alfred wasn't a threat to anyone.

It was the doctor. The head doctor, the one who ran everything—no, Feli, he isn't nice—well, if he was nice, that was just a ploy to get people to trust him. Clearly, he wasn't a good guy. That was the only thing that made sense to Alfred, that he was keeping people here against their will. People like Alfred, who shouldn't be here, and Ivan, who was ordered to be here, people like Feli who couldn't do much, even if he wanted to.

"Really?" Ivan asked. "Why would he want to keep people here?"

Well, that was simple, wasn't it? Doctors had egos, everyone knew that, almost as bad as ER nurses, and they liked to flex them. So when doctors like…

"Dr. Väinämöinen."

Right, yes, Dr. V, got some people who were misunderstood, it made him feel like he had a big dick to keep Alfred here, the fucker. But he wasn't completely evil, he just wanted to see if you were smarter than him, if you could solve his puzzles, catch his clues, he would let you go. Shit like the brownie.

"You are obsessed with this brownie."

It's all apart of the puzzle, Ivan.

And it made sense, too, that fucker was condescending as fuck, broke trust constantly, didn't give a fuck about doctor-patient confidentiality, flagrantly threw his weight around by ordering bullshit prescriptions, ignored complaints, and was generally just a giant cock.

…

There was something new in his box, something that shouldn't be there, something sharp. It was a box cutter, at the very bottom, hidden under a broken gyroscope and old thermometer, one Alfred had never seen before in his life, with a fresh, crisp blade, one that fit into his palm like it had been molded to.

…

There was something higher than the doctor, Ivan. The doctor must have a boss, right? Someone who looked into the workings of this whole fucking locked loop and laughed about it. This higher-someone knew about the doctor and knew about Alfred, had seen him in the ER, had picked him for this game. This higher-someone, that's who was—

"Alfred." Ivan's breath was hot against Alfred's neck and his toes were cold against Alfred's legs. "It's too late for this."

"But you believe me." Alfred rolled his head to look at Ivan, searching his face in the gloom. "This person, they're the one who ordered you to be here, right? You're a spy, you're someone who reports back to him, aren't you?" Alfred looked for a confirmation in a movement of Ivan's face.

Ivan reached a hand up and ran a finger along Alfred's jawline.

And there were two sections, one working for the doctor and one working for the higher person—

"The General?"

Yes, the General, some were working for him, some for the doctor, and the one working for the General, they were the one sending messages to Alfred, they were the ones who wanted to get him and Ivan out, Alfred had figured it out, didn't Ivan see, it was so simple, Alfred felt like an idiot for not seeing it soon—

"Do you know all those books I read, Alfred?"

Yes—

"I would burn all those books just to listen to you talk for ten minutes."

"Ten?"

Ivan let out a sigh and bit Alfred gently on the shoulder, then kissed him in the same spot, lightly, Alfred barely felt his lips there, light as a snowflake melting. "Five, even. But it is late, and the guards will change shifts soon."

Ivan stood and retreated to his bed and left Alfred aching after cold toes.

Alfred knew what he had to do.

…

"I want to talk," Alfred said.

The doctor looked at him with interest. "That's what I'm here for, after all."

No, Alfred was going to speak and the doctor was going to listen, and then he was going to decide. Alfred wasn't stupid, he had figured out what was going on around here. It hadn't been easy, but it made sense now, the pills, the wrongful imprisonment—

No, doctor, Alfred was going to speak first.

The wrongful imprisonment, the hints, the little things, the brownie, the gift someone had sent him, Mattie turning his back on Alfred, all these had melded into a perfect picture of what was going on around here.

And, Alfred spoke louder for the microphones no doubt planted around the room, he had figured out what the General was asking him to do. But Alfred was going to give the doctor a choice first, because Alfred was a good guy. Now, the good doctor could either let Alfred go and explain to Matthew that this whole thing was a mistake, could release Ivan and stop playing this demented game—let everyone go who didn't deserve to be here, or the doctor would see exactly what the General had planned for him.

No, answer the question first.

Answer the question.

Alright, fine, if that's how he wanted to do things. And so Alfred stood and showed him the gift the General had sent him.

The doctor stood immediately but his feet got caught up in the chair and he half fell on his desk, papers—Alfred's paper, papers that tracked his progress at the games and notes to the General—slid from the folder to the floor and Alfred had made it around the edge of the desk and the doctor was looking up at him with wide eyes and Alfred raised the gift and Alfred brought the gift down but the doctor had been raising his hands and Alfred's gift came down there instead of—instead of—

And now the doctor was bleeding and yelling and there was so much blood, dripping down his arms and off his elbows and falling to the ground and getting on those white notes and he shied away from Alfred and the doctor's feet finally came free of the chair and he slumped against the wall looking at his ruined palms and another fresh wave of blood seeped down his arms and Alfred suddenly didn't know what the General wanted now and he backed away and he looked around for the cameras and he told the doctor:

"I want to leave now."

The doctor nodded at him. "Alright, Alfred." His voice was small and scared but his face was composed even as he held his hands uselessly in front of him, and Alfred could see he had gotten him in between the thumb and the pointer finger and his thumb hung down at an odd angle that made Alfred's stomach turn.

And then a nurse burst into the room and Alfred was slammed into the ground and he was sorry, he didn't mean to, he got it wrong, he was sorry, he didn't want to hurt anyone he just wanted to go, please let him go home please please please

[fear-god-shun-evil]

The Fulfilment of the Prophecy of a Woman Travailing in Birth—What is the Lord’s Will?

On September 23, 2017, the zodiac of Virgo will perfectly appear as being “clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars”, which exactly fulfills the prophecy in the Revelation. What is the God’s will as the disasters are coming? Let us explore together from the following article!

By Meien, France

Jupiter is usually called as “the emperor planet”. The arrival of Jupiter was associated with the birth of the Lord Jesus and therefore it was called “the King planet”. According to the astronomers, “the emperor planet” would enter into the womb of the constellation Virgo on November 20, 2016. Jupiter, due its retrograde motion, would spend the next 41 weeks within the womb of Virgo. This length of time corresponded with a woman’s gestation period. After that, Jupiter would exit out of the womb of Virgo on September 9th 2017. Thirteen days after Jupiter is “born”, that is, on September 23rd 2017, the Virgo will perfectly appear as being “clothed with the sun, and with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars” (Revelation 12:1). This amazing phenomenon has never happened since ancient times and also astonishes the astronomers.

Although the entire process will only last for several hours, for every Christian who sincerely looks forward to the Lord’s second coming believes that this is not a coincidence. This is predestined by God which proves the prophecy in the Revelation 12:1-2: “And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered.”

The Bible says: “Ask you now, and see whether a man does travail with child? why do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?” (Jeremiah 30:6). “Howl you; for the day of the LORD is at hand; it shall come as a destruction from the Almighty. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every man’s heart shall melt: And they shall be afraid: pangs and sorrows shall take hold of them; they shall be in pain as a woman that travails: they shall be amazed one at another; their faces shall be as flames. Behold, the day of the LORD comes, cruel both with wrath and fierce anger, to lay the land desolate: and he shall destroy the sinners thereof out of it. And I will punish the world for their evil, and the wicked for their iniquity; and I will cause the arrogance of the proud to cease, and will lay low the haughtiness of the terrible. Therefore I will shake the heavens, and the earth shall remove out of her place, in the wrath of the LORD of hosts, and in the day of his fierce anger.” (Isaiah 13:6-9, 11,13). “All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (Matthew 24:8). In fact, the signs of disasters have been very evident to us: the occurrence of the four blood moons, the abnormal phenomenon among celestial bodies, the realization of the prophecy of a woman’s travailing in birth. All these signs foretell us that the disasters are coming. Currently, there are all kinds of catastrophes everywhere all over the world, including the solar eclipse, plague, typhoon, earthquakes, flood, drought, and wars. What’s more, some are unprecedented and are spreading further and further. These are not only the start of disasters, but even, the scenes of the fulfillment of prophecy about the Lord Jesus’ His second coming. Besides, the churches are desolate, and people have long lost their faith and love. Israel has been restored, the Mount of Olives has split, the signs of the last days and prophecies of the Lord’s return are basically all fulfilled. The Bible says: “… he that shall come will come, and will not tarry.” (Hebrews 10:37). The Lord will not tarry. Since all the prophecies have been fulfilled, the Lord should have returned. However, why do we still not welcome the Lord’s return before the disasters arrive? If we stay in the same way as we do, what will be our end when the disasters come? This is a question that is worth pondering.

