#wizard city specifically is next!

[wonderjanga]

Imagine Billy and Mary and Freddy say from the start that they're siblings.

And the three of them somehow are all homeless street kids. Chaotic little gremlins.

And one day Black Adam sees them transform and is like 'WHAT THE ACTUAL-'.

And you choose what happens next-

Teth didn’t even know how this happened. Or, well, he does, but he’s still having a hard time comprehending it. See, he was minding his business in an appropriate(suspicious) disguise while scouting Fawcett for the Champion. As for why he was looking for the champion, it was because the man was missing. The champion having disappeared was suspicious, considering the man washed over his city like a hawk. Anyways, he was walking around when all of a sudden he just spots this child with the bluest eyes he’s ever seen with a little girl who also has the bluest eyes he’s ever seen. The little boy unfortunately noticed him.

Billy: “Can I help you, mister?”

Ah. Adam was staring. Though, that was mostly because the young boy looked strikingly like Aman. Anyways, Adam didn’t even know how it happened, but one moment he was talking to the kid, the next he was giving him a bunch on Kahndaqi currency as if that’ll be useful to the boy. The kid still took it though.

Billy: *bright ahh smile* “Thanks, mister!”

Black Adam: “Yes…” *wondering if the kid used mind control for a moment* “I am now off to go torment Captain Marvel. Good day, stupid children.” *flies off*

Mary, Freddy, and Billy: *offended* “Hey!” *watch him go*

Billy: *still watching him fly off* “…Adam really sucks at disguising himself.”

Freddy: “No duh, he literally said he was gonna go torment you.”

Mary: *picks up one of the coins Adam gave them* “Do you guys think we could trade this with a fairy for money? They like shiny stuffs.”

Billy: “We probably could.”

Anyways, fast forward, three months and Teth, whenever he was in Fawcett, which was unfortunately becoming more and more frequent, kept feeding and giving money to these three little urchins that are somewhat (it’s actually more than somewhat, but he would never admit it) tolerable.

Then, the fateful day came. The children were standing at their usual spot, and Adam was flying over. Then, the blasted little old bald fool with the glasses, psoriasis or Savana or whatever his name was started attacking. The children ran into an alleyway, and because of the fact Adam could care less about Savannah he flew after them because the alleyway looked shady. He was then greeted with the three of them… transforming… into his worst enemies. Specifically, the one who looked like Aman, Billy, transformed into the Champion.

After the fight with Sivana…

Black Adam: “You…”

Marvel: *startles* “Black Adam! What’re you doing here?” *suspicious*

Black Adam: *ignores him and is kind of angry monologging* “I’ve… I’ve been giving you three money and food for months… You’ve been making a fool of me!”

Marvel, Junior, and Mary: *share looks with each other cause ‘uh oh, he knows*

Marvel: “Uh… well, no. We all actually eat all that and make good financial choices. All the money I get from my job goes to rent, and on top of that we all work odd jobs for food and utility money. You’ve been a great help.” *super duper sincere*

Junior and Mary: “You’ve helped us a lot, mister!”

Black Adam: “You’ve still been making a fool of me! Also, why do you three have the power of the Living Lightning?! You’re children!”

Junior: “So?”

Black Adam: “So, none of you should have anything to do with the Rock of Eternity or being the World’s Mightiest Mortal!”

Mary: “That’s more the Wizard’s fault, not ours. Or wait no, that’s Billy fault cause he’s the one who gave us our powers.”

*silence*

Black Adam: “…I can’t believe I’ve been fighting children the entire time.”

Junior: “I know, right? And you still lose.”

Black Adam: *wants to get angry at that but just can’t muster it* “I…” *in his mind says ‘f this’, turns around and flies off*

Adam basically stewed in anger while in Kahndaq before he came back after like a week and started feeding and giving money to the kids again. He now just ignores the fact that he knows Billy is Cap and just chooses to believe that they’re two different people and still fights him.

[marybatson]

BILLY BATSON WEEK 2025

It’s that time of the year again! 2025 marks the 85th Anniversary of Billy Batson as Captain Marvel debuting in Whiz Comics #2, the first official cover-dated issue released February 1940.*

A brief history In December of 1939, children at newsstands were picking up a particular issue with the cover of a flying man dressed in red, effortlessly lifting a car overhead. Bill Parker, senior editor at Fawcett Comics during this time, had developed a new kind of superhero: Billy Batson is a young orphan boy who transforms into a powerful champion named Captain Marvel at the drop of the word “SHAZAM!” He fights crime against notable villains together with a memorable cast of heroes he calls “family.”

