#like they seemed like they were having some good times as ice king and magic betty

[fefairys]

MAN. just finished the elements arc of our AT rewatch and watching ice king say like "listen lady im sure this simon guy is cool and all but im ice king, im a special person and i deserve respect!" and stuff hurts real bad man. he kinda was happier as the ice king.

[radiance1]

The Ghost Prince does not, under any circumstances, answer a summoning after it was made aware he existed. None know why he doesn't, some are bitter and hateful of it while others are thankful that it's one less bloodthirsty manic to deal with.

The Ghost King meanwhile hasn't been seen in multiple eons, so the magical community who wanted to use his power just, stopped, trying to summon him for a long time.

Most magic users knew that the Ghost Prince never answered a summons, and that the Ghost King just dropped off the radar.

So could you really blame Constantine for not taking it that seriously when some wannabe hotshot cultists try to summon both of them in the middle of a city to wreak havoc?

He'll give them some credit though. Points for doing it in broad daylight and actually being somewhat of a threat with not relying on just summoning the Ghost royalty and figuring out what to do from there.

The area they were in was somewhat destroyed, then the cultists manage to complete the summoning circle to summon both of them and Constantine, well he just light up a smoke.

It isn't going to work anyways so what does it matter?

...

Is that a fucking Ice cream truck he hears? Who the fuck is driving an Ice cream truck while their city is being under attacked with cultists trying to summon eldritch ghost royalty?

He'll give them some points for dedication, though.

Then he looked at the cultists and nearly had a goddamn heart attack to see that the summoning circle is actually fucking lighting up and working.

The Bat is so gonna give him a headache over this.

----

Danny Phantom, crown prince of the Infinite Realms. Does not answer summons.

For one, it is annoying as shit, whenever someone interrupts his day just to ask for infinite power (that he can't give), world domination (that he won't do) or infinite riches (which he also can't do).

It just got annoying being summoned all the time so. One day he just, well, no. And hey, it worked out well enough for him to not continue doing it.

Then he also learned that Pariah Dark is basically the same, after he got out the coffin and stopped trying to take over the world for whatever reason. He was actually a pretty swell guy!

He was just with him too, with him being not so swell at the time for making him go through lessons about Ghost etiquette, rules, stuff that's expected of him as the crown prince.

And don't even get him started on the engagement and marriage proposals.

Overall, he just wanted to find an excuse to leave. Then he felt the familiar suggestive pull of a summoning and, instead of rejection as he usually does in a second. He thought for a bit if he wanted to go with that or crown prince duties.

It was tempting, but dealing with cultists seemed worse than this so he was about to reject.

At least, before he heard an Ice cream truck playing in the background. He doesn't even know how the hell that popped up through the pull but by the gods has it been a while since he's had Ice cream.

So he answers and is gone with a pop.

Pariah Dark just stares for a good second or two, before breathing out and deciding to also answer. Fright Knight is just there, off to side, questioning what he should do now.

Danny wastes no time with the cultists on the other side and in fact, he pushes them out of the way and goes diving for that Ice cream truck he hears. Only to realize he doesn't, have any money on him.

Fuck.

Pariah Dark is less inclined to follow the rules imposed by humans like money, but he does know it can be important. Once in a while. Not that often, but it has its times.

So when he sees his adopted son being sad over being unable to pay for some kind of human delicacy, he digs around in his hair (yes, his hair.) and pulls out some money and puts it on the counter as payment.

The man inside the tiny vehicle had shrieked before getting what they wanted. Which is good. Fear is a good motivator, Pariah thinks.

Unknown to him, it wasn't out of fear (Well, mostly) but because the Ghost King placed down a coin made of pure, solid gold on his counter.

The two then go about their business in the human realm, completely forgetting about the fact that they were summoned here for something.

Constantine is both relieved and about to have an aneurysm at seeing Infinite Realm royalty only answering a summon because of Ice cream.

[kitsu-katsu]

What some people miss when talking about the Fionna and Cake finale is the fact that if Simon's and Betty's arc didn't end how it ended, they had no "happier" option that would be coherent with the series at large

They are the doomed pairing at the center of it all, them realizing just how doomed they were, recognizing it and having their goodbyes was as good as they'd have it, because any other course of action either still dooms them or it dooms the whole world, and that's what all the parallel universes showed

If Simon and Betty never got to the crown, maybe if Simon had gone on with Betty to see the petroglyphs and their sacrifices were more evened out from the beginning, still not too long later the mushroom war would still have erupted, the bombs dropped and as normal humans it's almost certain they'd have died. Marceline would grow up without Simon, and now we're in the universe of the star

If Simon stayed in a half-transformed state, where he's neither fully Ice King nor fully Simon, we get the Winter King and someone has to be the recipient of the "crown madness" as was PB in that universe (plus, more importantly to not feel "insane" he didn't transfer the magic or the Gunther that comes with the crown, he mostly just transferred his sadness about Betty which manifested in him stealing princesses to be his brides. Thus the Winter King doesn't even remember her)

If he'd become Ice King again, he'd turn back to living not as himself, lost within the crown and depressed deep down because of it. Plus the messaging of succumbing back to an addiction he couldn't get out of because he was absolutely self destructive since without Betty his life didn't matter to him

If he'd put on the crown and stopped the bomb, Betty probably would've continued living, forever missing his memory just as he forever missed her in the main timeline. Plus eventually we get to farmworld reality

Truly the only alternative course of action that maybe could've worked somehow in terms of keeping them both alive and together for more than like 2 years would be if Betty didn't leave through the Hambo portal and maybe stayed to find Marcy along with Simon, making him less self-destructive and careless about his transformation and what it brings at the same since she'd be there too. But then there'd come a point where unassisted with magic, Betty would die anyway, and Simon would go down the Ice King path again

They're forever doomed

The events will happen, happening, happened, so on and so forth

And at least in their doom they were able to recognize it, have a moment of sincerity, Simon apologized for not seeing her sacrifices, and they both know that things could've been different, maybe better, maybe not, but regardless all their actions were taken and they have to live with them. So all in all, it's great that at last they recognize it as an experience they wouldn't trade for anything anyway, and life goes on. For Simon, with Betty's support through Golb he was able to go back and see worth in jeeping on living and going on new adventures instead of remaining stagnant for her who's never going to be back as he knew her. And Betty got to be a god, she got omnipotence, she got to protect Simon from the last obstacle to his safety: himself. And in the end it seems to imply she might've separated from Golb and become a catalyst comet herself, to be reborn

It's that signature bitter sweetness and acceptance that flawed people live flawed lives with shitty and great parts alike that's so signature adventure time. And it all will happen, happening happened and will happen again and again

[wandixx]

Prompt For Dc-x-Dp With M’gann and Danny M’gann didn't expect to be dealing with Random Lazurus Green Portals forming around mars, but since she's Nearby mars she gets to deal with it... and their's An Alien with snow white hair Fighting A Glowing Vampire who's raving about Fathers and mothers?? Danny Is in such a Mood, He's on mars, which is a plus, but He's Fighting Vlad On Another 'Join me! Let me remove Jack from this plain of Reality!' and Honestly The Portals are throwing him off, Just... Bad memories, And Then, becuase of fucking course Something else happened, Vlad Gets Decked in the face and sent flying. "hey, So im going to guess that The Vampire is The Evil one here?" The Green woman asked, while Looking at Danny. While Vlad is growling and about to Throw A Red Ecto-blast at M’gann Danny gets in the way with a shield and responds. "yeah, arch nemisis and all, how are you even out here? or breathing?" M’gann Just Shrugged and said, "Well Home is home and all." Before flying to go Deck the Vampire and all. +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ hope this is enough for you to Work some magic and all. and as for some extra stuff you could use, maybe danny has a Space obsesion, and His Protective stuff is Becuase of the Type of spirit he is half of? And maybe An Ice core Could be fun to go with? Ghost prince territory? with danny not wanting to be ghost king just yet. ideas for ya to use.

It's such a cool concept! I didn’t fit Ghost Prince in, but I hope you'll like what I did

*****

Danny was going to strangle Vlad, all subtleties of ghost powers no withstanding. He needed the brutal power that just wasn't fully there even when using more offensive abilities, like ecto-blasts.

He had been having a good day. Okay, maybe not a good day, it's been a long time since he had an actually good one, but a decent day. One, that seemed to start out calm, with all of his typical rogues stuck in Zone recent enough they shouldn't get out today specifically. It was Saturday, so no school, and for once his homework wasn't swallowing him, so he had a bit of time to breathe. And prepare college applications, because his grades got to an appropriate level again and he actually got a shot in academic career. No chance for scholarship like Jazz, but he could go if he played his cards right.

And then, of course, Vlad had to come into his room to harass him again. This time with the added flair of a portal gun he made for some freaking reason.

This time Danny wasn't even trying to piss Vlad off, in the love of Ancients, he tried to ignore the other halfa even when he showed up in his room, raving about removing Jack Fenton from this plane of reality. Craving to deck the guy right then and there was enormous but Jazz was on him about controlling his ✨️displaced aggression✨️ and his anger in general, so he was trying to tune Vlad out. He carefully didn't even think about transforming into Phantom. Especially since both of his parents were safe, a few states away on some ghost hunting convention that Danny managed to skip by the power of ‘I can't take more days off school, sorry I messed up my attendance early in the year’.

Well, they would be, if Vlad, being the obsessed creep he was, didn't try to follow them with a portal gun.

Danny was still willing to ignore it all, because Vlad was a loser and chances that he made something so complicated work properly were only slightly above chances his parents had. And both of them were tripping hazards in hell.

But then Vlad started blasting around his room to egg him on and hit his Curiosity rover model.

Phantom tackled him before the bastard had time to smirk. They phased through the wall, because otherwise Vlad’s back would smash into Lego Saturn V and boy was not looking forward to even more damage. His white gloved hands pressed Plasmius against the cold floor. It looked promising. Over the years he got to a relatively similar level as Vlad with his fighting abilities so getting advantage so early could in theory mean it would be over soon and he would get back to his applications.