If we only focus on one verse what the Lord Jesus said and ignore other more corresponding words of the Lord Jesus in the Bible, we will misunderstand God’s will easily. It must be proved through many verses. Therefore, I explored the prophecies about the Lord’s second coming, and discovered that there are two different ways of the Lord’ return: secret arrival and public arrival. It is possible that the Lord will return in flesh secretly first, and then reveal Himself to the public. The Revelation 3:3 says: “If therefore you shall not watch, I will come on you as a thief, and you shall not know what hour I will come on you.” The Matthew 15:6 says: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” “Like a thief”, “at midnight” refer to God’s incarnation, because when God come incarnate as the Son of Man like a thief, people are not able to recognize Him, which is a secret thing. In the Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he comes with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him.” This refers to the Lord’s public appearance. Hence, the Lord will possibly return in two ways, just like the Lord Jesus did, secretly descending first and then appearing publicly. When the Lord Jesus came to do His work, He became flesh and secretly descended among man, and after He was crucified and resurrected, He revealed Himself for 40 days and ascended to heaven.

If this is the case, it is not difficult to understand why we haven’t received the Lord when the prophecies about the Lord’s return have basically come true. If we stubbornly hold the view that the Lord will return publicly, we can easily miss the chance to welcome His return. Actually, the most crucial and important thing is to welcome the Lord’s return in secret. Upon the conclusion of God’s work in secret, all the disasters will start appearing. That is, God will unleash disasters to reward the good and punish the evil. Only after all the disasters will the Lord appear to all peoples upon a white cloud.

After understanding all these, I suddenly realize that the frequent occurrence and the fulfillment of the prophecy of a woman travailing in birth are God’s warnings to us. He will appear publicly to all people soon and send down disasters to reward the good and punish the wicked. If we don’t receive God’s second coming in this short period of time, we will only wail and gnash our teeth in the disasters. The Revelation has mentioned many times that “He that has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit said to the churches” (Revelation 2:7). God also has said: “However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come”（John 16:13). “Seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.” (Luke11:9). From the prophecies, we can see that when the Lord returns, He will speak His words. Only those who seek actively, pay attention to listening to God’s voice and welcome God’s return are wise virgins.

Today, according to the signs of the Lord’s return, the Lord should have returned already. The Lord Jesus has said: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). The wise virgin are the ones who actively seek and investigate when they hear the news of the Lord’s return and search for God’s footprints. If people wait for God’s appearance passively instead of seeking the footprints of God actively, it will be impossible to welcome the Lord’s return.

Seeing the great calamities are about to happen, if we still do not seek God’s footprints and appearance actively, we will be very likely to fall into the disasters. Those who seek and accept God’s second coming when they hear God’s voice will go to the feast with the Lord as wise virgins. God will grant the water of the river of life to the wise virgins without asking for anything, which also has fulfilled the Lord Jesus’ prophecy: “And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom comes; go you out to meet him” (Matthew 25:6). “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me” (John 10:27). “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20).

[mischabloom]

Happy New Year & Happy Sabbath! 2021 is going to be quite an intriguing year, to say the least. 2020 was a whirlwind for this world/people, but it's just a glimpse of what's to come. Matthew 24:37-39. Whether you choose to believe it or not (or even ignore it), we are living in the days of Noah. Everything happening in the world is Bible prophecies being fulfilled. Christ will return. Whether it's a new day or new year, for me, it's one step closer to His coming. Most people always misunderstand the verse "will come as a thief in the night" as Jesus coming likely some sort of sneaky ninja to save only the good people. "Secret rapture." No. The Bible says in 2 Peter 3:10 [KJV] : But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens shall pass away with a GREAT NOISE, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." Please note I added caps, bold, and underline for emphasis. Nothing about His coming is going to be quiet. When Christ returns, His feet do NOT touch this earth. We--those whose names are written in the Book of Life--shall be caught up with Him in the clouds. I know for most people everything happening in this world is terrifying, but this world is just temporary. The Bible says not to store up your treasures on this earth, and we shouldn't because this is just temporary. Our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God. That New Jerusalem which will be brought to this world after it (this world) has been cleansed from sin. John 14:2-3 [KJV]. Claim that promise. Don't be or get distracted by these things happening on earth. Focus on God. Focus on His Word. Trust Him. Stand up for God. Stand up for Truth. Put God First. Luke 21:28 [KJV]. Things are unfolding and we must put on the full Armour of God. False doctrines will be taught (has already been really), but study fervently and become rooted so deeply in the Bible that no one can deceive you. Amazing Facts and Pastor Doug Batchelor will be presenting a series called "2021: Reset in the Word" and I do believe many of us need it. No better way than starting the new year/new day with God's Word. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJhlpRRH8k0/?igshid=1kuky5mddzodw

[tyson-berry-blog]

Auston Matthews #2 - Game Six

@memz-elizabeth- asked: Hi can i get an imagine please? Can i get an Auston Matthews one about the loss of the Stanley cup? a lot of fluff and cuteness please! thanks

So sorry this came out much later than expected. I think I caught a cold from a friend of mine who neglected to tell me she was sick and that I shared a drink with. This was super fun to write because who doesn’t love fluff? I know I do. I hope you enjoy this! 

The great thing about game six of the playoffs taking place at home was that you got to see your boyfriend Auston play live. What wasn’t so great was them losing and you having to watch first hand as they skated heartbroken off of the ice. When all of the parents and significant others gathered to meet them outside of the locker room you went as well but hung towards the back. You wanted Auston to see his parents first since he would likely be riding back with you. It had been Mitch’s turn to drive the carpool and by you bringing your car it gave Auston the room to decide if he wanted to be alone or not.

Your phone buzzed with condolences for Auston from your friends and you answered a few as you waited for your boyfriend to emerge. Auston was one of the last ones out likely because the media wanted to pester him with questions and he made a beeline for his parents, not noticing you. Though usually towering over people with his broad shoulders and 6’3” frame, the way he hunched in on himself gave the impression he was much smaller. You made no attempt to move from your spot against the wall. This was a private moment for Auston and his family and you didn’t want to interrupt.

He must have asked about you though because his mother gestured over his shoulder to where you were standing and when he made eye contact with you some of the tension released from his body. He exchanged a few more words with his parents, hugged his dad goodbye and kissed his mom’s cheek before walking over to you with his eyes cast downward. Auston’s normally confident demeanor dominated any room he walked into but judging by the nervous fidgeting of his fingers you knew he wanted to leave as soon as possible. The walk to the car was longer than normal because you had to park in the regular visiting lot though Auston offered to lend you his extra pass if you ever needed it. After you unlocked the trunk for Auston to put his bag in he slipped his arms around you and pulled you into a tight embrace. You were so startled by his actions that you dropped your keys which landed with a small clink.

You didn’t know how long the two of you stood there but you would do so for however long he needed. He would, and has done the same for you. Eventually he extracted himself from your arms and with a sniffle went to the passenger door. You picked up your keys from where they had fallen and mentally went through if you had a change of clothes at his place. There was no way you’d leave him alone that night and reminded yourself to text your roommate that you wouldn’t be coming back so she wouldn’t worry and wait up.

The parking lot was next to empty when you finally pulled out and you reached to turn the radio on so you wouldn’t think about the silent tears coming from the boy beside you. He had always been open with you about his emotions but it still felt right to let him have his privacy.

Auston’s house was located in a small gated community about a twenty-minute drive from the rink. It was one of the smaller ones in the neighborhood but considering he was a teenager it was still extravagant. When the two of you first started dating and you visited his place for the first time you weren’t sure if someone actually lived there. It was minimally furnished and you soon found out the food supply was in a similar shape. He had sheepishly admitted that most of the food he ate was made by an older player or take out. The cold Toronto weather had thrown him for a loop in his ability to cook for himself which consisted almost entirely of grilling. He could make protein shakes for after workouts but there were only so many meals you could drink before it got old.

You let him unlock the door and wordlessly followed him inside. He stopped just inside the door and you nearly ran into him.

“Auston?”

He was silent except for a small sniffle and he let his bag fall off his shoulder onto the floor.

“Oh honey,” you pressed your face into his chest and hugged him.

With your face this close you could feel the irregular breathing as he tried to keep his crying in check. It was absolutely heart wrenching to listen to, let alone watch so you knew you had to take action. He was still in his suit so you urged him to walk further into the house and into the bedroom. Rummaging through his drawers you sought the comfiest pair of sweats and shirt. Both articles of clothing you had never seen before but they were obviously well loved judging by the fading of the logos.

When you turned back to the bed he was perched on you saw he had managed to kick his shoes off and was struggling with unknotting his tie. You pushed his fingers away and deftly picked it apart. You left it hanging untied around his neck in favor of running your hands through the sides of his hair. He had stopped crying but his eyes were still bloodshot.

He let out one last sniffle, “I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

You were taken aback, “Excuse me. I don’t think I heard you right. Did you just apologize to me?”