A few years past their heyday, Fawcett Publications endured troubling legal problems that put their sales in jeopardy, eventually settling their dragging copyright case with National Comics Publications (predecessor of modern-day DC Comics) and putting Captain Marvel to rest indefinitely. The Captain’s return to comics happened in late 1972 under DC Comics, a run which the original artist C.C. Beck had worked on for only a year. Ever since, Billy Batson and his counterpart have appeared in many different iterations in many different comics, one of the only memories still enduring from a time already passed.

NOSTALGIA

The role of an archive is to make nostalgia obsolete. [...] Every comic book page is, like a work of scholarship, an act of recovery, or at times a dream in which nothing is ever lost, as past, present, and future make room for each other and exist in harmony. Studied carefully, a fanzine or a comic book, like Billy’s Historama, might reveal several lifetimes to us, one generation after another of names, faces, and stories. The art of nostalgia is figuring out which one to tell next.

— Captain Marvel and the Art of Nostalgia, Brian Cremins

This year’s overall theme is NOSTALGIA. Take this as you might, for however you interpret nostalgia—perhaps a reflection on your own personal narrative with Billy Batson, or an exploration between him and his own massive history, be it in-universe or with real life pop culture. You might even disregard the day-to-day prompts below and dedicate yourself to nostalgia thematically for the entire week! How you’d like to work with it is up to you.

Day 1 ☆ February 23, 2025 HOLY HISTORAMA

The Historama, similar to a crystal ball, is described as Shazam the Wizard’s “super-television screen,” of which he may use to see the past, present, and future. In later iterations, it presents itself as a book or object that displays any scene through time and, possibly, space. On this day, you might center the Historama itself, or explore any scenes of Billy’s history from any time or place.

Day 2 ☆ February 24, 2025 THE BOY OF ARTHURIAN LEGEND

Bill Parker, when asked to describe his inspiration for Captain Marvel, once said, “Specifically I got it from the Stories of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, stories with which I had been familiar and read as a child.”

At its core, the story of Billy Batson as Captain Marvel was a story about old wizards, spells, myths, and secrets—elements which children center their greatest fantasies and perhaps still carry with them throughout adulthood. Use this day to commemorate Billy Batson as a fulfilled fantasy, maybe as a knight facing dragons in some faraway world or a space-wandering sailor, the wildest childhood dream come true.

Day 3 ☆ February 25, 2025 SWEET HOME FAWCETT

This prompt is simply Fawcett: Fawcett Comics and their previous publications, possibly outside of Captain Marvel and friends, or Fawcett the city as depicted in the DC Comics iterations, home base of Billy and Captain Marvel.

Day 4 ☆ February 26, 2025 RETURN OF THE CHAMPION

Across his storied history, Captain Marvel has faced many setbacks in his journey back to comic book stands: previous lawsuits and settlements, harried DC Comics events, logistical decisions made behind closed doors. However many times he’s put on the back burner, Captain Marvel still manages to return in a triumph. We will see him again in fleeting appearances, celebrated homecomings, maybe a long-awaited reunion...

Day 5 ☆ February 27, 2025 THE WORLD HE LIVES IN

It is of note that, while Fawcett Comics held onto its hero as long as they could for the first few years, the DC Comics universe is where Billy and the Captain have held their home—for over fifty consecutive years. Use this as a day to reflect on Billy’s past DC universe adventures, from teams he’s been on to events he’s partaken in.

Day 6 ☆ February 28, 2025 A MARVELOUS FAMILY

Billy Batson’s not the only one with a candle to blow. Mary Marvel debuted in 1942, while Captain Marvel Junior had appeared much earlier, in 1941. Their contributions to the stories of Captain Marvel have been monumental in immortalizing his place as a beloved hero with weight and history. They are also deeply adored by Billy himself. Have this day to celebrate family, for each Marvel Family member who has added to the menagerie over the years, or to simply center Mary and Freddy and their own achievements.

Day 7 ☆ March 1, 2025 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BILLY

Happy Birthday Billy Batson! Give him a cake. Give him a balloon. Give him a present. Tell him how much you appreciate him. He is eighty-five years old. He looks timeless! Is the secret the amber from the Sivana suspendium?

This is a free day, open for anything.

How to participate On Tumblr (and elsewhere, if desired), use the hashtags #billybatsonweek and #bb85week simultaneously so that others might see and engage with your work. Late entries are always, always welcome. I’ll be sure to reblog all entries inside the tags for archival reasons, so please don’t hesitate to tag my blog!

