#it’s the name thing that gets me ooo names with power metaphorical and magical!

[banalhorrors]

I am into two things.

[j4gm]

TOGETHER AGAIN SPOILERS

A thread of lore, Easter eggs, episode connections, and background details from Adventure Time: Distant Lands: Together Again! Let me know if I missed anything! This is adapted from my original Twitter thread.

Keep reading ⬇️⬇️⬇️

1. I was expecting them to perhaps do a classic style title sequence for this episode, but I wasn't expecting them to straight up use the original title sequence. The only difference is this final screen saying "Distant Lands".

2. The background of the title cards is also the hill from the title sequence.

3. The ice cream having "50 flavours" and having an image of an enlightened soul is an obvious reference to the 50th Dead World as we see it later in the episode.

4. Continuing with the metaphor, the dirt in the ice cream could be a parallel to the fact that Jake's Nirvana actually wasn't perfect, because his inaction was allowing for injustice to perpetuate.

5. This whole scene feels immediately slightly off. Finn has his Scarlet sword and is out on a classic Ice King adventure, but he speaks in his grown voice and all the slang feels much more forced than it did in the real season one. Turns out this was deliberate.

6. The snow golem speaks with a baby voice like it did in the pilot episode, even though in canon it has a deeper voice. This further hints that something is not quite right.

7. The first major break in continuity is these snow golems resembling Uncle Gumbald and Peace Master, who Finn didn't meet until later in his life.

8. LSP sitting on Finn's head like this is reminiscent of Pen Ward's piece for the 2018 Ble crew zine.

9. Finn being given the choice of helping somebody but ending up helping everybody reminds me of "Memories of Boom Boom Mountain". It's the kind of resolution that wouldn't happen so much in the late seasons of the show, which helps make this scene feel even further out of place.

10. Jake is half frozen by Ice King in pretty much the exact same way as he was in "Prisoners of Love", and even has a very similar line.

11. The Snail is seen here. The crew have said that the Snail has been deliberately left out of previous Distant Lands specials, so its placement here is another very deliberate hint that this whole sequence is "trying too hard" to be like the early seasons.

12. The book "Mind Games" appears a couple of times, as seen in several previous episodes of Adventure Time. The first is as Finn is approaching the library in his dream. It also appears as one of the items in Finn's backpack later.

13. Jake is hurt when Finn fist bumps him with his metal arm, revealing that this scene is not real. This is also a callback to the title sequences of "Islands" and "Elements".

14. A whole bunch of familiar skeletons are seen in the bird's nest: Dirt Beer Guy, Abracadaniel, Me-Mow, Lemongrab, Mr. Pig, and the Snail again. This doesn't necessarily mean that all these characters are dead, since this scene is just a hallucination.

15. Old Man Finn! He's still got the chest tattoo of Jake, and this time we know that Jake is dead, so the theory that Jake died before "Obsidian" seems pretty likely. He looks similar to his old man design from "Puhoy", with the same facial hair.

16. There are several cameos of familiar characters who apparently died at the same time as Finn. The first is this duck, who previously appeared in "Ocarina".

17. The second is Donny, from the episode... uh, "Donny".

18. This goblin guy is an unnamed background character from “The Silent King”.

19. This old lady first appeared in "The Enchiridion", way back in season one. Old ladies are a species in the Land of Ooo, so I guess she wasn't actually very old back then, given she just about outlived Finn.

20. This is the cobbler who first appears in "His Hero". Amazing that he lived so long given all the trouble he got into in that episode.

21. Land of the Dead! This place was first seen in season two's "Death in Bloom", and now we are finally learning its actual purpose. It's a sort of gateway and hub to all of the other dead worlds.

22. There are some more minor cameos at the gates: a house person from "Donny", a soft person from "Gut Grinder", and a wood person from "When Wedding Bells Thaw". And, of course, the gate guardian himself from “Death in Bloom”.

23. Finn completely ignores the gate guardian in the same way he did in Death in Bloom. This also has the convenient effect of not having to reveal how Finn died, leaving it up to the audience's imagination.

24. Mr. Fox! We already knew he would die at some point because BMO had his skull in the finale.

25. Finn has his design from the first Distant Lands poster in this scene. Turns out it's young Finn in old Finn's clothes. But they gave him a shirt in the poster so you wouldn't be able to see the tattoo.

26. The clapping that Finn does while he's looking for Jake is a callback to "James Baxter the Horse", when Jake tells Finn to listen for that same rhythm if they are killed and need to find each other in the afterlife.

27. Mr. Fox talks about a "past life quotient", suggesting that there might be some kind of limit to how many times somebody can reincarnate. Finn's reincarnations are also seen in this scene; a callback to "The Vault", and confirmation that reincarnations share the same soul.

28. Boobafina, the goose who Mr. Fox was in love with in his debut episode “Storytelling”, apparently reincarnated into a tugboat. We've already seen that objects can have souls in the episode "Ghost Fly".

29. Finn is initially assigned to the 37th Dead World, which is the same one that Jake went to when he died in "Sons of Mars". We can only guess at what the other numbers on the ticket mean ;)

30. Tiffany! Despite several lucky escapes throughout his life, Tiffany has finally died. I like the use of this imagery to express Finn's conflicted feelings about him.

31. The 50th Dead World has long been established as the "highest" dead world, and the one synonymous with Heaven within Adventure Time's universe. It was first mentioned in "Ghost Princess" back in season three.

32. It's unclear what happens to souls which are destroyed within the dead worlds. It is a similar question to asking what happened to the ghosts that were killed in "Ghost Fly".

33. Death doesn't speak at all in Together Again because his voice actor, Miguel Ferrer, passed away in 2017 long before production began.

34. Finn phases through New Death when he tries to attack him, just like what happened way back in "Death in Bloom".

35. The 30th Dead World contains Tree Trunks as well as many of her love interests; Mr. Pig, her alien husband from "High Strangeness", Danny and Randy who first appeared in "Apple Wedding", and several more who we don't recognise, including at least one who presents as a woman.

36. Literally yelled when these two showed up. Joshua calls Finn a crybaby, which is a callback to "Dad's Dungeon".

37. The wall of weapons in Joshua and Margaret's house includes the iconic Demon Blood Sword, which was broken in "Play Date", as well as Margaret's auto-loading crossbow from "Joshua & Margaret Investigations".

38. Jermaine is sidelined a few times through the episode, in reference to his attitude in "Jermaine" where he feels that Finn and Jake were always their parents' favourites. I would have hoped things would be a bit better by now.

