#prospero my king

[ace-robot-things]

Prospero confirmed aromantic but not asexual, aroallo rep???

[dumvixerum]

YURI JUMPSCARE 😨😨🏃🏻‍♀️😨

[lowcallyfruity]

I hate twisted wonderland because sometimes it will drop a card so brain changing it makes me want to work on my ocs I haven’t touched since 1987

[hopecomesbacktolife]

because this particular scene (and his inflection, tone, etc. when he says this) has lived in my head rent free for years, ever since I first saw tos, here’s a reaction image I made of Kodos saying “I am tired!!”

shoutout to Arnold Moss (Kodos’s actor) for his gravitas, sheer presence, and amazing acting in this episode, too!

[rulernogard156]

Prospero burns, and The Wolf King bleeds!!!

This is my half of an art trade with @nobunsonpesach

Thank you so very, very much for asking me to participate in this with you! 🫶♥️💕💖❤️🥹

U have so quickly become one of my favourite Warhammer artists!

It was such an honour to have my first ever art trade be with you and draw your Khorneate Magnus!

I also haven't done a full coloured piece in a while, so i tried colouring with inks for the first time, and I loved it so much!!!

I hope this lives up to ur expectations! And I hope I've made u proud 🥹👉👈

[meangreennunseen]

One thing I love about reading novels about different Primarchs is how differently they behave or apprach the contact with mortals or even Astartes.

For example with Ferrus, there's strict chain of command. He has his Second in Command, has his Captain, has his personal guard and only through them you can get audience with a Primarch. It's strict and structured as true military organisation has to be. Primarch on top of it.

Meanwhile Magnus is just having casual chats with a random transport pilot and just takes one of his Sons to chat Perturabo and such.

Now I just imagine Magnus being super casual on Prospero. My man probs walks streets of his kingdom finger gunning everyone like a buddy. Also just imagine being random person on Tizca with a question and you catch your 15ft Primarch King strolling by with grocery bag and you stop him to ask your question, only for a guy to grab random chair, turn it back rest first, sit on it and proceed to discuss the thing with you in depth in the middle of the street...

[insanityclause]

“Pressure,” Tom Hiddleston says, “is a privilege.” He apologises for appropriating the title of Billie-Jean King’s memoir, but it’s a sentiment that feels pertinent to him and his co-star Hayley Atwell. They have known each other for 20 years, have both starred in the Marvel universe (Hiddleston as the charmingly villainous Loki; Atwell as the wartime spy Peggy Carter), but this is the first time they have worked together — if you don’t count their group audition to get into drama school.

In a baggy sweatshirt (Atwell) and natty pale-blue jacket with clasps (Hiddleston), they are in a south London studio to rehearse Shakespeare’s bantering would-be lovers Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. It will be only the second Shakespeare play performed at the 2,000-seat Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London since 1957. And the pressure Hiddleston refers to comes from the fact that the previous one — The Tempest, starring Sigourney Weaver, also directed by Jamie Lloyd — failed to go down a storm.

Atwell and Hiddleston in rehearsal for Much Ado About Nothing

MARC BRENNER

Withering reviews such as The Times’s (“Sigourney Weaver’s blank Prospero makes zero impression”) poured cold water on a desert island story that had been relocated by the director Jamie Lloyd to a charcoal-black netherworld. Prices were cut, and an onstage protest by Just Stop Oil looked like light relief.

“We can exclusively reveal that [Much Ado] is not set in a charcoal netherworld,” Hiddleston deadpans. The pair start each day of rehearsals with an hour of dancing. How much dancing will make it into the show? The pair, who are friendly but guarded, can’t or won’t reveal.

What they will say is that you don’t do a show like this by halves. It turns out that Shakespeare is more like a Marvel film than you’d think. “You’ve got to commit with heart and soul and body, like you do for action sequences,” Hiddleston explains. “All acting can be boiled down to how much you commit.”

“I like pressure,” Atwell says. “There is a part of it that is very healthy and useful. But any sort of pressure attached to an idea of my name as a brand or a public persona is so arbitrary and abstract. I turn off the noise that is inconsequential. I find the bit of it I can use.”

Tom Hiddleston as Loki, a mischievous Marvel villain

ALAMY

In 2022 Atwell had to do this while filming Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One amid bogus reports of a relationship with the film’s star Tom Cruise; the pair are teaming up again for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, released this summer.

Hiddleston tells a story about his first big London Shakespeare opening, in 2007. He was playing Cassio in Othello, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Ewan McGregor as Iago. At five o’clock the three popped out to a Covent Garden Pret a Manger to get a pre-show sandwich. (It is hard, the Much Ado two agree, knowing exactly when to eat before a show.) There was a first-night tension you could cut with a knife. Or there was until Ejiofor just said bluntly: “‘Well, this is a big night. No question.’ And it made us all laugh. Cos, yeah, it’s kind of a big deal — but what can you say?”

“’This is not your average Thursday,’” Atwell says.

“It’s not!” Hiddleston agrees.

Now 44, he already had an agent when he auditioned at Rada, having got one while studying Classics at Cambridge. Atwell, now 42, who grew up with her mother in west London, had delayed higher education to travel around with her American father and work for a casting director. When they met, in the final stage of auditions, it was on a day of working in a group.

Atwell and Hiddleston at the premiere of Jamie Lloyd’s The Tempest last year

ALAN CHAPMAN/DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES

Atwell feels she handled the pressure less well than Hiddleston. “The woman from Rada said to us, ‘We are now looking for the next generation of actors who will be making a profound contribution to the arts.’ And I was, like, ‘I don’t know about that, mate, I’m just trying to get out of being in a housing association — if I can make a living I will be very happy.’ I was very intimidated.”

“It was very intense,” Hiddleston says.

“I was too shy,” Atwell says. “I didn’t commit.”

“I thought you committed,” Hiddleston says. “I thought you committed hard.”

He got in, she didn’t, and went to Guildhall School of Drama instead. But after leaving in 2005 she got a big role in the TV adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s novel The Line of Beauty almost immediately. A few posh roles followed, including in the film Brideshead Revisited.

“There was probably a bit more classism around then, and I suppose my own prejudice about ‘I’ve got to sound a certain way to even be considered for the kind of parts that might lead eventually to a film career’. So I thought if I could go down a period drama route, as opposed to the soap route or more working-class plays, I might give myself more of a chance. I had no back-up plan. I didn’t have any kind of privilege, didn’t come from money.”

The Eton-educated Hiddleston may come from a more prosperous upbringing but insists that, as an actor, “you never feel you are on solid ground. I have had to remind myself to smell the roses, because they don’t bloom all that often.”

His next theatre role was Lloyd’s revival of Pinter’s Betrayal in London and New York in 2019, which is how he met his fiancée, Zawe Ashton, who was a castmate. Atwell, meanwhile, last appeared in the West End in Ibsen’s Rosmerholm in 2019. Before that her work included another Donmar Shakespeare (Measure for Measure) and an Olivier-nominated performance in Lloyd’s production of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s The Pride. She didn’t know it at the time, but theMission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie saw her in it — something that led, seven years later, to him casting her as the con artist turned secret agent Grace.

He had a moment like that in 2013 — when the second Thor film came out at the same time as he was earning rave reviews for Coriolanus at the Donmar theatre in London. Hiddleston was the man of the hour. “And then you’ve got to do another 75 nights on stage, and make sure you are careful in the fight scene not to slip on the blood. The work anchors you.”

“You can’t predict,” she says. “There’s so much luck involved. I’ve worked for a number of years … and failure is allowed. I didn’t used to find it easy to fail and get a second chance. Particularly as a woman there was this sense of ‘you have to be perfect’. But while you want to deliver, after a while it’s not yours any more. It’s for the audience, and if they don’t like it, or if it doesn’t work, they’re allowed, that’s allowed.”

