#where all the first wizard king content

[tummyisyummy]

Black clover oc content creator draws actual characters from the show. what happens next will shock you.

[mercillery]

LUCIUS AND JULIUS CRUSHING ON THE SAME PERSON.

SFW + GN READER + HEADCANONS + SPOILERS ⚠️

♡ Very interesting duo we have here... Two is always better than one, anyway!

♡ First things first, Julius is not content with even the thought of Lucius crushing on you. He’s bothered by that fact, and he would prefer it if you stayed away from Lucius and stuck with him instead. It’s not even out of jealousy; it’s out of concern for your safety. It’s Lucius Zogratis, after all.

♡ Lucius, for his part, finds the situation rather amusing. When it comes to winning you over, Lucius has an unwavering faith in his ability to win your heart and sweep you off your feet before any other man can. In short, Lucius isn’t taking the situation too seriously, for he knows that he can and will have you.

♡ Not that Julius lacks confidence; rather, what I'm trying to convey is that, despite his confidence to win your love, he carries an immense amount of worry for you. Because Julius is the one who knows Lucius best, he fears that Lucius is merely using you.

♡ The situation is complicated, and it’s unlikely that it won’t be any better for you either. Sure, you have two powerful men trying to be yours, one might even say you’re suffering from success.

♡ But you can’t love two people at once, can you?

♡ Unless you can 👀

♡ But anyway, enough with all the complexities of this situation—let’s move onto the benefits of earning these men’s hearts!

♡ Julius and Lucius would literally have to alternate because they are two souls sharing a single body. But I don't think Lucius is a fair player. Since he is the dominant soul, he has the authority to determine whether or not to allow Julius to regain control.

♡ What I’m trying to say here is that if Julius or Lucius wish to spend time with you, they literally have to fight over who gets control of the body. In most cases, it's Lucius who ends up taking over, since he’s the dominant soul and all.

♡ Either way, no matter who’s in control of the body, I'm positive they’ll provide you with a beautiful experience. 

♡ You can anticipate being taken to locations with stunning scenery that are moderately populated if Julius has possession of the body. He will lead you to gorgeous flower-filled gardens, select a flower for you while you're preoccupied and not paying attention, and then surprise you.

♡ Julius won't limit himself to gardens, of course. He'll turn to other naturally beautiful places, frequently taking you to spots where you may feel the sun on your face, feel the wind tousling your hair, and hear birds singing as you and Julius stroll through verdant meadows.

♡ Furthermore, Julius will change his appearance so that no one can identify him, so you shouldn't worry about someone ruining your moment with the Wizard King. In other words, before Lucius takes back control of the body, Julius makes sure to treasure every minute he spends with you.

♡ You will also be taken to beautiful locations by Lucius when he is possessing the body. Lucius will take you to places where you feel as though you are up near the stars, where the soft light of the moon falls on your face, and where you and he can be alone with no one else.

♡ If you have a fear of heights, prepare to face your fears. Of course, he won’t go too crazy with choosing the locations once he finds out about your fear of heights. However, you should still prepare. The man can literally fly, and he wants you to show you what it feels like to roam around the night skies freely.

♡ Lucius, to put it briefly, likes isolated, nighttime locations. One of his favorite tricks is to subtly caress your arm, waist, or neck a few times, just enough to get you flustered.

♡ To sum up, the two men's drive to win your heart will never waver, even if one soul is more dominating than the other. You can decide who you love and whether to quit this game.

I feel like I went off track with this one, oops sorry. Let me know if this even made sense at all I feel like I struggled to explain some stuff here 🫠

[berrri]

CW: Non sexual nudity and violence, gas lighting and manipulation

The new Beast!Elder Faerie design

I decided to make him look like he's made out of both butterflies and light, and yes, those are swords for hands

Anyways uhm. New rework for the au itself :33

Here's where the other content warnings come in:

At the beginning of Beast Yeast where gingerbrave and them go and get crashed, they were under the premises that its dangerous right? So what if it really was dangerous? No benevolent faeries at all

This is a evil faerie au

Meaning that when the gingerbrave gang went to Beast Yeast, crashed (I'll never forget that moment of stupidity) and met SilverBell

They appeared injured but really wasn't, it was a lie so when they saw the cookies (that totally weren't supposed to be there at all) they got flashbacks to White Lily

So before this when White Lily came for the truth, she instead got heavily gaslit and manipulated by Elder Faerie under the guise of 'benevolent and kind' and 'the king of faeries' as well as 'the wish granter' because in this au they made fairytales (ehe) about Elder Faerie and how he'd grant wishes to those who ask. For only a small price, which in the books was silver. Which Elder Faerie adores.

So when White Lily met the guy, she was under the impression that he'd give her the intended wish. He doesn't. But he instead gives the illusion he did, stringing his own tale and history. Painting the beast cookies as well.. Beast cookies. Unkindly and rude.

Manipulating her into thinking the beast cookies were a blight on the world and still helped. However due to the canon story being that Smilk reached out. Smilk makes the appearance and sabotages Elder Faerie by telling White Lily the truth. Which in turn made Elder Faerie put her into a coma and wheeled her into the glass coffin. Only he knew. Except Silver Bell. Silver Bell was still her best friend in that region so they were obviously devastated and vowed to never get attached to another cookie

Up until they met gingerbrave and the other kids, in actual IRL tales the faeries are known to steal kids so I'm incorporating that into it, and thus lured them all to the kingdom under the impression that they 'saved their life and deserved to be rewarded' and tried to isolate them from Pure Vanilla. Which results in the whole gang having to be brought to the kingdom and the whole time poor Silver Bell is just wondering what Elder Faeries going to react to it.

He responds greatly towards the kids, immediately latching onto them and isolates them slowly from Pure Vanilla (which I'm keeping the smilk plot with him in the first and second episode)

And promptly began to act hostile in small ways, by calling him 'invader' and such. All while Smilk is just telling him to chop the tree down but because Elder Faerie is just the biggest liar, PV doesn't believe Smilk. At least not at first when Wizard and PV start to notice the lies, the illusions and deceptions.

And thus when episode 2 starts is when White Lily forces herself to wake up from the coma and absolutely breaks the lies and illusions and thus making the silver kingdom dark and nightmarish

Having the plot of destroying the tree instead and attempting to kill Elder Faerie which fails miserably

The tree is cut and Smilk pops up momentarily to tell PV and the gang to get reinforcements and to release them all

And all within a select amount of time

Which means speed running the virtues that will definitely help with defeating Elder Faerie and Dark Enchantress

This whole ask thing BTW will take place after this all happens so :3

[albondiguilla007]

So:

I mostly opened this account to talk about Harry Potter with other fans. I need potterhead friends I’m begging you, take pity on me.

✨ First though, here’s a Marauders playlist:

✨ Profile pic by sophitil

Ok, so a bit about me and this blog’s contents:

✨ We don’t judge here, every ship is welcome

✨But if it’s gay better

✨ I love the golden trio, I won’t stand for ANY kind of SLANDER, not of Ron, not of Hermione, least of all Harry. They are human, and they are good friends with flaws who love each other very much. They are growing up, grieving, taking care of each other and learning about life. I adore their friendship, and fanfics that realistically explore their relationship will always be a soft spot of mine. (wholesome one shot)

✨ Hot take: If you have any fanfic recommendation where they are romantically together (the three of them, as in an actual relationship), I would appreciate it very much

✨ Drarry (please)—I live for Drarry, I breathe, think, dream, eat Drarry 🙏🏻 They’re my babies

✨ Draco Malfoy is a power bottom, fight me

✨ Lily Evans is my queen and goddess

✨ Tomarry? I’M A SLUT FOR TOMARRY (please I need more time travel fanfic recommendations) Some very good ones tho:

Terrible, but Great.

you belong to me (i belong to you).

Of Kings, of Pawns, and of Men. (This one is not time trivel per se but its AMAZING I’m telling ya)

Wear me like a locket around my throat

(all of them are in ao3)

✨ My boy Harry is incredibly underrated on his own book, like...? He is amazing, I love him, I wish him all the happiness in the world. WE NEED MORE FANFICS WHERE ALL HIS MENTAL STRUGGLES AND GRIEVING PROCESSESS ARE PORTRAYED. (He’s gone through so much, I don’t buy the way canon just swept everything under the rug and moved on)

✨ Another soft spot of mine? Fanfics where Harry time travels to a time where his parents are alive or a different dimension all together.

To make it better

Devil’s White Knight

Across the universe

You’re somebody else

(all in ao3 except Across the universe, that’s a short story in fanfic.net)

Other recommendations

✨ My bedtime readings are hardcore Drarry smut with some very questionable dom/sub dynamics. RECOMMENDATIONS PLEASE 🙏🏻

✨ Jegulus (depending on the mood) Jegulily thooo 👀

✨Canon James Potter was a dick, but I forgive him. He did change a bit after Hogwarts, but I keep hoping he would’ve matured more if he’d had the chance to grow up into an actual adult

✨ Aaron Taylor Johnson and every other version of James Potter is mine, no arguments

✨ NO SNAPE SLANDER. He is an amazing character, and a very complex one at that. He is not supposed to be a good person, but a complicated one with a gray set of values. Y’all do not understand that, and I’m tired of watching Marauders stans be so fucking hypocritical when it comes to him.

Crime and Punishment (an amazing severitus fic on ao3)

✨ August, Cardigan and Betty are about these three idiots (Lily, James and Regulus) and you can’t change my mind. If you have any fanfic recs I’m all ears.

[queer-ragnelle]

Excalibur (1981) | Directed by John Boorman

Arthurian Film List | Arthurian Show List | Movie review below the cut ⤦

Star rating: 10/10 Content warning: multiple rape scenes, heavy gore throughout, elements of horror, nudity, animal brutality (horses in battle are treated roughly) Overview: Writer and director John Boorman understood the assignment. It's evident this film was a passion project. Both of his children are in it (his daughter as Igraine, his son as young Mordred) and he had been working with J. R. R. Tolkien back in the 70s on an adaptation of Lord of the Rings which fell through, and much of those elements were revived and put to use here. The script, acting, score, and cinematography meet the epic demands an Arthurian film requires to succeed. Synopsis: The film opens with Uther before he meets Igraine and goes on to detail the entirety of Arthur's reign and life. Arthur's beginnings with Ector and Kay are very sweet and culminate in his pulling the sword in the stone and meeting a fun, quirky Merlin. The wizard trains Arthur up and he's eventually knighted by Urien and makes an ally of him while defending Leodegrance and Guinevere's castle. Arthur falls in love with Guinevere and intends to marry her, but first meets and battles Lancelot, wins his loyalty, and sends him to pick Guinevere up for the royal wedding. Meanwhile Morgan learns magic from Merlin and uses it to conceive Mordred with Arthur. After the royal wedding, the love affair between Lancelot and Guinevere begins. While staying away from Camelot, Lancelot meets country bumpkin Perceval, who follows Lancelot back to Camelot from his secluded woodland home, then takes up the mantle of Gareth Beaumains by working for Kay in the kitchens and champions Guinevere against Gawain until Lancelot can arrive. After the affair between he and Guinevere is found out, Lancelot runs off mad into the woods, and Arthur's prosperity declines. Perceval begins a decade-long quest in search of the Holy Grail to restore Arthur/Fisher King's health so he can reclaim his lands now ravaged by disease. Mordred has grown up in this time and been taught by Morgan to hate Arthur. Once Arthur has been cured, he goes to find Guinevere in the abbey where she had been living, and retrieves Excalibur, which she had been keeping safe for him all that time. Arthur then goes with his remaining knights to battle Mordred, where he is mortally wounded, and Perceval fulfills his final act for his king by returning the sword to the Lady of the Lake as Arthur is spirited away to Avalon. Final thoughts: This movie is so damn good. Nobody's doing it like Boorman. It's my favorite version of the grail quest. Very horror, as it should be. (Monty Python is a different tone, not a worse one!) I love everyone's acting here, the casting is so rich, I love the look and vibe of everyone, the Shakespearean line delivery. All of it. The gaudy green lighting is so 80s but it works, it sets a tone, it commits to the bit, illuminates every magical scene. And the armor is obviously incredible. I won't hear criticism. Either you get it or you don't. You can watch an entire mini-series about the armorer, Terry English, produced by Mythbuster's Adam Savage on YouTube, here. And if you want to learn more about Mordred's cool helmet specifically, watch here. Anyway please watch this, you won't be disappointed.