He nodded, “I’m sorry we- I let you down.”

It took everything in you to not let out a laugh. You weren’t amused at his expense but at the absurdity of the conversation.

You looked down at him from where you were standing between his legs, “you have no reason to be sorry.”

“We could have won but we didn’t and you were there to witness it. I feel bad you have to go home with a loser.”

This time you let out a short, humorless laugh, “that’s funny.”

His expression closed off, “I wasn’t trying to be.”

You hurried to clear up the obvious misunderstanding, “Aus, honey, no. I’m not laughing at you. No, I’m laughing at the fact you think I had to come home with a ‘loser’,” you put air quotes around the words.

“You went first in the draft! You scored four goals in your debut game for crying out loud!” he scoffed and you ignored him, “you are such a good role model for the kids in non-traditional hockey areas. No scratch that, kids everywhere. You managed to make it to the playoffs in your rookie year! I am so unbelievably proud of you that I don’t even know what to do with myself.”

This brought a small smile out of him. It wasn’t the large smirk you were so used to but it showed that at least some of your Auston was in there.

You handed him the change of clothes that had been discarded during your little pep talk, “go change. I’m going to explore the depths of your kitchen and see if I can find something for us to eat.”

He nodded and took the clothes from you and started unbuttoning his dress shirt. You forced yourself to look away and get to the task at hand. The kitchen was not nearly as empty as you had assumed and managed to find a frozen pizza which would have to do since all delivery places would be closed at this hour. Next to where the pizza had been in his freezer were three pints of ice cream, two of which were flavors he hated but you loved. Leave it to Auston to not properly feed himself but to be sure to have your favorite ice cream flavors in case you came over. You put the pizza into the oven and set the timer before going into the living room. Auston wasn’t out of the bedroom yet so you went about setting up the chairs and couches the perfect distance away from each other to lay a blanket across. As you put the finishing touches on what you were deeming the best blanket fort ever your boyfriend stood beside you to admire your work. You pushed him in the direction of the pile of pillows and went to check the timer. It went off just after you walked across the threshold and you pulled it out to let it cool. You could hear the television turn on and the “Friends” opening theme began playing through the house. You cut the pizza into unequal slices and piled them onto a plate before grabbing the ice cream as a last thought. In your experience nothing couldn’t be fixed with junk food and good cry and he had already completed the sadder part. You padded over to the fort and wiggled in until you were laying comfortably against the couch and into Auston’s side.

You quoted lines from the episode to each other and you tried to force him into trying a bite of your ice cream. He kept his mouth firmly closed against the push of the spoon so you leaned in for a kiss and caught him when he was least expecting it.

He glared at you and said around the ice cream in his mouth, “that wasn’t fair. You caught me at my weakest moment.”

You simply winked and ate another bit of the rapidly melting dessert. By the end of the sixth episode the last trace of sad-Auston was gone and you were glad. There was no doubt that in the morning he’d be reminded of what had happened and likely spiral again but until that happened you enjoyed his laughter as Monica entered the room with a turkey on her head and knew you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.

[gilbertandanne]

AU College Fic. Farkle never figured out how Riley really felt about Lucas, so it never got out. Now she’s turning 21 and the gang decides to go to Las Vegas to celebrate. Sometimes what happens in Vegas doesn’t always stay in Vegas.

Rating: M

Pairing: Rucas

Word Count: 4,338

Cross-posted at ff.net ��          

Soundtrack (although not at all organized and subject to edits)

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | J | Q | K | A | J |

                             Chapter Thirteen: Cowboy

Both of them were afraid to speak, to blink, to take a breath, for fear that it was just another bittersweet dream.  How could this moment possibly be real when everything around them felt so perfect?

Lucas looked down at the girl who was curled up in his arms.  His fingers traced circular patterns on her back as he tried to gather the courage to break the surreal aura of peace that enveloped them after what could only be described as the greatest moment of his life.

Riley Matthews loved him.  The girl who had held his heart from the moment he first saw her on the subway eight years ago.   The girl he had desperately tried to hold onto and, simultaneously, tried to forget because she told him to.   The girl who made him believe he could be anyone he wanted to be, although ironically enough, he only ever wanted to be hers.

Was this his reality now?  He was afraid to break the spell that seemed to have been cast over them.  After years of pining for the woman in his arms, he had a hard time believing that his residency in purgatory had ended and that he was now free to dwell in paradise for as long as this beautiful goddess decreed.

When she snuggled even closer to him, he exhaled a shaky breath.  As much as he wanted to lay there with her forever, he knew that eventually, someone had to speak.  “That wasn’t quite how I imagined it,” he murmured before he kissed the top of her head.  It wasn’t the smoothest way to pull them back down to earth, but he had to hear her speak.  He had to know that she didn’t regret a single second of it.

Riley slowly opened her eyes as a lazy smile tugged at the corners of her lips.  Hearing his voice for the first time after connecting to him on the deepest level possible set her mind at ease.  For a few moments, she was content enough to bathe the afterglow of what they had shared with one another, but as the minutes began to tick by, she started to wonder if it had all been another dream and her cruel subconscious was trying to shove her back to reality.  Hearing the sound of his voice vibrate against his chest reassured her that everything that had just transpired between them was real—and that fact made everything so much better.  “Hmm?  How did you imagine it?”

He chuckled as he slowly felt himself relax.  She was real.  This was real.  It was finally over.  The brick wall of misunderstanding had been thoroughly demolished, and if he had any say in the matter, it would never be reconstructed.  “Well, I thought that we would have gone on a date first.”

Riley frowned as she lifted her head to look at him.  “We’re doing this all out of order, aren’t we?”

He smiled as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.  “We do what we do, remember?”

There it was again: the hair tuck.  She had no idea if he was aware of how significant the seemingly insignificant gesture was.  He had done it during some of her most vulnerable moments over the weekend, and every single time, it calmed the tidal wave of insecurity that threatened to wash over her.  “Absolutely.”  In middle school, ‘we do what we do’ had been their way of informing the entire school that they weren’t going to fit into some cookie cutter mold of who they should be.  They were going to set their own rules for their lives, and they didn’t have to answer to those who didn’t understand the connection they shared.  As she rested her head on his chest once more, she looked down at their tangled limbs.  “You know, we didn’t exactly finish that conversation.”

He slowly ran his index finger down the length of her spine.  “Oh?”

Riley shivered against his touch.  For a foolish moment, she thought that she wouldn’t feel nearly as electrified whenever he brushed his fingers against her skin, but as she felt a trail of goose bumps pop up along her spine, she knew that, if anything, the sensitivity she felt under his touch had exponentially increased.  “Yeah,” she answered as another ripple coursed through her.

Lucas frowned when he felt Riley’s body stiffen up beside him.  A sense of dread filled him as his insecurities encroached on his otherwise serene thoughts.  Had she finally come down from that high only to realize that it wasn’t what she wanted?  Had she only gotten caught up in the moment?  Was she suddenly regretting stepping foot into his room?  “Do you…regret what we—“

“No,” she quickly interrupted as she leaned her head back to look at him.  She never wanted him to think, not even for a moment, that she had any regrets about what they had done.  If anything, she only regretted that it took them that long to get to this moment.  “Lucas, I’ve waited a long time for you…to tell you the truth about how I felt…how I’ve always felt.  I couldn’t…I couldn’t wait a second longer.”  She sat up further as she leaned forward to place a soft kiss against his lips.  “I feel like I could stay like this forever.”

The furrow in his eyebrows melted away as a smile slowly returned to his lips.  “Me too,” he answered as he continued to trace patterns across her back.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think anyone is going to…” her words slowed as her eyes widened.  She wasn’t sure how long she had been in his room, but she knew that it had to have been long enough to delay their plans for the night.  “Dinner,” she gasped before she scrambled to get out of bed.  As she looked around the room for her clothes, she began to panic.  “I’m sure they’re all waiting for us.”

Lucas sat up as he reached for his phone on the nightstand.  “Wait,” he called out to her as he read through a missed text from Zay.  “They already left.”

Riley frowned as she slid her shorts back on.  “They left?”

He nodded.  “Zay said ‘don’t worry about it’ and ‘we’ll meet up with you guys in a few hours’.”

As Riley threw her shirt back over her head, she sat down at the end of the bed.  “Do you think they know?”  How was she going to explain everything to them when she wasn’t even sure what it meant?

Lucas chuckled as he sat his phone down.  “They probably do.”  As he turned back to her, another burst of insecurity flooded him.  What if she didn’t want them to know?  What if this meant something different to her than it did for him?  “Is that a problem?”

“No,” she shook her head as she ran a hand through her tangled hair.  “I mean Maya’s known for a few months now that I…I have feelings for you.”