Atwell as the wartime spy Peggy Carter in Captain America: The First Avenger

JAY MAIDMENT/MARVEL STUDIOS/THA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Hiddleston, meanwhile, who has been filming the second series of John le Carré’s The Night Manager after a nine-year gap since the first, is still Loki to much of the world. The pair have never been in a Marvel scene together, though they did appear at the same event: Comic Con in San Diego in 2013, to which Hiddleston turned up in costume. “Nobody knew it was happening , it was insane and foolish and really fun.”

“I was backstage,” Atwell says cheerfully. “I will never forget the vision of Loki brushing his teeth in full costume.”

She says she is glad she was 15 years into her career before her five-year tour of duty on Mission began with filming in 2020. “I’m so grateful for that, because the level of global exposure on it, purely from being alongside Tom Cruise, can uproot and upend your life. But actually I’m too old to go, ‘What’s next?’ A real sense of security only comes from the commitment to work for work’s sake.” Offstage, both are engaged to their partners: Hiddleston to Ashton (the couple have a two-year-old), Atwell to the music producer Ned Wolfgang Kelly.

What led to today’s professional pairing? Hiddleston and Lloyd wanted to do another play together after Betrayal, and the actor suggested Much Ado. “It seems so light and warm,” he explains, a nice contrast to the heartbreaks of Betrayal. When Lloyd suggested Atwell, Hiddleston said yes immediately. “We’ve known each other for so long, and Beatrice and Benedick have known each other for so long.”

“I had only one question,” Atwell says, “which was, ‘Jamie, how ‘hey-nonny-nonny’ is it going to be?’” Lloyd assured her the hey-nonny-nonny levels would be minimal. “So I thought, this sounds really exciting.”

And if this pulls in a crowd more inclined to Marvel than Much Ado, well, marvellous. Hiddleston, who likes to spin a yarn, gives an impassioned speech about the magic of storytelling in all its forms, about “something being transmitted, from the stage or from the screen, that leaves you feeling more connected, more human, more alive, less alone in the world”.

And that applies to Marvel — famous dislikers of the franchise such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola notwithstanding — too?

“One hundred per cent,” they say in unison.

Atwell sees superhero stories as modern-day mythology. “I don’t believe in highbrow or lowbrow — I think it’s just art and film and theatre. You wouldn’t necessarily connect Marvel with Shakespeare. But both can be for everyone.”

Hiddleston remembers going to a screening at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York of the first Avengers film. A group of first responders who had been at 9/11 a decade earlier were there too. “They were all wearing their uniform in the cinema. And the film is about how the Avengers have basically saved New York from Loki. And when Loki gets smashed by the Hulk like a fish at the end, they literally threw their hats in the air and cheered. That was so moving.”

Much Ado About Nothing is at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, Feb 10-Apr 5, thejamielloydcompany.com

[afloatinships]

So I have a theory on webtoon's Nevermore:

And it all pins back to this scene. My theory is that Annabel Lee's plan all along was just to get Lenore that new life

And I think it can all be seen right here, this scene comes right after the big reveal that there is only one new life available for all students. Annabel Lee was the only one not panicking, something that was called out by Lenore herself. Annabel Lee has been shown to be an extraordinaire liar, manipulating almost everyone in her life. She also only has one weakness: Lenore Vandernacht.

Three key scenes that indicate that:

The Physical pain on her face when she knows she has to leave Lenore for good, The Black Ribbons indicating her privately mourning Lenore's "death", and Ada's reveal of Annabel Lee's fear

Annabel Lee had to live a life without Lenore, so she knows how miserable she is whenever Lenore isn't with her. She also knows how much Lenore's mortal life genuinely sucked, compared to hers. Annabel Lee didn't exactly have the best life, however, it definitely was league's better than the hell Lenore's family put her through.

However, Lenore is selfless, so Annabel Lee could never outright just have Lenore move forward and get that new life. So she has to put up a show, create herself a chessboard with pawns and pieces. She positioned herself as the queen, one of the strongest pieces in chess. And we all know Prospero is definitely not the King in Annabel Lee's story.

In Chess, you can sacrifice a queen for a tactical advantage. So we take that into the board, and I bet Annabel Lee is 100% planning on sacrificing herself for her true king, Lenore.

With recent events in the webtoon, it has become such an engaging love story to watch. There are so many trials these two are going through and I just love the writing so much!

Anyway, sorry if this got rambling and boring, just wanted to share that thwory cause I have no one to talk to about it. Bye!

[marianadecarlos]

The Birth of Charles II of Spain Fanart

Warning: This story contains some artistic license

The Queen's pregnancy was approaching its end and had become a matter of utmost importance. The future of the Monarchy depended on this event. On Sunday, November 6, everything seemed to be ready. The doctors and physicians were on alert; the Queen's confessor was near her, and the Chief Steward of her Household was carefully reviewing the arrangement of the items in the birth chamber. To guarantee the success of the event, all the holy relics that were in the Palace and others brought from El Escorial and other places had been arranged in order. There was the staff of Saint Dominic of Silos that the Order of Saint Dominic had brought, the ribbon of Saint John Ortega, from the Order of the Hieronymites; the incorrupt bodies of Saint Isidore and Saint Diego de Alcalá; the image of the Virgin of Solitude and the one so venerated by the royal family, Our Lady of Atocha. It is not easy to find a space so holy and sacred. Everything, then, was ready, the things of the earth arranged to implore God's pleasure. At noon, after a frugal lunch, Philip IV retired to his chambers. At the same time, While eating, Queen Mariana suddenly felt intense pain in her abdomen, realizing that she was about to give birth. She quickly left the table and hurried to the Tower Chamber.

King Philip went straight to his study while looking at Prospero’s portraits. He entered his study, sat down, and began to write to answer the last letter of Sor Maria de Agreda. He wrote with a deep sigh and tears in his eyes.

“ With the long illness of my son, and the continuous help I was giving in his room, I have not answered your letter of the last month...I assure you that what has most exhausted me, more than this loss, is to see clearly that I have vexed God and he sent this punishment to castigate my sins...

(The king reminisces his cherished memories with Felipe Prospero while writing this letter)

Help me as a friend with your prayers to placate God’s just anger and beg Our Lord that, as he took my son from me, He may make his light shine on the Queen, whose confinement we await hourly, and give her good health and guard what is to be born, if his will, for otherwise I do not wish it...

Back in the Tower Chamber, Queen Mariana cries in agony as she is delivering her baby. The royal midwife Ines Ayala told Queen Mariana to push harder. Five other doctors were present at this event in case of emergency. One of those doctors was Dr Bravo. While the Queen was giving birth, the courtiers and Infanta Margarita looked on. 

Ah, Sor Maria, If I had succeeded in following your teachings, perhaps I would not have found myself thus. Pray to our Lord that he may open his eyes, that I may perform his holy will in all things... There is nothing new in the English��situation. I, thank God am in good health...

At this point, King Philip was interrupted by a courtier who delivered the news and told the events occurring in the Tower Chamber. King Philip was anxious about the future that lay within a few hours. He prayed heavily to God, asking him to deliver him a son. All could imagine the impatience of the Royal Court of Madrid and Europe, waiting for an outcome of this event. As hours passed, Queen Mariana was still in labor, and the doctors argued over natural forms of treatment. They were anxious as the Queen and the child’s life was at stake. 

Dr. Bravo proposed a theory: In the past, Queen Mariana had difficult experiences giving birth to her children. At the birth of Maria Ambrosia, Felipe Prospero, and Fernando Tomas, The Queen had terrible epileptic seizures, and the infants died or lived for a short time. On the other hand, at the birth of Infanta Margarita, the only child to survive, The Queen had been perfectly well. Now why was this? The reason is simple: Just before Infanta Margarita was born, Queen Mariana had suffered several violent nosebleeds. Therefore, what she requires now is to be bled. 

