#people either want to die for merlin upon meeting him or want HIM to die upon meeting him

[jjkyaoi]

it’s so funny how they try to portray merlin as this embarrassing loser fool who brings chaos wherever he goes as if he didnt have like. a genuine harem. like all the knights of the round table are so unashamed of how they prefer him over arthur. gwen basically had a brief crush on him. morgana literally said “you’re not like merlin. he’s a lover” everyone who knows him is constantly talking about how pure and brave and selfless he is. lancelot knew he had magic and was js like okay with the idea of constantly lying, placing his own life in danger for him cuz that’s his little buddy. gwaine was LITERALLY in love with him. i don’t know what merwaine had going on but they probably hooked up the night they first met and don’t even get me STARTED on arthur pendragon

[siriuslychessi]

Day 04 - Purpose

AO3 || FF

Hot, that’s what Sirius remembered of that day being hot for all the wrong reasons. It had been one of the hottest days that summer and it seemed that it wouldn’t relent even a bit. 

He tried cooling charms to keep from dying of heat, the house had most of the curtains drawn to avoid the sun scorching what was left of his soul. But the end of July was proven to be the worst of the summer and there wasn’t much he could do but try not to move too much. 

It was madness, they were supposed to be in England, not the bloody Caribbean. At the rate the temperature was rising, half of the country would be dead of heatstroke.

He tried to rest. He had been going on missions lately, trying to cover for his friends; that were either too busy or preoccupied at the moment. But the bloody heat was not allowing him to. 

Grabbing his wand he sat up, maybe he could make the proper charm stick this time around, maybe if he added some timer to it it would work better. He thought. 

Sirius didn’t get a chance to get it started when a familiar voice came out of his discarded trousers. Bending, he grabbed the piece of clothing from the floor and took the small mirror from its pocket, the voice of James louder than before. 

“Sirius Black!” James' voice repeated into the darkness.

“Yeah, Prongs, I’m here.” Sirius answered, lighting the tip of his wand. 

“Finally! Where in the bloody hell are you? Why is it so dark? Are you naked?” All the questions came at once, not letting Sirius reply to any of them, and he didn’t get a chance to, “Nevermind, I don’t want to know. But you need to come.” James rushed, he was flustered, and a bit… worried was one word but Sirius wasn’t sure it was the right one. 

“Is everyone alright? Lily? The baby?” Sirius asked, moving to put on his trousers, looking for a shirt that wouldn’t make him die of heat while he reached the Potters. 

“I do hope so, because it is coming.” James finally admitted, half of his face in a grin, the other half in a frown. 

Sirius stopped for a moment and looked at James, “It’s D day? Merlin’s left ball, the baby is coming! I’ll go grab Marlene and get to yours a–”

“She’s already here, she’s with Lily, they are not letting me in that room.”

His best friend looked worried, he understood why, they were at war, things were happening all over, now James had to protect 2 people instead of just one, and their world got a little bigger. Good and frightening all at the same time. 

“Then I’ll bring the Firewhiskey.”

It didn’t take him long to reach the Potters’ home, he was familiar to apparate to certain spots, and he had gone over so much he could do it half asleep. He noticed James was pacing in the living room, none of his other mates were in the room with him. Apparently they were all at missions and calling upon them would endanger their covers. Which sucked for James as he needed someone to vent his energy with, and just Sirius was great but not exactly ideal when they could both hear Lily screaming in pain in the other room. 

“This is ridiculous, I’m the father, I should be there.” James said for the tenth time in a row. 

“Marlene’s got it, I think Lily wants you to think like a dad and not like a Healer at this moment. They’ll call if they need help.” Sirius said, patting his friend’s shoulder, grabbing a forgotten Quaffle from one of the corners of the living room, throwing it at James so he would have an outlet for the pent up energy. Heat forgotten by the needed of taking care of his brother.

It took hours to get any news from the room, until finally a small cry of a little baby entering the world broke through all the tension. Sirius and James smiling broadly, hugging each other.

“I guess you are a father now, Mr Potter.” Sirius teased.

“Godric, I don’t think I’m ready for being Mr Potter just yet.” James laughed, feeling a bittersweet moment, he wanted his parents to meet Harry, he guessed he was the new Mr Potter of the family.

“You’ll do just fine.” Sirius assured him, patting his shoulder and guiding his best mate towards the bedroom.

They were finally let in by a sweaty but happy Marlene, who couldn’t stop smiling. James gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek before passing to the two figures in bed, settling next to Lily.

He brushed the sweaty hair out of Lily’s face and smiled at her and then at the buddle in her arms, “Everyone okay?” he asked to know one in particular. 

Marlene replied, “10 fingers and 10 toes, all there, none missing. Same with the Potter’s mane.” chuckling, she moved next to Sirius wrapping her arms around him. 

Sirius did the same, kissing the top of her head, being distracted almost immediately by a gasp from James as he held the newborn in his arms.

“He’s perfect.” Sirius heard him say.

“He really is.” Lily replied in a soft and croaked voice. Sirius couldn't imagine how she was awake, much less talking. It sounded like she had a hard time bringing the little guy into the world, but her eyes had a new fire in them. Something that he couldn’t quite place as something he had seen before. 

Lily turned to James, who was mesmerised by his kid and asked: “Did you tell them?”

James shook his head, “Wanted for us to do it together.”

“Tell us what?” Sirius asked, worried for the first time that afternoon. Marlene sensing it just gave him a gentle squeeze, hoping it would bring him some calm in a moment that was supposed to be filled with joy.

Lily looked at them and smiled, “We talked about it, but we wanted to make a proper dinner, it just has been hard to get everyone together. We want you to be Harry’s godparents. If you’ll have him.”

Marlene looked at Sirius and then at the Potters, not sure what to do at the moment. Sirius seemed to be blank in expression, something that rarely happened. And she had just delivered a baby, she was exhausted and thought she had missed something, the bad end of this moment that seemed too good to be true. “You mean it?” she asked, perplexed that she was even considered, she always thought that Mary or Doe would be the ones to be chosen. 

“We wouldn’t want it any other way.” James replied, smiling at them. Sirius still frozen on the spot. 

“Love?” Marlene asked, looking at Sirius like he was about to break, or scream, or run. Lately the emotions were all over the place, and the war just made everything so dark that big announcements could be met with unexpected reactions.

Sirius looked at his family. Exhausted Lily, enthused James, worried Marlene and all he could do was blink one more time, like his brain couldn’t accept this happiness to be real after all the darkness. Yet it was, he was there, they all were, surrounded by this new person that seemed to pull them all together. 

“It’ll be an honour.” he finally said, smiling at his family, remembering why was he fighting for.

[albentelisa]

Here's an interesting idea. Jim uses the time stone, but it's not what they thought it was, or doesn't work right in his amulet, either one. Instead of just resetting everything, he ends up in a different universe... ours, on the day the amulet is discovered. Now the Arcane Order is hunting him, and he has to get back to his world so he can save both universes from them. Problem is, as far as we know, our world doesn't have trolls or magic. How does he succeed??

Oh, it's an unusual one! So, Jim ends up in a different universe but doesn't notice it at first - simply because everyone he knows seems to be the same. There's still his mom, Toby, Claire, Mr. Strickler... But the thing is that this universe has no magic, trolls, or aliens. There's no Trollmarket beneath Arcadia or Trollhunter. Strickler is actually a concerned teacher with no ulterior motives altogether, so Jim somehow sets his mom with the nicest person possible. Toby, however, goes to the canals per Jim's suggestion - and finds nothing there. He is slightly annoyed with Jim afterward and says the joke wasn't funny.

However, it's not when Jim realizes that something is way off - he simply assumes that Draal or someone else has picked the amulet first. So Jim starts to go out at night, hoping to stumble upon the new Trollhunter. Yet, the streets of Arcadia are suspiciously empty, and he fails to find any proof that the magic exists.

Then Jim wanders into an area he has never seen before. It's rather old but seems inviting. He goes inside one of the shops there - and meets the human version of Blinky. It's where the realization lands - the area is this universe's counterpart of the Trollmarket and all the trolls are humans here. Jim meets human versions of Aaarrrgghh, Draal, Vendel, and even Kanjigar who is pretty much alive in this universe. He also discovers that Gunmar is a millionaire who wants to demolish the area and build his own shopping area.

The realization hits hard. Jim goes around, trying to find at least some proof that magic is real only to discover that there are no hidden sides to this world. He meets Aja and Krel who are actual migrants here (and Aja looks like Krel's sister here), he talks to Douxie, who is just a guy with multiple part-time jobs. The last nail in the coffin is Merlin - who is just a crazy distant relative of Douxie.

Jim is close to giving up, thinking that perhaps, it's for the better that there is no magic and potential apocalypses as no one will die. He starts to come to the old area he discovered to bond with Blinky and other residents. Sure thing, he misses an adventure greatly but is willing to sacrifice his excitement for others.

The thing is that the universe itself becomes unstable because of Jim's travel, and the Arcane Order somehow ends in the no-magic universe as well. Jim sees them on TV, realizing the horror of the situation and that no one can stop the threat as there is no power to counter the Order. In the moment of desperation, he calls the amulet - and it appears right before him.

The problem is that the amulet doesn't work, and the second Jim touches it, he realizes the issue. It cannot work in the world with no magic, but it will if some people believe in it. Jim alone isn't enough, so he tries to contact everyone he knows trying to convince them until it's too late. He tells them about the different universe and how the life was there. Some allies are easily convinced (Toby doesn't question a thing, for example, and Eli is just happy to know that he was right at least in one universe). Strickler, on the other hand, has trouble believing he was a villain in a different universe but ends up admitting that his counterpart's actions sound a lot like him. Nomura is also skeptical initially, but only until Jim brings Per Gynt.

When the amulet is powered up, it gets enough magic to send Jim and Arcane Order to the initial world before the damage is caused to the no-magic universe.

Jim wakes up for the second time in his universe and runs to check to the canals if he ended in the right one this time. He finds the amulet and is ready for his second attempt.

[remedialpotions]

Happily Impervious

It’s still May 10 in my part of the world, so here’s my humble offering to @clarensjoy ‘s Hinny Ficfest! Many thanks to Clare for arranging all of this and encouraging me to write. This fic is for prompt #52 - “People are talking about us.”

***

Ginny has just closed herself inside the stall when the door to the bathroom creaks open again, then slams shut with a thud.

“I just can’t understand what he even sees in her,” comes a loud, haughty voice that echoes off the stone walls. “She’s not even that pretty, really.”

“A lot of boys think she’s fit,” comes a second, more timid voice - one that sounds a bit nervous to disagree with the first. “I heard Jimmy Peakes and Jack Sloper saying how-“

“They’re just third years,” interrupts the first voice with irritation, “they don’t know what they’re talking about.”

Ginny’s stomach flips, because she knows this voice. She’s heard it carrying easily over the din of the Great Hall and disrupting the peaceful calm of the Gryffindor dormitories at night. It’s Romilda Vane - attempted poisoner of Ginny’s brand-new boyfriend and actual poisoner of Ginny’s brother - and just the thought of being near her makes her blood boil.

So she’s not sure why she does it. She should just wee and get the hell out of there. But instead, she climbs silently up on the closed toilet seat so that her feet won’t be seen through the gap between the stall door and the floor. Crouching low, barely breathing lest she give herself away, she listens.

“And anyway,” Romilda goes on as a knob turns and water gushes into the sink, “I’d rather die than have all that red hair.”

Oh. It doesn’t exactly come as a surprise, being the subject of Romilda’s vitriol, but Ginny expected something a bit more original than insults about her hair.

“Your hair is way prettier,” the second girl hurries to add, desperation from approval dripping from her words. “I’m sure he’ll come to his senses soon.”

“I hope so,” says Romilda. There is a pause as the water shuts off, and Ginny’s sure they can hear her heart pounding in her chest. “That, or she’ll end up chucking him. She goes through boys pretty quickly, doesn’t she?”

Ginny knows she should probably want to leap out of the stall and tackle Romilda to the ground, but instead she just rolls her eyes. If finally being with Harry means she’s had too many boyfriends - whatever that means - then so be it.

“Maybe when she chucks him for someone else, you can make your move,” adds the second girl, who Ginny now suspects is Romilda’s eternal shadow, Vicky Frobisher. “You could try the love potion again-“

“So I can spend my Saturdays cleaning the owlery with a toothbrush again?” interjects Romilda with such disdain that Ginny can clearly picture the sneer on her face. “It’s not worth it. But you know...” Her voice has dropped low, conspiratorial. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Ginny’s slipped him a love potion of her own.”

Vicky gasps, far too dramatically than the situation warrants, and Ginny’s body shakes with silent laughter. “You really think so?”

“It would explain everything,” says Romilda. “Why else do you think they’re suddenly snogging all over the place?”

At this, Ginny bristles. Sure, there was that first kiss in the common room, and there have been a few corridor greetings that perhaps got out of hand, but for Merlin’s sake, it’s not like they’re Ron and Lavender.

“Plus, she’s got easy access,” adds Romilda. “Her brothers are the ones sending out the love potions, aren’t they? I bet she’s got an unlimited supply.”

“I’m sure you’re right,” replies Vicky, sounding awestruck. “If only you could prove it, then she’d get detention too-“

Romilda laughs - a harsh, mean cackle. “I’d pay good money to see her sweeping up owl droppings.”

It’s not exactly comfortable, perching atop a closed toilet seat, and this foray into espionage is eating into Ginny’s lunch hour. As she peers through the narrow gap between the stall door and the wall, she sees that Romilda and Vicky are quite caught up in applying shiny pink gloss to their lips.

She simply doesn’t have time for this. It’s taking too much time away from Harry, and they’ve got so little time together anyway. And so - even though she still has to wee - she climbs down off the seat, flushes the toilet, and unlocks the door.

The girls are frozen with shock as Ginny strides over to the sink right next to Romilda and turns the tap on full blast.

“Oh, hi there,” Ginny chirps, beaming at Romilda’s stunned reflection in the mirror. “Love that lip gloss on you. It’s very - erm-“ Clearing her throat, she runs a bar of soap over her palms. “Sparkly. Boys like that, do they?”

As she lathers her hands with soap - and she really scrubs, too, just to drag out the moment - a deliciously heavy silence descends upon them. Ginny goes about her business as though nothing’s out of the ordinary, rinsing the suds from her hands and drying them off, but inwardly she delights at the panicked glances between Romilda and Vicky.

“Well, I’d better be off,” says Ginny brightly, tossing her hair over one shoulder and making for the door. “Those love potions aren’t going to brew themselves, are they?”

When she gets to the Great Hall, she finds Harry seated alone at the Gryffindor table. It’s still surreal that she can do the things she does - place a hand on his shoulder as she approaches, lean in for a kiss that he eagerly reciprocates, seat herself right next to him on the bench - and yet somehow it’s natural too, easy, like they should have been doing this for months now already.

“Sorry I took so long,” says Ginny as she pours herself a glass of pumpkin juice. “I got held up a bit. Where’re these two?” She gestures across the table to the empty seats usually occupied by Ron and Hermione.

“The library, apparently,” replies Harry.

“Ron’s spending his lunch break in the library?”

“More like spending it wherever Hermione wants him to.”

“Right,” Ginny chuckles.

Harry’s hand finds her thigh under the table, the warmth of his fingertips burning through the fabric of her robes. “Did something happen?”

“Hmm?”

“You said you got held up, is everything all right?”

“Oh, that.” Ginny takes a sip of pumpkin juice to stall for time. “It’s nothing really, just - people are talking about us. And I happened to... overhear.”

She quickly summarizes the highlights of Romilda and Vicky’s conversation, and by the end, Harry’s shaking his head in disbelief... but he’s also on the verge of laughter.

And it is so good to see him laugh. It’s so good to see this lightness come over him, to see him relieved of the life he has to live. In the face of a truly happy Harry Potter, what’s a bit of gossip, really?

“I’m so sorry,” he says, shifting in his seat to face her as her hand covers his. “I’m sorry people talk about us, that they say those things about you-“

“I’m not bothered,” she tells him plainly, and she’s really not. It’s annoying, but it’s so trivial that it’s not worth the space in her brain. “Not if you’re not.”

His face draws closer to hers, so close that their foreheads nearly touch. “I’m not either.”

Their lips meet - and maybe, Ginny thinks, maybe she will go snogging him all over the place, because if that’s the reputation she’s got then she may as well embrace it - until her recollection of how all this came about triggers something in her brain.

“I’ll be right back,” she says as she clambers off the bench.

Harry puzzles up at her. “You just got here.”

“Weren’t you listening? I never actually got to wee, and now I really have to-“

And she hurries toward the door with the sound of Harry’s laughter flooding her ears.

[sitp-recs]

i saw your recent draco!pinning and oblivious!harry rec and wondered if you knew any either-pinning/other-oblivious rec with a lot of angst. buckets upon buckets of angst. thank you so much!!!!

Hello there! Oof this was hands down one of the hardest lists I’ve ever made. Angst can be so so subjective and I second guessed my picks for a long time, until I said “fuck it” and decided to include all stories that speak the most to me. I’ve read lots of angst over the years but these are the ones that come to mind when someone says “buckets of angst”.

I’m naming this list “angst with a (in 98% of the cases) happy ending” 😂 all of these hurt damn good and have lots of pining. I tried to include different flavors of angst too, so that everyone can find something for their tastes. And I left a few suggestions at the end - of fics that didn’t quite work for me but might be someone else’s jam. Hopefully I did a decent job. Enjoy!

Closure is a state of mind by @quicksilvermaid (2020, E, 12k) - bittersweet ending

After Harry's husband Charlie is killed, his Mind Healer recommends a Polyjuice therapy company, so Harry can see 'Charlie' again and find closure over his death.

Kissed by @potteresque-ire (2015, M, 12k)

Draco Malfoy was attacked by a rogue Dementor on the night of his Azkaban release. He self-exiled to Muggle London and opened a late-night chocolate shop called Kissed.

Voices From The Fog by @noeeon (2010, E, 13k)

After years of running away, Harry crosses paths with an all-too familiar face and follows him to Amsterdam.

And I Know the Spark by @firethesound (2014, E, 15k)

All Draco cares about is keeping Potter alive, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure that happens.

I'll never be your chosen one by @andithiel (2019, E, 15k)

Draco doesn't know what exactly he’s doing with Potter, he doesn't know how their unspoken agreement even started, and doesn't know where it will end. The only thing he knows is: he's not in love.

you've got the antidote for me by Kandakicksass (2018, M, 20k)

When Harry Potter unintentionally severs their soulbond before it can fully form, Draco Malfoy resigns himself to a slow death and decides not to burden Harry with a soulmate he's made it very clear he doesn't want.

In His Nature by create_serenity (2015, M, 20k)

Harry agreed to have sex with Draco once a month in order to keep him alive, what he didn’t agree to was Draco popping up all over the place and disrupting his life in more ways than one.

Tuxedo Angel by tryslora (2013, E, 25k)

Harry and Neville are looking for the infamous Dragon Lily, a Dark witch active throughout Europe and Asia. Instead, they find the Tuxedo Angel, a beautiful witch performing in Rome.

Exposure by GallaPlacidia (2020, M, 27k)

When Seamus uncovers Draco Malfoy's camboy profile, he, Harry and Ron decide to anonymously book a private show so as to humiliate him later.

Stain of Silence by brummell (2013, E, 28k)

After the war, Draco serves out his sentence in Harry Potter's house.

(The Piece) I was Missing All Along by lauren3210 (2014, E, 30k)

Draco and Harry have been flatmates and best friends for years, and Draco thinks life is just perfect that way.

Make Me a Headline (I Want to Be That Bold) by @dictacontrion (2015, E, 31k)

Draco never expected to see Harry doing that again. Especially with someone else, in a grainy photograph that's landed on his desk one Monday morning.

The Bucket List by GallaPlacidia (2020, NR, 32k)

Draco will die in six months if he can't get Harry Potter to fall in love with him. Since that's not going to happen, he might as well spend his last days working through his Bucket List.

On One's Knees by pir8fancier (2008, E, 33k)

The war is over and to the victors go the spoils.

All Roads by @korlaena, Saulaie (2019, M, 36k)

Draco hates his job at the Prophet. He hates it even more when he’s assigned to write an article on Harry Potter, who left the country three years ago after their falling out.