“A few months?”

“Yeah,” she looked down at her hands.  “She…sort of figured it out at Zay’s birthday thing.”

“You kept that from her for seven years?”  He couldn’t hide the shock in his voice.  He wasn’t sure what he was more surprised by—the fact that she kept it from him or the fact that she had kept it from Maya for that long.

Riley nodded as she looked back up at him.  “It was almost as hard as keeping it from you.”

He sat up as he leaned forward to kiss her.  They both had kept it from everyone they loved for years.  Now that they were finally free, Lucas was determined to make her realize that telling him the truth was the best decision she had ever made.  He slowly inhaled as he reached for one of her hands.  He looked up at her as he interlaced her fingers with his.  “You never have to worry about keeping anything from me…ok?  I love you, Riley Matthews.  Nothing is going to change that.”  He smiled as he lifted her hand to his lips.  He brushed his lips along her knuckles as a thought came to him.  “You know, I think this might work out for the best.”

Riley bit the inside of her cheek.  She knew that she could easily get used to this.  He had treated her with nothing but reverence the moment they lowered their defenses.  Every time their eyes met, he looked at her as if she were the only woman in the world.  “What?”

“Well, we’re in Las Vegas.  It’s your birthday and I’ve waited almost eight years to ask you out on another date.  So,” he glanced at their hands before he looked back up at her, “Riley Matthews…will you let me take you out for your birthday dinner?”

Riley couldn’t keep the grin from her face.  She had hoped that they might have been able to spend a little more time with one another before they met up with the others.  Dinner together sounded wonderful.  Calling it an actual date made it sound ten times better.  “Absolutely.”

When she told him that she was going to get a shower, he really wanted to ask if she wanted some company.  He wanted nothing more than to beg for the opportunity to lather up every square inch of her perfect form, but he somehow managed to restrain himself.  He wanted to do this the right way.  He wanted to show her that he really wasn’t the guy she thought he had been for so long.  Yes, he told her the truth, but now, it was time to prove to her an even deeper truth—that he wanted every part of her, not just her body.

Riley was mildly surprised that he didn’t ask to join her.  She thought about suggesting that they do their civic duty and conserve water by showering together, but she wasn’t sure if it would be too suggestive since they had only had one real conversation about how they felt about one another.

Even though that conversation led to the loss of her virginity, she knew that if they had showered together, they might not leave the room for the rest of the night.  Besides, she knew that they needed to resume their earlier conversation.  She still had some questions about a few things, and she knew that he had to have had some as well.  She wanted to do this the right way.  If that meant pausing any physical relationship while they closed the gap on seven years of miscommunication, then so be it.  She could keep her hands off of him.

At least, she hoped she would be able to.

So, he showered in his bathroom and she showered in her bathroom.  They both got dressed in their respective rooms, and met in the living room to go to dinner at the one place in the city Lucas had dreamt of taking her.

“Lucas, this is so beautiful,” Riley breathed as she looked around the restaurant.  As soon as the group decided to go to Las Vegas, she knew that there was only one restaurant she really wanted to go to, and somehow, he knew.  Somehow, he remembered her affinity for all things Parisian.

“It’s ok,” he agreed as he glanced around the restaurant.  After his conversation with her at Zay’s birthday, he knew that he wanted to take her to the Eiffel Tower Restaurant for her birthday—even if it meant taking everyone else as well.  Riley hadn’t quite made it to Europe yet, but he hoped that the restaurant would at least give her a taste of where she really wanted to travel.  As his eyes landed on hers, he smiled.  “It still pales in comparison though.”

She tiled her head to the side.  “To what?”  To the other restaurants they had dined at while here?  Doubtful.  The lighting, the music, and the view blew everywhere else out of the water.

“You.”

A small blush crept up on her cheeks as she turned away from him.   Her eyes fell on the Bellagio Fountains as she tried to steady the rapid beating of her heart.  “What a line,” she smirked.

He shrugged.  “Not a line at all.  Just the truth.”

She took a deep breath before she turned back to him.  “Thank you.”  They both exchanged shy smiles before they looked down at their menus.  After their waiter came and took their order, Riley glanced out the window once more.  “I think I like this view of the fountains more than the one last night.  You know…we were so close to them last night, which was nice, but from this view, you can really see the whole thing.”  She turned back to him.  “Kinda makes you appreciate it more.”

He smiled.  He thought she might enjoy the view of the fountains.  Despite everything that happened last night, he knew that she seemed hypnotized by them.  So, when he called the concierge to make the last minute reservation for him, Lucas pleaded for him to make sure they had the table with the best view of the Bellagio Fountains.  “They are pretty hypnotic, aren’t they?”

Riley bit the inside of her cheek.  She couldn’t be sure, but she had a feeling that he wasn’t talking about the fountains.  “Can we talk?  About what happened last night?”

“You can talk to me about anything, Riley.”

She opened her mouth to ask him about something that had been nagging at her ever since she left his room to get ready, but the moment she began to form the words, their waiter had returned with a bottle of wine.  After he poured them each a glass, Riley and Lucas thanked him.  After he left, Lucas held up his glass to her.  “Happy Birthday, Riley.”

She smiled as she raised her glass to her lips.  After she took a sip, she slowly sat the glass down.  “This is too much, Lucas.  I mean…last night was already just…too much and now this?”  She slowly looked up at him.  “I’m scared to know how much all of it cost.”

“Don’t worry about it,” he insisted.  “I just want you to have a good birthday.”  He sat back in his seat.  “What did you want to ask me?”

She took a shaky breath.  “A-After you left Hyde last night…where did you go?”

“I went back to the hotel…to one of the bars.”  He sighed as he leaned forward in his seat.  “I’m sorry for leaving like that.  I just couldn’t see any possible positive outcome from saying what I did and how I did it.  You didn’t want to talk about it while we were drunk and I kept pushing you.  I’m sorry for that, Riley.  I thought that if I left…it would save you the embarrassment of turning me down again.”

“I’m sorry about how I acted last night.  I was…scared.”

He frowned.  “Scared?”

“Scared that maybe it wasn’t real for you…that if we got together while we were drunk t-that y-y-you might regret it in the morning.”  She sighed.  “At the same time, I didn’t want you to run off with those girls…so I thought that…that maybe I could be enough…for one night anyway.”  She scoffed as she tried to make sense of her drunken logic.  “Seems like a really stupid idea now.”

“Riley, I need you to know that my feelings for you have always been there.  There hasn’t been a day since we met that I didn’t love you.”  He paused.  “Even when I was with someone else, even as we drifted apart.  I feel…terrible for getting into relationships with other girls when I knew that I wasn’t ready for it, but I was trying to move on.  I was trying to do what you told me to.  I thought the only way to really do that…and try to maintain our friendship…was to try to find someone else…but…I…I never could.  If I’m being honest, I’m not sure I ever will.”

Riley let his words sink in as she took another sip of her wine.  This entire time, she thought that he had moved on, when in reality, he was only trying to survive.  “I tried too.  You know…I met people…dated around…but I couldn’t…I never found anyone I wanted to really get to know…not like I did with you.”

Lucas ran his fingers down the stem of the wine glass as he forced himself to not look at her.  “So…Asher?”  He knew what they had said last night and what she said earlier about their kiss, but he had to hear it again.  He had to know that it meant nothing.

“We’re friends.  He and I both agreed on that one.”

He slowly exhaled.  “And Steve?”

“He’s a guy in my English class.  We’ve gone out a few times.  He’s nice, but…”

He cut his eyes to her.  “But?”

She bit her bottom lip as her eyes fell to the table.  “But…he’s not you.”  How could she make him understand that she was doing the exact same thing he was?  “We went to a movie a few weeks ago…and I wasn’t really watching the movie because I kept thinking about the film series we went to freshman year and even though I felt completely awkward around you at the time…I still had so much fun.  I mean…you even agreed to dress up with me.  So, as I was on this date with someone else, I kept thinking that there was no way Steve would ever humor me like that and dress up for the occasion.”  She chuckled softly.  “Honestly, I don’t even think I’d ask him to.  That was…sorta our thing, you know?”  She looked back up at him.  “What was your favorite movie from that series that we went to?”

“Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” he answered without missing a beat.

She furrowed her eyebrows.  Out of all the movies they saw, Breakfast at Tiffany’s would be one of the last ones she’d ever guess.  “Why?  Is it because you spent half of the movie next to some stranger because you thought they were me?”

Lucas laughed.  “No,” he answered as he reached for his glass of wine.  “I guess it was because it gave me hope that if Holly and Paul could figure out a way to be together, then maybe…maybe we could too.  They were friends first...had seen one another through so many highs and lows…I don’t know.  It just made me think that one day…maybe…maybe it would work out with us.”