[izvmimi]

cw: named child. fluff. selfship content.

“Can I do it this time? Please, Mommy, please?”

Your daughter is practically climbing up your leg, barely 4 years of age but energetic and talkative, and always desiring to be helpful, and acquiescing to her demand, you pat the ash blond curls of her hair and transfer the glass of moguro leaf juice into a safer cup instead and hand it over to her. Her green eyes grow starry and wide as she takes it from you and runs out of the kitchen to outside the home, where you can see your husband do hundreds of sit-ups in the front yard.

Even now, he’s still a feast for the eyes, you think to yourself, as he moves almost faster than your eyes can track. Training is still a necessity for him, and he takes any idle moment to do so, complaining often that the bureaucracy of being Wizard King and constant meetings are not at all what he was anticipating. With every little morning routine, he insists on refreshing himself with the moguro leaf juice concoction of his childhood, and now that you know the recipe, you’ve decided to occupy yourself with making it when you can, just like this morning.

You’re pretty sure whatever is in that green juice that he insists on drinking is completely useless when it comes to magic power - you’ve checked the ingredients yourself - but Asta is the exact combination of superstitious and stubborn that means you might as well go with the flow if there is no harm done than argue needlessly against him, especially if it makes him happy. 

And as you watch Luna practically jump, vibrating with excitement as she waits for her father to finish his set, you’re even more glad that you’ve continued to indulge him too.

Asta stops finally, sitting up and turns to grin at her, and Luna thrusts the cup towards him with tiny hands, almost spilling the cold juice onto his bare chest. He still manages to catch it, and then he pats her head as well then thanks her, and drinks as he rises, making a scene of saying a loud, refreshing “Ahhhh!” once he’s gulped it all down.

“That really hit the spot Luna, thank you!” 

Luna is practically bursting with joy and is quick to hug his knees. He laughs and picks her up, then carries her like an airplane between his side and left arm, his parcel giggling as he makes his way back to you. 

He sets the cup on the counter next to the sink. 

“You sent Luna in your stead this time,” he says lightly, setting her down as you give him a swift kiss on the cheek, tasting the salt of sweat on his tongue.

“She was very excited to do the all important job of making sure you stayed hydrated. Right, Luna?”

Luna shakes her head quickly, and before you can say anything else, she’s already lost interest in the two of you, running off to go get her toys. You watch her speed off into the corner, then let your eyes snap back to your husband.

“Are you disappointed?” you ask, teasing. Asta takes another look in Luna’s direction to confirm that she’s out of sight and earshot, then pouts.

“Never disappointed, but it is nice to see the person I chose to spend the rest of my life with is still interested in my workouts and looking at me and-”

“Asta, I was literally less than ten steps away.”

“I’d rather you be right next to me.”

He grins widely in response, and you’re reminded of the first time you fell in love with his smile, so many years ago. Your cheeks warm gently.

“Sit on my back next time?” he asks. “You can even carry Luna, I can handle you both,” he insists, moving past you to pour more of his awful post-workout juice.

“Fine,” you agree, as he gulps it down, and Luna, like clockwork, runs back into the room, dolls made by Gordon in both hands, and hands one to Asta.

“Play with me?” 

He immediately takes a seat cross-legged on the ground without hesitation.

“Lead the way, Luna! What are we doing?” 

“Well, Princess Moonbeam has the greatest magic ever…” she goes off while Asta listens carefully, and you find yourself slipping down into a cross-legged seat next to Asta too, letting your daughter enthuse you in the big dreams of her very own.

[elasticitymudflap]

If Betty returns in season two, what kind of plot lines and character arcs would you like to see for her? Which characters do you want to see her interact with?

oh man. okay buckle up because you are about to endure my full frontal autism.

first you're going to have to go into this post knowing that i am insane about betty grof. i am aware of this. but they also called me crazy back in 2012 when i said simon and betty probably loved each other very much despite the fact she disappeared, and that she was probably a huge chaotic badass, AND I WAS RIGHT so.

all of this aside, here are a couple things i think would be epic and sexy of them to address:

~betty's past~

GIRL WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS.

no, seriously. i hate that the cut content from the storyboards revealed so much about her that didn't make the final 'jerry' cut. betty is passionate, intense, and liked simon's work because he was this weird little guy who proudly had all these "out there" theories. she even stated that "ancient magic" was once her major, so it's no fucking wonder she was so jazzed to find the one other guy who studied and believed in the strange things she did.

how did betty come to have these strange beliefs, and to the point of pursuing it in fucking grad school? was she just always like this? did her interests and beliefs put her at odds with others when she was growing up, little miss dig-her-way-down-to-the-devil, and that's part of the reason she wanted all the more to support simon?

reading that scene in temple of mars where magic betty laments "what remains" of her original self after spending so long dedicated to simon, even if you take into account the way MMS is warping her perspectives and cranking her obsessive tendencies to 11, i find it hard to believe betty didn't grow up with some kind of instability or trauma that made her more prone to throw herself completely at someone who showed her genuine love and kindness. this isn't necessarily a fault on simon's part, he probably didn't even clock it because he was so caught up with trying not to fuck things up with her (he's got his own issues). but it definitely seems like this is something deeply coded into her being, especially when you consider she was willing to leave everything she knew behind in an instant for him.

and i NEED to know more about the wacky shit she was up to in ooo, before and after becoming magic betty. did she ever go to wizard city? did other wizards even know about her? what does she think about her time as magic betty? moreover, how the hell did king man even get betty to agree to his weird idea of cognitive behavioural therapy?? how did she actually go from literally willing to kill herself via time travel to actually accepting that she needed help getting over simon?? did prismo and the cosmic owl get involved?? what is their connection to king man and mars anyway, i mean we know grob gob glob grod hung out with them?? do you think betty knew at any point about simon's head holding the fionna and cake universe?? SO MANY QUESTIONS RAAARRGHGHHGHH

also, not to get super sappy, but i want to see the enchiridion expedition from her perspective!! i want to see her progression from 'hell yeah im going on an adventure with that guy whose research i admire' to 'oh my god i love his stupid ass help????'.

~betty's guilt (feat. regrets)~

i don't care what the alternate bus stop scene said, you will never convince me betty grof has "no regrets". i think she has 'no regrets' in terms of loving simon, and she would never want him to think that she regrets their relationship because of what it "did" to her (turned her into a kaiju). i think this scene was betty trying to give simon a modicum of closure by reassuring him of that fact, and trying to help him reckon with the fact that there's no going back and changing how things ended up for the two of them; from here on out they can only move forward.

that being said, we know that betty will often push simon into doing things she thinks are best for him, whether he wants these things or not, such as not getting held up by snakes or not dying. she's a quick thinker and a risk taker who doesn't like looking at the 'big picture', and these are things she's probably very aware about herself.

i think, in the 12 years that they were apart, betty probably had a lot of time to reflect on her decisions after the crown came into their lives. how her hubris in trying to study magic ended up in her becoming "magic betty", how magic betty nearly ended/condoned the end of the world multiple times, how she ultimately did cure simon but almost killed him in the process. most of all, you cannot convince me betty wouldn't agonize over how her split-second decision to jump into the future affected simon. you really think betty fucking grof would've have been totally unaffected by the revelation that simon spent nearly ten human lifetimes agonizing over driving her away?

in her last interaction with him, magic betty's recklessness cured them... only to then be grotesquely crushed to death inside of golb. but he didn't get upset with her, he didn't panic, he didn't even fight it, he just... gave in. there's this air of acceptance to him, an acceptance that comes after prolonged and complicated grief, that i'd argue, wasn't the culmination of being cured, but the culmination of his long and painful battle over losing her; he was content to die as long as he was with her. that must have been... really something for her to mull over.

i could easily see her developing a bit of a complex over it. i think it would be fascinating to see a betty who now, after all the dust as settled, has looked at their history and concluded that she was the common denominator in all of this, that she is bad for simon, that in a way she is a "curse" to him. and that it would be the perfect justification for her staying away from him all these years, thinking without her influence he could finally move on from her and live the rest of his human life happily with his new magic future friends.

i don't think betty has necessarily "moved on" from simon, i think she still loves him dearly... but as i said, thoroughly convinced she'll only damage him further if she keeps trying to pursue him, and that simon's breakdown during season 1 was only more evidence to that fact.

i think she's trying to lead him to get over her 'for his own good', and that she's purposefully being vague and simplifying conclusions about their relationship so he doesn't try to fight her on it like he always does when she makes these huge decisions for them. she's not bringing any of the stuff she actually regrets up with him because only betty sees it as a problem. simon is so enamoured with her he probably wouldn't even entertain the possibility that she had negative effect on him, but he would believe the reverse in a heartbeat.

this isn't me saying they're ""toxic"" at all, i'm saying that these are two very damaged people who would benefit from multiple types of therapy. and that, as they are, they currently are more likely to keep going in loops with unhealthy behaviours and blaming themselves ad infinitum rather than try to reckon with how they can change, and how it is a problem that they'll always do it for the other, but never for themselves.

even if all of my above ramblings turn out to be bunk: betty grof needs some kind of therapy for her pre-existing self sacrificial tendencies and self worth issues, a space for her to process and work through all of the things that happened to her in ooo, couple's counselling, and the biggest blunt known to man.

you might be wondering "emery, why are you talking about her like she isn't beyond such things? she's golb now, the embodiment of chaos! her ""arc"" is over."