The Archive of Our Own story collection is linked here.

On previous weeks Feel free to browse entries from previous years for inspiration, or reuse the old prompts altogether!

2022 Prompts Post / 2022 Entries

2023 Prompts Post / 2023 Entries

2024 Prompts Post / 2024 Entries / AO3 Collection

*FOOTNOTE: Captain Marvel/Billy Batson celebrated his genuine 85th Anniversary December 2024, a date which acknowledges his original on-the-shelves debut in December of 1939. The cover date used in this character celebration week corresponds with what DC Comics used in their 75th Anniversary year count.

[homunculus-argument]

I've got a book draft project that I call Book I Am Not Working On that I probably haven't touched for like four years now. I originally wrote the first draft of the first book like 10 years ago, didn't like the ending, and decided to write a Next Generation Reboot with the previous cast's offspring and niblings as the main characters. Skipping the world ahead 20 years, and having the new protagonists be Standard Fantasy Book Protagonist Aged, in their late teens and early 20s, they learn about the past book's events in glimpses, as almost mythical legends.

The new story's main protagonist is the niece of a character I originally wrote into the first book as a gag - a naive Farmboy Hero. In this one he's taken up the role of a Grim Mysterous Mentor, who tags along on the protagonist's misguided quest because he knows that he can't stop her, so the best he can do is help. And he mentions that there is this wise man that he used to know in his youth, who lived in this specific city - he is wise in the ways of the world, and if he is still alive, he should be able to help them.

The protagonist agrees to go find the man, and for the first quarter of the book, this Wise Man that Old Uncle Hiram Knew In His Youth is this grand and surely legendary Wonderful Wizard of Oz kind of a figure, who is surely all-powerful and could fix anything. After all, old uncle Hiram would trust him with his life, and uncle Hiram doesn't trust anybody.

And then they finally make it to The City, and find The Old Friend. Who is a completely normal-looking middle-aged guy in an apron, kind of fat and slightly balding, busy with five kids and a grandbaby. And he's just as surprised to see the protagonist and her uncle at his door.

So the protagonist's uncle and his friend retire into a more quiet room to discuss the problem at hand while the protagonist and the friend's eldest daughter head out to find new, additional problms, fully trusting that these Adultier Adults will know what to do.

Meanwhile, the two old friends sit down, and the Old Friend looks at the protagonist's uncle, just going "dude for fuck's sake. Twenty years and you haven't changed at all. All these years I thought you were dead and then you show up at my doorstep, plop a felony level problem on my lap like 'hey lol this wasn't even my problem before I decided to get involved, pls help lol' and expect me to fix it."

And Old Uncle Hiram, who in fact is only in his early 40s and suddenly doesn't seem all that old and wise at all, just shrugs like "yeah I kinda gambled my life (and my niece's life btw) on hoping that you wouldn't have changed at all, either. That you would agree to help us, while calling me a fucking idiot the whole time."

And the old friend goes "yeah no shit of course I'll fucking help. You fucking idiot."

[jadeshifting]

— TRAVELING THE MULTIVERSE vs TRAVELING THE WORLD

( a long-winded title for why you should never be scared to post about your niche, less-well-known or original DRs )

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

let’s be real: everyone and their mom is obsessed with jetting off to new places in the world. you know—scrolling through Pinterest boards of Paris cafes, watching vlogs of someone’s Bali retreat, or dreaming about backpacking through South America. we love soaking in the mystery of somewhere we’ve never been. but here’s the kicker: the multiverse is the ultimate travel destination, and it’s just as exciting to hear about someone’s niche desired reality as it is to hear about their trip to Rome

so why do shifters with “niche” DRs keep holding back? you think people only wanna hear about Hogwarts or being famous? PLEASE—we want to know about the far-off corners of your imagination—the places we didn’t even know existed until you opened your mouth. sharing those “off-the-beaten-path” DRs is like dropping us a postcard from another universe, and we fucking live for that

PASSPORT TO POSSIBILITY

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

in this reality, getting a passport is your ticket to explore the world. but shifting? that’s your multiversal passport, babe. and guess what? it’s got unlimited stamps

think about it—just like every country on Earth has its own unique vibe, culture, and history, every DR in the multiverse is brimming with flavor. you’re out here specifying realities with details so rich you could practically smell the street food or feel the cobblestones underfoot. why would you hold yourself back from sharing that kind of magic?