39. Fern gets name dropped while Finn and Jake are reuniting. A shame he doesn't actually show up in the episode.

40. In this scene, Finn says "What time is it?" This is a very subtle reference to the 2010 cartoon "Adventure Time".

41. In a couple of shots during this fight scene it looks like Jake might have a tattoo. It seems like it only becomes visible when he stretches out his arm.

42. New Death's amulet in this scene resembles parts of the Lich's cape, foreshadowing his influence on New Death.

43. There are several more cameos in the 50th Dead World: Booshy from "High Strangeness", one of the Marshmallow Kids from "Scamps", and Ghost Princess and Clarence, who were seen ascending to the 50th Dead World in "Ghost Princess".

44. Finn didn't interact with Booshy in "High Strangeness", but it seems they must have met at some point before they both died because Finn knows his name.

45. It seems like people in the 1st Dead World are slowly melted away until they become part of the landscape. Nasty.

46. Lots more cameos in this scene: a gnome from "Power Animal", a gnome from "The Enchiridion", a Bath Boy from "The Vault", Blagertha from "Love Games", Maja the Sky Witch, a troll from "Dungeon", Chocoberry, Choose Goose, Wyatt, a spiky person from "Gut Grinder", and possibly more.

47. Tiffany's insults are consistently nonsensical and amazing, as they were in the original series.

48. The Candy Kingdom looks extremely different. Peppermint Butler is wearing the crown so he might be in charge now, which is supported by the kingdom's very magical-looking augmentations. It’s not clear whether Finn and Jake were expecting to find Princess Bubblegum or Peppermint Butler, since both have the initials “PB” and both could be going by the title of “Princess”. Perhaps Peps and Bubblegum share the princess duties now that PB is living with Marceline more of the time.

49. Peppermint Butler has a "Boss" mug, although it's not the same colour as the one from "Obsidian".

50. Jake's ghost has the same design as he did when BMO killed him in "Ghost Fly". I also absolutely love Finn's ghost. This scene establishes that ghosts are just visitors to the mortal plane from the dead worlds.

51. Life has only appeared in animated shorts before now. Namely, "The Gift That Reaps Giving" which establishes her relationship with Death, and "Frog Seasons: Winter". This episode gives her a concrete place within Adventure Time's pantheon: she is in charge of reincarnation.

52. A translation of Life’s angry French dialogue by Shado: “After all I did for that boy. After all I did for him. No, it's not possible. It's not possible no, that... that makes me so mad but it's not possible.”

53. We finally have in-universe confirmation that Shoko's tiger is a previous life of Jake. This was previously confirmed by one of the writers, but wasn't canon until now.

54. I feel like Finn pulled off Shoko's look even better than Shoko did. I wonder whether Finn has gained the memories of his past lives now that he’s dead.

55. No Easter egg here, just want to appreciate this image.

56. There is an elemental symbol on the wall here, as seen in "Jelly Beans Have Power".

57. Tiffany's dramatic internal monologue is a recurring gag, as is his habit of nearly dying from falling into holes.

58. The Jake suit makes a cameo in the fight against New Death. It was last seen in the episode "Reboot”.

59. Finn's backpack contains a few familiar items: the t-shirt with the pocket from "It Came from the Nightosphere", Finn's underwear from "Little Dude" and other episodes, and a copy of Mind Games as I've already mentioned.

60. The Lich's Hand is present in the background of Death's... death scene. This is probably the unseen "friend" who New Death keeps talking about.

61. The Lich's menacing monologues often begin with a single command. Previously they have included "Fall" and "Stop". This time, the command is "Burn".

62. Jake uses the word "boingloings", which is a callback all the way to "Hitman" in the third season.

63. Jake's blue shape-shifter form from "Abstract" appears very briefly during his fight with Finn.

64. Finn's lumpy space person form also makes an appearance. This design was last seen all the way back in the second episode of the entire show, "Trouble in Lumpy Space".

65. Jake steps on the Lich's hand in a very similar way to how he stepped on Ash in "Memory of a Memory", which is itself a Monty Python reference.

66. The credits include a dedication to a few AT cast and crew who have passed away. Polly Lou Livingston was the voice of Tree Trunks. Miguel Ferrer was the voice of Death. Michel Lyman and Maureen Mlynarczyk were both sheet timers on the original series. Rest in peace.

67. The message that Finn and Jake write out on the ouija board is "BUTT", which Peppermint Butler takes as a distress signal. This message is also used as a distress signal by the Hot Dog Knights in "The Limit".

68. Peppermint Butler's reversed dialogue from the scene where he makes contact with Finn and Jake is "Kee-Oth Rama Pancake", the spell from “Dad's Dungeon” for banishing demons.

69. That appears to be President Porpoise with all of Tree Trunks’ other lovers.

70. In this scene, Life is humming part of "Lonely Bones", the song which Death tried to record for her in her debut short "The Gift That Reaps Giving". It's hard to notice because it's so brief.

71. Finn and Jake's cover is blown while in the Land of the Dead because Jake loudly farts, which also happened in "Death in Bloom".

72. The place where Mr. Fox explains the perception mechanics of the afterlife is the exact same location as the River of Forgetfulness from "Death in Bloom", which, as it turns out, was imaginary.

These are sort of out of order at the end because I was adding stuff to the Twitter thread as it got discovered. That’s all for now!

[mirkwoodshewolf]

You’re not him; Jack Kline x reader

*Author’s note*

Okay so SPOILER ALERT!!!! IF YOU HAVEN’T WATCHED THE PREMIERE EPISODE OF SPN THEN STOP RIGHT HERE AND GO WATCH IT BEFORE READING THIS FIC!!! If you have seen the episode then you can stay, so if you don’t want to be spoiled PLEASE. LEAVE. NOW!! 

So warning wise it’s the typical SPN warning; swearing, violence, zombies, ghosts, and there is a scene with kissing w/o consent (ALWAYS ASK BEFORE KISSING OR TOUCHING SOMEONE. CONSENT IS POWER!!) other than that, not really anything else. Hope you all enjoy this fic :)

Taglist:

@psychosupernatural

@plethora-of-things

@ixchel-9275

@waddles03

________________________________________________________

Well we were screwed….no I don’t even think screwed is even the right word I would use right now.  Here we are trapped like rats in a crypt with a bunch of possessed zombies trying to break down the door.  As my brothers and Cas were trying to figure a way out of this place or how to stop those—things outside, I was on the ground touching Jack’s cheek.

Thanks to the bastard Chuck, Jack’s forever gone.  His eyes burned out and I knew that there was no coming back from that. This was all too much for me. Jack didn’t deserve something like this, no one did. Not Pamela, not Kevin, and certainly not Jack.