Some doctors disagreed, warning that the proposed action could endanger the Queen and her child. Concerned, Queen Mariana asked the doctors if there were any alternative procedures. The doctors offered different opinions, while Dr. Bravo defended his proposal. As the debate continued, Mariana went into labor with the assistance of Ines Ayala. The infant cries and is alive. The birth of the infant brought joy to all. King Philip became a father once again. When the courtier informed King Philip of the birth, he was overjoyed and immediately visited the tower chamber to see his newborn son. King Philip joyfully held his son and proudly showed him to the Queen and his daughter. When the courtier informed King Philip of the birth, he was delighted and immediately visited the tower chamber to see his newborn son. King Philip joyfully held his newborn son and showed him to the Queen and his daughter. 

Sources:

Carlos, A king who would not die by John Langdon Davis

Happy Birthday, Charles II of Spain!

[spooky1980]

From the Sunday Times.

“Pressure,” Tom Hiddleston says, “is a privilege.” He apologises for appropriating the title of Billie-Jean King’s memoir, but it’s a sentiment that feels pertinent to him and his co-star Hayley Atwell. They have known each other for 20 years, have both starred in the Marvel universe (Hiddleston as the charmingly villainous Loki; Atwell as the wartime spy Peggy Carter), but this is the first time they have worked together — if you don’t count their group audition to get into drama school. In a baggy sweatshirt (Atwell) and natty pale-blue jacket with clasps (Hiddleston), they are in a south London studio to rehearse Shakespeare’s bantering would-be lovers Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing. It will be only the second Shakespeare play performed at the 2,000-seat Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London since 1957. And the pressure Hiddleston refers to comes from the fact that the previous one — The Tempest, starring Sigourney Weaver, also directed by Jamie Lloyd — failed to go down a storm.

Withering reviews such as The Times’s (“Sigourney Weaver’s blank Prospero makes zero impression”) poured cold water on a desert island story that had been relocated by the director Jamie Lloyd to a charcoal-black netherworld. Prices were cut, and an onstage protest by Just Stop Oil looked like light relief. “We can exclusively reveal that [Much Ado] is not set in a charcoal netherworld,” Hiddleston deadpans. The pair start each day of rehearsals with an hour of dancing. How much dancing will make it into the show? The pair, who are friendly but guarded, can’t or won’t reveal. What they will say is that you don’t do a show like this by halves. It turns out that Shakespeare is more like a Marvel film than you’d think. “You’ve got to commit with heart and soul and body, like you do for action sequences,” Hiddleston explains. “All acting can be boiled down to how much you commit.” “I like pressure,” Atwell says. “There is a part of it that is very healthy and useful. But any sort of pressure attached to an idea of my name as a brand or a public persona is so arbitrary and abstract. I turn off the noise that is inconsequential. I find the bit of it I can use.”

In 2022 Atwell had to do this while filming Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One amid bogus reports of a relationship with the film’s star Tom Cruise; the pair are teaming up again for Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, released this summer. Hiddleston tells a story about his first big London Shakespeare opening, in 2007. He was playing Cassio in Othello, alongside Chiwetel Ejiofor as Othello and Ewan McGregor as Iago. At five o’clock the three popped out to a Covent Garden Pret a Manger to get a pre-show sandwich. (It is hard, the Much Ado two agree, knowing exactly when to eat before a show.) There was a first-night tension you could cut with a knife. Or there was until Ejiofor just said bluntly: “‘Well, this is a big night. No question.’ And it made us all laugh. Cos, yeah, it’s kind of a big deal — but what can you say?” “’This is not your average Thursday,’” Atwell says. “It’s not!” Hiddleston agrees. Now 44, he already had an agent when he auditioned at Rada, having got one while studying Classics at Cambridge. Atwell, now 42, who grew up with her mother in west London, had delayed higher education to travel around with her American father and work for a casting director. When they met, in the final stage of auditions, it was on a day of working in a group.

Atwell feels she handled the pressure less well than Hiddleston. “The woman from Rada said to us, ‘We are now looking for the next generation of actors who will be making a profound contribution to the arts.’ And I was, like, ‘I don’t know about that, mate, I’m just trying to get out of being in a housing association — if I can make a living I will be very happy.’ I was very intimidated.” “It was very intense,” Hiddleston says. “I was too shy,” Atwell says. “I didn’t commit.” “I thought you committed,” Hiddleston says. “I thought you committed hard.” He got in, she didn’t, and went to Guildhall School of Drama instead. But after leaving in 2005 she got a big role in the TV adaptation of Alan Hollinghurst’s novel The Line of Beauty almost immediately. A few posh roles followed, including in the film Brideshead Revisited. “There was probably a bit more classism around then, and I suppose my own prejudice about ‘I’ve got to sound a certain way to even be considered for the kind of parts that might lead eventually to a film career’. So I thought if I could go down a period drama route, as opposed to the soap route or more working-class plays, I might give myself more of a chance. I had no back-up plan. I didn’t have any kind of privilege, didn’t come from money.” The Eton-educated Hiddleston may come from a more prosperous upbringing but insists that, as an actor, “you never feel you are on solid ground. I have had to remind myself to smell the roses, because they don’t bloom all that often.” His next theatre role was Lloyd’s revival of Pinter’s Betrayal in London and New York in 2019, which is how he met his fiancée, Zawe Ashton, who was a castmate. Atwell, meanwhile, last appeared in the West End in Ibsen’s Rosmerholm in 2019. Before that her work included another Donmar Shakespeare (Measure for Measure) and an Olivier-nominated performance in Lloyd’s production of Alexi Kaye Campbell’s The Pride. She didn’t know it at the time, but theMission: Impossible director Christopher McQuarrie saw her in it — something that led, seven years later, to him casting her as the con artist turned secret agent Grace. He had a moment like that in 2013 — when the second Thor film came out at the same time as he was earning rave reviews for Coriolanus at the Donmar theatre in London. Hiddleston was the man of the hour. “And then you’ve got to do another 75 nights on stage, and make sure you are careful in the fight scene not to slip on the blood. The work anchors you.” “You can’t predict,” she says. “There’s so much luck involved. I’ve worked for a number of years … and failure is allowed. I didn’t used to find it easy to fail and get a second chance. Particularly as a woman there was this sense of ‘you have to be perfect’. But while you want to deliver, after a while it’s not yours any more. It’s for the audience, and if they don’t like it, or if it doesn’t work, they’re allowed, that’s allowed.”

Hiddleston, meanwhile, who has been filming the second series of John le Carré’s The Night Manager after a nine-year gap since the first, is still Loki to much of the world. The pair have never been in a Marvel scene together, though they did appear at the same event: Comic Con in San Diego in 2013, to which Hiddleston turned up in costume. “Nobody knew it was happening , it was insane and foolish and really fun.” “I was backstage,” Atwell says cheerfully. “I will never forget the vision of Loki brushing his teeth in full costume.” She says she is glad she was 15 years into her career before her five-year tour of duty on Mission began with filming in 2020. “I’m so grateful for that, because the level of global exposure on it, purely from being alongside Tom Cruise, can uproot and upend your life. But actually I’m too old to go, ‘What’s next?’ A real sense of security only comes from the commitment to work for work’s sake.” Offstage, both are engaged to their partners: Hiddleston to Ashton (the couple have a two-year-old), Atwell to the music producer Ned Wolfgang Kelly. What led to today’s professional pairing? Hiddleston and Lloyd wanted to do another play together after Betrayal, and the actor suggested Much Ado. “It seems so light and warm,” he explains, a nice contrast to the heartbreaks of Betrayal. When Lloyd suggested Atwell, Hiddleston said yes immediately. “We’ve known each other for so long, and Beatrice and Benedick have known each other for so long.” “I had only one question,” Atwell says, “which was, ‘Jamie, how ‘hey-nonny-nonny’ is it going to be?’” Lloyd assured her the hey-nonny-nonny levels would be minimal. “So I thought, this sounds really exciting.” And if this pulls in a crowd more inclined to Marvel than Much Ado, well, marvellous. Hiddleston, who likes to spin a yarn, gives an impassioned speech about the magic of storytelling in all its forms, about “something being transmitted, from the stage or from the screen, that leaves you feeling more connected, more human, more alive, less alone in the world”. And that applies to Marvel — famous dislikers of the franchise such as Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola notwithstanding — too? “One hundred per cent,” they say in unison. Atwell sees superhero stories as modern-day mythology. “I don’t believe in highbrow or lowbrow — I think it’s just art and film and theatre. You wouldn’t necessarily connect Marvel with Shakespeare. But both can be for everyone.” Hiddleston remembers going to a screening at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York of the first Avengers film. A group of first responders who had been at 9/11 a decade earlier were there too. “They were all wearing their uniform in the cinema. And the film is about how the Avengers have basically saved New York from Loki. And when Loki gets smashed by the Hulk like a fish at the end, they literally threw their hats in the air and cheered. That was so moving.” Much Ado About Nothing is at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London, Feb 10-Apr 5, thejamielloydcompany.com

