#The Reluctant King

[loriendil]

Amazon Is a DUD!

Despite the fact it has been published for over a week, Amazon says my newest ebook “doesn’t meet the criteria” to have sales rank yet. Even though it has had many sales. The print book was published August 2 and has rank, but not the ebook. And they claim they cannot tell me why the ebook “doesn’t meet the criteria.” So just putting it out there that if you go to the ebook page to even…

[im-totally-not-an-alien-2]

Ghost King Phantom answers a summons to a new dimension to find a sacrificial offering in three magic circles. One, holding Bizarro, another holding Artimus and the one in front holding Red Hood.

Phantom has no idea who these people are, but he knows the people in charge must be powerful mages or whatever. Doesn't matter. None of the mages hes ever had to face had known about his Halfa status so naturally thier wards and protections wouldn't work on him. He captures the kid with a naselly voice and his orange cat in a force field to give to Jazz later. She had been talking about wanting to study the psychology of a supernatural being for a while now so he'd help her out.

He made quick work of the other mages before turning around and facing the "sacrifices" the two in the back were still out cold but the one in front, the one in the red helm was radiating terror and rage. He was shaking even though Phantom hadn't done anything to him and had no intentions to. Danny landed outside the circle, trying to whisper something conforting as he stepped closer.

The moment he stepped into the ring however, the red runes turned into a bright green and the three circles disappeared. Danny didn't feel any different so he assumed it was nothing and he freed the captives before disappearing, none the wiser that Klarion the Witchboy had made a few translation mistakes in the slave contract and accidentally married a terrified Red Hood to Phantom, the High King of the Undead and King of the Lazarus dimension, also known as the Infinite Realms.

Danny probably learns he married that guy at some point but just kinda shrugs it off. Polygamy is legal in the realms and thier marriage doesn't change much. Sure, Danny is practically contractually obligated to save this guy if he's ever in mortal peril but Danny has no problems with that. He'd do it anyway.

So he just ignores the situation hoping it doesn't come up again.

It does.

Repeatedly.

I'm so surprised we don't have more Dead on Main ghost king marriage aus where Jason/the pit inside of him is terrified of Phantom. Let's change that

[be-queer-do-arson]

I love that scene in tkm where Wymack tells Neil he's going to make him vice captain the next year and Neil tries to politely decline (on the grounds that he'll be dead by then) and Wymack is literally like too bad bitch. This isn't a democracy and i say you're the next captain so figure it out

[nemkero]

where we go, after the war

[spacedace]

Reluctant War AU Part 2

Part One

...I ended up writing more for that Reluctant War AU...Like. Wrote this before work and started on part 3 with plans for part 4 more.

this was supposed to just be a brain worm what happened (also thank you @catastrophic-crow for the AU name <3 <3 <3 Also, also: welcome to the cult of Ancient of the Speedforce Elle! Membership includes nonsense, shenanigans and chaos haha)

-

Gotham had always been a place for ghosts.

Every corner haunted by death and tragedy.

Every street stained red at least once in its many years.

Every dark shadow holding the faint shadows and shades of the dead.

Gotham was, before all else, a grave yard.

Jason had known that his entire life. Every kid born and raised in the Alley did. Death came fast to Gotham’s streets. Especially for those the rest of the city turned its back on. He did his best to lighten the reaper’s load when it came to the people that called Crime Alley home. Well, mostly. He’d certainly added names to old Death’s list before, when the occasion called.

When the armies of the dead descended upon Gotham, the only surprise Jason could feel was that those white wearing pieces of shit had dared to try and hunker down in his city.

It was a sentiment shared by most of Gotham’s fine citizens. By the city itself - herself? Something to ask later, if there was a later - even if the impossible, living shadow that rose up out of Gotham’s many dark corners was anything to go by. He knew, almost instinctively, that the entity - skin of cracked pavement, mouth a bridge suspended too wide across the face, eyes of CCTV camera lenses and body built brick by grimy, bloody brick of the sharp skyline - was Gotham. Not a ghost but something bigger, greater. Something awfully, terribly alive in all its horrible, noble glory. His city, manifest in the shape almost human beneath the green glow of the torn apart sky above.