“Jack—” I muttered as I leaned my forehead against his chest.  Why must everything bad happen to those we care about? Just shortly before Lucifer stole Jack’s grace, the two of us admitted to each other while we were stuck in Apocalypse world with Mary that we started developing feelings for each other.

While he was fully human, I taught him the basic necessities on how to stay alive.  And from there we just—kinda grew closer to each other.  Even when he burned out his soul, he somehow made me still believe that he was in love with me.

Now he’s gone.

Suddenly I began to hear something.  Something from within the walls.  As my brothers kept arguing with each other, I pressed my ear to the wall.

“(Y/n)? (N/n).” Dean said.

“Guys I—I think there’s a pipeline in here.”

“Probably a sewage line.” Both Sam and Dean came up and Sam helped me stand back up while both he and Dean removed the concrete slab to reveal the brick structure underneath.  Using the iron pick they chipped away at the brick wall but suddenly coming out was a possessed corpse.

I jumped back screaming.  God I hate it when those things do that.  Cas then picked up the concrete slab and slammed it right on top of the corpse which killed it but the ghost that had it possessed took off flying.

“God I hate it when that happens!”

“You’ve been doing this since you were ten, how does that still scare you?” asked Dean.

“Hey give me a wendigo, vamp, werewolf, leviathan, whatever any day. But having something that just pops out, especially when they look like they’re from the Thriller music video, forget it!”

“Well so much for your pipe theory, now what do we do?”

“Hello.” No. It—it can’t be.  We all turned around and there stood Jack alive!

My heart stopped and I froze like a deer in headlight.

“Jack? You’re alive?” Sam asked in disbelief.  It can’t be, it just can’t be. Please anyone but god tell me this is a joke.

“That’s not Jack. It’s a demon.” Cas said. At that point, I was enraged. Okay making my older brother into one, and forcing my big brother into being the vessel of the devil himself is one thing, but no I repeat no demon should ever, ever possess Jack’s body.

“What?”

“Yeah.” The demon said using Jack’s voice. “Sorry about that.” he shrugged nonchalantly.

���How in the hell—”

“Look I just got here and I needed a body so—”

“So you are a demon.” Sam asked to confirm this was a demon and not one of those spirits that came out of hell.

“Yeah. I would do the whole eyes thing but—no eyes.” He then walked over towards my bag and pulled out the sunglasses he and I once bought for him when he and I had some downtime together a few months back before we hung out with those teens we saved from the psycho serial killer clown.

“Put those down!” I snapped.  Of course he ignored me and put the shades over his eyes and he said.

“Sorry but I gotta blend in.”

“Get out of him!” Cas sneered.

“Look I know it’s weird. Okay where do I start? Like the first day of school. Hi, uhh my name’s Belphegor I—” I snapped as I trudged up towards him, gripped him by the throat and pinned him against the wall holding my demon blade.

“Get. Out of him!”

“Ooo wow kitty’s got claws. I like that in a woman. I would wink but like I said—no eyes.”

“I’m not gonna ask you again you son of a bitch!”

“Look, hey I can get you out of here. I can help.”

“(Y/n).” Dean said to me trying to get me to get off this demon possessing my boyfriend’s corpse.

“No, I’m with (y/n) on this. He’s an abomination!” Cas said as he came up over my shoulder.

“You’re an abomination with that stupid, dumb trench coat.” I pressed the blade closer to the demon’s neck and I snarled at him.

“You don’t get to talk to him!”

“(Y/n) hey, hey okay back off! Back up!” Dean said as he came up and forced me off the demon.

“He’s defiling his corpse Dean! And you’re acting like you don’t even give a shit! What if this were Mary, huh?!”

“Hey listen to me She-wolf. Jack’s gone! Okay I know you don’t want to admit it yet but your boyfriend’s gone! Now I say we just listen to what he has to say, and if we don’t like it. Then you and Cas can stab him.”

“(Y/n),” Sam’s voice spoke up softly.  I turned towards him and he agreed with Dean. “He’s right. We need to get out of here.” I forced myself out of Dean’s grip and walked away and faced the wall.

“Whew, feisty. She available?”

“Hey focus back to right here!” Dean snapped.

“Right. Look I’m not a crossroads demon or one of those black eyed ones that ooze slime to take out virgins or puppies or—virgin puppies. I like my job, I check in a soul, torment it. Repeat. Simple basic eternity to eternity job. You want all those bad guys back where they came from right? Me too. I mean—we’re like twinses guys.”

“We are not twinses!” Cas snarled.

“Can you fix this?” asked Sam gesturing towards outside.

“Umm no. but I can get you out of here.”

“How?” asked Dean.

“A little spell. You know nothing major.” God he was such a pain in the ass with his cycling of nonchalant teasing. “See a little graveyard dirt, and some uhh angel blood.”

“Cas.” I turned and watched as Cas reluctantly cut his palm with his angel blade and allowed some blood to flow into the demon’s hand.

“Oh wait, one more thing; I also need a lock of hair from a beautiful girl.” Oh hell no!

“You’re making that part up.” Cas stated.

“Actually I’m not. I need the hair otherwise it won’t work.” I walked up to him and Cas said.

“(Y/n) wait, you don’t have to do it. You know he’s lying.”

“Cas I don’t like it as much as you do but—what if he is telling the truth?” he and I looked at each other before I walked right up to the demon possessing my boyfriend’s body.  He gave me Jack’s famed grin that once made me flutter and go weak at the knees.

“Well beautiful?” I took out my pocketknife and picked up a strand of my long hair. Then I cut a strand from underneath so that way no one would notice an uneven strand of hair.

I held the hair in my hands and hesitantly held it over Jack’s hand before finally placing it on top of the dirt and Cas’ blood.  Just before I could remove my hand from his palm, his hand closed over mine and he hummed.

“Mm, so soft. Fierce and calloused but very soft at the same time. Been awhile since I held a girl’s hand.” I quickly took back my hand and held it over my chest and turned away getting creeped out.  Cas protectively wrapped his arm around me as the demon then just held his arms out like he was about to do a chant.

But all he did next was clap his hands, the soil, blood and my hair fell to the ground. At first I thought it did nothing, that was until I heard nothing but silence outside.

“Huh.” He bragged.  I was the first to race outside and all there were around were dead corpses no longer possessed.

“Holy shit.” I muttered.

“Didn’t I tell you? It worked. High five.” Belphegor said.

“The spirits have been destroyed.” Cas said as he walked ahead.

“No, I just blasted them out of those bodies. Yeah.”

“So where the hell are they now?” asked Dean.

We were now in the car driving on home hoping to figure out a plan.  Thankfully Cas sat between me and the demon possessing Jack because all the while through the drive, I could feel his—well metaphorically speaking his eyes were on me.

