#horde supreme

[catulhu333]

Another possible reference to SPOP in MOTUC

Am earlier, and a bit more questionable one than the one with Micah in Hunga's Bio, but still a possible one. It's in Horde Prime's second Bio (as Horde Supreme), that curiously was posted May 18 2020, 3 days after season 5 of SPOP aired:

Being described as "a fanatic convinced of his own superiority" fit's very well the SPOP incarnation of Horde Prime.

The idea Horde Prime started as a mortal being, that somehow absorbed demonic energy/partly merged with a demonic entity, resembles theories Horde Prime, like Light Spinner/Shadow Weaver merged with a demonic shadow spirit - due to how Horde Prime's spirit looks fairly similar to shadow being summoned by Spell of Obtainment, and which merged with Light Spinner:

As well as both Horde Prime, and Shadow Weaver needing to practice a form of vampirism to survive, suggesting (and giving rise to a theory) Horde Prime also merged with a similar, or identical type of entity in distant past in SPOP. This maybe inspiring this Bio's idea of the (partial) merger of Horde Prime and Hordeous.

It's also similar to the idea Horde Prime is the Unnamed/Nordor, as would be revealed in the 2002 comics, but I think it's more similar to the possible/theorized situation in SPOP.

This is though a more questionable reference, even if the timing does kinda suggest it.

[evilmark999]

"I'll go to my deathbed knowing that they lied. They looked into the State Senators' eyes - and the people of Georgia and people of America - and lied to them about this - and KNEW they were lying - to try to keep this charade going on, that there was fraud in Georgia..."

When Tucker Carlson said, "this is not a conspiracy theory," and when Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity and the rest of the entertainment sycophants still at FOX echoed and continue to echo those same kinds of statements, then you can take it to YOUR deathbed that it IS all a lie, that they're ALL liars - from top to bottom - that they're ALL very KNOWINGLY liars, and don't deserve to be trusted to tell one iota of the truth. Ever!

Just like Donald Trump. And just like Rudy Giuliani. And just like every other christofascist MAGA supporter. Knowingly liars. Full stop!

Write all of their names down, and never forgive, and never forget. They are ALL very KNOWINGLY deceiving everyone that isn't one of them, and will look YOU or anyone or EVERYONE in the eye without a care at all...

Too many names. I ran out of tags...

[barrenceallence]

i LOVE vaurien scapegrace btw. best zombie king ever

[silencedminstrel]

(Art by Dominique van Velsen)

CALM BEFORE THE SHITSTORM - LEADER OF THE GALACTIC UNION TOURING A MYSTERIOUS FACILITY STORING DANGEROUS ALIEN ARTIFACTS

By Ag I should be happy when I heard that (Earth Alliance) President Ibnu Khaldun's lawyers have revealed that the thief of the Second Sephiroth--the only source of power for The Messenger Starship--appeared to be none other than The All-Seeing-Eye (leader of the Watchers) himself! Which of course didn't surprised me since we already knew

That one a lot earlier but...the fact that that info was hacked right out of The Watchers' own terminal? (Sigh) We may be looking at a huge political shitstorm that will cost us all more than sleepless nights! And what about these new reports of a gathering of deviant tech cultists outside the Outer Rim and led by--supposedly--a resurrected Hacker? And

These "accompanying" rumors that they're planning to storm The Valley City? (Union's Capitol) And just as The Council (of The Great Guardians) is still in a power vacuum how are we supposed to...? But we know that if they're serious about it then this is where they'll strike first: The Union's storage facility for Kltua-Lymonzs wreckage too dangerous

To be disposed of! So would The Watchers side with those cultists and lead them here? Ag forbid! After that yesterday's fiasco I'm sure the public have begun losing trust in them but--knowing their leader better--we Guardians aren't quite so sure! Humoga, it's all in your hands now! You're The Council's only hope whether you like it or not! (Sigh)

[mariabrightmoon]

I. Need. The. Fanficsss. Links. Pls.

@lorvikk Glimmer or Glitra throne image commissions - masterpost

For "Queens of the Horde":

For "Queen Glimmer - Supreme ruler of the universe"

In conclusion: @lorvikk is an AMAZING artist

[baronvontribble]

thoughts on the vampire ascendant

so, the ascension ritual was conceived of by the archdevil mephistopheles to give cazador power, right. like, this is a two century old deal with a devil. we know that deals with devils always involve an ulterior motive. something deeper is going on under the surface. so why would mephistopheles give cazador a deal like that? a guarantee of seven thousand souls? he could get that just by starting a war.

no, i think it's bigger than that. he is, after all, very specifically empowering cazador. it's an all-of-the-perks, none-of-the-drawbacks situation. the perfect vampire.

the perfect vessel.

astarion, impulsive as he is, hasn't given a lick of thought to this. if cazador had any safeguards in place to keep himself intact, astarion isn't aware of them. he hasn't even considered that he might lose himself to the ritual, and there's plenty of proof that he does.

in the hordes of the underdark expansion of neverwinter nights (yes i'm old for knowing this), mephistopheles is specifically plotting to turn toril into the lowest circle of hell under his rule. this will make him more powerful than asmodeus, thus making him the lord of all the hells.

it explains why he's the one the crown of karsus was stolen from in baldur's gate 3, because of course he'd have an object that powerful in his vault. but it also explains why he would assist a vampire in ascending, because an ascendant vampire's body would be the perfect vehicle for an archdevil looking to rule the world to work through.

there is no way for astarion to come out of the ritual intact. it wouldn't have been designed that way in the first place. particularly if this is one of the contingencies mephistopheles came up with before the events of hordes of the underdark (which, given the timeline, it is). ascended astarion is almost definitely an archdevil's puppet, much like cazador would've been if he'd been successful. whether it's one of mephistopheles's lieutenants or the asshole supreme himself pulling the strings, it's fucked either way.

anyway, no judgement, i'm just adding to the commentary/theorycrafting around it in case anyone wants to take a poke at this kind of narrative direction. food for thought, basically!

[arcadechan]

Empress Supreme, the Witched Twilight; Horde of Evening Majesty, Titan Fuego. Titan has a magical affinity for sunsets, is considered by many to be stronger than the saints, and can turn into a huge goddamn dragon. He serves the coven of Sterncrowne.

[midnigtartist]

I wrote a longer SpellBomb fic and y’all are getting it first

Please enjoy Gale being a little horny and a lot soft in the shadow cursed lands 🔮💣

He can’t help but watch her through the mirror of her makeshift vanity as she readies herself for sleep. Lounged on his side on a thin straw mattress in the only spare room at Last Light, Gale considers how supremely lucky he is. To get to share space with the most captivating woman he’s ever had the good graces to know. The domesticity of the thing feels new and novel after a year spent in isolation, and even longer as the lover of the Mother of Magic.

Mystra preferred abstraction in their relationship. The intertwining of their very souls in the astral over and over again is a pleasure Gale’s not know before nor since, but left little in the way of mortal cuddling after the fact. Mystra would summon him when she pleased and dismissed him when she was satisfied. If there was a scrape of vulnerability to be found in her, he’d not seen it while splayed across her infinite domain.

Dotty hums a halting, pipping tune as she run fingers through her frazzled hair, picking out clots of dry blood with her dexterous fingers.

It had been but a few hours ago that this inn, this singular point of silvered hope in the mitst of the shadow cursed night, had been sieged. Set upon by the Absolute cult that dogs every step of their journey. Another frantic pitch for survival against the horrors of the cursed land, and Dotty looks so fine, even whilst in the thick of it.

Her stately poise and cheerful disposition betray how truly fierce she is in the heat of battle. Every muscle pulled taut, every movement sharp and precise, lethal. The way she wields crossbows half as tall as she is with such ease never ceases to steal the breath from Gale’s chest.

The scrap to protect the Selunite cleric and guardian of the inn had been a fierce one indeed. A treacherous flaming fist commander bore down on them with a horde of devils, but the moment that persists at the forefront of his mind is that of Dotty, thrusting her rapier up though the stomach of one of the winged beasts. Her eyes white fire and her lips pulled back in a shrill, piercing shriek of rage. Every bit the devil her heritage presumes.

Even now, the lingering tendrils of adrenaline squeeze tight around Gale’s heart at the memory, leaving him suddenly flushed from hairline to toes. There’s a particular exhilaration he feels at seeing her in such a state. One that leaves him so desperately wanting.

Her navy skin, like the deep blue of the bay seen from his tower window at night, and speckled with just as many stars, peaks over the top of the wide collared tunic she wears to bed. Gale traces the lines of her shoulders with his eyes.

To say he desires her would be an understatement. He’s desired her nearly from the first moment he’d met her. Dotty is a beautiful young woman and she is well aware of the fact. He’d like to say his attraction goes deeper then just her full lips and rounded hips, and in many ways it does. She has a seemingly unquenchable thirst for life and joy, and a devastatingly gentle heart that never fails to steel his own, but still. He is just one mortal man, and flawed man at that. He can’t keep his mind from wandering down paths flesh. Thoughts of her of soft skin fitted into his hands. Her teeth set against his throat or her taloned hands pawing at his chest.

How he longs to spread her out across his sheets, like royal blue ink spilling across the fresh pages of a new chapter of his life. Weave willing it's not the last chapter, of course.

It would be tactless to voice such desires without preamble however, so Gale instead breaks their amicable silence with-

“It is exhilarating, facing what grim horrors these cursed lands throw at us. Especially by your side.”

Dotty hums absently in way of response as she continues to pick at a particularly troublesome knot in her silver hair.

“I once read a book-“ he tries, sitting up a little straight on the bed. “One detailing how a brush with danger might heighten ones desire for—other forms, of stimulation. Have you- read anything on the subject?” He finishes, valiantly.

Could he not have thought of something cleverer? Well he can no more resend the words then he could pluck a star from the astral sea.

Dotty seems to find his fumbling question amusing, which is a great comfort at the very least. Her fond gaze catches his through her looking glass, eyes crinkling at the corners. Her words laced with laughter when she speaks.

“Read it? At this point I could write it myself.”

The mild embarrassment building in his throat dissipates, leaving only warm affection in its wake.

“Oh, I believe you.” He says, aware of how breathless he sounds but not paying it any mind.

Dotty pushes the last of her curls back from her face and stands, moving instead to her pack on the other side of the room. Gale’s gaze stumbles after her like how a child might chase a butterfly.

“You never look so beautiful then at the end of stirring battle. Your cheeks flushed, your eyes bright, your skin glistening,,,,”

He can’t help but reach out as she passes him on the bed, brushing the backs of his knuckles down the sinuous length of her tail. A self satisfied smirk wedges itself onto his face as her tail presses up to meet his touch.

“Perhaps its just the thrill of our near undead experience talking but, standing at your side through such darkness and despair- it only makes me want you more.”

Dotty hums her acknowledgment again, but he can see the way her mouth curls in a shy smile, and the tops of her cheeks flush violet at his words. Gods, what he wouldn’t give to gather her up into his lap and please her.

Instead he lets his hand drop back to his knee, fingers curling around the fabric of his trousers. “Unfortunately, this is neither the time or the place to indulge in such feelings.”

“Is it not? We’re as alone now as we’ve ever been.” Dotty drops her pack and instead comes to stand between his legs. Her lithe fingers sweep an errant piece of hair from his brow. “I don’t see why we couldnt,, indulge.”

Gales head bobs between his shoulders and a huff of laughter escape him. “I’d hope to make our first time together a bit more impressive then a quick tumble on a straw mattress. I want it to be special.” He reaches up, taking both of her hands in his. “To woo you properly. Well- as best I can given the circumstances.”

They’re calloused in unexpected places, littered with fine scars from her tinkering. He runs his thumbs over her fingers with single minded awe.

Dotty cocks her head to one side, eyes adorably round with surprise. “Really? Huh- most men cant wait for me to get my top off,,”

“Oh, I am quite intent on that as well, believe you me, but, a gentleman knows how to temper his excitement.” He says with a chuckle. “Not to mention my uncommonly high tolerance for delayed gratification.”

Dotty rolls her eyes, affectionately. Gale sits taller, scoots closer to the edge of the mattress. He brings her hands up to his lips.

“If you can be patient with me for a bit longer, I promise to deliver you night a passion beyond your wildest imaginings.”