He forgot how to breathe for a moment when he was pushed through a portal. Some most instinctual part of him, deep in his core, fell to the mindless panic because He died this way! He died this way, was he able to survive it again?! Without thinking he lashed out, trying to scratch and bite and blast because he needed to get out, he needed to get away but danger was in front of him and he needed to get rid of the danger before he could escape to safety. And Vlad kept teasing him, like he didn't know fully well what portals did to Phantom, to Danny, like he wasn't breaking the most basic rules of the anarchist ghost society.

So Phantom kept trying to punch and kick and scream, trying to get away from green ovals that just kept appearing around them leading to who knows where.

Powerful blast to the chest sent him flying back, through the portal and down to the ground, which at some point became asphalt instead of wheat field. He was too frazzled to even try stopping his fall, just half heartedly tensed waiting for an impact.

It never came, because he was caught by static. Men in red (Flash he'd realize second too late, Flash) send him a concerned smile and asked about something but Plasmius was trying to duplicate, no doubt to overshadow actual hero and it wasn't the way Phantom wanted to be introduced to the Justice League so he jumped forward, sending both halfas through another portal.

It was easier this time, when he expected it but his hands were still shaking when he put them in fists. He could handle it though. He fought in much worse circumstances.

They spawned through a few more portals, almost threw worried looking Superman off the sky and barely not killed some of Aquaman's dolphins before something changed. Phantom didn't realize it at first, too focused on rapid fire from Plasmius and on the constant lookout for new portals, but something changed.

His next blast hit the target and left charcoal black burn and almost fire in its wake. It wasn't something that happened normally. It wasn't something that happened normally unless Danny's obsessions were being served. He wasn't protecting anyone but himself, which didn't fill the protection obsession, so that left…

Space.

Oh.

He was on Mars. Or well, a bit above.

It was mesmerizing. It was breathtaking. It was everything he wished for ever since he learned about other planets in kindergarten.

Sky was a pinkish red color that on Earth meant a beautiful clear sunset but here was just the middle of the day. He didn't see the sun itself, apparently lucky enough to have his back to it. It wouldn't be brighter than at home, obviously, but it was always nice to not be blinded when admiring the view.

The landscape below them seemed familiar. He probably saw it in some photo, but he couldn't remember which one. He couldn't help but try to remember. He wanted to know where was he, what he'd seen, what he'd touched, later when he was in his room, longing to get out here again.

In his almost trance he just about ignored the blast that flew past his ear like an annoying pest.

He had the name of this rock formation on the tip of his tongue! C'mon, brain, you could do it, you could remem-

Even he couldn't ignore the burning pain of the ecto blast straight to the shoulder.

“Listen to me, Little Badger!” Plasmius yelled before dodging ice javelin. Phantom made sure it evaporated before hitting the ground. He was not letting other planet become collateral damage in whatever mess Vlad wanted to stir this time.

He carefully didn't look around when they teleported next time, aware just enough to know they were still on Mars. It wasn't a good moment to sooth his neglected obsession.

Being mad that this was probably the only chance he got out there helped. It definitely reignited the absolute fury, before muted by the panic and then obsession trance.

Phantom wasn't sure what he was yelling back as Plasmius went on and on about killing Danny's dad and marrying his mom and adopting Danny and how ‘look Little Badger, you and I both see how much better off you'd be if you just joined me and let me teach you’. He just knew there was little other than obscenities, and it was paired with an array of blasts and ice and straight up punches when he got close, which was good enough.

Oh, how he wished he could strangle the pathetic vampire lookalike bastard.

Something green and indigo sent Plasmius crashing into the ground.

“Hey, so I'm going to guess that the vampire is The Evil one here?” Feminine voice asked in clear English. Danny took a moment to just stare, blinking rapidly to make sure he saw what he thought he saw.

Yup, that was certainly The Miss Martian, an alien heroine, whose action figure he displayed at the most honorable place of his room. The Miss Martian he tried to learn everything about when she debuted. The Miss Martian whose powers were so similar he used footage from her fights to learn himself. His biggest inspiration.

Dope.

Wait, she asked him a question, didn't she? It was not the time to be a fanboy, probably.

Yeah, no it was definitely not a time to be a fanboy, he decided, right when he threw a shield in front of her, because Vlad didn't take kindly to being interrupted. It really was the least he deserved.

“Yeah, arch nemesis and all that. If I may ask, what are you doing here, Miss Martian, ma'am? I thought you lived full time on Earth?”

“Well, home is home and all” she just said wistfully and telepathically threw a rock to Vlad's stomach, making it follow until it hit the mark, right before another stone hit him in the unprotected back.

And here Danny thought he got over his celebrity crush back when he was sixteen.

Good thing though, another person in the fight made his protection obsession rear back to life, the fact that she was an alien only helping as his space side zeroed on her too. It was useful to not get distracted by glimpses of the world around them.

Of course Vlad just duplicated to make the chances ‘equal’ once again, so the fight dragged on.

Miss Martian just kept being graceful like a supernova, beautiful and destructive.

Danny hoped he didn’t look as embarrassingly pathetic as he thought he did. What were the chances she didn’t see when he took the blast to the arm because he got distracted by pretty rocks?

Plasmius kept taunting, calling him Daniel because of course secret identities or prefered names don't matter when you have to harass the teenager.

Phantom decked him extra hard for that.

At least he didn’t try to use his portal gun again, too busy with fighting off both of them.

Kick, dodge blast, ice, shield for Miss Martian, ice because how dare he attack an alien, dodge, intangibility.

Was it or was it not a good idea to use Ghost Wail and be done with that.

“I've got an idea, cover for me for a minute, okay?”

“Sure” Did he sound too eager? He wanted to keep it cool at least outwardly, not mess up his first and perhaps last impression.

Wait, shit, Martians can read minds! Miss Martian probably already knows how big of a mess he was.

Shit, shit, shit.

Phantom dutifully shielded heroine as she levitated with her eyes closed, at the same time keeping constant assault on Vlad. It was getting exhausting. At least he could go home fast when the fight ended.

“Do you want me to make him indefinitely indisposed or is it too much for you?” Miss Martian suddenly asked. Danny froze for almost a minute before he choked out.

“What do you mean?”

“I can rip his mind apart, leave his body alive but useless without any thought to lead it, but I know some people find it uncomfortable even when it happens to villains”

For a moment, in the midst of fanboying, he forgot how terrifying set of powers she had.

“Please don't” After all, ghosts are their minds, and despite how despicable things Vlad did, no one deserved fate of completely not existing.

“Alright. Is enhancing his experience of pain okay with your moral code?”

“Yeah, I think”

“Done,” she said with a smile, and despite how terrifying he was of her just a few seconds ago, he had to admit, this smile was gorgeous.

After that, it took, like, three punches before Vlad bailed. Which was good.

What was less good, was the fact that the portal he used to escape closed before Danny could go through it. He just stared for a long moment, blinking quickly. He wanted to scream. Or cry. Or both. Both was good.

“So, Daniel…?”

Danny winced and looked back at Miss Martian.

“Danny. Or Phantom. Nobody calls me Daniel”

She nodded with a friendly smile. Good thing they were flying, because his knees got weak for a hot second.

“Alright. I'm M’gann”

“Should you tell me this?”

“I know your name,” she shrugged. “It's only fair that you know mine. It's not a name I use on Earth anyway”

“Um, sure, okay. It's nice to meet you M’gann” Was this too stiff? He had no idea how he was supposed to interact with heroes who just shared their identity. For no reason too, because c'mon, she didn't know him. Why would she do it?!

“Are you from Earth? You speak English”

“Yeah, USA, Illinois. That bastard teleported us around and of course left me stranded”

“It's your lucky day then, I was about to head back, I can take you with me”

There was no universe in which he wouldn’t agree.

[merymoonbeam]

A Tool of Creation

CC3 spoiler. You have been warned.

In acomaf we learn that book of breathings was made to control the cauldron.

“When the Cauldron was made,” the carver interrupted, “its dark maker used the last of the molten ore to forge a book. The Book of Breathings. In it, written between the carved words, are the spells to negate the Cauldron’s power—or control it wholly. But after the War, it was split into two pieces. One went to the Fae, one to the six human queens. It was part of the Treaty, purely symbolic, as the Cauldron had been lost for millennia and considered mere myth. The Book was believed harmless, because like calls to like—and only that which was Made can speak those spells and summon its power. No creature born of the earth may wield it, so the High Lords and humans dismissed it as little more than a historical heirloom, but if the Book were in the hands of something reforged … You would have to test such a theory, of course—but … it might be possible.” (acomaf)

So...only made can use its magic.

Made = Feyre , Nesta and Elain

And later in the book we learn that the book is written in Holy Tongue—Leshon Hakodesh.

She stared and stared at the Book—as if it were a ghost, as if it were a miracle—and said, “It is the Leshon Hakodesh. The Holy Tongue.” Those quicksilver eyes shifted to Rhysand, and I realized she’d understood, too, why she’d gone. Rhysand said, “I heard a legend that it was written in a tongue of mighty beings who feared the Cauldron’s power and made the Book to combat it. Mighty beings who were here … and then vanished. You are the only one who can uncode it.” (acomaf)

Might beings: Daglan/Asteri

And this is confirmed in Hofas.

Amren turned to Rhysand and said in that new, strange language—their language: “The glowing letters inked on her back … they’re the same as those in the Book of Breathings.” (hofas)

Bryce's tattoo is in the holy language.

And later in hofas Rigelus says that it was his people's language.

“I can teach you things you’ve never even dreamed of,” Rigelus promised. “The language inked on your back—it is our language. From our home world. I can teach you how to wield it. Any world might be open to you, Bryce Quinlan. Name the world, and it shall be yours.”(hofas)

So the book of breathings can control cauldron and it can "open any world" to who can wield it.