“You know—you’ve got some good style taste there doll. I like ‘em.”

“Don’t call me doll.” I lowly muttered.

“Alright Romeo enough with the flirting back there. That’s our sister and I wouldn’t press her if I were you. You think we’re bad, she’s worse than us.” Dean spoke.

“Empty threats. Not to say that you’re not strong there doll. I mean—every female demons has envied you for the way you’ve been known to torture us. In fact some learn from you.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere with me.”

“On that note explain to me this, how many souls are we talking about specifically?” asked Sam trying to drive the conversation away.

“What you mean in hell?” asked Belphegor as Sam nodded.

“Oh I don’t know 2-3 billion.” Great.

“Okay for now we just stick to the plan. We head back to the bunker. Figure a way to close the riff.” Dean said as he kept driving.

“If you can.” Said Belphegor.

“You got any better ideas?”

“I do not. But if you wanna buy some time, you could just—contain the ghosts.”

“How?” I asked.

“Magic.” He stated with a shrug.

“And you just happen to know the right spell?” asked Cas skeptically.

“Lucky you.”

“What do you mean by contain them?” questioned Dean.

“Magical circle about a mile wide. No ghosts get in, no ghost get out.”

“Yeah, great, great.”

“But Sam we can’t. Harland, Kansas is less than a mile from the cemetery. What are we gonna do about the people there?”

“We get them out.” Dean stated.  

“How?” asked Cas.

“We lie.”

As we drove on we soon found an abandoned car still running up ahead with its lights on.

“Whoa, whoa pull over for a second Dean.” Dean did as Sam suggested and we parked right behind the abandoned car.  My brothers and I got out of Baby and we shined out flashlights on the car.  

The first thing I noticed was the blood along the window, the radio was still playing but there was no body so this wasn’t your typical murder.  Yet for some reason this scene was very familiar to me.

“This look so familiar to you guys?” asked Dean.

“Looks like a—woman in white.” Said Sam.

“Exactly.” I remembered back on the first case after we got Sam out of Stanford of the woman in white.

“Guys….I think this is our woman in white.”

“No way we sent her to hell years ago.” Dean said.

“No think about it. God opens up the doorway to hell, every soul to ever go down there escapes. Including our woman in white.” I explained.

“But then that means if she’s back—” Sam stated off before Dean finished his brother’s thought.

“Then every last one we ever killed and sent down there is back.” Well that’s just great.

By morning, donning on our fake FBI uniforms, we headed for Harland and began to evacuate the city.

“Alright look (y/n). Sam and I got the evacuation part down, so why don’t you and Cas take Crowley Jr. and get him the things he needs.”

“Are you serious Dean?” I snapped. “Dean you—you really don’t care how this is making me feel do you? I—I can’t even look at him. I just—I just can’t…..” I took off down the street and he called out to me.

I sat down on a nearby bench and pressed my face into hands trying to contain my sobs but I could feel tears in my eyes.

“(Y/n).” I looked up to see Cas standing over me.  He sat down beside me and I said to him.

“If you’re—trying to make me go back there and make amends with Dean then uhh—” I looked around and found an abandoned half eaten peanut butter and jelly sandwich. “I’m about to hit you in the head with a PB&J sandwich.”

“No, no I—I get why you walked away from him. I—can’t even look at….you know. So I can’t imagine how it must be for you. After all you and Jack….”

“It may have seemed difficult to decipher our relationship especially when his soul completely burned out. But—somehow even in that soulless way, he still made me believe he was in love with me. I have no idea how but—he did. I just….feel like this is all my fault.”

“It wasn’t. The only person to blame for Jack’s death is God. All this time following his orders and commands, and this is how I’m repaid.”

“To be fair we did kinda make you turn against your traditionalist ways. I mean remember how you were back then.”

“Yeah I guess I did have a stick up my butt.”

“Not even a stick is big enough Cas to describe how stuck-up you were.” I teased which caused the two of us for the first time to actually laugh.  It was small but still a laugh.  “I just wish he was still here. Like here here, not some demon possessing him using his voice and doing those little quirks he did.”

“I know. So do I.” he wrapped his arm around my shoulder and hugged me close to him. “So do I. I promised his mom I would take care of him, now I feel like I let her down. Again.”

Eventually I went with Cas and Sam to do some evacuations.  I went to one house just three blocks from where Cas went.  Holding my shotgun close and ready to fire in case any ghosts came up, I called out.

“Hello? Anybody here?” I cautiously walked along the hallways leading towards the upstairs bedrooms.  But when I opened the door, I held in my puke for right there before me were two teenage girls around my age covered in blood, however most of the blood came from their eyes and I knew only one legend that ever made that happen.

Bloody Mary.

I quickly raced to find a nearby mirror.  It worked on her once before and it should work on her again.  But just as I went to grab the mirror that hung in the hallway, she suddenly appeared before me in my reflection then turned into me.

Blood started tearing down my face as I couldn’t look away now.  She had me.

“Been a long time Winchester sister. And in all that time you’ve become a killer, just like your brothers. All those people you’ve helped kill, Kevin, Charlie, Bobby, but worst of all precious Jack. It’s your fault all this happened to him. If he hadn’t liked you, he’d still have his grace.”

“Shut up……shut up!” I soon felt this agonizing pain as I collapsed into the table and she soon came out of the mirror repeating over and over that it was my fault, my fault, my fault.

“Hey.” Oh shit it—it couldn’t be him. I looked up and through the blood that had dripped down from my eyes, I could see Jack’s body standing before us.  Bloody Mary turned into Jack and said.

“You’re a true monster. Killing Sam and Dean Winchester’s mother. Releasing the archangel Michael, it’s all your fault.”

“Yeah sorry there Mary but,” he lifted his shades revealing the burnt out holes in them. “Plus I’m not this guy uhh—Jack. So you might as well hit the road bitch cause honestly out of all the legends you were the worst, and as a demon I don’t mean in the good way.” Mary phased back into herself and launched at the demon but he held up a mirror before her.

And just like last time, her reflection spoke back to her which killed her right then and there.  The mirror shattered and the demon shook the glass off of him.

“That bitch is gonna have it in for me when I get back. Lucky for her, I’ve got something up my sleeve for her for leaving hell in the first place.” Slowly I got up and wiped the blood out of my eyes. “Red looks good on you.” I growled and steadied myself up along the wall. “What? No thank you for saving your ass?”

“Not from you. Had it been Cas or Sam I would thank them. But not to creeps like you.”

“Aww c’mon babe after all the fun we had last night?”

“That was for the spell only and you know it! Now did you find your ingredients for the spell? Does Dean even know you left him?”