He Who Must Not Be Normal by @letteredlettered (2013, E, 41k)

Potter has fame and fortune and posh clothes and all he wants is a simple life. Draco has a flat and a cat and a steady job and all he wants is a complicated life.

As Souls From Bodies Steal by @femmequixotic (2012, E, 41k)

Hope may be found in the oddest of places, even in the bleakness of winter.

In The Red by @bixgirl1 (2018, E, 45k)

When Harry goes looking for a vampire at a Creature club, the second-to-last thing Harry expects is to find Malfoy working there.

Blood and Fire by @lqtraintracks (2017, E, 45k)

Harry has spent the last twelve years in Romania, not returning to England as often as he knows he should. It's complicated.

Of Fates Entwined: A Story of Love Lost and Found by taradiane (2014, E, 51k)

Harry Potter vanished without a trace from his home on a warm summer morning in June 2004.

The Boy Who Only Lived Twice by lettered (2012, E, 54k)

Harry Potter is an Unspeakable. Draco Malfoy is the wizard who shagged him.

You open always (petal by petal) by birdsofshore (2017, E, 65k)

Harry’s not the kind of person who pays for sex. He really isn’t. Until he is.

We Are Young (I'll Carry You Home Tonight) by @femmequixotic (2012, E, 68k)

Harry and Draco have been falling into bed on and off again since the last election five years ago, much to the amusement--and financial gain--of their circle of friends.

Super Rich Kids by trishjames (2020, E, 81k)

Draco Malfoy has become disillusioned by the glitz and glamour of the scandalous lives of the Post-Second Wizarding War Pureblood Elite.

Merlin Works in Mysterious Ways by lordhellebore (2013, E, 82k) - tw: major permanent disability, this one is sad af

When Harry is forced to form a Blood Bond with Draco Malfoy under threat of death, he thinks his future will consist of a cold home and sexual frustration.

Balance, Imperfect by bixgirl1 (2017, E, 91k)

When Harry sustains an injury in the line of work, he no longer knows how to navigate the life he loved, and finds help and solace from the most unexpected source.

I Am Not Who I Became by mab_di (2019, E, 93k)

Draco left England after the trials and has travelled the world meeting wizards and Muggles from different cultures and with vastly different relationships to magic, each other, and the natural world.

Far From The Tree by aideomai (2020, E, 112k)

The arrival of Harry Potter’s children—snapped back in time, the children themselves guessed, twenty or so years—was the most interesting thing to happen at Hogwarts for years.

Grounds for Divorce by @tepre (2019, E, 122k)

Malfoy finds a coin. Harry finds a letter.

Bonus 1: short fics!

Hourglass Heart @bixgirl1 (2019, E, 5k)

It only happened once — depending on how Harry counted.

Packing the Flat by marguerite_26 (2012, E, 6k)

Months after their explosive break-up, Draco insists Harry return to their flat to remove his belongings.

hear me (with your whole body) by @teacup-tai (2020, E, 9k) - bittersweet ending

He would give it a go. See what it was like. He could always say no, right?

Bonus 2: other fics that suit your requirements. Mind the tags!

Unhook the Stars by jad (2012, E, 70k)

Seventy-thousand words of pornographic discourse between two boys-turned-men that still haven't learned how to communicate like normal people – with words.

A Big Black Sky by AlexMeg (2019, M, 90k)

Draco leans his head closer, biting the quiver out of his lips before he breathes a laden and shuddering exhale, and he whispers, "You are my star in a big black sky."

Another Mask Behind You by lettered (2014, E, 116k)

Draco is a high-end prostitute who hides his identity. Harry unknowingly hires him.

[deepend-swimmer]

Arthur's mother sigil and his love for Merlin

this is the elaboration I promised on my last merthur post (the 'arthur realised he loved merlin unconditionally on the last episode' one) if asked and since @camelotsheart asked I did it :) it's quite big but bare it with me:

As I see, Arthur associates everything that has to do with his duty as prince with Uther. Maybe because Uther loved Ygraine so much and still gave her life for an heir, he only truly ever seen Arthur as the future king, at least more than his actual son. However, Ygraine had Arthur because she wanted a son and not because she wanted a prince, or at least that's what Arthur could have seen as. He never got to actually meet her, but maybe in his eyes, the fact that she died for him and still loved him regardless showed that love didn't have to be conditioned to his duty. So, for Arthur, his mother kind of represented everything he could have been and already is outside of a prince.

And Arthur's affection to Merlin is, for most part, seen outside his duty. "I know I’m a prince, so we can’t be friends, but if I wasn’t a prince..." well excuse me sir, I've seen you be friends for at least a season, 8 episodes ago you were calling him "a true friend". Arthur, for so long, sees that his relationship with Merlin would be different if they weren't on their respective positions, but then he keeps contradicting himself on either they are friends or not (through both actions and words). Yet, when he express to Gwen the wish he sometimes has of leaving Camelot and his duty, have a little farm somewhere no one knows him, it's not surprising that he would bring Merlin, because Merlin is still a defining feature of his life had he not been a prince.

To counterpart this, Arthur's love to Gwen is tied with his position as a prince and Uther. Their relationship starts with Arthur trying to stepdown from his place as prince, he loves Guinevere in defiance to Uther, he thinks of her as his future queen, even when he tries to give up his love for her it's so that the people of Camelot don't see him as weak. The one time he considers his love for her outside of being Prince and King Arthur is when he tells Morgana he would runaway with Gwen now, to then, one day, return back to their rightful place as king and queen of Camelot. If that wasn't enough, Gwen's love for Arthur overcoming her love for Lancelot also comes from his position as prince, when he shows himself to be a more merciful royal and more in touch if his people than Uther. Even one of the ways Gwen demonstrates her devotion and love to Arthur is by taking care of Uther after Morgana's betrayal.

I think everything starts to change in The Coming of Arthur, the first time that he isn't the heir of Camelot. And throughout it all, Merlin is the one beside him, not wavering his devotion or leaving his side for once, sort of proving to Arthur what he had always thought: his and Merlin's relationship isn't conditioned by his position as prince, even if, ultimately, they are master and servant.

Then, season 4 happened. As far as I can see, Arthur realises he is in love with Merlin when he is sure he is going to lose him. It's probably one of the first times since they've met that Arthur needs to let Merlin go and for what? His duty to Camelot and his people. Merlin is literally dying and Arthur wants to take him back to Camelot himself, but he needs to stay in order to insure that no one else from his kingdom dies by the hands of the Dorocha. And even in his dying moments, Merlin begs Arthur to stay by his side. When he comes back alive, Arthur can't even say anything, he needs some full seconds to compose himself. From that point and on, Arthur openly refers to Merlin as his best/only friend. If the longing, lovingly stares weren't enough to prove that at that point Arthur already knew he loved Merlin, we have the fully scripted, filmed and edited deleted scene: Arthur gives his mother's sigil to Merlin.

I think it says a lot that it was planned for his mother's sigil to go to Merlin and the Pendragon's seal to Guinevere. Merlin getting one of the only things Arthur has of his mother, the one person he sees as proof that love for him doesn't need to be conditioned to him being the Once and Future King of Camelot, when since the very beginning of the series Merlin destiny was to fulfill Arthur's as that king. And I see it as Arthur best effort to acknowledge all that and let Merlin know that he loves him just as much as he loved her. On the other side, Gwen getting the seal shows once again how much their love, despite its true nature, is really tied with Arthur's position and he passes down that condition of reigning Camelot to Guinevere, because he knows she will fulfill it with her whole heart just as he had always seen it.

So when in the last episode, he finds out that Merlin is what his father has battled his whole life, something that Arthur had time and time again decided to keep it outlawed for the sake of Camelot and that Merlin had supported it all those times, putting Arthur's and Camelot's sake over his own, he is understandably taken back. Merlin put his duty to Arthur above everything, through years and years and all Arthur had ever wanted was to give off his own to spend his life with him. But now, he already gave the royal seal to Gwen, Arthur is no longer the sovereign to Camelot and he is there with Merlin, in a place no one knows him, and he doesn't feel the weight of Albion upon his shoulder and Merlin still loves and cares for him despite his initial rejection and he is dying. He has everything he has ever secretly wished for but with the unfortunate detail that he is dying, despite how much Merlin wants to convince himself he can save him.

It takes time for Arthur to forgive Merlin's betrayal, not because he has magic but rather because he didn't trust Arthur enough to not need to lie for all this years when Arthur trusted him far above anyone else. He ultimately forgives Merlin because he can feel himself succumbing quicker and quicker with each second and he doesn't want to die with Merlin thinking he is angry at him or worst, that he hates him. Then, Merlin goes all the way and make the plow fields speech and Arthur thinks he could break right there, the devotion overflowing Merlin's being with every word acting as a switch inside his mind: there is not one bit of Arthur that doesn't love every single bit of Merlin and nothing could ever change that.

[griffxnnage]

colovaria || g.w

request: ( from @romanoffs-heart!) hi love, so i have an idea for a george fic that i’m honestly sad i came up with lmao but pretty much it’s after the war and george asks the reader in the middle of the night to dye his hair because every time he looks in the mirror it hurts. I KNOW IM SORRY, i want it to be super angsty and just make me SOB. once again i’m sorry i hope you have a good day <33

pairing: george weasley x fem!reader

word count: 1195

taglist: @chaoswalkinq @nerdyblogger06 -> you can send me an ask, shoot me a dm or comment on this post if you want to be added or removed from the taglist!

warnings: angst, a lot of talk about fred being dead, mentions of not eating

a/n: oh boi, i cried writing this one, which has never happened before, so be warned...

It was never the same after Fred was killed. It felt so empty at the Burrow; cold, lonely and just plain grim. There was no one to crack jokes in awkward silences. No one to set off dungbombs under your bed in the morning. No one to make everyone’s lives a little more cheerful; more like a bit more difficult, but in the best way.

It’d been four months since the Battle of Hogwarts, and things had just started to lighten up again. There were smiles on peoples faces, albeit faint, but there, nonetheless. There was quiet chatter around the house again, and things were just starting to feel somewhat normal. The only one who seemed to still be mourning was George. His twin had died, for Merlin’s sake.

There was no one to finish his sentences, no one to go to when he was hurting, no one to be a dumbass with. Whenever he thought about the things they used to do together, a sad smile would happen upon his face and he would just fall deeper into his depression, and that was the seemingly never ending cycle. 

Day after day, he would walk around the house, and outside in the garden, head down, hands in his pockets, muttering to himself quietly. If I was in hearing range, I could barely pick out the occasional “Hey, Freddie, I ate something today,” or “Hey, Fred, I laughed today,” and my heart would just break at the sound of his hoarse voice. Whenever I walked past the closed bathroom door, I could hear muffled whimpers that I knew were his.

He would come downstairs for supper with red, puffy eyes and a tearstained face. He didn’t care how everyone saw him; they knew what he was going through. I did my best to help him through his grief; cuddles when he felt up to it, hugs that lasted forever, getting him steaming mugs of tea whenever he fancied one and giving him his space when he needed it.

One day, he came out of the bathroom, his face red as usual, but he came up to me and led me by the hand back into the bathroom. After he closed the door behind us, he looked at me with those large, sad, brown eyes and choked out, “I need you to help me with something.” He could barely meet my gaze, so I took his large hand in my two smaller ones, rubbing it gently with my thumbs and whispering, “Anything for you, my love. What do you need help with, if you don’t mind me asking?” 

“I need you to dye my hair, Y/N. Everytime I look in the mirror, I see his face. I see him staring back at me, and it feels like my heart is being ripped out of my chest. I get excited for no reason, and then I remember that he’s gone, and that he’s never coming back. It’s the worst feeling knowing that I’ll bear his face until the day I die, but that I’ll never see him ever again. It’s not just me, either; whenever I walk into a room, Mum has to choke back sobs, and she can’t look at me without her eyes tearing up. I can’t do it anymore, Y/N, I just can’t.” By this time, he was full-on crying, and so was I. 

I had no idea he felt like this, and it pained me to know that he was going through such torture. It’d never crossed my mind that he’d see himself in the mirror day after day, being reminded of the part of him that he had lost and could never replace.

I pulled him in for a bone-crushing hug, and held him for a considerable time, wanting all of his worries to melt away, but alas, nothing could be done, really. “Alright,” I cleared my throat, pulling away, and taking out my wand. I also ushered him to bring the chair in the corner up to the mirror. 

“What colour, love?” I asked his reflection in the mirror, suddenly understanding, with a lump in my throat, what he meant by seeing Fred. “Dark brown, please.” He looked down at his hands which were folded in his lap. “Sounds good, darling,” I murmured, kissing the top of his fiery head one last time. 

‘Colovaria,’ I thought, aiming my wand at his hair, closing my eyes, and concentrating on the colour of dark tree trunks, the colour of earth after a torrential downpour. When I opened them again, his hair had turned to that colour and I couldn’t help but cry a little at the loss of one of his striking features.

“It’s alright, love, it’s all over. You can look now.” I put my hands on his shoulders as I watched slight shock fill his face. He reached up to touch his newly recoloured hair and he marveled at it. He turned around to face me, and asked, “How do I look?” with a hopeful yet sad look adorning his face. I held his head in my hands, and kissed his forehead. “You look,” I searched for a word, but ended up coming up short. “Very handsome.” My eyes ended up getting lost in the sad hopefulness of his eyes, wondering what was going on in that now brown haired head of his.

“Y/N! George! Supper!” We heard Molly yell from the kitchen. Both of us broke out of our little trances and left the bathroom, ready to face the rest of the family. After we descended down the creaky stairs, we heard a soft gasp coming from Molly and Ginny’s direction. Molly slowly walked up to George, her eyes tearing up and her face reddening. She took his face in her hands and brought their foreheads together, whispering to him. I clasped my hands together and looked down at my feet, not wanting to interrupt their moment.

“I’m sorry, George, that you had to do this to feel better; I’m sorry for everything, Georgie.” I heard Molly say through soft cries. George held her close, and the rest of the Weasleys came and engaged in a group hug that would pull on the heartstrings of anyone in passing. 

I started to turn to walk back up the stairs to go read in George’s room, when Molly reached out through her kids and grabbed my arm, pulling me into the centre of the group hug. George pulled me in tight against him, and rested his chin on the top of my head. “I’m going to be with you every step of the way, Georgie. I’ll be right there with you, no matter what. I love you.” I whispered against his chest, listening to his heartbeat. 

“Y/N, I love you so much. Thank you.” I felt vibrations of his voice against my cheek, and I felt in that moment that everything would be alright, although it might take a while for things to feel normal again. We all just stayed like that, all huddled together, and just being together; one big family, a little broken, but on the mend.

[panharmonium]

@once-and-future-gay​ asked: 

how do you think will would react to how merlin treats mordred were he alive??

Okay, I LOVE this question.

And my honest answer to it is that I think if Will were alive, things would never have gotten to a point where Merlin felt like he needed to treat Mordred like that in the first place.

(more details under the cut, because this got long!)

The reasons why Merlin ends up in a place where he is able to make those kinds of cold decisions about Mordred are obviously super complex.  But in the end, I think most of it comes back to the fact that by Season 5, Merlin has come to see himself as a tool.  The ultimate fallout of Merlin being constantly told about his role in Arthur's life is that he comes to see himself as an instrument of destiny, not a person in his own right.  His life isn't his own.  He has no inherent worth, no inherent self, just a purpose to fulfill.  His life was always earmarked for someone else.  His value, in his own mind, is inextricably tied up with whether or not he can succeed in his mission.  He doesn’t think he is allowed to have more than that.  He doesn’t think he deserves to have more than that, frankly - every time he tries, something terrible happens.

This isn’t the case, earlier in the show.  In the early days, Merlin still has hopes and dreams for himself.  He still longs for a day where he can be known for who and what he is.  He still chafes at having to hide.  He still thinks he deserves better than what he has.  He's still invested in his own life, as a person who is worth something just by virtue of existing.   But as time goes on, those feelings start to slip away.  He's still fighting, but for other people, not himself.  He stops asking Gaius, "When do I get to reveal myself?"  He doesn't expect that to ever happen now.  He starts defining his worth as how well he can fulfill his “destiny,” and stops seeing himself as a person in his own right.  He's been told so many times that his life belongs to someone else - that his only reason for living is to serve a higher purpose - that he now believes it.  And that makes him more willing to do things (in service of that destiny) that he would have balked at when he was younger, before he lost his sense of selfhood, before he became just a tool to ensure that events unfolded as they were “supposed” to.

In the earlier seasons, we see Merlin defy Kilgharrah's directives on multiple occasions.  He saves Mordred.  He forces Kilgharrah to teach him how to heal Morgana, even after she's been revealed to be a traitor.  He's not yet willing to do things he feels uncomfortable about to bring about “destiny.”  He still thinks things can be better than that.  But as time goes on (read: after Will dies, and especially once Lancelot is also dead) Merlin becomes so isolated from anything that isn’t The Mission.  He has no “real” friends anymore.  Which, as I've discussed before, isn't to say that he doesn't have meaningful, caring relationships with other people, just that every one of those relationships is, for him, undergirded by the knowledge that the friendship is conditional - aka, “if they actually knew me, they would hate me.”  He has nobody to meet his most elemental need for connection - to be seen and loved for who he is - and by the later seasons, Merlin has been deprived of that kind of care for so long that he just stops trying to find it anywhere anymore.  Every time he has had somebody to love him like that, it has gone horribly, terribly wrong, and by the time we reach S5, Merlin just feels like it's better for everyone if he stops feeling these "selfish" desires for real companionship and just focuses on the job he's meant to do, no matter how painful it is for him.  It doesn't matter if he's miserable, as long as he's be able to bring about the better world that has been promised.

Lancelot is able to serve as a buffer against this, briefly, while he’s alive.  His presence is a huge part of why Merlin is so happy in the S4 opener.  Finally, Merlin has a friend to know him, to share his burdens, and everything is changing for the better.  Arthur is basically running the kingdom, and it's only a matter of time before he actually becomes king.  Traditions are already changing, by Arthur's command - now Camelot's most respected knights are commoners!  The Crown Prince is publicly courting a servant!  This is a moment where Merlin really feels that the moment he has been waiting for is right around the corner.  He thinks they're almost there.  He has so much hope, at the beginning of Season 4.  

And then Lancelot dies - for Arthur - and everything starts spiraling.  Lancelot dies on the altar of Merlin's destiny the same way Will does, and that breaks something in Merlin.  He stops trying to make things better for himself.  “Destiny” is going to take everything from him anyway.  He gives up and accepts that the only worthwhile thing he can actually do with his life is to make sure that Arthur lives to create the better world that has been promised, and that he himself is always going to be alone.

And then Merlin is alone, for the next three years.  And that's who he is when we meet him in S5 - disillusioned, desperately isolated, all of his personal needs subsumed for far too long.  The only thing keeping him afloat is his mission, and he will do anything to make sure it succeeds, now, because if he starts doubting it, then that means that everything terrible that has happened has been for nothing.    

And this is really why I feel that having Will around would change things, to a degree where I honestly can't imagine we'd ever wind up in a position where Merlin would have been self-abnegating like this for years, or would have allowed Kara's execution or told Arthur to reject magic just to ensure that Mordred would die (TO BE CLEAR - I'm not putting the blame on Merlin for what Arthur decides to do in 5.05.  Arthur's a grown man; he's seen enough to have more nuanced opinions on sorcery by now).

Will is just....I know he was only in the show briefly, but his presence in Merlin's life was so much more important than that one episode, and his ABSENCE is more disastrous than is made apparent on the surface of things.  Will is Merlin’s anchor.  He gives Merlin something that Merlin cannot access from anybody else, Lancelot included.  He is the only person in Merlin’s orbit who is not somehow connected/beholden to Arthur and Camelot.  All of Merlin's other friends become knights, or become queen, or are deeply invested in Merlin's destiny and the emergence of Albion (eg, Gaius).  Every single relationship Merlin has is with people who are committed to Arthur and Camelot in the same way that Merlin himself is.  He has nobody to tell him “this is wrong; you're sacrificing too much,” because everyone he knows is on the same page as him.  All of his companions are sworn to die for the realm.  Will is the only person whose existence reminds Merlin “you mattered BEFORE you went to Camelot and got this magical homework assignment from the gods.  You were just as much of a person back then.” 