It has to be special. He has to illustrate to her how important her affection for him, her companionship truly is. To settle for some evening romp might be easier, yes, but it would never convey the depth a breath of his feelings for her. He loves her. A thought he’s been more and more willingly to concede in recent days. Certainly it would do him no good to deny it, in a any case. Better to admit it. Despite the brevity of their time together, he loves her, and he’ll settle for no less then perfection when the time comes to covey that to her. He only hopes he has the time to bring his grand plans to fruition before, well, before divine circumstance make doing so impossible.

Dotty, in all her grace, grace he’s so undeserving of, smiles playfully down at him.

“Ooh that sounds exciting. I could be convinced to wait for a promise like that.”

Gale presses another swift kiss to the backs of her hands “A promise I fully intend to make good on. And soon.”

She giggles, rocking back on her heels before pulling away. The loss of contact feels like snuffing out a candle with your fingers. She goes back to her pack, producing a smaller velvet pouch from within. Then she reaches up and removes the small silver hoop from her nose.

When she hold her free hand out to Gale, he fixes her with a questioning look.

“You’re not going to sleep in your jewelry, are you?” Its less of a question and more of a statement of fact.

Gale considers her upturned palm for a moment before huffing through his nose in acquiescence, pulling the spoked wheel of arcana from his ear and setting it in her hand. There's something to the intimacy of the act that makes his chest hurt. Seeing their shared belongings clinking together as Dotty slips them into the velvet bag, stowing them away with her things for safe keeping. What would her skirts look like hanging in his closet? Her make up strewn across his vanity?

“I do hope this doesn’t mean you’re turning me out, though.” She says, drawing him back from his revere.

She's teasing, he can see it in the wrinkles around her nose but, there’s just the finest touch of worry laced within.

“Of course not.” Gale’s quick to assure her. “It would take nothing less than an act of divine intervention to prise you from my arms now that I have you.”

To emphasize the sincerity of the words he scoots back till his back is against the pillows, swinging his legs up on the mattress and opening arm wide for her.

“Come, the morning comes sooner then we think, but I want to take a moment to take you in.”

[prince-toffee]

L I F E I S A H I G H W A Y !

Written by Prince-Toffee (me)

Art by the absolutely supreme @themazziah @cosmiccanineart

Created as part of The @spopbang 2024

Before we begin, I just want to say thank you to @themazziah for creating this absolutely gorgeous piece of art that you're looking at right now. It was so good in fact that I was inspired to rewrite the story to incorporate it into the narrative. When writers and artists were being paired up, I was sure I'd be left without a partner, but after you said that I was your first choice I was honestly so moved and touched. Thank you for picking me. Nothing I write could ever express how lovely it feels to read a kind comment like that. And that's why I'll try to get back into writing Entrapdak fics, it's been a while, and I'd love to do more, the world can never have enough Entrapta and Hordak in it. (and Glimmadora, my first time writing them, hope I did okay) Thanks, Mazz, I hope this story gives you a good few chuckles.

Second of all, thank you to all the organisers of @spopbang I may not know many people there well, but right from the start people were nothing but kind and helpful, and this event is a beautiful gift to the fandom. You guys are absolutely amazing!

Finally, on a more personal note, this is a three parter, I could only manage to finish Act One before the deadlines as I was working on my final university assignments at the same time, and now I'm finished and free! And I can't think of a better way to celebrate! I'll try to get the rest of the story out as soon as possible. I hope you enjoy this little space road trip.

Life Is A Highway

Act One (of Three)

~One Year After The Defeat of Horde Prime

CloneTown, or as the inhabitants of the settlement chose to dub it, Doormat, was a small shanty town at the foot of Mount Dryl on top of which Castle Dryl stood. The doormat of Dryl, of Etheria, of the universe, Adora assumed that was the intended joke. The warrior of light examined the sign closely, a hastily put together sign stood before her, it read: ‘Welcome To’ with CloneTown crossed out. A separate board, made of wood not matching the rest of the sign, was nailed underneath, on it carved crudely was ‘Doormat’. Adora never knew clones had a sense of humour, then again, it wasn't like she spent much time among them. Or at all. As She-Ra, the Protector of Etheria, she visited many villages on the continent, observed as many cultures of as many people as she could, opened her heart and reached out a helping hand to all... all except the newest refugees of Etheria. Every time she had ventured to a clone settlement, she felt unease - most villages across Etheria worshipped her (so to speak, and that invited its own unique forms of exhaustion), but when she set foot on clone grounds, she felt unwanted, which of course, she was. Perhaps the unease emerged from the fact that all the staring eyes that silently watched her stroll into town as she did so now, all belonged to the same face, the face of her old master. One she worshipped in her youth, but no longer. But that didn't matter now, now she was walking down the muddy roads of Doormat, and attracting quite a few puzzled, angered glares. Adora approached in her normal form, strolling up as a 9-foot-tall glowing, radiant, goddess might have been a bit too much. Not that it mattered too much as she still stuck out like a sore thumb, she was the only non-clone in the village, nothing she could do about that. The warrior was cloaked in torn and tattered robes, a hood obscuring her face, so at least they didn't know who she was.

Soon enough the Warrior of Grayskull happened upon her destination, Bar Nefcy, a local, clone-ran establishment. She got a bit lost, but Entrapta’s directions were correct. There was a hanging sign spelling out the bar’s name in uncharacteristically bright pink paint. Almost acting as a centrepiece of the town. From what she heard about it, the establishment acted as a sort of neutral ground for clones: regs, defects, and whatever came between. And as she entered the establishment, she wondered whether that mentality and ideology would extend to her. And almost immediately she got her answer as the chatter throughout the room stopped, all the various patrons turned to look at her, a sea of red and green eyes staring into her. She wasn't exactly scared, if anything came down to violence, she had plenty to keep herself safe, including the enormous broadsword channelling cosmic energy that would transform her into the most powerful woman in the universe. Adora made her way over to the barline and sat herself down, each of her footsteps making the wooden floor creak, which could be heard over the silence.

She attempted to stay invisible and stay silent until her contact would show up, however that turned out to be unlikely as she caught a glimpse of her bartender, a small “Oh!” escaped her and she immediately regretted it, and felt awful about it. Adora’s bartender did not look like a regular clone, he was downright bizarre, he was overgrown with vines, flowers, and moss, all intertwined and weaved into the clone’s being. Where his eyes would be, now two thick vines ran outward spreading into a patch of moss and grass atop his head. Effectively rendering the man, blind. Admittedly, she stared for a bit too long, but she didn't think he'd know.

“Well?!”

“?”

“I may be as blind as a bat, but my hearing is as good as ever. I heard you walk in and sit down, the floorboards are on purpose. So? What’ya want?”

Adora gulped, and put on her best diplomatic voice, “No drink for me, sir. I only ask permission to stay in your bar for- I don't know, uh, a few more minutes. I'm meeting a... friend, shall we call him. A clone. I'm a friend! An ally!” Whoof. She never had to pull that card out before. The bartender didn't seem to look convinced. The diplomatic voice slipped halfway through all that. “Please.” She finished with an awkward smile on her pinched face.

“Uh huh, look this is a clone-establishment, not for… natives. You're unsettling my clientele, so if you'd be so kind and find the exit as I can't, ya know on the account of a magic flower growing out of my face. Good day, Princess.” Wait he knew? How? Was her voice that recognisable?

Just then another voice rose from the back of the bar, from a far corner booth, “Ah, come on Manny! I thought this was a ‘neutral ground’ and whatnot. You gonna denie the guy their poison? They're just trying to get through today like the rest of us.” The bartender, who Adora now knew was named Manny, groaned in annoyance, if he could roll his eyes, he would have. Adora turned around to see where the voice was coming from. There, far in the back, in the corner booth, set an elderly patron a clone no doubt, he spoke with the same voice. But he too looked downright bizarre, unlike all the other clones. This clone was thin, like a skeleton, he looked sickly. (A defect, they were called, she believed, though not entirely sure). The lower half of his face looked normal enough, well for a clone that was. But the top half of his head was a glass-like red dome with some strange displays flashing inside like a radar monitor. And not only that, protruding out of his face was a long witch-like nose, sharp as a knife. Almost as sharp as the red teeth that formed a, what was meant to be a friendly, smile.

The clone wore a mechanical suit (of armour?) that framed his skeletal features. His feet were kicked up on top of the table. His feet resembled… clamps? Like mechanical vulture talons. There was another clone at the corner booth with them, but they had their back turned to Adora, they were clearly uninterested in this interaction. The vulture-like clone stood up and wobblingly made his way over to Adora. It was clear he was drunk. But from Manny’s reaction she gauged that this was his default state. The bird-like man spoke up again, “Leave the freak alone. ‘Serve all, not one’, right?” The woman noticed that the clone acted as if he had a cup or glass in his hand... But he didn't, there was no drink in his curved hand.

“V,” Manny spoke, so that was his name, “Should have known this freak was with you, something always happens when you're around here. Trouble seems to follow you wherever you go, and you always bring it here. So why don't you take your royal friend, and go lead trouble away from here.”

“I won't cause any trouble, I promise.” Adora proclaimed, she reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, she placed the page onto the table and slid it over to Manny. “I'm actually here on behalf of the Queen, to hand you this Establishment License to let you run your business officially... it was illegal before, just so you know. As a show of gratitude and togetherness.” Adora gave her best smile. Manny just looked at the piece of paper and groaned, he turned around and walked off with the paper in hand, grumpy. Adora swivelled around back to V, she awkwardly thanked them, “Hey, thanks, uh, V was it? For taking my side. And I'm sorry I caused a commotion here.”

“Eh,” He waved dismissively, “Don't take it too personally kid, Manny over there's still a little peeved that you turned him and a bunch of others into walking compost heaps back when you turned The Velvet Glove into a giant tree, heh.”

“I- I did that to him?”

“Oh, not just him, every clone hibernating in a pod and whatnot. Thousands.”

“Oh, gods, what have I done.” She murmured to herself, she combed through her hair, a thousand yard stare on her face. “I'm so sorry... I didn't know I was unwelcome.”

“Eh,” He shrugged, “Don't take that too personally either, neither is he.” V pointed behind him with his thumb towards the doorway. Adora followed the thumb to the silhouette in the door frame. Hordak. Her drinking partner had arrived.

The Ex-Lord of the Horde entered the establishment and silence befell the bar once more, the collective of eyes glared at him and followed him as he slowly made his way over to the warrior Princess. Not too different of a reaction that they greeted Adora with. V just then realised there wasn't a drink in his hand and so he moved out of the way to give Hordak room to sit down next to Adora. He did so. The villain maintained silence, Adora thought it was to seem intimidating, but in reality he simply had no idea how to talk to people, and was too awkward to be the one to begin the conversation.

Hordak was cloaked in a black cape and hood. His blue, curly, fringe poking out from under the hood. Another thing she just now noticed about Hordak was that his eyes were different, usually fully blood red with black makeup around, just now realising that those must have been contact lenses of some sort, because now she witnessed his real eyes. Soft and organic rather than the glass shields which is what their texture usually looked like. Now his corneas were fully pitch black with black pupils and bright blood red irises, the way they shifted about it somehow made him far more emotive. He was clad in matte black and gun metal grey plated armour with neon red highlights running throughout. No Horde symbol on his chest plate however, The Wings of The Vampire where nowhere to be seen. What Adora didn't see was the First One's crystal embedded within his armour powering his entire suit. He wore the same double slit dress he always wore, thighs on full display. That was certainly a choice.

Adora spoke up first, “Sooo, ahem, I'm sure you're wondering why I asked to meet with you.”

“Yes.” He spoke with his deep, smooth voice, “Entrapta, my dearest, did not disclose why you wished to meet. And why here of all places. I am usually summoned to BrightMoon by the Queen.”

“Weeeell, I thought meeting here might make you feel more comfortable. Heard this place serves drinks to anyone, guess... guess not.”

“Hmm, indeed. I do not drink here. I am unwelcome. I do not blame anyone for that belief. My shunning is just.”

“I thought you'd be a hero to your people, especially after killing Prime and all.”

“You killed Prime. I'm surprised many of my brothers haven't turned to worship you She-Ra Adora.”

“It's just Adora. And more people ‘worshipping’ me is the last thing I want.”