“Technically no. See for whatever reason I found myself here and I could hear you screaming….well bloody Mary up here so I figured might as well save one Winchester, maybe their cute sister and maybe get on a better side with you and the others.”

“Saving my life doesn’t atone for what you are.” I said as I cleaned my face up in the bathroom.

“Why so stuck on me? It’s not like I had a choice. This body was the nearest one I could find. I would’ve found another back at the cemetery but those meat suits were well you know. Wormy. Difficult to blend. I sorta got an answer from your brother but I wanna hear your side now. Who was he to you?”

I turned the tap off and stared at him through the mirror.  I dabbed my eyes with a towel and muttered.

“He was a friend.”

“Ahh there it is.”

“What’s there?” I demanded.

“See down there,” he pointed downward gesturing to hell. “You may be praised for your fighting skills and some torture methods. But you are laughed at for your lying skills. I mean I know there’s some truth to it, but I know there’s gotta be more.”

He then slowly walked closer towards me as he continued.

“So c’mon just between us. Was he—Your confidant? Your secret keeper?” he now stood almost chest to chest with me as he now had me up against the vanity counter. “Your boyfriend?” at that my breath hitched sharply. “Ahhh, ding-ding. Seems I’ve found a winner?”

“So what if he was? Just because you have his body and use his voice to talk, doesn’t mean that you’re him. So stop with the flirtation and just—” suddenly I felt his lips on mine.

I almost lashed out but I was suddenly hit back to the time Jack and I shared our first kiss in Apocalypse world.  Jack had just performed another puppet show for the kids, we told them an epic tale of a young warrior searching across the galaxy to eventually become a great warrior (Star Wars).

After getting all the little ones to bed, Jack and I just stayed up and talked and that’s when I leaned in and kissed him.  At first I regretted it because he just sat there in shock, but when he kissed me back I threw my regret out the window and just accepted the kiss.  And ever since then, we’ve been a couple.

I felt Jack’s hands cup underneath my chin just as he always placed them whenever we kissed.  I tried to resist but I guess this is what I needed for long.  Ever since his soul got burned out, his kisses didn’t hold the same feeling of love as they had compared to our first kiss.

Wait—what the fuck are you doing (y/n)?! You’re kissing a demon! A bloody demon! I whined and pushed him away from me and I slapped him in the face.

“Never. Kiss me. Again!” I snarled.

“Oh yeah like I haven’t heard that before.” He teased.

“I’m serious. Whatever you think is happening between us, forget it! Now get your stuff for the spell and get out of my sight!”

“As you wish. My sapphire star.” My heart stopped as he actually used the nickname Jack gave me.  I turned back around and saw that he was gone.

“(Y/n)! (Y/n)!” soon running up the stairs was Cas. “I heard you screaming as I got closer to the house, are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. I’m fine.” He cupped my face before saying.

“Your eyes are bleeding.”

“Oh right I—I had a little reunion with bloody Mary. But I handled it.” It was best not to tell Cas about the demon coming to save me, since I really had no real father figure in my life Cas has kinda filled in that role after getting him to loosen up a bit and hanging around us humans for a while.

“Does anything else hurt?”

“Well I’ve got a splitting headache.”

“Here.” He placed his two fingers to the center of my forehead and I felt this warmth come over me.

“Thanks Cas.”

“No problem. Come on Sam might need us.” I nodded and the two of us headed outside.

After reuniting with my brother and saving a mother and daughter from the killer clown as well as some other ghosts that popped out.  We saw this bright light suddenly rushing across the ground like the tide coming out.

“The spell.” I said.  The ghosts all glared at us and took chase.

“Run! Run get them out of here!” Sam urged us.  I picked up the kid and took off running down the street.  Once we got to across a certain path of the road, the ghosts stopped and psycho clown couldn’t reach us with his knife.  He growled before yelling at us before my brother finally told him to shut up.

“It’s done. They can’t get out now.” I said.

“C’mon we gotta get to the high school.” Sam said as we now walked calmly out of the neighborhood to meet up with Dean and Balthagar.

After getting the mom and daughter to the high school five miles away, I was leaning against the wall of the high school when I felt two familiar hands cover my eyes.

“Guess who?”

“Enough.” I elbowed him in the chest.

“Ow! Hey I thought we had something back in the bathroom?”

“I already told you, you may wear Jack’s body but you aren’t him. You even touch me again, and I’ll let you see firsthand why demons down there probably talk about me.”

“Ohhh, kinky. I look forward to it.” He flirted.  I glared at him and walked away from him.  I came up to my brothers who were looking inside Baby’s trunk.

“Did he just cover your eyes playing the guess who game you and Jack used to do?” asked Dean.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I told him bluntly.  He looked towards Belphegor and he said.

“Listen, if he tries to flirt with you in anyway talk to us, okay. I—I had a talking to with Cas and he set me right. I should’ve been more understanding of what all this has meant to you (n/n) I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright. All of this really has gone to shit. I mean not just the souls of hell being free but God literally screwing us over. I mean—guys pardon my French but…..we are in some serious horse shit.”

“She’s right. I mean yeah we can keep up the lie for what 1 maybe 2 days before the real FBI shows.” Sam agreed with me.  We already had two encounters with law enforcement we don’t need a third strike.

“Yeah I figured. But right now we need to get you fixed up.” Dean said gesturing to Sam’s shoulder.  Of course stubborn as an ox Sam Winchester refused but with Dean’s persuasion he managed to talk Sam into showing him the bullet wound he telepathically got after shooting God.

It wound itself looked like it was about to close up but when Dean said there was no exit wound, I got a little worried.

“Hey you remember when you were little, and how I used to always distract you? You know when it involved a band-aid or something like that?” Dean asked as he got the rubbing alcohol out and poured it onto a cotton patch.

“Yeah you—used to tell some stupid joke. You even did it for the munchkin there.”

“Don’t go there green giant.” I mocked.

“Knock, knock.” Sam at first turned away like it was a joke. “Come on knock, knock.”

“Who’s—” before he could say there, Dean placed the patch on his bullet wound.

“Still got it.” Dean praised himself with a grin.  I shook my head and I said nervously.

“Hey guys,” they turned towards me and I continued, “So—when Chuck said welcome to the end…..do you think he meant this? I mean by like—ending the entire human race with ghosts, demons, and all that?”

“Baby girl you know as well as I do he’s been playing us the entire time. So screw him.” Dean said.