~golbetty conspiracy theory time~

i'm not entirely convinced betty is golbetty as we've come to understand her. i stand by this with my crumbs of a conspiracy theory in that when simon first did the ritual, it was ORIGINAL golb's face that flashed over the scene (not golbetty or even the statue's face), and how golbetty seemed to transform back into Golb Classic after she blew simon away into the void. there's also this weird thing where golbetty had these holes or rips on her leg when she rotated; i thought it was an animation error but then it was also in the storyboards so idk what to believe...

plus the boards ive seen seem to only refer to them as "GOLB", never 'GOLBetty', which i just find... interesting

and i keep thinking about simon info-dumping about golb to betty in the 'come along with me' flashback and the specific wording that was used: "imagine if we could somehow harness all that dank energy..." and then comparing it to the specific wording of betty's wish "... however it has to happen, I wish for the power to keep Simon safe"

there's a couple lines in 'you forgot your floaties' regarding betty's work before becoming magic betty that i feel often get overlooked, one being how tiny manticore describes the situation as "she thinks she can save her BF, Simon, by finding the source of magic," and in betty's own words: "studying [magic madness and sadness] could lead me to their underlying cause, and then I'll control the forces that hold sway over Simon"

i've always wondered if part of the reason betty's wishes to "banish golb from this world/for golb to disappear" didn't work was not just because they didn't tap into her heart's deepest wish (keeping simon safe), but because a wish like that would also require some kind of fundamental change to the laws of the universe first in order for it to work. magic betty even references golb as "the most powerful force in the universe," so how would the crown ever hope to compete with that? according the ancient candy elemental, wish magic has the potential to cause "irreversible damage to the very structure of existence". maybe the crown itself couldn't banish golb with a simple wish, but it could restructure the world to create someone who was powerful enough to control even golb, if only it were structured through the correct wishing language.

and it would make total sense for betty to become that person.

i've been thinking about the way the candy elemental tries to warn evergreen from using the crown: "this wish may see things in you you cannot see yourself, can you truly say you know your heart's truest desire?"

i wonder if there may have been two elements to betty's wish, and the part of it that betty "didn't see in herself" was her worded in the language of "power"; betty's desire to gain control over forces of the universe no human could ever hope to fight against, let alone win.

she spent her human life fascinated by ancient magic, fighting to get her's and simon's work recognized as valid and worthwhile. then, she's suddenly in the future, fighting to stop simon from dying, physically fighting at times, and fighting to find a way to gain control over these "forces" that held him prisoner. she essentially is fighting to become the conqueror of magic, madness, and sadness... and she fails, becomes a victim of it. and it all goes downhill from there, the loss of control over herself, over her mind, over her goals, yet the most 'betty' thing about her is that she's still fighting, albeit a bit crooked and to the detriment of all else. in the end, she's even fighting with herself, fighting to remember who she even is without the fight, not even sure if that person exists anymore.

and then she's freed, suddenly, from the confines of MMS to the literal confines of a quickly shrinking prison. when you watch the two of them in that scene, she isn't fighting to escape the same way finn is literally fighting the wall, but you can tell she's not giving up. part of her is still fighting to think of a way out, even when it feels like there's absolutely no hope left.

her desire "for the power" could mean, in a sense, to have the ability to be in control of all that she couldn't at one time or another: time, fate, magic, life, death, chaos... but this was articulated through her love for simon, because it's the only way she probably even recognizes it within herself.

this is why i don't entirely think betty and golb are fused, or that betty is solely "golbetty". i think being "fused" with no possibility of escape would be antithetical to the language and possible wider implications of her wish. this is why i think she's something above even golb, like a being with the ability to possess/harness the power of other deities. and i think she does this specifically in scenarios where simon is in immediate danger and she needs to control them or harness their power in order to protect him.

i'm ready to be proven wrong, and i probably will be. still, i rotate these thoughts in my head at a dangerous velocity, and none of you can stop me.

~ok i'm done ill stop being insane now (lying)~

so to... actually answer your question, i REALLY want betty to meet fionna and cake, because it sounds to me like they remind simon a lot of her. i would just love to see the absolute fucking tornado they'd be when put in a room together.

also, obviously first and foremost, I NEED BETTY TO TALK TO MARCELINE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

anyway, as far as season 2 goes, something is definitely up with prismo. and since he's guardian/creator of multiverse entities, who the fuck knows what that means for the fabric of existence if he's glitching out.

all im saying is, i wouldn't be surprised if our main trio end up having to save the multiverse and have to do so with help from other... entities. bettities, even. (hehe. bettity)

[metropolitanmutantofark]

things that will make me delete your mobile game (tag the game that checks all these boxes for you):

- 6+ ads after login (ads for the in game shop count)

- daily login bonus that resets to a pittance if you miss one day

- daily login bonus that ticks over at precisely 6:42 in the evening every day

- the game yells at you or tells you “the fictional entities miss you! ;(“ if my phone has been broken for two weeks so I can’t log in

- seasonal content that never comes back except in the “Premium (extremely expensive)” shop section

- pay money to buy coins to buy gems to buy things

- ONLY lets you buy things with money

- game runs so inefficiently that your iphone 14 burns your hand

- 40 game mechanics/tutorials for an app you will ONLY be opening during a car ride or waiting for class to start or what have you

- Snorpi Gritta, the Plunquette™ on the app icon, isn’t who you play as, but rather someone you COULD play as if you had $6000 to roll the gacha

- game walks you through how to play the game and use every single sub-menu even if you have 15 other apps of the same genre installed

- “this game wants to know your location, track data across other apps, serve you personalized ads, know your star sign, access your bank account, edit your last will and testament, name your firstborn, succeed your place as King of Flartania, be betrayed by the evil wizard Karklon, send you notifications…”

- the gacha/lootbox system is rigged so that you literally cannot get what you want too many times in a row

- having a gacha system in lieu of a shop you can spend those fictional coins you’ve been earning

- having a gacha system after I paid to download the app in the first place

- being genshin impact

- ads for your mobile game popping up in other apps when I already downloaded the thing (maybe the most minor complaint on this list but it bugs me)

- game sends me a notification to not miss out on a daily login streak

- you have to sign up with your phone number as if Snorpi Gritta herself is going to call you personally and tell you what a good boy you are for downloading her game or something

- every single character is extremely sexy (insert your favorite gacha game here)

- every single character is extremely un-sexy but always seem to be pulling a facial expression like they think they’re extremely sexy (subway surfers)

- game constantly updating for the most minor patches imaginable

- overly excessive customization with characters’ upgrades and gear to the point where there’s a separate wiki for the game’s lore and for the game’s meta

- “link a friend” or “join a team” systems as if I’ll ever tell anyone what games are on my phone

- your game is a pared-down version of a game I could be playing on the Switch, 3DS or Steam Deck right now

- your game is a pared-down version of a game I could be playing on the Switch, 3DS or Steam Deck right now and it serves 50 ads a minute when the original doesn’t

- charge mechanics that limit how much you can actually play, as if the game thinks “it’s not healthy to be on phone games all day!! :)” when I’m just really good at the game and am waiting for someone in the doctor’s office

- ^that but you can also PAY to keep playing the free mobile game and it’s prohibitively expensive

- Snorpi Gritta gets replaced on the app icon and now I have to look at Narmu Spartea who (despite her HUGE rack) I absolutely hate as a character since she’s taken over the meta

- your mobile game is just another match-3 or endless runner

- your mobile game is just another gacha game

- your mobile game is just another shooter with terrible controls

- the characters in your gacha have seasonal alts which I can’t purchase with in game currency and they won’t return until the “throwback gacha!!” which will only come around in 6 months when I will have forgotten all about the game

- you as the developer confirm that Snorpi Gritta is aro-ace which means that I, personally, have absolutely no chance with her, the fictional Plunquette on my iphone

- game asks your age before you start the game, which means you bet your bottom Gem they’ll be maliciously advertising things to you

- your mobile game is just Club Penguin with extra steps

- your game’s title is extremely unwieldy to say, only tangentially relates to the gameplay and/or has no discernible way to be shortened if someone asks what I’m playing (the “rooty tooty fresh and fruity” conundrum, EVERY gacha game falls under this without exception)

- online multiplayer that you have to engage with despite not playing the meta (Narmu Spertea can kiss my Assassin-Reverend Jennathy Larginhoffer I’m not putting that wretched busty harlot on my squad)

- your mobile game has spoilers so if I follow the “#⭐️Magic!!⭐️ Plunquettes™ of Harmenheim” tag on tumblr I’ll see EVERYTHING that happens in the final chapter as well as the ending of every seasonal side-story

- your game has crossover content with your other mobile game that literally no one ever is going to download (but you have to download it to access the best stuff in the game)

- your mobile game is a classic board game that I’ve already downloaded in the form of a classic board game collection

- your mobile game erases my account after 2 weeks without logging in like it’s a website from 2004

- I download the better version of the game on PC (rarely though Balatro comes around and does the opposite where I played the mobile game more, so kudos if your game does that)

- your game deletes my cloud save and all of my 140+ hours of progress if I change phones (Balatro… ;( )

- your game always logs me into Apple Game Center (the worst game service known to man) so someone at Apple ALWAYS knows that I play Plunquettes of Harmenheim

- your game sends me notifications because someone else is calling for aid in an Ultra Battle even though they are WELL AWARE I won’t be running Narmu and I still have Ningland van Grotteschuler on my team as a joke

- ^bonus points if that notification comes at 3AM (yes I’m awake but no I didn’t want the notification)

- my blorbo gets nerfed into the ground so the auto-optimizer never picks them for my squad, so I have to manually do it every time

- my mom starts playing the game (this isn’t your fault as a dev but our fault as a society)

- my favorite vtuber starts playing the game (this isn’t your fault as a game developer)

- my favorite vtuber starts playing the game badly and forces me to crash out in her chat (this isn’t your fault as a game developer)

- my favorite vtuber starts playing the game and puts that hag Narmu Spertea on her squad and forces me to yeet bees at her (this is your fault as a game developer)

- your game is an AI art visual novel

- your game is a brand-affiliated mobile game that makes the thing I like feel less like a thing I like and more like a brand

- your game preys upon FOMO even on a day-by-day basis with “flash sales”

- one of my tumblr mutuals doesn’t like the game and mentions any of the points on this list

- <insert infamous person on the internet> LOVES the game and makes me delete it out of fear of association in any capacity

- i downloaded your game 5 years ago and quickly deleted it, and when i install it today those memories come flooding back to me like it’s the Vietnam War

- you as a developer express an opinion I don’t like

- you removed a mechanic or a mini game that turned out to be the one thing keeping me playing

- your game is just Vampire Survivors

- your game is just Vampire Survivors, but it isn’t HoloCure

- the text in your really well polished mobile game has translation errors and/or typos, which renders certain scenes incomprehensible (but if those errors make it VERY unintentionally-funny, that won’t make me delete it)

- your game was big in 2011 because of the mobile game boom but is actually just a one-button game or playing with rocks

- your game is sex-bait but nobody has written fanfiction about the characters on ao3

- your game is sex-bait but the gameplay is subway surfers

- your game is sex-bait but the player character is the ugliest mf this side of Cleveland, Missouri

- your game is sex-bait and I get an advertisement for it on the mobile app for tumblr dot com

- your game is sex-bait and you introduce the “really 700 years old” trope

- your game is sex-bait and you introduce the inverse of the “really 700 years old” trope

- you buffed Narmu Spertea and left my darling Jennathy. To rot. In the dungeon for a thousand years

- your game is a free beta that has been a beta for 15 years

- your game has dating sim mechanics, but Assassin-Reverend Jennathy Larginhoffer simply WILL NOT date me because of her religious tenets and because it would put me at risk of being killed to get to her

- your game has dating sim mechanics, encourages polygamy, and the game judges you for it (even if you only try to woo Ms. Rev. Larginhoffer and your heart belongs to no one else)

- the dating sim mechanics in your game buff the characters, so you MUST engage with everyone on your team romantically in order to buff them, even if Ningland is the single least attractive unit in the game

- I find out your game has a huge memory leak

- I start playing the game, spend 4 minutes waiting for the game to load, and the battery goes from 76% to 14% in that time

- vanilla extract

[starkittnd93]

What is In Stars And Time? (Yes I looked it up, but I'm curious as to the point of view of a player/fan of the game.) The stuff on your blog tells me there's a guy with a sun for a head and Therion-but-with-a-wizard-hat? :D

Oh!!! :0

Okay so In Stars and Time is a a game where you and your friends are trying to defeat this evil king guy who is trying to freeze the country of Vaugarde in time.