picture this: someone casually tells you they’re shifting to a DR where everyone speaks in rhymes, the skies are lavender, and the economy runs on fruit trading. that’s wild. that’s fresh. that’s kind of a great idea, scripting it right now—that’s the kind of content i need more of. don’t undermine your own creativity. the multiverse is endless, and your DR might be someone’s next “bucket list destination”

EVERY DESTINATION HAS A STORY

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

let’s talk travel bloggers for a sec, for the sake of examples. the best ones? they don’t just tell you about the tourist traps; they give you the juice. they show you the hole-in-the-wall cafe with the best fettuccine, or the tiny town with the down-low annual festival. and that’s exactly the energy i get excited for when you’re talking about your DRs

take Hogwarts, for example. we all wanna know what it’s like to sit in the Great Hall or attend Potions class (trust, we do), but if your DR is, say, a small coastal town in the Wizarding World where you run a little bookshop and spend your weekends drinking enchanted tea by the sea—i’d flip a table to read about that. it’s the details that make a place come alive, whether it’s in this reality or the one next door

your DR doesn’t have to be flashy or “mainstream” to be fascinating. in fact, the more specific and personal it is, the more i’m gonna eat it up

CULTURE SHOCK, BUT MAKE IT COSMIC

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

when people travel, one of the most exciting parts is witnessing and experiencing new cultures. trying new foods, hearing new languages, learning customs that are totally different from your own—it’s all part of the adventure. shifting is a similar deal, but on a cosmic scale

(eyeing those of us with completely original fantasy DRs) maybe your DR has a society where time doesn’t exist, the sky is a different color, or you’re going to work alongside trolls and fairies. maybe in your DR, everyone has a telepathic connection to their past. or maybe you’re in a city built on floating islands where people commute via hot air balloon. give it to me, NOW

don’t underestimate how fascinating and cool your DR sounds just because it doesn’t fit the typical mold. people love hearing about the unfamiliar—whether it’s a country they’ve never visited or a reality they’ve never even imagined

THE TOURIST TRAP MENTALITY

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

you know how everyone and their dog wants to see the Eiffel Tower, even though some people say it’s overrated? it’s totally natural to seek out common experiences, to want to experience and enjoy the same things others are raving about. people, including myself, often gravitate towards the most common DRs (especially when you’re just starting out shifting, and you’ve been given a ticket to the multiverse that you’re trying to make digestible)—Hogwarts, MCU, fame DRs. they’re familiar, there’s tons to read about them, and they’re beyond easy to romanticize. don’t get me wrong, those DRs are classics for a reason, but they’re certainly not the only stops on the multiversal map

your DR might not have a castle or superheroes or any magic at all, but it’s got you—your story, your vision, your unique little slice of the multiverse. and if you’re wanting and willing to share it, there’s always someone out there who’s gonna vibe with it hard—probably countless people. trust me, people are dying to hear about the realities they never even knew existed

SHARE THE JOURNEY, NOT JUST THE DESTINATION

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

part of what makes travel so fascinating is the stories people tell about getting there—the long flights, the missed trains, the odd stories in airports which are basically liminal spaces. shifting is the same way. it’s not just about where you’re going; it’s about all the intricacies of getting there (read: scripting, basically programming your destination into the GPS)

did you script a whole language for your DR? did you spend hours designing the perfect house? did you practically write a novel of the love story between you and your partner? that’s the good stuff. that’s the behind-the-scenes content that makes your DR feel real and relatable, even to the people that aren’t shifting there—to us, it’s like tugging back the curtain on the most creative film of all the time and showing everyone how it was done. you multiversal mastermind

THE BOTTOM LINE: YOUR DR IS YOUR POSTCARD TO THE MULTIVERSE

˚　　　　✦　　　.　　. 　 ˚　.　　　　　 . ✦　　　 　˚　　　　 . ★⋆. ࿐࿔

every DR is a little piece of the multiverse that you can bring to light. it doesn’t matter if it’s niche, weird, or completely out of left field. the more unique it is, the more people are gonna wanna hear about it

so stop worrying about whether your DR is “cool enough” or “popular enough.” share it. rant about it. paint us a picture of the world you’ve built, the life you’re living, and the adventures you’re having. because just like with travel, the most unexpected destinations are often the most unforgettable

post about whatever DRs you want !! i wanna read all of them. xoxo :^)

[justporo]

Be my remedy

Being in an established relationship is still very much uncharted territory for both Astarion and you. Thankfully, your companions arrange for you to have a moment of privacy.

MASTERLIST | AO3

Author's Note: Well, this was supposed to be nothing but a little warm-up drabble. But by now I doubt my ability to write anything below 2k words... So here you go with some fluffy fluff, enjoy!