Also in Hofas we learn that Asteri corrupted the Cauldron.

The Cauldron was of our world, our heritage. But upon arriving here, the Daglan captured it and used their powers to warp it. To turn it from what it had been into something deadlier. No longer just a tool of creation, but of destruction. And the horrors it produced … those, too, my parents would turn to their advantage.(hofas)

So asteri turned it from tool of creation to tool of destruction.

Once upon a time...cauldron was good.

Can we use Book Of Breathings to uncorrupt the Cauldron? To bring it back to its natural "tool of creation" state?

In Hoeab we learn that the book of breathings is in crescent city. In jesiba's library.

Micah loomed over her. She stretched her arm out—toward the shelf. Her tingling fingers brushed over the titles. On the Divine Number; The Walking Dead; The Book of Breathings; The Queen with Many Faces …

Do we need to get book of breathings from crescent city? Is the crossover not over yet? Are IC going to think with bryce having the language of book of breathings tattooed to her body she might have had access to book of breathings at some point? Are we going back to cc in the next acotar book?

Also it is a great time to add that Cauldron is obsessed with Elain.

“You stole from the Cauldron,” I said to Nesta, who seemed ready to jump between all of us and Elain. “But what if the Cauldron gave something to Elain?” (acowar)

The Cauldron purred in Elain’s presence as the King of Hybern slumped to his knees, clawing at the knife jutting through his throat. Elain backed away a step (Acowar)

The Cauldron seemed to realize what she’d done, too, as his head thumped onto the mossy ground. That Elain … Elain had defended this thief. Elain, who it had gifted with such powers, found her so lovely it had wanted to give her something … It would not harm Elain, even in its hunt to reclaim what had been taken. It retreated the moment Elain’s eyes fell on our dead father lying in the adjacent clearing. The moment the scream came out of her.(Acowar

Why did it give elain such powers? Does it want someone to see how it was corrupted? Does it want to turn into tool of creation state again? Does it see elain as its salvation? (As @riddlecrux talked to me about). All the others saw cauldron as a thing to be used. A thing to be control. But it was only elain who had never stolen from it as nesta did while she was in the cauldron. It found Elain so lovely that it gave her the seer ability.

And from acotar we know that elain look at things as hope.

I gazed again at that sad, dark house—the place that had been a prison. Elain had said she missed it, and I wondered what she saw when she looked at the cottage. If she beheld not a prison but a shelter—a shelter from a world that had possessed so little good, but she tried to find it anyway, even if it had seemed foolish and useless to me. She had looked at it that cottage with hope; I had looked at it with nothing but hatred. And I knew which one of us had been stronger. (Acotar)

So maybe all cauldron needs for someone to look at it with hope. Also @riddlecrux told me that in cauldron myths and legends someone goes willingly into the cauldron to destroy it. Maybe in this case someone willingly going inside it uncorrupts the Cauldron..."Through love all is possible"

And we know that Cauldron is the most important thing in acotar

“Long ago, before the High Fae, before man, there was a Cauldron … They say all the magic was contained inside it, that the world was born in it. But it fell into the wrong hands. And great and horrible things were done with it. Things were forged with it. Such wicked things that the Cauldron was eventually stolen back at great cost. It could not be destroyed, for it had Made all things, and if it were broken, then life would cease to be. So it was hidden. And forgotten. Only with that Cauldron could something that is dead be reforged like that.” (Acomaf)

And in Hofas we learn that Daglan/Asteri made the Cauldron a kill switch.

“Once we left our home world, our powers began to dim. Too late, we realized that we had been dependent on our land’s inherent magic. The magic in other worlds was not potent enough. Yet we could not find the way back home. Those of us who ventured here found ways to amplify that power, thanks to the gifts of the land. We pooled our power, and imbued those gifts into the Cauldron so that it would work our will. We Made the Trove from it. And then bound the very essence of the Cauldron to the soul of this world.” Solas. “So destroy the Cauldron …” “And you destroy this world. One cannot exist without the other.”

In my Mystic&Seers post I connected The Void and Cauldron to each other.

I managed to stand. To take one step before I felt it. The … thing in the Cauldron. Or lack of it. It was lack and substance, absence and presence. And … it was leaking into the world.I dared a step toward it. And what I beheld in those ruins of the Cauldron… It was a void. But also not a void—a growth.It did not belong here. Belong anywhere. (Acowar)

The darkness paused. “You are impertinent as well. Do you not know where I come from? My father was the Void, the Being That Existed Before. Chaos was his bride and my dam. It is to them that we shall all one day return, and their mighty powers that run in my blood.” (hosab)

And from Hofas we know that the Void is actually a blackhole.

The only force in the universe that ate light, so strong no light could ever escape it. A portal to nowhere. To a black hole. Wasn’t that the unholy power that Apollion possessed? The power of the Void. The antithesis of light.

And you know how Elain was when she came out of the Cauldron?

She had been always so full of light. Perhaps that was why she now kept all the curtains open. To fill the void that existed where all of that light had once been. And now nothing remained

The power of the Void...The antithesis of Light.

Elain got rid of that murkiness in her eyes. When Azriel understood what was wrong with her.

It made sense, I supposed, that Azriel alone had listened to her. The male who heard things others could not … Perhaps he, too, had suffered as Elain had before he understood what gift he possessed. He asked Elain, “There is another queen?”

Elain blinked and blinked, eyes clearing again. As if the understanding, our understanding … it freed her from whatever murky realm she’d been in.

Maybe thats all Cauldron needs. So maybe we just need to get rid of the Void, to make sure Cauldron returns to its natural state—a tool of creation.

Also in my Mystic&Seer posts. I looked up what Mysticism is.

Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ultimate or hidden truths, and to human transformation supported by various practices and experiences.

Cauldron is the absolute. We looked up that above.

The hidden truths part.

When theia and fionn overthorwn the daglan they didn't learn all their secrets.

They fought the Daglan and won, she went on. Using the Daglan’s own weapons, they destroyed them. Yet my parents did not think to learn the Daglan’s other secrets—they were too weary, too eager to leave the past behind.

And Cauldron made Elain a seer. Maybe to see to learn the other secrets The Daglan had?

We can't even ask Amren because her timeline doesn't even match.

In acosf we learn this.

Rhys shook his head. “Only vaguely now. From what I’ve gleaned, she arrived during those years before Fionn and Gwydion rose, and went into the Prison during the Age of Legends—the time when this land was full of heroic figures who were keen to hunt down the last members of their former masters’ race. They feared Amren, believing her one of their enemies, and threw her into the Prison. When she emerged again, she’d missed Fionn’s fall and the loss of Gwydion, and found the High Lords ruling.”

The problem is how can she go into prison when there was no...prison.

Silene made the prison what it was after she returned from Crescent City. So before fionn's fall...there were no Prison. Actually theia ruled from the Prison Island.

Our home had been left empty since we’d vanished. As if the other Fae thought it cursed. So I made it truly cursed. Damned it all.

One after another, I hunted monsters—the remaining pets of the Daglan—until many of the lowest rooms were filled with them. Until my once-beautiful home became a prison. Until even the land was so disgusted by the evil I’d gathered here that the islands shriveled and the earth became barren. The winged horses who hadn’t gone with my mother to Midgard, who had once flown in the skies, playing in the surf … they were nearly gone. Not a single living soul remained, except for the monstrosities in the mountain.

So even Amren doesn't know. She is even confused in hofas.

Amren picked at an invisible speck on her silk blouse. “It’s murky. I went in before …” She shook her head. “But when I came out, there were rumors. That a great number of people had vanished, as if they had never been. Some said to another world, others said they’d moved on to distant lands, still others said they’d been chosen by the Cauldron and spirited away somewhere.”

So who is better to learn these secret than a Cauldron Made seer?

Also in hofas we learn that Cauldron sits on top of Ramiel.

“The Cauldron,” Nesta said hours later, pointing to yet another carving on the wall. It indeed showed a giant cauldron, perched atop what seemed to be a barren mountain peak with three stars above it. Azriel halted, angling his head. “That’s Ramiel.” At Bryce’s questioning look, he explained, “A mountain sacred to the Illyrians.”

And from Acosf we know that nobody went to look at what lies under ramiel. Sure enough Eris says "secrets". Maybe like daglan secrets???

Eris shrugged, and Nesta knew Cassian monitored his every breath. “There are three of them, you know. Sister peaks. This one, the mountain called the Prison, and the one the Illyrian brutes call Ramiel. All bald, barren mountains at odds with those around them.”

Eris gave him a mocking smile, but continued, “Unsurprisingly, the Illyrians were never curious enough to see what secrets lie beneath Ramiel. If it, too, was carved up like the others by ancient hands.”

What if there is more to under ramiel than we thought? What if its a secret Daglan hideout? I went into detail and what could have inspired it in my Wild Hunt post if you want to read it.

Also we know from acosf that Enalius tried to stop the "enemy" from reaching the stone on top of Ramiel.

Emerie’s eyes shone. “Long ago—so long ago they don’t even have a precise date for it—a great war was fought between the Fae and the ancient beings who oppressed them. One of its key battles was here, in these mountains. Our forces were battered and outnumbered, and for some reason, the enemy was desperate to reach the stone at the top of Ramiel. We were never taught the reason why; I think it’s been forgotten. But a young Illyrian warrior named Enalius held the line against the enemy soldiers for days. He found a natural archway of stone amongst the tangle of boulders and made that his bottleneck. He died in the end, but he held off the enemy long enough for our allies to reach us. This Rite is all to honor him. So much of the history has been lost, but the memory of his bravery remains.”

It was forgotten? Or was it never learned? What if it wasnt The stone the daglan was trying to reach but Cauldron as we know it stood on top of Ramiel? What if they were trying to reach that?