Thing is, you and your friends are kinda bad at … not dying … BUT IT’S OKAY!!! Because you discover upon your first death that you (and you alone…) have the ability to loop back in time and try again!

This is you, aka Siffrin, aka Therion-but-with-a-bigass-hat! (He/they)

They are the Nya-faced funny jokespun protagonist who has the ability to loop back in time. They don’t tell anybody about this though, because. Why would he??? He’s the one in the position to help their friends after all!!!

They hate croissants, and are allergic to pineapples .... and vulnerability—

This is Loop!!!! :D (They/them)

Arguably the funnier one, they are your very helpful guide to the loops! They are not the sun, but a star! (You were close though, considering the sun technically IS a star lmao)

Anyway, this game is really well written, has great representation (and REALLY good QOL. like. It’s so fun-)

10/10 game, I highly recommend playing :D

(That being said, this game covers some pretty heavy topics… so mind the content warnings listed here)

[witch-among-stars]

Wake up, babes, new  Fionna & Cake Official Trailer just dropped

And I'm analyzing the heck out of it

First of all, let's establish that the series will take place in several different dimensions. The first one we see is Fiona's (First picture). This world seems to be similar to ours; no mushroom war to be seen around, and people live normally. The second picture, however, is the world of Adventure Time. I think this is the city that humans have built on the Land of Ooo after arriving there at the end of the series. Simon apparently moved there, as can be seen by his apartment corresponding to the color palette of the human city + the little human girl.

Interestingly, Simon's apartment has a lot of relics from the past: phones, a vinyl player, and a hair dryer. For me, this is an indication of his deep nostalgia for the past and the pain of seeing the world change around him so drastically. It is completely understandable because, unlike Marceline, Simon (being stuck in the form of the Ice King) never had time to process the trauma of his world coming to pieces.

The next interesting picture we see is the Ice Prince Finn. The Ice Prince Finn is Finn from when alternative dimension (Farmworld Finn). In this parallel dimension, the bomb never exploded, so mutations never happened. Farmworld Finn makes his first major appearance in the episode "Finn the Human," where he gets possessed by the Ice King's crown and becomes the Ice Prince Finn. Interestingly, The Ice Prince Finn was later cured from the crown in an episode called "Crossover." My guess is that in the Fionna series, either we will see The Ice Prince Finn before he got cured OR the world where Finn never got cured. The first one is more believable.

Fionna says that she keeps having a dream about "a cruel Ice Prince." Finn is the only one who has ever been called the Ice Prince. But if we compare the appearances of the mentioned characters, it is clear they are not the same. So the question remains: who is the newer Ice Prince? This one looks way younger than our Simon when he got possessed by the crown (third picture). However, the new Ice Prince indeed looks very familiar to Simon, only younger. My guess is that this is Simon from an alternative dimension who got fully possessed by the crown the moment he got it. If we look at the young Simon from the episode "Holly Jolly Secrets," he is almost identical to the new Ice Prince.

All of these pictures seem to be from the Farmworld Finn's dimension. I suppose it will have major importance in the series. And yes, this is my beloved Huntress Wizard. I so hope for some Finntress content (we were robbed in the main show).

That's all for now. The trailer has way more secrets and things to decipher but I am too tired. Please share your theories! Thanks for reading.

[blastedking]

I'd like to get into your comics. They look and sound amazing. But, is there a reading order? Where do I start?

Hello there! And Thank you so much!!!

I had posted this SOMEWHERE sometimes before but that was way back when Return to Darkness was just getting posted. There has been a lot added to this so let’s update this! x)

Here is my recommendation as to the Order in which to read Universe - Law of Fire: 

IF you want to only read the comics (and you can, i do try to keep them as standalone as possible, buzt of course, they are not seperat of the stories) they are to be read in the order they have been posted! They are ordered as such on the ULF Website Overview

That is Tale of Moons -> Starheart -> Kings and Legends -> Remnants of Gods 

With Mondfeuer being a standalone spinoff based directly on some of the stories.

Speaking of, that’s the point where the whole context and backstory stuff comes in. So if one is at all interested in that, here is the full ULF experience reading list: 

Heart of Fire, The Warrior and Comic one, Tale of Moons, are year one content. I'd suggest reading HoF as soon as possible, because it answered the question about why and how the comics are even happening. (fun fact but no reading recommendation: all of Comic 1 to 3 happen during the initial Chapters of HoF, and Comic 4 is set exactly between on transition in Chapter 10 of Hof.) 

Wizard of Cowdenbeath, Kilchoan and Comic Two (Starheart) was year two.  WoC and Kilchoan do belong firmly together, intended to be read in that order but I think one could switch them around if one would want. (Kilchoan is probably my favourite story I’ve ever written, and timeline wise it is way before any of the other stuff (besides Little Wizard)) WoC is the make it or break it story of them all. If you enjoy WoC, you will probably like the rest as well.) 

Leitnacht is a more light hearted bonus story referencing back to the first Comic, building on what happened in Tale of Moons featuring Powerwolf again. 

Next is Parts and Fragments and Return to Darkness. These two, Parts and Fragments and Return to Darkness, belong firmly together. PaF also ties back all the previous stories and really shouldn't be read before the rest - there would be a lot of context missing! The whole question of “What are wizards and how do wizards” is explains slowly in the stories leading up to Parts and Fragments, with this one being the first we see a complete wizard (namely Ralathor in this case) in action. (Absolutely normal sentence that makes sense in this context I swear. It’s all about the Parts!)

With our newfound understanding of Wizards: The Mezchinhar Collection is next, a collection of short one shots following a couple Wizards around - and with already a bit of a feel for the home of the wizards, reading “Little Wizards” will fit very well. This is a very, very young Zargothrax slice of life.

Then Triton is the first story that picks up with Zargothrax since the last time we’ve seen him in WoC and - as the name implies - covers the whole escape from Triton. Thematically Hootsarival fits very well right after Triton, because it picks up with the Hootsman after he blew himself up. 

By this point I would suggest having read and finished the third comic, “Kings and Legends” because the Hootsforce Collection has two chapters in the end that reference that comic. Again, it’s a collection, so it’s mostly stand-alone one shots from different points in time, looking at what’s going on on the Hootsforce.

Somewhen here I did a little spin off Comic focusing on the Powerwolf guys and Ralathor, namely: Mondfeuer. So that one makes sense to read around this point, because the version/Part of Ralathor we follow here is the Kingmaker, which is mentioned in Leitnacht, and he shows up in Kings and Legends too. 

Then The Court Wizard. Picking up basically after Triton and Hootsarival - it’s Zargothrax’ arrival on the Terrorvortex earth - and what he does till he inevitably get’s bonked by a hammer. (I say it like that, but that ending is one of my favourites. It hurts a lot, but i like it a lot) 

After that, we swing a little wider with a little interlude and a bit more wizard world building with “Heshiva’s Journals”

Then, finally picking up after Return to Darkness, we’re back with Ralathor in “Stargazer Part 1” This story runs at times parallel to Comic No. 4 “Remnants of Gods” (the current one), mainly the point where Ralathor is taken over by that Remnant is felt in this story too! 

The story is cut in half because it’s not only very long and i haven’t written part 2 yet, but also, between Part 1 and 2 there are things happening, mainly, we finally, after all this, pick up where we started, we have arrived at the present day and following the events AFTER HoF in “To Save a Prince” which will lead into some events that will happen in Part 2 of Stargazer. 

Very relevant to that too, there will be the Tempest Atum Collection, which also is relevant. But that is future talk. There is only the prologue posted yet. x)

So my go through recommendation would be:

1. Heart of Fire (Comic)

2. The Warrior (Story)

3. Tale of Moons (Comic)

4. Wizard of Cowdenbeath (Story)

5. Kilchoan (Story)

6. Starheart (Story)

7. Leitnacht (Story)

8. Parts and Fragments (Story)

9. Return to Darkness (Story)

10. Collection: Mezchinhar (Story Collection)

11. Little Wizard (Story)

12. Triton (Story)

13. Hootsarival (Story)

14. Kings and Legends (Comic)

15. Collection: Hootsforce (Story Collection)

16. Mondfeuer (Comic)

17. The Court Wizard (Story) 

18. Heshiva’s Journals (Story)

19. Stargazer Part 1 (Story)

20. Remnants of Gods (Comic)

21. To Save a Prince (Story) 

22. Collection: Tempest Atum (Story Collection)

Eveything Posted to AO3 together sits currently at roughly 430.000 words so… bring some time x) It’s a handful by now! 

[nightghoul381]

Dark If ~ Jude Jazza

This a fan translation so it is definitely not 100% accurate. I do not own anything related to Ikemen Villains. Support Cybird by buying their amazing stories!

CW: Mentions of blood

Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Bitter End | Premium End | Epilogue

I immediately started researching things in the library. About curses and magic.

The knowledge I gained from books every day was all about things I didn’t know, having been raised in an overprotected castle.

Kate: “Time is not irreversible, and space is not absolute.”

Kate: “Like intricately intertwined threads, the past and the future, and one world and another, can be connected.”

Kate: “…Maybe that’s why I have memories of living both in England and in the world of fairy tales…”

Both existed separately, but now they are intertwined as one.

It’s like twisting two threads together.

When I quickly turned the page, I saw that it was written about a wizard.

Because wizards possess incredible power and are rare in number, they often become the source of contention between countries.

It is not uncommon for one’s life to be targeted by assassins from other countries. This is because if you kill one wizard, you will have a military advantage.

(Because wizards can easily plot to overthrow the country,)

(If they refuse to belong to the national army, they are often imprisoned or killed--)

Kate: “…Oh I see…”

(I can’t believe that the overprotective king and military would tolerate such a situation just because he’s a wizard…)

Anger and shame at not knowing anything welled up.

Jude the Wizard: “What are you doing here night after night?”

Kate: “Mr. Jude…”

As soon as I saw him, I felt a rush of regret for the words I had spoken a few days ago.

Kate: “…I’m sorry for saying it was because of your personality that you were targeted.”

Jude the Wizard: “Ah? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Kate: “Just as you said, I’ve come to learn how little I knew.”

Kate: “I want you to listen to my wishes…First, we will be able to talk as equals.”

Jude the Wizard: “….ha.”

Jude let out a dry laugh and hooked his fingertips in my collar again, pulling my face closer to his.

Kate: “…ngh”

Jude the Wizard: “I thought that a princess who had been content to be kept in a box for many years would grow up to be a selfish, spoiled brat.”

Jude the Wizard: “Yeah, you see it too. I’m going to make you so frustrated that you’ll cry.”

Kate: “…What was that?”

He is still sadistic and looks down on me. And yet, for some reason, my heart lifts.

(I’m not saying I’m not happy to have received a bit of recognition, )

(But I’m not…I guess.)

Jude the Wizard: “Well, at least you can try your best.”

Jude pulled his fingers out of his collar and left the library.