Will is the only friend Merlin has who links him back to his original self, who connects him to who he was before destiny buried its hooks into him.  Merlin in S5 has been so alone and so put upon for so long that he believes his only purpose in life is to be an implement of destiny, but Will, if he were alive, would throw a fit every time Merlin started saying things like “his life is worth a hundred of mine” or “I was born to serve [Arthur].”  Merlin might think he's a tool and that his life doesn't matter outside of its ability to usher in the new world, but Will wouldn’t tolerate that attitude.  Will would tell him you are NOT a tool; you are a person, one who likes to read and whose favorite fruit is apples and who gets the hiccups when he eats too fast.  You don't have to do everything somebody tells you to just because they told you to do it.  That's the kind of wrong-headed thinking that got my father killed.

Will would never let Merlin arrive at a spot where Merlin felt like his life and his principles were disposable or worthless in comparison to the success of the ��mission.”  And Will would never let Merlin get away with doing questionable things in the name of keeping Arthur alive, either.  Will, in canon, is the person who serves as Merlin's moral compass - in 1.10, Will is the one who's telling Merlin “it is WRONG for you to consider letting all of these people die in order to keep your secret safe.”  Even Merlin's own mother won't tell him that - when she realizes that Merlin is planning to use his magic to help during the battle, she tells him not to do it, despite the fact that there is literally no way the village can defeat Kanen without Merlin's help.  She advocates for Merlin to protect his own secrets, even at the expense of other people's lives.

Will, though.  Will refuses to compromise.  Will wants Merlin to be safe, too, but not at the expense of what makes Merlin who he is.  Will KNOWS that sacrificing others for the sake of his secret isn't what Merlin really wants to do.  Will knows Merlin is better than that.  He tells Merlin to smarten up.  He tells Merlin to do the right thing.

So like - having Will alive would change things for the following two reasons: 1) Will, in canon, is the person who tells Merlin “you deserve better than this,” and 2) Will, in canon, is also the person who tells Merlin “you ARE better than this.  you can do better than this.”  I don’t think Merlin would have made the same choices with Mordred if Will had been present for the previous five seasons, because Merlin would never have fallen so far into the “i don’t remember who i used to be and i can only see one purpose for my life now” hole.  Will would not have let him get to that place.

Possibly more importantly - I honestly think if Will were alive, we might never have ended up in a position where Merlin had to make choices like that about Mordred in the first place.  Will living would change the entire story.  Now Arthur doesn’t just get to sweep the whole “oh man an Evil Sorcerer died/almost died saving my life; that really challenges my worldview; hope I don't have to think about it too hard” issue under the rug, like he does in canon.  He’d have to be confronted with that continuously, every day.  And he would not be able to just project his anti-sorcery beliefs onto Merlin like he does in canon, either - he would know that Merlin's best friend is a sorcerer, and that Merlin continues to stand by said sorcerer even after the sorcery itself has been revealed.  

In canon, Arthur and Merlin avoid this topic forever, and I think Arthur honestly tries to forget it ever happened, because it's easier for him and makes him less uncomfortable, but if Will had lived, they would have been forced to deal with that friction every day, and Arthur would have been constantly confronted by the cognitive dissonance of “sorcery is supposedly evil, but how can it be, when this guy so obviously is not?”  

Will being alive would mean Arthur had to confront his prejudices sooner, because a) I fully believe alive!Will would have eventually followed Merlin anywhere, even to Camelot, and b) once he was there, Will would absolutely have kept up the pretense of being a sorcerer.  He would never have allowed Merlin to be endangered by him abandoning the ruse.  So Arthur would have had to deal with that, and honestly, I’m not sure Camelot’s policies on magic wouldn’t have already changed by the time Mordred showed up again, in this timeline.

There’s one other thing that I want to be clear about when it comes to any question that deals with Merlin’s interactions with Mordred (or many of Merlin’s late-season decisions, to be honest).  

The way Merlin ends up dealing with Mordred is obviously something that we all are watching the screen being like "IF YOU WOULD JUST BE NICER TO HIM EVERYTHING WOULD BE OKAY."  Even before I finished Season 5, I typed up my thoughts/worries/predictions, and I said that I was concerned Merlin's behavior was going to be the thing that ultimately created the exact future with Mordred that he was trying to prevent.  We all know it's a messed up situation.

But I also personally find it absolutely imperative to recognize the unique situation Merlin is in, and that Merlin doesn't react this way to Mordred just for the hell of it, or even because he wants to.  

This is something I want to make sure I address, because when talking about the potential for alive!Will to have changed Merlin’s behavior, it’s too easy for the discussion to be framed like “Will would be able to stop Merlin from doing all those stupid/irrational things, like mistrusting Mordred,” and it’s also VERY easy for the discussion to slide into, “Everything that happens at the end of BBC Merlin happens because Merlin was so consumed by how much he cared for Arthur that he was willing to sacrifice everything to keep Arthur alive (and perhaps Will could have snapped him out of it).”  But I want to be very careful not to give either of those impressions.

There are two things that I am dead set on remembering when I think about any and all of the decisions Merlin makes, including his decisions about Mordred: first, that Merlin does not suspect/reject Mordred (or support/protect Arthur) in a vacuum.  And second, that he doesn't do either of these things solely on Kilgharrah's advice, either. 

Merlin, on a personal level, does not want to be in conflict with Mordred.  He still relates to Mordred as kin, even at the beginning of the Disir (“It won’t always be like this.  One day we will live in freedom again.”)  He LIKES Mordred, even, he tells Gaius.  But when he says so, he expresses it like this: “I like him myself - but I can't ignore what I saw.”

To get into this in a little more detail - why does Merlin struggle with Mordred in the first place?  Because he's been shown that Mordred is going to be instrumental in Arthur's death.  And why is Merlin fixated on preventing Arthur's death?  Because Merlin has been told, by multiple magical and/or godly powers, that Arthur is the key to establishing peace in Albion and returning magic to the land.

This is a non-negotiable point for me when I read things about Merlin's decision-making.  I've written plenty myself about the messed-up place Merlin gets into in S5, where keeping Arthur alive at all costs has overridden every other aspect of his better judgment, but it is ESSENTIAL to me that we recognize that this is not something that happens solely because Merlin has a personal attachment to Arthur.  He does care deeply about Arthur, obviously; he loves him - but that is NOT why Merlin in S5 is slipping into the murky waters of “save Arthur no matter what, even if it means doing things that go against my conscience.”  His decision in the Disir - any decision he makes about Mordred, quite frankly - is not made because of a selfish, personal desire to keep Arthur alive.  It is made because Merlin has been told, repeatedly, from all corners of the magical world, that keeping Arthur alive is the only way to establish peace in the world and liberate magic.  And thus, by the time S5 rolls around, Merlin will do anything to achieve this, even things that seem on the surface to be working against these goals.  He does not make his decisions because he is choosing Arthur OVER his people's liberation, but because he has been told that choosing Arthur IS the way to his people's liberation.

Merlin does not develop his obsessive fixation on keeping Arthur alive because his personal attachment to Arthur becomes so strong that he's willing to just let the rest of the world burn.  He develops it because he has been told that Arthur is the key to creating a world where all people can be free.  And it is ESSENTIAL to recognize that Merlin is not foolish for believing this, either.  He isn't just listening to some random dragon spout nonsense at him.  He has literal gods speaking to him, calling him by the name the Druids gave him and telling him his “time among men is not yet over”; he still has work to do.  Druid prophets show him the future (Mordred killing Arthur) and urge him to “alter the never-ending circle of [Arthur's] fate.”  Alator recognizes the legend Gaius speaks of as true and immediately offers Merlin his support.  Bendrui like Finna (aka the remnants of Morgana's own sect, the High Priestesses) offer Merlin the assistance of further prophecies and tell him “without you, Emrys, Arthur cannot build the world we all long for.”  The Catha pass on “ancient knowledge” about Arthur's fate that they've guarded for hundreds of years, in the hopes that it will help Merlin save Arthur’s life.  The Fisher King recognizes Merlin as Emrys and tells him “I have been waiting all these years for the arrival of a new time: the time of the Once and Future King” - and then he gives Merlin the means to enable Arthur's victory in the S3 finale.  

It's not just Kilgharrah telling Merlin about Arthur's destiny.  It's the wider magical world - and bits of the divine world, too.  Merlin is not stupid, gullible, or deluded to believe that Arthur's role in the prophesied future is true.  It IS supposed to be true, in the Merlin BBC-verse.  (And, once again, this is why the finale is, narratively speaking, garbage.  But that's a topic for another day.)

All of that said - the fact that Merlin has legitimate reasons to believe what he believes and fight for Arthur's survival does not mean that every single sacrifice he makes in the name of achieving that goal is necessarily the only way he could go about things, and that, I think, is where Will being alive would have made a difference.  Will, who loves Merlin more than life itself but does not care about Arthur or Camelot at all, would be a counterbalance to all the messaging Merlin receives about “destiny and Arthur over everything.”  Will would have pulled Merlin back from the brink, with his stubbornly honest, “All right, so you have to do this, but not like this.  Listen to yourself.  This isn't you.  This isn't the you I know.”  

I don’t think anyone else could have done that for Merlin.  Even at the very end of the show, after Merlin has been in Camelot for years, Will is still the longest-running relationship Merlin has ever had (excepting his mother, of course).  Will is the only relationship Merlin has that both predates Camelot and isn’t even slightly concerned with Arthur Pendragon’s well-being.  Will is the only one who isn’t beholden to Arthur or sworn to serve Camelot.  Will is the only person who cares about Merlin instead of Arthur, not along with Arthur.  Merlin has other people who love him, yes, definitely, but Will is the only one who says, “You, over everything else.  You are the only thing on the map for me.”   

The part Will played in Merlin’s life is not something that could be performed by somebody else.  That loss is a hole that cannot be filled, even by other people who know Merlin’s secret.  The history is unique.  Merlin can’t just grow up again with someone else.  Will was irreplaceable; the role he fulfilled in Merlin’s world was singular.  Without his influence, Merlin is perpetually off-kilter.  

Merlin needed someone like that in his life.  He needed somebody to balance out the perpetual focus on Arthur+Destiny, which all of his other relationships encouraged, to varying degrees.  The perpetual focus on Arthur+Destiny is what ultimately led Merlin to make the kind of decisions that he made with Mordred, but if Will had been around to push back on that, then I can’t imagine that things would have unfolded in the same way.

[emachinescat]

The Neglected Neckerchief

A Merlin Fan-Fiction

by @emachinescat ​

@febuwhump ​ day 21 - torture

Summary: A group of bandits torture Merlin in front of Arthur for their own entertainment, using Merlin’s beloved neckerchief against him in the cruelest of manners.  Now, Arthur must struggle to come to terms with a traumatized Merlin, whose neckerchief has been replaced by a ring of bruises.

Characters: Merlin, Arthur

Words: 4,730

TW: strangulation, panic attacks

Note: Based on my drabble series from “Moments” by the same name. Sorry for no cover/header picture today. I'm sick and doing the bare minimum. I will add one later when I feel up to making one!

Keep reading here, or on AO3!

If you enjoy, please consider liking, commenting, or re-blogging, and you can follow me for more content like this! :)

Arthur had never understood his servant's attachment to that ratty triangle of fabric he wore around his neck. When he had first met Merlin, in fact, Arthur had downright hated it. He'd pestered his servant about it on many occasions, questioning the practicality, the fashion, the function of the neckerchief. Of course, Merlin never failed to follow up with a clever retort, but he never really answered the question, and eventually, Arthur got bored of teasing Merlin for his clothes and moved on to something else.

As the years passed, however, Arthur's derision for the odd neckwear faded, and before long, he found himself associating the neckerchief with Merlin himself. It got to the point where seeing Merlin without the accessory felt strange, and before he knew it, the prince realized that he actually liked that stupid scarf – though he would die before he admitted it to Merlin.

Now that he was older, perhaps a bit wiser than he had been as a young prince, King Arthur had a feeling that it wasn't so much the neckerchief that he'd grown to like, but the person who wore it. And since Merlin and his neckerchief were one and the same, it stood to reason that the king would have grown fond of it as well. Not that he would ever admit his affection for his servant out loud, either, of course. Not in so many words – or any words, really. That just wasn't how his relationship with Merlin worked.

Indeed, somewhere along the way, Merlin's neckerchief had become as much of a staple in Arthur's life as the servant himself. And yet, in the span of one bandit attack during a morning hunt, that all changed.

It had started off, as these things often do, as a normal patrol. It was a beautiful day, bright and warm, the sort of day where you would never expect anything horrible to happen. And yet –

It had been a week since the hunt turned to hell, and Arthur could still recall it so vividly that he might as well have been experiencing it all over again. Those five minutes of torture had branded themselves so deeply into his mind's eye that every time he fell asleep, he would go back – back to the forest, to the bandits and their laughter and their hands holding him back, holding him down. Back to the sounds. Oh gods, the sounds. Gagging, choking, panicked breaths, a mouth gaping open like a fish's, searching desperately for air that wouldn't come. Blue lips, still chest, and laughter. And, of course, in the center of it all, Merlin's beloved neckerchief.

***

One Week Ago

"Looks like we got a fine catch today, gentlemen!" The short, ugly brute of a bandit grinned at Arthur, half of his teeth rotten and the other half missing all together. "Is this a knight of Camelot we've stumbled upon?"

Arthur was relieved that they hadn't recognized him to be the king, at least. He tried to be as inconspicuous as possible on his outings, having Merlin hold on to the royal seal if they were going anywhere outside of the citadel – bandits generally ignored servants and focused on the more important looking people, after all. It was a clever trick, provided Merlin didn't lose the seal. So far, he'd kept up with it well enough on their journeys, and this time, it seemed to be paying off, as these bandits thought they were playing with just another knight and his servant.

But that didn't change the fact that Arthur and Merlin had been taken off guard, ambushed, and tied hand and foot by a band of ten morally bereft, muscle-heavy monsters who wouldn't know hygiene if it crashed into their thick skulls. Arthur had been shoved to his knees and held there by four men, who still struggled to keep him still. Two other men had done the same to his servant, but other than the usual bumps and bruises from fighting a losing battle, neither Arthur nor Merlin were hurt.

Arthur may not have been injured, but he was angry, mostly with himself. He'd known it was a bad idea to go on a hunt without any of the knights or guards to accompany him. He'd let Merlin come along because he knew that the obsessively loyal servant would have followed him anyway, and he'd much rather have Merlin by his side so he could keep an eye on him instead of being forced to listen to him thrashing around in the undergrowth making a racket while trying to be stealthy. As Athur had been reminded by his council many times, he was king now, and he had a responsibility to think not only of the safety and well-being of his people, but of himself as well. That meant no more running around in the forest on hunts or patrols without a guard. That meant telling the council where he was going to be at all times so that they would know to send someone after him if he didn't get back in time.

But Arthur had had enough. It had been a month since his father's death, and he was stifled in the castle. Even when he wasn't in Camelot, people still surrounded him on patrols and hunts, and even when those people were some of his closest friends – the knights – he often felt like he was being smothered, and his skin crawled at the thought of having to sit through one more council meeting or supervised hunt. He'd needed to get away. He'd told Guievere where he was going, of course. And then he'd grabbed his servant, all but dragging him out of the castle at the break of day, and they'd passed a pleasant enough morning, with Merlin scaring away half the prey. But as with most good things in King Arthur's life, this too had to end. The ambush had been unexpected and swift, and Guinevere wasn't expecting him back until evening – they were on their own.

As casually as he could, Arthur implored the bandits, "You have me, a knight of Camelot. My servant is of no use to you. Let him go."

The short, stocky bandit who seemed to be in charge considered this for a brief moment before crossing his tree-branch arms across his chest. "So he can run back to your coward king and bring a rescue party? Not likely."

"We're miles away from Camelot," Arthur pressed. "You could be long gone with me before he brings anyone back."

From the corner of his eye, Arthur watched Merlin frantically shake his head. Arthur ignored him, and prayed that the idiot would stay silent. All it would take would be Merlin saying "Arthur" one time, and the bandits would realize their mistake – and quickly seek to rectify it. Thankfully, Merlin seemed to be aware of the situation, and for once, blessedly, kept his mouth shut.

The leader ambled forward, brow creased as if thinking were incredibly painful for him. "You seem awfully keen to protect that servant of yours. Most knights don't give a damn about the help if their own lives are in danger. What's so special about that one?"

Arthur maintained eye contact with the brute before him. "I care about all those I have sworn to protect as a knight."

"Oh, that's rich!" A chorus of laughter from the surrounding bandits grated at Arthur's nerves. "Nah," the man continued, casting a glance over his shoulder at the skinny servant who glared defiantly back. "With those pretty blue eyes, I reckon he's more than just a servant."

"Yeah," called one of the bandits forcing Merlin to kneel. "The knight's consort I'd wager."

The leader swivelled back to face Arthur. "Is that it, Sir Knight? Is he your consort?"

Arthur didn't answer.

"Oh, now you clam up." The bandit leader seemed genuinely disappointed that he didn't get an answer. He peered at Arthur through slitted, suspicious eyes for a few charged seconds. Then he threw back his head and laughed.

"Well, lads, why don't we have a bit of fun before we head out?"

Arthur glanced at Merlin, and saw the servant looking back at him with wide, uncertain eyes. To Arthur's surprise, Merlin didn't look scared. In fact, Arthur thought that his servant appeared to be more conflicted than anything, like he was trying to make a difficult decision. Baffling as that was, it was hardly the most important thing on Arthur's mind at the moment.

The leader signaled to the men holding Merlin, and then everything went to hell.

One of the men lashed out with frightening speed for someone of his size, landing a devastating blow in the center of Merlin's back at the very second the servant was released. Arthur watched the kick connect, heard the pained cry, felt the thump as Merlin sprawled face-first onto the forest floor, hands tied behind his back, unable to move, barely able to breathe. Arthur had received similar kicks before, and he knew all too well the terror-inducing breathlessness that accompanied such injuries. He'd rarely wanted to kill someone as much as he wanted to kill the bandit who had inflicted such pain and panic on his servant.

But they weren't done yet. It got far, far worse.

The leader of the bandits stepped forward then, and squatted at the feebly stirring Merlin's side, still facing the king. Every muscle in Arthur's body tensed; his heart pounded deafeningly in his ears. Something very bad was going to happen, he could feel it in every fiber of his being. He'd seen enough violence and war and bloodshed, enough monsters, to know that this was far from over.

The bandit leader reached over and fingered the fabric of Merlin's neckerchief – he'd worn the blue one today. Arthur watched the idea form in the man's head even as Merlin began to recover a bit of his breath and attempted to squirm away from the bandit's touch. "Interesting fashion choice," the leader commented, sarcasm slathered generously on each word. "Makes my job easier though."

He clenched his meaty fist around the back of Merlin's scarf, and, keeping his eyes trained on the knight before him, slowly pulled up.

To Arthur, the world had slipped into slow motion. It was like the minutes just before a storm, when nature held its breath, birds forgot how to sing, and all of creation readied itself for the violence to come. He watched, horror coursing through him, as the first waves of realization and then panic dawned on his servant's dazed face. Blue eyes bulged wide, mouth opened in a soundless scream, and still, the bandit pulled.

The bandit took his time. He was in no rush. Arthur could see from the wild, glassy glint in his beady green eyes that he was relishing the control he had over the situation, over the man he was strangling. He never looked away from Arthur, not even when the agonized choking, coughing, gasping, hacking sounds began in earnest. Arthur, for his part, tried to ignore the man, and, as much as it hurt him, tore at his soul and twisted his stomach, the king kept his eyes on Merlin, trying to offer him comfort, reassurance, anything. Until Merlin's eyes started to dim, and his eyelids drooped as if a heavy weight had been tied to them, and the frantic heaves of his chest grew weak, and he knew Merlin was dying.

Despite his resolve to remain strong and unaffected, and despite his hopes that the bandit leader would grow tired of his cruel game if he thought Arthur was not emotionally invested, Arthur lost control. It had become clear to him that the man torturing Merlin did not care if he elicited a reaction from his other prisoner. He was tormenting – killing – Merlin because it was fun for him; the pleasure had written itself into his bright eyes and twisted smile. And Merlin was going to die.