Phantom’s armies arrived without warning as they had everywhere else, and their enemies poured out in unforgivably unmarred white suits to meet them. Horrible and garish against the Gotham streets. How they’d ever managed to slink by unnoticed while being so blatantly, clearly not of Gotham Jason wasn’t sure he’d ever know.

If either side thought this would be like the battles they fought before, they were mistaken.

Gotham was a place for Ghosts.

A place the dead piled up, lingered well beyond their deaths. A place where the rules were different from everywhere else in the world. Where crime was rampant and chaos reigned but at the end of the day people said their thanks that they were born to this hellhole and not so cursed to call anywhere else in the world home.

The dead came to fight

And Gotham, a thing so alive it was sickening to look upon, rose up to fight right along side them all.

The agents were ready and prepared for the incursion of the dead. It’d been two weeks since the first volley of attacks. Two weeks spent shoring up defenses and ramping up weapons and strategizing ways to kill what was already dead. They were, as best as they were able to be considering how endless the armies that came for them, prepared.

They weren’t prepared for Gotham.

Weren’t prepared for the city itself to rise up and take spectral, eldritch shape. Jagged building spire and shattered glass teeth bared in a snarl that spanned miles. Screaming rage in a voice made of gunfire and the concussive boom of explosions and the shrieks of a furious crowd.

Weren’t prepared for its people to ignore the gentle ushering of the dead trying to push them away to safety and instead press forward to fight shoulder to shoulder with the ghostly armies.

Weren’t prepared to have brick and bottles and trash and debris rain down upon them from the jeering living. Weren’t prepared for dirty faced children with hard eyes to light up rags stuffed into chipped beer bottles filled with gas and kerosene and throw them with more speed an accuracy than any professional baseball player. Weren’t ready for Gotham’s motley crew of terrifying Rogues to band together with the citizens they so often accosted and worried and bring down wave after wave of chaos and Goons.

Weren’t prepared for Red Hood to swap out his rubber bullets for the real deal and start mowing the fuckers in white down, his own crew at his back, the rest of the Outlaws on their way.

The Justice League was trying to find a peaceful resolution. Trying to play go between to the US Government and the infinite dead. Too wound up in US politics to side with the dead outright, too disgusted by what the American government had done to ever want to stand with them. All it had gotten them was spun wheels and confusion and the slow creeping realization that the time to try and play negotiators had well passed.

Red Hood wasn’t a member of the Justice League.

He had no obligation to try and find a way to talk things out.

What he had was a grave he’d dug his way out of, enough ammunition to arm a sizable country, and a burning need to make things right.

Gotham had always been a place for ghosts, and Jason had long accepted that he was one of them.

Haunting the streets he’d survived as a child, the city he protected as Robin, the family he’d loved and lost a thousand and one times before and after his death.

The sky cracked open above his home, and it was not an invading army that came rushing out but a native one. Friends, neighbors, strangers on the street you caught from the corner of your eye. The people of Gotham knew their own and fought for them. Only Gotham was allowed to fucked with Gotham and they’d been screwed over enough by the government themselves to know what side they were on.

He lifted his guns and fired, teeth bared in vicious satisfaction beneath his helmet as white was splattered bright red.

A hissing electric whine of a weapon, a flash of green from the edge of his vision.

“Down!”

He was thrown bodily to the cracked and ruined street beneath him, the body shielding him warm and living as one of the agent’s weapon fired a blast of energy right where he’d been a second before. He’d seen that same weapon reduce one of the raging dead to dripping green and screams of agony the dead should not be capable of making.

Before he could shove himself up and respond in kind, the body above him was in motion and the air above him cracking with the snapping-popping-roar of a gun of a much higher power than even what he had. The fucker in white that had shot at him dissolved into a mist of red viscera, body seizing and shuttering in the briefest moment it had before it was obliterated completely.

“Watch yourself.” He looked up - and up - and wondered at the lovely, fierce face he found staring down at him. “Even without shooting at them you’re Liminal enough to trip their sensors.”

She was tall enough to be an amazon, six inches in height on him at least. Body strong beneath the pitch black armor she work - as deep and dark as the depths of space, etched with starlight, a familiar crest upon her chest in the dizzying burst of a supernova - she held herself with confidence. Strands of hair the color of a warning sunrise escaped out from beneath the helm she wore, bright against her pale skin, warming the glass-sharp teal eyes that had pinned him in place.