We also learn more about Enalius in hofas.

“You are no creator of mine,” Azriel said coldly. The Starsword gleamed in his other hand. If they bothered him, if they called to him, he didn’t let on. Neither hand so much as twitched. The Asteri’s eyes flared with recognition at the long blade. “Did Fionn send you, then? To slay me in my sleep? Or was it that traitor Enalius? I see that you bear his dagger—as his emissary? Or his assassin?”

The Truth-teller was Enalius's dagger. How did Azriel come to possess it? And we know that after Enalius's dead Fionn took possession of it as it was his friends dagger.

My father had never shown himself to be giving—long had he kept Gwydion and never once offered it to my mother. The dagger that had belonged to his dear friend, slain during the war, hung at his side, unused. But not for long.

And we know that Elain used the TT to kill the King of Hybern.

But as a black blade broke through the king’s throat, spraying blood, I realized someone else had. Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king’s neck as she snarled in his ear, “Don’t you touch my sister.”

So how did Elain stepped out of a shadow?

The asteri under Prison says Azriel doesnt know it use—its full potential.

Vesperus took another step, steadier now, and smiled past Bryce. At Azriel, at Truth-Teller. “You don’t know how to use it, do you?” Azriel pointed the dagger toward the advancing Asteri. “Pretty sure this end’s the one that’ll go through your gut.” Vesperus chuckled, her dark hair swaying with each inching step closer. “Typical of your kind. You want to play with our weapons, but have no concept of their true abilities. Your mind couldn’t hold all the possibilities at once.”

True abilities? All possibilities? There is more than just creating a portal to nowhere with gwydion? Maybe that's how Elain could step out of a shadow? The "unknown" abilities of the Truth-Teller?

Also Autumn king says this:

“The Starsword is Made, as you called it.” He waved an idle hand, sparks at his fingertips. “The knife can Unmake things. Made and Unmade. Matter and antimatter. With the right influx of power—a command from the one destined to wield them—they can be merged. And they can create a place where no life, no light exists. A place that is nothing. Nowhere.”

As @offtorivendell theorised in her mating bond theory. Did the Asteri messed with the mating bonds too?

Can the Truth-teller unmake a mating bond? As it looks the cauldron was corrupted? It even ties to Book Of Breathings and what it said in acomaf:

Unmade and Made; Made and Unmade—that is the cycle. Like calls to like.

And don't ever forget that...

"What if the Cauldron was wrong?" 🫡

[inbarfink]

soooo… are we not gonna talk about the fact that Simon is the vessel of an ENTIRE UNIVERSE? like, that seems like the kinda thing that would have some weird side effects! and like, what happens to it when he dies (IF he can die at this point?)?

Um... kinda confused by the use of the present-tense in your ask. While Simon being the Hard Drive for Fionnaworld was one of the major ongoing concerns for the series (including the 'what happens when he dies' part. It's repeatedly brought up as one of the reasons he 'needs' to become Ice King again, he needs to become immortal or else whole universe dies when he croaks. This also confirms Simon is probably gonna die of old age eventually)

But by the Finale, he literally lets Fionnaworld out of his system

The Fionnaworld Portal is still linked to his physical head, but the Universe itself has left his brainscape. The good thing about Magical Portals is that they can stay fixed in one place even as the location they are linked too gets moved around.

Simon putting the whole of Fionnaworld inside of Fionnaworld is pretty trippy, but that's also IS explicitly what's going on.

(And note the use of the past tense. 'WAS inside one dude for years and years'. Again, once Simon puked it out, Fionnaworld is no longer inside of him)

And once Fionna blows on the Universal Dandelion and 'canonizes' Fionnaworld

It seems like it just... Exists now, the same way any World in the Adventure Time Multiverse. It's not stored anywhere specific anymore, least of all in Simon's head.

As for Side-Effects while Fionnaworld was stored in Simon's head. It is a reasonable concerns, especially as Prismo specifically selected Ice King for having 'the emptiest brain' in all of Ooo. But now that he's Simon again, obviously his brain is full of Stuff. But it seems like most of the side-effects of this were experienced by the Fionnaworld side of things. Y'know, the elements of Simon's psyche and the events happening around him leaking into the landscape of the city.

And also might be connected as to why the whole of Fionnaworld is so tiny and constrained. You know, maybe it was never a full universe before being Canonized. But it might've been bigger than a few city blocks, but it had to 'shrink' to fit into Simon's head.

But, well, again, the universe is 'legit' now and not stuck inside of Simon, so this is no longer a concern.

[aprocessionofthoughts]

Bloody Sacrifice

ai-less whumptober2023 day 22- stress position fandom- dp x dc TW- blood summery- Danny is sacrificed in order to summon the Ghost King

ao3 masterlist

Batman and Nightwing were currently tied up and hanging from their wrists in a dusty old warehouse. Brue struggled to get out of the ropes but it was proving difficult.

They’d been investigating a cult, one of the many that popped up in Gotham, and hadn’t expected that one of the cultists actually knew some magic. 

The cult leader had chanted a spell that had rendered him and Nightwing imobile as the cultists strung them up. The spell had worn off by now, but because not only were their wrists tied with the rope secured to the ceiling, their ankles were also tied with another rope securing them to the floor. This left them stretched out and unable to escape.

The cultists had gathered around a stone table. 

“B,” Nightwing said, “there are shackles.”

“I know.” he yanked at the ropes again, but they still didn’t give.

Then the doors of the warehouse were opening and two cultists were dragging in a limp figure.

The vigilantes started struggling harder as the cutlists shackled the kid, because he was way too small to be anything but a kid, to the table. 

“Hey!” Nightwing called. “Wouldn’t whatever demons you’re trying to summon appreciate a vigilante as a sacrifice more than some random civilian?”

“Quiet!” the head cultist said, his voice ringing with power and Bruce felt his mouth involuntarily close.

The cultists gathered around the struggling teen, who now that Bruce looked closer seemed to have a flower necklace tossed around his neck.

They began changing and all the vigilantes could do was watch. One took out a knife. The boy stared with wide terrified eyes. He jerked in his bonds. 

As the chanting grew in volume a cultist reached forward and removed the flower chain necklace laying it on the ground.

The leader raised the knife. Bruce fought to cry out but no sound escaped.

The knife came down.

The kid let out a short scream that ended in a gurgle as blood bubbled up out of the kids mouth. Then the kid slumped and didn't move again.

Bruce slumped. He had been too late. The kid was dead.

Bruce was brought out of his thoughts by the cultists muttering amongst themselves. They seemed agitated. They went off to the side to continue talking. From the little bit Bruce could hear, it sounded like the ritual hadn’t worked.

Bruce was glad, but there was still a dead kid, and Bruce wanted nothing more than to send these cultists to the hospital.

“B.” Dick whispered and Bruce realized the magic keeping them silent had faded. 

He looked over at Dick who motioned with his head to the table.

Bruce looked over. 

The kid’s eyes were open and he was reaching for the knife buried in his chest. Bruce stared, wide eyed, as the kid pulled the knife out before sitting up. Then the kid looked over and froze as he caught sight of them. He brought a finger to his lips and then disappeared.

Then wind began to blow through the room and a ghostly vice echoed, “Who dares to wake me?”

The cultists scrambled. “We– We do my lord.”

“You have greatly displeased me. I do not like human sacrifices. I only accept the sacrifice of chocolate and gummy worms.”

The cultists didn’t have time to react as the wind picked up slamming them against each other several times before dropping them to the ground where they were then encased in ice.

Before Bruce had the chance to say anything he was being lowered to the ground and untied along with Nightwing.

“You can show yourself.” Nightwing said.

“Nah, I’m good. I’ve got to go. They kind of interrupted my night.”

“Wait–”

“See ya.” and with a gust of wind the boy seemed to leave.

They were silent for a moment.

“New sibling?”

“Hnn.”

[myunconquerablesoul]

The previous ones about toji and sukuna sees as hella fire 🔥🔥

Can I get a prince NANAMI cause yk that feral episode of nanami just came out and IM STILL NOT OVER IT.

So witch reader and NANAMI. Let's say their rolls are like water and oil. NANAMI the soon to be the king the honored prince while the reader the witch with people trying to burn her and pour ice water on her.

I can't think of how they'll meet but probably in a bad situation and NANAMI decided to have her around. I'd still like to read his feral part.

I HOPE THIS REQUEST IS NOT THAT BORING. 😭 LOOKING FORWARD ~ ❤️❤️❤️

I'm here now.

k.nanami x fem!reader

Nanami? going farel? For us? Yes, please!!

warnings: mentions of violence, mentions of blood, mentions of a stake, mentions of torture… I think that's it.

Authors note: Thank you so much for requesting!! I love nanami with all my heart, and the new animation... it had me drolling. Anyway, I hope I did the feral scene some justice. And don't worry, love! Your request is not dull!! At all! After reading your request, this is what came instantly to my mind. I hope that this is good enough for you. Feedback on what I could have done better is always welcomed. Love you all! Enjoy 

Wordcount: 1.165

The only thing on your mind is hiding. Surviving.

How they manage to find out your true identity, you don't know. How did it turn out this way?

Your lungs were burning from all the running—the cold cutting through you like knives. 

One moment, you were preparing herbal teas; the next, you heard people gathering in front of your door, ready to storm your door to tie you to the stake.

You've been nothing but careful. You never use your magic in the open and constantly integrate yourself with the other villagers. You were always familiarizing yourself with everyone and blending in. 

But even that wasn't enough. Up until yesterday, no one seemed to be suspicious of you. So then again- how did it turn out like this?

So you run in hopes of somehow saving your life. Your magic wouldn't obey you. You have tried multiple times by now. But all of your efforts were in vain.

Then you saw a clearing. You knew this way. It led to a cave with ancient runes. If you managed to reach it, you could teleport to the next village with the help of a spell, and there you would- 

But just as your little glimmer of hope came, it vanished into thin air when you tapped into a hunter's trap and were caught hanging from a tree by a net.