Arthur lunged forward, a feral yell bursting from the deepest part of himself, and even with his hands bound behind his back and his ankles tied together, he nearly managed to shake off all of the four men holding him – and then three more added to their number, and Arthur found himself face-down just feet from Merlin, who was all but unconscious, barely fighting to breathe, and the pressure of the bandits on top of him was crushing. Arthur barely felt it beneath the weight of his failure.

The bandit leader now loomed over both master and servant, and to Arthur's surprise, he eased up pressure, releasing his grip slightly on Merlin's neckerchief and allowing the servant to drag in desperate, halted breaths, his eyes now bulging. Merlin coughed, deep, raw sounds grinding out from a shredded throat. Arthur could see a terrible, angry red line circling Merlin's neck, just beneath the neckerchief.

"Merlin – are you all right?" Arthur kept his voice low, hushed.

Tears were streaming down Merlin's cheeks, whether from fear or lack of oxygen or pain, Arthur didn't know. He tried to speak, and his voice hurt to hear; he sounded like his vocal chords had been slashed. "Aarrrrr…"

"Shhh," Arthur soothed, partially out of concern for Merlin's health, partially out of fear that Merlin would reveal Arthur's true identity. "It's okay, it's okay. Just breathe, okay? I'll find a way out of this." And Merlin looked at Arthur with such unmitigated trust in his gaze that Arthur felt like running himself through with his sword, because he had no plan. He had no hope. Surely, Merlin could see that, even in his state. Arthur had seven bandits piled on top of him, holding him motionless. The guilt crashed into Arthur with all the force of a battering ram into a fortress door. This was all his fault.

"S'not … your … fault," Merlin heaved out with great difficulty, and Arthur's blood ran cold. He was certain he hadn't said that out loud. How had Merlin known? It hit him – Merlin had known that Arthur was blaming himself because he knew Arthur.

The moment shattered as the bandit leader butted in, voice loud and abrasive, sending chills of fury across Arthur's flesh like an attacking army. "Now that you've got your breath back, Merlin, let's start from the top."

Arthur watched Merlin's eyes go wide with fear, and Arthur must have been giddy with it himself, because he could have sworn he saw a tiny bit of gold swirling in their depths right before the neckerchief was tightened and the imagined flame died out, and only terror remained.

The second time was just as slow and measured as the first. The bandit applied pressure in the tiniest increments, and this time, Arthur got a front-row view of the light leaving his friend's eyes. The noises were even worse up close, the coughs and gasps taking on the helm of death rattles. Merlin thrashed at first, trying to escape, to breathe, to do anything, and his lips lost color and turned blue, and now he was barely moving, barely breathing, and this time, the bandit leader had no intention of stopping.

Merlin's head and shoulders were now being held aloft by only the fabric around his neck, and his struggles ceased completely, his chest stilled.

Arthur squirmed desperately beneath the hold of the seven bandits, but even the adrenaline screaming through his body was not enough to throw them off. He could fear hot tears on his cheeks, knowing that if Merlin was not dead now, he would be soon. Arthur had been tortured before – it wasn't a common occurrence, but it had happened. And yet, nothing had prepared him for the kind of torture he had endured – was still enduring – in watching his closest friend die slowly and painfully, terrified, right in front of him. Arthur wanted to rip the men who were doing this limb from limb. He wanted to slowly squeeze the life out of the one strangling Merlin.

He wanted them to be strangling him instead.

All seemed lost – and would have been, if a Camelot patrol hadn't heard the commotion from a distance and come to investigate. There were six men, and they had the element of surprise. One moment, all was anguish and torture and the gut-clenching quiet that came at the end of life. The next, a short, fierce battle raged all around him. As soon as the bandits loosened their grip on him and Gwaine cut him free, Arthur joined the fight, catching the sword tossed at him by Elyan.

He ran through the man who had tortured his servant personally, with the same level of twisted glee and intimacy with which the man had strangled Merlin. It was so much more than he deserved.

Once the bandits had all been slain and lay scattered on the forest floor, Arthur raced to Merlin's side, slamming to his knees beside the servant. His hand shook so badly as he felt for the beat of Merlin's heart that Elyan had to take over, and his dark eyes were grave as he looked back at Arthur and shook his head.

"No," Arthur said simply, refusing to believe that Merlin was truly gone, that he had watched his friend die terribly before his eyes. "No, check again."

"No time for that," Gwaine snapped, falling to his knees on the opposite side of the servant and bending over the prone body. The blue of Merlin's lips was almost as vibrant as the color of the neckerchief that had so cruelly been turned against him.

The next few minutes passed in a blur of anxiety, disbelief, and finally relief, as Gwaine breathed for him, Arthur pounded on his chest, and Percival carried him home.

***

Merlin hadn't worn his neckerchief since that torturous day. He was sullen and nervous, jumping at small noises and avoiding Arthur, and refusing to wear anything to cover up those ghastly bruises.

He hadn't been able to talk for nearly a week after he'd woken up; Gaius said he was lucky that his windpipe wasn't crushed. But even after, Merlin barely spoke.

And gods, those bruises.

They encircled Merlin's pale neck like a grotesque mockery of the very scarf that had caused it. They had reached the stage where the very edges had started to yellow, but the inner ring was black, mottled with red and blue. Just looking at it hurt, and it was a constant reminder of the torture Merlin had gone through … and that Arthur had gone through, watching him. Arthur could not fathom that Merlin would prefer to walk around with those bruises in plain sight – surely they had to trigger bad memories as much as, if not more than, the neckerchief?

It was stupid, but Arthur couldn't stop himself thinking that when Merlin wore his neckerchief again, it would mean things were back to normal. That he was okay.

And so Arthur had a neckerchief made out of the finest material Guinevere could procure in the market. It was silk, so soft to the touch that Arthur wouldn't have minded falling asleep in it. It was a deep, Camelot red, and so light it was almost weightless.

When he presented it to Merlin, yesterday morning, the servant's eyes had twitched down to it, and where Arthur had thought he'd see gratitude, maybe even a hint of a smile, he saw only trepidation. Merlin had rasped a pained, "Thanks," then grabbed the scarf by one corner like it was a serpent poised to strike and shoved it into his pocket, out of sight. He hadn't worn it since.

"I don't understand," Arthur said to his wife over dinner, distress clear in his voice. "I replaced it."

"He's just not ready," Gwen soothed, though her brow was knit in worry.

"It's of a much finer material than his old one," Arthur insisted, as if he were trying to convince Gwen that Merlin should wear it.

"You have to be patient with him, Arthur. What happened to him was… traumatic. He has to come to terms with it in his own time."

Arthur scrubbed a hand over his face. "I just can't stand looking at his bruises."

Gwen squeezed his hand, her eyes sad and wise and more beautiful than anything that Arthur had seen. "I know it hurts," she said, "and I mean no disrespect, but… Arthur, this isn't about you. It's not about your discomfort, it's not about the pain you went through seeing Merlin be hurt like that."

Arthur opened his mouth, unsure of what he was going to say, not even knowing if he was going to argue or agree with her.

Gwen held up a hand. "I'm not saying that what you went through was unimportant. I can't even imagine watching…" She trailed off, shuddered. "But you can't expect Merlin to wear something that causes him so much pain and fear, just because it makes you uncomfortable."

Arthur knew she was right, and told her so. He would have to find a way to look past the bruises, for now.

Merlin was avoiding Arthur – there were no two ways about it. He got to work early, woke Arthur, and then ran off to do the rest of his chores. Finally, at the end of week two, Arthur cornered him in the armory.

"Merlin." Arthur's face was serious, his eyes uncharacteristically concerned.

"Sorry, Sire, I have work to do," Merlin said stiffly. His voice still sounded as if it were being painfully squeezed from him. He tried to leave, but Arthur caught his arm, pretended he didn't see Merlin flinch.

"For the love of… if I give you the day off, will you stay and talk to me?"

Merlin's eyes were wide and his scowl looked more pathetic than annoyed. "I suppose I have little choice in the matter."

Arthur's heart constricted. "Merlin, I—"

"Look, I'm sorry I haven't been wearing the neckerchief," Merlin blurted, avoiding Arthur's eyes. "I just… I know you we retrying to help, but… Hold on, I'll go get it right now," he flustered. His cheeks were red and his eyes bright.

"Merlin, stop."

Merlin stopped.

"I realize I haven't been fair to you," the king said slowly, carefully. "I haven't been patient. What happened was… wrong. Do you need to talk to me about it?"

The dam broke.

Arthur had never seen Merlin cry like this before. He'd seen tears in his friend's eyes on various occasions, but never had he witnessed the choking, uncontrollable, full-bodied sobs that were now wrenched from the depths of Merlin's soul. At first, Arthur stood, uncertain, terrified that he was going to say or do the wrong thing, but then he thought of Merlin, and tried to imagine what he would do for him if the king were in this situation. A strange calm descended over him, and he gently took Merlin by the arm and guided him to the nearest chair – Arthur's chair, the most comfortable one in the room, the one he never let anyone else sit in, not even Guinevere (she had her own, anyway).

He eased Merlin down, knelt beside him, and wrapped one arm around his servant's shoulders, and just held him while he released all of the pain and frustration and fear and trauma he'd been skirting around for weeks. Arthur felt the hot sting of a tear mark a course down his own face, and he didn't brush it away. He felt, like Merlin was feeling – felt the pain of the torture inflicted on them both, felt the violent sobs shaking Merlin's wiry frame, and finally, felt the tremors ease and stop all together, but he didn't withdraw his arm. He might have even squeezed a little bit tighter, as if assuring himself that his friend was still there, still breathing, despite how hard those bandits had tried to kill him.

Finally, Merlin shifted awkwardly, and Arthur became acutely aware of the fact that his arm was still around the servant's shoulders, and he withdrew with a start, backing away with haste.

Merlin turned to look at him, and his eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, the bruises on his neck still visible and angry, and tear tracks streaked down his face. Arthur watched him apprehensively, afraid that Merlin was going to say something emotional that Arthur wouldn't know how to respond to, or worse, openly acknowledge the unusual level of tenderness that had permeated that moment. Instead, Merlin quirked a watery half-smile and simply said, "Thank you."

Relieved, Arthur smiled back. "You're welcome. Feeling better, are we?"

Merlin gave a small, almost timid, nod. "A little bit, actually. I think."

Desperate for some return to normalcy, chest warm with the hope that Merlin really would be okay, someday, Arthur folded his arms across his chest. "Then get your scrawny arse out of my chair."

Merlin actually laughed then, and settled in deeper to the comfortable seat. "Sorry, sire," he said. "I think my scrawny arse is stuck here until further notice."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. Merlin blushed. "I… I don't think I can stand right now," he admitted, and Arthur noted with concern that Merlin's knees were indeed trembling. Merlin was trembling.

Arthur rolled his eyes like it was some great inconvenience. "Fine," he said. "Laze about like the useless servant you are. I'll fetch Gaius."

Merlin surged forward at this, almost fell flat on his face. "I don't need –" He broke off as Arthur shoved him back in the seat. "Gaius."

Arthur narrowed his eyes. "You were saying?"

Merlin had never looked so much like a sullen, scolded child.

***

When Arthur returned, Gaius not far behind him, he was shocked to find that Merlin was still where the king had left him. Even more surprising was the fact that Merlin held the silk neckerchief that Arthur had gifted him, almost reverently, gazing down at the fabric with a faraway look in his eyes.

"Merlin, where did you get that?" Arthur asked.

"My pocket."

"You've been carrying that around all week?"

Merlin didn't answer, but he didn't need to – it was obvious that he had been.

Arthur heard Gaius shuffle through the door behind him, but did not turn. He kept his eyes on Merlin, who continued to contemplate the scarf like he had never seen anything like it before. "Merlin, you don't have to wear that," Arthur said in a rush. "I just thought–"

"I know," Merlin interrupted, and that's when Arthur knew his servant was on the mend, because a Merlin who lacked all decorum and propriety was far more normal than one who was actually good at being a proper servant. "But, it's nice. And I was thinking, I've never owned anything so fine." He paused. "But I think I'll leave it at home when we go on hunts and patrols from now on." He gazed up at Arthur imploringly.

The king felt Merlin's eyes on his front and Gaius's on his back. He looked Merlin straight in the eyes and said, "You don't have to wear anything you don't want to, Merlin. If you never wear a ridiculous triangle scarf again, that's completely fine. Don't do it because you feel like you have to. You won't hurt my feelings."

Merlin grinned – a full, mischievous smile that Arthur hadn't seen in far too long. "When have I ever given you the impression that I care about protecting your feelings, Sire?"

Arthur tried to look stern, but ended up laughing out loud. "Fair point," he conceded.

He and Gaius watched with bated breath as Merlin tied the new neckerchief very loosely around his neck. A moment of tense silence, then –

"Does this make me look like a prat?"

"Merlin!"

Arthur knew that the ordeal wasn't over just because Merlin had put on the neckerchief. There would still be nightmares and anxiety and days where Merlin couldn't stand to have anything touch his neck. But this was progress. This was hope.

For this one moment, this was Arthur and Merlin, as they had always been, and all was well with the world.

For now, that was more than enough.

[dalekofchaos]

Why I always hated Harry becoming an Auror

I always hated Harry becoming an Auror, it just doesn’t work character wise and it strikes a raw nerve that a boy who I always stood by grew up and became a cop for a Ministry Of Magic that has never done anything right for him or anyone else in the Wizarding World.

He spent the entirety of OOTP realizing that the Ministry Of Magic is corrupt to the core and the fact that SIrius was pretty much sentenced without a fair trial, just shows how the system is broken and there is no chance to change. But even aside the fact, Harry pretty much becomes a cop. Harry James Potter has complete All Cops Are Bastards attitude and I can never ever envision that for Harry. 

He spent his entire childhood and teen years fighting Voldemort and fighting a damn war and  A WAR HE WAS BORN INTO!

Plus The Death Eaters gave up after Voldemort's defeat. The majority lost faith and those who stayed loyal, died or was captured. There is no need for Harry and Ron to become Aurors. There literally is no need for Aurors

It makes as much sense as Toph Beifong becoming a cop

Harry always desired a life of quiet peace or even a boring life. He did not like the fame that came with his life, he did not want to be the chosen one nor did he want the to be with the Ministry(A Ministry who that slandered his name did nothing about Voldemort, FALSELY IMPRISONED HIS GODFATHER. Harry just wanted a quiet and peaceful life with his friends and family and a life without fame or conflict. JK did the exact opposite of Harry’s desires.

Here’s the future I would’ve prefered for Harry. Becoming Ginny’s Trophy husband, Being a stay at home father, or going back to Hogwarts and become the permanent Defense Against The Dark Arts Professor.

Harry loved teaching in Dumbledore’s Army. He loved teaching his friends and you can damn  well bet he would love teaching kids how to properly defend themselves. Harry would have loved being a teacher and watching his students improve throughout the years. Revamping the curriculum because if he could teach kids as a child himself how to cast a patronus, perhaps everything they think of as only NEWTs levels and beyond really just weren’t taught well before.

Making him become an auror just makes him continue the fight he was forced into as a child and didn’t enjoy, Harry enjoyed teaching the DA. Why wouldn’t he chase after doing something he loves with his life????? And then he’d be able to train the next generation to make sure that they can protect the world, too.

And just imagine Professors Potter and Longbottom joking about students and the other teachers during meals, playing mini pranks on Headmistress McGonagall, who’d purse her lips and remind them that they were adults, then look away before they could catch the twinkle in her eye. All the students would either have a massive crush on them or admire them or both. Harry is the only teacher capable of taming Teddy (who became known as the prank king, comparable to the Weasley’s twins) and eventually James, Al, and Lily. He develops connections with each of his students and teaches them according to the way he’s noticed they learn best and his classroom becomes a usual hangout for students, as he’s always got food and a “lame dad joke” that everyone secretly loves.

Voldemort cursed the position so no one could stay for over a year, and Rowling said that the curse broke upon his death. It would have brought the Prophecy’s plot line to full circle, because it shouldn’t have been anyone other than Harry who became the first un-cursed DADA professor. It would have been just another part Harry vanquished.

And how important would it be to the students as well, and to him being able to progress with a comfortable, normal life? Because every witch/ wizard in the UK  goes through Hogwarts. The first year after the war, he starts, and the students all come home at Christmas or in the summer and their parents are all ‘WOW you’ve been taught by HARRY POTTER what was he like?” And all these students who are totally over it already like “I don’t know, just… he’s just Professor Potter. He’s just Harry. He makes shit jokes and hands out chocolate in lessons. He’s just a really great guy.” And over the years it stops being people yelling ‘The Chosen One’ or ‘The Boy Who Lived’ in the streets. He goes in to Diagon Alley with his family and everyone’s like ‘Oh my god, Sir! Hi! Look, it’s Professor Potter!’ And no-one wants to know how it felt to die or what vanquishing Voldemort was like- they want to tell him how their doing, and chat with him about how they want to go into the Aurors or Dragon taming, or what they’re doing now. They want one of their favourite teachers to meet their kids, reminisce about old lessons.

But of course, everyone still knows it’s Harry Potter. And it becomes like a thing among the students, whenever anyone feels low on confidence or like they’ll never achieve things in life, and someone’ll cut in like ‘Of course you can. Harry defeated the greatest Dark Wizard in memory, and he’s a massive dork who’s a little bit frightened of his wife and kids, still trips over the trick step, didn’t get the date he wanted to the Yule Ball and spills pumpkin juice all over his robes regularly. He’s human just like you, and if he could do that, you can sure as hell make the DMLE if that’s what you want.”

Like Harry and Neville being constant reminders to all their students that heroes are just people- just real, normal, faulty people.

(And then can we also have Ginny Weasley, taking some time off from playing professional Quidditch so she comes to do a few years as the flying coach. And her first year Harry goes down to the pitch with a few of the 7th years he has under his wing, and Ginny being, as always, vaguely terrifying but in an incredibly attractive way. And all these 7th years just gaping at her like ‘Woah. You are married to her?!” And Harry just massively smug like ‘Yeah, I know right?’)

#but it would be so perfect??? #bc it would help normalize his life so much #like there would just be this generation of kids who are like #‘ugh who cares that he killed the dark lord he gAVE US HOMEWORK OVER BREAK’ #like the beginning of every year there would be the new first years who would freak out a little #but then it would calm down #and most of the students would literally forget #until like clockwork the fifth years would have their history of magic class on the second war #and they’d all show up to DADA looking a little awestruck and everyone would be extra quiet #and harry would give this kind of annoyed sigh—except it’s fake bc he TOTALLY knew this was coming #bc binns is a bro and he totally gives him a heads up every year #and harry wouldn’t have any lesson plans for the day and instead he would just sit at the front of the room and answer everyone’s questions #but otherwise everyone would just be like ‘professor potter!! i can’t get my patronus to work! help me!’ #and like they’d go home at the end of the year or for break and their parents—who ARE still starstruck by harry james potter #would pester their kids with questions#and the kids would just be like ‘merlin i don’t know?? potter’s such a huge dork you should hear him talk about proper wand movements’ #but they would all love him #and he would feel safe and normal and utterly accepted

Why would he continue fighting and supporting an oppressive system afterwards instead of teaching students how to defend themselves?

[batgirl-87]

Hey! I love your last ask, the questions are really well thought and I'm curious about 12, 16, 17, 18 and 19 👀if you want 💜

Thank you so much for asking! Sorry it took me so long to answer! Life happens -_-

From this ask

12. What was MC’s reaction learning Bill and Charlie’s little sister went missing her First year? 

Physically restraining her and holding her back from storming into Hogwarts and causing a RIOT! She will find poor Ginny probably trapped in some damn Vault again! CURSE THESE VAULTS - oh wait a minute....

But wait, why didn’t every single Weasley, all the older protective brothers storm into Hogwarts to find their little sister? Did they not find out until later?! Did Percy, Fred, George, and Ron just neglect to inform Bill and Charlie that Ginny was missing until found? Prove they could handle it? Or did Bill and Charlie believe in the rest of their siblings that they could handle it and trust them...Nah, big brothers would storm in and find her. They’d be damned if they just sat around and waited for her to be found!