As Lucas sat his glass back down, he placed his hand on the table, palm up.  “I know my track record isn’t good,” he began as she placed her hand in his.  He took a deep breath before he continued, “But I know…beyond the shadow of a doubt…that it would be different with you.  I know…I know that I’m asking you to take a huge leap of faith here…and that I probably should wait until we finish our second first date, but…would you consider being my girlfriend?”

Riley looked into his eyes for a long moment.  “Yes,” she smiled.  “I want to be with you, Lucas.  Only you.”

Maya texted Riley as they were finishing up their meal.  They were headed over to the casino at Caesar’s Palace and wanted to know if Riley and Lucas wanted to join them.  As much as Riley wanted to spend the rest of the night with her newly minted boyfriend, she didn’t want to completely close herself off from spending her birthday with her friends.  So, they agreed to meet up with Maya, Zay, and Farkle at Caesar’s Palace as a couple.

They walked in, hand in hand, determined to take the jokes and questions one at a time with grace and dignity.  They knew that they deserved every jibe for what they had put their friends through on their path to figuring it all out.

As soon as Riley saw Maya, the brunette beamed.  She was fairly certain that Maya’s eyes were about to pop out of her head.

Maya grabbed Zay’s arm as she stared at the interlaced fingers of two of her best friends.  As a smile curled at the corners of her lips, she realized that she couldn’t possibly be any happier for them.  She nearly screamed in delight when the couple finally reached them.

“Hey guys,” Lucas casually greeted as he made no attempt to hide the grin that had been plastered on his face ever since Riley agreed to be his girlfriend.

“Hey,” Maya smirked as she finally looked up at the pair.  “Care to tell the entire class something?”

It took Farkle a moment, but eventually, he lowered his eyes to their clasped hands.  “What’s going on?”

“Well,” Riley began as she turned to her boyfriend, “Lucas and I…we’re sort of…dating now.”

Zay glanced at Lucas as he raised his eyebrows.  “Dating?”

He nodded as he looked at the trio in front of him.  “Yeah.  Is that…ok with everyone?”

“I swore to myself that I’d stop speaking to both of you if you weren’t dating by the end of this trip,” Maya confessed as she pulled her best friend into a hug.

“Yeah, I’m with Maya,” Zay agreed.  “Especially after last night.”

Farkle shrugged.  “I don’t know what happened last night, but it’s about time you two got together.”

Riley and Lucas turned to one another before they looked back at the genius.  “What are you talking about, Farkle?”

“Oh come on.  I see the way you two look at each other…the way you’ve always looked at one another.  I knew it was only a matter of time.  I thought it would’ve been before now, but…I knew when Lucas was asking about your dating life that it couldn’t possibly be too much longer.”

Riley raised her eyebrows as she looked at her boyfriend.  “You were trying to get some information from Farkle?”

Lucas sighed as he closed his eyes.  Embarrassment filled him as he glared at one of his best friends.  “Thanks.”

Farkle laughed as he slapped Lucas on the back.  “Anytime.”

Riley turned to Zay.  “So, what are we playing?”

“Are you ready to test your blackjack skills?”

She cringed.  “I don’t really remember everything you taught me last night.”

“Well, you have a pro for a boyfriend, so I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

Riley looked at Lucas.  “You play blackjack?”

“And poker, and roulette, and craps,” Zay informed her.  “Lucas taught me everything I know.”

“You like to gamble?”  Her question wasn’t at all accusatory, but merely inquisitive.  She had held him at arms length for so long that she didn’t realize until now that there was a lot about him she still needed to learn.  

“Zay’s exaggerating.”  He narrowed his eyes at his best friend.  “Thanks for making it seem like a have a problem.”

“Nah, it’s only a problem if you lose,” Zay laughed.  “Riley, Lucas and I go to poker tournaments on campus all the time.  He’s racked up quite a little nest egg.”

Lucas sighed.  Could they please talk about something—anything—else?  She didn’t need to learn about all of his vices in one night.  “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“Well, at least I’m in good hands, right,” Riley smiled.  She could tell that Lucas was embarrassed by it, but she didn’t care.  She knew that he would never gamble with anything he wasn’t prepared to lose.  

“The key is in knowing that the house always wins,” Zay told her as the group walked toward one of the empty tables.

“The house always wins,” she repeated as she slid into one of the seats.

“Yeah,” Zay nodded as he sat next to her.  “Well,” he smirked, “Unless you’re Lucas.”

“Ok…let’s stop yapping and start gambling,” Maya grinned as she watched the dealer shuffle the cards.

“I really thought I’d be good at it,” Maya grumbled as they walked back into the suite.  “I read all of the books.  I thought I was ready…that I knew what I was in for.”  She pouted as she trudged into the living room.

“The house always wins,” Zay reminded her.

“Yeah, that’s really reassuring, Zay” she grumbled.  “What about him,” she gestured to Lucas, “And him,” she pointed to Farkle.  “Between both of them, I think they won every hand they played.”

Farkle laughed as he looked at Lucas.  “Yeah, we did all right.”

Lucas shrugged despite the grin on his face.  “It was a group effort.  Besides,” he glanced at the brunette next to him, “I had luck on my side.”

Maya rolled her eyes.  “I’m starting to think I liked you two more when you weren’t so nauseating.”

“I lost too,” Riley offered.

“Yeah, but you stopped after a few hands.”  The blonde flopped down on one of the couches.

Riley shrugged.  “I’m not a gambler, I guess.”

“I lost too,” Zay told the blonde as he sat down beside her.  When she leaned her head on his shoulder, he smiled softly.

“Yeah, but you weren’t up $500, either,” she groaned.  “I should have stopped.  Why didn’t you guys tell me to stop?”

“We did,” Farkle said as he sat down on the other side of her.  “We tried to tell you for the last hour to quit while you were still ahead.”

She sighed.  “Well, I have definitely learned my lesson for next time.”

“Next time,” Lucas asked as he sat down on the arm of the couch across from them.  “You know that we’re leaving in the morning, right?”

She nodded as she lifted her head up.  “Yeah, but I’m definitely coming back.  I’m not going to let Vegas get the last laugh.”  She watched as Riley placed her arm around Lucas’s shoulders as she stood next to him.  “Besides, I think it’s safe to say that we’re all winners.  We all walked away with something.”

[gracewithducks]

Teach us to Pray (Matthew 6:9-15) - Sunday School Stories #12, preached 11/24/2019

When the Hebrews made their home in the Promised Land, they pooled their resources, bringing their talents and their riches, in order to build the Temple – to make a glorious and impressive house for God. The Temple itself was a building arranged in layers, as it were; the closer you got to the center of the Temple, the more careful and attentive you had to be, because the closer you got to the center, the closer you got to God. The innermost room of the temple was called the Holy of Holies, the most holy place; it was where the Ark of the Covenant rested – and it was believed that the innermost room was God’s throne room; God’s presence was literally, most fully, most powerfully there.

 The mythology of the Ark of the Covenant we find in Indiana Jones and the face-melting scene, that mythology has its roots in the history of the faith, because God’s full, powerful, literal presence is nothing to be trifled with. The Hebrews knew that the God who redeemed them, who freed them and claimed them, this was no tame deity. And that inner sanctuary, the most holy place, was only entered one a year. Only the high priest entered that sanctuary, once yearly on Yom Kippur, on the day of atonement, when the priest would offer incense and sacrifices in order to appease God, to demonstrate the people’s faithfulness, to show their contrition for their failures, and to pray for God to cover their sins for another year.

 The festival of Yom Kippur has its roots in the Exodus. While Moses was up on the mountain receiving God’s commandments, the people down below were losing faith and losing hope. They decided to make for themselves a golden calf, which they worshiped, claiming that this golden “god” had delivered them from slavery. When Moses saw what they had done, he shattered the tablets in anger, and according to Exodus, thousands were put to death for idolatry on that day. It was a bloody and devastating day; God’s people, so recently freed by great wonders and miracles, lost faith; and so they never forgot just how easily temptation and failure could come.

 When the high priest went into the holy place, then, when he knelt and offered sacrifices and prayers before the Ark of Covenant, which held the new tablets God had given to replace the ones which were shattered, and which held a jar of the manna which taught the people to depend on God – when the priest knelt before God’s presence and prayed for forgiveness for the people, it was a day of fear and trembling indeed.

 In fact, according to some traditions, before entering the holy of holies, the priest would have a rope tied around him, in case he was so overcome by the glory of God’s presence that he dropped dead and needed to be pulled out again. The scholars have debated and decided it’s probably not true… but it is likely true that the “veil” which separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple was not just a simple curtain, but was made of many layers, curtains overlapping curtains, making a little maze more than three feet thick – this was a place which truly is set apart, the kind of place no one would accidentally stumble who didn’t belong.