“And as to why many of my brothers hate me? Well, everyone has their own reasons. For many I will always be that authority figure, a High-General, sending them off to their deaths. For others, like Manny here, good man that Manny, they believe my... ‘campaign’ here has led to your people hating them. I destroyed any chance of a peaceful coexistence. I am keen to agree with him.”

Adora didn't disagree, but there was more to it. She did not want to unpack all of it just yet so she chose to instead change the topic of conversation, “Hordak. The reason I wanted to meet with you... I have a job for you.”

“I imagined as much. However, it is usually the Queen who imparts assignments upon me and my brothers. Why this- breaking of routine?”

“Because this concerns the Queen. This ‘job’ isn't her idea, it's mine, in fact, it took a lot of convincing to get her onboard.”

“And the mission is?”

“A road trip, so to speak.”

Hordak quirked his brow. “Ooooh-kay.”

“There is an Intergalactic Conference in the Summit solar system, few galaxies away. Glimmer needs to attend in the next few days. It's quite possibly the most important event in Etheria’s history.”

“And what does the conference pertain to? If I may ask?”

“Securing Etheria’s status in the universe. Glimmy wants to appeal to The Council of The Known Universe and have Etheria recognised as a developed-enough world to join The Council. Ever since Etheria had been freed from Despandos it has been at the mercy of the rest of the universe. As a magical mediaeval world, Etheria’s has been seen by the rest of the universe as ‘underdeveloped’ and ‘primitive’ and as ‘defenceless’. Becoming a part of The Council will grant us safety. Their technology advancements. Limitless food and medicine - access to planets they’ve constructed dedicated solely to agriculture and harvesting. Respect among other worlds. Protection from other tyrants across the cosmos like Prime. Make sure it never happens again. The Council of The Known Universe, turns out, was established to create a barricade against tyrant empires like Prime and The Galactic Horde. Etheria needs protection like that, but there's a problem.”

Hordak placed a hand against his chin as he pondered on the matter, “The Primusians.”

“Yes. You've heard?”

“I have, through the ‘grapevine’ as you would call it; clones talk, or think (telepathically), especially here. V doesn't keep anything to himself. Primus pirates have been assaulting crafts around the system, many of them clones seeking home off-world. They've been quite active since our ‘stunt’ with the Minister of Armament and Defence. You're afraid they have their sights set on the Queen. Making transporting her a major risk.”

“Yeah, you got it. I knew you'd catch on.” Hordak shot her an inquisitive look as well as a bombastic side eye, “Anyway, the plan is to send a new unmanned decoy ship on the route to the conference. Pirates explode it, and hopefully they'll think the bodies got incinerated.”

“That's that then.” Hordak remarked satisfied.

“Yeah, except Glim still needs to make it to Summit. And that's where you, and your... team comes in. I hear you have a ship, don't know how, but you do. You'll escort Glim on the longer way around the Black Donut system and deliver her to the conference on time.”

“That will take days.”

“One week exactly. One way each. That's why I’m here now, the Queen’s orders.”

“It does not sound like the Queen would be thrilled about this idea. My brothers can be... a lot.”

“She isn't. But she knows it's the right thing to do.”

Hordak sighed. “Adora why would I-“

“Because you owe me.” She suddenly became incredibly serious, her glare at Hordak hardened, and Hordak fell silent. He really did. Freeing him from Prime’s influence. Dropping in a good word for him at his trial. He most likely wouldn't have been with Entrapta at all without her. He simply nodded in agreement. “And... because I love her.”

“And you would trust me to keep her safe?”

“The same way I'll keep Entrapta safe while you're gone... So? Deal?”

-        - -

Day One (of Seven)

“No. No deal.” Glimmer remarked defeated. “This is a bad- ugh- I don't like this plan, just stating that for the record.” The Queen of BrightMoon spoke to the holo-pad, arguing with the screen. On the other side of the screen was a smiling but slightly scared Adora. Glimmer marched through the corridors of Castle Dryl, the never-ending labyrinth, that Glimmer was 80% sure was constantly shifting, trying to confuse her. It didn't help that she was constantly going down, deeper into the mountain. Entrapta was the master of traps after all. But Glimmer continued on her path anyhow. She had a map display hovering over the holo-pad that clearly outlined where to go. And surely this wasn't a trap, a planned scheme to assassinate her, right?

“I know what you're thinking; It's not a trap.”

“I- wasn't thinking... that.” She squinted at the map overhead, “I swear the corridors are moving, how is that even possible. It also doesn’t fill me with confidence that Entrapta called this, ‘The Basement’.” The monarch wore her traditional purple outfit, glittering cape, golden accents around the belt, shoulder pauldron, and of course her royal tiara. Her stern look faded away and a sadness took its place. “Why couldn't you’ve come with me?”

“~Oh, StarLight, I'm sorry. I want to always be at your side, and I would be if I could. But the strange signals emanating from the Crystal Castle, it could mean LightHope’s back. And if LightHope is back, which her is she? And why would she be transmitting off-world?”

“So you'll be on the other side of the universe.”

“As soon as I'm done I'll B-line it to you. Just- just wait for me. You're in good hands until then.”

“...I wish I could hold you, I miss you already.” Glimmer's words brought a warm smile to the She-Ra’s face. Adora turned away, avoiding eye contact, a blush rising across her face.

“I miss you too. But please, trust me, it'll be okay.” Adora turned to look at something out of the holo-pad’s view, she sighed, “I have to go. I love you. See you in a week.”

And the transmission terminated.

Glimmer sighed. Already missing Adora’s voice. She believed she was approaching her destination, a large mechanical door stood before her. The GPS on her holo-pad indicated that she had reached ‘The Hangar’. “Okay.” She accepted the journey ahead with one word. Glimmer swiped the touchscreen on her whole pad, the bypass code got transmitted to the control panel at the doors ahead. The green light indicated the door unlocking. And the metal doors slid upward with a hiss. A light spilled into the corridor, so much so Glimmer had to shield her eyes with her hand. She took a step inside and almost tripped over immediately. She looked back to see what it was, and noticed that the floor was littered with a variety of… strange and seemingly unrelated things; Pipes, cables, and various other pieces of machinery, she guessed. There were also art supplies; Paint buckets, brushes, canvases, and spray cans. As she turned around to face forward once again she ducked immediately as she was almost closelined by a low hanging clothing line, various photographs hung up along it. Various landscapes from the brief glimpse that Glimmer caught of it.

“Look out.” A familiar voice called out, but it came from an unfamiliar character. Glimmer followed the voice to match it to the clone face. The man wasn’t even looking at her, which meant she must have yelped quite loudly at some point. She re-composed herself and made her way to the clone, the closer she got, the more details revealed themselves to her. The man was, in fact, a clone, he had the same voice and Hordak’s face, but that was almost where the similarities ended. The tuft of hair on top of his head was dyed in a patchwork of every colour, it was quite strange seeing all that colour on a clone. But the most defining characteristic was the fact that he was wheelchair bound due to his two missing legs, amputated just above the knees. The defect was sat in front of a sizable canvas, a paintbrush in hand and in the middle of creating a new painting. The painting was, no doubt about it, gorgeous. It depicted Doormat, at the foot of Mount Dryl. The light that had blinded Glimmer earlier when she entered had come from the massive open hangar bay doors letting the daylight in. She assumed that was where he got the photos and references from.

“It's beautiful.” She remarked.

“What? This? Thank you, but no, it's just a warm up, and it's hideous. I think I might be having an off day. See that tree?” The clone pointed to a perfectly fine tree on the painting.

“Right.” She should have probably introduced herself, “I'm-“

“Cargo.” He finished.

“Not how I'd like to put it. But yeah, I- uh- I’m Glimmer.”

“I know. You’re the Queen. You send me and my brothers on suicide missions.”

“Yeah... uhmm, yes, soooorry about that, and you are?”

“Moe.”

“Moe. I'll- I'll remember that. Is Hordak here?”

“He's with Entrapta, doing… whatever mad-scientists do. Making time travelling microwaves that send your meal forward in time to when it's already done?”

“Heh, it's Entrapta, it wouldn't surprise me. She can do anything she sets her mind to.”

The joke seemed to resonate with the artist, he smiled, “We're taking off soon, Dak’ll be down in a bit, feel free to get set up on the ship, try getting used to it, the trip’ll be a few days long.”

“Thanks.”

Glimmer turned to the ship in question, The Annihilation it was called. It was a Horde troop carrier dropship repurposed as a mobile home to The Defects as they recently began calling themselves. Looks like they were really owning it. The dropship had a new paint job, no doubt thanks to Moe, an angry face painted over the cockpit, angry eyes and a row of sharp teeth. And a mural on the side of the hull, abstract, but unfinished, she presumed. The ship had Christmas lights hung up all along it, a TV satellite dish on top, and a footpath leading to the lowered ramp into the loading bay. The Annihilation was surrounded by a white picket fence, turf of fake grass, a small cheap fountain (kinda ugly, with a gnome spitting out water at the centre). And a mailbox at the front, not that anyone ever sent in any mail, it was all very cute however.

The Queen of Light made her way into the loading bay, up the ramp, and quickly realised it was... A living room? A TV, a couch, and a carpet. All bolted down so it wouldn't fly out presumably. She was surprised at the mundanity of it all, she was expecting something far more alien or militaristic. While her head was in the clouds she tripped yet again. She growled at her own clumsiness, “What? Do I have two left feet today? What now?” She looked down at what had tripped her up and she almost jumped out of her skin. It was a man, slumped over, on the ground, leaning against a wall, a cable lodged into the back of his head. He was silent, he wasn't moving. Glimmer’s thoughts raced madly; He's dead. They killed someone and stuffed him into their ship. She was looking at a corpse right now!

Then a voice came from above, “Heh, you know that happened to me once.” She looked up to see a skinny man hanging upside down from the ceiling like a bat, he smiled with his bright red fangs, “Mortar shell. Blew me into pieces. Turns out I grabbed someone else’s leg! HA!”

“...Wh- What?”

“Two left feet! We all match so the joints just pop in! Customizable action figures, batteries sold separately.” V cackled to himself as he descended from the ceiling and landed before the monarch. Glimmer wasn't sure how to respond, or what she was looking at, some sort of birdman? She was at a loss for words, since her mind was still on the potential corpse at her feet. “V.” He indicated himself with his hand.

“Is this a dead body?!” She pointed to the clone on the floor in panic and anguish. V craned his neck to look past the Queen. V waved it off matter of factly.

“Eh, don't worry about Drag. Kid’s just taking a nap.”

“So I shouldn't be worried?”

“Oh, well, no, you definitely should. ‘Nap’ so to speak. The truth is far more horrifying. You see little Drag is in a state of constant rapid brain degradation the curjigger he's hooked up to continuously recreates his brain through... woff nanobots? I don't know, Dak’s the one who does machines. The boy fainted not long ago, so he'll be out for a good while.”

“How long is he usually out for?” She still asked panicked.

“Uh, I don't know, varies, sometimes hours, sometimes days, whatever the story needs really. I'm sure he'll be back by the third act.”

“... What are you talking about?”

“I don't know. Anyways, make yourself at home, but not too much, the chaotic mess is on purpose.”

“The ‘I know where everything is’ type of organisation system?”

“What? No, I don't know where anything is, it's just to annoy Hordak. Sometimes I dump buckets of mud and dust inside just to see how furrowed his brows can get. Ha! He gets so angry.”

Glimmer just now noticed that V had patted the couch as he made his ‘make yourself at home’ statement. “Wait, I'm… sleeping on the couch?” She remarked in disbelief.

“Weeell, yeah, what did you expect?”

“A room?!”

“Ahhh... No. Heh. No.”

“Unbelievable.”

“Hey, it's not that bad, this is the best spot on Anni! You got a perfect view of the TV (which has channels from the next three galaxies). A few itchy blankets and who knows what wonders hide between the couch cushions; Just today I found Drag’s goldfish’s food... Oh shoot, I knew I forgot something.” He tapped his chin.

“I'm in Hel. I died, and now I'm in Hel.”

“HA! Not yet. But The End is coming. Soon!” V waltzed away saluting her away as he ventured off to check up on his younger brother’s fish.

“Wait! Can't I have Drag’s room? Or is his room the corridor?” She asked sarcastically.

“Sorry, Candy Floss, he ain't interchangeable. You’ll just have to deal with it.” The doors to Drag’s bedroom closed and he was out of earshot.