[altlllf]

My favorite thought on lenabel is that EVERYONE but the main cast know

Like they are NOT slick with it. All the other students are like “they’re f-king aren’t they?” “Oh definitely”

I think Morella and Prospero are the first to catch on

(Prospero literally finding Annabel in the closet and Morella going between groups like a child in the middle of a custody battle)

The deans knew before they arrived obvi

Poppet is yet to catch on but is starting to connect the dots

Poppy new after the maze trial

[magic-shop-stories]

Bts father headcannon where their child wants to become an actor/ actress and how they would react to their child being in the public eye

💌 Reply:

Hey there, THANK YOU SO MUCH for your request, I'm a bit late but I hope you dont mind and can still enjoy these headcanaons... hoping it's what you imagined and wanted. I was in the theater today and got a bit inspired (tho the play wasn't too good ...content-wise xD) Feel free to reach out again and have fun reading XO -c-

NAMJOON

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

after their high school’s production of Hamlet

his child plays Ophelia/Horatio with chilling vulnerability

he sits in the front row

clutching a dog-eared copy of Shakespeare (he’s annotated since years)

post-show, his child meets him backstage

still in costume, face flushed under stage makeup

Confession

they hand him a handwritten letter 

tucked inside a vintage copy of King Lear

note reads: “Appa, You taught me words have weight. Now I want to give them wings. Let me act. Love, Your Hamlet (Not Tragic)”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

freezes

eyes scanning the letter twice

his grip tightens on the book

knuckles whitening

voice low, almost a whisper:

“This… this is your truth?"

Next Minute

sinks into a backstage folding chair

gesturing for them to sit

“Explain. Why acting? Why now?” 

leans forward, elbows on knees

debate mode activated

After an Hour

paces the empty theater aisle

muttering quotes: 

“‘All the world’s a stage’… but the audience can be cruel.” 

stops abruptly

“You’re sure? Unshakably sure?”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts Jin at 2 AM: 

“Hyung. They’re… brilliant. Like, Shakespearean brilliant.”

sneaks into their room to watch their old play recordings

smiling at their Prince Hal monologue

Fear

wakes from nightmares of tabloid headlines: 

“BTS Leader’s Child: Nepo Baby or Genius?”

journals: “How do I armor their heart without crushing their spirit?”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“Talent is a gift. But this industry… it’s Sisyphus with a spotlight. Can you carry that boulder?”

Action

buys out a small indie theater for a private workshop

hires a Tony Award-winning coach

specialized in mentoring LGBTQ+ youth

“Learn here first. Safely.”

Two Weeks Later

creates a ”Artistic Integrity” contract with them over banana milk

“Never apologize for your craft.”

“If a director dims your light, walk. I’ll handle the fallout.”

“Grades stay up. Philosophy minors make better actors.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Education & Art

enrolls them in a hybrid Ivy League/acting conservatory program.

“You’ll need both to dissect Ibsen and survive TMZ.”

hosts Saturday Seminars

they analyze A Doll’s House

he connects it to Marxist theory

Creative Safe Spaces

builds a new home studio with soundproof walls

adds a library of plays

door plaque: “Rehearsal Room / Existential Crisis Zone.”

co-writes a modern adaptation of The Tempest 

but Prospero is a K-pop idol

“Hyungs will cameo. No pressure.”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

insists their debut is a stage play

not a Netflix show !!!

“Theater audiences respect boundaries. Mostly.”

leaks fake scripts 

to Dispatch about them playing ”a time-traveling barista”

diverting attention

Paparazzi Protocol

teaches them ”The Kim Namjoon Evasion”:

= wear oversized scarves (distracts cameras)

= quote Foucault (confuses reporters)

= summon ARMY (via a secret Social Media code)

hires a bodyguard disguised as a ”philosophy tutor”

“Sunbae will quiz you on Kant and karate.”

EASTER EGGS

Lyrical Nod

sneaks “you showed me I have reasons I should love myself” into their opening night card

Bookmark Gift

golden bookmark engraved with their childhood nickname: ”My Little Army-Princess”

Secret Cameo

appears in their student film as ”Disapproving Librarian #3”

blinks Morse code: “P-R-O-U-D.”

JIN

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

years of “living room Broadway” performances

(starring Jin as the unwilling villain and his child as the dramatic hero)

his child ambushes him during his Saturday skincare routine

they toss a crumpled acceptance letter from a prestigious acting conservatory into his lap

along with a plastic Oscar they stole from his “Dad Joke Trophy Shelf.”

Confession

Jin pauses mid-sheet mask application

“Appa. I’m doing it. For real this time. And you’re gonna cry at my Oscar speech.”

“Yah! My Oscar speech is already written! Fine… let’s hear your draft.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

gasps

sheet mask slipping off his face

“Finally! I’ve been waiting to say, ‘My kid’s the star!’ since you were three!” 

flexes in the mirror

“But I’m still the lead in this household.”

Next Minute

scrolls through the conservatory’s alumni list

“Hmm. This one did a toothpaste commercial. You’re already better.

After an Hour

forces the family to reenact “Goblin” 

dish towels as capes

casts himself as the handsome deity

“Method acting, baby! Cry like you’re chopping onions!”

EMOTIONS

Pride

updates his Instagram bio to “Proud Appa of Korea’s Next IT Actor” within 5 minutes

texts his last TV show co-star Gong Yoo: 

“Hyung. My kid’s stealing your roles. Sorry not sorry.”

Fear

secretly watches child star burnout documentaries 

mutters, “Not my baby.” 

buys 17 self-help books titled “Raising a Nepo Baby (But Make It Humble)”

Nostalgia

digs up old photos of himself in college theater

(pre-debut Romeo with tragic eyeliner)

“See? You get this from me.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You want to act? Great! First lesson: Always angle your left side to the camera. This side.” 

points to his cheekbone

Action

hosts a “Debut BBQ” with all HYBE staff

forces Bang PD to watch their student film

“Invest in this face. Future CF king!”

Two Weeks Later

creates a “Jin-Approved” survival kit

portable steamer “Wrinkles are the enemy”

script highlighters with ARMY bomb sketches

emergency Snacks labeled “For When Co-Stars Are Rude.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Coaching & Connections

co-stars in their college thesis film as a washed-up idol (typecasting himself)

“I’ll be your tragic comic relief. Again.”

drags them to celebrity golf tournaments to network

“That’s Director Bong. Laugh at his jokes. Even the bad ones.”

Public Advocacy

wears a “Proud Appa” button to their premieres

interviews himself on the red carpet: 

“Yes, they’re talented. Yes, I’m jealous.”

starts a YouTube series: “Appa’s Acting Academy”

where he “trains” them in over-the-top melodrama

episode 1: “Crying on Cue (While Eating Spicy Noodles).”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

leaks fake scandals about himself to divert paparazzi

(“Jin Spotted Buying 100 Melons”)

teaches them the “Dad Joke Defense”

when reporters ask invasive questions, respond with:

“Why did the actor cross the road? To avoid you!”