 Ever since Adam and Eve cowered in the Garden, people have entered God’s presence with trembling and with fear. After meeting with God on the mountaintop, Moses’ face shone with such a ferocious light that the people were afraid of him, and he had to hide his face so they could hear what he had to say. The prophet Elijah hid his face in God’s presence, so he wouldn’t be overwhelmed with glory when God passed by. When Isaiah glimpsed heaven, he fell down and begged not to be destroyed, because he wasn’t worthy to stand in the presence of God. And over and over again, when the angels, God’s messengers appear, people fall down in terror; when God shows up, we are afraid.

 This is the tradition which has been passed down through generations: when you come to pray, take care; when you come to God, cleanse yourself first, make amends for your failures, bring promises and sacrifices, with fear and trembling, into the presence of God.

 But then one day, Jesus says, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father.’” When you pray, say, “Hey, dad.”

 Jesus says, when you pray, talk to God like your parent, someone who loves you, someone who gives you your name and shapes who you become. Jesus says, when you pray, approach God with respect, absolutely, but also with intimacy and affection – because this is how we know God, and this is who God is: God is love.

 How different it is, than bracing ourselves once a year to enter God’s presence with sacrifices and trembling – how different, for Jesus to encourage us to approach God regularly, just as we are, just as we would come for encouragement or help or comfort or advice from a parent, a grandparent, an aunt or uncle, a teacher, or a friend.

 When you come to God, come to God believing that God loves you, and God’s love is reflected in you. When you came to God, pray, “Our parent in heaven, your name is holy” – not the kind of holiness that we hide away behind stone walls and heavy curtains, but the kind of holiness that is with us and transforms our whole lives into holy ground.

 And then Jesus continues: When you pray, say, “Your kingdom come, and your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Or as our children’s bible this morning puts it, “Help us do what you want us to do.” So many of our prayers focus on what we want God to do for us, but this is where Jesus begins: by asking God to help us do what God wants, praying, “Not my will, Lord, but yours be done.”

 Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. And what does that kingdom look like? Well, Jesus started this teaching on the mountainside with those famous beatitudes: Blessed are the poor in spirit; blessed are the meek, the merciful, and the peacemakers, blessed are you who are mourning; blessed are you when you hunger and you thirst. And Jesus said, Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your Parent in heaven. And he will go on to say, Don’t store up for yourself treasures on earth, but store up treasures in heaven. And everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise person who builds their house upon the rock.

 This is God’s kingdom: where faith is put into action, and where God’s blessings fall on the most unlikely souls. And when we pray, “Thy kingdom come on earth,” we are asking God to help us believe in that kingdom, to help us see it; we are asking God to help us believe that everyone matters, that everyone is precious and beloved by our heavenly Parent. And we are asking God to help us live like we believe it, like that kingdom has already come: we are asking, “Help us to love like you love; help us to do what you want us to do.”

 And Jesus continues, When you pray, say, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Give us the food we need for today. He hearkens back to the lessons of the manna, when the people learned on the one hand that the Lord provides, and on the other hand, they learned that quite literally hoarding stinks. When we take more than we need, when we try to stockpile at someone else’s expense, our riches turn to rot; but what we really need is the faith – as he goes on to say – the faith to consider the lilies of the field, the faith to trust God one day and one step at a time.

 Jesus doesn’t teach us to say, “Give me my daily bread,” but “Give us what we need for today.” Because part of God’s kingdom coming, part of our living into that kingdom, is remembering that God’s good gifts aren’t just for me but are meant for us all.

 Give us our daily bread, and forgive us, as we forgive others. Help us to know that we’re forgiven, and help us to forgive. And this is what we sometimes misunderstand about forgiveness: forgiveness isn’t saying that what was done is okay, that it doesn’t matter; but when we forgive, and when we are forgiven, we take away the power that past mistakes hold over our lives today. Whatever has been done to you, however you’ve been hurt, doesn’t get to define you or dominate or control your life. Forgiveness doesn’t mean looking the other way; it doesn’t mean ignoring the truth, but forgiveness frees us to speak the truth without fear, because we are speaking not from a place of anger or vengeance but from a place that comes from the prayer which says: thy kingdom come – a kingdom of justice and a kingdom of grace.

 Forgive us, as we forgive, and – as our children’s bible says – “Keep us from doing bad things.” It’s not a bad paraphrase for a children’s bible, but our kids probably know better than many of us that there is so much in our lives that’s out of our control. “Deliver us from evil” isn’t just about my own little choices but has to do with the systems of evil in which we live. Deliver us from the powers that try to name us and control us; deliver us from the evil that runs rampant around us; deliver us from the evil that tries to worm its way into our hearts and souls; deliver us from fear; deliver us from hatred; deliver us to live as if your kingdom really has come and your will can be done on earth as it is in heaven.

 For kids, we tend to boil the message down to “be nice” and “do good.” But the gospel is so much bigger; it’s about reshaping creation and reshaping the whole world. This little prayer we so casually pray week after week is in fact profoundly political. Literally, politics means “of the city” or “concerning the nation” – politics has to do with how we live together. And when we pray for God’s kingdom to come, we name that none of the other kingdoms on earth are holy, and all fall short. When we pray in the plural – our parent, give us our bread, deliver us from evil – we are praying a political prayer. We are talking about how we are connected to each other, how we care for one another, how we will live together – and Jesus certainly has a lot to say about that.

 This is the prayer Jesus gives us to shape us. When you pray, pray simply; when you pray, pray trusting that God is with you, and God hears you, and God cares; when you pray, remember you do not pray alone; and when you pray, let your prayer go beyond mere words, let it make its way into your heart and soul, let your prayer be revealed in your life.

 May it be so.

  Dear God,

Help us to do what you want us to do.

Give us the food we need for today.

Forgive us, and help us to forgive others.

Keep us from doing bad things.

Deliver us from evil.

The kingdom and the glory are yours, now and always. Amen.[1]

[1] Based on the Lord’s Prayer as found in the Deep Blue Toddler Picture Bible.

[hannibal-abo]

Crimson Heart

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2N178xj

by BloodRedMoonRobin

Hannibal a man with a cold heart since the death meets Will who may be able to melt his heart....

Words: 180, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Fandoms: Hannibal (TV)

Rating: Not Rated

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death

Categories: F/M, M/M, Multi

Characters: Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham, Mischa Lecter, Bedelia Du Maurier, Alana Bloom, Jack Crawford, Matthew Brown (Hannibal), Mason Verger, Margot Verger, Bella Crawford, Freddie Lounds, Francis Dolarhyde, Will Graham's Dogs, Will Graham's Parents

Relationships: Will Graham/Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham & Hannibal Lecter, Bedelia Du Maurier/Hannibal Lecter, Alana Bloom/Will Graham, Hannibal Lecter & Mischa Lecter, Will Graham & Mischa Lecter

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - 19th Century, Dark, Romance, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Gore, Grief/Mourning, Unrequited Love, Jealousy, Possessive Behavior, Threats, Misunderstandings, Angst, Sad, Ghosts, Dreams and Nightmares, Attempted Murder, Murder

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2N178xj

[endtimeheadlines]

Apostles And the Full Preterism Deception

(By Jeremiah Johnson) As I continue to personally interact with many so-called modern day “apostles” and study current apostolic trends in the earth, I’m convinced that a great deception is currently attempting to sweep the body of Christ and the alarm must be sounded! It’s called “full preterism” and it’s currently being specifically pushed by some so-called “apostles”.

Full preterism is the belief that the prophecies in Matthew 24 (spoken by Jesus on the Mount of Olives) and the Book of Revelation were completely fulfilled in the PAST, particularly in the events leading up to and surrounding the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans in A.D. 70.

According to Full-Preterists…

• The Tribulation • The Antichrist • The Abomination of Desolation • Jesus’ Second Coming (Matthew 24; Revelation 19)

…are all things of the past.

Here are 5 prophetic warnings for those potentially being deceived into this dangerous doctrine by “apostles”:

1. Full Preterism Operates in a Scoffing Spirit

2 Peter 3:3 says, “Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days SCOFFERS will come, MOCKING the truth and following their own desires. They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again…?

There is a scoffing and mocking spirit operating in some circles in the body of Christ toward the return of Jesus Christ. They believe He has already come and any tribulation, persecution etc is not a future event. You will hear full preterists constantly mock and scoff at references to the “end times” as they glory in their deception.

2. Full Preterism Leads to Hyper-Grace Theology

The apostles in the New Testament constantly appealed to the second coming of Jesus as a primary reason for why the Church must live holy and righteously before God.

1 Thessalonians 3:13 “May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.”

1 Timothy 6:13- “I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time…”

Titus 2:12-14 “Grace teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope – the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.”