“...Great. Perfect. Great idea, Adora. Thanks, hun.”

-        - -

“I wish you could stay.” Entrapta sadly remarked.

Hordak took a moment to reply, he looked away and down, “... As do I, Beloved.”

It was another day, another mission and once again the universe had decided to tear them apart as it often did. It was especially bittersweet and tragic as the couple had plans for today, family picnic, so to speak. Entrapta sighed as she soldered the motherboard in front of her, their mask down and covering her face, “I was really looking forward to working on the power couplings for the hyper light telescope. I bet we can see the Lynks system from here! I heard rumours that they've managed to construct an entire artificial star! It powers their two nearest colonies!... I- I can wait for you... And we could do it together when you get back, how long can the escort be? Two?- Three days?” She tried to keep up a genuine smile.

“We estimate a week to the Summit system, and one week to return.” Hordak hid most of himself under his cape like a weighted blanket, “I know how much you love star gazing, you shouldn't have to wait for me. You should enjoy yourself without me.” He reached out for Entrapta’s hand. Entrapta let go of the soldering iron, and accepted the taloned hand of her partner. The Ex-Lord of the Horde softly massaged her hand, his thumb moving in circles.

She gently squeezed Hordak’s hand in return, “But I'd love for you to be with me. Us, together, you know?” She snuggled into Hordak’s chest, leaning her head against him. Dak held her hand and placing his other hand against Entrapta’s back, a gentle touch, “That's the life I wanted for us.” She murmured lowly, almost a purr.

“I know.” Hordak spoke solemnly.

“...It feels like we're apart every day now. I thought things would get better… and here you go again.”

“I know. But this request- it came from-“

“Adora, I know.” Entrapta lifted her mask, revealing a small smile, “That's the only thing I like about this.” That made Hordak raise one of his brows, “You, opening up to her, it's cute. She's a good girl. I'm glad you're making new friends.” She patted Hordak’s chest.

“Well, I wouldn't go that far-“

“Hordak.”

“Ah!” Hordak jumped, scared by the voice inside his head. The clone turned around to find Lee, another one of his brothers, just standing there – Menacingly. “Lee! How did you- ? Where? Why?!”

“We have a problem.”

*Italics indicate telepathy – Toffee*

“What?”

“The Queen is currently in our home.”

“Yes, she is the cargo.”

“…Why was I not informed of this?”

“Because you wouldn't have liked it.”

“We are transporting (possibly) the most powerful woman in the universe - that is going to turn heads, and paint a target on our backs. Are we not meant to be secret task force?”

“That is why we and the She-Ra are the only individuals aware of this mission. And, were you not the one who urged me to establish a more trusting relationship with the rulers of this world? Do you not think that a favour such as this would aid in improving relations between clones and natives?” Lee pondered on it, he nodded. He would have grunted if he could, unfortunately for Lee, his entire lower jaw was missing. By far his most noticeable and unique feature.

“...Sooo? Are we-? Is this-? Are we done? I'm just getting half of the conversation here, just so you know.” Entrapta poked in.

Suddenly V also appeared out of nowhere behind Hordak, “Hey we have a problem.”

“Gahhh! Where did you?! How- What?! Ugh. Yes, we know; the Queen.” Hordak face palmed.

“What? No. It's Drag’s goldfish, it's dead.”

“What? I thought you were feeding it.”

“I thought Lee was feeding it.”

“Well, I thought Moe was feeding it.”

Hordak sighed, face in his hands, “Fine, we'll figure it out on the road, just go, get out of here.”

Lee just looked at him, and turned away, “I'll be on the ship. I'm assuming all the relevant mission information is on board?” Hordak nodded. “Then I will be there, studying.” And the clone disappeared as soon as he appeared. V followed.

“He's scary good at that.” Entrapta remarked.

“Hmm.”

“I don't think he likes me.”

“They’ll come around...”

Both of them stood there for a moment, in silence. “So... you should probably get going.” Entrapta remarked sadly, not ready to let go again so quickly.

“Mmm.” Hordak looked around the lab, “Where is Imp? I wished to say goodbye to him before departing.”

“Probably hiding, lil rascal hates to see you go. He misses you you know.”

“I know…” A sadness washed over his face. 

“Look, I know you're at work, the last thing you need up there is me. But-”

“I would spend my entire life at your side! I love your voice. I adore your beautiful mind. And worship your heart for all the love you have offered me. You are not a hindrance!”

“Okay, okay, haha.” She looked down at the ground with a warm blush on her cheeks, “I know, I get it.”

“You think so little of yourself, I know how you are. And I do not appreciate it.” He landed a soft kiss on his partner's cheek. Which drew a chuckle from her.

“OK, OK, enough! You know I can't take compliments!” She exclaimed joyously as she smooshed his cheeks with her soft gloved hands.

“It is my duty as your lab partner to remind you of your worth, your beauty and your wonder, and that is just a scientific fact. Now, what- uh- what were you going to say before I rudely interrupted?”

From a large pouch on her utility belt Entrapta fished out a small Rubik’s cube-like object, which shifted in her palm and unfolded into a large two-handed holo-pad, and handed it over to Dak, “You know how I've been working on the intergalactic communications array?! So, I've been working on downsizing it and managed to incorporate it into a screened device - this holo-pad will allow us to stay in touch, even worlds apart. It’s only a prototype, of course, but it should work perfectly.”

What a loving gift. Entrapta always bestowed such wonderful presents, Perfuma proclaimed that it was her love-language. Hordak did not understand what that meant exactly, but his mind wondered, how could he further ‘communicate’ in this ‘language’? “Beloved, I- This is a most thoughtful gift, but... it is standard protocol to not take any contraband that could possibly link us to and could be traced back to Etheria in case the ship is breached... but, I suppose with the literal Queen of Etheria on board, that rule does not apply.” He smiled. Entrapta matched the smile.

“I will call you, when you're on your way, later today.” She raised on her tippy-toes and kissed her tall partner on the cheek, “Keep you company.”

“I would appreciate it.”

         Hordak and Entrapta lost themselves in each other's eyes as they often did, they wordlessly embraced in a warm hug. Their foreheads found each other, eyes closed, they allowed themselves to smile just a little.

         “I love you.”

         “I love you, more.”

         “Scientifically impossible, I love you far more.”

         “No, I love you more!” They giggled softly to each other.

-        - -

Glimmer had unpacked, to the best of her abilities, that is to say she was pecking at one of her packed lunch sandwiches and marked the couch as her territory by placing her luggage all over it. The Queen was now just sitting on the couch, slouched. This was going to be a long trip, she could tell. So she tried to distract herself by glueing herself to the TV. Unfortunately, the channel she was watching was broadcasting from an alien system with a language she did not understand. She could infer from the tone of the voice and the acting what was going on. It was some sort of telenovela, ooorr a reality TV show? No, Glimmer had no idea where the remote was. So that was it, her life for the next week. Hopefully Adora and the rest of the Princesses would take her on the way back after the conference.

         “Oh, nice, that's a good episode.”

         “What?” She turned back to see V standing behind her like a dad at a BBQ over a grill, a coffee mug in hand.

         “Sapphire Lakes. Great show. A handful of wealthy women who pretend to be friends are locked up in a small lake house for a week where they scream, lie and backstab each other for a cash prize. It's truly peak television. Tiffany's just confronting Jade about cheating with Keith.” He pointed gleefully at the screen.

         “How do you know all this? It's not even in Etherian?”

         V taped the side of his head, presumably where his ears would be, wait, did he even have ears? “Air-Vibration Translators. Convert any nearby language to clone speak.”

         “Huh.”

         “Your majesty.” Glimmer’s eyes followed the voice to the clone entering the drop ship, it was Hordak. Long black cape covering his body and draping behind him on the floor. His battle armour underneath, no longer bearing the symbol of the Horde, but rather the symbol of Dryl, purple gear with a star at its centre. Proud property of his wife. 

         “Hordak, finally. I wanted to speak with you.” Glimmer spoke up.

         “Lee here?” Dak turned to V.

         “Yeah, he’s in.” V replied, still glued to the TV screen.

         “What? I didn't see anyone enter.” Glim remarked confused.

         “Yeah, that's Lee. If he wants to, you won't see him all week.” V shrugged.

         “One can only hope.” She murmured.

         “I see you've already gotten acquainted with the crew. Uh- Make yourself at home, I suppose. We depart soon.”

         “Uh- Thanks...”

         “...”

         “...”

         “...Soooo, How- uh- how are you?...”

         “Yeah, I'm- I'm good- I'm alright... How... Are you?”

         “Good. Good...

         “... Yeah.”

         “... Alright, let's go.” He awkwardly turned around and departed to the ship's cockpit.

         V stopped on the way, “Hey, Daky, beloved brother of mine, my favourite person in the whole wide cosmos.”

         “What do you want?” Hordak sounded tired already.

         “Can I drive?”

         “No.”

         “I'm a pilot! I was a pilot back in the day! I'm good at flying. I'm a pilot... Can I-?”

         “You are not touching my ship.”

         “But you let Entrapta work on the ship!?”

         “That, dear brother, is because she's competent.”

         Glimmer huffed as she leaned against the couch cushions, “This is going to be a long week.” She returned to her slouching.

         Hordak marched up the small steps that led to the cockpit which was a narrow space; and sat one on the front seat, the pilot seat from which one would steer the ship via the steering wheel and the numerous unlabelled buttons covering the control panels on either side of the wheel, some blinking, some not. (How Hordak knew to press what, was beyond this trans-fourth-dimensional narrator.) V attempted to flick a switch, but his hand was slapped away by Dak, who didn't even take his eyes off the panel. V frowned like a toddler that was denied cookies from their mom, and he fell down onto the back seat of the cockpit, the navigator seat. The navigator would advise routes throughout space and monitor the status of the ship.

         A finger taped Glimmer on the shoulder, she turned to see Moe, now on board, “Can I take some of these?” He asked, pointing to the pillows on the couch.

         “Uh, yeah, sure.” She handed the clone the pillows, and watched him make his way to Drag. Moe climbed down from his wheelchair and gently moved his brother to lean forward, still unconscious, and placed a pillow behind his head. He wanted to lift his younger brother and place another pillow under him, but Moe, being a defect, was unable to lift his weight. So, he was surprised when Drag did lift up. He looked up surprised to see that Glimmer had lifted the comatose clone up by the underarms. Moe was pleasantly shocked for a moment, but continued and placed a pillow for Drag to sit on and one to lean against. Glimmer lowered him, and helped Moe up onto his wheelchair. And pushed his wheelchair to the couch.

         “Thanks- Bay doors.” He pointed to a big red button with a lock image on it. Glimmer pressed it, and the ship’s ramp receded in and the heavy shutter doors sealed them in, and would seal the void of space out. “Thanks.”

         “No problem.” They returned to the couch.

         “He's always sore when he wakes up.” He remarked worryingly. The gesture was cute, that little act of kindness surprised Glimmer.

         V’s voice echoed through the ship, “Non-clones and gentle-clones please take your seats as we're about to rocket ourselves into the void of space through a wall of fire surrounding the planet, so we're all probably going to die, so say your prayers to whatever deity you believe in, won't matter though because we live in a nightmare world where there truly is no god.” He announced cheerfully. A loud smack could be heard and an “Ouch.” from V.

         Hordak’s voice came through, “Ignore him.”

         “You’ll get used to that,” Moe spoke up, “That's like Dak’s catch phrase.”

         “Is your brother, the bird one, always like that?”

         “No, he's usually worse. He's on good behaviour since we have a guest over.”

         “Are we- going to experience some turbulence? No offence to your brother but anything he makes is usually held together by duct tape. Are we about to turn into a giant fireball? He loves big fiery explosions.” Glimmer asked concerned, recollecting about the Fright Zone.

         “HehHa! Yeah that sounds like Hordak, alright.” He wheeled himself over to a front corner of the ship which had a standing canvas, some small cabinets at the side supposedly housing some art supplies. There was also a small circular window at the corner framing the view of the outside. “The Annihilation has been through a lot, but you won't find a more reliable (and lucky) ship in The Holy Armada! You won't even feel the take off.”

         “How do you know?” Glimmer asked unconvinced.