Pairing: Astarion/GN!Tav (You) Warnings: talk of past trauma if you squint Wordcount: 2,2k

Song: Be My Remedy - House of Say

~~~

It hadn’t been that long since Astarion’s confession at Moonrise Towers and your promise to each other to actually try and be in a real relationship with each other. You’d agreed to take it slow and especially allow Astarion to have all the space he needed.

You couldn’t be happier. Your heart was overrunning with love every time you looked at him. Wanting nothing more but to see those soft happy smiles from the vampire again. Those he gave you in these moments when he felt comfortable and content while being with you – even if those were still short and mostly quickly overpowered by other stuff: worries about the next day, insecurity, fear of the future in general, Gale being annoying.

And the way it’s been almost chaste with him since you’ve committed yourselves to each other almost broke you. With how gentle and tentative this budding relationship was this far.

You’ve gotten used to spending the evenings and nights together in one of your tents. And you enjoyed the time spent simply talking or cuddling endlessly.

You’d also stolen small little touches and kisses time and again when the others were around. But you were still cautious with it. Partly, because this was first and foremost for the two of you to share and keep. But mostly because a sudden shyness had somehow befallen both of you, now that it was more than just sultry flirting and sneaking off into the woods at night. Now that you were both sure that real feelings were involved on both ends, it was suddenly so different. And – without specifically putting it into words – you both felt a lot more vulnerable about what it was the two of you shared now. And the thought of someone carelessly putting strain on it scared you.

Not that the others didn’t know already. Of course, they had noticed. Although Astarion and you might have been wrapped up a little too cozily in your new little bubble of tender affection - to notice that they had noticed.

But the others had more or less silently agreed to not pester you about it although Gale could hardly hold back all his comebacks he’d painstakingly come up with. Karlach had needed to be elbowed more than once to not squeal out happily when she, for example, had seen Astarion cautiously grab your wrist, lifting your hand and pressing a small kiss to your knuckles. Coincidentally at the same time that Lae’zel had to be pinched in the side to stop making loud gag noises observing the same scene.

The day had been long and exhausting. Everyone had been happy when you had finally set up camp and barely even spoken when you’d sat around the campfire enjoying the latest of the wizard’s dinner creations.

You were sitting next to Astarion – like always as of late – and were softly talking to him. You were both excited to finally see your hometown again, no matter what more horrors might await you there. Sharing bits and pieces about different places in the city you each liked and how your experiences of being Baldurian were both so utterly different, you didn’t even notice how anyone else had been quietly getting up and leaving for their own tents. A few understanding nods and glances had been exchanged and now it was just you and the vampire sitting next to the warming fire.

“I really need to take you to my favourite tavern some time, you’re absolutely going to hate it”, you said to Astarion with a huge shit-eating grin while the vampire answered with a pained grimace.

“I’m beginning to ask myself why I volunteered myself for this relationship”, Astarion muttered mockingly under his breath and dramatically rolled his eyes at you.

You laughed and softly slapped his arm. And then you realised that you were the only ones still sitting by the fire. You looked around and found that no one even was in sight – very suspicious.

When you pointed that fact out to Astarion, he smirked: “Well, maybe our friends all got a sudden lesson on privacy.” “Astarion!” “What? I have nothing to do with this, I swear!”

You gave him a look and crossed your arms over your chest while he kept insisting that for once he was totally innocent (“Actually quite like most of the time, love, you are – all of you – just way to used to just, of course, conveniently blame everything on the big bad vampire!”).

The vampire pouted now, making these big red puppy eyes at you. You were pretty sure he’d already figured out that they made you positively melt and give him just about anything – bastard.

And it got you now, too. So you scooched a little closer to your vampire on the log you were both sitting on and embraced him tightly. You could hear the sigh Astarion loosened when he felt your arms around him, and you could really feel how he relaxed into your touch. His shoulders relaxed and his usually very straight and tense spine was allowed to bend towards you as he wrapped his arms around you in return.