Holiness and consecration are rarely if at all emphasized and preached among full preterists. They typically embrace hyper grace theology and never appeal to the return of Jesus Christ as to why people should be living right with God.

Many of them will claim that we are living in a “better covenant” and God is no longer judging anyone.

3. Full Preterism Breeds Lazy and Complacent Christianity

The urgency of the hour and the fact that Jesus Christ could return at any moment fueled the zeal and passion of the first century Church for the proclamation of the gospel message and the repentance of sin.

1 John 2:28 “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.”

Acts 3:19-21 “Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you – even Jesus. He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets.”

Because full preterists believe that Jesus has already returned, there is no urgency for the proclamation of the Gospel or for anyone to repent of sin with fervency and sobriety.

4. Full Preterism Leaves the Church Completely Unprepared for the Days Ahead

Those who are deceived by full preterism will become offended and fall away as persecution and tribulations increases in many parts of the earth in the days ahead. The New Testament clearly helps believers realize that trouble will come in the days ahead, but in the midst of trouble, we are anchored to the promise of Jesus’ bodily return. Full preterism teaches that trouble is not coming and Jesus has already returned. Therefore there is no preparation for trouble, nor any hope in the midst of it when it comes.

2 Peter 3:10-13 “But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat! But according to His promise we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.”

5. Full Preterism Disconnects the Church from the Crisis that is Coming to Israel.

Scripture consistently teaches that trouble will come to Jerusalem and the national salvation of all of Israel will take place. This is why we must understand this trouble and what God’s plan is for it (Matthew 24:15). Full Preterism tells us all these prophecies have already been fulfilled and therefore the trouble in the Middle East has no biblical significance whatsoever.

Because full preterism does not accurately interpret the signs of our times, it creates a culture of prayerlessness, a scoffing spirit, hyper-grace theology, lazy and complacent Christianity, and a misunderstanding surrounding events in/around Israel.

Saints, beware of so-called “apostles” pushing this belief system in the days ahead. Those who are deceived will be given over to strong delusion! Remember, the apostles nor the early church fathers mentioned Christ’s Second Coming as having already occurred. By “church fathers” I am referring to those leaders in the church of the first three centuries A.D. following the original apostles (e.g., Justin Martyr, Eusebius, Tertullian, Polycarp).

Let’s stay alert in this hour and ask God for a spirit of sobriety and revelation.

Sounding the alarm, Jeremiah Johnson

[davidbarron-blog1]

11. What Does the Bible Really Say About Hell

Is it true that God is using the devil to run a little place under the earth called hell?  Almost the entire Christian world holds to a very unbiblical view about hell, and you owe it to yourself to know what the Bible really says about it. Don’t be fooled—Misunderstanding this topic will most assuredly affect how you see God, and whether or not you will truly see Him as a merciful and loving creator. How many lost souls are being punished in hell today?

“The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the Day of judgment to be punished:" (2 Peter 2:9) Answer:   There is not one single soul in hellfire today. The Bible says that God reserves, or holds back, the wicked until the Day of Judgment to be punished. When will the lost be cast into hellfire? “As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do iniquity;  And shall cast them into a                   

furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 13:40-42) “The word that I have spoken the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48). Answer:   The lost will be cast into hellfire at the great judgment at the end of the world—not when they die. God would not punish a person in fire until his or her case was tried and decided in court at the end of the world. Does it make sense that God would burn a murderer who died 5,000 years ago 5,000 years longer than a murderer who dies today and deserves the same punishment for the same sin? (See Genesis 18:25.) Where are the unsaved who have already died?

“"Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,"  "And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." (John 5:28-29) “That the wicked is reserved to the day of destruction? … Yet shall he be brought to the grave, and shall remain in the tomb” (Job 21:30, 32 KJV). Answer:   The Bible is specific. Both the unsaved and the saved who have died are in their graves “sleeping” until the resurrection day. What is the end result of sin?

"For the wages of sin death; but the gift of God eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23) “Sin, when it is finished , brings forth death” (James 1:15) “God … gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus died to save us from our sins.

Those who do not accept His gift of salvation will receive death. Answer:   The wages for (or the result of) sin is death, not everlasting life in hellfire. The wicked “perish,” or receive “death.” The righteous receive “everlasting life.” 5. What will happen to the wicked in hellfire? “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Revelation 21:8)

Answer:   The wicked die the second death in hellfire. If the wicked lived forever being tortured in hell, they would be immortal. But this is impossible because the Bible says God “Who only has immortality” (1 Timothy 6:16). When Adam and Eve were driven from the Garden of Eden, an angel was posted to guard the tree of life so that sinners would not eat of the tree and “live forever” (Genesis 3:22–24). The teaching that sinners are immortal in hell originated with Satan and is completely untrue. God prevented this when sin entered this earth by guarding the tree of life. The teaching that the wicked live in eternal torment forever really is the first great lie “ye shall not surely die.” (Gen 3:4) When and how will hellfire be kindled? “So it shall it be in the end of this world. The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will ... cast them into the furnace of fire” (Matthew 13:40–42). “And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints

about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them." (Revelation 20:9) “Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner." (Proverbs 11:31) Answer:   The Bible says that God will kindle hellfire. After the holy city comes down out of heaven (Revelation 21:2), the wicked will attempt to capture it. At that time, God will rain down fire from heaven upon the earth, and it will devour the wicked. This fire is Bible hellfire. How big and how hot will hellfire be?

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2 Peter 3:10) Answer:   Hellfire will be just as big as this earth because it will be the earth on fire. This fire will be so hot as to melt the earth and burn up all “the works that are in it.” The atmospheric heavens will explode and “pass away with a great noise.” How long will the wicked suffer in the fire? “"And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." (Revelation 22:12) “He shall reward every man according to his works” (Matthew 16:27). “And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and…neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes.” (Luke 12:47, 48). Answer:   The Bible does not tell us how long the wicked will be punished before receiving death in the fire. God does specifically state, however, that all will be punished according to their deeds. This means some will receive longer punishment than others, based upon their works. Will the fire eventually go out?

“Behold, they shall be as stubble, the fire shall burn them; they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flame; there shall not be a coal to be warmed at, nor a fire to sit before it!” (Isaiah 47:14). “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. ... And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:1, 4). Answer:   Yes. The Bible specifically teaches that hellfire will go out—that there will not be left “a coal to be warmed by, nor a fire to sit before.” The Bible also says that in God’s new kingdom all “former things” will have passed away. Hell, being one of the former things, is included, so we have God’s promise that it will be abolished. If God tortured His enemies in a fiery horror chamber throughout eternity, He would be more vicious and heartless than men have ever been in the worst of war atrocities. An eternal hell of torment would be hell for God also, who loves even the vilest sinner. The unbiblical doctrine of eternal torment invented by the devil has caused many to never see God’s love and turn from him completely never to hear his compelling and loving words. What will be left when the fire goes out? "For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the LORD of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.  And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do , saith the LORD of hosts." (Malachi 4:1-3)

Answer:   Notice the verse does not say the wicked will burn like asbestos, as many today believe, but rather like stubble, which will be burned up. The little word “up” denotes completion. Nothing but ashes will be left when the fire goes out. In Psalm 37:10, 20, the Bible says the wicked will go up in smoke and be completely destroyed. Will the wicked enter hell in bodily form and be destroyed both soul and body? "And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not thy whole body should be cast into hell." (Matthew 5:30) “Rather fear Him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). “The soul that sinneth it shall die” (Ezekiel 18:20). Answer:   Yes. Real, living people enter hell in bodily form and are destroyed both soul and body. The fire from God out of heaven will fall upon real people and blot them out of existence. Will the devil be in charge of hellfire? “And the devil, that deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:10). “I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth in the sight of all them that behold thee. And never thou shalt  be anymore.” (Ezekiel 28:18, 19).

Answer:   Absolutely not! The devil will be cast into the fire, and it will turn him into ashes. Does the word “hell” as used in the Bible always refer to a place of burning or punishment? Answer:   No. The word “hell” is used 54 times in the Bible (KJV), and in only 12 cases does it refer to “a place of burning.” The word "hell" is translated from several different words with various meanings, as indicated below: IN THE OLD TESTAMENT 31 times from "Sheol," which means the grave."IN THE NEW TESTAMENT 10 times from "Hades," which means "the grave." 12 times from "Gehenna," which means "the place of burning." 1 time from "Tartarus," which means "a place of darkness." 54 TIMES TOTAL Note: The word “Gehenna” is a transliteration of the Hebrew “Ge-Hinnom,” which means the “Valley of Hinnom.” This valley, which lies immediately south and west of Jerusalem, was a place where dead animals, garbage, and other refuse were dumped. Fire burned constantly, as it does at modern sanitation dump sites. The Bible uses “Gehenna” or the “Valley of Hinnom” as a symbol of the fire that will destroy the lost at the end of time. The fire of Gehenna was not unending. Otherwise, it would still be burning southwest of Jerusalem today. Neither will the fire of hell be unending. What is God’s real purpose in hellfire? “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels” (Matthew 25:41).