         “Come take a look.” He just pointed to the window. Glimmer, confused, waltzed over to the window, her eyes widened in shock at what she saw. A blue surface, rippling and kicking up as the ship zoomed past; a river, then fields of trees, zipping by. They had already launched. Mount Dryl shrinking into the distance.

         They had launched from the side of the mountain, out of the hangar bay doors, cloaked by Entrapta’s holographic disguise field. Soon they surpassed the clouds, and pierced into the atmosphere. For a moment the window became coated in fire and flame. And then it passed, and now the Queen of Light stared out into an endless black void reaching out into infinity. Across the blackness were white speckles; stars, distant suns, sustaining worlds and civilizations all of their own, Etheria a distant speck to them all.

         Before they could leave Etheria behind there was one obstacle left; a barrier of warships guarding the planet from the upper atmosphere. An impenetrable wall of hull and fire power. The most powerful warships that side of the galaxy. After the Fall of Prime over a year ago the clones were freed from his control, left to aimlessly wander Etheria - for the first time in their lives without purpose. The clone population was stranded on Glimmer’s magical world, the Princess Alliance weren't about to just let their invaders take back their war machines and leave to who knows where, or worse, turn the weapons back against Etheria. So, at first the warships over Etheria were disabled. But over the following months, as Entrapta established communications with various systems, and rumours began to spill out. A sizeable number of them coming from the clone grapevine. The refugee clones slowly began to form pockets of community around Etheria. The Princess Alliance never stood against it, and even helped establish those pockets, BrightMoon was always involved in combating homelessness, a programme started by Glimmer’s mother, often allowing homeless citizens take shelter and live within the walls of BrightMoon castle.

         Within the clone settlements many managed to establish contact with the outside, smuggling becoming a major enterprise. Clones being the main item smuggled off world. Through Hordak various rumours reached her; Word of various larger neighbouring systems eyeing Etheria with watering mouths. Smaller less developed planets often fell prey to larger powers, Glimmer wasn't about to let that happen. And the answer was right under her nose. The clones knew how to operate the worships, of course they'd be supervised by BrightMoon knights, but to her pleasant surprise the clones dedicated themselves to their posts rather quickly and without much convincing or argument. They were desperate for a mission, for a purpose. And so, Glimmer gave them one; Protecting their new home.

Glimmer sighed, “I'm going to be honest I would’ve felt much better about this if the starships could escort us... No offence, uh…”

“Moe.”

“Moe.”

“Short for Mosquitor.”

“Oh.”

“I'm guessing the point of all of this is to stay unseen, and not to attract much unwanted attention.”

“It is. Heh, not to mention the reason why we're going to The Council of the Known Universe is to make allies, it’d be hard to do that if we just pulled up with a starship overhead. Don't want to prove the threats and fear mongering rumours correct.”

“Didn't you just reason your way out of the predicament?”

“I suppose I did.”

“Also, those aren't starships, heh, you haven't seen a Starship yet. Warships of The Holy Armada are impressive, no doubt about it. But starships are unfathomably enormous. Giant rings, large enough to surround an entire sun, draw power from it, often acting as a shipyard constructing warships for the Prime’s endless conquest. They’re pretty, in a horrifying kind of way.”

Glimmer couldn't even imagine something of that scale. Things like that often made Glimmer put things into perspective of how small and secluded Etheria was. How little she was in the vastness of the cosmos. It frightened her, but she chose not to think about it. But unbeknownst to the Queen that phobia had led her actions subconsciously. Many people are guided by fear, even kings and Queens, whether they know it or not. Glimmer, whether right or wrong, was stepping along the path of fear.

Glimmer’s eyes scoured the dark space and managed to spot a small brush of green among the canvas of black, the only spot of colour in space. “Huh.”

Moe took note of the response, “What? The Velvet Glove? Huh, looks different than when I last saw it, greener!”

“Yeah, that might have been my and my friends’ doing. My… friend, Adora, kinda,” Glimmer scratched the back of her head, “Turned the ship into a giant tree.”

“With many of our brothers still within.”

“Yeah, sorry about thaaAAHHH!” The Queen of Light embarrassingly shrieked as she noticed a third figure standing behind them silently. A man missing his lower jaw. He narrowed his blood red eyes, their wrinkles around his eyes more visible. Glimmer covered her mouth like an old Victorian maiden. “Sorry. My bad. Sorry. Hehe.” Lee seemed unamused. The old clone’s pupils lit up and he turned to Moe. Moe turned back to face him, his pupils lit up too. The two stared at each other without a single word spoken for a moment or two. Glimmer’s eyes shifted between the two. Are they buffering? What's going on?

Moe returned his gaze to the Queen, “He– ugh, welcomes you on board and wishes you a pleasant stay. And is honoured to be in the presence of royalty, especially one of whom allows us to stay on your world.”

Lee signed with his hands, clearly some sort of sign language, Glimmer managed to make out some of it, but not enough to further the conversation, “I'm sorry I don't know sign language, I- I should but I don't.” She remarked sadly.

Moe translated for his brother, “He just wants to discuss with you- uh- some matters.” He sounded a little awkward and nervous. Lee gave him an angry look for not translating fully. Moe just shrugged.

Outside across the depthless night a streak of light zipped across their view, Hordak spotted it, and moved to tail the craft. It was the decoy ship. As a mediaeval planet-locked civilization BrightMoon had no spaceships with which to cross galaxies. Which was why Adora got Entrapta to step in, and she was all too overjoyed about it. Being the genius she was, Entrapta fished out a crashed Horde ship fixed it up and customised it, now sporting the colour scheme of BrightMoon; purple, pink, and gold, even a painted mural of Glimmer on the hull. You couldn't get more overt than that, if this bait wouldn't work, Entrapta didn't know what would.

That was a lovely day, Entrapta and Hordak made a whole day of it, a date, that was what normal couples did so they thought they'd try it out too. And it was wonderful. Just them working together, bouncing ideas off of each other, problem solving, like two lobes of the same brain working in tandem. It was like a dream. Hordak would cherish this memory for years to come.

Hordak pulled up behind the decoy ship. With a single press of a button the clearance codes were transmitted from The Annihilation to the warships. Then; quiet. This moment was always horrifying. The silence. The wait. Hordak and the rest of the crew knew the codes were correct, Glimmer approved them herself, but each time Hordak’s mind briefly flashed to the thought of; What if the codes were wrong? If the warships would open fire, they would be dead in seconds - if not instantaneously vaporised by the battery lasers then they would freeze in the void of space. Seconds ticked away. They waited for the go-ahead; Hordak tense, V, behind him, completely relaxed and indifferent - the fear of death had left the old clone long ago, and then...

A green light lit up on the control panel. And the barricade of warships began to part like the Red Sea. And the tightness in Hordak’s chest disappeared and he released a sigh of relief. The two ships bypassed the armada wall and soon after separated, Glimmer watched the bait craft shrink into a dot out of the window and disappear. Soon the armada faded from visibility as well, and they were off on their voyage, no turning back now. Nothing but an endless stretch of darkness.

“Well, I guess there's no going back now.” She stepped up to the cockpit and looked on at the eternal night ahead.

V put his feet up on the pilot chair ahead, annoying Hordak, “Why so gloomy your highness. They should call you Gloomer. We’re here to have a good time! You know this is a road trip, and you know what that means!”

Dak: “No.”

Moe: “Oh Prime.”

Lee just turned around and left to his room.

V opened a compartment in the chair he was sitting on and pulled out a CD, and practically crawled over Hordak to get to the front control panel and slid the disc into a rectangular device. Glimmer believed it was called a CD player. And so music began to play from it. A country song come on not that our protagonists knew what that was exactly. The song began:

‘Life is like a road that you travel on,

When there is one day here and then the next day gone,

Sometimes you bend, sometimes you stand,

Sometimes you turn your back to the wind’

Hordak face palmed, unable to escape the sound of the song, trapped in the pilot's seat. He had clearly heard this song a thousand times before. “I can't believe this.”

‘There is a world outside every darkened door,

Where the blues will not haunt you anymore,

Where brave are free and lovers soar,

Come ride with me to the distant shore’

Glimmer bowed her head down and sighed, “This is my life now... for the next week... No going back.” She echoed the words to herself once more. She turned and waltzed back to the couch defeated.

‘We won't hesitate, to break down the garden gate,

There's not much time left today, yeah –

THE DEFECTS, FEATURING QUEEN GLIMMER OF ETHERIA, STARRING IN:

‘L I F E   I S   A   H I G H W A Y  !’

‘And I want to ride it all night long.’

End of Act One (of Three)

___

Next Time on LIAH

"I've been checking our food cabinets, some thing's eating our supplies, some thing's here with us."

Dun. Dun. DUN!

---

"Don't be mad!"

"What did you do?!"

"I said don't be mad!!!"

---

"Is that a shotgun?!?!"

---

"Fifty Romulaks?! Where are we crossing over to Terabithia?!!"

---

"Keith... I'm pregnant."

"I knew it."

To Be Continued

[gallifreyanhotfive]

Random Doctor Who Facts You Might Not Know, Part 57: Gallifrey at War Part 8

Normal TWs for these parts apply: for war, death, injury, disturbing behavior

The Gramoryans were paradox eaters that used to be monitored by the Time Lords but began to run amok after the Last Great Time War. They collected important historical people and kill those who they deemed insignificant. They were attracted to Tudor Era England when the Monk disguised himself as King Henry VIII. (Audio: Divorced, Beheaded, Regenerated)

Paradox anxiety refers to the fear of falling under the influence of the Faction Paradox if someone caused a paradox. In more extreme cases, people might believe they had already caused a paradox and were thus already under Faction Paradox control. (Novel: The Book of War)

While not a declared "war" that Gallifrey took part in, the Quantum Archangel was created by fusing a human with the energy of the Lux Aeterna, the quantum foam making up reality. This resulted from the Master trying to use a TITAN Array to rejuvenate his body and destroy the Chronovores. The Quantum Archangel became basically an omnipotent goddess with the ability to create pocket universes and rewrite history. She intended to get rid of suffering by putting everyone in their own individual pocket universes and letting them live their best lives possible. (Novel: The Quantum Archangel)

The Quantum Archangel did not realize that the Chronovores would start to eat the small alternate timelines she had been creating. The perfect universes collapsed into nightmarish versions. (Novel: The Quantum Archangel)

To fight the Quantum Archangel, the Sixth Doctor bathed in the Lux Aeterna himself to get the same powers. He went to the higher dimensions and tried to make her see reason. This failed, so the two of them did battle on a truly cosmic scale, using entire suns and planets as weapons. The Doctor in his godly form and Kronos managed to revert the Quantum Archangel back into her human form (Novel: The Quantum Archangel)

The Ninth Doctor told Rose he was 900 years old because during the Last Great Time War, such as during the Battle of Rodan's Wedding, years became ammunition. The Doctor could remember being aged to five million years old when hit by one volley of shrapnel and then being de-aged to a baby by the next. Because of this mess, the Doctor could not be sure of his exact age but decided that he "felt" about a thousand years old, which he rounded to 900. (Short story: Doctor Who and the Time War) If you recall from TV: The Invasion of Time, Rodan was a Gallifreyan who was responsible for maintaining the transduction barrier.