(--Come to think of it, I was told I was a slave and even had a collar put on me.)

Yet I was never restricted from doing anything other than leaving the castle.

“I’m safe, so please don’t send any soldiers. There will be unnecessary deaths.”

Ellis had also delivered a letter with that written to the castle.

Since then, they have continued to communicate regularly to me to let me know that they are safe.

(If the curse is due to his grudge—maybe I did something wrong.)

(Why can’t I remember…?)

As if to vent my growing frustration, I immersed myself in researching curses and magic.

As I spend my days like that, before I know it--.

Kate: “Ah, good morning Jude.”

Jude the Wizard: “…You did that on purpose.”

Kate: “…Did what?”

Jude the Wizard: “I’ve got bed hair.”

A hand reached out and roughly combed through the tangled hair.

I lowered my head, trying to disguise the pounding of my heart.

Jude the Wizard: “Pfft, Why’re you blushing so much? You really are a child.”

Far from getting used to this arrogant sadist, I was starting to feel a little attracted to him.

(This is phenomenon where the victim falls in love with the kidnapper.)

(It’s not love…yeah.)

Kate: “Mr. Jude, you didn’t come out of the study again yesterday, did you? Are you sleeping properly?”

Jude the Wizard: “Heh, I just called you a child and you’re worried about me.”

Jude the Wizard: “Let’s wait until you fix your bed head and are able to say hello in the morning, princess.”

Kate: “What…”

A finger flicked my forehead, causing pain.

Jude the Wizard: “You like pain, don’t you?”

His lips curve in a mocking manner, almost catching my eye, and I look away.

Kate: “I really don’t like it…now, will you please lift the curse today.”

Jude the Wizard: “I’ll think about it when I’ve had a good day.”

Kate: “Didn’t you say the same thing yesterday?”

Jude the Wizard: “Ah-ah, yapping and biting me, today is a bad day too.”

Jude laughed at my plea and went out as usual.

Time passes without mercy, without any success in lifting the curse of finding what is missing in this world—.

(Jude…?)

In the middle of one night, I felt that Jude had returned after being out for an unusually long time, and when I peeked out from the library,

Jude’s back was just about to disappear into the study.

There were some spots left on the carpet—.

(Is that…blood?)

A shiver ran down my spine and I ran to the study, unable to sit still.

Kate: “Jude… are you hurt?”

Jude the Wizard: “… I told you not to enter this room without permission, didn’t I?”

Jude the Wizard: “It’s not a big injury, just get out of here.”

Kate: “Even if it’s not a big injury, you don’t leave the injured alone. You help and treat them.”

When I forced myself to walk over to him, I saw a pile of papers and documents piled up on the desk.

Kate: “…What on earth are you researching while holed up in your study every night?”

Kate: “It’s why you went out tonight, isn’t it…?”

Jude the Wizard: “…What would you do if I said yes?”

Kate: “If you keep doing this, your body will shut down.”

Kate: “Risking your life for the sake of a promise… it’s just like you.”

Jude the Wizard: “…What?”

Kate: “—It’s like you’re the one who’s cursed.”

Jude the Wizard: “Hah… you say that.”

A hand wraps around my throat, like a snake coiled around me.

I’m cursed by this man—He holds my life in his hands. This is a reminder of that.

Kate: “ngh…ha….rgh”

The tightness of the collar is loosened and my breathing increases.

Jude the Wizard: “I’ve lived a long life, and I’d love nothing more than to be cursed to death by a stupid promise.”

Jude the Wizard: “Don’t worry about me, take it easy—tomorrow you’re destined to fall into a deep sleep, just as you were cursed to do,”

Jude the Wizard: “You forgot, right?”

Jude the Wizard: “If you don’t want to get your head blown off right now, go back to your room, princess.”

The door closes in front of me with a loud bang.

Yes, I realized my birthday –tomorrow—was fast approaching.

(If this continues, I will fall into a 100-year slumber, as per my curse.)

(I still don’t know anything about why I was cursed by Jude, or what is missing in this world…)

As I was suffering from anxiety and unable to sleep, the sound of glass breaking filled my ears.

(Someone attacked again…?)

I’ve gotten used to the sound by now, but—today I feel especially uneasy.

(I hear more people’s voices and footsteps than usual.)

(Ellis is staying the night away to go shopping in the town at the foot of the mountain—and)

(Jude is injured tonight.)

Kate: “…mm”

I hurriedly jumped out of my bed and headed out into the hallway.

Jude the Wizard: “Tch… Why are you here? Go to sleep.”

Kate: “With this noise? Please don’t be unreasonable…”

Soldier: “Miss Kate!”

(--Are these people from the national army!?)

Kate: “Why… I’ve told my father that I’m okay…!”

Soldier: “The deadline of your curse is already approaching tomorrow.”

Soldier: “He wishes to see your face for a second before then, and I have been ordered to take you home!”

(My father…)

Jude the Wizard: “—I’m sorry, but the princess won’t be going home.”

Jude pushes me behind him with one arm, trying to hide me from the soldiers downstairs.

Kate: “Jude? If you do something like this, you’ll be treated as a traitor and you’ll be targeted even more than you already are…”

Jude the Wizard: “Ha, I don’t need you to worry. Besides, if you go back to the castle now, you’ll die.”

Kate: “Wha…?”

(What do you mean…? The curse that’s triggered by being pricked by a spinning wheel is supposed to cause a person to sleep for 100 years.)

But now, Jude clearly said, ‘I’ll die.’

Kate: “Aside from the curse, are you saying that there’s something that would cause me to die…?”

Jude the Wizard: “…haah. The doctors in the royal castle are really incompetent.”

At that moment, I saw a flaming arrow flying towards Jude--.

Kate: “…watch out…!”

Jude the Wizard: “!?”

Immediately moving to cover him, I lost my balance,

Jude the Wizard: “…Kate!”

--and fell headlong down the stairs.

When I landed—I was in the arms of a soldier sent by my father.

Soldier: “Miss Kate! Are you okay!?”

Kate: “Jude…!?”

When I looked up, a soldier had taken advantage of my falling and pinned Jude down.

Jude the Wizard: “Shit… What are you falling for? Are you stupid?”

Kate: “…ngh, Please! That person is injured… please don’t be rough!”

Soldier: “He will be taken into custody by the national army on charges of abducting and confining the princess.”

Kate: “Wait, please…Listen to me--!”

There was no way my voice would be heard…and we were transported to the royal castle in separate carriages.

(What should I do… Jude was arrested because of me.)

From what I read in the books, I’ve got a good idea of how wizards are treated.

Instead of having the crime overlooked, he will be forced to work to protect the country and attack the enemy.

(Jude still has a promise he wants to fulfill…)

--“Even if I die, I won’t break my promise.”

Kate: “…?”

I thought I heard someone’s voice, and right after that the world around me became distorted.

(Ah…? I think I hit my head earlier--)

I closed my eyes tightly until the dizziness subsided, and when I opened them, I saw--.

An unfamiliar back alley.

Kate: “…what, where…?”

I don’t know why, but the image reflected in the mirror is that of a young girl. She looks to be about ten years old or so.

(Is that…me when I was younger?)

I was wearing a pretty, expensive-looking dress, so it didn’t appear as though I was living in England.

At that moment—I heard the yelling of several adults from across the alley.

Male voice: “Catch him! Catch him alive!”

Male voice: “This… took so much time and effort, but finally--!”

When I looked out of the alley, I saw a boy around the same age as me being chased by adults.

He was covered in scars, but his eyes were burning fiercely as if he hated everything in this world.

The child almost passed in front of the alley where I was--.

Kate: “…Hide—”

Boy: “Wha!?”

I couldn’t help but pull him in.

Hiding behind a wooden box, I hear the heavy footsteps of adults moving away, and I breathe a sigh of relief.

Kate: “…It seems like they’re gone. Why were you being chased? Are you hurt--?”

Boy: “…You don’t know who I am. I’m sure I’m wanted all over the country.”

Kate: “Really? How could such a small child…”

Boy: “Small child, you’re about the same age right?”

(Ah…Maybe--)

Kate: “Can you use magic?”

Boy: “—what if I could?”

I could clearly feel his apprehension rising.

It was said “Wizard children are sometimes put on a wanted list in order to keep them around as a valuable asset.”,

I remembered that heartless sentence.

Kate: “I won’t capture you, so don’t worry.”

Boy: “…ha, I doubt that. You look like an aristocrat or a member of the royal family. I can’t trust someone with a lot of money and power.”

Kate: “It’s true! …you were put on the wanted list even though you’re innocent,”

Kate: “It’s absolutely unfair to have your life threatened or your freedom taken away…!”

It reminds me how Jude was attacked almost every day in that castle deep in the mountains.

Before I knew it, the words were pouring out, letting out the frustration that had built up during the days I spent in that castle.

Kate: “Ah… I’m sorry, I just had to say that out loud.”

Boy: “Haha, why are you apologizing to me? No problem, I agree with you.”

Boy: “… your face doesn’t seem like it can tell a lie.”

Boy: “It would make you an evil person to get the bounty through deception, and you don’t seem to have the ability to use your wit—ah?”

Boy: “Hey, show me your face.”

Kate: “Eh? I—”

The boy pulled my face closer to his and looked into my eyes, squinting as if searching for something.

(Cold… but beautiful eyes.)

Boy: “Tsk… Why do people like you end up with such a disease.”

Kate: “Disease…?”

Boy: “You have about ten years left.”

Kate: “Eh, what…!? Does that mean I’ll die in ten years…!?”

Boy: “I won’t let you die, as I owe you my life.”

Boy: “Ten years from now, before you die, I’ll stop time.”

Boy: “I don’t know how many years it will take to find a cure, but I think 100 years will be enough.”

Kate: “Wait…What do you mean?”

Boy: “You’re a dull princess. I’m trying to help you and you’re crying and screaming as thanks.”

Boy: “Even if I die, I won’t break my promise.”

A finger poked me in the forehead.

Boy: “Ten years from now—you’ll prick your finger on a spinning wheel and fall into a 100-year sleep.”

Kate: “W-why do I have to get priced by a spinning wheel…?”

Boy: “Because it looks like that, I don’t know. And you—you seem to like pain.”

A mocking, arrogant smile appeared on his thin lips, and I was taken aback.

Kate: “—You and I, have we met somewhere…?”

--The next thing I knew, I was being rocked by the carriage that I’d been pushed into by the soldiers of the national army.

(Just now… for a dream, it felt extremely vivid.)

I could still clearly feel the touch of his fingertip on my forehead.

“Time is no irreversible, and space is not absolute. Past and future, and other worlds can be connected.”

(The past and present are connected…?)

I was in England, came to this world—and now I made a promise with Jude from the past.

The idea was so farfetched, but the dots were connected and it emerged as the truth.

Kate: “Now, Jude is being held prisoner—The curse, the promise is…”

Kate: “That promise you just made with me…?”

--Flashback—

King: “…You got into a fight with me that night, and you snuck out of the castle. Then, you lost consciousness and collapsed in a back alley.”

--End Flashback—

When I think about it, I can understand why I have no memory of that time.

I met Jude in the back alley because that’s who I am now.

When I came to this world, I made a promise with Jude from the past.

So, before I met Jude from the past, I had no memories of him.

(Still… I didn’t think of the curse as something to be afraid of.)