Assuming they all did not learn until afterwards, still would have to hold her back from storming into Hogwarts, most likely to no avail. Some going off on Ron and the rest of the brothers - Why are they only finding out about this now?! Yes, they handled it and got her back BUT STILL kind of a BIG thing to hide from your family! And then of course storming into Dumbledore’s office and going off yet again to which he is probably very used to at this point. A FIRST YEAR GOES MISSING AND WTF DO YOU DO?! THIS IS THE VAULTS AND BEATRICE ALL OVER AGAIN! WATCH YOURSELF OLD MAN! Going to shave that damn beard off, tie it into a noose and - Yeah, she’s not going to be very happy.

And of course once she gets all her anger out, she’ll ask Ginny if she’s okay and check with how she’s doing. And if they did find out while she was missing and Bill and Charlie somehow decided to allow their brothers to handle it and get Keira to calm tf down and not go storming back to Hogwarts (idk how tbh =p) she would be caring and comforting towards them, ask them how they’re doing, if they need anything, if there’s anything she can do, what they’ve heard - and also just do little things to reduce any stress she can. Look she cooked or got them food! And cleaned! Let’s go look at the baby dragons! You’re hair is looking fabulous today - I mean, it always looks good, but today extra bouncy.

16. What was MC’s reaction to Tonks getting married and having a child?

I’m sorry, she’s marrying who now? Remus? Like...Keira’s Uncle Remus? Secret Werewolf Remus? Her anam cara Remus?! HER COUSIN AND UNCLE WTF - well obviously they’re not related BUT STILL THEY’RE HER FAMILY!

She’s going to need a moment.

SHE’S PREGNANT?! THEY - She’s going to need several moments...Clearly this is a lot for her to process on many different levels. She may have malfunctioned for a moment.

But once she processes things - also the fact that imagining Tonks married and a mom, like that’s so grown up and mature and it’s a little difficult to wrap her head around Tonks as a wife and mother instead of the rebellious punk prankster with colorful hair - alright, she’s going to make an awesome mom, that’s not the point. The point is, again, it just seems like such a grown up thing and Keira doesn’t even see herself really as a grown up =p She still see her and Tonks as teenage cousins getting into shenanigans, even as technically adults, rebelling against the system a bit and stirring some things up in their careers. Getting married and having a kid - wow.... are they getting old? Existential crisis time!

BUT then! They both deserve to be happy. If anyone deserves to be happy it’s Remus Lupin. And they make each other happy. And she fully accepts him and loves him as he is, Werewolf and all. Of course she would, she’s not a judgemental person! They’re happy and in love and that’s all Keira wants for them, to be happy and loved. And once she gets over the weirdness they’re adorable... and then it get’s a little weird again... but still cute...but weird... Hugging is fine, a little peck but so help her if a kiss lasts too long SHE CAN’T! Got to go, cannot see this, do not want to see this - HER EYES! =p

OH! And if you think they’re sneaking off to get married without her there HAHAHAHA THEY ARE SORELY MISTAKEN! If you don’t think Keira and Jacob (and Sirius because no I can’t let him die I JUST CAN’T) don’t come strutting in with Back in Black playing in the background to be the best man and woman/maid and man of honor - whatever - right before they take their vows, confused as to how they found out and found them then you are wrong. So very wrong! One might even officiate, who knows! Getting married without them HA! Nice try. 

17. What are MC’s opinions on the Golden Trio and the happenings at Hogwarts after they left?

Ron - Aww little Ronny! Look at him growing up, he’s getting so big now! She remembers when he was little! 

There’s a lot of affectionate teasing and reminiscing of embarrassing childhood stories that Keira feels maybe his friends need to hear =p A lot of messing with his hair and forcing him into tight hugs that again may embarrass him. Honestly, he views her as his older sister. He pretty much grew up with her or hearing about her from Bill, Charlie, even Percy and the Twins. She would come to visit and she’s very close with his two eldest brothers, even working with Bill, and every time she’s around him she treats him like her little brother. She’s been a big part of his life for most of what he can remember. He grew up hearing stories about her adventures at Hogwarts with his brothers so he should have been better prepared honestly for everything he had to deal with when he attended.

I’m sure he tried to brag even about her. “Yeah, my brother Bill is a Curse Breaker and his partner is Keira Black - yeah, the one who dealt with all the cursed vaults here - allegedly...” “My brother Charlie works with dragons but he could have gone on to play Quidditch professionally. Actually, his girlfriend - fiance? Unofficial wife? - played in the World Cup. And won. She could have played professionally too.” *insert Oliver Wood fangirling over Charlie and Keira’s Quidditch skills and how skilled their children would be!* “My big brothers and their friends would sneak into the Forbidden Forest all the time.” - but he doesn’t want to do that necessarily =p

But then after all his bragging when she’d actually appear and he’d get all embarrassed and wouldn’t want his friends to meet her because she just embarrassed him =p Sure Bill and Charlie partook in this as well. Likes to brag about his cool older siblings but no one actually meet them because they’ll embarrass them. Also they’re all giant dorks. Bill and Charlie smashing tables into each other when they’re supposed to be setting up for the wedding? All of them obsessed with their hair in some way. 

“Bill, remember that time you were obsessed with Emily Tyler and you had to ask ME to ask her out for you because you were too afraid!” - Some brave Curse-Breaker he is. 

“Well, remember when you dunked yourself into the courtyard fountain in the middle of the day? Then you were stuck with soaking clothes for the rest of classes that day. Everybody thought you were mad. Definitely looked mad.”

But she and Charlie were definitely the first people Ron thought of to help get Norbert safely out of Hogwarts, specifically her to get Norbert to Charlie if he couldn’t make it himself.

“Remember when you came into the Prefect’s bathroom and dove into my bath and Charlie walked in - he was so upset!” - Which would then lead to a series of embarrassing stories of Charlie because he foolishly thought being quiet and not sharing stories back and forth as Keira and Bill were would somehow save him from this but nope. Ron can’t have his friends hearing all these stories about them after bragging about them to his friends! Humiliating.

Hermione - She should be in Ravenclaw. She’s so smart and her hair is amazing. She should be the chosen one. Are we sure she’s really not? Thank Merlin for her because without her Ron and Harry would be doomed! I think there’s mutual respect between the girls.

Harry - Ohhhhh the special chosen one... Isn’t he so great and amazing -_-

Oh is there some bitterness and animosity from Keira towards Harry. She went through so much hell at school, broke all these curses to save people only to get punished and reprimanded by teachers and other adults, and had nasty rumours spread about her around school from the students, called cursed herself - no one appreciated all she did for them and that school! All the sacrifices and people she lost!

But Harry freakin’ Potter here basically gets a parade everywhere he goes and can do no wrong - HONESTLY. He caught the Golden Snitch in his mouth and won the game - she literally won the World Cup. Guess who got more praise and admiration. Dumbledore clearly favoring Harry when Keira feels he was not really on her side or supported her much. 

Now, she gets it, he didn’t ask for this - but she didn’t ask for her role either that was thrust upon her but at least he gets love for his while she was shunned. 

It’s an interesting dynamic where she can definitely empathize with his situation, having this responsibility thrust on him he didn’t ask for and constantly fighting of his and his friend’s lives, not wanting to put his friend’s at risk, being so confused about wtf is going on - she’s been there, she gets it. And when Ron requests her to give Harry some advice and help him out because he needs it and she’s the only one really who understands she agrees - mainly for Ron and his little puppy dog eyes - he’s adorable, how could she say no?! And she listens to Harry and validates him, because yeah, his feelings are totally valid and true, and tries to offer some advice based on her experiences and they sort of bond, and it’s not like she wants him to die or anything bad to happen to this kid! She’s not a horrible person! But she still has this resentment towards him, or at least the praise and adoration he gets, which again really isn’t his fault but... She also has a hard time being sympathetic to all the danger he’s experiencing because she dealt with so much so it’s like - yeah, yours isn’t really that bad =p You think your life is so hard? Psh, classic teenager.

So she offers her advice and to be someone to talk to for Harry if he needs it per Ron’s request and they sort of bond and she may even offer some help with things such as sneaking into the Forbidden Forest.

BUT THEN 

Sirius breaks out of Azkaban and it’s all Harry, Harry, Harry. HARRY?! HARRY FREAKING POTTER AGAIN?! Oh, Harry is his godson and he looks like James and reminds him of his friends he misses and he just wants to make sure he’s safe with everything he’s dealing with, sure his life is hard - oh what a supportive fucking person for Harry - WHAT ABOUT HER, HELLO?! She’s actually related to you! Sir! And she went through hell herself at Hogwarts. Didn’t go right to see her - okay she was probably in Egypt or Romania when he did BUT NOT THE POINT - straight to Harry because he’s the most important person in the world apparently! (I have an AU sort of story I really need to finish where Sirius actually breaks out during Keira’s 6th year I believe...no wait maybe 7th but even still clearly Sirius loves Harry and they have a special connection/bond and yeah Keira can get jealous).

Oh Keira may have hated Harry for awhile. And yeah, she gets it, Sirius has been through hell in prison, Harry is the only link to James and Lily who he loved and misses terribly, and those people he lives with are awful and Sirius would provide him a much better home that Harry deserves because no one deserves abuse - but Sirius is her family! Blood family! And she went through hell about being a scandalous member of the House of Black and admired Sirius honestly so much and then she finally gets to see him and he’s obsessed with Harry! She might just kill Harry herself. You’re welcome, Voldy! Jealous Aunty Bella? She’s that bitch that killed Harry =p 

She wouldn’t actively try to kill him but there were moment at the top of the stairs where she thought of giving him a little nudge and claiming he tripped and fell down them. 

Thank Merlin for Remus who always managed to be there for Harry and Keira and not show any sort of favoritism because he loves them and cares about them both. And is also a helpful voice of reason to Sirius who honestly doesn’t seem to get it =p Because Sirius is happy to see her and Jacob too, don’t get him wrong! And he’s proud of how she handled everything and what she’s done in her life, but feels like she did all that without him, like she doesn’t need him but Harry still does. And really, he broke out not because of Harry but because of Peter. If he broke out for Harry he would have done it years ago, not when Harry was a teenager, right?

I’m sure Remus sort of mediates a little sit down between Keira and Sirius because as members of the House of Black he knows very well they can be dramatic =p And he’ll get them to sit down and talk and be real and resolve this nonsense because they’re family and they love each other. And honestly they are so similar - SO similar - that Remus can get frustrated and be like ‘you two are acting exactly alike - like stubborn petty arses’ essentially to which they would both definitely respond about how they have nice arses =p

No worries about that, Sirius and Keira quickly bond, they are similar, and have a close relationship. But this is about Harry and Keira. And their relationship goes from bitterness to sort of a mentor to raging resentment to - omg, are we...family? Like...technically...sort of... And then this raging resentment turns into more like sibling rivalry/teasing... Like Keira is much harsher with her comments and ‘teasing’ towards Harry than any of the Weasley’s who she also views as family, as does Harry, but also forms this protective ‘I can mess with him and be mean to him but you can’t!’ She can say mean things, even beat up on him a little bit, but if anyone else tries it she’ll end them. He’s her punching bag =p 

She likes Harry, and they bond through their life experiences. She just has some resentment to work through. But then they actually form a sort of sibling-like bond. Where she then teases Harry and Ron mercilessly although still nicer to Ron and they may try to stand up for themselves but honestly they’re both pretty afraid of her and they know she loves them and will do anything to protect them. She just takes a long time to warm up to Harry. But they get there eventually. 

The Trio and their shenanigans - They should hang out with people from other houses not just a bunch of Gryffindors. Why are they being so cliquey and House-ist? =p

Part of her is also a little proud of their shenanigans but then part of her is like “oh a troll? Cute. Life size moving chess pieces? Psh, cursed ice knight. Spiders?! Still?! At first terrifying but now seriously annoying - he’s still causing drama?! Honestly, call an exterminator. A BASILISK?! ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME I WANT A BASILISK! I get a dragon that - okay, the dragon is super cool too, don’t get me wrong BUT A BASILISK! UGH SO JEALOUS! Oh you had a lesson on Boggarts? Yeah I had to deal with a whole army of them as part of a curse... Also had someone trying to kill me so... Yep, DADA Professor. Well she tried to use one of my friends so... Oh they just tried to kill you themselves? Didn’t use your friend so you couldn’t trust them and then kill one of your friends? Yeah, Cedric is incredibly sad and unjust but he wasn’t your best friend!” So a little... unimpressed...

“Yeah, Rita is a real piece of....work...”

“Dolores Umbridge?! Oh wow... I’m...I’m so sorry...that’s awful. That’s worse than anything I had to face.”

18. Did MC ever return to Hogwarts for some reason?

Prior to the 1994 World Cup game I like to think they honored the previous winning team in a little pre-game ceremony so Keira was there for that obviously (although not technically at Hogwarts) and then attended the dragon challenge of the TriWizard Tournament because Charlie was clearly going to be a part of that and she does want to see him as much as possible with them working in different countries plus Bill was going as well and she can’t really work without her partner - they’re a package deal! 

Did she make an appearance as an OG member of Weird Sisters for at least one song at the Yule Ball also that year? Perhaps. And she looked awesome =p 

Oh! And she definitely visited like the first day of Remus’ new job as DADA Professor - she was so proud! And maybe also to make sure he was getting Wolfsbane and all of that was good and taken care of. And then when he gets fired OH does she flip some tables and desks - Storms into Dumbeldore’s office, flip that desk, storm down to Snape’s Potions classroom, flip some of those tables and goes tf off! She is so pissed!

And then she’s obviously there for the Department of Ministry battle where she saves Sirius because nope, sorry, cannot have Sirius die like that. I have a whole post ranting about this =p And then the Battle of Hogwarts because again she’s not letting Remus and Tonks and Fred die. CAN’T DO IT I’M SORRY CANNOT! She came to fight and she came to win.

*(I swear I wrote out a whole post about how I cannot acknowledge Sirius’ death or Tonks and Remus because of how unfair it is to Remus in particular whose life was so hard and how he deserves to be happy but I cannot find it! I looked and looked and I’ll keep looking but I’m sorry!)

19. Did MC attend Fred and George’s Grand Opening of Weasley’s Wizards Wheeze? What was their reaction to the twin’s epic exit of Hogwarts?

Keira has never been more proud of anyone before ever. That exit was... the most beautiful thing... awe inspiring, amazing, incredible... Literally brought a tear to her eye. SO PROUD! Slow clap proud =p

Of course she made sure to be there at their opening, she’s very supportive of them and wants to make sure they know that! She probably made Charlie and Bill go to - not that their whole family probably weren’t already going and supportive but Keira was just making sure they showed their support. She didn’t care about what work they had - the baby dragon will hatch without you just fine! Let’s go! Allons-y! You telling me Tonks and Tulip weren’t also there?! They probably could keep that place afloat alone by themselves even though they’re not in school anymore - maybe just for the nostalgia. I’m sure a few other members of the Cursed Vaults Gang came to the opening to show their support as well, even if Keira made them =p 

Sorry this took so long to answer! Thanks for being patient! 💜

[crimsonshadow323]

Ghost Hunt Story Ch 1

Hey everyone! I am back with a Halloween chapter! Hope you all had a happy Halloween! Please enjoy this chapter! Please note that there are some elements that I borrowed from BBC’s Merlin. So if they seem familiar then that’s where it’s from. 

This now has an Ao3 and FFN 

You can see the previous chapter here

Gene looked at the girl with a smile, absently noticing that the girl hadn’t fawned over his looks yet, before holding out a hand. “Well it’s nice to meet you Miss Lionheart. My name is Eugene Davis. Perhaps you have heard of me?”

She must’ve what with being a part of the paranormal world. 

Ava gave him a bemused look before shaking his hand slowly. “Uh not to my knowledge no. Why are you someone important?” 

Apparently not.

She gasped quietly as a thought came to her head. “You’re not some kind of long lost prince are you? A samurai? I better not have raised a great warrior from the dead...again.” 

Now it was Gene’s turn to look bewildered. “What?”

“You’d be surprised at how many times that has happened. Once I accidently rose George Washington from his grave.” Ava shrugged helplessly. “Now that was an awkward weekend. Lovely fellow though.” 

“Rest assured, I am not some long lost prince, samurai or great warrior. Though I do want to hear the full story of you reanimating George Washington.” Gene cracked a grin before a shiver racked his frame. 

Right. He was still drenched in lake water and it was getting dark. He should probably call a taxi or something. At least that’s what Oliver would do--

Wait! Oliver! 

“Oh bugger.” Gene muttered as he realized that his bond with his twin was offline. That meant that Oliver must have either felt or saw him die. Double bugger. 

“...are you British?” Ava asked, looking mildly amused as Gene searched his pockets frantically. 

“Yeah I am.” Gene spoke offhandedly still focused on finding his phone. “You?”

“Mm... American.” She watched him search for a few more seconds before nudging him gently. “You do realize even if you find your phone --which honestly is most likely at the bottom of the lake by now-- it wouldn’t work because it was submerged for who knows how long?”

Gene paused as he realized she was right. With a sigh and a hanging head he stood up. It was rather difficult as his legs seemed to stop cooperating. Once he was finally standing he turned to Ava as she too stood up. He was rather amused to notice that he was several inches taller than her.  

“So Miss Necromancer, do you have a phone I could use or do your powers work on electronics as well?” Gene asked his lips twitching as he heard her mutter about ‘tall people’

She gave him a flat look. “That would be Cyberkinesis. And no, I don’t do that.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out an iPhone before tossing it to him. “Here.”

Gene fumbled slightly at catching it but that was only because his fingers were going stiff from the cold...or so he hoped. Muttering a quick thanks he then dialed Oliver’s number hoping that he would pick up quickly. It went straight to voicemail. Damn.  

Quickly he tried Lin’s number but it went to voicemail as well. With a huff he tried both his mother’s and father’s numbers. Each time it just went to voicemail.

“Bloody hell.” He muttered crossly, he kicked at a pebble and sent it flying into the lake. 

“No one answered?” Ava asked curiously, she gave a sympathetic wince when he just glowered in her direction. “That sucks. But we should probably get going. It’s getting late and really cold too. Wouldn’t want to get hypothermia or something.”

Gene sighed knowing that he needed to contact his family as soon as physically possible in case Oliver did something idiotic with his powers again. But Ava was right,  the more pressing matter was getting into some dry clothes before he caught hypothermia and died... again. 

Which reminded him...

“So Ava, how exactly did you bring me back to life?” Gene asked as the two walked along the path that led into town. “Did you do a ritual? Read a spell? Smack me back to life?” 

Ava blushed lightly still feeling the embarrassment of bringing him back so forcefully. “Uh...well It was kind of an accident.”

“So you said.” Gene’s tone was amused. “But it still doesn’t explain how exactly you did it.”

“Well...y’see I was taking a walk passed the lake here, and noticed that it had a death aura around it. So, being the curious idiot that I am, I decided to investigate.”

“What exactly is a ‘death aura’ if you don’t mind me asking?” Gene asked, rather fascinated. He could practically imagine Oliver demanding answers of her. 

 “Oh. A death aura is when a place or an object, or maybe even a person has come in contact or, in this case, witnessed a death recently.” Ava shrugged at the look he gave her. “It usually comes across as a heavy feeling of sorrow or anger. It usually depends on if the death was sudden  and violent-- like a murder or a car crash-- or still and peaceful-- like of old age or sickness. For some you can even see a haze or mist surrounding the place, object or person.”

“I see,” Gene mumbled as his thoughts raced upon receiving the information. “And do you see this mist?” 

“Yeah, usually. That’s what drew my eye to you. Lucky thing too otherwise I’d be here forever trying to search for you.” She gave him a quick grin before continuing her explanation. “So anyway, I saw the death aura around the lake and followed it to where you had sunk to the bottom. I pulled you up which took longer than I had anticipated. --you’re not exactly light you know.” 

“Hey! Are you calling me fat?” Gene gasped in mock outrage, stopping in his tracks. 

“Meh, if the boot fits British boy.” She snickered at his offended glare, she too had paused in her walking. “After unwrapping you from that blanket you were tangled up in, I tried to wake you up.”

“By slapping my face.” Gene’s voice was flat.

“Heh...yeah. That might not have been the brightest idea. All I know was that I wanted you to wake up and then suddenly you’re spitting up water all over yourself like some drooling baby.”

“I am not a drooling baby.”  Gene sniffed, turning away from her smirking face. 

Rolling her eyes at his dramatics she continued walking down the path, only to laugh as he squawked in outrage at being left behind. They walked in a companionable silence until Gene noticed Ava glancing at him out of the corner of her eye.