The Bygone Horde was made up of all the species that had been erased from existence during the Last Great Time War, surviving only as a memory. They planned on returning to existence using the sacrifice of the human race, but the Ninth Doctor and Adam Mitchell stopped them. (Audio: The Other Side)

Ollistra attached an artron leash to the War Doctor, thus linking him to herself. These artron leashes were made by Gallifrey and forced the person on the receiving end - in this case the War Doctor - to stay close to the other. If they moved too far away, they would be given an intense electric shock. (Audio: A Thing of Guile)

The Fifth Doctor was forced to lead a military campaign against Morbius during the Civil War. He took on the alias the Supreme Coordinator (or the Supremo) and led a large army composed of Ice Warriors, Draconians, Sontarans, Ogrons, and Cybermen. The Daleks were not part of this Alliance, but the Doctor had a nightmare where they offered to help. (Novel: Warmonger)

The Ogrons had been the Doctor's bodyguards in this time in order to avoid jealousy that choosing one of the other species would have caused. (Novel: Warmonger)

Peri Brown had become a guerilla leader on Sylvana after the Doctor had sent her away to heal from a serious injury. She only met back up with the Doctor after he became general of his massive army. (Novel: Warmonger)

The Supreme Coordinator had such a big impact on those in his command that the Sontaran Battle Major Streg sacrificed himself to save the Supremo in battle. His last words were ones of thanks to the Supremo for giving him a glorious death in a legendary battle. (Novel: Warmonger)

An additional Time War was averted during the Eleventh Doctor's era. This clearly caused the Doctor a lot of distress, causing him to break down alone in his TARDIS and speak about how he didn't want to be a Warrior again. (Audio: Daleks Victorious)

A predicted timeline of this averted Time War suggested by a sentient Dalek time machine (named Tim) stated that the best end to this war (and the way to destroy the Daleks) would involve Valarie going back in time and changing her own personal history. Even in this best case scenario, however, the Time War would last billions of years and result in the Doctor’s death. (Audio: The Last Stand of Miss Valarie Lockwood)

The Loomstacks on Gallifrey 8 became so overworked during the War in Heaven that thick black smoke blocked out the sun over the Capitol. To create more troops for the War, Gallifrey would incinerate their dead soldiers, break their bodies into raw fabric, and reweave them into brand new troops. (Novel: The Taking of Planet 5)

First 1 Prev 56 Next 58

[blimbo-buddy]

ive never played the mobile ripoff wtf happens??

Real fast cheat sheet so you know who is who. As if the names weren’t obvious enough:

Captain = Curly

Jim Co-Pilot = Jimmy

Nurse = Anya

Swanz = Swansea

Shinsuke = Daisuke

So it immediately shoves us into the surprise birthday party scene

We actually see in this version that Jim Co-pilot is a little more publicly outward with his beef towards Captain ,mockingly calling him “Supreme Captain” and complaining that “some people actually have work to do around here”

Then Captain tells everybody that while it’s nice, they do need to go back to work so he just shouts at everybody to go back to their posts immediately

Captain then goes on to actually be the one to crash the ship. Yeah it’s not Jim Co-Pilot who crashes the ship to avoid responsibility, Captain just. Does it.

After the crash there’s a meeting with everybody and it’s hilarious because Swanz wants to beat the fuck out of Captain and Nurse tells everybody ‘Well the painkillers were destroyed in the crash so we’ll just let him atone for his actions and let him suffer lmaooo”

You can explore the ship and you find Nurse sitting next to a suffering Captain and it’s the funniest fucking thing seeing how much of a 180 they made the characters take

Like even Shinsuke is a little more serious and prompts everybody to go see what the cargo was holding

It’s Mouthwash, go figure

Everybody besides Jim Co-Pilot and Captain drinks the mouthwash and for some reason that makes zombies?

And there’s like, a horde of them now. Even though three people drank it. Mouthwash Zombie mitosis I guess

That’s all I know about the “plot” of the game but most playthroughs uploaded can only get so far because the game is so unbearably broken and the app itself crashes and resets your progress entirely so that you need to replay the whole game again

Did I forget to mention that the game looks like this

[evolutionsvoid]

The bubbling pools of Eitr came to be in this land when the dragons were put to the sword. From their great carcasses it flowed, til they became scars and weeping wounds upon the earth. Though in time past it was once plentiful and ruled supreme, now its greatest concentrations come from death. How fitting, as so much in this world is pulled from ancient carcasses and fallen gods. And just like the Ichor and Humors that arise from the corpses of old deities, Eitr and its dead beasts are now giving birth to new life. If these creations are welcome in this world, well, that is another question entirely...

One of the horrors born from Eitr mutation is the Primal Legion. A monstrosity not contained to just a handful of beasts, but many. Hordes of them exist, as they were once termites before their infection. The primordial fluid has altered them, growing them to incredible size and power. Though a single one may pale in comparison to other primal beasts, their strength comes from their sheer numbers. Unlike the other abominations, the Legion is not scattered to the wind, wandering solo in their hunt for food and terror. Instead, they have formed a colony. One colony. All Primal Legion beasts have come together to create a massive nest in the earth, carving miles of tunnels that spread out and spiral down. An entire kingdom worth of land has been marked the territory of the Legion, and those who walk upon the surface tread lightly. There is no telling who shall detect the steps, and what they will interpret this trespassing as. If they believe the intruder is a threat, then the earth will split open and vomit forth hell.

Attacks by the Legion are fast, chaotic and messy, as they swarm foes and use powerful claws and mandibles to shred them. Their exoskeleton is thick and scaled, their weapons razor sharp. Like a sea of ravenous shrews, they tear enemies to pieces and carry the scraps back into the colony. Some is eaten while other parts are given to supposed fungal gardens, which many whisper about what could be found within them. Trying to breach these tunnels to raid these farms, however, is suicidal. Just ask the poor miners whose efforts accidentally broke into a random Legion tunnel. Workers would enter this space, believing they stumbled upon an empty mine, only to be swarmed by termites who interpreted this as an invasion. Very little remains of those who befell this terrible fate, and often the mines are abandoned unless someone can trigger a collapse to seal off the Legion tunnel.

Of those who survive these encounters, they speak only of the workers. So far, very little has been seen of other castes, and many are thankful for that. Even the common worker is a nightmare to deal with. Outside their regular weaponry, they can spew fragments of Black Bile crystals that are coated in Eitr. The tainted shards pierce flesh and refuse to exit, requiring careful cutting to properly remove. But the Eitr makes these barbs far worse, as it burns with a mind consuming pain. The blazing agony caused by these crystals weakens the brain and makes the victim think of little else except that searing pain. They may try to distract themselves or focus on the fight, but that agony seizes their attention and refuses to leave their thoughts. Soon they will be itching and tearing at the wound, desperate to be free of it, but that only makes it worse, digging it in deeper. Survivors state that the shards shrug off basic healing and soothing Phlegm, requiring twice the amount of calming fluid to dull its bite. The shards must be doused and removed, lest the pain drive folks mad. Horror stories tell of those so desperate to free themselves of the blazing shards that they gnaw off their own afflicted limbs like rabid beasts.

Though the Primal Legion is a terror and threat to any who enter its colony or dig too far down, some have noticed a potential positive. The Legion despises intruders and perceived threats, defending their nests at all costs. This is not unlike another underground menace...While the Legion hates man, it despises the Arimakki even more, as they are competition. Battles have been witnessed where tunnels from the opposing sides meet up, and the crazed insects go to war. These fights are brutal and messy, eventually resulting in one side sealing their tunnel and abandoning the area. The victor gains the territory, but not without a bloody cost. It would seem the two sides are evenly matched, as the Legion's thick armor and sharp claws allow them to shred the soft squishy flesh of the Arimakki. However, the boiling fluids of their Feverish Sweat and wide array of specimens allows them to cook the termites within their own shells and conceive new strategies to gain the upper hand. The fights are a fifty-fifty chance, but in the end, the territory gained and lost is in constant fluctuation. Neither side will see total victory, but those who despise the feverish parasites may appreciate having a Legion tunnel in their region as a final defense.

While the Primal Legion is a monstrosity like any of the other primal beasts, some point to their growing presence and massive colony as proof that another hand is at work here. Though the other mutations are by no means failing, it cannot be denied that the Legion is thriving far better than any "random" mutation could. How is it that this specific type of monstrosity is faring so well? Even when facing off against hunters and Arimakki? Surely their population must be hit hard from these battles, and yet they continue on. It is obvious who is blamed in these rumors, the Academy of Veritas Mundus. Seekers of knowledge and answers, no matter the cost. The Church has warned many of their methods, many of their madness, but does it mean it is actually true?

One story claims it to be so. It was said that one person did succeed in surviving a breach into the colony, and was able to navigate its tunnels for some time. In their time down below, they swear they mapped a major area of the colony to be right below Academy grounds. The very heart of this great nest, centered where these researchers do their work. Could it really be a coincidence? After all, there is an arm of the Academy that studies dragons and Eitr. The Antiquaries are members who delve deep in the past, and seek answers about the age that came before. Could it not be that they are the source of these primal beasts? Did their studies and collection of Eitr present a tempting opportunity? It is hard to say, especially since so much hinges on rumor. But then again, if the Legion is on Academy grounds, it would explain how the Academy has evaded Arimakki infestation for so long....

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

"Primal Legion"

[andhereisthetea]

MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: REVOLUTION comic Issue No. 1 by Dark Horse Comics (available here)

Summary:

"Journey to the earliest days of one of the universe’s most consequential, and fraught, team ups in this first issue of the official four-part prequel to the Netflix streaming event. Hordak is an ambitious general, eager to make his mark; Skeletor is an aspiring mage, hungry for power. Joining forces, melding ancient Eternian magic with advanced Horde technology, could bring them all their evil hearts’ desire…but they’ll have to survive each other first."

I'm going to proudly admit that I've sacrificed hours of sleep writing this, sorry for the bad spelling.

Okay, Masters of the Universe Revolution prequel comics was released early past month (May 15th) and as a MOTU/She-Ra fan I just had to check on it after watching the last season. And oh boy, there is a lot to unpack here….

The story of this prequel arc is centered around Keldor's origin and life as Hordak's apprentice, very much like "The Secret Origin of Skeletor" from the Minicomics era (which you can find here in @emperorsfoot blog), which took a lot from the He-Man 200x show and comics. I would say this is a rightful continuity to what the 200x never did, but with a pitch of new plot material and new perspectives to add.

For once, the writers also took a focus in Hordak's mysterious backtory and point of view through the issue, now is not only Keldor who shows his perspective of the story but also Hordak has something to say; both are the protagonists, not only one of them, which also shows us a glimpse of their future relationship as apprentice-master.

Lets start.

The story begins with a tale told by an unknown figure, (whose identity is addressed in the next pages) about a big battle (the first balled in the Universe) between the forces of Zoar (our beloved Preternian God from which the Goddess' powers belong) and Ka, God who would be the representation of Serpos in this continuity (the deity of the Snakemen). As the tale says, both turned against each other... until Ha'vok arrived.

According to this unknown person, Ha'vok is a deity and power who brings balance between Zoar and Ka, but entered a type of... stagnacy over time. Now, who is the champion?

Now, the first scene of the issue, oh boy. I love when the Horde has a good intro.

The Horde has always been a favorite of mine, and the introduction of two new female characters (you know, because the writers can't use any of the female characters belonging to the She-Ra continuity due to copyright reasons) has put a smile on my face for real. These two characters were designed by Alex Gimenez, but he couldn't continue with the comic project unfortunately:

They are a cool new addition to the Horde team, and I am very happy to see the original Horde members around too.

We are in Anwat Gar... the Island which was already mentioned by the 200x show as a site with great technology, as well as in the Revelation prequel comics, showing us is the site where the Gar lived in this continuity.

The Horde is attacking the place for an unknown reason, and at some point is mentioned that magic is actually forbidden in that place, contrary to what is seem during Randor's rule in the present.

Meanwhile, where is Hordak?

You see it right??! for old MOTU fans, this is the Fright Zone playset!

Apparently, Hordak has used the attack as a type of distraction to get to this place, he is looking for answers, and only magical entities can give it to him:

I want to take a moment to appreciate the call back to She-Ra's classic comics because these Fortune Sisters are a tribute to the 'Enchanted Sisters' who canonically ended up tricking Hordak in the classic comics:

Also, some dialogue of the scene:

Who the hell is Gaull?!

Soooo I had to go back to the He-Man character encyclopedia, remembering that Hordak's father was caller "Seferus-kur" also known as Horde Supreme, killed by Horde Prime (Anillis Kur) and Hordak (Hec-tor Kur), this info is ONLY in the MOTU 2008 bios and also to the 200x continuity (that is the story they wanted to use for the comics), so I guess they have choosen to retcon Hordak's origin story and also add a name for his father, because contrary to DC's interpretation, Prime is Hordak's older brother here:

Note to add, Revolution's continuity choose to go by a technological background for Hordak rather than magic, making the Horde a highly technological empire which despises magic.

More dialogue, Hordak's prompting to Eternia's ChatGPT

Man... the future will kick you in the ass.

Also, FINALLY the introduction to our second important protagonist in this issue...

Keldor's backstory is very similar to his 200x one, the only difference is that in this continuity he knows who his mother is, as if he had been raised by her rather than with Miro's. In fact, he was pushed to go and live with her by his father in the end. And surprise, she is a magic user, which was already pointed out as something forbidden in Anwat Gar, but Keldor doesn't care and uses his magic to attack the Horde invaders.