Paparazzi Protocol

hires a decoy child (a lookalike cousin) to attend fake auditions

“Let them chase the wrong Kim.”

parks a pink Lamborghini outside tabloid offices daily

“Distract them with my beauty. Classic misdirection.”

EASTER EGGS

Signature Sass

sneaks his catchphrase “Worldwide Handsome” into their character’s dialogue

“It’s method acting. My method.”

MV Nostalgia

recreates their childhood “No More Dream” parody video for their 18th birthday

“You’ve always been main character energy.”

Dad Joke Legacy

stuffs their script margins with pun annotations

“Hamlet’s ghost? More like Hamlet’s host… of issues!”

*two GIFS for Yoongi bc I just couldn't resist the first one lol

YOONGI

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

his child has secretly joined an avant-garde theater troupe

reimagining classics like Medea as dystopian tech tragedies

they win a regional competition for their role as a cyborg Medea

channeling rage through glitchy, mechanical monologues

they arrive home late one night

trophy in hand

places it on Yoongi’s studio desk beside his unreleased mixtape drafts

Confession

no words

just a playbill tucked into his notebook with their role circled in red

Yoongi finds it at 4 AM

coffee cold

stares at the stark graphic design: “MEDEA 2.0: Humanity Optional.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

eyes narrow at the trophy

flicks to their shadow in the doorway

“You’re back late. This why?” 

voice flat

tho fingers trace the trophy’s edges

Next Minute

watches their performance clip on his phone

jaw tight

“Hm. Intense. You cried here..." 

pauses the video

“Real tears or glycerin?”

After an Hour

sits at the piano

improvising a somber melody

“Medea’s a heavy first role. You understand her… or just memorized lines?”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts BTS group chat: 

“Got a kid who’s better at angst than me. Unrelated.”

saves their performance video as “track_idea_97.mp4” for future sampling

Fear

researches the troupe’s director

grilling them over coffee

“You let minors play suicidal androids? Cool. Let’s discuss boundaries.”

nightly ritual

checks their phone for burner accounts 

tracking toxic fan forums

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“Acting’s a contract. You give pieces of yourself away. Sure you wanna sign?”

Action

buys the troupe’s script rights to prevent exploitation

“Now you own Medea. Fix the ending.”

Two Weeks Later

builds a home recording booth rigged with acting software

“Practice here. No audience.”

leaves a therapist’s card on their pillow

“For when the role… sticks.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Artistic Integrity

funds a short film they co-write

a meta-commentary on celebrity culture

directs the soundtrack himself

“No autotune. Raw.”

connects them with indie auteurs who value anonymity

“Art’s not a brand. Remember that.”

Practical Safeguards

sets up a shell company to manage their projects

“Stage name: Min (name). No ties to me.”

teaches them to encrypt scripts and emails

“Paranoia’s a tool. Use it.”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

insists their debut is a voice role in an animated film

“No face, no gossip. Just talent.”

they flood the internet with AI-generated deepfakes of their “public outings” to confuse paparazzi

Paparazzi Protocol

loans them his black face mask collection

“Wear these. And hoodies. Always.”

hires a cybersecurity team to scrub their digital footprint weekly

“You exist offline. Period.”

EASTER EGGS

Lyrical Nod

samples their Medea monologue in a BTS intro track

lyrics: “Burn the script / Rewrite your own fire.”

Studio Secret

names a synth preset “(name) Fury” after their performance

uses it in Agust D’s next album

Hidden Message

etches “민 (name)” (their stage name) into his mic stand

“For luck. Don’t tell.”

J-HOPE

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

his child auditions for a modern retelling of "Romeo and Juliet" as a dancer

tho lands the role of Mercutio

after the director spots their raw emotionality during a sword-fighting rehearsal

they send J-Hope a vague text: 

“Appa, come to the Seoul Arts Center at 7 PM! Surprise! Wear something sparkly.)

Confession

J-Hope arrives in a sequined bomber jacket

expecting a dance showcase

lights are dim

his child appears onstage

delivering Mercutio’s death scene with a ferocity that leaves the audience breathless

post-curtain call, they find him backstage

frozen mid-clap

glitter tears streaking his cheeks

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

stares, mouth agape

“Wait... you?! Since when do you act?! I thought this was a dance thing!” 

voice rises an octave

Next Minute

laugh-cries

shaking their shoulders

“YAH! You lied to me! Genius! But also grounded!”

After an Hour

replays their monologue on his phone

zooming in on their face

“You got Mom’s angry eyebrows. Perfect for tragedy.”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts the members: “MY BABY’S A STAR!!!!” 

spams 50 heart emojis

Jungkook replies: “Hyung. Chill.”

buys a custom neon marquee sign for their bedroom: 

“Future Oscar Winner Sleeps Here.”

Guilt

replays old videos of them dancing together

“Did I push too hard? Was it my dream?”

Protectiveness

memorizes every cast member’s Instagram

“That Tybalt guy better not be a fuckboy.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re amazing. But why hide it? I’d have choreographed your sword fights!”

Action

drags them to a 24-hour diner

ordering pancakes shaped like Oscars

“Eat. We’re celebrating.”

Two Weeks Later

surprises them with a collab

rechoreographs the play’s fight scenes into hip-hop battles

“Mercutio b-boys into the afterlife. Yes.”

hosts a “Dance-Acting Bootcamp”

teaches them to “cry while popping” for emotional auditions

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Creative Coaching

convinces Bangtan to cameo in their student film as background K-pop idols

“Just act natural. Which is… unnatural.”

designs their red carpet debut outfit

a sequined jumpsuit with light-up sneakers

“They’ll see you coming. Literally.”

Public Cheerleading

starts a TikTok series: “Appa’s Backstage Diaries”

filming their rehearsals

trendy hashtag: #HobiRaisingHollywood

sneaks into their Zoom auditions as a “technical assistant”

mouthing “YOU GOT THIS” behind the camera

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

organizes flash mobs outside paparazzi hubs

“Distract them with my moves. Classic Hobi.”

teaches them the “Hope on the Street Evasion”

a dance combo that doubles as a crowd escape route

Paparazzi Protocol

parks a neon-green convertible outside their auditions

blasting “Chicken Noodle Soup”

“No one hears your lines over this beat!”

hires a bodyguard who moonlights as a dance instructor

“Learn the running man and self-defense in one lesson!”

EASTER EGGS

Lyrical Nod

whispers “I’m your hope, you’re my hope” before their auditions

Legacy Accessory

gifts them his iconic rainbow Gucci sweater

“For luck. And branding.”

Secret Project

drops a remix of their Mercutio monologue over a J-Hope beat

SoundCloud title: “Hope World Meets Shakespeare.”

JIMIN

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

months of rehearsing alone in their room

his child auditions for a modern adaptation of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream"

set in a K-pop training academy

they land the lead role of "Hermia"

a trainee torn between love and ambition

the night before rehearsals begin, they leave a script on Jimin’s pillow

highlighted lines marked

“I fear my passion will eat me alive… but I’ll let it.”

Confession

Jimin finds it after a late-night shower

hair damp, wearing his ratty BT21 Chimmy pajamas

he sits on the edge of the bed

tracing the highlighted words

his child tiptoes in

he pats the space beside him

“Come here. Let’s read your lines together.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

eyes widen, lips parting

“You’re… Hermia? My baby?” 

voice cracks

pulls them into a hug so tight they squeak

Next Minute

recites their lines back to them

improvising exaggerated gestures

“No, like this... passion, jagiya! Throw the script!”

After an Hour

sits cross-legged on the floor

dissecting the character’s motives

“Hermia’s scared? So are we all. But you… you’re braver.”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts Taehyung: 

“They’re better than me at 16. Cursed genes.” 

attaches a blurry screenshot of their audition tape

buys front-row tickets for all BTS members

“You’re our idol now.”

Anxiety

stares at their rehearsal schedule

circling scenes with intimacy coordinators

“If anyone touches them...”

wakes at 3 AM to watch documentaries about child actors

muttering: “Not my baby. Never my baby.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re made for this. But if it hurts… we stop. Promise me.”