You couldn't even blink as you were processing what was happening. "No! No, no, no!" you tried to pull at the strings. Pathetically trying to escape the trap, but it was too late.

"Ha! She's here! She fell for the hunter's trap!" one shouted.

You couldn't understand why your powers didn't want to work. It didn't make sense. Why did this have to happen to you?!

SPLASH

You were roughly pulled from unconsciousness by ice-cold water. 

You were in a dungeon. Through a small opening, some daylight came in, but you couldn't see more. This opening was small enough to push a book through but nothing more. It's been three days since you were caught. Always brought from one place to another. 

You had expected to be chained to the stake the second they got you, but you've learned that before they officially deposed you, they wanted to torture you for you to reveal the location of the higher circle of witches. 

You have yet to learn how they even got wind of the higher circle existing. But you wouldn't say a word. You would die either way. So to hell with them!

So, while enduring all forms of torture, you haven't muttered a single word.

"You stupid bitch!" Another blow with the whip. "JUST TALK ALREADY!" It hurt. So very much. You were panting due to the loss of your breath from the impact.

You prepared for jet another blow, but it never came. Instead, the door was forcefully kicked down, revealing the man you have been thinking about as your safe place for the last few days. 

For a moment, there was nothing but silence. No one dared to move. Your eyes began to swell with tears, and for the first time in the last couple of days, you felt relief and hope fill you.

"Ken?" your voice not much louder than a whisper. Afraid to break the spell and all of this being an illusion. 

When his brown eyes finally met yours, "What do you think you're doing to her?" you almost choked on a sob that escaped you. He was real.

"I- Your majesty- I- She's a witch?" 

Majesty?

You met Ken when you were out in the woods one day. He was trying to get Yuji, a soldier in training, to a healer. He was attacked by a bear, and the animal almost tore him apart. 

You saved him that night, revealing your identity in the process too the two men and them swearing they wouldn't say a word.

Ever since then, they would constantly visit you from time to time. In that time, you grew very cole to the men, especially Ken. But they told you they were soldiers. Mere men from the army of the king.

"Since yesterday, there has been a new reform which I have introduced as the new king," he says coldly as he makes his way to the two of you. "A rule that says that all beings, whether with supernatural powers or not, can only be convicted of a crime." 

New King? Does that mean... Ken is actually Nanami Kento? Crown Prince of this kingdom? The honored prince?

He stops right before you and your tormentor. "So I ask you again. What do you think you're doing?!"

You didn't even realize that Yuiji was there until he put a cloak around your shoulders. "Y/N! Are you okay? What a question, of course not!"

"Yuiji, you came..."

Hatura takes a reasonable few steps away from all of you now. He felt his king's bloodlust increasing with each passing second.

"I didn't kn-"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence before Nanami punched him into the wall behind him. Hatura was so shocked that he was almost paralyzed on the spot out of fear. His nose already bleeding from the force of Kento's punch.

His survival instincts kicked in as he tried to scramble away. But he didn't come far as nanami pulled him back by his hair, and his face leaned dangerously closer to Hatura's.

"Tell me... what. Were. You. THINKING?!" Kento's voice growls murderously as he tightens his grip on Hatura's hair. But he didn't even let him speak as he punched him jet again into his abdomen.

His grip on his hair loosens, and Hatura slips on the ground, hoping that if he just stays put, the newly crowned king will spare him.

As you looked at the body on the floor, you could see the blood from his mouth and nose. Hatura then spits a tooth out and shockingly looks at it. "Please- Stop."

That's when Kento grabbed him by the throat and lifted him high in front of him into the air. "Did you stop when you were torturing her? After you folks drugged her so she would become defenseless?! HUH?! Did you?!"

"So... sorry..." Nanami had had enough. He let go of him, and as he fell to the ground, he slammed back into his face with a clenched fist. You could hear something break when your tormentor was beaten unconscious. Kento pulled away from him and then joined you at your side.

You were weakly leaning against Yuji's frame. Eyes bearly open from all your exhaustion. Kento then crouched in front of you, sitting to inspect your wounds. Blood splattered across his knuckles. "Ken..." you weakly muttered. 

It captured his attention, to which he shifted at you. He said nothing, but you could tell he wasn't happy.

Nanami observed your frail, beaten-up body. Which did not satisfy him one bit. 

"Ken, I―"

"Don't worry, my dear. I'm here now."

[shadowhandss60]

I saw your plea for fanfic ideas and immediately hit the ask button.

I beg of you please give us manorian and the thirteen but like happy. This fandom deprives me of happy thirteen content.

Tried for happy and cute while trying to remain true to the characters 🙂

(I liked this, now I wanna do more happy moments with Manorian and the Thirteen)

***

"Neat trick." Asterin said, lying back on her bedroll. She had an arm tucked behind her head as she stared at Dorian.

He was sitting upright, one arm propped on his bent knee while the other swirled in the air, passing various elements around the fire he had created before them.

"I think it would be more interesting were he to set something or someone on fire," Vesta called from the opposite side, staring a little too long at the king before her.

"Yeah, you.” Sorrel grumbled from her place to the left of Asterin, facedown on her bedroll.

A few of the thirteen laughed at that and Vesta flashed a vulgar gesture towards Sorrel, which the third could not see but returned all the same.

Dorian chuckled under his breath, eyes unfocused as he searched for something, or someone, beyond the circle.

Asterin had noted Manon and Dorian's inclination to save space beside one another when it came time for rest early on in their journey, though she never mentioned it to either of them.

He sent a flame careening around the group and Asterin tracked the glow in the rest of the thirteen’s eyes as they followed it.

The king’s gaze shifted back to the forest before his sapphire eyes landed on the fire again.

"How does it work?" Briar, of all people, called out beside Vesta.

She had been sitting crossed-legged with her arms folded, scowling at the king for darkness knew how long. It was a good sign, considering she usually outright glared at outsiders.

"I just will it." Dorian shrugged. "Sounds foolish when I say it, but it's really my only explanation. I tend to think of some of the elements as seasons at times; it helps me focus when I'm training."

The ball of ice circling the group began to grow until it burst into a whisp of fine flakes that scattered in the breeze, though none hit them.

Imogen raised her hand from her bedroll to try and caress them but said nothing, turning her head to face the king from her place beside Sorrel.

"Ice and snow for winter."

"Your personal favorite," Vesta noted gesturing with the blade she had begun sharpening.

Dorian shrugged. "Yes, you could say that."

A few others sat up, not awoken as none had been sleeping, all waiting for their Wingleader to return, but rather intrigued.

Asterin then heard a sound like a waterfall and looked up to see the dome surrounding the camp where water seemed to trickle down around them, reaching far enough to cover their group of wyverns.

"Water for spring." Dorian continued.

The rain began to stream heavier down the sides of the dome, then as he brought his hand down to stop the downpour, the fire before them roared.

The shield surrounding the camp seemed to thicken as if to keep the blazing light hidden from any watchful eyes.

"Fire for summer."

Asterin looked to him then, his eyes blazing gold when reflected in the firelight.

There was a pause as the flames ceased and Dorian must have been reaching out with his magic as both he, Asterin, and the rest of the thirteen turned their heads to the sound of approaching footsteps.

Manon Blackbeak made her way through the foliage, her hair near luminous in the moon and firelight. Asterin could hear Dorian swallow.

She fought the urge to roll her eyes as Manon's gaze met the king next to her.

"And for Autumn, princeling?" Her cousin's voice rang out as she made her way forward, her mask of annoyance unwavering, though Asterin knew her enough to note the curiosity brimming under the surface.

Asterin turned to Dorian and he kept his eyes focused on Manon, cocking his head slightly, and the wind around them began to roar.

The fire and those on their bedrolls remained untouched, but Asterin could hear the whistle in her ears as if she were soaring through the skies on the back of Narene.

She glanced back to Manon as she strode towards the fire and saw her cousin's hair a whipping mass around her face as she scowled.

Thea snorted and Vesta chuckled under her breath, catching a glare from Manon that had her quieting.

"Wind." The king smirked, resting back on his hands as he surveyed Manon, now standing above him in the space he had unconsciously left for her.

There was a smile playing on his lips that nearly made Asterin grin in return.

She was wary of him when they first met; they all were, but his respect for Manon was evident in how he spoke to her.

Though he challenged her, it was never in a way that made her second's hackles rise. If anything, she found it a grand source of entertainment.

Faline and Fallon had questioned as to why Manon had not killed him yet.

With the way he sometimes spoke so freely with her, it was a wonder he wasn't asking for it, but the demon-twins likely didn't mean it as a genuine question because they could all see the spark of lust and intrigue in Manon's gaze whenever he had a smartass remark or outright questioned her.

Like she wasn't a battle-forged weapon he should fear.

They had all seen him with the collar, seen the monsters that lay underneath the skin, wearing beautiful faces as masks to hide a thirst for violence that even repulsed them.

They knew that he had likely seen nightmares far worse than what surrounded him in this circle, so Asterin found it fitting that he would be the one to pique the Wing Leader's interest.

None had ever spoken to her like that, not even Asterin until recently; she couldn't help but smile at the softness Manon tried to hide when she saw the king.

It reminded her of that cabin, of her hunter, of a life she may not lead but one that Manon may yet experience.

Manon reached down and shoved Dorian's shoulder harder than was necessary as she tugged her bedroll from her shoulder.

"Very cute." She deadpanned.

Kaya grinned from across the fire beside Vesta, and Manon's head shot up as if she could sense it.

"Something funny?"

The witch's grin broadened, but she shook her head, the king speaking in her sted.

"Sarcasm suits you," Dorian said beside her. "Even with that delivery."

Manon stiffened, but she could see her cousin fighting a smile from her place beside her.

"Oh?" She continued to spread the stiff roll of leather. "And what delivery may that be, princeling."