(Jude didn’t curse me because of a grudge.)

(It was to buy time to find a cure for me.)

In other words, as per the curse, I have to pricked by the spinning wheel.

A sleep to stop death, to fulfill his promise.

Kate: “The spinning wheel…”

Kate: “I have to find the spinning wheel—”

Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Bitter End | Premium End | Epilogue

[dystopicjumpsuit]

Stars Beyond Number - Chapter 2

The Dead Land

Rating: T (rating varies by chapter; mature content will be tagged; regardless of rating, minors DNI)

Pairings: Echo x Riyo Chuchi; Gregor x OFC Cerra Kilian

Wordcount: 2.4k

Warnings: canon-typical violence, non-specific injury, angst, nightmares (not described)

Suggested Listening:

Summary: Echo runs his first mission for Rex's resistance cell and learns more about his new companions.

A/N: This story shares continuity with Martyrs and Kings and "Do It Again," but all three fics can be read as stand-alones.

Previous Chapter | Next chapter | Masterlist | Sign up for my tag list | Read on AO3

This is the dead land

This is cactus land

—T. S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

“I’m scanning at least four Venators in various stages of decommissioning,” Cerra said. “This one, near the equator, is still mostly intact. Probably our best bet for a functional pod.”

“Planetary security looks tight,” Echo said. “And there’s an Imperial outpost under construction. Looks like the Empire wants to oversee the Scrapper Guild in person here. If they spot us, it will complicate the mission.”

“Got a better option?” Cerra asked.

“No,” he conceded. “I don’t suppose I do.”

“Then let’s hope they don’t spot us.”

Entering atmosphere was bumpy as hell, and the sub-light drive was still making that disconcerting racket, but despite Echo’s pessimism, their shuttle went undetected. He flew low over the Venator, scouting for a landing zone that was at least somewhat secure.

“Any chance you can put us down on the flight deck?” Cerra asked.

“Negative,” Echo replied. “It’s blocked by debris.”

“Figures,” she sighed.

“There,” Echo said after a few moments of searching. “Plenty of cover, not too far from the Venator.”

He landed the shuttle as Cerra readied the cargo floater. Echo exited first, scanning for hostiles before motioning her forward.

“On the plus side, the shuttle blends in with the rest of the junk,” Cerra muttered.

They moved as quickly as possible with the unwieldy cargo floater, keeping a wary eye for Scrapper Guild members. The path was rough and littered with sharp, twisted durasteel fragments and shards of broken transparisteel. Cerra wore sturdy work boots and durable clothing, and she had a blaster strapped to her thigh, but Echo hated how vulnerable she appeared without armor or a helmet. If she slipped and fell, she could easily sever an artery in this scrapheap. He resolved to help her get her gear in order before the next time she went offworld. 

They picked their way stealthily to the massive ship, and once aboard, made their way through the shadowy corridors. Cerra seemed to know exactly where she was going, and Echo realized she must have spent a significant amount of time on a Venator. The ships were confusing to navigate even when they were powered up and illuminated, and based on the amount of dust and refuse that littered the passageways, this one hadn’t been operational in a long time.

When they finally reached the med bay, Cerra dropped her satchel and got to work while Echo stood guard.

“Better make sure this thing actually works before I tear it out,” Cerra said.

“I hope you don’t need me to restore power to the ship,” Echo said, remembering Bracca. “I’m not making that mistake again.”

“Rex warned me,” Cerra said. “I brought an auxiliary power unit. It doesn’t have enough juice to actually run the pod, but I can at least make sure it’ll turn on.”

She connected a cable to her small power unit, and pumped her fist in victory when the screen flickered to life. 

“Wizard,” she mumbled, disconnecting the cable and immediately beginning the complicated process of uninstalling the pod. She worked in efficient silence, stopping occasionally to consult a datapad, and within an hour, they loaded the surgical pod onto the cargo floater and began their return journey to the shuttle. 

“I need to make a detour,” Echo said as they approached the armory. 

Cerra nodded and moved to guard the entrance, blaster ready. Echo quickly found what he was searching for, extracted it, and returned to the cargo loader. Cerra didn’t question him once he was back, merely resumed her rapid progress. With the cargo floater fully loaded, it was trickier to get out of the Venator than it had been to get in, and Cerra lost her footing, tumbling down the hull and slamming to the ground.

Echo cursed and ran to help her. “You good?”

“Yeah, all good,” she said. “Gloves are toast, though.”

She stripped off the mangled gauntlets. They had, fortunately, protected her hands from being cut when she scrambled for purchase on the jagged piles of scrap, but in their present state, they would only serve to hamper her dexterity.

“Better not fall again,” she said with a shrug.

As the shuttle came into view, Echo spotted movement and froze.

“We’ve got a problem,” he said grimly. “Scrappers have found the shuttle.”

“I guess the camouflage wasn’t as good as I thought,” Cerra said. “How many?”

“Three at least. We need to get rid of them before they call for backup.”

Cerra craned her neck to see around the pile of rubbish where they were hiding. “Damn. It’d be nice to have a sniper right about now.”

Echo chuckled drily. “Yeah. Ready?”

“Say the word, boss.”

“Go.”

They got as close as they could before they broke cover and fired on the scrappers. They stunned the three they could see, and Echo ran to secure the ship while Cerra retrieved the cargo floater. As he powered up the shuttle, he could see her running full tilt toward him, pushing the cumbersome lift ahead of her. Just when he began to think they’d managed to make a clean break, he saw a flash in his peripheral vision, and a shot blasted into the floater as a scrapper opened fire on Cerra from their vantage point inside the hulk of a derelict freighter. Cerra ducked behind the surgical pod and returned fire, and Echo ran to back her up, cursing. He laid down cover fire as she wrangled the floater up the shuttle ramp, and as soon as she slapped the control to close the ramp, he leapt back into the pilot’s seat and took off.

The shuttle jostled from the impact of blaster bolts as the scrapper continued firing, but within seconds, they were out of range. Cerra secured the cargo as Echo piloted them out of atmosphere, and as soon as they were clear of the planet’s gravity well, they jumped to hyperspace.

It was the middle of the night when they arrived at the repair shop, but Gregor was waiting on the landing platform outside the garage. As they disembarked, he sent Echo a casual salute and handed Cerra a cup of caf.

“Did I ever tell you you’re my favorite commando?” she asked, gulping the hot liquid as though it were life itself.

“I think I’m the only commando you know,” Gregor chuckled.

“Still my favorite,” she said. “Ugh, I can’t wait to shower. That planet was disgusting.”

“I’m afraid it’ll have to wait,” Rex said. “The timeline for Fireball’s extraction just got a lot tighter. We need to finalize our plan tonight and move out in the morning.”

Cerra shrugged. “Your call, Cap. You’re the one who has to smell me.”

As Cerra walked into the garage, Gregor narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re injured.”

“It’s nothing,” she said.

Echo glanced at her and realized she was hunching slightly to the side as though to protect her ribs, and he cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. There was no blaster wound, so she must have hurt herself when she slid off the hull of the Venator. Gregor arched a disbelieving eyebrow and strode directly to the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets until he found a small medkit.

“Let me see,” he ordered.

“Bossy,” Cerra grumbled, but she shed her jacket and sat obediently on the sofa. 

Gregor peeled her shirt up her torso, and Echo turned away to give her privacy. Still, he heard Gregor’s hiss.

“Karking hell, Cerra.”

“It looks worse than it is,” she said.

“Really? Because it looks like you got drop-kicked all the way to Karthon and back. What happened?”

“I fell off a spaceship like a kriffing idiot,” she said. “Are we going to get this mission briefing started, or are we all just going to stand around yammering about nothing?”

Rex frowned. “Don’t you want to wait until Gregor finishes with the bacta?”

“I want to take a farking shower,” she snapped, and despite himself, Echo glanced at her, surprised by the sharpness in her tone.

Gregor worked quickly, but it was obvious that Cerra was in a considerable amount of pain. Her eyes were squeezed shut, and her clenched fists shook as they rested on her knees.

“Almost finished,” Gregor murmured quietly.

“Good,” she said as her voice broke. 

“Does it hurt when you breathe?” She merely shrugged in response, and Gregor gave her an impatient look. “I need to know if you cracked any ribs.”

“Why? Nothing you can do for that anyway,” she said.

“I can put you on light duty,” Rex said.

Cerra shot him an irate glare. “Nope, doesn’t hurt to breathe. In fact, I feel great. Never been better. Can we please, please get started?”

“Fine,” Rex sighed as he began to outline the plan of attack.

Gregor finished with the bacta as Rex spoke, then put away the medkit and quickly returned to the sofa. As he sat, he gave Cerra’s hand a little squeeze, and she leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder as she closed her eyes. Echo would have thought she had fallen asleep, except she occasionally asked a clarifying question or commented on the plan.

As Rex wrapped up the briefing, he said, “It’s vital that we remove Fireball’s chip as soon as possible, so Cerra will remain here and get the surgical pod operational. Any questions?”

Gregor and Echo shook their heads. Cerra watched Rex with an unreadable expression. When nobody spoke up, Rex dismissed them all with orders to get some sleep. Gregor went to the barracks, while Echo headed for the refresher, just as desperate for a shower as Cerra. As he left, he overheard her speak to Rex in a low voice.

“Can I have a word?” she asked.

The two disappeared into the small office at the back of the garage, and Echo took the longest shower of his life, reveling in the luxury of hot water. As much of his life as he’d spent on starships, he was accustomed to the efficiency of sonic showers, but there was no way in hells that he would opt for the sonic when a real shower was available. By the time he finished, he was relaxed and bone-weary, and he headed straight for the barracks.

A low, strained conversation emanated from behind the office’s closed door. Echo didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but his cranial implant amplified Cerra and Rex’s voices as they argued.

“—can handle himself. He has more training than any of us,” Rex said.

“It’s not about his ability,” Cerra said. “It’s about keeping him alive. He’s been through enough.”

Echo slowed to a halt. Were they arguing about him? Did Cerra not think he was capable? He frowned. She hadn’t said anything during their mission to Karthon, and she’d seen him in action. He could take care of himself, and he didn’t need her interfering with Rex’s plans.

“We need his infiltration skills,” Rex said.

“Dank farrik, Rex, you saw the extent of his brain damage when AZI removed his chip. Another hit could kill him.” Cerra kept her voice down, but her distress was evident.

Gregor, Echo understood suddenly. Cerra was worried about Rex’s plan to use him on the extraction team. Echo hadn’t realized how severe the injuries hiding beneath the commando’s irreverent disposition were.

“He knows it’s dangerous,” Rex argued.

“He doesn’t care about the danger because he trusts you so much that he’ll do anything you order,” Cerra said. “Use Echo on the infil team instead. Please, Rex. He’s just as skilled as Gregor, and he’s not at risk in the same way.”

“You know Gregor will never let me ground him,” Rex said.

“I’m not asking you to ground him. I’m asking you to assign him to pilot the ship instead of being part of the extraction team.”

“Cerra, I will protect him,” Rex began.

“Like you protected Fives?” Her voice cut like a vibroblade.

Despite himself, Echo gasped. Rex was silent.

“I’m sorry,” Cerra said after a tense moment. “That was out of line.”

“No,” Rex replied. “You’re right. I’ll put Gregor on pilot duty.”