Saryn (Keldor's mother in 200x, here we don't have a name yet but I guess they will go with her original one) is the first magic teacher of Keldor, and she taught him for most of his young life, together with the magic history of Eternia, so we can already imagine who was narrating the story of Eternia's deities in the begining:

She taught him two things 1) we are made to defy and surpass our teachers 2) Keldor is destined to exceed Miro (Randor's and Keldor's father) at all cost and become a champion.

As well, she maintains a kind of telepathic connection with Keldor, where she constantly tells him he is destined to be a champion. But if she communicates with Keldor this way, where is she? apparently in some type of expedition:

Meanwhile Hordak has become frustrated by the Fortune Sister, who are trying to follow his indications, but going around the destiny of... someone else, who will accompany him through a parallel path:

"Grayskull's heir, yet unborn, will ground the ascendat bat, and in the fierce and final battle, Des-"

Screams internally... Hordak shut up and let the magic women speak.

Interesting thing, there seems to be a disagreement between some of the Fortune Sisters here, I wonder why?

*snorts* I really love this panel so much, Hordak is just so arrogant he thinks he would get it right away... man what if this was charged by some type of magic that would have killed you in an instant?!

Now we get to Anwat Gar again, where Keldor is trying to reach his mother while battling the Horde, meanwhile the citizens are more concerned about a magic user saving them than the whole Horde army around destroying the city, so we can say they have their priorities.

Finally Hordak arrives, helping a wounded Keldor and telling him it was all a distraction, as well Hordak tells him some interesting things:

"My name is Hordak, Supreme commander of the Horde fleet, Next in line to the Emperor's throne" hmmm...

Is important to highlight, is not Hordak who convinced Keldor to join the Horde, but his mother:

Finally, Keldor is recruited by Hordak to join the Horde, telling him they had uncovered a great power, and manipulating him (quite easily) to search for his rightful destiny.

Some things I liked about this issue:

The illustrations and art are ways better than most MOTU comics I've seem, even DC comics gets short in quality.

I liked the subtle call backs to the classic comics, the use of new characters, especially with the copyright issue, I believe the Fortune Sisters are going to reemplace Shadow Weaver, and the new Hordewomen are here to stay. We can see they cared for this story, especially with how much Lore they are trying to inplement here, blending most of the past continuities to create a new logic.

I liked that the Horde is a technological empire, just like the classic Filmation shows, and Hordak clrearly is the same arrogant and proud commander, still I can see he is more cunning and intelligent here, not the buffoon he was in the 80s, he is a good blend between his past continuities, including 2018. There is ambition in what he says, but his arrogance takes the worst of him.

If I have to point out what disappointed me the most... I do believe Keldor's introduction. He seems to be too young maybe, still focused in his mother's teaching and being seem as a rightful heir by Miro, his father. He is easily manipulated both by his mother (we don't know if she is good or bad yet) and by Hordak. he is desesperate to have his destiny and legacy.

I don't trust the Fortune sisters, or the only one of them who presented Hordak's with the Ha'vok staff, is evident she is going to be an antagonist in the future, and maybe she is Keldor's mother trying to led his son into a path for power using Hordak, which could be Keldor's undoing.

Thanks to @pennamesmith @lemaistrechat and @kuurankaiho for talking with me about this issue, is always good when there are more MOTU material to explore XD

[katnissdoesnotfollowback]

Never have I ever everlark on the Zombie apocalypse 🧟🤭

Okay go with me on this one, because it's a little bat shit and out there and full of pseudo science and cheesy deux ex machina but here we go...

Extreme canon divergence.

Still with me? *cracks knuckles and gets to work*

Okay, so we know that tracker jackers are hive-minded. They somehow communicate and track their prey as a hive. We know this because Katniss hopes she can saw through the branch before the ones that sting her tell the rest of the hive about her. Not that it matters once she drops the nest on the Careers and Peeta but I digress. There's also the moment right before the fabled sewer kiss, when Peeta tells her something like "Leave me. Before I turn mutt like them," (paraphrasing) in reference to the lizard mutts... which opens the door to my concept.

What if Peeta wasn't talking in generalities but literally means that his mind is somehow tied to the mutts in the sewer? So, we diverge before that.

Hijacking has never been done successfully before, so the progress on Peeta Mellark's conditioning is carefully tracked and followed. An entire team of scientists working on the project. One ambitious scientist notices that in playing around with genetic alterations along with the fear conditioning, they've managed to alter Peeta's brain chemistry. He quietly takes his findings to another part of the lab and tries to recreate and expand upon this interesting muttation. He uses brain eating amoeba to deliver the new gene sequencing. This is how our zombies are formed in this au. Hive minded, engineered to be weapons that murder with their bare hands and can, with enough bites on their victim, transfer the contagion, creating more zombies.

Of course, at some point, several of the experiments break containment and chaos reigns in the Capitol. Snow escapes with his granddaughter and absconds to his bunker somewhere in District Two. A few of the guards at the prison have the brilliant idea of using the three victors they're in charge of as bait so they can escape the descending horde of brain eating muttations. It backfires. Johanna goes axe murderer supreme on the guards and on the zombies. Annie is mid meltdown and Peeta is dazed and confused, until one of them goes after Annie. He manages to protect her long enough for her to escape and protect him in return, and the three of them make a run for it.

On the other side of Panem, deep inside District 13, Katniss and Finnick watch the horror unfold onscreen as the Capitol tears itself apart in panic. Coin is, of course thrilled. They just have to contain the threat inside the Capitol and let the city burn itself to the ground. Of course, you can bet your boots that Katniss and Finnick aren't going to sit there and wait to find out if their loved ones have survived. They manage a poorly planned escape on a hovercraft and somehow have way too many allies for what is supposed to be a stealth mission.

The story would follow the two separate groups as one flees for their lives and the other barrels into danger, searching for Annie and Peeta. Half hijacked and confused, Peeta starts to mistake what happened with him and Annie during the escape means something. She's trying to keep him at arms length, but everything looks so bleak where they are, it becomes difficult not to lean on him.

Eventually, of course, the Katniss et al group discovers just how out of their depth they are with these things when they lose one of the Leeg twins, and Boggs... Right before the escaped victors stumble across them and manage to get them out of danger... temporarily.

Finnick and Annie have their joyful reunion. Peeta's confused by what's going on here. Katniss flings herself at him, and is coldly rebuffed. Oh wait you thought this was a happy ending? Mwahahahahaha. Your mistake.

So now the group needs to get out of the Capitol, and their hovercraft is too damaged to fly them out (obviously because that's how this genre works, duh), which means they have to make it past the zombies and through Coin's perimeters. Oh and she's not letting ANYONE out of the Capitol, even if they're not infected.

At some point, hijacked Peeta will come out to play. At another point, Finnick will be bitten as he heroically saves Katniss and the rest of the group. I haven't decided yet Katniss mercy kills him ala Nightlock Nightlock Nightlock, or if he manages to survive but now the group shifts it's focus from "Get the hell out of this city" to figuring out a cure. There would absolutely be some version of the unhijacking/Everlark sewer kiss with Peeta insisting that Katniss kill him. And just for funsies, they discover that Peeta somehow has a vaguely sympathetic link to the zombie horde, which is both an asset and dangerous af to their group.

How would I end this monstrosity? Option A: it conveniently turns out the brain eating amoeba thing means the zombies die within a certain window so Coin's containment thing actually works. This presents a problem when forming a new government because what she did saved a lot of people... but it also left a whole lot of people dead. Vaguely sinister ending as Katniss and company consider the ramifications of Coin in power. Option B: Cliffhanger ending when it seems like all hope is lost because Snow isn't dead and why not. idk this genre is clearly not my forte okay????

<3 kdnfb

Never Have I Ever

[oshlet]

Infantryman of House Anhur. House Anhur is not the power in the galaxy: Compared to the Dominion of Mankind or the Avonii Empire, it could even be considered small. Despite this, they're widely feared and military expeditions even close to their borders have been met with supremely vicious reprisals, one of the most recent being the sundering of an OTS invasion force on the resort world or Ebr.

Anhurian infantry is often used as a follow up to armoured assaults from Shamshir light tanks. With afvs breaking the enemy lines, soldiers pour in as a horde with a banner held high, chants and shouts filling the air and their veins full of powerful combat stimulants.

Their armour is simple but reasonably thick - often able to turn a crippling shot into a merely painful one giving them more time to close the distance. Their gun is a nasty little carbine - not especially accurate at range, but with a good fire-rate and a rugged design. For especially close quarters, each anhurian warrior is armed with a sword, and the troops that survive long enough to use it do so with great brutality, butchering their foes in a flurry of hacking cuts.

[pengychan]

[Good Omens] Renunciation

Summary: Beelzebub's monotonous day in Hell takes a turn when a naked, amnesiac Archangel shows up with a cardboard box and no idea where he is. [Or: Gabriel actually takes the elevator all the way down to Hell at the first try.] Pairing: Archangel Gabriel/Beelzebub Rating: G

Do you ever think that Gabriel was only one push of a button away from getting to Beelzebub immediately and sparing everyone a literal hell of a lot of trouble.

***

Something was up in Hell.

The Lord of the Flies didn't have to wait for a wide-eyed demon to burst in their throne room to know as much. They could hear something going on in the upper levels, a buzzing of energy and disconcerted muttering coming together in a cacophony of utter bewilderment. They had frowned and leaned back on their throne, idly wondering how long it would take for someone to come fetch them; that someone had come quickly enough in the form of a demon whose name they really couldn’t be bothered to remember.

What they sure would never forget were the words out of the demon’s rotted mouth. 

“Lord Beelzebub! It’s the Archangel Gabriel - he’s here!”

… What.

“What?”

“He’s here in Hell, and he’s not… he’s not right. It’s like he’s lost his mind, or-- he’s just standing there by the entrance and--” 

Whatever they were about to say next was lost to Beelzebub, who immediately vanished in a burst of sulfur and fire to reappear at the entrance, where the commotion was. Their appearance caused several demons to yelp and hastily step out of the way, but the vast majority of those present in the crowded room barely turned, their gaze still fixed on… on…

Well. It was Gabriel all right. Standing there with a wide smile on his face, barely hampered by confusion, naked but for a cardboard box in his hands. Beelzebub blinked.

What in Satan’s name is going on.

“Well, this is new,” they heard a known voice - Furfur? - mutter somewhere on their left. His bewilderment was widely shared, which was probably a good thing, because it kept them from becoming immediately hostile. Supreme Archangel and all, Gabriel may have been overpowered and overcome if the entire horde of demons decided to attack him now. 

Not that the possibility seemed to have entered his mind. Not that anything seemed to be on his mind at present. 

Next to Gabriel, the concierge to the mouth of Hell seemed… about as confused, and nearly fell over themself to explain when they spotted Beelzebub stepping closer, the crowd parting to let them through.

“What’s the meaning of this?”

“Lord Beelzebub, I-- we don’t know! He just showed up with the elevator and said he wanted in? I didn’t know what to do, he just came in and he said that he has the… thing?”

The words seemed to snap Gabriel out of something, because he blinked and finally looked at Beelzebub. His eyes, they noticed - those eyes were not his own. They were not right. What had happened to him?

“The thing,” he repeated, frowning a little, and then suddenly he was smiling again, wide, stepping towards Beelzebub. As the crowd took a few steps back, Beelzebub remained standing firm. The eyes, wrong as they were, brightened as they met theirs. “Right! I have to give you the thing!”

“What thing?”

“Here!”

The cardboard box was handed to them, and Beelzebub instinctively took it. 

“Careful, my Lord!” Dagon’s voice came from the back. “It might be a trap.”

“Quiet, or I’ll make sure to shut yours,” Beelzebub growled, and she fell silent. A hush had fallen over the crowd as they looked Gabriel in the eye. “Do you know where you are?”

“I…” he made a face, looking over the horde of demons, then shook his head. “Nope.”

“Do you know who I am?”

“No. Sorry.”

“And do you know who you are?”

A bright smile. “Of course! I’m me!”

“... Right. And who’s me, exactly?”

A shrug. “Ah, that. Not a clue.”

“Is there anything you remember?”

Another frown, this time almost painful. “It’s… getting closer.”

Ah. “Getting closer.”