“What?”

Ava ducked her head in embarrassment, her cheeks tinged pink. “It’s nothing...”

“No it’s not. What is it?” Gene asked again, giving her a curious look.

“Why do you... um... what I mean to say is...” She huffed in frustration at being unable to find the right words. “Are you a psychic?” 

“In a manner of speaking,” Gene hummed giving her a small smile. “I’m a medium.”

“Oh honey, have you looked in the mirror? I’d say a size higher with those legs of yours.” 

Gene blinked at her not quite getting what she was talking about before it clicked. “What-- no I meant a ‘medium’ as in, I see dead people.”

“Did you just quote The Sixth Sense?” Ava snorted in amusement.

“I... It wasn’t intentional.” Gene spluttered and now it was his turn for his cheeks to flush. 

“Sure it wasn’t.” Ava snickered before shrugging at his look. “Sorry sorry... please continue Mr. I see-dead-people.”

Gene rolled his eyes again before continuing his explanation and ignoring her amused laughter. “I can see ghosts and talk with them. I’m what’s called a perfect medium, that means that if or when I get possessed I am able to speak whichever language the ghost spoke in their past life.”

“Interesting. But tell me this British boy, why on earth would you want to be possessed by a ghost? That is the stupidest idea I have heard all day.” 

“It’s a thing Mediums do, I wouldn’t expect a necromancer to understand.” Gene’s tone was teasing. 

Ava blinked at that before smirking. “Fair enough.”

Gene chuckled before continuing. “In all seriousness, it’s a thing we do to help the spirits of the departed crossover into the next life. Sort of a ‘last rite’ if you will. For instance if I met a ghost of say a grandma and her biggest regret was not saying goodbye to her family then I would allow her to possess me so that she may fulfill her final wish and then pass over.”

“Oh.” Ava went quiet for a length of time mulling that over in her mind. “That’s really cool.”

“So what do you do? As a necromancer I mean.” He gave her a sideways smirk. “Y’know besides accidently reanimating founding fathers.”

Ava scowled and muttered something about how that happened only once but no one would ever let it go. “Well it depends on the people and on the situations. Like this one time there was a couple who had gotten into a car crash. It was quite sad because they had only just gotten married a week prior, the husband was alright, only a few broken bones but the wife was in critical condition.”

“So what did you do?” Gene asked, captivated by the story.

“I helped them of course, though I hadn’t planned on it. I was at the hospital visiting this old guy, Carl, that was there visiting the children --nice dude, he loved volunteering in the pediatric ward-- when we heard the reaction of the husband finding out that his new wife would probably never wake up. Carl, who knew exactly who and what I am, was moved by the husband’s grief and offered his life in exchange for the young woman’s. After making sure that Carl was absolutely sure about his offer, I went to the young man and introduced myself. Now the husband’s name was Keith and when he heard that I could potentially help his wife wake up he agreed to the terms. Once the spell was done the wife woke up and Carl passed away.”

There was silence for a bit after the end of her story, Ava lost in memories and Gene in his thoughts. They both were so preoccupied with this that they didn’t realize they had made it into town until they heard the hustle and bustle of the town’s inhabitants. 

“So what’s next for you British boy?” Ava asked curiously.

“A shower and clean clothes.” Gene said immediately, he wanted to get out of his still damp clothes as soon as he could. 

Ava snorted at that. “And then?”

“Then I have to call my brother.”

[mimir-anoshe]

💧&🔥

Just a bit of Cursed/Nimulot analysis… Cause I’m bored. And I might have found some interesting parallels/imagery watching it through for the 7 billionth time that I would love to share. If anyone enjoys writing meta… Which I mean I know some of y’all need your fix… Feel free to use anything/expand upon it. I would, but I’m a new fur-mumma and she’s taking up all my waking hours, so this little shit-post about this new hell hole of a ship I’ve dove headfirst into will have to do. The images are from a video and show produced by Netflix, I own nothing, so pls don’t be a bitch about it Tumblr.

***SPOILERS FOR THE SHOW!!! WATCH IT AND COME BACK!! OR DON’T? ANYHOO YOU’VE BEEN WARNED!!*** ⚠️  

- beware Tumblr app users, it may be your doom -

Where to begin, with the teaser? Or with…

THE SHOW! Here be just a wee few times the writers/director(s) through the writing/cinematography have mirrored these two ‘protect the kid - warriors till the end’ idiots. I’m sure others have picked up on them… Not in any particular order, here ya go anyway.

1x02 - 1x10

*Insert spiderman pointing at spiderman meme*

One scar made by an actual dark god tricking her when she was a child, the others by a very human evil tricking him when he was a child and the consequences for both lasting into adulthood.

1x02 - 1x10

Look at the years of trauma Anakin, look at it! They even use the same damn word! The phonetic tones of disgust! The outcast syndrome! Oof. (And it’s not like Nimue being called demon has to do with a general racial-slur from a human, that is a fey calling her that from her own village!) They both grew up viewing themselves as “demons”, the “abominations”. Even their expressions are the same, fear and sorrow and self-hatred. All they both want is to be accepted! (By their fathers especially). To be loved.

The two who are “cursed.”

1x02 - 1x01

*says nothing*

1x04 - 1x01

“Where to begin? With water or with fire?”

Where to begin? WHERE TO BEGIN??? *dies*

Water ☯ Fire

Sword up  ☯ Sword down

Light/Day  ☯  Dark/Shadow

Life & Death (Life around her, death in the water) ☯ Death & Life (forest fires make way for new growth)

Long bit: Both characters are associated to the elements of water and fire individually through the environment/cinematography/colour pallet/colour symbolism, and then water and fire is mirrored between them. She is overall water, he is overall fire; but they also have a bit of the other in each other.

For Nimue this symbolism is often done through her environment, showing her connection to nature as the fey queen and that she does not hide who she is if she can help it. She does not hide externally, so her elemental symbolism becomes EXTERNAL.

Whilst for Lancelot though he is often surrounded by fire, the idea of water/tears is either symbolised through the fairy tale style of the artwork or referenced for him through his name as “the weeping monk.” Hinted at in his characterisation of guilt and self-loathing, the way other characters respond to him (”the one who cries”/”you see it all through those weeping eyes”). His main conflict is an Internal fight between who he is and who he needs to become, so a lot of his main symbolism surrounding water (and even fire as pertaining to magic - ashfolk - and not killing fey) is INTERNALISED, hidden, cut off from the Hidden themselves. Symbolic of him hiding his connection to the fey and that other side of himself, the “human” (morally speaking) side, and therefore hiding who he truly is… Lancelot.

For Nimue, fire means life. Being chosen and her magic saving people. For Lancelot fire means Death, his deeds, “the fires of hell” and the destruction of the “ash” folk and his heritage. He believes hell fire is his fate, going by the “even if I am damned.”

For Nimue, water means death. In the water she takes revenge, where that Paladin almost drowned her. Into the water she falls, where they think her shot dead by arrows. The water is her fate as the Lady of the Lake. For Lancelot, water means life. Tears, emotions, taking responsibility, feeling the weight of his guilt and mourning for the things he has done/lost. For him, water - not ash -means a second chance to be better. To put out the fires and heal.

Though in the end, for both of them, water & fire most of all represent death and rebirth.

1x03

^If you don’t understand I can’t help you. ☯

1x01 - 1x07

Now this one I found quite interesting. Remember that even if Nimue directed the second one, it is still the Power/will of the Hidden at play. (Or should I say the will of the Writers/director) Chosen? Mirrors? Night and Day? Fire… Embers to Ashes? We shall see, but I think it was definitely on purpose.

^I’ll just leave that here, the fuckers kept missing each other for an entire season (WHICH WAS ON PURPOSE THE WRITERS DID THAT ON PURPOSE just as an fyi). The fact that there is this much sexual tension, anticipation, mirroring, fate, destiny and chemistry between two characters who have never even mET should be ILLEGAL! They affect each other immeasurably without ever even meeting, so imagine what will happen when they do...? *pterodactyl screech*

Whelp there ye go. Under the next gif I also did a bit on the Teaser trailer, as that just fucked me up a bit I have to tell you! Up to you whether you want to continue digesting my mad ramblings or not. *Shrug* Thanks for coming to my TED talk guys– 😂 Somebody fucking smite me down like the eldritch horror of writing I am dear god think of the children…

THE OFFICIAL TEASER TRAILER:

Arthur running for the Sword of Power, because you know, King Arthur.

“The Legend says…” The Legend of King Arthur and his Sword Excalibur/Caliburnus? The line is very meta, a reference to the in world legend that this story will create, but it’s also expecting the audience to be savvy of the actual legend of King Arthur and his knights. Both these ideas intertwined into one. Aka, the trailer expects us to have pre-decided expectations for the story we’re now being told, because we’ve already been told it before; this fairy tale of celtic myth/history. All the “spoilers” about Arthur, his lineage, Morgana, Guinevere, the Knights, even the lady of the Lake herself come with that knowledge. However…

Surprise surprise, the Weeping Monk (killer of fae)/ Lancelot (eventually Arthur’s most trusted KNIGHT) instead picks up the fae sword from it being embedded in the ground, subverting our expectation, it definitely fucking subverted mine, but not in a GOT way, in a ~good~ way. I was like, “Whosoever be this fine hooded fellow hath stole away both sword and my good sense!!! 👀”

Also harkening back to the legend of the sword in the stone (another expectation), which the action itself signifies that person be - as Merlin so eloquently puts - “The one true king.”

Ok… Symbolic wink wink nudge nudge towards his true nature (inside and out), saving Percival, potentially becoming the greatest warrior and protector of his people and eventually a Knight of the Round Table; and perhaps King of our Hearts??? Ok, sure thing “concept” trailer. I’ll bite.

Ok… *deep breath*

WHOMSt the fUCK decided to frame (fae “ashman”) ?Lancelot? with the ~SWORD OF KINGS~ (also of fae origin) A N D the line…‘the one true king’ ALL IN ONE… instead of Arthur?

‘BELONGS to the one true King?’ Belongs, hmm interesting word choice… This done in a worms eye view shot meant to make the viewer feel like the character is above/superior/basically we’re kneeling before them? (Which I mean sure? but…) Hmm??? HMMM??? I don’t understand CONCEPT Trailer what is the CONCEPT you’re trying to get across? One hand on his paladin sword and the other on “fae hope” Excalibur I get, he has to make an important decision, one that will either save his humanity (and his people) or destroy it (them), yeah yeah sure that’s F I N E…

…but what about the “KING” SHIT HMMM?? Is there something you would like to share with the rest of the class? *sips tea whilst staring straight into the camera*

it may mean nothing don’t quote me

…Anwaaaay… We all know in a fight Lancelot can kick Arthur’s ass so that’s not whats going on here. Arthur is P I S S E D. They’re not just bog standard enemies here. I mean WPM kicking him in the ribs was pretty “fuck you” and they were just enemies there. In this instance the sword is in play, Weeping Monk has taken something from Arthur that he feels “BELONGS” to him - in this case symbolised by WPM taking “his” sword - and that’s making it personal.

“You stole my sword ya bitch!” And what is the sword linked to? Power? Sure. The right of being a King? Yep. And also a certain Queen…  No no no, this is the Concept of rivalry. It shows that whatever relationship Arthur and his “Knight” will have in the future after all the “die die die” starts to sizzle down will - in its genesis - be a rivalry. Probably mirroring Gawain and Arthur when they first met to an extent. A rivalry for power? For something else? Who Knows!

*whistles innocently*

And down down down he goes. He’s FALLING. There are many metaphorical concepts associated to FALLING… Falling from “grace” (in the eyes of the Church)… Falling because he has a sky full of guilt crashing down upon him… falling for h… falling in Lo… into the Water!!!! Until he is completely submerged. Water, the idea of cleansing, of washing away who you once were/trauma/sins of the past so you may be reborn a better version of yourself. His old ideals are defeated, he submits to his true heritage and allows it to wash around him so he may begin to heal.

Though if we’re talking metaphors, water is - for obvious reasons - always associated with the LADY OF THE LAKE… Nimue. He has fallen into her world. (pss he’s gonna fall for the Chick in the Lake - I think - there ye go). Water is associated to memory/reflections and mirrors. And he is CRASHING through this mirror… This idea of reflections/mirror images is even more ironic when you’ve watched the show.  

And as he falls beneath the water with the sword of a King, she rises out of it, with the sword of a Queen… Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s in the biggest shipping hell of them all? Either these two are going to be really good at relay, or there’s some conceptual significance here. The specifics? No fecking clue, will need to wait for a season 2! There is also some interesting use of Z~oo~m in this last bit, but I’m sure it’s pretty obvious to you all. Summary: just visually in a concept “teaser” trailer, the zoom in on them both, the reverse mirroring, the literal and symbolic visual of water and the Sword (of rulers) connecting them frames these two characters together, that’s just in the concept trailer. Links their legend together. TBH IT LITERALLY LOOKS LIKE LANCELOT FELL INTO THE WATER AND TURNED INTO NIMUE  WHAT IS THIS GREEK SOULMATE SHIT I’M–

*calms down* This trailer and the show also definitely said to the original Arthurian Legend “RIP but I’m different.” I mean, Nimue is definitely not Lancelot’s mother figure in this one, that’s all I’m saying.

I think this legend might be a wee bit different 😉*cackles*

[1stunseeliefaelass]

Darksiders Arthurian Tales Revisited

Chapter 13: The Hunt Begins

Strife immediately panics and goes looking through his inventory to find a crystal. Death however grabs him by the shoulders.

"STRIFE! Calm down, Miriam should be fine. Uther likely won't pay attention to her. As far as he's concerned, he's probably among the group that doesn't view her race as people."

"Still worth checking on her, you know? I do not want tiny getting punted." Strife states.

"She can actually avoid getting stepped on you know. I taught her a spell to make herself taller. A better disguise than her running around in country bumpkin dress."

"Ok she can do a whole lot more than just country bumpkin, I know, I helped" Strife tells him annoyed.

"Right, and you have such a good style." Death remarks sarcastically.

Strife rolls his eyes before calling Miriam up finally. Miriam meanwhile is reading another romance novel as per usual in the city library. She ends up hearing her crystal go off and quickly hops down from her powder puff for a bed. From there Miriam hopped across a thin line with decorative lanterns on it, using said lanterns as platforms. Once across the line she gets down to the table her crystal is on using a bucket for a elevator. Finally upon reaching it she answers the call in a very cute, high pitched voice.

"Hello there?"

"Miriam you alright?"

"Mmhmm, you know I am my big gunslinger. What's cooking?"

Death suddenly busts out laughing in the background, "Did she just utter the expression 'big gunslinger'!?"

"Oh go sit on Harker's dick Death!" Miriam shouts in a mini explosion.

"Uhm no thank you. Ahem."

Then Puck walks in, "Already did it for him."

"Wait a minute.....Strife did you get into trouble at another bar?" Miriam asks.

"No no not at all my Sugarplum Fairy." Strife tells her gulping.

Puck looks at him funny, "Wait are you and her an item? I didn't know you were into shots of hard alcohol."

As Death continued to try and die of laughter, Strife retorted to both of them, "First off, she's a shot of Jaeger. Second off, you, shut up."

Miriam is of course squeeing at the comment, "Awwwwwwwww. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

"AH! Sugarplum you're gonna crack the windows, tone it down a peg. Anyway, I'm calling to ask if you're alright."

"As I said I'm fine. Why so worried?" Miriam inquires gingerly.

"Uhm just uh...telling ya....uh....if anyone bad mouths my brother, keep your head down. Don't speak up about it ok?"

"Oh sure, but what's he done this time?" Miriam asks.

"Uhmmmm.....I may have pissed off a King, again."

He hears a tiny facepalm, "Really?"

"To be honest, I was trying to stop him from harming an innocent person." Death expresses.

Strife adds on, "Yeah, he's got on crush on her too."

"Zip it."

"Hey you make fun of my love life, I make fun of yours. This is the game we play brother, this is the game we play." Strife states.

Suddenly Miriam hears the bell above the front door ring and glances over, "Oh, I gotta go now. May need to help with this customer. It's how I earn my keep here you know."

"Right right, just stay out of trouble. Swear to me you'll be safe ok?"

"Of course honeybuns, talk later." Miriam says before ending the call with a smooch. She then scurries to the front desk where a rather scary looking pirate is. The old librarian is noticeably concerned upon meeting them.

"Uh ah.......Mr Ding.......uh-uh I mean Captain Leatherbeard. What brings you to my humble library? A romance novel perhaps?"

"Heheheh haha....Nah nah, you know I'm not into those books. They're nowhere near realistic, or worth my taste." The bald man said simply. His 'beard' lived up to his name. Scarred tissue and calloused skin that when touched was comparative to leather. He had no true hands, as one was replaced by a massive anchor. The other looked like an unfinished prosthetic, that is unless it morphed another tool. A constantly changing piece of work that could become multiple things, using the mechanical parts mixed with a good dose of magic. Course he hadn't expected to hear a sudden small voice pipe up next to him.

"Actually sir, the romance novels can be very realistic."

He glanced over to the small Pixie Elf girl, "Hmhmhmhm....how so?"

"They just are, I assure you." Miriam insisted a bit flustered.

"Heheh....and have you experienced any of those things in your books?" The Captain inquired, getting closer to her.

"Why would I be so inappropriate as to tell a customer such things?"

"Heheh....I hear it's inappropriate to call a customer 'wrong' on a subject."

Miriam gulped, "Sir it was only an assurance."

"Oh assurance was it? So, you're saying this poor lonely soul of mine could find love? Have a peaceful life? Could have someone accept me for the way I look? The way I talk...heheh? For the way I act? You're saying I can find love? So naive. So filled with hope in this cruel dark world."

"I have love, and he appreciates me for who I am. Never judges my little stature." Miriam states.

"Heheheheh....Well I mean you are quite a pipsqueak but, I've seen smaller. And besides, how tall is your great prince? Is he as tall as me? Or is he as tall as my beautiful first mate here?" Leatherbeard asks her whilst pulling his first mate over, a female surprisingly.

"Shorter than both of you actually, but I still love him very much." Miriam says all dreamy.

"Oh well then, since there is a small height difference, you mind telling me how you get all 'snuggly' with him?"

"I'm afraid I can't say, it's private." Miriam states firmly.

"Hmm, we've already gone this far? Why can't we go any further?" Leatherbeard questions before suddenly snatching her in his fist. Squishing her big time he inquires further, "Give me a good reason why I shouldn't pop you? What makes you unique enough for me NOT to SQUEEZE?"

Miriam finally utters the spell under breath, which knocks Leatherbeard back slightly. As the light from the spell clears, he sees she's taller now. Slightly taller than a halfling, lithe, and actually rather 'blessed' as well.

"Hohohoh....now I can see it. Hahaha." Leatherbeard says before putting his hands on both her shoulders, "Now I can see why someone as tall as him could find someone like you pleasurable. Mind if I take a peek?"

"I'd rather you didn't....." Miriam says backing away like a frightened fawn. Her black doe eyes certainly don't help her image.

"Oh come now, you already gave me one good peek. What's wrong with seeing the whole show, as it were? I'm sure your, man, won't mind. He isn't here to give any trouble now is he?"

Miriam began looking around frantically and finally just forced herself through a window. Naturally she was cut by the glass but in her terror she paid no heed to her bleeding arms and feet. Scurrying away like there was no tomorrow. Only for Leatherbeard to pursue her. He takes a shard of glass, and upon sniffing it, "Got ya. Run run as fast as you can, nowhere to hide from me."

Miriam kept running, leaving a trail of even more blood as she went on in her fear. Meanwhile the librarian takes the opportunity to call Strife, "Strife you need to get down here, Miriam's in trouble."

Strife freezes and asks, "Wait what do you mean by trouble? What's going on?" Suddenly he hears the poor man being choked out and yells, "What's happening what's happening!?"

The first mate then picks up for him, "Captain's about to get himself a new gift. Thank you for her, honestly. Captain's been feeling a bit antsy today."

"Bitch where's my girl?!"

"Look honey my time is short, so if you know what's good for ya, let this happen. Or you can just get yourself killed, your choice buddy. Either way, this one's on you." She tells him before slitting the librarian's throat and ending the call.

Suddenly Death gets his own call from a very scared Miriam, "DEATH HELP ME!!"