Your thighs and knees were mushed together as you held each other. You buried your face at his chest – directly at the point where his shirt was opened, and you could feel his cool and smooth skin. You sighed as well now. Meanwhile Astarion put his chin on top of your head.

Ever since the first hug you had shared you lived for these moments when you could just hold him. Just knowing how much comfort it gave him, even though he himself might not yet be ready to admit to himself how touch-starved he was for non-sexual intimacy that had to go nowhere but the present moment.

And you were right there with him – basically never really in your life having had someone who would have held you to just console you or just because.

You remained in the embrace for quite some time. Astarion’s hands softly moved up and down your back as you held onto him desperately and tightly – not willing to ever let him go again.

After a long while you felt how the vampire’s hands sneaked both downwards. And then with his roguish quickness, Astarion grabbed you – one hand under your knees, one on your butt – and lifted you on his lap.

You yelped and clawed your hands into his shirt as you stared at him in surprise.

Astarion grinned playfully at you, adjusting you on his lap until you were both comfortable. You were still flustered by this sudden change of position and your mouth opened and closed helplessly a few times. Not because you didn’t like it – quite the opposite. But this was a sudden step up in public display of affection for him – at least the possibility of someone seeing you like this was existent.

When the vampire saw your reaction, his smirk dropped and he started fidgeting: “Oh uhm.”

He cleared his throat a little, his eyes darted around. And it was only made more awkward by the fact that you were so close to each other and he was firmly holding you so you didn’t slide off his thighs.

He coughed again and you felt that he struggled with holding your gaze. By now you had adjusted to the new situation and were quite endeared by how shy Astarion had gotten all of a sudden: overwhelmed by his own courage.

“Ah, I hope this”, Astarion finally began and wiggled his arms and legs around (which in turn made you wiggle around and giggle), “this is alright with you?”

You looked straight into his eyes once he had found it in himself to hold your gaze again. You softly cupped his cheek and let your thumb wander over his cheekbone: “It is – more than alright even!”

For a quick moment you softly dragged his face down to yours, so his forehead touched yours shortly. “I will just tell you if something’s not fine with me, Astarion. And…”

Now it was your turn to fidget awkwardly. You were only barely more experienced in this relationship thing than he was, but you were absolutely keen on giving him the space to find out what all this meant for him.

You took a deep breath and leaned back a little. You saw a single curl fall onto his forehead when you moved away a bit – you looked at it when you spoke again.

“And I’m more than happy to let you explore and experiment with what you want and expect from all this - whatever it is”, you finally finished and felt how a blush crept up your neck and then onto your cheeks. Although it might not seem much this had cost you some overcoming. Too many times had you had bad if not downright horrendous experiences with people you had offered too much before. But you were completely sure of doing this with Astarion. He had your full trust and you wanted him to know that and be as free as possible to explore this new chapter in his life.

You were still mesmerized by the soft strand of hair on Astarion’s forehead. So you lifted your hand from his cheek and lightly, between two fingers, moved it up again. A tiny sigh left the pale elf’s lips at the innocent gesture.

The vampire looked at you as your hand now lightly wandered through his hair. His eyes were shining like rubies in the warm, flickering light of the campfire. He carefully lifted one hand up to cup your face with one hand. He let his thumb wander over your bottom lip and that was also where his gaze dropped.

“That means an awful lot, my love”, he replied softly. “I promise to always tread carefully with the trust you’ve put in me.”

His eyes found yours again. “And I guess I know what I want to do with this trust right this moment.”

He leaned in to kiss you. His soft, cool lips met yours tenderly as any remaining thought in your brain just vanished. Your hand in his hair softly curled around one of his pointy ears, your thumb gently wandering over the edge of it.

You let him set the pace, patiently allowing him to decide how much he wanted. But you didn’t need to wait for long: Astarion’s lips parted and he eagerly deepened the kiss, making you sigh into his mouth yearningly as your other hand, that had been on his chest, now balled up in his shirt and unconsciously tried to drag him even closer.