“Yes. Everyday. Something is getting closer.”

Was this about their song, or something else? Or both? Beelzebub worked their jaw, trying to figure it out. Gabriel just smiled again. “I don’t know a lot but it’s all fine! I brought the thing, you see!”

Ah, yes. The box. Time to see what the thing was, the Lord of the Flies, decided, and opened it under the eyes of a few thousands bewildered demons. At first glance, the box seemed empty; then a very familiar fly came out of it, coming to rest on their arm, buzzing softly. Beelzebub stared at it. “You came to give me this? The fly?”

“I’m there. I think.” A pause, a slight frown. “I kept thinking, I am in the fly. Whatever it means.”

It’s a container, they’d told Gabriel. You can put things in it.

And now he seemed to have put a lot in it indeed. Suddenly, everything… well, not everything, but some things at least made perfect sense. Beelzebub nodded, and picked up the fly. “Don’t move,” they ordered, and held it up before Gabriel’s face. It only took a moment for it to be off their finger, and burrowing into the archangel’s right eye, causing him to inhale sharply. 

The crowd of demons all around them stepped back with mutters and a few yelps when Gabriel jerked suddenly, perhaps expecting him to attempt smiting them, but of course no such thing happened. Beelzebub stared intently, and had to hold back a  smile as Gabriel gasped and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, still breathing fast, they were the same eyes they had learned to know. 

“Welcome back,” they said, quietly, and Gabriel’s gaze found their face. He smiled breathlessly, like a weight had been taken off him. 

“Thank you,” he said, just as softly. “I’m sorry for showing up like this, Heaven was going to wipe my memories, I had to come to you befo--” he began, only to trail off when Beelzebub reminded him, with a quick jerk of their head, that they were not alone. Thousands of eyes - two per each demon present on average, although some had four and others none - were fixed on them, their owners still unsure as to what they had just witnessed. 

Gabriel looked back at the crowd, seemed to come to a conclusion, and acted accordingly - by dropping on his knees to grasp the lapels of Beelzebub’s jacket. 

“Lord Beelzebub,” he said, looking up at them, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I have come to renounce Heaven and join your ranks, to serve you till the end of my existence.”

The silence in the room turned to murmuring and soon enough an uproar; of all things those presents may have expected, an archangel - Heaven’s Supreme Archangel! - walking into Hell to kneel before its Grand Duke and swear fealty was clearly not one of them. 

Looking down at Gabriel, which to be honest was a nice change given their respective stature, Beelzebub struggled to keep their expression impassible. “Heaven has not cast you down,” they spoke, voice just as audible to everyone present. “You have left it voluntarily.”

“I did.”

“And you’re ready to formally forsake it, and God, to join us?”

The look on Gabriel’s face was openly adoring, the grip on Beelzebub’s jacket tight. “Yes.”

“... Let us discuss what comes next, then,” they replied, and smiled back. Their hands touched Gabriel’s and they both disappeared in a burst of fire, to reappear moments later in Beelzebub’s throne room - finally alone, hands still joined.

***

“... And that left me no other choice. I couldn’t let them wipe my memories and stick me in an office for the rest of eternity. I had to come to you before they could make me forget you.”

“I see.” Beelzebub let out a long breath of relief over the fact that Heavenly deed had not worked out. “It was a good plan, for something so rushed. I’m glad you made it here.”

“So am I.” That wide smile again, thumbs stroking the backs of Beelzebub’s hands. “I wasn’t sure it would work. I really thought that at worst, they’d cast me to Hell. When Metatron said they’d erase my memory, I had to come up with something on the fly. Literally.”

“Well, it worked.” Beelzebub smiled back, then paused and looked down. “... What about your clothes?”

“Ah, those. Shame leaving them behind, but I wouldn’t be allowed to keep them after they wiped my memory. So my excuse was that I had to take them off.”

"Couldn’t you have simply left Heaven with your clothes on?”

Gabriel, Supreme Archangel, God’s Messenger and whatnot, opened his mouth to reply. He paused. He closed his mouth, then looked down and blinked. “... Huh. Yes, I suppose I could have. Do new demons get clothes?”

A chuckle, and Beelzebub let go of his hand to snap their fingers. The next moment, Gabriel was clothed in a suit - everything like his old one, but in black and dark shades of gray. The tie was the same color as his eyes. “Here you go. It suits you.” Their hand smoothed down the tie and jacket over his chest. “... Are you certain you wish to become a demon?”

“I want to be with you, and need to be out of Heaven’s grasp and authority,” he replied, all efficient practicality once again. “Becoming your subordinate would ensure both.”

“I don’t want you as my subordinate, Gabriel. Satan knows, I have enough subordinates to--” Beelzebub began, only to trail off when a hand cupped their cheek. It occurred to them only in that moment that Gabriel didn’t usually see them as they showed themself in Hell, boils on their face and all. Now he was running his thumb over those boils like he hadn’t even noticed.

“I know I won’t be. No one else needs to be aware,” he said, and grinned. There was something about that grin that they could never get enough of, even though it occasionally made them want to break things at the same time. 

A sigh, and they covered his hand with their own. “How are you so damned stupid and so stupidly clever at the same time?”

“A miracle, I guess. Uh, are demonic miracles different to perform, or basically the same?”

“Basically the same. If you’re certain you want to join us.”

His gaze found theirs, and held it. “I am.”

“... It seems Armageddon will happen eventually, after all. If Heaven presses on, I cannot delay it forever.”

“All the more reason to let me join you. When it comes, we’ll fight together.”

“And if we lose?”

“Then I won’t have to continue existing without you.”

“You ridiculous sap,” Beelzebub said, but something in their throat threatened to make their voice break, and they said nothing else. They leaned their forehead against Gabriel’s chest, and closed their eyes when his arms went around their waist, and his chin rested on top of their head. “We could always run off,” they murmured. “Go someplace else and let Heaven and Hell go to he-- do as they will.”

A chuckle. “I wouldn’t complain. But let me join you first. Leave Heaven no power over me.”

“Very well. There is a rite - we never needed to use it, no one ever defected on their own free will, but we created it just in case. It is a reverse Confirmation, to renounce God.” They looked up, cheek against his jacket. “It’s going to hurt, Gabriel. And it will need to be public.”

The grip became just a little tighter. “Tell me what I have to do,” Gabriel whispered, “and I will.”

***

Beelzebub hadn’t been exaggerating when they said it would be public - and it was extremely crowded, too. All things considered, it was no real surprise: not only was it the first time in anyone’s memory that an angel willingly renounced Heaven to become a demon, but it was the Supreme Archangel of Heaven.

It was not the sort of event anybody would want to miss: only the very lowest-ranking demons were still at work, with everyone else gathered in what looked much like a conference room trying very hard to mimic the inside of a dark cave. Even the stage Gabriel was on, before the eyes of the Dark Council, was shaped like a rock and surrounded by flames. Very dramatic.

“Kneel.”

Beelzebub’s voice reached him over the soft crackle of fire, over the clamoring of demons all around which fell into a hush and then faded into silence. Gabriel knelt, head bowed, and Beelzebub came to stand before him. He found himself staring at their shoes as they put a hand on his head, fingers warm against his scalp. He held back a smile. 

“Supreme Archangel Gabriel, Angel of Revelation, Herald of Visions. Do you renounce God, and all her works and empty promises?”

Gabriel had expected to struggle, at least a little, forcing out a reply. He did not. It came as easy as breathing did, when he bothered to. “I do.”

“Do you submit to Satan, the Tempter, Father of Lies, Ruler of Demons?”

He had never met him, aside from a few fleeting encounters when he still was one of the highest ranking angels. Gabriel hardly remembered what he looked like, then or now, nor did it matter. He could lie, even if he was no father of lies himself, and lie he did. “I do.”

“Do you commit to the ultimate victory of Hell on Earth, through the War to End all Wars, to the end of Heaven and God and its angels?”

A kindness, Metatron had said, as he spoke of taking all his memories away and leaving him an empty shell. Gabriel had no use for such kindness. There had never been any aim to serve a greater good in Heaven; Aziraphale was right, he’d always been right. He set his jaw, making a mental note to drop by at his bookshop one of those days and let him know as much. “I do.”

The hand on his scalp shifted almost imperceptibly, something akin to a caress. Gabriel closed his eyes and focused on the touch as Beelzebub spoke again. 

“Do you accept me, Beelzebub, Lord of the Flies and Grand Duke of Hell, as your liege Lord, to follow through fire and battle, to our ultimate victory?”

This time, he could not hold back the smile. To victory, to defeat, to exile - it didn’t matter. None of it would change his answer. “I do.”

“... Unfold your wings, and receive my mark.”

Ah, that was it. A deep breath, and Gabriel unfolded his wings - white as drifted snow, as a rather famous human singer once said, with the primary feathers barely tinged with purple. He heard a murmur in the crowd, but he didn’t look up; his gaze stayed low, and he braced himself as Beelzebub let go of his head and went to grasp his wings. 

They had warned it would hurt, and they were not lying. An unbearable burning spread through his wings and he bit back a cry, crumpling forward; he was barely able to hold out his hands to spare his face a painful meeting with the stone floor. The smell of burning feathers reached him just as he lost his battle for silence and let out a strangled cry. It was agony, and he wasn’t sure how long it lasted. All he knew was that suddenly Beelzebub was letting go of his wings and the pain dulled to something somewhat more bearable, but did not fade.

“Look at me.”

A few more gasps, and Gabriel obeyed. He was still on his knees, wings now singed black, but he smiled when his gaze met Beelzebub’s. He couldn’t help it; all he felt was relief.

They can never take me back now.

Beelzebub’s lips twitched just a moment, but they played their part well and let nothing else show. When they spoke again, their voice betrayed no emotion. 

“Archangel Gabriel is no more. What is your name, demon?"

Ah, yes. The name. Not a change he was looking forward to, but all demons shed their angelic names and doing otherwise might look suspicious. It was just a matter of convenience, after all. Beelzebub would always call him Gabriel; they had promised him as much.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t choose a meaningful moniker. 

“Ekron,” he said, and was rather pleased to see a brief look of surprise crossing Beelzebub’s face. Gabriel had not forgotten that they had once been worshiped as a deity, in a very specific city. Baal-zebub, God of Ekron. “You may call me Ekron.”

This time, Beelzebub did not hold back a smile. After all, he had been the highest ranking of God’s angels bar only the Metatron, and they had just claimed him for Hell; as far as the Dark Council and all demons present were concerned, they had every reason to smile.

“Rise, Ekron, as one of us,” they said, and held out their hand. “The new envoy of Hell.”

He took their hand, warm and firm, and held onto it a little tighter than he perhaps needed to as he stood on shaky legs. All around him demons erupted in a particularly unpleasant cacophony of shouts and cheers, and Gabriel barely registered any of it. He squeezed Beelzebub’s hand, they squeezed it back, and it was enough to tell him he would never regret his choice.

***

“Lie down.”

“I’m fine, I just--”

“I know it still hurts. Come on. Down.”

“As my liege lord commands.”

“Don’t make my first real order to you be that of shutting up, Gabriel.”

A chuckle, and Gabriel did lean down on his stomach, his wings still too sensitive to rest on or even to tuck away in the usual pocket plane of existence. A long breath, and he closed his eyes when Beelzebub’s fingers slowly ran over them, smoothing down singed feathers. The effect was immediately soothing, and they snorted softly at his obvious relief.

“Ekron, really?”

“Wasn’t it romantic? I think it was romantic.”

“Romantic and obvious enough that someone might catch on.”

“Oh, let them. They’ll think you seduced the Supreme Archangel of Heaven into perdition. It would probably make you look better.”

“Heh. Fair. They already saw you show up naked and immediately kneel to swear fealty to me, after all.” A chuckle, fingers still running over feathers. “Your wings will feel better soon.”

“Already feeling better.”

“Liar.”

“Demon, remember?”

“I’d rather you don’t make a habit of lying to me specifically.”

“I am not.” Gabriel turned his head to look at Beelzebub, and smiled. “Yes. Much better.”

A scoff. “Flatterer,” they said, but it wasn’t a complaint, not really. For a long time they kept smoothing down Gabriel’s feathers, listening to him as he hummed a song they never tired of listening to.

Something was indeed getting closer, and it was all right. They’d face it together.

Come what may.