"Ah! What's going on, and please speak calmly if you can?"

"Just get me out of here! Please!" Miriam screams at him.

"Merlin, get a portal ready! Miriam you need to keep running, who's chasing you?"

Suddenly Death hears a yelp and a voice he never thought he'd never hear again, "So your name's Miriam eh? Heheheh...and I can hear your friend there. Hello there Death, been a while. Hahaha ha..." Leatherbeard tells him before singing the song Oh Death.

Course he's interrupted by Strife, as he explodes whilst hearing Miriam whimpering on Death's crystal, "You motherfucking son of a bitch! Fucking damn you, you goddamn monster! I won't let anyone I care about become one of your playthings! No matter how demented you are, so come at me you bitch!"

Leatherbeard actually looks impressed, "Strife? Heh, last time I remember you were just a squirt. Heheh...been a while, been a while indeed."

"What the hell are you on about? Last I checked, we never met!" Strife yells at him.

Death notices Morgen looking a bit scared again, and inquires quietly, "Do you know him?"

"He's one of Uther's privateers." Morgen says in her fear.

"Shit. Strife you need to cool it." Death tries to tell Strife before they hear Leatherbeard singing that song again.

He then actually lets Miriam go surprisingly, and menacingly calls after her, "Keep running, just...keep...RUNNING.."

From there everyone hears the painful transformation that Leatherbeard undergoes. His 'screams' of pain more like moans that slowly become a strained hissing sound. The bones snapping in place, limbs and teeth growing. Every visceral detail and bloody pop they hear on the crystal. Finally a low hiss is all that's heard next before the crystal is smashed to bits. The wereshark has begun his frenzy. Strife begins having a panic attack, imagining whatever twisted being he fears Leatherbeard may be now. He can't get the image of Miriam being devoured by some twisted amalgamation out of his head. No matter how hard he tries.

"Shit fuck....shit!"

"Calm down calm down, Merlin get that portal ready damn it!" Death shouts.

"Working on it working on it! I can't keep a good lock on it when she's running around as fast as she is!" Merlin shouts back.

"Then let ME find her! My crystal's still intact so you can track me with that right?" Strife tells him.

"Riiiiiight." Merlin says.

"Be careful, he's a vicious monster and you still don't know what you're going into." Death warns Strife.

"I think I got this." Strife states confidently.

"Don't be cocky."

"Bitch please, I know what I'm doing. He's a Therianthrope, magic can still work against him right?" Strife questions.

"You have no idea who or what he is. That's it, I'm going with you in case you get yourself killed."

"I have this covered." Strife insists.

"Now is not a good time to argue. If you want to save Miriam, we need go now. Merlin get that portal ready!"

Merlin shouts back, "I already got it ready, now stand in the circle!"

As they do so, Miriam turns into her normal self. Letting a loud little shriek as she does so. As the glass still stuck in her scratches her up more. Miriam then slowly climbs up a wall pipe and after getting comfy she slowly begins losing consciousness. Course Strife heard her shriek of pain and immediately bolts in that direction. With Death running after him in worry. Miriam's extra blood however, brings Leatherbeard's attention all the more. Eventually Strife finds the blood trail Miriam left, and he and Death then hear Leatherbeard breathing nearby.

"You go get her, I'll take care of this guy." Death tells Strife before taking a stance for combat.

Strife nods and hurries on, finding the blood trail has led to the pipe she's hiding in, and it's practically leaking out of the pipe. He panics and quickly whispers up the pipe, "Miriam, you alright in there? Miriam I need you to say something."

He doesn't get much of a response, beyond a sudden rapid group of little thumps going down the pipe. Finally Miriam falls out of it, covered in her blood and scaring Strife shitless.

"Miriam!" Strife shouts in his panic whilst trying to patch her up. Even ripping her clothes off to get to her injuries better. As he's working on getting the glass out and wrapping her up quickly. Occasionally he nudges her with a finger and each little moan she lets out gives him the reassurance he needs. All of a sudden, Death is sent flying through a building. Landing conviently right beside his younger sibling.

" What the fuck?!" Strife shouts before looking behind him. Seeing a massive wereshark staring him down.

"Heheheh...three birds, one stone." Leatherbeard says in a low, hissing voice.

Strife pulls out Redemption and uses charge shot on him. The first shot sends him back a ways. Leatherbeard looks at Strife, then at where the bullet hit him, and laughs. Strife then realizes, the bullet didn't even penetrate through that thick bastard.

"The fuck?"

"Heheheh, cute." Leatherbeard laughs before flexing the bullet off of his skin. It left a dent, but nothing more. Not even blood.

As Strife is trying to think something to do, he feels something grasp his hand. Looking down he sees Miriam hugging his hand as tight as she can in her state. Shaking a little bit as she does so. Strife then hears Death behind him getting up.

"Nnngh...try the electric shock and run!"

Strife does so and hopes for the best. Using his electric shock on Leatherbeard seems to be somewhat effective. The electricity slows him down and it pumps through his body. Strife then immediately takes the borrowed time to try and help Death up.

"Go! I'll be right behind you!"

"I'm not leaving you behind!" Strife hollers before getting Death on his shoulder. His other hand grasping onto Miriam still. From there he hurries as best he can to get himself and the others out of there. Suddenly Leatherbeard forms his prosthetic into a massive anchor flail and then slams it down in front of Strife.

"No more running boy. Heh....you grew up big and strong. Compared to the pipsqueak you were when you were young. Absalom didn't see your potential, while THAT ONE on your shoulder nearly smothered it out. Heheheheh...."

"Last time I checked, if there's one thing my brother taught......don't give a shit about what others think. Give a shit about what you think. And personally, I think you're an asshole." Then he set Miriam in Death's hand pulls out Mercy, and aims at Leatherbeard's dick. Using a lazershot he continues, "And just for you scaring my lady, prepare to lose your dick!"

Strife begins firing, whilst Leatherbeard pulls his anchor back to deflect the shot. He succeeds in doing so to Strife's anger. Strife brings out his daggers but sees even those seem to not affect him. As unfortunately his silver enchantment doesn't work as he'd hoped. He's then bitch slapped backwards into the square, hitting a fountain at the center. Strife then gets up with some effort and fights on, only to get slammed in the ribcage by the anchor. He spits out blood briefly and Death meanwhile finally searches his mind and finds Crom.

"I need a little bit of your power, that's it."

"A small bit, in return for your time later." Crom states to Death's confusion.

Death suddenly feels a surge of power in him, like a rising flame, a burning sensation as vines begin growing around him. He then shields Miriam in a small bubble before going on the attack. The vines catching a flame and wrapping around Leatherbeard as Death begins floating in midair. A raged fuelled fire consuming him, slowly eating away at his sense, as he begins burning Leatherbeard. Even thorns form eventually that hold Leatherbeard in place as he burns within the vines' grasp. The shield bubble housing Miriam soon harmlessly bounces towards Strife, who's looking at his older brother in horror and shock. As the vines are also wrapped around him and burning him as much as they are Leatherbeard.

Scooping the bubble up he shouts at Death, "That's enough! We've got her let's go!", Strife then hollers out, "Merlin we've got her! Get us out of here now!"

Death however gives no indication that he's hearing him. Fighting the power as much as he is using it. Unable to do much else beyond attacking and fighting for control of himself. The pain making it even harder.

He thinks he can hear Strife shouting at him, "Death snap out of it! Merlin pull us out now!"

"If Death's like that I can't! He'll pose a danger to others! If I bring him here he'll probably burn this whole place to the ground, try and snap him out of it!"

Strife then yells at his brother one more time, as he can see Leatherbeard smirking. Healing from the flames as fast as Death could burn him, "Dude it isn't even working on him, stop!"

"I.....must burn...." Death shouts as he begins to lose control of himself, then in Strife's mind he tells him, "Douse..me.....now!"

Strife nods and sees the broken fountain spewing water. He only needs to redirect it. Strife takes a manhole and tries redirecting the water towards Death. The water hits Leatherbeard at first but isn't doused. Death however is then hit square in the chest and is doused. Death reacts quickly by throwing an attack at Strife, being under the influence of the power still. It misses luckily and Death grabs his head suddenly. Finally coming to his senses with effort, and realizing he is massively burnt. He begins healing and gets over to Strife, only to turn around as he hears Leatherbeard snapping the vines. Death takes off towards Strife despite his extreme pain, then shouts,

"GET US THE HELL OUT OF HERE!"

Merlin then finally does so," Got it got it, it's on its way."

"We're low on time! Death's hurt bad and Leatherbeard's coming right at us!" Strife replies.

The circle then begins forming around him, and Death manages to get into the circle. However his achilles tendon is suddenly scratched by Leatherbeard's prosthetic hand, which he morphed into a harpoon gun. Just as the group finally teleports away, Leatherbeard picks up the bloodied harpoon bolt. Death meanwhile is screaming in pain as the adrenaline shuts off, he can feel the burns all over his body and his injured tendon. War immediately grabs Death, throwing him over his shoulder.

"Gah! Could you please be gentle!?"

"Sorry." War says simply before hurrying to find a medic.

Strife meanwhile stays behind with Miriam after getting her out of the shield bubble. Merlin is about to ask but Harker comes in and does it for him, "What the hell's happening here? Why is your brother screaming bloody murder?"

Strife only shook his head, "Leatherbeard....nnngh....", he then holds his side as the adrenaline rush in him dies down too.

"You, sit down. I'll take care of your girl as best I can. Ok lassie, geez what'd ya do to yerself in order to cause this?"

Miriam shakily explains, "I was big at first....and broke through a window....got glass in me though. Me going small again.....well you can probably guess what happened...."

Strife then looks at her, "Seriously, you shrunk down with glass in you?"

"I was scared......but it was even scarier while I was hiding......I thought.....I thought......" Miriam begins to say before sniffling.

"Take it easy, he's not after you right now. Plus he doesn't know where we are, and he can't find us." Strife tells her whilst nuzzling her with his finger.

Then everyone freezes as they hear Leatherbeard call them up and begin singing Oh Death once again. Harker drops to the floor, screaming, "NO!", over and over again. Having a full blown panic attack. Miriam hugs Strife's hand right away and begins sobbing into his palm. The taunting singing goes on until after the third or fourth time Harker screams no.

"Ah Harker, I didn't know you were here. Heheh I'm on my way to wherever you land lovers are. And Harker, keep yourself warm for me. I don't want it to be too hard on ya."

Harker immediately hides in his serpent form inside an empty pot. Muttering gaelic swears to himself in fear and occasionally uttering things that suggest pleading. Eventually they hear him having what sounds like a PTSD flashback in there. Death comes back into the room with help from War and Morgen, having heard the commotion.

"What's going on? I heard Harker screaming." Death inquires with a slight hitch to his tone.

Strife points at the pot, "He's having a....'moment' in the pot there. Might want to go check on him."

As Death goes to do so, Leatherbeard has one final thing to say to Strife, "So, how often do you use the cocksleeve?"

"You son of a...!" Strife goes to retort before the crystal hangs up. He then notices Miriam looking extremely hurt by that. Naturally he scoops Miriam up and brings her close to him. Gently placing her to his face after removing his helm. She of course hugged his nose for being so sweet to her, a gave a teensie peck to it's bridge. His warm smile gave her a big reassurance as he oh so tenderly returned the kiss to the side of her head.

"Sugarplum, I love you more than anything. You're so much more to me than a cocksleeve. You give me what matters, you accept me just as much I do you. And that's just fine by me, in fact it's perfect."

"Awwwwwww.....you always know what to say." Miriam replies blushing hard.

"And she's completely red, you sure she's bandaged correctly?" Death states sarcastically.

"Yeah I'm pretty sure I patched her up just right. And uh what did Leatherbeard mean by he'll see us soon, he has no idea where we are? Right?" Strife inquires of him.

He thinks back, and remembers how effective a shark's sense of smell is. And both of he and Miriam have bled profusely between themselves, "He has both our scents. Damn it!"

"How the fuck did he do that?"

"He's a shark! Think about it." Death growls at him.

Both Strife and Miriam get a horrified look, and Miriam in particular begins having a mini panic attack. "Don't worry, I won't let him get to you. I'm gonna find a way to kill this bastard, you hear me?" Strife tells her calmly whilst cupping her in both of his hands.

Death then remembers Harker and checks on him inside the pot. "You in there?" Death asks tapping the outside of it.

Harker then comes up from the pot and is now in a smaller version of his true form. Being about the size of a house cat once he comes out. He then hops into Death's arms and begins to make a slight purring noise.

"Seriously?" Death asks before petting him like a house cat.

"Thanks Death. I know it's......probably not the best....time right now but.........thank you." Harker expresses slowly.

"Don't mention it. I'm only doing this to calm you down." Death states.

Harker sighs before telling him, "Thanks anyway, it helped."

Death notes his depressed and hurt tone, and can't help but say something, "Sorry if my cold, callous nature is making itself too apparent. Just trying to handle all that's happened."

Harker perks a bit at that and questions him, "How's Miriam? Is she alright?"

"I daresay she's probably about as scared as you are. Perhaps it'd do her good to hear from a person who knows how she feels right now." Death tells him simply.

"You think so?"

"Yes, I do."

Harker thought a moment before deciding to make his way over. Going into his serpent form and floating over in a flowing motion. He lands on the table near Strife and coils up into a circle before asking him, "May I speak with you and Miriam by chance?"

"Yeah sure." Strife responds before revealing Miriam from within his hands. She looks over to Harker and waves a bit despondently, "Hello Harker."

"You doing alright?"

"Better now, just still not great." Miriam replies snuggling her man's hand.

"That bastard. He just knows how to get inside your head, and mess with you." Strife adds on in anger.

"Yeah he gets inside your head and messes with you, real bad." Harker responds simply.

Miriam lays down on Strife's hand and tries to fall asleep, course Strife has a better idea for her. He stands up and thanks Harker for the brief talk, even suggesting they continue another time. For now he takes Miriam to his room, placing her on his bed and breathing heavily as he removes his armor. Still in pain all his own, but masking it as best he can for her sake. Wanting nothing more than to make sure she's fine. He soon has his armor off and checks himself in the mirror. Making sure he's not hurt too badly as he looks over his massive bruising.

"Damn, he really did a number on me. But it's worth it. Nnnnngh." Strife says before hissing as he turns around, looking at his back next. Covered in scrapes and bruises from the fountain.

"Ah damn it!" Strife hisses out when scratching his head, right where a bump happened to be.

Strife ultimately sighed to himself and laid down at last. Seeing Miriam all curled up on the bed was both warming and adorable all at once. Gently he stroked her teenie body up and down with his finger, only for her to hug it. He couldn't help but continue to let her hold him that way. Falling asleep slowly as he watched her keenly. The next morning Miriam woke up and seeing Strife asleep with his finger in her grasp made her truly happy. Gushing and squeeing on the inside, Miriam gently kissed his finger before carefully maneuvering around so as not to wake him up. Granted it was easy, given that she was barely the size of his hand. Eventually she made it to the floor and made a pitter patter sound running along it. Miriam upon reaching the door placed her tiny hand to her chin and began thinking of a plan. She wanted to test to see if it was locked. She found some long wire and formed the end into a hook shape. From there she tried to place it on the door knob, which took a few attempts. Once she finally hooked the door knob, she began to shimmy up the wire. Once all the way up it took some effort to balance herself on the knob. But after managing this, she hopped from the knob to the latch lock. From there she checked it's position and saw it wasn't locked, so she thusly latched it that way. She heard Strife stir with a light groan but he didn't wake up. Miriam then sighed with relief before hopping onto the hook wire and sliding down it to the floor. She then went behind the room's partition and decided to borrow a chair cushion to sit on the floor. Her grabbing of the cushion's tassel was enough to pull it down surprisingly, but it landed on her as well. Causing her to get smothered a little before she made her way out from under it.

"Mmmmmph.....mmmmnnngh....eeh! Whew. Ok. Now to wait." Miriam whispered to herself before getting on top of the cushion.

Strife then curled his hand up and realized Miriam wasn't there. He bolted up, "Miriam, agh........damn! Knew I was gonna be sore in the morning. Uh Miriam, you here? You alright?" He goes to get up but is way too sore to move.

Miriam however finally answers, "Over here honey! Behind this big, tall.....thingy! I wanted to surprise you with something."

"Oh ok, whew."

War however comes on by and tries the door. Seeing as it's locked, he can't open it normally. So he knocks and calls out to Strife, "Is it alright to come in?"

"Yeah it's alright, none of us are doing anything. You can come in now."

"The door's locked." War states.

"Well I can't exactly get up!" Strife retorts.

As War begins searching for a key, Miriam calls out, "Sorry, was hoping to surprise your brother with something. But, I guess it can wait.....want me to unlock the door?"

War laughs, "Uh yes, I need to check on him. Make sure he's able to move."

"Dude, I'm having a really hard time moving my arms, my legs.....just nope." Strife informs him.

"I could do without the mocking, but I'll unlock the door." Miriam states before going the through her earlier process all over again.

This time Strife is awake to see what she's doing. Naturally he can't help but give some comments and encouragement, "Doing pretty well, although one thing would make this easier and better. Try swinging, it makes it easier. We practiced on your landing remember?"

Miriam sighs and begins swinging like he says to. Course she ends up going in circles and in her little panic forgets to let go. "Aaaaaaaaaaahhhaaaaaaaaahhaaaaaah!"

"Let go let go let go!" Strife shouts at her.

War meanwhile hears the commotion and readies his fist to punch through the door to catch her.

Miriam finally lets go and has her eyes shut the whole time. Strife then let's her know, "You're fine, if you kept your eyes open you'd have gotten a 9.5 landing. That's an 8.5."

"Hmmm? Oh....ok whew. Also, zip it." Miriam retorts before hopping to the door's lock from the knob and then unlocking it this time.

War settles down at this and then opens the door. Seeing Strife stuck on the bed and letting Miriam hop onto his massive gauntlet hand. He then lets Miriam down onto the bed and begins checking Strife over.

"I've never seen you this fucked up. Even up against Moloch."

Strife gains an grumpy face, "I would flip you off, but I can't seem to move my fingers."

War shakes his head, "You're probably just exaggerating.", then upon seeing all the welts and massive bruises he has when removing the covers, "By the nine hells, what happened? Next time you go up against him, I'm coming with you."

Strife then told him, "He punched Death through a building! This guy then bitch slapped me through a fountain, and he threw an anchor at my chest! Who the fuck brings an anchor to a fight!?"

"Oh my gosh! Is that why these look so bad?! I'm so sorry." Miriam says before cuddling Strife.

"Not your fault, just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Ow." Strife assures her.

"What would win, his anchor or my fist?" War inquires.

"Depends, how close are you going to get?" Death questions from behind War, whilst on crutches.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Strife immediately asked.

"A harpoon to my achilles tendon doesn't bode well for me. Although the question you asked me is one I have to ask you. What the hell ha-?"

"Anchor to the chest, and being smashed into a fountain too. Yeah be happy you're able use crutches. I can't do shit." Strife tells him.

Miriam meanwhile curls up onto Strife's neck and snuggles him a little. Course Death has an idea.

"I have some ointments that can help heal....all that. But I'm not doing it, Miriam, if you'd be so kind. I'm going to get check on breakfast, War let's give them some privacy."

"Why must we?" War inquires.

"Do you really want to our brother naked?"

War immediately shakes his head and follows a snickering Death outside the room. Once it's closed Miriam taps Strife's face to get his attention.

"Yes Sugarplum?"

"Think I could show you that one thing? Since we're alone now, and because it might make things easier." Miriam suggests.

"Yeah go ahead and show me."

Strife then watches as Miriam goes behind the partition again after using the blankets to climb down to the floor. Then after a moment he sees a flash of light and hears her speak again. But her voice sounds a smidge lower now,

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I can be."

Strife then sees Miriam step out as a nude short woman. With long black hair and quite the 'blessing' for such a small girl. The curves she has aren't that bad either, in fact it's a welcoming sight. Only her eyes remained the same, pure black like a raven's.

"How do I look?"

"I'm glad that one muscle's working." Strife smugly remarks.

Miriam's giggle makes him smile warmly as she walks over to him to get the ointments on. "Guess that means you like it then? I was worried you might not..."

"Miriam, all I need is you."