Astarion’s hand was still cupping your face and now spread out. Caressing you lightly from your cheek, down your neck and almost reaching to your collarbone with his long, elegant fingers. His other arm was holding you securely on his lap but also subtly pushing to lessen the space between you even more.

It was passionate but delicate at the same time. Inducing a fire that was burning brightly, powerfully and, most of all, warming while not being all-consuming or destructive. And you were sure that this fire would keep burning unyieldingly – especially if it was fuelled passionately like this.

After a while of getting lost in the kiss Astarion’s hand wandered slowly from your face to where your hand was still clawed in his shirt – desperate to hold onto him forever – and softly loosened it, so he could hold it. He very tenderly pulled back as your mouth left his with a long low sigh leaving your still parted lips now swollen from kissing.

Your eyes were probably still glazed over but you saw how Astarion too only slowly seemed to come back from that particular cloud you’d just been on.

“I hope that was alright as well?”, he answered with his signature smirk and a teasing tone after a few more moments of regaining composure. You were just about to scold him for ruining such a romantic, emotional moment, when you heard something.

Somewhere behind you, you heard something squeal – almost as if someone was torturing a squirrel? You turned around on Astarion’s lap and quickly spotted… Karlach peeking out from behind her tent flap, her hands balled up into fists and lifted to her mouth. You could feel her giddy, happy energy from over where you were sitting. But you were too flabbergasted by what the tiefling had obviously just observed.

You felt yourself flush from head to toe. “KARLACH!”, you shrieked as you heard Astarion laugh (albeit a little nervously).

Karlach’s eyes widened as she realised that she might’ve been a little insensitive about this all.

“Uh – I’m sorry. I just…”, she started and then stopped again. “I’m just so happy for you”, she blurted out and you saw some of her joy return. But then she remembered that she should probably leave you alone. “Alright”, she muttered while she made to disappear into her tent again. Quickly she lowered her tent flap down again and was gone.

But then she stretched out her arm once more, offering you a firm thumbs-up.

“But just so you know, we’re all rooting for you two”, were Karlach’s final words before disappearing for good. You blushed again and turned back around to find Astarion smile genuinely at you. He softly started to laugh, then more and more. His head fell back and his eyes closed and you couldn’t help but join in.

And then that was settled.

Tag list: @spacebarbarianweird @sunfire-ancunin @tragedybunny @dependsonthedream @tallymonster @magazzne @micropoe10 @aoirohi @my-bunny-prince @lumienyx @fayeriess

[chaoticallyfluffy]

Introduction + My Shazam Masterlist!

Welcome to my blog! My name is Fluffy!

I am an artist and fan fiction writer who mostly focuses on one fandom at a time. My current obsession is Shazam!

My second blog is @fawcetttweets where I post Tweets from the DC universe, focusing on the daily lives of Fawcett City’s heroes and civilians!

My banner was created by @chocolatebriosh during art fight! The characters are my OCs :)

You can find me on TikTok and Ao3 with the username ChaoticallyFluffy or by using the links!

I tried my best to make it chronological with the oldest on top and the newest on the bottom, so if my early stuff sucks, feel free to skip to the bottom of each section!

In order I have my ficlets, fan art, animatics, and misc (mostly add-ons to other posts or tiny ideas that are too short to put into ficlets)!

The characters involved in the posts will be next to each link! Billy and Captain Marvel will just be called Billy unless they are specifically separate beings in the post.

Masterlist begins under the cut :)

Where'd he go? (Billy, JL)

Curses! (Billy, Mr. Mind, JL)

Identical (Billy, Mary, JL)

Whats in a Last Name? (Billy, JL, Batfam)

Billy Being a Menace (Billy, Bruce Wayne)

Lies and Half Truths (Billy, Danny Phantom, JL)

Ah, a Child (Billy, JL)

Power of Perception (Billy, JL)

Doomed by the Narrative + Wrong Place, Wrong Time (Billy, JL)

The Homeless Boy and Nepo Baby (Billy, Bruce Wayne)

Two Halves, Never Whole (Billy, Jason Blood, Marvel, Etigran)

Blissful Ignorance (Billy, JL)

Blunder + Look at this! (Billy, Marvel, Shazamily,

Billy Batfam (Billy, Batfam)

Silly Billy + Pocket Home (Billy, JL, Shazamily)

What are you, a cop? + Now you see me, now you don't (Billy, JL)

Gender Swap! (Billy, Freddy)

Learning to Live (Billy, JL)

Stop Calling Me Dad! (Billy, Shazamily, JL)

Matchmaking (Billy, Diana, Gay animals)

'Tis but a scratch! (Billy, JL)

Tea With Persephone (Billy, Persephone)

Home Alone (Billy, Sivana, Shazamily)