The hand not holding the gun she’d just used to delete the asshole that had just tried to shoot him - a strange, impossible thing that made him taste lightning at the back of his throat to look at it - stretched out to help him up.

He accepted it.

Something pulsed to life in his chest. A piece forgotten where it’d been left behind, half buried in grave dirt and broken pieces of a casket he’d clawed his way out of. It burned like a hot coal in his chest, froze him with the same aching cold of a blizzard, crackled his nerves to life with lightning even as his brain popped and fried with the same sizzling energy.

On his feet, hair on end and body and Core pulsing with the need to fight, to rend and tear and scream for all done to him, his people, his home, he met the eyes of the woman before him. Her cool gaze softened, just a moment, just a second as she seemed to realize what had happened. Her hand, lighter than the armor she wore should allow it to be, tightened on his just a moment, mouth tilting from determined frown to soft understanding.

Gotham had always been a place for ghosts.

Jason had long accepted that he was one of them.

---

Part Three

[nelkcats]

Trapped Fear

At first Fright Knight was not loyal to Pariah, maybe it was because he was the combination of many warriors and he knew that tyranny would lead to nothing. However, because of this the former king engaged him in battle and captured his core, making him loyal.

Like all Ancients, Fright Knight could survive without his core but had to obey the person holding it. He and Clockwork shared that unfortunate fate, though Fright Knight considered being at the mercy of the Observants far worse.

When Danny defeated Pariah Dark his control over Fright Knight stopped, the knight foolishly thought he would take back what was his, but the old king was selfish and thrown the stone of fear into the human world, where he knew Fright Knight would not enter.

Disappointed but used to it, Fright Knight resigned to not finding that part of himself, he served Danny from that moment on, becoming his protector and above all, his friend. Until someone found his core and instead of being free, he was summoned and resigned to fulfill the words of his new owner.

Of course, Danny was worried when his knight disappeared from Phantom Palace, and after a long search he found his whereabouts in a city: Gotham. A man called "Scarecrow" was spreading fear in the city, and it seemed very familiar to him.

After a fight with the bats he got the information he needed: his knight was following the man. When he went to face his old friend, the king noticed that Fright Knight was not speaking on his will, he was crying and sending messages of help that only he could understand. The King was furious, and maybe it was time to show why no one messed with what was his.

[inamagicalhallucination]

merthur but one of them thinks theyre sworn enemies and the other thinks theyre dating

so merlin thinks that arthur and him are sworn enemies right and like he’s being forced to take care of him becuz of the prophecy (lol he actually lowkey cares about him but he’d die before he admitted that fsjakdf) 

anyway

on the other hand arthur is convinced that they are together <3 like he’s there picking flowers thinking omg merlin’s so cute and funny and-

and merlin’s there seething at him like 

yeah

does that make sense i feel like im just saying words

like whats a time period appropriate word for tsundere becuz thats what arthur thinks merlin is

and in arthurs defense; merlin goes above and beyond to help him out; he always there for him; they go on walks and picnics together

on merlins side he’s always babysitting arthur; he’s “reluctantly” being there for him; and arthur repays him by dragging him to the woods at like 2 am becuz god forbid he let merlin get a full night of sleep

anyway

merlin doesn’t actually hate him he’s just dumb

and he thinks arthur hates him and thinks that arthur is all boastufl (trying to impress merlin) and shit

[drawnfamiliarfaces]

baby-faced king

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Hi, just out of curiosity, given that each character is twisted from some Disney character, and Malleus is full dragon fae, could it be possible that Raverene (still wondering how they got that name translated that way) is actually twisted from Disney's version of the Reluctant Dragon, as they have a LOT of similarities? Both are pacifists, can be slightly cowards, like humans, etc. Do you think there's a chance of it or is he likely to be original? Thanks.

As a reminder, not every character is entirely twisted from a Disney character or concept and no one else. Within the main cast, we have characters of dubious origin (for example, there is no singular Disney wolf that Jack is based on), and I think the same applies for non-main cast like their family members. Yes, some family members have direct Disney counterparts. Cheka--a naive and bright lion cub destined to be king and robbing that spot of hope from his bitter uncle--is twisted from Simba. Rollo has an unnamed little brother whom he lost to "sin" (in this case, magic), which follows the story of the stage production of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Others do not fit as cleanly. Najma is Jamil's younger sister who constantly annoys him. Her Disney counterpart, Nerissa, is Jafar's sister BUT she is his fraternal twin sister, not his younger sister. Additionally, Nerissa is far more wicked than Najma and does not fight with Jafar as often as Najma and Jamil do. Riddle’s dad does not get along with his mom, but we don’t know if that’s because Mr. Rosehearts is also meek like the King of Hearts is. Several other family members do not have obvious Disney parallels at all. For example, Chenya talks about his grandfather, but the Cheshire Cat does not have known family members; the Shroud parents have no equivalent in Hercules, etc.