She gushes and does her best to hold in the squee before finally beginning to get the ointment on him. Being as gentle as possible so that he doesn't feel pain. She hears a few pops and feels them too as things go back into place. Strife groaning and moaning all the while.

Meanwhile Morgen began tossing in her sleep again. She could hear that one voice again, in that ever dark void. Immediately she screams for Death to help her. But is taunted by the being for the effort.

"Why scream for such a man who cannot understand us for what we are? My sweet Ilona."

"Please Death, if you can hear me, help me....please." Morgen continued to beg, ignoring the voice as best she could.

Suddenly she heard a brand new voice, one just as terrifying though, "Let the poor girl rest. She needs it after all. Don't you have anything better to do, other than tormenting children?"

The voice from before answered, "You know as well as I do, this is no mere child."

"What is going on? Please just....no more....Let me go..." Morgen begs the two voices in her fear. One presence tries to pull her away, another however keeps her in place.

"She must stay." The voice spoke up.

The other however explained angrily, "I will not allow her to remain here. Release her now or else."

"Or else what?" The original voice laughed from beyond the haze.

Death is using the crutches to get around, and catches a sudden dizzy spell. Nearly toppling over but catching himself with the strength he's got left in him. He then hears a creepy, grandiose voice speak in his mind, "Prepare yourself for an unexpected trip."

"I'm not exactly in the best condition for...oooh" Death begins to warn him before completely faceplanting on the floor.

He comes to in a darkened plane, one with a swirling blackness that he can't begin to make sense of. He hears the screams of several men, women, and children. Then he hears a familiar voice from within. One that he recognizes above all the rest in that void,

"Please stop.....please...."

"What the? Morgen? Morgen?! Is that you?! Where are you?!" He shouts into the void.

"Death!? Death please help me!" Morgen replied as a sudden light quickly bursts from her chest.

Quickly the light travels forth and finds Death after a moment. Circling him briefly before leading him along. Good thing the Horsemen's mental strength is enough so that he can actually run. Chasing the light down, and hoping it's leading him to Morgen. Luckily he's correct in his assumption, and grabs Morgen once he reaches her. Morgen naturally hugs him in her panic.

"Morgen are you alright, what's going on here?" Death quickly inquires.

"Morgen? Funny name. You're not supposed to be here."

"Neither are you, whatever this place is." Death retorts.

"It's all in my head, that's where we are." Morgen explains whilst shaking.

"Come out and show yourself coward!" Death shouts into the void.

"Coward? I find that hilarious coming from you. Given your fear."

On cue some burning worms begin traveling up Death's body. He tries swiping them off and stomping on them, only for a pile to begin forming. Morgen quickly reaches into the pile after him and searches for his hand. Course the more frantic in her search she gets, the more her light begins shining. Finally it bursts from her entire body, engulfing the worms in a bluish white light, as well as the void around them. Morgen is left dazed after the experience but pulls herself together enough to make her way over to Death. Death's on his knees when feeling Morgen's hand on his shoulder. He glances up to see her looking dazed still and the world around them is now a bluish white void instead. Only a few patches of black remain, like parasites in her head.

"What's going on?" Death asks sighing.

"I truly don't know. Either it's an evolving nightmare, or some unknown tormentor. But this has happened twice now. It horrifying each time I go through this." Morgen informs him whilst sitting down to try and manage her dazed state better.

"Are you alright?" Death implored.

"I'm fine, just dazed." Morgen replies doing her best to stand up, nearly falling down.

Death of course stands up to catch her, "Woah easy there. I have you. You sure you're alright?"

"Yes, I'm only dazed. But thank you regardless. What about you? That looked horrifying." Morgen says to him.

"Little shaken up, that's all. Now, where the hell are we?"

"My head, like I told you before." Morgen replies simply.

"Ok I must've been seriously messed up from that incident."

"Uhm so long as I wake up we should be fine, I think. We just need to find a way to achieve that." Morgen explains a bit unsure.

"Please tell me that there is no ridiculous requirements or tasks to get the hell out of here."

"I'm trying to think of something believe me. Perhaps knock me out here and see what happens? Shove me off a cliff maybe? Falling dreams do wake people up usually." Morgen tells him.

"Are you insane, where are we going to find a cliff here? Secondly why would I even do that?"

"Then let's hear yours then smartass." Morgen retorts.

"Uhm let me think let me think, let me think of something good."

Morgen looks at skeptically before she starts hearing something. Turning around she sees the black spots pulsating. They're silent, then one begins talking and starts to sound eerily familiar.

"Hello little bun oven. When you grow up you're probably gonna be all nice and pretty. Yeah your Papa's pride and joy, and other things maybe, heheh..." Morgen heard Leatherbeard say.

[mobius-prime]

230. Sonic the Hedgehog #162

The Darkest Storm (Part One): Gathering the Tempest

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: James Fry Colors: Jason Jensen

This three-part arc is a great example of how Ian is using his early time with the comic to sort of clean up and consolidate a lot of loose ends into something a little more coherent. For example, it's about time we learned a little more about Anonymous. Apparently, whoever it is has decided that the time has come to eliminate several key players in Mobius' eternal struggle for power, in pursuit of some unknown ultimate goal. Strangely enough, whoever it is seems to be interested in destroying Sonic as well - perhaps due to Sonic's tendency to stop any attempts to take over the world - but doesn't seem to want to undermine Eggman. After all, remember that the very first thing Anonymous ever did was send Eggman a "gift" of re-roboticized Mobians. Anonymous has decided to use Knothole as a staging ground for whatever they're planning next, and begins the process of setting their plan in motion…

In Knothole, King Elias attempts to restore Sonic's knighthood as thanks for everything he's done for the kingdom. However, Sonic refuses, saying he's not too concerned with titles and that there's already a knight in the family, in the form of Uncle Chuck. However, Elias says that as a new king, he's trying to restore the Court of Acorn to advise him, including calling on some old members… two of which have just showed up to visit Tails.

Oh man, remember Sir Connery from StH#45? The incredibly forgettable and random horse knight guy who works for the Ancient Walkers and hates "dark magicks" and whatnot? Yeah, I guess nowadays he just follows Merlin around to protect him from anything bad that comes at him. In New Megaopolis, Eggman is thrilled that the "biofield deletion" has nearly completed on all his Mobian captives in the Egg Grapes. Apparently, once they're drained of all their life energy, he can use the husks of their bodies to kind of "filter" the energy from the Zone of Silence into something stable and usable, which just once again reminds us of how utterly terrifying this iteration of Eggman is compared to his counterpart in the games and anime. Like, Jesus Christ, dude, at least games Eggman doesn't casually torture thousands of people just because he can! He even admits to M that there's probably a more efficient way to accomplish his goals, but it just wouldn't be as fun. He asks A.D.A.M. if there's been any luck identifying Anonymous yet, but A.D.A.M. replies that he still hasn't found anything, which frustrates Eggman even more. Weirdly enough, he seems to think that Anonymous is the one who released his nanites several issues ago, even though we know that it was just A.D.A.M. interpreting his orders a little too liberally.

Also, it's time to resurrect a dropped plot thread from some time ago. Remember how the Ancient Walkers were supposed to be dying and all? Well despite the fact that we haven't heard anything on that in some time, apparently they are totally still dying, and despite Athair and Aurora in the afterlife trying to reassure them that they'll find a way to save them with Merlin's help, they seem to have accepted their impending death, naming Aurora, Athair, and Merlin as their successors who must keep the world in balance once they're gone. Wow, Aurora may already be a deity in her own right, but the other two are about to get an exciting upgrade on life! And they're gonna need to start using it too, because back in Knothole, right as Merlin, Sir Connery, and Tails are heading to the castle to meet with the king, they're set upon by some familiar faces.

Ah, so these guys have picked a new name, huh? It's just as well, the "Fearsome Foursome" would hardly work anymore with there being six of… wait… hang on a second. Weren't these guys supposed to be roboticized by Anonymous? Not only that, but Sonic and the fake Tommy destroyed those roboticized forms a while back… so how are they still here, alive and well? Sonic doesn't even appear to notice the discrepancy once he rushes in to help along with the rest of the Freedom Fighters (including Sally!), merely mocking their new name before he and his friends knock them all out. Knuckles and his team stay behind to make sure they don't get away, while the Freedom Fighters lead the guests to the castle. Sir Connery explains that his sword is the Sword of Light, given to him by the Ancient Walkers, which has the power to purge evil magic, and he's been guarding Merlin for the express purpose of making sure that Mammoth Mogul, stuck in his Chaos Emerald, can't ever escape again. Interestingly enough, thousands of years ago the Ancient Walkers actually saw what Mogul would become in the future, and decided that while they weren't gonna bother actually stopping him, they would at least put a curse on his emerald so that his plans would always eventually fail. Of course, however, things can't just be that easy.

Oh lord, not the Sword of Acorns again. Sally recaps how she got rid of the thing because it was getting entirely too possessive of her (literally), giving it to Uma Arachnis' children for safekeeping. However, this turns out to have been a terrifically bad idea, as while Sonic confidently assures everyone that they can get it back and save the Ancient Walkers, said children of Arachnis are all busy swarming into Eggman's base. Just as the biofield deletion completes on the captured Mobians, killing them all for good, the ninjas strike, at the same time that the Egg Grapes suddenly and mysteriously power back on. M carries her father to safety, and the ninjas hold up the sword, which tears a hole between dimensions, causing a number of effects. For one, the void fuses permanently with the Zone of Silence, stabilizing it and increasing its raw power. For another, all Eggman's soulless Mobian husks are sucked into the void to facilitate this process, meaning he just lost all his precious work. And finally…

Welp! Goodbye, Ancient Walkers! I honestly can't say I'll miss you, you weird plot devices you. Back in Knothole, in the middle of a short speech about working together to create a better future, the emerald in Merlin's hand suddenly shatters, and when the light fades everyone is horrified to see Mogul standing in front of them, ready to go about conquering the world once more…

Ties That Bind

Writer: Ian Flynn Pencils: Tracy Yardley! Colors: J&A Ray

This story actually isn't separate from the one above, but takes place concurrently - presumably either right before what we saw above, or directly during, after M evacuated Eggman from the Egg Grape Chamber. Snively is working in one of Knothole's labs, but it's with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, feeling like he doesn't really know why he's here, as he's always been aligned with villains, never heroes. He finds himself comparing himself to his half-sister Hope, who has easily settled into life amongst Mobians despite her species. However, his ruminations don't last long, as someone has decided to come and visit him personally.

Man, Eggman, when did you gain the ability to just teleport into Knothole whenever you want? Seems like you'd be using that a lot more to sabotage stuff behind everyone's backs. Snively asks for a moment to himself before going back, which Eggman surprisingly grants him, and he rushes outside to find Hope. He tries making some awkward small talk with her, complimenting her on the plane she's building and casually mentioning that it could take her very far away from here, which only makes her wonder what the heck he's getting at.

I really love this. Snively was already an interesting character, and under Ian's writing he's quickly becoming a truly complex and fascinating one. Despite hating his uncle, he's always held some amount of loyalty to him, and now we see that he seems to truly care about Hope's wellbeing, recognizing that she's an innocent in all this and not wanting her to die in Eggman's planned attack on the village. That said, he's still selfish, and ultimately betrays the Mobians once again to go back to his uncle's side, even thinking to himself, standing inside one of Eggman's Egg Fleet ships, how ironic it is given how much betraying he's already done of both sides, in both wars. He asks Eggman why he's even bothering to trust him, knowing of his traitorous nature, and Eggman says that he fully knows Snively intends to try to betray him again in the future, and will be happily awaiting his attempt so he can thwart it, prompting Snively to remark it's "just like old times." What an interesting and strange relationship these two have. And what an interesting outlook Eggman has, not being particularly concerned with his minions wishing to betray him and even seeing it as all some kind of twisted game. Honestly, if there's any character that I think was universally improved by Ian with no drawbacks whatsoever, it's Snively, and we'll get to see even more of that improvement and depth in the future.

[rosadearest]

Love is Madness

Rating: T

Pairing: Harry/Draco 

Genre: Dadaprof!Harry and Potionsmaster!Draco 

Summary: Draco is oblivious, he and Harry need to get their shit together and Hermione is done™.

 A/N: this is for @peraltiago-drarry for our group fic exchange! your prompts were amazing and i tried my best to make your dreams come true, but dude i apparently can’t write more than a hundred words consecutively without it turning into a hot pile of garbage. all my love and i hope you like it though!

 Other authors: @okaypottah @tossermalfoy @pixiemalfoy @ssoftdrarry @hpotterlocked 

The headmistress’s office hadn’t changed much since she had taken over from her predecessor, who, likewise, had not deemed it necessary to redecorate, in order to keep memories alive and to not destroy the beautiful peculiarity that gave the space a special kind of atmosphere seemingly calming to everyone who was allowed to enter. And it was, calming that is, at least to her.

She loved the way the many windows were not only granting a sensational view over Hogwarts and it’s grounds all the way to the forbidden forest, they were also, at least on good days, allowing sunshine to be dancing over the many odd artifacts and books that Hermione and the people who came before her had collected over time.

She loved the way strange sounds filled the room, she couldn’t stand silence these days. It reminded her way too much of the need to stay hidden, the fear of being discovered, quiet nights spent fearing for the world she was so proud to call home, the absent laughter of friends and loved ones that would never be heard again. 

She loved-

“Hermione!”, the door burst open and ripped her out of her thoughts.

“Not again,” her eyes cast a pleading look over to the portraits behind her desk. Dumbledore met her gaze for a second and she was pretty sure she could see him smirk before he closed his eyes, pretending to sleep. To his left, McGonagall's painting was as it was most of the time, empty. Sighing to herself she turned around to face the reason of her despair: “I didn’t know you never learned how to knock.”

 “I’m sorry, but he’s literally driving me insane! I swear, i can feel how my brain is slowly deteriorating! I don’t know how long it will be before I do something we will both regret. He’s fucking planning something again, I just know it. I already tried to talk to Neville and he was no fucking help, as expected.” He stumbled up the few uneven steps leading to the big circular opening of Hermione’s office.

 “Now hold on a second, Neville has nothing to do with your inability to solve your own problems. Also these delusions have to stop, we’ve been over this enough times. He’s not planning anything, and if he is, it’s probably none of your business.” She frowned, her tightly knitted brows drawing closer together.

Trying to control his anger his fists clenched at his sides. “You just don’t get it, Hermione! If I have too look at his stupid smirking face one more time…”

“Why can’t you two just at least behave like professionals about this?”, she violently shook her head, a few loose curls breaking free from her hairdo, swinging around her face. “I’m not asking you to be friends or get married for Godric’s sake! Please, just try to be a little more agreeable with each other.” 

“I am trying!”, he spluttered,”he is the one that’s not agreeable. I can already see the headlines! Chosen One attacked! Hogwarts Potions Master arrested! Or what do you think of Reformed Death-Eater Draco Malfoy: Not reformed after all? Please Hermione, I beg you, don’t let me end up in Azkaban! I will die if I have to go there a second time, I promise you, I will die.” He flourished his hands, his usually so sleek appearance ruined by his frenzied behaviour.

“Merlin, Draco, could you be any more dramatic?” She rolled her eyes and was met with an offended gasp. “Dramatic? Me? You’re the one who chooses to ignore the problematic behaviour of one of your employees. I simply cannot continue to work like this!” 

Hermione took a deep breath, letting the atmosphere of the room calm her. “Okay, Draco, listen to me. As Headmistress of this school, I am telling you, and by that I mean you and Harry to get over your little rivalry or whatever this is. You are not only interrupting the orderly running of lessons, but if I have to listen to either you or Harry complain about each other one more time I will be forced to find replacements for you both. How’s that for ignoring problematic behaviour?” 

 “The nerve of that woman! As if I’m the one who should be reprimanded for his behaviour!” He was fuming. He didn’t care what Hermione or Neville said. He was not crazy, at least not yet. Potter was planning something and it irked him that he couldn’t work out what it was. There was no way Potter’s unwillingness to do anything productive during their meetings could be explained otherwise. Also what was it with all that staring? It made Dracos skin itch uncomfortably to say the least. 

The only thing that bugged him even more, was that they were supposed to work together on a project for inter house unity, another one of Hermione’s brilliant ideas that did nothing more than helping Draco lose his mind even faster. In those rare moments where he was being completely honest with himself, he could see the benefits. Hermione and her ideas brought a new kind of peace over the school, something that hadn’t existed for as long as Draco could remember. 

He could also see how it made sense that it was Potter and him who were the ones chosen to do the project, after all if the respective Heads of Slytherin and Gryffindor could get their shit together and work alongside each other, why shouldn’t everyone else do too. But all these facts did nothing to calm Draco down as he stormed down the corridors, his robes whirling behind him, making his way towards in the dungeons. 

Still grumbling he made a sharp turn around the last corner, coming to an abrupt stop as his gaze fell upon a very distinctive head of unruly dark hair, blocking the door to his private rooms.

“What are you doing here, Potter?”, he snapped, pushing past Potter and entering his study. “Hello Draco, nice to see you too”, he replied, a slow grin stretching across his features as he followed him inside and planted himself in Draco’s favourite armchair. 

Draco leaned against his cluttered desk with a huff when Potter spoke again. “I thought you maybe had calmed down so we could talk about why you left our meeting today in such a hurry.” 

“Why I left..? Are you being serious? You were just sitting there, not saying or doing anything remotely helpful, instead letting me do all the work by myself and staring at me with your insanely stupid green eyes! Why are you always just staring?”, he exclaimed, raking his fingers through his blond, already dishevelled hair. 

It was nice, letting all his frustration out on Potter. It reminded him of their school days, at least without all the punches and such. Speaking of Potter, Draco was pretty sure he had said something, though with the way he was inspecting his shoes rather than looking at Draco, he wasn’t certain. “Sorry, did you say something? I can’t hear you when you’re mumbling into your lap.”

When Potter looked up Draco could see the light bush that was creeping its way onto his face. “I said: Cause you’re pretty”, this time he looked Draco in the eyes while speaking. 

“W-What..?” Draco was still not sure he understood correctly, he couldn’t be. Against his will he could feel his face starting to burn with embarrassment. “Is this one of your stupid ploys to humiliate me? Because it won’t work.” 

“Humiliate you? Merlin Draco, we’re not at school anymore, well technically we are, but, no, forget it. You know what, I’m just gonna do it now. I wanted to wait for the right time and all that but you’re just so unbelievably dense.” Draco spluttered. “Excuse me?” 

“Just shut up for a second, will you?” He took Draco's offended silence as a sign to continue. “Will you let me take you out? On a date?” Potter’s eyes nervously raked over Draco’s face gauging his reaction. 

“You..want to date..me? Why..?”, he whispered, his voice so different from the irritated tone he had used only moments before. Potter was fiddling with the hem of his shirt, but looked at Draco with a kind of fierce determination that made his knees weaken. 

“Well, as I said, you’re very pretty”, he stopped the fiddling and pushed himself up, out of the armchair and towards Draco, his piercing gaze never leaving Draco’s wide eyes. “But you’re also smart and can be actually funny, when you’re not being spiteful. Although even that can be amusing when it’s directed at the right person.” A small smile was stealing its way onto Draco’s lips. 

“You have made an effort to right your past wrongs, offering apologies to everyone, not expecting them to accept, but hoping nonetheless. You’ve worked so hard to get this teaching position, to get your degree, not letting prejudiced idiots stop you. You made friends with the people most important to me, which I know you didn’t do for me, but still..” He stood close to Draco now, who was still so very confused with the way this conversation was somehow turning out very different than he had expected it to. 

Draco swallowed, Harry’s eyes now downcast, following the way his throat moved. Looking at Harry he didn’t quite remember how he ended up in this situation, crowded against his desk, his brain not coming up with much more than how the green of Harry’s eyes was even greener up close and how soft his lips looked and wondering if his hair would be soft if he raked his fingers through it. “Potter..I..”, he murmured, gaze snapping back up to meet Harry's. 

“Can I..?” Draco could only guess what he meant, but when Harry's lips met his, every rational thought flew far from his grasp. When he was later asked how their first kiss had been like, he would say it was a little like an explosion, setting his veins on fire, which, sure, sounded fucking clichè, but it was the truth.

It was barely a meeting of lips, but he could feel their magic flooding around them, interlacing and then retreating again. 

It was perfect, it was too much, and at the same time not enough. 

Draco knew he could never be without it again.