After a long pause, Cerra finally responded. “Thank you.”

Echo realized he’d been listening much longer than he’d intended to. Shaking himself, he hurried to the barracks and climbed into his bunk. It was some time before Cerra entered, and Echo assumed she must have finally gotten her shower. She moved silently through the shadowed room and climbed into her own bunk. She must have been exhausted, because within a few minutes, he could hear her breath even out as she dropped into slumber.

He was jealous of her ability to fall asleep so easily. He’d never slept well, even before Skako Minor, and his insomnia had only gotten more severe after his experience with the Techno Union’s particular brand of hospitality. Still, he must have dozed off at some point, because quite suddenly, his eyes snapped open at the sound of a distressed whimper.

The sound was barely audible. Echo probably wouldn’t have even heard it if he hadn’t been so restless already. The cry came again, muffled and indistinct, and Cerra thrashed in her bunk. 

Gregor moved with such impressive stealth that Echo didn’t even realize he’d gotten up until he heard the commando quietly murmur words of comfort under his breath.

“Gregor?” Cerra asked in a hushed, broken voice.

“Shh, I’m here,” he whispered.

The bunk creaked, and Echo heard the soft rustle of bedding being rearranged.

“I’ve got you,” Gregor said softly. “You’re safe. I’m not going anywhere.”

Cerra shuddered, and a muffled sob followed by stifled, gasping breaths rang out through the barracks. Echo could tell that she was trying to stay quiet by pressing her hands over her mouth. 

“It’s all right,” Gregor soothed. “All the way out, remember? One, two, three, four, five. You’re all right, sweetheart, I have you. Now breathe in. One, two, three, four, five.”

Echo had an uncomfortable sense of voyeurism, as though he were intruding on an intensely private moment, but there was nothing to be done. Gregor continued to quietly coach Cerra until she brought her breathing under control. Once again, the barracks descended into silence, and at last, Echo fell asleep. When he awoke early the next morning, Gregor and Cerra were still curled up together in Cerra’s bunk, fast asleep. Gregor was lying, fully clothed, on top of the blanket, with Cerra’s body tucked securely against him and his arms wrapped around her.

---

Previous Chapter | Next chapter

[zahri-melitor]

New(ish) Comics:

Batman/Superman: World's Finest #31: This honestly felt like a straight JLA story. Which I don't mind, but can I say that I would prefer more actual Bruce and Clark content?

Jenny Sparks #2: okay, as a Jenny Sparks story it remains terrible, as an examination of Tom King's psyche...I think it's going to read better in trade, as there's a bunch of timeline jumps happening here.

I'm very reminded of a lot of tricks he used with Mister Miracle here, and the art is again trying for that prestige look with lots of repeating panels of the same shape and characters moving through them.

Batman & Robin: Year One #1: look, I've been somewhat down on this, given I didn't think we really needed a third brand-new-Robin Dick story in three years (this, Last Halloween, and Robin & Batman), plus World's Finest.

However, it is very very very cute, as expected. Lots of ratbag tiny Dick balancing on things he shouldn't and jumping off them. The giant R on the back of Dick's belt is confusing me a little but I guess it's so he's got branding in both directions? And I'm glad there are no long pants in sight, given WF put them on him immediately.

The Warlord #68: This week we are STILL in Wizard World, sigh.

I am going to call out Dan Jurgens' incredible experimental framing here for the double page title spread: (The Warlord frequently has these double pages that mean you need to turn the floppy to admire them for titles)

The rest of the issue is just Mikola carrying on even more about being a werewolf, Jennifer separating his wolf from his human parts (so Mikola now has a wolf he has a psychic connection with he needs to learn to control), and Mariah firmly telling Mikola she's with Machiste now.

Absolute Power Updates:

Absolute Power: Super Son #1: Other people who care more about Jon have said a bunch of intelligent things about this. My major comment is that for a comic that's in the middle of an event and that contains a number of characters with very few on page appearances (I'm thinking both Nia AND Galaxy), having them appear in a dream sequence where they're acting out of character isn't the greatest choice. There are absolutely people reading this comic for whom it's one of their first interactions with the character, and so they don't have the background to work out what's in character and what's the distorted dream behaviour.

Superman #18: Clark trades a lie to Neron to get the map they want. This is...fine? It explains how Zatanna's popping up getting people from A to B.

Wonder Woman #13: Yeah I don't really like Tom King's characterisation of either Diana or Damian in this. I did like all the background character cameos in the rescue though and Plas and Ralph comparing stretching facts.

I read the Trinity backup and...yeah while I believe Damian would frame stories to show him in the best light, I disbelieve he'd frame them like that.

[tagamantra]

Huge ass detail map for the region of the first few Arcs of THE KNIGHT VAGRANT. Pemi Archipelago is a sun-scourged land inspired by the likes of Borneo, Bali, Sulawesi, Mindanao, and the Ryukyu Archipelago. It is situated right beside the End of the World to the Southeast, where the islands eventually end into eternal sea.

THE KNIGHT VAGRANT is my ongoing new weird progression spirit cultivation fantasy web serial on Royal Road! If you're interested, blurb below the cut hehe

A world shorn of light. A mystic swordhand shorn of memory. Let your Will be done. Until all beings are free.

Death held them, once, for the quickest second. Until the Adamantine Path reaped its due.

Raxri Uttara the Once-Dead walks again, rejuvenated by the Medicine Awoken. A swordgendered blade saint now shorn of their accumulation. Arisen, without memory, they must wander again this Wheel of Wandering, wield the God-Dissolving Darkness to flense away the forgetting's dirt, so that they may arrive again at the truth, and learn new mystic and martial arts to recover their failing Will Furnace. They must seek revelation from their past, understand again the vaunted world of the Utter Islands, and choose, ultimately, between vengeance or enlightenment. If they could remember who or what wronged them...

Upon that peak, will they choose the right blade? Let their enlightenment be that such a duality is delusion.The Termagant Buddha watches closely.

Giant cats turned into apartment complexes, ghost horse steeds that tire not, walking giant mechanical armors turned into public transportation, charnel wizards summoning the long-dead, witches wielding the Pureflame of Creation, the Machine God beginning its slick advance into forever progress... the Age of Furor is upon us.

The Latter Day of the Law.

THE KNIGHT VAGRANT is a new weird progression fantasy web novel in the universe of Wandering, a world wrought from Esoteric Buddhism and Maritime Asia!

WHAT TO EXPECT

- Progression Fantasy that is Journey to the West meets Naruto meets Cradle by Will Wight, Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin, and Grace of Kings by Ken Liu.

- An MC that has lost all memory and power and must claw their way back up, relearning everything they've done during their years as a prodigious cultivator, accumulator and attainer. They're also essentially an attractive androgynous nonbinary femboy MC who is not a twink and is an archetypical Holy Fool Trickster (with an emphasis on the Fool early on!) inspired by the likes of Sun Wukong, Shakyamuni Buddha, Monkey D Luffy, and Padmasambhava.

- Multiple Cultivation Systems within the world, with the primary one inspired by Esoteric/Tantric Buddhism. Expect classic Daoist Cultivation, Dual Cultivation, Animistic Cultivation, Hermetic Cultivation, Esoteric Muslim Cultivation, Tantric Shaivist Cultivation, Esoteric Catholic Cultivation and more!

- A mystic esoteric fantasy archipelago inspired by cultures and faiths of the Nirvana Route/Maritime Silk Road (From the Arabian Sea to India to Indonesia to the Philippines to China to Korea to Japan)!

- In depth supernatural martial arts inspired by my own practices in FMA, Muay Thai, Karate, and MMA!

- A unique, Southeast Asian twist on the cultivation genre, emphasizing unique combinations and interesting parallels from Southeast Asian cultures with East Asian cultures!

- An adventure story inspired by the likes of Elden Ring, One Piece, Dragon Ball, and Journey to the West!

- Content Warnings for the following: Violence, Body Horror, Mild Horror, Mild Sexual Content (can get racy but nowhere near smut!), Bigotry, Warfare, Class Struggle, Revolution, Betrayals, Strong Language

[nobodysdaydreams]

TMBS Fairytale AU Show Version

Based on this lovely post by @cronch-goes-the-weasel and this awesome post by @sophieswundergarten and also this post that was one of the first posts I've ever made because for some reason I really liked the idea of SQ as a Disney Prince and thought the world should know about it, so much so, that I decided to get a tumblr just so I could tell people.

Warning: The content of this AU is long and insane. Reader discretion is advised.

Premise: As I have developed this story, some characters have no magic powers, some have magic powers that they have to study to learn how to use, and others have naturally occurring magic powers, to various degrees. Just roll with it, my brain is excited, but exhausted. Here we go.

Nicholas and Nathaniel are two poor orphan boys that grow up in a local orphanage, with no knowledge of where they came from. The boys both love studying magic and try to get their hands on any spell books they can find. Nicholas is adopted by a fairly well off family while Nathaniel is left behind.

Flash forward to years later, and Nathaniel has become an evil wizard who has taken over the world and declared himself king. He has a special school and is currently recruiting the most powerful magical or otherwise talented children to go through lifelong training to serve on his court and be his knights. His brother Nicholas, a kind-hearted and humble, but scattered brain wizard is the only one who can stop him.

The players in the story:

The Bad Guys:

Nathaniel/Curtain: Evil Wizard King. It's exactly what it sounds like.

Garrison: Chief member of Curtain's court (his right hand woman), and expert in all types of magic. She often advises Curtain against using dangerous magic, but he rarely listens. If we want to bring mythical creatures into this, I could see her being part fairy (more specifically an evil or outcast fairy).

Jeffers: Head of Curtain's current army (the greys). He can't use magic, but likes to think that he might be able to one day and attempts to do so often (it never works).

Jackson and Jillson: Curtain's jesters. They entertain him by doing little songs, dances, and puppet shows for the court, which Nathaniel Benedict, professional theater kid, appreciates. If we want to bring mythical creatures into this, they can be elves/part elf or some sort of quirky woodland creatures).

SQ: Prince and heir to the evil throne. His father teaches him magic (but not too much) and rarely lets SQ go outside or leave and explore certain parts of the castle. He spends most of his time painting and talking to wild animals in the gardens.

Martina: one of the best students Curtain has recruited and on track to become a knight and the head of his army.

The Good Guys:

Nicholas: a self-taught wizard/magic user who refuses to use dark or evil magic

Number Two: Wanted to be a knight ever since she was a little girl. She trained for years, and eventually became a knight that specializes in axe throwing.

Rhonda: a self-taught apothecary and healer that specializes in healing magic.

Milligan: man who was taken in by the team when he showed up on their doorstep with no memory. He has the sigil of what he believes to be Curtain's kingdom's symbol tattooed on his wrist and worries that this means he might have been a bad person once. Later, he has flashbacks of living and working in a palace with other higher ups, including Curtain, and fears the worst.

Reynie: An orphan boy who is ostracized by the others for being able to study magic. He answers Nicholas' advertisement hoping to gain the ability to study and develop his ability.

Miss. Perumal: Reynie's magic tutor who teaches him how to use his powers. She has some abilities herself, and if we want to bring mythical creatures into this, I could see her being part fairy.