“I know but….think about it. If one of us dies, that’s it. We’ve been lucky in the past but now that he’s pissed at us. He’s gonna ensure that no one or nothing brings us back. No resurrections this time. I may not look it but—I’m terrified guys.” Sam being the caring brother that he is, wrapped his arms around me in a big bear hug and I continued. “We’re nothing but rats to him. And now that he’s had his fun, he’s gonna ensure that we end up in the pathway with furious cats ready to devour us. While he just sits back and watches us being ripped apart.”

“Yeah nothing but rats in a maze. Sure we could go left, sure we could go right. But we were stuck in the damn maze. It makes you think—what did all of it mean?” Dean said agreeing with me.

“It meant a lot.” Sam answered. “We still saved people, saved you kiddo.” Sam said looking down at me.

“But what for?” I asked.  He stroked down my hair.  “He just throws us one end of the world after another and sits back just to make us do all the hard work.”

“Yeah. That’s what he does. He gets bored and-and-and-and pulls the rip-chord. That’s what he did with Apocalypse world, and probably….. with all of them. He moves on and starts another story. And you know what—good. Because if he bailed it’s just us. For the first time; it’s just us.”

“You forgot the 3 billion ghosts there Sammy.” I said.

“Yeah well what’s one more apocalypse right?” I softly laughed and shook my head. Sam patted my back comfortingly as he separated from me. “But seriously. If we win—when we win this. God’s gone. There’s no one to screw with us, there’s no more maze, it’s just us. Then we’re free.”

“So you, me and (n/n) versus every soul in hell……I like those odds.”

“Yeah. Me too.” The boys looked at me and Dean asked me.

“(N/n)?” I looked at them.  I sighed deeply before saying.

“Well….I guess you know what this means, right boys?” they softly grinned at me and we turned towards Baby’s trunk as Sam said.

“We’ve got work to do.” Before closing it up.

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Three Hundred Six: Growing Love ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Like Magic ] [ AO3 Link ]

Not all witches have bad reputations.

Sure, some will curse you and turn you into a newt. Others will foretell a terrible fortune and feel no pity when you fall to your fate. But some use a mixture of good magic and good will to - rather than hinder - help!

A few miles west of a large city lives one such exception. Tucked away in a copse of trees atop a knoll, a cozy little cabin can be found. Perfectly shaded with dapples of sunlight, it’s surrounded by large gardens filled with plants both magical and mundane. Insects and faeries flutter around the blooming faces of the flowers. And at night, orbs of light and fireflies dance among the leaves.

It truly is an enchanted place.

But even more intriguing is the witch who lives there. A beautiful young woman with dark locks that shine amethyst in the sun. Eyes like pale pearls are large and curious, framed in a heart-shaped face and topped by a blade-cut fringe. Each day she tends to her gardens, dousing them with spring water and carefully pruning the plants she needs for her potions. Drying specimens hang all about the cabin, filling the air with a spicy aroma.

For Hinata, you see, is a witch with a special talent like many of her sisters: and hers lies with potion making. Nearly any concoction you would ever want can be brewed by her. Something to help you sleep, something to bolster your courage, or even to find true love. Never shall she craft a poison, only ever using her powers for happy, helpful things.

Needless to say, such a talent often sees her busy, visited by one townsperson or the next searching for a potion to cure their current predicament. Young or old, rich or poor, she serves all in need of her powers.

Eventually, a rather...peculiar stranger comes a’knocking on her door.

“One moment!” she calls, putting the finishing touches on a health tonic. This particular brew is meant for an old woman with a rheumatism who lives just up the lane. Only once it finishes tempering and turns a beautiful crystal blue does Hinata move it from its beaker to a bottle, the stopper keeping the magic contained within.

Setting aside her tools, she then moves to the door. A tug shows someone with their back to her, donning a dark traveling cloak, hood drawn.

“...can I help you?”

After a pause, the figure turns to reveal a young man. Fair of face but clearly unsettled, he asks, “...you’re the potion witch?”

“Yes, I am. Have you a need for a potion, sir?”

“I...I’m not sure. May I come in?”

With a blink, Hinata then gives a nod, stepping aside to let the stranger in. “Is something the matter, sir?”

I worry there is something...wrong with me.”

“In...in what sense, sir?”

Facing her, the young man lifts a hand, which tightly grips the fabric of his shirt over his chest. “...it’s my heart.”

“Your heart…? Does it pain you, sir? Flutter?”

“...it does nothing. It beats, it lives...and yet it feels...empty.”

The witch gives a tilt of her head. This sounds less like an ailment of the flesh, and more like one of the metaphorical. “...you cannot feel love…?”

“No...yes? I…” He runs a nervous hand through his hair. “...for my kin, I feel great affection. Their happiness is my greatest concern. But I am no longer a boy, and my father expects me soon to wed. But no matter who I meet, who I attempt to court...nothing.”

There’s a delicate pause. “...have you considered that those you seek may not be the sex you expect…?”

“I’ve already ruled out such a notion. Man, woman...something else, it doesn’t matter! Not once have I felt even a flicker of affection for another person! Am...am I…?” True distress colors his gaze. “...broken…?”

After a pause, Hinata softens with a smile. “Not at all, sir...in fact, I’ve heard of such people, those who find themselves with no inclination to love. It is rare, but I’ve never seen it to be unnatural. And yet...you feel this is not right?”

“No...it causes me anguish! I long for it, I truly do...but I feel nothing. Like some kind of...curse…!”

That word makes Hinata frown, brows furrowing. “...I see...if you feel this way so unnaturally, then...I-I agree, something is amiss. A curse like that...I’ve never heard…” Moving to her collection of tomes and scrolls, Hinata browses their spines before pulling forth a book. Fingers flip pages, eyes looking for the right words. “...here...I think this may be what we’re looking for…”

She lays the book flat atop her table, fingers skimming over the parchment. “‘The cure for an emptied heart’. It’s mostly flowering plants, those that symbolize love...rebirth...I think I have them all!”

“You can make it…?”

“I can. It has to brew for three days and three nights, so we will have to be patient. But I think I can do it!”

The man’s shoulders wilt in relief. “Thank you...then, should I pay you now…?”

“Let us wait to see its effects. I’ve never made this potion before, and you should get your results before I’m rewarded. Return here in three days, and I should have it ready for you!”

“Thank you…!”

“Thank me when you’re cured,” Hinata insists. “...oh, wait!”

He turns as he reaches the door, awaiting her query.

“What is your name?”

“...Sasuke. Uchiha,” he replies.

“Well...I hope this works for you, Sasuke.”

“As do I.”

The moment he leaves, Hinata begins bustling, filling her cauldron with pure water and gathering her ingredients. All sorts of flowers are freshly plucked from her garden, humming happily as she sets them in her basket. After being put through a mortar and pestle, the blooms and their leaves are stirred ever so carefully into the simmering water, which quickly dyes a pale pink.