It seemed as though everyone was sitting up now; they had all grown accustomed to the teasing and flirting amongst the two monarchs.

Asterin sometimes grew tired of it as Manon's cousin, but she couldn't deny that the sight of Manon frustrated, in more ways than one, wasn't entertaining.

"Like you'd like to kill me in my sleep tonight."

A few snickers rang around the fire, "Keep talking and I just might."

The king shrugged and laid down again, one arm bent behind his head. Manon sat, still facing the fire.

"I'd like to see you try."

Manon faced him then and though Asterin couldn't see her, she could feel the violence dripping from her posture, mixed with-

"Gross." Sorrel called out beside her.

Manon snapped her head towards her third. “What?" She hissed.

"Oh, you know what…I can't wait until you two can get some privacy and leave us out of this." Thea called.

A few of the other witches began chuckling, and even Asterin couldn't hide her snort of laughter.

Manon's eyes seemed to blaze as she stared down her cousin.

Asterin didn't try to hide her smile. "Don't blame me. You're the one that brought us this particular brand of entertainment."

There were full-on laughs around the fire now and it looked as though Manon was five seconds away from shoving someone into the flames.

"Entertainment, am I?" Dorian purred from the other side of Manon and she sucked in a sharp hiss of breath.

"Yes, and a glorified guard. That is all."

Dorian's eyes glimmered with mischief, but all he said was, "Hmmm." As he again faced the sky, twirled a small vortex of ice, and sent it around the fire.

Suddenly, a small thud from the opposite side of where their Wyverns were, brought them all bolt upright; Manon and the rest of the thirteen stood while Dorian crouched, hands flexed and looking as though they were dipped in ice.

They settled when they saw Abraxos staring from the other side of the shield Dorian had out, looking as annoyed as she had ever seen.

“You can leave but I have to open it to get back in.” Dorian grinned sheepishly towards the wyvern, as if he could understand such things. "Sorry."

Manon scoffed and walked towards her mount.

"You're insufferable." She called out as she strode towards him but her hand stroked his face affectionately, scratching at a scar behind his left eye that had him nearly kicking like a dog.

The beast opened his maw, and a heap of wet, saliva-covered, yellow flowers rolled off his tongue like some kind of offering and Manon jumped to the side.

"What-"

She was cut off by Thea and Kaya bursting into laughter, followed by Vesta and even the green-eyed demon twins.

If looks could kill, they would have all fallen prey to the glare thrown at them by her cousin.

Still, as Dorian, Sorrel, and Asterin joined in the fray of laughter, Manon's glare subsided into the slightest grin that had the rest of the witches grinning or continuing in their laughter.

A short grunt sounded from Abraxos and Manon turned to face him again as he closed his eyes and seemed to be nuzzled by an invisible force, his chin lifting as if Manon were still scratching at him though her hands were at her side.

They all turned to Dorian, where he now lay on his bedroll, eyes wholly trained on Manon as if 13 deadly witches did not surround him.

He merely smiled and she continued to stare back long enough that Vesta cleared her throat

"Darkness save us. Could you too not grope eachother in front of us."

Manon snarled at that, "No one was groping, watch it."

Vesta snorted and laid back again, settling with her feet stretching towards the fire, raising her hand and flicking it in the air.

"I don't know what he does with those weird ghost hands of his."

"No, but you'd like too-" Imogen sing-songed but was cut off with a grunt, likely from an elbow to the ribs.

Manon scowled, giving Abraxos one last pat on his snout before he sauntered back to nuzzle Asterin's mount, nudging a soaked flower towards her.

She smiles at the gesture and turned back to her cousin, noting the slight flush on her cheeks but deciding not to comment.

"Whoever isn't sleeping in the next 10 minutes is training the princeling tomorrow."

Edda spoke at that, "So, say I'm awake in eleven, I get to spar with him?"

Dorian groaned and rolled towards Manon, speaking in a loud whisper. “Gods help me, make it 30 minutes, please. She’ll be out in 20, and you won’t like me missing teeth.”

Asterin could hear the smile in Manon's voice but her tone was final for all.

"Sleep."

****

Asterin woke at dawn; the sounds around them were muted due to the shield Dorian could somehow keep as he slept though he had his magic reaching beyond, should someone approach.

She sat up on her bedroll, careful not to rouse the others.

Stretching, she smiled to herself as she saw Manon and the king facing each other, though Manon rarely slept on her side, their fingers nearly brushing as they seemed to reach towards each other like reflections in a mirror.

[conundrumoftime]

Some thoughts on what Rings of Power might be doing with Celeborn

Wrote this a couple of months ago, so I'm reposting it here now I'm here. Despite the dudebros on Reddit wishing Celeborn back so that he'll be the bestest strongest fightingest elf ever, I don't think that is what TROP have set him up for so far in the clues we have, and I think that's probably a Good Thing.

This show loves using visual imagery to allude to some canonical event it doesn’t have the rights or time to deal with. Here, Galadriel in Valinor is fighting with other elves, possibly her cousins (is the red-haired elf kid meant to make us think of a young Maedhros or Amrod or Amras?) over swan-ships. It’s not the Kinslaying at Alqualondë but it’s clearly meant as a nod to that:

And it tells you something about her personality, whether or not you know that story.

Here, she’s leading her company over the ice. It’s Forodwaith, not the crossing over the Helcaraxë that brought her to Middle-earth, but it’s meant to tell you the same things about her that that story tells: her bravery, her stubbornness, her position as a leader, and her will to press on:

And here she is on a battlefield after a battle.

The battle itself when we see it is… maybe meant to feel like the Nírnaeth Arnoediad, which was a huge disaster for the elves. (The helmet Galadriel’s holding has a Feanorian star on it - near her little finger if you zoom in.) But I think the visual imagery of the aftermath is meant to feel like something different.

Above, Galadriel’s battlefield; below, the Somme, where Tolkien fought.

I don't think this battle is meant to be an allegory for the Somme, but I think it's meant to call to mind similar things: the hell and waste and devastation of battle, on a scale that the people involved had not imagined possible.

One of the few things we know about TROP Celeborn at this point is that he rode away to a battle (unnamed) and never came back. Galadriel must presume he’s dead; look at the devastation around her and you can see why. A few people have theorised that the reason she's in her white dress in these scenes is that she's searching for him. If that's so, we know she doesn't find him. It's also implied that 'the war' he went off to is this one against Morgoth but it's not explained why he went: in book canon he's not Noldor and his king forbade any of his people to fight alongside them, on the grounds they had already brought too much death and devastation as it was.

Whyever he went to battle, we also know that he went underestimating it and unprepared for it. When she mentions him going to war says that his armour didn’t fit and that she teased him for it. She says ‘the war seemed so very far away’. If she’s in Doriath at this time, which isn’t named but sounds likely, then this must be especially so: the Doriath version of Celeborn (he has different origin stories) has lived his whole life in a magically protected land of peace and loveliness surrounded by a continent of war. And then he went to a battle that presumably looked like the one above, and never came back.

That, for Tolkien’s generation, was the story of a lot of men going off to the First World War. The gulf between expectation and reality at the start of the war was immense and while many wars in many places have that cultural memory, this one was the big one for Tolkien’s generation. Many people really believed when the war began in 1914 that it would be ‘over by Christmas’, lots of young men enthusiastically joined up to do their country proud (including boys lying about their age, they were so keen to go) and the soldiers - and the country as a whole - were massively unprepared for the scale and horror of modern, industrialised warfare. Tolkien went to war in 1916; he wrote later (in the LOTR preface) that by 1918, all but one of his close friends were dead.

The war was a huge influence on his work. Sometimes directly inspired (he wrote that the Dead Marshes in Lord of the Rings ‘owe something to Northern France after the Battle of the Somme’), sometimes more indirectly, like in this from Christopher Tolkien:

‘He told me once that he began The Silmarillion ‘in army huts, crowded, filled with the noise of gramophones’; indeed some lines of verse in which appear the Seven Names of Gondolin are scribbled on the back of a paper setting out the chain of responsibility in a battalion.’ In TROP, Galadriel’s line to Theo that she met Celeborn when he saw her dancing in a glade of flowers is meant to be a shorthand reference to Beren and Lúthien. But this part of Beren and Lúthien’s story was also inspired by Tolkien’s own life during the war: his wife Edith dancing for him in the woods in Yorkshire, in 1917, when he was home from the trenches recovering from illness.

Again I don’t think TROP is trying to show a literal allegory for the Somme and the war, but I think it’s trying to show something that feels like it, both in that devastated battlefield and in the idea of brave and idealistic young soldiers keen to go off to a distant war that they’re unprepared for and can’t possibly comprehend the horror of. Because it was so important and so formative for Tolkien, and because the writers want to glorify courage without glorifying war.

So: Celeborn. In TROP he went away to the war but we know he’s not dead, even though Galadriel reasonably thinks he must be. And they have a reasonable amount of leeway to play with him as a character around that because… well, Tolkien needed a Mr Galadriel and didn’t care that much about fleshing Celeborn out. He fights in the Second Age, he’s ‘wise’, and he really dislikes dwarves.

The dwarf thing you can read as just elf-dwarf antagonism, but if you want to put some texture behind it then you can read it as a legacy of the dwarves fighting with the elves in Doriath and killing their king, Celeborn’s relative. This does not make it okay for him to be rude to Gimli in LOTR and blame him for bringing trouble to Lothlorien - which Galadriel slaps him down for in front of everyone - but it does make him more interesting, if part of his character is that he’s still haunted by the wars of the First Age, if his desire to keep Lothlorien a little island of safety is always countered by his memory of how this failed with Doriath. And if we are going to be at all invested in him as a character in TROP they will want him to be interesting.