Sticky: the high achieving son of deceased nobles who is under tremendous pressure to inherit his family's land and manage the family estate as his mother and father once did. He'd prefer to use his gift of intellect to study and help others, but his extended family insists that this is his destiny and he must spend his time learning things like manners and the ways of high society so he's ready when he comes of age. Sticky, feeling trapped and under pressure, sees Nicholas' advertisement, and runs away to answer it.

Kate: her main backstory doesn't have to change. She is a performer that goes from village to village in a traveling circus. She believes that she was abandoned by her father, who she recalls used to be some sort of knight. Eventually, she begins to long for more than circus life, and dreams of becoming a knight herself (but a good one. Not a bad one like the father who left her). She sees Nicholas' advertisement and decides to answer it.

Constance: She's extremely gifted in magic without ever having studied it, but she has no idea why. She can't remember much of her past and has been kicked out of orphanage after orphanage for things like accidently enchanting her bully's desk to be filled with bugs (Constance did not always mean to do this, but her emotions tend to manifest into real world events). Desperate to understand herself, she too answers the advertisement.

Now for the drama of it all. Nicholas discovers that the dark wizard that has cursed the land and declared himself king is in fact Nathaniel his brother. Meanwhile, the children have infiltrated Curtain's school and discover that Curtain plans to tighten his grip on the world by casting a final dark spell that will recruit all lords and ladies (the noble class, people with money, land, and influence), magic users, and knights to his side or otherwise will curse all who resist and leave them poor, alone, destitute, and without their memories or powers. However, Curtain has been struggling to get the spell to work and discovers that certain types of ancient magic can only be translated or understood by children (Nobody knows why. And I haven't thought that far ahead. Potential future twist maybe? But it explains why Curtain needs the kids).

Anyway, Curtain sees that Reynie seems to have a gift for magic and Sticky is quite knowledgeable when it comes to reading ancient texts. So he gives the boys an opportunity to study under him personally. At first, he identifies with Reynie as an misunderstood orphaned magic user and dismisses Sticky because he can tell by his manners and his knowledge of high society that he comes from money (like those rich snobs who adopted Nicholas). But eventually, Curtain realizes that Reynie is too hesitant to use dark magic (if you're hesitant to use it, it doesn't work as well), so he focuses on training Sticky as his apprentice, telling Sticky that he simply wants to learn more about the land's dark history so as not to repeat the mistakes of the past. His goal is to get Sticky to decipher the codes and spells for him, and then Curtain can hopefully use his own magic to cast the spell, or if he must convince another child to do so, find one that is powerful enough and willing to cast the spell. Curtain also casts his own spells that give Sticky good feelings and make him want to comply. While under the influence of the magic, Sticky figures since he's just really intelligent, but doesn't use magic himself, then what's the worst that could happen if he helps Curtain translate a few things? After all, working with him will enable him to get more information about his plans.

Meanwhile, Martina and Kate are training as knights and develop a rivalry that turns to unlikely friendship that is torn asunder when Martina realizes Kate has been a spy. Constance has been doing her best to hide her powers ever since the children realize Curtain is looking for powerful children for his work. However, since she isn't good at tests like Sticky or the training to be a knight like Kate, she is placed under the care of Jackson and Jillson (who find her to be a delightful small child) in order to train to be an entertainer and court jester. Constance hates every minute of this, and lessons include juggling, puppeteering, and joke telling. Sometimes her powers do activate and cause chaos, but Jackson and Jillson believe this is part of the performance and a testament to her talent. SQ, fed up with palace life and ready to enter his Disney Princess™️ era, sneaks into the part of the palace his father has reserved for his school and pretends to be a regular student. While there he befriends Reynie and eventually learns of his father's true plans, but Reynie still never learns that SQ is the king's son (indeed, most people are only vaguely aware Curtain even has a son, and most imagine him to be this super powerful and intimidating guy).

The main conflict (basically season 1): There is a final fight between the children and Curtain where Constance reveals her powers. Curtain sees an opportunity to use her for his spell, but she overpowers him. Martina and Kate duel and Kate wins, offering Martina a chance to come with them, but Martina angrily refuses, humiliated to have been defeated, and calls Kate a coward for not finishing her off. Kate replies that that's not who she is, and she doesn't believe that's who Martina is either. Martina says that Kate doesn't know her.

Nicholas shows up at the palace to confront Curtain, who is still angry about what happened between them and claims that putting the world under his order is what is best. Nicholas is shocked that his brother has done this, because Nathaniel never used dark magic when they were kids, both of them believing it was dangerous and evil. Nicholas asks his brother what changed, and Curtain tells him that he grew up and realized that the "power of love" and "good magic" can't solve everything and that some people need to make necessary sacrifices. Nicholas seems heartbroken, and Curtain, in a strange moment of sentimentality, offers Nicholas a chance to join him in exchange for forgiving his friends and family of their transgressions against him. Nicholas refuses, and Reynie and Sticky succeed in undoing some of the dark spells Curtain has cast over the world. Realizing he is losing his control, Curtain responds by casting a simple sleeping spell on Nicholas and escaping with his followers (all other bad guy characters mentioned). Everything plays out much like it does in the show, with Kate and Milligan realizing that they are father and daughter.

Now season 2. Curtain kidnaps Nicholas and brainwashes him to join him and help promote his rule, claiming that Curtain's magic and his rule are good things. The others try to save him. Meanwhile, Martina begins to have doubts about their mission and voices them to Jackson and Jillson, who assure her that she is doing the right thing.

SQ confronts his father with the information he has learned only to be repeatedly dismissed and told that he must trust that this is for the best. SQ instead does some snooping on his own and discovers that his birth parents were once rulers of an island nation and that Curtain was their friend and advisor on their court. He then assumes that Curtain must have used dark magic to betray them, kill them, and take over. Terrified, he runs away under the cover of night, and eventually bumps into Reynie, the only person he remembers meeting at the Institute. The kids explain that they are going to rescue their leader, Mr. Benedict, who wants to stop the dark wizard (Curtain) from taking over the world. SQ, learning his father has a twin for the first time, makes the split second decision to join them in their mission, while wondering what else his father has lied to him about. The children discover that SQ can do some simple spells that his father taught him, is pretty well educated, and although not exactly athletic, does know some basic fighting techniques. SQ teaches them what he knows, and they teach him things he doesn't know.

Meanwhile, Curtain's spell that he used to make Nicholas join him and comply begins to have disturbing side effects. He goes to Garrison for help, but she tells him that she warned him against using that kind of magic, and that it can't be reverse. He tells her that he will find a way, no matter what it takes. He then discovers his son is missing, and when he's spotted with the society, Curtain claims (and believes) they've kidnapped and brainwashed SQ and offers a reward to capture and bring them to the palace. This leads the others discover that SQ is Curtain's son. At first, they worry he's a spy, but SQ eventually convinces them that he's on their side, and that he is ready to fight his father and figure out the truth.

The kids show up to stop Curtain. Martina fights SQ at first, and is about to beat him, when Kate saves him by distracting Martina. Martina fights Kate again and this time she wins, but can't bring herself to kill Kate, admitting that Kate was right about her and about Curtain. Martina then decides to join them, much to the dismay of Jackson and Jillson, who blow trumpets alerting the greys of their arrival. Jeffers and his men show up to fight Martina and Kate (and Milligan and Number Two, who show up just in time).

Reynie, Sticky, Rhonda, and Miss. Perumal try some spells to help Mr. Benedict, but it doesn't work. Then Curtain and Garrison show up. Curtain puts a simple sleeping spell on Rhonda and Miss. Perumal. The boys are horrified, but Curtain explains that they will awaken in a few hours, once they've been escorted to their cells. The boys demand to know what will happen to Mr. Benedict. Garrison tells them they have no hope of helping Nicholas and that she warned Curtain this would happen. Curtain angrily replies that he gave her everything, including a chance to develop and practice her magic with no limitations, but she was only interested in holding him back, and she shouldn't pretend to care about his brother. The boys, realizing that Curtain does care about Mr. Benedict, try to convince him to turn good, but he replies that he is good and they are the ones that need to change.

He freezes the boys with magic and is about to cast a spell on them, when Constance arrives and challenges Curtain to rematch. The original plan was to have Constance only intervene if necessary, because the others suspected that after last time, Curtain and Garrison might have figured out a way to siphon off her magic. Curtain, hungry for power and realizing that taking her magic might enable him to both save Nicholas and keep his power, offers Constance a deal. Join him, give up her magic, and help him save Nicholas and he'll release her friends. He even does a truth spell on himself to verify he is telling the truth (idk if the narcolepsy thing is in this, this is already so much I don't want to add more, but if it is, he falls asleep and this verifies that he's telling the truth). Constance is about to agree, when SQ bravely runs in and challenges his dad to a duel of magic and sword. Curtain, who does not recognize his son with a helmet over his head, believes this is just some random knight and tries to magic him away, but finds to his surprise that this random knight has some fairly good countering spells. So they duel a bit, but Curtain gets the upper hand. In frustration at his plans being delayed, Curtain begins casting a painful and damaging spell on SQ, causing him to groan and scream in pain, at which point, his helmet falls off. Curtain immediately drops his hands, horrified at what he's done, and runs to his son's side. SQ weakly asks if this is what his father did to his birth parents. Curtain vehemently denies it, shocked his son would ask that, and it's heavily implied that something went wrong in the past that resulted in Curtain trying to use dark magic to fix it, but that ultimately, he wasn't powerful enough, and it resulted in the deaths of SQ's birth parents (I guess this is an SOS AU now. I don't know anymore).

Curtain asks SQ why he would turn against his own family, and SQ tells his father about how trapped he felt in the sheltered palace life Curtain had set up for him and how betrayed he felt that his father had kept so much from him. Curtain replies that he was only ever trying to protect him. SQ starts growing weaker and weaker as Nicholas' side effects start getting worse. Garrison is sad to see them both in pain and dying, but tells Constance and Curtain that she's not powerful enough to fix it, and that most of the magic that would is too powerful, even for any of them. Curtain, upon hearing this, attempts a spell that will exchange his own life for SQ's, but finds he's not powerful enough to use it, and that the dark magic he's been using has left him too corrupted to effectively cast a self-sacrificing spell. Curtain starts to cry and tells SQ that he loves him, hugging him close to his chest. SQ replies weakly, gasping for breath that despite everything, he loves his father too. This begins to heal SQ (power of love and all that. Beautiful stuff. What? It's a fairytale. I can give it a fairytale ending).

Constance, seeing that love was able to heal SQ, decides to give it a try. She walks over to Mr. Benedict and tells him that the reason she denied his offer of adoption was because she was scared of him leaving her like she assumes her parents must have. But now, she wishes she had accepted his offer, and that they had more time together because she would love to spend every second of it with him as her family. This heals Nicholas.

Happy ending right? Wrong. Curtain takes SQ to the palace on the islands where his birth parents lived (which had since been abandoned, but SQ realizes the sigil of his birth parents is the same one Curtain was using). Curtain then goes off on his own journey to released the world from his dark spells, with Nicholas to help him. The twins complete the task and return to the islands to find SQ missing (and a message from home via urgent carrier pigeon confirms Constance has gone missing as well). The twins investigate and find a mysterious woman occupying the islands. They demand to know where their children have gone. She tells them that they will be fine, provided the twins are willing to comply and embrace their destinies. She then introduces herself as their sister and says they have a lot to talk about.

And that's all I got. Please don't ask me to finish this, I'm tired. But I hope you like it.