Action

rearranges his world tour schedule to attend every rehearsal

brings thermoses of honey tea for the cast

“Hydrate. Or I’ll cry.”

Two Weeks Later

hosts a “Confidence Bootcamp” in their living room

mirror work: 

“Tell yourself you’re enough. Louder.”

breathing exercises stolen from his idol days:

“Inhale courage, exhale doubt.”

improv games where he plays an overly critical director

“Now roast me. Harder!”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Creative Coaching

coaches their emotional scenes by sharing his own struggles

“I threw up before debut. Twice. Now… look at me.”

connects them with BTS’s vocal coach for projection lessons

“Sing your lines. Own the room.”

Public Advocacy

wears a custom “Proud Appa” silk robe to their premiere

paparazzi swarm: 

“Yes, they’re mine. Yes, I’m sobbing.”

starts a YouTube series: “Behind the Curtain with Y/N and Jimin”

showcasing their rehearsals

Ep. 1: “How to Cry on Cue (Without Ruining Your Eyeliner)”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

leaks old baby photos of himself to overshadow their debut articles

“Let them laugh at my chubby cheeks. Not your talent.”

teaches them the “Jimin Evasion”: 

smile brightly, wave, then bolt

“Works every GDA.”

Paparazzi Protocol

hires a former MMA fighter as their “personal stylist”

“She does wings and roundhouse kicks.”

parks his car outside tabloid offices with a sign: 

“Park here and I’ll serenade you. Warning: Off-key.”

EASTER EGGS

Serendipity Symbolism

gifts them a butterfly bracelet

“For when you need magic.”

Lyrical Comfort

whispers “You never walk alone” before their curtain call

Secret Cameo

appears in their play as ”Mysterious Dance Mentor”

credits list: “Special Thanks to Dad"

TAEHYUNG

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

it's their high school graduation project

his child writes and stars in a self-written play 

titled “The Melody of Lost Things”

a surrealist story about memory, identity, and a jazz musician who communicates with ghosts

Taehyung is dressed in a beret and silk scarf

he sits in the front row with a vintage film camera 

post-show, his child finds him backstage

they're clutching a folded program stained with tear smudges

Confession

they hand him a script annotated with doodles and a note:

“Appa, You taught me stories are spells. Now I’m casting mine. Let me act. P.S. The jazz ghost is totally you.”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

smirks, eyes glinting

“Knew it. Knew you’d steal my artistic angst.” 

tugs them into a hug, beret askew

Next Minute

examines the script like a rare vinyl

“This line...‘ghosts hum in minor keys’...chef’s kiss. But page 32 needs more… saxophone.”

After an Hour

drags them to a 24-hour jazz bar

reciting their lines over live music

“Feel the rhythm. Now you’re living it.”

EMOTIONS

Pride

texts Park Seo-joon: 

“Hyung. My kid’s writing better scripts than us. Adopt them.”

buys a theater marquee replica for their bedroom

lights it up nightly: “TAE JR. TONIGHT!”

Protectiveness

sits in on rehearsals

glaring at any castmate who flubs a line

“Yah. Respect the art.”

creates a secret scrapbook of their reviews

labels it: “Proof the World is Wrong Sometimes.”

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re a storm. But storms need direction. Let’s chase the lightning.”

Action

gifts them a 1930s microphone and a Gucci/Celine trench coat

“Wear this to auditions. Confuse them into hiring you.”

Two Weeks Later

co-writes a short film with them:

asilent movie about a time-traveling painter

casts himself as the mysterious art dealer

“No pay. Just exposure.”

hosts a “Vante Film Fest” in their backyard

screens their play on a projector

serving champagne in mason jars

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Creative Collaborations

connects them with indie directors who specialize in magical realism

“Tell stories that hurt and heal. Like us.”

turns their play into a graphic novel

illustrating it himself

dedication page: “For my ghost, who taught me to sing.”

Public Advocacy

wears a custom suit to their premieres

their play’s title embroidered in gold thread

“Subtle? Never!”

starts a YouTube channel critiquing their performances

“Scene 3: Flawless. Scene 4: More eyeliner.”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

invites paparazzi to fake art exhibits 

featuring AI-generated photos of their “new projects” 

“Chase this masterpiece.”

teaches them the “Vante Vanish”:

disappear into crowds by wearing head-to-toe prints 

humming “Singularity”

Paparazzi Protocol

loans them his vintage sunglasses collection

“Hide your eyes. Keep your soul.”

hires a mime troupe to follow them in public

“Distract the press with silent chaos.”

EASTER EGGS

Jazz Soul

samples their play’s dialogue in a SoundCloud track 

titled “Winter Bear: Remixed”

Legacy Accessory

gifts them an iconic blue silk scarf  

“For when you need drama… or a tissue.”

Secret Nod

names a stray cat in their play “Tata”

“BT21 cameo. Shhh.”

JUNGKOOK

HOW HIS CHILD TELLS HIM

Setting

Jungkook’s child stars in a viral school play parody of “Dynamite” 

he mistakes it for a "fun project"

months later, Namjoon visits

he spots a local theater flyer for “Macbeth: K-Hip-Hop Edition” with JK's child’s name

bolded as Lady Macbeth

he corners Jungkook mid-workout: 

“You do know your kid’s the next Lee Byung-hun, right?”

Confession

child drags Jungkook to their dress rehearsal

he sits in the back row

snacking on gimbap, until Lady Macbeth’s soliloquy

“Out, damned Spotify streams!”

= blasts through the speakers

Jungkook drops his rice ball

“…That’s you? Since when?!”

INITIAL REACTION

First 10 Seconds

stares blankly

squints at the stage

“Wait...you’re acting? I thought this was… dance practice?”

Next Minute

leans forward, eyes widening

“You’re good. Like, really good. Why didn’t I notice?!”

After an Hour

texts the BTS group chat: 

“Hyungs. My kid’s a genius. Am I… failing as a dad?” 

Jin replies: 

“Yes. Buy them lamb skewers.”

EMOTIONS

Guilt

rewatches every school play recording he’d archived as “cute hobbies” 

“How did I miss this? Idiot!”

buys parenting books titled “How to Not Be Oblivious 101”

Pride

forces Bangtan to watch their play via Zoom

“Hyungs, clap louder! They’re my DNA!”

sneaks backstage after shows

leaves golden star stickers on their script

WHAT HE SAYS & DOES

Immediate Response

Verbal

“You’re… amazing. But why hide it? I’d have built you a Hollywood set!”

Action

turns his gaming room into a mini-theater

complete with spotlights

“Rehearse here. I’ll be your audience.”

Two Weeks Later

challenges them to a ”Act-Off”:

he performs Hamlet while bench-pressing

“Multitasking! You try!”

hires a dialect coach to perfect their English for international roles

“You’ll slay Hollywood and Korea.”

LONG-TERM SUPPORT

Hands-On Coaching

learns stage combat to spar with them 

“Mercutio’s death scene needs more flips.”

records their monologues for his late-night gym playlist

“Motivation and pride!”

Creative Collaboration

directs their college film project

a meta-drama about idol families

casts himself as the “overprotective appa” 

“Just… act natural.”

samples their Lady Macbeth laugh in his solo track

credits: “Feat. My Kid’s Evil Genius”

PROTECTION FROM THE SPOTLIGHT

Media Strategy

posts thirst traps timed with their premieres to hijack headlines

“Let them thirst over me, not you.”

teaches them to ”VLive Distract”:

go live eating ramen if paparazzi swarm

“Fans love noodle ASMR.”

Paparazzi Protocol

gifts them a black face mask with ”Golden Child” embroidered inside

“Wear it. Always.”

parks his Mercedes G Class outside auditions

engine roaring

“No one stalks you through this noise!”

EASTER EGGS

Golden Touch

swaps their silver trophy for a custom gold-plated one

“Only gold for my kid.”