TV audiences don’t generally find established relationships that interesting, LOTR Celeborn is just not that fleshed out or interesting a character to begin with (which is fine! he's basically a background elf there! he's fine with that!), and so TV storytelling would require more than "yay happy reunion" if it’s going to create any kind of interest at all in what we all know is the canon endgame pairing. They aren’t going to use Celeborn to ditch the Galadriel and Sauron connection (which the creators have been explicit about building the whole show on), but she's got to end up with him without making everyone think "who?" or feeling sorry for her. So my bet is that if he is indeed coming in season 2, they'll a) give him his own storyline, separate from hers, and b) create some kind of tension in their relationship.

And so: where is he? In show continuity he's been missing for centuries at this point. Much of the fandom speculation is that he’s been held prisoner by Sauron or by Adar. I can’t quite see how this fits plot-wise - the only prisoners we know that either of them have are the elves digging the tunnels for Adar, who (if we believe what he says about Sauron’s work) haven’t been doing this for all that long. Sauron does canonically have a habit of putting enemies in prisons and then keeping them there indefinitely but TROP Sauron doesn’t have any fortresses with prisons that we know about and doesn’t seem in a place where he’s got that kind of power. Perhaps in Rhûn, where it seems there’s a Sauron cult? Although there’s no obvious reason why Celeborn would be there or what the purpose would be of keeping him. 

Also, coming back from literal centuries of captivity and torture or whatever else is going to make it difficult for his plot to be about anything other than that and his recovery from that, because: centuries. Maedhros was held captive for thirty years and begged Fingon to kill him. What’s three hundred years going to do? Seems unlikely Celeborn would be swooping right back into the action in any sense, or be recognisably himself at all.

But. Assuming the show wants us to be interested in him as his own character rather than just as a plotdevice to stop Galadriel getting a bit too close to the Dark Lord. And assuming we’re still supposed to see him as a casualty of war, but in another sense than dying.

Maybe what’s keeping him from Galadriel - and the Noldor, and the war that Gil-galad is leading - isn’t that he’s locked in prison and can’t get there. Maybe he’s staying away from it all, including her, on purpose. And maybe he’ll get his own storyline, where he isn’t just Mr Galadriel, where we get to see why and how he finds his way back?

[zolupine]

“Hey you still into bird watching?” - A thread on Betty Grof bird symbolism - crossposted on twitter!!!

I think about which birds Betty’s magic birds are and a couple come to mind. I’d personally like to think they’d change form to the following:

1.) Canaries- for a multitude of reason 1.) being that they’re some of the most similar in terms of size and shape minus the beak, but i did want to bring up the phrase “canary in a coal mine"

1a.) “⁃A canary in a coal mine is an advanced warning of some danger. The metaphor originates from the times when miners used to carry caged canaries while at work; if there was any methane or carbon monoxide in the mine, the canary would die before the levels of the gas reached those hazardous to humans.” In terms of interpretation i think thats rather clear about Betty’s fate in terms of being digested with GOLB though its a reach, something something caged within GOLB something something dying with him and becoming rebirthed

1b.) - Extra info. Canaries are song birds and individualists in nature EXCEPT when mating- possibly playing on Betty’s recluse nature with the exception of magic man and Simon/IK.

2.) Nightingales- ANOTHER bird that looks very similar to those animated, this time the beak and tail-feathers match quite well. Matching the color scheme (in terms of their bellies being brighter!) and are overall very similar in nature!

2a.) Their symbolism- nightingales have been associated with a variety of themes, including "creativity, the muse, nature's purity, and, in Western spiritual tradition, virtue and goodness." the nightingale is deemed to be ”a prime example of poetic invention occurring naturally” Though not intrinsically related to Betty herself, it could be a representation of her usage of magic and how she’s becoming less and less human, and more in tune with the nature of Ooo around her. Though birds are also associated with magic man…

2b.) “A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square” - who doesn’t love some music symbolism coupled with bird symbolism! The song itself is about the power of love, and how the “whole damned world seemed upside down” - could easily be a representation of Betty’s love for Simon :)

2c.) In more literal interpretations of the nightingale, its seen as a sign of coming striping, it’s song ushering new leaves after the winter. It’s referenced in Homer’s odyssey when a nightingale sings in the woods, spring has just begun (Odyssey 19.519). Spring is often seen as a time of change, "Every one thousand years, the Catalyst Comet mysteriously reincarnates itself and collides with Earth, bringing with it an Agent of Change." It could be interpreted as such, that her nightingales were the first signs of HER change. Though it’s a reach considering the airing date of the episode, unless it was foreshadowed like crazy. Which is totally fucking possible. Also! This next one is just for fun.

3.) Toucans - Though not at all similar in shape or size, toucans have a very interesting meaning, as well as a quote directly from Ice King himself. Also they are quite cute…

3a.) This clip [season 9, episode 3 “Bespoken For” part 2 of 8 of the elements specials], the SAME episode as “Betty's birds”- as Ice King is going “bird watching” he refers to Betty as a Toucan- as seen in the clip below.

It’s a one off line, because on ice kings bird list, a Toucan is one of the things he needs to check off. Not to mention his later reference to Betty as an exotic bird to life giving magus!

3b.) Though the Toucan has interesting symbolism, Toucans are regarded as a bird with a sacred eye, they’re seen as conduits between the worlds of the living and the dead. Which could again play into her role as GOLBETTY, because of GOLBETTY’s omnipotent nature. It could easily be implied that she’s a conduit, but less of matters of the living of the dead and more so in regards to the antiverse and the multiverse.

Ok thats all from me ^_^ I might continue this thread, but for now enjoy some bird watching :)

[friendbreakfast]

as much as i like the way things ended up, i do feel its a shame that the whole arc with ice king accepting himself as an unique person worthy of respect separate from simon kinda got forgotten the moment simon returned. nobody considers the ice king's personhood to be a thing once hes gone

like sure i do feel simon being cured is a good thing and definitely an overall positive yes. but also the show did a really good job portraying ice king BOTH as a distorsion of simon created by the crown (with heavy parallels to dementia) AND as an unique person that just happens to have originated as simon in the past but has become separate enough to be its own person.

i mean from a writing perspective, by the time simon returns, it couldnt be any more obvious theyre written with entirely different personalities and are practically two different characters

so i would have liked a solution where BOTH were able to exist. some of that cool adventure time retcon magic or something that allowed simon to return to his real self while keeping the ice king as a separate being. no i dont think gunter taking the crown and turning into a different version of him (called the ice thing i think??) counts cuz we never see it talk and overall seems to be written way differently from both simon AND ice king despite looking very much like the latter

[liquidstar]

Ok so, I have only ever watched one episode of Adventure Time, and it was on a hotel room TV, in terrible hindi dub, and I barely remember it on account of being 10(?) but it horrified me.

I remember the MCs trying to get Ice King a girlfriend or something, but he keeps being a gross asshole so they take him to a lake and point at some swans to try and explain love to him. They point to two swans kissing like ':D' and he's like 'ewww' and then the male swan suCKS IN AND EATS THE FEMALE and IK's like ':)))' while the boys stare in horror.

IDR how the episode ended or how much I watched, but I remember thinking 'wow american cartoons are hardcore. I'm sticking to pirated pokemon from now on.'

And you are telling me that show had lesbians in it leter????

oh my god im so sorry but imagining you watching that swan scene as a 10 year old is so fucking funny, i can understand why you stuck with pirated pokemon LOL

adventure time is absolutely very fucked up in a lot of different ways. the early seasons leaned into that type of absurd shit you just described a lot more especially. while the later ones actually started getting more existential and building on the worlds lore.

there wasnt exactly a focused plot, per say. i mean, there was, but it wasnt something methodical and planned out, it was played by ear. and i think it really worked. the way they did it turned out a really cool magic system (based on the idea that reality is just collective perception, and magic users are aware of this and can manipulate perception ergo reality. but the more cosmic knowledge you have the more insane or depressed you become etc especially if youre mortal), and also cool world building (it takes place in a post apocalypse after a nuclear war, now far into the future the face of the earth has completely changed but the horrors unleashed still impact it today), and also a lot of really amazing themes (the world is always changing and nothing is ever permanent, but no matter how things change things also stay the same, in a different way. especially where bonds and love are concerned. everything stays.)

and YEAH there are lesbians (i mean i always hc marcy as bi but still). and they also come from the shows improvisational nature. theres a lot of genuinely really amazing relationships and plotpoints born out of that to me. like, as the show starts to get a lot more thematically dense later on it can seem like a weird shift. some ppl say it got pretentious over time bc its not as goofy (its still pretty goofy lol), but i think it worked... like... perfectly.

because its a coming of age story where the main character actually ages, it actually feels so right that the world around him begins to seem different too. it makes sense that when he was 12 we were doing stupid goofy adventures, when he was 15 we were watching him deal with a lot of really fucked up trauma, and when he was 17 we watched him learn to grow as a person who thinks beyond simple terms of good and evil.

i know im tottaaallly rambling at this point but theres really an insane amount to talk about with adventure time. the timeline alone is ridiculous. but mostly i think my passion comes down to the fact that i was also growing up with the story, always around the same age as the mc going through similar stuff... even now, the story is focusing on a depressed 20-something trying to find whimsy in her life again. and technically the last episode timeline-wise is about accepting death lol

so like idk how exactly id recommend it to a new viewer, its really possible that a lot of ppl wont be able to really tolerate the early seasons as adults (i mean, i think theyre charming, but i have nostalgia goggles lol). that being said i think that its a series totally worth a shot for everyone... eventually. if it sounds interesting you just gotta accept the goofiness at first and trust that youre in for something wild in a totally different way later on. and totally unique and cool and special in a way nothing else has really been able to capture for me since.

TL;DR: no yeah the show was incredibly fucked up and that swan did eat that other swan. but it does have themes and also lesbians.