Now...three days, and three nights. I’ll have to be mindful of the fire… she muses to herself, a thoughtful finger tapping at her chin. And each morning, more blooms will have to be added. It’s a good thing she’s taken to growing so many flowers of affection!

From there, well...there’s little more to do than wait.

Other clients come and go, Hinata hanging up a second cauldron when necessary, making sure to keep the first over enough heat to keep simmering. Slowly adding more water to keep it hot, and crushing more blooms with each morn, she carefully keeps the brew optimal, checking her notes and the book’s instructions often.

And then, soon enough, the final day ends, and Sasuke is set to return the following morning. By now, the potion has deepened to a passionate red, just as described in the recipe. Oh, she hopes it works…!

Come morning, she has the brew carefully ladled into a bottle, examining it in the light of a windowpane. It shifts and shimmers, and even now still feels warm to the touch.

A few knocks later and she lets him in, seeing the anxious excitement upon his face. “Have you done it…?”

“I have!” From behind her back she draws the bottle, Sasuke gingerly accepting it. “Now...it says to drink it with closed eyes, for love is blind. You should only need a few swallows.”

“...right.” Hesitating for just a moment, he carefully unstoppers the bottle.

“How does it smell?”

“...smell?”

“The books says that some claim it smells like clues to lead you to your true love!”

“...ah…” Carefully taking in the potion’s scent, he murmurs, “...it smells of flowers, and spices...maybe fresh air, and...freshly baked bread…?”

Hinata’s head tilts. “I see...well, I suppose you should g-give it a try…!”

Sasuke nods, letting his lids flutter closed. Carefully bringing the bottle to his lips, he takes a few long swigs. For good measure, he stands still a long while before daring to open his eyes.

“...well…? Do you feel any...different…?”

“I feel...warm.”

“...warm?”

“Pleasant. Content. Like when you first wake in your bed in the morning.” Sasuke stares out ahead, seeming to mull over his condition. “...is that normal?”

“It wasn’t noted in the book, but...I doubt it’s an ill side effect.”

“...I see. Well, I…” He turns, looking to her thoughtfully...and then his eyes go wide.

“...are you all right?”

“...I…?” A hint of color blooms across his nose. “...I think it...worked…”

After a pause, Hinata seems to realize what he’s alluding to. Is he…?

“...I’m sorry,” he then offers quickly, turning aside and looking flustered. “I...that’s not…”

Hinata too goes a soft shade of pink. “W-well, I...I suppose that’s a good sign…? It seems to have worked. Maybe you should...v-visit some of your suitresses? Just...just to be sure?”

“I...yes, that’s probably wise. But…” Sasuke risks a glance. “Does this mean that...that I -? And you -?”

She gives a sheepish smile, chin ducking toward her chest. “Perhaps...we’d best see what other effects this may be having before we...j-jump to conclusions. But...well, I suppose magic has a way of seeing things we can’t…”

“...right.” There’s a long, painful pause. “...I’ll return to town, then. And, er...report back to you.”

“Very well.”

“I suppose that way, we’ll...know for sure.”

“Yes, you’re...you’re right.”

...another pause.

“...ah, your...your payment…”

As Sasuke shuffles around, Hinata stops him with a hand on his arm. “Perhaps...we’re not quite done yet. We aren’t yet sure if this is the true effect you wanted.”

He hesitates. “...right. Well...I’d better be going. And I’ll return when I know more.”

Hinata nods. “...until then, Sasuke. And...good luck.”

“...thank you.”

Watching him go, Hinata rests her cheek in a hand once he’s gone, feeling its warmth. Oh dear...what have you gotten yourself into…?

                                                      .oOo.

     This is...super random, but the first thing I thought of with this prompt! I had another sub-idea, but...ran out of time, so this is what we've got! I love witchy!Hinata...it's such a cute AU. And of course Sasuke has to show up and get involved ;3      I doubt I'll do more of this just because there isn't much of a STORY to it, but...it was a neat little mini plot! We'll have to see what tomorrow's prompt brings. For now tho, I'm EXHAUSTED, so I'm gonna head off. Thanks for reading!

[the-astro-ace]

Merlin Writer Month: WIP Week Part 1 - Gen Fics (No Romance)

“Part one?” you ask in confusion upon reading the title.

“Hmmm yes, reader,” I respond, stroking my metaphorical beard.  “I found over twenty fics to recommend for @madaboutmerlin’s Merlin Writer Month, but I don’t think the mods would appreciate one giant post.  So I am splitting into two not-so giant posts.  Below I shall link the eleven gen fics I recommend, and then Part 2 shall be all the not-gens.  And they shall be linked from most recently updated to, well, not.  Please enjoy.”

Part 2: The Not-Gen Fics 

GEN FICS - May contain romance, but not the focus of the story (at least no more than the show)

Rend and Rebuild by PeaceHeather

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Chapters: 38/?

Last Updated: 2018-11-18

Summary:  One wrong move in the heat of battle changes everything. Merlin is a sorcerer, and Arthur has stabbed him.

My Comments: From angst to well-written battles to a wonderful Merlin and Gwaine friendship this fic has a lot of things that I love  It’s got Druids, it’s got BAMF Merlin, it’s got Gwaine just being GREAT, what more could you want??  And at 38 chapters, you have quite a bit to get through before you have to wait for updates, and even then it’s nearing the end. so I expect that you won’t be left disappointed.

Do You Feel Like a Young God? by onceandfuturewarlock

Rating: Mature

Chapters: 4/?

Last Updated: 11-14-2018

Summary: When Merlin's magic is discovered by the last person he ever would have expected, he soon finds himself a pawn in the most twisted, dangerous game he's ever played, no way to win, and no way out - unless, of course, he changes the rules.

My Comments: Okay, just a heads up: this fic is DARK.  HEED THE TAGS.  This fic is GOOD but it is HEAVY STUFF MAN.  You thought you couldn’t have Agravaine more?? HOO BOY THIS FIC WILL PROVE YOU WRONG; I have literally written the phrase “I want to shank Agravaine with a rusty spoon” in a comment to this fic.  Twice.

Stronger Than by NotNecessarilyInThatOrder

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Chapters: 8/?

Last Updated: 2018-11-12

Summary: “I said I was dying.” Arthur sighed.“I don’t have time for this.” “Would you have had time to retrieve my corpse?” Merlin thought, then nearly smacked himself when Arthur’s expression made him realize he’d spoken out loud. Could Merlin have told the truth if Arthur had been willing to listen that morning? What would that mean for their future? For Morgana's?