That being said 💦 I have actually never heard of The Reluctant Dragon until now (nor did I know that Disney had a film of this name), so I’m not familiar with it. Based on the lack of name recognition alone (we know how much Disney and TWST love to bank on nostalgia points), I’d say the parallels between it and Raverne are coincidental?? It feels to me that Raverne was made the pacifist to balance out his much colder wife Maleanor and best friend Lilia. There’s also many parallels between Raverne and Diablo, Maleficent’s crow companion, so I definitely don’t think that Raverene is meant to reference the Reluctant Dragon alone, if he is meant to be twisted from it at all. When TWST introduces a new character, the inspiration more often than not tends to be super obvious and the fact that I have this doubt is another mark against the theory. (Although this is in part due to how little we actually know about Raverne aside from the stories we hear about him, which may not even be entirely accurate to what his character is like in modern day.)

Of course, I don’t know what the TWST devs’ research process is like or how obscure the media they pull from is 🤷���♀️ Maybe the similarities were meant to be there and I don’t see it due to my own lack of familiarity with the story.

[loriendil]

The Reluctant King - get it now!

The Reluctant King is here in ebook!https://books2read.com/LSK-RK Maradhor and his new bride flee for their lives, pursued by his former clan who have now become their enemies. With the treacherous mountains looming ahead and the harsh winter weather closing in, their only hope of salvation lay in crossing the distant Great River. But even as they struggle towards safety, Alcandhor faces his own…

[rynnthefangirl]

The King Aegon that Greenies think never wanted the throne, was forced to take it for the good of his family, and did his best for the people of the realm:

The King Aegon who actually never wanted the throne, was forced to take it for the good of his family, and did his best for the people of the realm:

[wonderlandsakura]

Niche Things I Think People should Write/Read More: Part 2

I ran out of tags, anyway Part 1 here. If part 1 and/or 2 gets like,, 100 notes, I'll add recs if they exist (someone asked so I did it anyway hehe)

- Fics where Izuku is such an amazing analyst (and the UA staff know it) that they just. Let him teach the class (or anything where they aizawa know he's more skilled and just leave him to teach so they aizawa can nap)

I would prefer it if he's a literal child that just gets the position, but sadly I haven't found that

The UA Analyst Kid of RogueVector's Announcer AU series on AO3 is the closest I think

I do have fic recs of him being an analyst and/or teacher at UA tho, but I'm too tired to find them

- Zuko is given A Child and Will Die For Them (he is so mother coded)

There's Bound To Be A Ghost At The Back Of Your Closet by anactualforrealadult is what I was thinking of when I wrote this, but it doesn't fit perfectly (btw it's zukka)

- Danielle Phantom and Dark Danny are Standard Danny's kids, I need this please I must be FED

Like a few of my reblogs, but I'll see if I can find them

- Monkey D. Wyvern, if you know you know

I'll add this soon, but you can find art for it on Tumblr too :))

- The Reluctant Kings friendship (Danny & Din Djarin)

The Phantom Mandalorian series on AO3 has Danny essentially adopted by Din, but it would be nice if there were fics where they're just friends who are unknowingly OP

- Mandalorian S3 dinluke fix-its /hj

I haven't been able to stomach actually reading these yet, but they do exist

- Gottlieb/Geiszler + Jayvik Xovers where they get to Science!

forming new limestone by wobbeegong on AO3, actually a favorite fic of mine, I was sad when I couldn't find anything like it after I read it but that might have changed

- Jinx being Silco's daughter even after time travel (Jinx the Sapphire of Zaun)

And I know this body's not mine (Wish I could crawl out) by Hopelessjoy14 is where I got this from, it's incomplete but good so far

- Co-parenting Koushirou and Mihawk; like not together but these 2 sword obsessed men are co-parenting Zoro