[fandomhopperposts]

Random rant: I Rewatched Adventure Time and through this time and there were some things about Ice King that I never caught on before. For example, surprisingly somewhat takes care of himself and also, his non-magic related talents such as knitting/crocheting(?). Also since season one he's been playing the drums and seemed to have improved overtime in later seasons, knows how to play the keyboard to offer to teach someone to play (although that someone was being held hostage against her will) and knows how to play what I could only assume to be some kind of portable synthesizer(?) decently. That's at least like, three instruments?

When I was rewatching the series, my brain caught on and I was like "Damn, this dude could play three instruments? For real? I can't even play one instrument, let alone three. How is this ice loon more talented than me? That's not far" or something like that. The only thing I'm good at is making soup.

I'm really tired, can ya tell? Lol

[midnight-in-town]

So we have three persons in deadly danger: dadga, tartah and coco. (since they seem to be both severely hurt, right?). What if the king couldn't save all three. I mean he may be powerful with healing magic but it must be terribly hard. Maybe too much for him. Maybe saving three persons from death the same day will be too hard. So there would be a choice. Well Coco will live, that's sure but if Tartah die because of the Brims Hats plan, i don't think that she'll forgive them or join them.

Hey Anon! Well, maybe I interpreted ch67 wrongly, but I was more under the impression that Coco was unconscious and not "hurt" (besides, like, maybe a concussion), meanwhile Tartar...

... is indeed suffering from a much more likely to be fatal wound.

As for Dagda, he keeps on "dying" but he's under a "time rewind" forbidden spell that, for now, works...

...so I'd say the current priority is Tartar++, then at a later time Dagda (from the moment the spell wears off), while Coco will most likely be fine without the King's intervention (to be confirmed).

Also, while I agree that Coco would never forgive the Brim Hats for hurting Tartar, she's also currently treading on very thin ice and anything happening to any of her friends (including Tartar, Coustas and, by proxy, Dagda) "because magic and medicine can't be mixed" might most likely tip her scale in favor of the Brim Hats.

All that being said, I'd also be lying if I said I believed Dagda had a real chance to make it through this arc. :// Sadly, the truth is, Dagda is a literal walking forbidden spell and the Brim Hats want to make themselves known to the King so, narratively speaking, Dagda meeting/being saved by the King is equal to a victory for the Brim Hats.

Of course, it could be what Sensei is after, since this arc is clearly challenging all the laws fueling The Secret as well as the forbidden link between magic and medicine, but Belda was quite clear as to what he fears about King Dean getting knowledge about magic and...

...as much as I truly enjoy the King's character and despise The Secret, I think he's right. For now, plot-wise, it wouldn't be a good idea at all for the King's family to figure out how magic works, because it would simply further the Brim Hats' cause and they're too chaotic to be the real answer (meanwhile the Prince learning the truth from, say, Tetia? highly more interesting and less prone to chaotic results :))).

TL;DR at this point, I don't fear for Tartar's or Coco's safety, whereas I really doubt Dagda will make it. And even if the King were to manage saving him, he's at a very high risk of getting his memory erased which will anger Coustas to no end, causing Tartar and Coco much grief. ://

At some point during the arc, I really though there could be a way for, say, Atuarto to become Ininia's, Coustas' and Tartar's teacher, since he offered to protect Galga from the Island of Lost Memories...

...but that probably won't happen for Coustas if Dagda can't escape death + the Witches' law for being a walking forbidden spell, like Eunie did.

We'll have to wait and see. I hope I managed to answer your question. :)) Have a good day Anon!

[doc42]

Slayer of Lies

(continued from Part 1)

So, let’s go through all these and try to give them meanings.

three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . . Her own heart was beating in unison to the one that floated before her, blue and corrupt . . . Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. . . . mother of dragons, slayer of lies . . .

In this framework of connecting the original triple threes descriptions to their vision counterparts all three images are of course false dragons in some sense, antagonists to our heroes and their pale shadows — Mr Writer talks of dragons as a manifestation of fire, "fire made flesh" in the story, "and there's something magical about the fire" in the bts for House of the Dragon, and the true fire beats the false ones.

After all, why would the Undying from their eternalist perspective see these three key fires she lights as especially noteworthy, what do they do in the great chain of cause and effect as seen from above time itself? 

They slay lies. 

So they show her lies as a suggestion of her three key fires, helpfully.

Fire for life... Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow.

Mr Writer is fucking with us the readers by throwing the "red sword" in there, like how he likes to switch from literal to symbolic meanings back through literal here and there — it's a fairly literal description of Stannis that stands for an archetypical paperback fantasy-style image of Azor Ahai that gets subverted by Daenerys a bit earlier in the story than Stannis himself appears, and once you click the whole shadows=dragons=a flaming sword connection together, yeah, it's about dragons, too, the fire needed to live out the Winter, and she slays the lie of him by lighting the pyre under the red comet that gives life to her true red sword, “mother of dragons”.

three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love . . . The voices were growing louder, she realized, and it seemed her heart was slowing, and even her breath. . . .  Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness. . . . mother of dragons, bride of fire . . .

The “three mounts must you ride, mother of dragons, bride of fire” connection shows us how these work; again, Mr Writer likes to switch between the meanings so no threes are exactly the same — there we have a horse, a wooden horse, and no horse at all but simply a suggestion of Jon Snow with the “blue flower”, Jon Snow, who is, of course, a reincarnation of Lyanna Stark and a half-wolf half-dragon. So it stands to reason each of the three fires must be of a different kind, too, some literal, some metaphorical. Some for life, and some...

Fire for death... A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd.

A cloth dragon is Aegon VI a false Targaryen promised prince, a typical character of historical fiction, and let’s say she slays the lie of him by proving him a Blackfyre. But this second fire is “the fire for death”, which sounds rather more literal than that and does not spell anything good for the pretender prince as he sets his sights on a city sitting on top of a giant stash of green wildfire, a hidden legacy of his purported grandfather. 

"A mummer's dragon, you said. What is a mummer's dragon, pray?"

"A cloth dragon on poles," Dany explained. "Mummers use them in their follies, to give the heroes something to fight."

And perhaps once upon a time Mr Writer really did want to clash Daenerys with a pretender character directly, as juicy as it sounds, but the way “A Dance With Dragons” is arranged suggests to me this is no longer in the cards, as it spends a lot of time setting up a deadly, long dragonfight between the characters of Euron Crow’s Eye, Cersei Lannister, Young Griff/Jon Connington, and the Martells, replacing the original sprawling game of thrones from the first three books with a multitude of echoes of the Dance of the Dragons and all the Blackfyre Rebellions and the Sack of King’s Landing all rolled into one and layered on top of each other like a big, rotten onion — and directly teasing the boy’s sad final fate.

“And everywhere the dragons danced the people died."

But Daenerys would still consider herself the cause of all this and feel responsible if the fire for death is set off by any of her stolen dragons, the green one in particular.

Mother of dragons, Daenerys thought. Mother of monsters. What have I unleashed upon the world? A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. 

The dragons are an extension of her, as she herself as the Mother of Dragons is a three-headed dragon in her own right, and it would be a bitter sting of the decades-long pay off to her long lingering stay in Essos to fight for freedom (and Mr Writer entangling himself in the Meereenese Knot, and then adding Volantis’ plea for her to come and help on top of it, just like how the Wolf King pleaded to her once in these very same visions of the Undying) if she had finally returned home to find a ghost city, as she does at the beginning of “A Clash of Kings”, and a throne standing atop the burned bones and ash, Ozymandias-style.

(a lesser known bts tidbit is D&D took full credit for the idea of the Iron Throne’s destructuon for themselves in the same documentary where they claim the entirety of the Breaking Bad-ish throne room scene concluding the TV show as their own invention and their final glory, so perhaps Mr Writer does actually want the Throne to remain, for times to come, “Round the decay, of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare...”)

(the scene at the beginning of “Clash” where Rakharo journeys to one of the three ends of the Red Waste and finds the old bones of an immense dragon feels like another Ozymandias riff to me)

Fire to love... From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire... 

And the last one is a twisted dragon, which, way, way before FeastDance I'd say the wording conjures up an image of the Tower of Joy with a bunch of connections to the Azor Ahai Reborn prophecy, smoke-stone-fire, Daenerys slaying the lie of Jon Snow being simply “Jon Snow”, lighting his fire, the images suggesting him hatch out of his own secret origin story. But Mr Writer has made a lot of effort since then to connect the vision very directly to Euron Crow’s Eye, going to Oldtown to leap from a very tall tower and be reborn to fly, a very Lovecraftian image where the dragon is so unrecognizable it looks like a beast — and there’s a precedent for Mr Writer using an eerily similar wording when describing dreams of things to come in his other Westerosi-set work: 

"You said that at the inn."

"Did I? Well, it's so. My dreams are not like yours, Ser Duncan. Mine are true. They frighten me. You frighten me. I dreamed of you and a dead dragon, you see. A great beast, huge, with wings so large they could cover this meadow. It had fallen on top of you, but you were alive and the dragon was dead."

"Did I kill it?"

Now would you look at that, a dead dragon! So perhaps she slays Euron by somehow "lighting a fire" to the truth of Jon Snow, half-dragon half-wolf represented by the blue flower, the king of the damned who dreams of crypts where there’s no place for him, as he dies and rises once more like Daenerys did before him walking into her fire for life, who then beats the blue-lipped undead king of the drowned that damns the whole world to Winter to prove he is above all gods? Prometheus-style, fire as knowledge (and, heh, the Citadel is there) — and fire as love.

"Fire to love", the fact that Mr Writer changed it to "to" all those years ago suggests to me he felt he knew exactly what he wanted to do back then — and him talking about it like, "fire is love, fire is passion, fire is sexual ardor", this makes "fire to love" a tautology, "love to love", a person to love.

“Three fires must you light, mother of dragons, slayer of lies.” So we have a pyre, a wildfire, and love — red, green, blue — cleansing the lies of a paperback fantasy Azor Ahai, a histfic pretender prince, and a Lovecraftian twisted dragon.