My Comments: An AU starting with s3e02 that it looking to be a MORGANA REDEMPTION YEAH BOI.  Excellent read, and I look forward to finding out where it will go :D

The Siege Perilous by CarverTwaine

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Chapters: 6/?

Last Updated: 2018-10-21

Summary: (Druid Merlin AU) Druids came for Hunith's son long ago. Years later, a man named Emrys and his apprentice are captured as Druids in Camelot. But Emrys strikes a deal with Uther: as long as the King allows Emrys to live as a political prisoner in the dungeons, the Druids will stay far away from Camelot. Uther agrees. Hated and feared, Emrys works to gain the trust of his jailers.

My Comments: I have a thing for Druid!Merlin apparently, and this fic falls into that.  Most recent chapter left off on a cliffhanger so I’m :OOO atm but it’s VERY GOOD and I recommend you all read this one as well :D

A Sea and Four Centuries by MDJensen

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Chapters: 6/10

Last Updated: 2018-09-27

Summary: In which Lancelot and Aramis wake up in the wrong beds-- and the wrong countries, and the wrong centuries. HIATUS until ~December 2018.

My Comments: Probably the fluffiest thing on this list.  A crossover with Three Musketeers in which the author literally swaps Santiago Cabrera’s characters.  That’s it, that’s the story.  But it’s not just crack- there’s angst, there’s emotions, and overall what I feel is a realistic reaction to what would happen if this, well, happened lol.  I especially adore the scenes in which Lancelot is learning French- THE AUTHOR ACTUALLY ACKNOWLEDGES THAT THERE’S A LANGUAGE BARRIER- IT’S GREAT.

Knowledge does not mean Understanding by Selene467

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Chapters: 5/10

Last Updated: 2018-09-27

Summary: In a time when Merlin's magic is outed and accepted -something he never thought possible months ago- Arthur is shown that despite knowing how strong Merlin is, he doesn't fully understand -comprehend- just how powerful he truly is. A dangerous conflict in which Merlin all but sacrifices himself to save everyone else, shows Arthur that there is far more to Merlin than he thought possible. Gaius wasn't kidding when he told Arthur that Merlin was the strongest sorcerer ever to have lived.

My Comments: I greatly enjoy the non-linear story telling of this one- with the present interspersed with flashbacks to the magic reveal, it allows the reader to see what happened without just an info dump lol (also I’m considering trying that style myself now).   Just I recommend this one too lol

A Criminal’s Burial by gecko818

Rating: Mature

Chapters: 8/?

Last Updated: 2018-07-02

Summary: Upon awakening in a strange castle with no memory of the last week, Arthur learned that not only had he been recovering from poison, but that Merlin was responsible for the betrayal. Unfortunately, the boy was reportedly killed by Arthur's own sword and left to rot. Little does he know, the story is a mere ruse to conquer Camelot. NOT a death!fic. Merlin!/Arthur!Whump.

My Comments: With Arthur angsting over the fact that he thinks he’s literally killed Merlin gd and Merlin being, well, not treated well in an enemy lord’s dungeon, this fic is hurt/comfort gold.  At least, when the comfort part reaches lol.  But with intrigue, and emotions running high, this fic is a good one and I sincerely hope it updates soon lmao

The Right Thing by AithuzahFic (veritably_mad)

Rating: General Audiences

Chapters: 3/?

Last Updated: 2018-05-10

Summary: Merlin jumped when Arthur spoke. “He didn’t deny it,” he said, his voice low and cool. “I’m sorry?” “He said he loved her and would never hurt her, but he never said it wasn’t true.”

My Comments: How the aftermath of the Arthur nearly killing Uther scene SHOULD HAVE GONE.  But if this exchange doesn’t convince you, idk what will: Every word Arthur had spoken had Merlin off-balance and reeling, but his next question threatened to knock him flat. “Will you help me?” Merlin gaped at Arthur long enough that the earnest nobility of his expression faltered. “I realize it’s a lot to ask—it is essentially treason, after all—” “I have magic,” Merlin blurted, and then slapped both his hands over his mouth. Arthur stared at him. Merlin stared back. “Well,” Arthur said at last, “I suppose treason isn’t a problem for you, then.”

Silence Cuts Loudest Through the Chaos by 1917farmgirl

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Chapters: 20/?

Last Updated: 2018-04-16

Summary: Kidnapped by a mad king, Arthur and Merlin must rely on each other like never before. While Arthur struggles with choices that put his heart and duty at odds, Merlin struggles just to stay alive after being stripped of his magic and freedom. With impossible choices and heavy secrets weighing them down, can they manage to escape before all is lost? 2018 Frog Award at HPFT for "Best Non-Harry Potter Fanfiction"

My Comments: I love this fic SO MUCH.  Merlin and Arthur’s friendship is done SO BEAUTIFULLY in this- feels exactly like the show’s.  I know the author plans to continue and I sincerely hope she manages to conquer this writer’s block that has had her down for months ;-;.  But, in the meantime, there’s over 70k worth of material to read, and I highly recommend you do :D

The Truth of Who We Are by Marie_Iliea

Rating: General Audiences Chapters: 4/?

Last Updated: 2018-02-20

Summary: Set into the wall, a brazier evenly spaced between them, were words, each with the imprint of a hand below it, and a pair of footprints set into the floor below that. Loyalty, Strength, Courage, Servitude, Magic, Nobility, Humility, Authority, and Discipline. Merlin recognized the riddle right away, having met the dwarf during Arthur’s quest. He knew three of the names, three of the matches — and it terrified him. What would the others make of him being Magic? He shivered, a thrill of fear running down his spine. Or: When Arthur and the knights go hunting, but events take a predictably unusual turn that exposes Merlin's magic to them all -- and then it all goes, quite literally, to the Otherworld. I finally figured out where this 'one-shot turned story' is going to go. Since I like Lancelot and originally this was "Arthur is King, Lancelot is alive," this tale explores how everyone finds out Merlin has magic AND the fallout -- during the chaos with the Dorocha.

My Comments: I also love fics that assign roles to the rest of the knights, and I would love to see where this one plans to go with it

Some Things Are Meant to Be by 1917farmgirl

Rating: General Audiences

Chapters: 2/3

Last Updated: 2018-02-15

Summary:  For Merlin, having the world fall apart around him was nothing new, but having someone there to help him pick up the pieces afterwards unfortunately was. Until it happened twice, with two very special people who appeared in his life when he most needed saving. Modern AU, friendship fic. Sort of Christmas story.

My Comments: A short, bittersweet one that left me sobbing and me wanting more.  Tender hurt/comfort with a side of Christmas.  And with only one chapter left, I hope the author won’t leave us hanging for much longer