Doesn't exist yet, and I don't recommend looking if you don't want to get bombarded by bad misogynistic parent Koushirou fics :/, anyway I'm working on it

- the Shimotsuki-Dracule siblings, where in a Kuina lives! (but is severely injured/paralyzed) AU, Zoro gets to be hounded by not only little sister Perona, but also Big Sis Kuina (bonus if modern au)

Same as what I wrote for co-parenting Koushirou & Mihawk, I actually have a fic outlined (it's not modern au tho, but could be), but I'll probably never finish writing it. If I post it on Tumblr I'll link it tho

- Zosan gets accidentally married at WCI AUs cause why not, it's absolutely hilarious

Sadly doesn't exist somehow?? I'll have to check if that's still the case

You can see me screaming about the idea here tho

- I somehow didn't mention Agatha/Gil/Tarvek last time? But yeah, from Girl Genius, I want them to get married and rule Europia, is that too much to ask?

Sprocket for Your Thoughts by zombiecheerios on AO3 is a good fic about them getting together, if incomplete (also you kinda need to have caught up on the comic)

The Most Stable of Polygons by 1_NoName_among_many is like a shorter version of it tho

Then there's the Sparkgate series that originally introduced me to the concept of them ruling together (I've not finished even the first fic tho)

- Zoro being Soba Mask aka Stealth Black aka Sanji's overprotective guard dog/tiger (I read a really good fic okay??)

Fic is Stealth Black Unmasked by HaveMyWeedCookies on AO3

[spacedace]

A week ago every television, radio, computer and phone had been taken over to deliver a message. The face of an entity, human in shape but not in form. Hair as gleaming white as starlight, eyes bright as the twisting dance of the Aurora Borealis, skin as cold and blue as the tail of a comet. The entity wore armor as black as the depths of space with a crown to match, the latter glinting and shifting with the twisting birth and death of galaxies. A cloak of nebulae danced down his shoulders, eclipsing the world beyond the entity entirely. High King Phantom of the Infinite Realms. The Shifting Where. Son of the Eternal When. Father of the Ever Onward. His Epitaphs many and ever growing. The True Balance. The Promised Bridge. The Devourer of Dark. The Last Child of Between. The Great One. --- Danny doesn't want war, but with the increased ruthlessness of the GIW, his parents' attack on him and Jazz and Elle missing, he doesn't have much of a choice left. The best he can hope for is to try and minimize the fallout. Meanwhile Justice League is doing everything in their power to try and find a way towards peace - a prospect made more and more difficult by the involvement of Amanda Waller.

Thank you again to @catastrophic-crow for the name for the story :D <3 <3 <3

[darlingod]

Love was never a game to him (Cardan BYYOUIAMFOREVERUNDONE Greenbriar) LOVE HAS NEVER BEEN A GAME TO HIM AND WAS ALWAYS ONLY A FOREVER

[tomurakii]

What do we think Kabru's kill count is. Do we think he killed people outside of the dungeon as well. I mean he dumped the bodies of those corpse retrievers in the lake right after being told that if Laios' party hadn't pulled him out, he wouldn't have been revivable. So he perma-killed those guys on purpose (good for him).

[cosmicxblossoms]

@paracosmiist [For Tongbi]

Macaque's attempts to fight them and save wukong were amusing to them, tightening their grip around the other simian's neck. Watching the blood slowly leave the injuries that Macaque has sustained, the fact of them still being conscious and trying to free themselves from their grip was nothing short of impressive. They certainly were living up to the reputation that they had among mortals, pulling the one in question close so that they could speak. "Your efforts to save them amuse me Macaque, you know you do not possess the raw power I do yet you still persist. When you finally accept the hand destiny has given you it will bring me nothing but satisfaction to see the pain on your face. To know all of your efforts were in vain and see your spirit crushed as I bring a new beginning to the world, all while being unable to do a thing to stop it." the voice having the small echo to it as the two voice overlapped one another, a smile coming to their face as they finally let Macaque fall to the ground below.

The sound of the Monkie kid's scream for his mentor being heard as the burst of light emerged from the King's eyes, hitting the warrior in the chest and sent them hurtling towards the ground. watching the ground split apart and break before they began to descend to the ground themselves, watching Mk push Tongbi behind him with the golden staff pointed in their direction.