“And whosoever was not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:15). “For yet a little while, and the wicked shall be no more. … The enemies of the Lord … they shall consume; into smoke they shall consume away” (Psalm 37:10, 20). Answer:   God’s purpose is that hell will destroy the devil, all sin, and the unsaved to make the world safe for eternity. Any vestige of sin left on this planet would be a deadly virus forever threatening the universe. It is God’s plan to blot out sin from existence for all time! Eternal Hell Would Perpetuate Sin An eternal hell of torment would perpetuate sin and make its eradication impossible. An eternal hell of torment is not part of God’s great plan at all. Such a theory is slander against the holy name of a loving God. The devil delights to see our loving Creator pictured as a monstrous tyrant. Eternal Hell Is Not Found in the Bible The “eternal hell of torment” theory originated not from the Bible, but from misguided people who were, perhaps inadvertently, led of the devil. And while a fear of hell might get our attention, we are not saved by fear but by God’s grace. God will be deeply saddened when He must destroy those His Son died to save.

Isn’t the act of destroying the unsaved foreign to God’s nature? "Say unto them, I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?" (Ezekiel 33:11) “For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save . And they went to another village." (Luke 9:56) “For the LORD shall rise up as mount Perazim, he shall be wroth as the valley of Gibeon, that he may do his work, his strange work; and bring to pass his act, his strange act." (Isaiah 28:21) Answer:   Yes—the work of God has always been to save rather than to destroy. The work of destroying the wicked in hellfire is so foreign to God’s nature that the Bible calls it His “strange act.” God’s great heart will ache at the destruction of the wicked. Oh, how diligently He works to save every soul! But if one spurns His love and clings to sin, God will have no choice but to destroy the unrepentant sinner when He rids the universe of the horrible, malignant growth called “sin” in the fires of the last day. What are God’s post-hell plans for the earth and His people? "What do ye imagine against the LORD? he will make an utter end: affliction shall not rise up the second time." (Nahum 1:9) "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind." (Isaiah 65:17)

"And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God." (Revelation 21:3) "And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." (Revelation 21:4) Answer:   After hellfire goes out, God will create a new earth and restore it to His people—with all the beauties and glories of Eden before sin entered. Pain, death, tragedy, woe, tears, sickness, disappointment, sorrow, and all sin will be banished forever. Sin Will Not Rise Again God promises that sin will never rise again. His people will be filled with perfect peace, love, joy, and contentment. Their lives of complete happiness will be far more glorious and thrilling than mere words could ever describe. The real tragedy of hell is in missing heaven. A person who chooses not to enter this magnificent kingdom has made the saddest choice of a lifetime. Are you thankful to learn that God is not punishing the wicked throughout eternity in hellfire? Answer: THOUGHT QUESTIONS 1.  Doesn’t the Bible speak of “eternal torment”? No—the phrase “eternal torment” does not appear in the Bible. 2. Then why does the Bible say that the wicked will be destroyed with unquenchable fire? Unquenchable fire is fire that cannot be put out, but which goes out when it has turned everything to ashes. Jeremiah 17:27says Jerusalem was to be destroyed with unquenchable fire, and in 2 Chronicles 36:19–21 the Bible says this fire burned the city “to fulfill the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah” and left it desolate. Yet we know this fire went out, because Jerusalem is not burning today. 3.  Doesn’t Matthew 25:46 say the wicked will receive “everlasting punishment”? Notice the word is punishment, not punishing. Punishing would be continuous, while punishment is one act. The punishment of the wicked is death, and this death is everlasting. 4.  Can you explain Matthew 10:28: “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul”? The word “soul” has three meanings in the Bible: (1) a living being, Genesis 2:7—(2) the mind, Psalm 139:14—and (3) life, 1 Samuel 18:1. Also, Matthew 10:28 refers to the soul as the eternal life that God guarantees to all who accept it. No one can take this away. 5.  Matthew 25:41 speaks of “everlasting fire” for the wicked. Does it go out? Yes. According to the Bible, it does. We must let the Bible explain itself. Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed with everlasting, or eternal, fire (Jude 1:7), and that fire turned them “into ashes” as a warning to “those who afterward would live ungodly” (2 Peter 2:6). These cities are not burning today. The fire went out after everything was burned up. Likewise, everlasting fire will go out after it has turned the wicked to ashes (Malachi 4:3). The effects of the fire are everlasting, but not the burning itself. 6.  Doesn’t the story of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke16:19-31 teach an eternal hell of torment? No! It is a parable Jesus used to emphasize a certain spiritual lesson. The point of the story is found in verse 31. Parables should not be taken literally—otherwise, we would believe that trees talk! (See Judges 9:8–15.) Here are some facts making it clear that Luke 16:19–31is a parable: A. Abraham’s bosom is not heaven (Hebrews 11:8–10, 16). B. People in hell can’t talk to those in heaven (Isaiah 65:17). C. The dead are in their graves (Job 17:13; John 5:28, 29). The rich man was in bodily form with eyes, a tongue, etc., yet we know that the body does not go to hell at death but remains in the grave, as the Bible says. D. People are rewarded at Christ’s second coming, not at death (Revelation 22:12). E. The lost are cast into hell at the end of the world, not when they die (Matthew 13:40–42) 7. But the Bible speaks of the wicked being tormented "forever," doesn't it?  The term forever is used 56 times in the King James Bible in connection with things that have already ended.* It is like the word “tall,” which means something different in describing men, trees, or mountains. In Jonah 2:6, “forever” means “three days and nights.” In Deuteronomy 23:3, it means 10 generations. In the case of mankind, it means “as long as he lives” or “until death.” (See 1 Samuel 1:22, 28; Exodus 21:6; Psalm 48:14.) So the wicked will burn in the fire as long as they live, or until death. This fiery punishment for sin will vary according to the degree of sins for each individual, but after the punishment, the fire will go out. The unbiblical teaching of eternal torment has done more to drive people to atheism than any other invention of the devil. It is slander upon the loving character of a gracious heavenly Father and has done untold harm to the Christian cause. *To check in a concordance, look up the word “ever.” QUIZ QUESTIONS Sinners are cast into hellfire (1) _____   When they die. _____   At the end of the world. _____   By the devil. The reward that sinners will receive in hellfire is (1) _____   Death. _____   Eternal torment. _____   Being tortured by the devil, who is in charge. Hellfire (1) _____   Will be the whole world set on fire by God’s presence. _____   Is burning now. _____   Burns throughout the endless ages of eternity. Sinners who have died are in (1) _____   Purgatory. _____   Hellfire. _____   Their graves. The population of hell today (1) _____   Is exactly zero. _____   Numbers in the millions. _____   Cannot be determined. Hellfire (1) _____   Destroys only the body of the wicked. _____   Tortures the soul of the wicked throughout eternity. _____   Destroys sinners -both soul and body- turning them to ashes, then goes out. An eternal hell of torment (1) _____   Is a very important part of God's great plan. _____   Is the devil's doctrine and is slander upon the holy, loving name of God, who abhors seeing people suffer. _____   Gives Satan a job throughout eternity. "Hell" in the Bible (1) _____   Always refers to a place of burning. _____   Has several meanings, one of them being the grave. _____   Refers to Satan's subterranean torture chambers. The purpose for hell is to (1) _____   Pay back and torture God's enemies. _____   Frighten people into being good. _____   Completely blot out sin and evil from the universe and make the righteous safe for eternity. Destroying people in hell (1) _____   Will be a delight to the great God of heaven. _____   Is called God’s “strange act,” because it is so foreign to His loving plan of saving people. _____   Will be the devil's job, in cooperation with God's plan. After hellfire goes out (1) _____   God will banish Satan to far outer space. _____   God will make a perfect new earth, where sin will never rise again, and give it to His people. _____   The righteous will live in fear of sin's rising again. The story of the rich man and Lazarus (1) _____   Is a parable and should not be taken literally. _____   Is Bible proof for the teaching of eternal torment. _____   Proves that souls in hell can converse with souls in heaven. The term "for ever" as used in the Bible in reference to a man's life (1) _____   Means 'time without end'. _____   Is mysterious and cannot be understood. _____   Usually means 'a man's lifetime', or 'until he dies'. I am thankful to learn that God does not punish the wicked eternally in hellfire. _____   Yes. _____   No. Read the full article