Lyrical Nod

whispers “You’re my golden hour” before their curtain calls

Secret Signal

develops a finger heart code for crowded events

“Two hearts = I’m here.”

[auroracoriolis]

[Song Lyrics] Let My Legion Go

If there was a musical about the Heresy this could be the song for the Burning of Prospero - a tragic tale of brothers turned enemies.

Lyrics based on "The Plagues / Let My People Go" from The Prince of Egypt (1998). The art is also from that movie (but it fits pretty well, doesn't it)

[Chorus]

(whispered)

Thus saith our Lord

Thus saith our Lord (x12)

All hear the news – the Lord of Terra issues a writ of censure

(louder)

I send the Space Wolves and their king

to apprehend my traitor son

he shall be brought to me to kneel

I want him humbled, get it done

I send my Talons and their fleet

destroy his weapons and his shields

and shake the earth beneath his feet

until he breaks, until he yields

(even louder)

I send my scourge, I send the Wolves

Thus saith our Lord

[Leman] (gestures angrily at pyramid)

Once I called you brother

once I thought the chance

to make you laugh

was all I ever wanted

[Chorus]

I send the thunder from the sky

I send the fire raining down

[Leman]

And even now, I wish that you

would just surrender

that you would make your sons lay down their arms

or at least come out and face me

[Chorus]

I send a hail of burning ice

On ev'ry field, on ev'ry town

[Leman]

Will you not save your home?

Stop hiding in your tower

or I'll have to come inside!

Behold the innocents who suffer

from your stubbornness and pride!

[Chorus]

I send exterminatus beams

such as the world has never seen

at every continent and sea

until there's nothing left of green

I send my scourge, I send the Wolves

Thus saith our Lord!

[Leman]

Then be a coward, brother

Wait and see how high the cost will grow!

[Chorus]

I send my scourge, I send the Wolves

[Leman]

Watch your legion go

[Leman and Chorus]

Thus saith our Lord

Thus saith our Lord

[Magnus] (crying inside the pyramid)

You who I called brother

How could you have come to hate me so?

Is this what you wanted?

[Chorus]

I send my scourge, I send the Wolves

[Magnus]

I wish my heart was harder

my sons and I are were poisoned long ago

Fate has made it so

I will have to let my legion go

[Chorus]

Thus saith our Lord

[Leman]

Thus saith our Lord

[Magnus]

I cannot...

(together)

[Magnus] … let my legion go

[Leman] Watch your legion go

(scene ends with Magnus leaping from the pyramid)

[bitterkarella]

Midnight Pals: Usher

Mike Flanagan: Submitted for the approval of the Midnight Society, i call this the tale of Edgar Allan Poe's Greatest Hits…Updated for the New Millennium! Flanagan: what if roderick usher was a pharmaceutical bro? Flanagan: what if Hopfrog had a fidget spinner? Flanagan: what if the rue morgue orangutan vaped?

Poe: oh i don't know about this Poe: i've been burned on this sort of thing before Flanagan: no it'll be great Flanagan: roderick usher's gonna talk just like the big lebowsky cowboy, it'll be great

Flanagan: see, we take everyone's favorite bits from your stories Flanagan: but then Flanagan: we give them a nutty little twist Flanagan: to appeal to today's modern a-go-go kids

Flanagan: see, my fall of the house of usher is about this pharmaceutical dynasty crumbling King: i thought the story was about the actual house falling down Flanagan: haha of course not nothing so literal Poe: actually it is about a house falling down Flanagan:

Flanagan: haha no for real Poe: no i mean it. the house falls down Flanagan: Flanagan: wait, like, literally? Poe: yeah Flanagan: Flanagan: ok then

Flanagan: ok so Roderick and Madeleine Usher have a bunch of kids Flanagan: Prospero, Tamerline, Victorine, Brevet Brigadier General John A. B. C. Smith Flanagan: and Adolphus Montressor Nu-Nu Metzengerstein Valdemar

Flanagan: which by the way are all references to poe stories Flanagan: you might not have picked up on that, it's kinda subtle Poe: oh hey this is pretty good Poe: i'm kinda digging this

Flanagan: now the ushers run Fortunato Pharmaceuticals Poe: oh! i get it! Poe: this is great Poe: [nudging barker] like the cask of amontillado Poe: see, fortunato is a character- Barker: oh my god edgar I KNOW

Flanagan: so prospero is going to have this big rave Flanagan: you might even call it Flanagan: the rave of the red death! Poe: oh! Poe: oh! oh! oh! Poe: [nudging Barker] like the masque of the red death Barker: Poe: [nudging harder] you know, the masque of the- Barker: I KNOW

Flanagan: but Roderick Usher Enterprises Flanagan: or RUE Poe: Flanagan: where they do experiments on apes Poe: oh! Flanagan: yeah you know where i'm going Poe: [nudging Barker] like Barker: CHRIST, SHUT UP

Flanagan: but before the usher twins can take over Fortunato pharmaceuticals Flanagan: the CEO Rufus Griswold stands in their way Poe: boo! boo! i hate that guy! Poe: i don't know why i just instinctively hate this character Poe: i hope he gets his!

[doc42]

King Dany

Ever since A Dance With Dragons was new the fandom has been whining about Daenerys' struggle to rule in Meereen and how it proves GRRM must've been trying to show Daenerys is unfit to rule through depicting those struggles. Yet it is playing on the motifs from the most ancient origin of fantasy and GRRM's pre-Tolkien Boyshit sword and sorcery influence, Conan the Barbarian and his very first story about how he became Conan the King. It is a fundamental part of the Conan mythology and chronology that, after ages of wandering, Conan becomes king in the west and, after making his kingdom prosperous, goes back to wandering the world once more.

"Prospero," said the man at the table, "these matters of statecraft weary me as all the fighting I have done never did." "All part of the game, Conan," answered the dark-eyed Poitainian. "You are king—you must play the part." "I wish I might ride with you to Nemedia," said Conan enviously. "It seems ages since I had a horse between my knees—but Publius says that affairs in the city require my presence. Curse him! "When I overthrew the old dynasty," he continued, speaking with the easy familiarity which existed only between the Poitainian and himself, "it was easy enough, though it seemed bitter hard at the time. Looking back now over the wild path I followed, all those days of toil, intrigue, slaughter and tribulation seem like a dream. "I did not dream far enough, Prospero. When King Numedides lay dead at my feet and I tore the crown from his gory head and set it on my own, I had reached the ultimate border of my dreams. I had prepared myself to take the crown, not to hold it. In the old free days all I wanted was a sharp sword and a straight path to my enemies. Now no paths are straight and my sword is useless. "When I overthrew Numedides, then I was the Liberator—now they spit at my shadow. They have put a statue of that swine in the temple of Mitra, and people go and wail before it, hailing it as the holy effigy of a saintly monarch who was done to death by a red-handed barbarian. When I led her armies to victory as a mercenary, Aquilonia overlooked the fact that I was a foreigner, but now she can not forgive me. "Now in Mitra's temple there come to burn incense to Numedides' memory, men whom his hangmen maimed and blinded, men whose sons died in his dungeons, whose wives and daughters were dragged into his seraglio. The fickle fools!" "Rinaldo is largely responsible," answered Prospero, drawing up his sword-belt another notch. "He sings songs that make men mad. Hang him in his jester's garb to the highest tower in the city. Let him make rimes for the vultures." Conan shook his lion head. "No, Prospero, he's beyond my reach. A great poet is greater than any king. His songs are mightier than my scepter; for he has near ripped the heart from my breast when he chose to sing for me. I shall die and be forgotten, but Rinaldo's songs will live for ever. "No, Prospero," the king continued, a somber look of doubt shadowing his eyes, "there is something hidden, some undercurrent of which we are not aware. I sense it as in my youth I sensed the tiger hidden in the tall grass. There is a nameless unrest throughout the kingdom. I am like a hunter who crouches by his small fire amid the forest, and hears stealthy feet padding in the darkness, and almost sees the glimmer of burning eyes. If I could but come to grips with something tangible, that I could cleave with my sword! I tell you, it's not by chance that the Picts have of late so fiercely assailed the frontiers, so that the Bossonians have called for aid to beat them back. I should have ridden with the troops."

"And Dion thinks that crown will be given to him?" "Yes. The fat fool claims it by reason of a trace of royal blood. Conan makes a bad mistake in letting men live who still boast descent from the old dynasty, from which he tore the crown of Aquilonia. "Volmana wishes to be reinstated in royal favor as he was under the old regime, so that he may lift his poverty-ridden estates to their former grandeur. Gromel hates Pallantides, commander of the Black Dragons, and desires the command of the whole army, with all the stubbornness of the Bossonian. Alone of us all, Rinaldo has no personal ambition. He sees in Conan a red-handed, rough-footed barbarian who came out of the north to plunder a civilized land. He idealizes the king whom Conan killed to get the crown, remembering only that he occasionally patronized the arts, and forgetting the evils of his reign, and he is making the people forget. Already they openly sing The Lament for the King in which Rinaldo lauds the sainted villain and denounces Conan as 'that black-hearted savage from the abyss'. Conan laughs, but the people snarl."

[candyswirls]

An Eye for an Eye, A Pup for a Pup

Summary: Finnja, a wolf priest with a tender heart for neophytes, experiences multiple losses of aspirants, or pups, in a row. After being called a second time to execute a legion he finds he cannot bring himself to harm their neophytes.

This leads to Leman Russ promising the priest that if they are ever called to execute another legion he may take and adopt one neophyte. They are now on their way to Prospero. He hopes Leman remembers and upholds his promise.

Warnings: CW: Mention of death, CW: loss of child/youth, CW: Blood, Typical 40K violence

He stared down at the neophyte, no more than a lad. He scooted further between the wall and bed frame, eyes wide with fear. His blue eyeshadow and kohl were smudge with blood spatter.

The Wolf Priest easily moved the bed out of the way and the neophyte flopped to the floor. The youth looked up at the wolf priest and he could feel psychic waves roll up at him.

Please. Don’t kill me. I’m scared. I will fight to the very end.

The wolf priest crouched before the youth and extended a hand.

This one would do. He’d be his pup.

***

Finnja rested his head in his hands. Even after he washed off the blood, he could still see it on his fingers. Especially when he closed his eyes. He’d been trying to do so for years now.

A failure of a wolf priest he was. So many neophytes and initiates lost. So many failed surgeries. Even now as they had been called forth as the emperors executioners a second time, he hesitated. He couldn’t bring himself to fulfill those orders. He froze. The other legion’s fearful yet brave initiates, neophytes, and scouts burned into his mind, as his legions own pups were.

Surely the Wolf King himself would have him be demoted, killed, or turned into a servitor.

He sat now in one of the freezers of Hrafnkel. He found that the cold air helped ground him, reminding him of Fenris.

The door unlatched and he looked up to see the Russ enter, closing it behind him. He wore a stern expression.

Finnja lowered his head in submission.

“Finnja,” he said in a low voice. “You hesitated. No, you froze. I’d like to know why one of my best wolf priests failed me today.”

That last line was all it took to break him. Tears began streaming down his cheeks. He struggled to control his breathing.

He felt his genesire’s hands on his shoulders.

“Finnja,” Leman said. “Finnja look at me. What is wrong?”

Finnja gritted his teeth, “I am not your best wolf priest! How can you call me that after…”

He swallowed as the memories surfaced.

“After I lost so many aspirants,” he choked. “So many blood claws. One after another.”

Leman softened in his voice, “Finnja that is not your fault.”

Finnja looked up at his primarch, “Is it not though? So many in a row! In such ways the others refused to be out under my hand! I lost so many of them. So many… I have failed you, the legion, and them. I am not fit to be a wolf priest, let alone one of your warriors.”

He lowered his head again.

“You are tender about this,” Leman commented as he moved to sit next to Finnja.

Finnja threw out his hands, “I still see each of their faces! Their faces! I know each of their names! I knew them! They trusted me and… I killed them. Innocent pups. They were just innocent pups. So eager to serve. So eager for battle. I can still hear them. Still see their blood on my hands.”

More tears streamed down his cheeks.

Leman insisted again, “it is not your fault. You did everything you could for them. A bad batch of geneseed. A bad batch of antibiotics. A bad batch of organs. Because of you we discovered the treachery of that adept. This could have gone on for a lot longer. You have saved countless other pups and blood claws.”

Finnja ran his hand through his hair, “I still cannot get over the ones I killed. Then to be called to execute again and to see all those neophytes. All those lads. Just pups… I saw the faces of ours in them. I-I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t bring myself to kill them. All I could see was ours. Torburr, Ronin, Iver. I could see Iver for thrones sake! He sounded just like him! His screams too!”

Finnja covered his face again as he cried.

Leman sighed and rested a hand on Finnja’s head.

“Each time we are called to exterminate another one of my brothers,” he said. “I loathe it. Seeing their desperate and betrayed faces. The hurt it brings them. The pleads of mercy. I despise it. But I follow the emperor, my father, because I am loyal and I will follow what he says. It is my duty.”

Finnja looked up at his Father.

“My Jarl Russ,” he spoke. “I will follow you into any battle and carry out any order. I will not hesitate again. But if we are called to do this again. If I have to witness and enact the slaughter of aspirants and neophytes… I will do it, but you will also have to carry out my body. I know I will not live through it. I could not allow myself to do so. Not when I’m already trying so hard to protect and raise up our own. My hearts cannot take it. Forgive my weakness and tender soul.”

Leman was silent for a bit. Finnja prepared for the worst. His Primarch’s rage, the howling, punishment.

But none of that came.

“You have suffered much loss as of late,” Leman stated. “I too feel their loss. You do good work. More pups have been able to ascend to Bloodclaw full Astartes due to your efforts. Emperor forbid it, but if we ever are called to execute another legion again… I promise this to you: you may pick one neophyte you deem worthy and moldable to save. You can keep them and thehcan become a part of our legion. Adopt them into our ways and pack. This I swear unto you that it may ease your burden. Though I pray it never comes to that again.”

Finnja nodded, “Thank you, my Jarl. Even just the promise alone is comforting.”

Leman nodded and stood.

“Come,” he ordered. “There is work to be done. The remaining members of my brother’s legion are to be delivered to the ultramarines.”

Finnja nodded and followed his Primarch out. Wondering if he would ever have the chance to do so, comforted by the very thought.

***

Dark tension and anticipation filled the ship. The Warmaster’s message had come in not even hours before hand but word had spread quickly. They were not to bring the Red Sorcerer back to Terra in chains. This was an execution. An extinguishing of his entire legion.

Finnja moved towards his Primarch’s room with urgency. He was fortunate to come across him in the hallway.

“Jarl Russ,” he greeted.

“What is it Finnja?” Leman questioned.

“May I speak to you?” He inquired. “It is about the upcoming… extermination.”

Leman nodded and motioned for the wolf priest to follow. Geri and Freki flanked the Primarch as they entered his chambers.

Once the door was shut, it was just the two of them and the wolves.

“Are you wishing to back out of the battle?” Leman inquired, an edge of warning in his voice.

Finnja shook his head, “No, my Primarch. I only wish to see if you remembered your promise to me all those years ago and if it still stands. I hope it still does.”

Leman sighed and stared off at nothing.

“I do not like the idea of one of my brother’s wretched witches joining our ranks,” Leman growled. “It is better to have them all exterminated.”

Finnja had prepared for the worst but he hadn’t anticipated the heavy pain in his hearts.

Leman looked at his son, “But I did promise you and I know this has given you solace.”

Finnja couldn’t help but light up. He could barely contain his smile.

Leman softened again at his son’s demeanor, “my promise still stands. But only one. No others.”

Finnja dropped to one knee, “Thank you my Jarl.”

“Finishing prepping,” Leman said. “We will arrive quicker than you think.”