Marvel Licks Cocaine. Wait, wha- (Billy, JL)

Body Swap (Billy, Marvel)

Parent Trap (Billy, Mary, CC, Marilyn)

Serious Accusations (Tawky Tawny, Billy, JL)

Celebrity Lifestyle (JL, Billy)

Warrior Cats (Freddy)

JL as platonic Soulmates (Billy, JL)

Swear Jar (Billy, Shazamily)

Sibling Fights (Freddy, Billy, Mary, Red Robin)

Three Kids in a Trench Coat (Billy, Mary, Freddy, JL)

Clothes (Billy, Mary, CC, Marilyn, JL)

Dead name, literally (Billy, Gay people)

Unicorns! (Billy)

No Longer 2 in 1 (Billy, other)

Magical Garbage Disposal (Billy, superman, batman)

Hot to Go! (Mary, JL, Billy)

Impromptu Tour (Billy, Batman, JL)

First Shazam Fan Art! Learning to Live outfits (Billy)

False Advertising (Billy)

The Duality of Marvel (Billy, Marvel)

Skill Issue (Freddy, Billy, JL)

Stock Photos (Billy, Marvel, C!Tommyinnit)

It's not you, its him (Billy, a random small child)

Closet Cosplay (Billy, Freddy, kind of Superman and Batman)

Experimental style (Billy)

If your reading this, i still haven't used the stickers. (Billy, Marvel)

*Pats him* *pats him* *pats hi- (Billy)

Whiteboard with friends! (Billy, Mary, Freddy, + more)

Billy Ratson (Billy, Marvel)

Bored (Billy)

Magical Girl Black Adam (Black Adam)

Sunny Sparkles (Sunny)

Ghost Boy! (Billy)

Gartic phone highlights pt. 1 (many characters!)

Tiger Bleps! (Tawky Tawny, Billy)

FREDDY!! (Billy, Marvel, Freddy)

Figurine Size Matters (Technically Batman and Billy)

Surprise! (Billy, JL)

Magical Girl?! (Billy, Barry, Poorly Drawn Evil Wizard)

Home (Billy)

Everyone Loves the Boy! (Harley Quinn, Billy)

Nails, nails, nails (Billy, Divine Twitch Chat, JL)

Stop. (Billy)

*Pats him* *pats him* *pats hi- (Billy)

My first Shazam post!

He needs more love :( (Kind of Billy)

Link to 'Kill him with kindness' fic

Asking for Eldritch Ideas (Billy kind of. Interesting comments!)

Zoooom! (Freddy, Billy, Batmans limitless funds)

Happiness (Billy)

Wip game (Billy, Clark)

Chaos boys (Billy, Klarion)

Link to 'Picture Day' fic (Billy, Cissie)

The first idea for Fawcetttweets! (Billy)

Marvel's Adventure! (Billy)

Peak Billy Design (Billy)

MY Boy! (Billy technically)

Talking about my fics release

Venn diagram (Billy, C!Tommyinnit, and Dave Strider)

DND (none technically)

Charlie (Billy, CC, Batman)

WIP Tag Game (Billy, Clark, Barry, Victor, Hal)

Implications (Billy)

Laws (Fawcett)

Link to my fanfiction called 'Bugs' (Billy)

Symptoms (Billy)

Fae (Billy)

Gotta Go Fast (Billy)

Tummy ache :( (Billy)

Migraine Posting part whatever (who cares why am I writing this with a migraine this was a horrible idea)

Here’s some of my original content! I don’t really make much of it but I thought I should at least give you the option to see it :)

OC art:

First Date (Valley, Roxy)

[m00nveil]

w101 housing advices from a somewhat seasoned house decorator that no one asked for

#1: GET YOUR CRAFTING LEVEL THE FUCK UP !!!!! and never ever ever sell your reagents. ever. the gold isn't worth it. there are so many amazing housing recipes you can buy and craft (torald wayfinder in northguard grizzleheim and perry in sky city lemuria for example).

#2: if you have limited resources like me, keep looking around in the bazaar for items. sometimes people sell some insanely good items! many of my best items come from the bazaar. and NEVER second guess whether you're gonna buy an item or not, cause people won't hesitate to snatch it. if you see it and like it, buy it.

#3: advanced move will save your life. when i discovered it i swear to god my life changed. if you click on an object you'll see a yellow arrow next to its name on the right. USE THAT!!! you can move objects wherever you wanna without having to deal with the grid, rotate them however you want except vertically, and make objects smaller or bigger. you can create a whole new thing from a bunch of items, like i created a fridge using alhazred's repository. note that this feature is only available for wizards lvl 15 and above.

#4: don't ignore the furniture set bundles in the crowns shop. i'm sure no one does but i still gotta say it. they're literally one of the most useful things for house decorating. the school and world furniture sets can all be bought for 22500 gold and there's so many amazing items in those. i especially recommend the khrysalis furniture sets and the myth and balance furniture sets, but all of them are gorgeous.

#5: some items can serve as alternative walls, for example dworgyn's fireplace and bookshelf from the death furniture sets. you can go absolutely crazy with them.

#6: keep going around worlds and find their furniture shops. all the worlds have a furniture shop/seller except avalon, khrysalis and mirage as far as i know, but i might be wrong. many of these furniture shops have some great items that you can utilize even if your crafting level isn't high. wallaru specifically has one of my favorite sofas in the game ever, the ice dwarf sofa.

#7: if you're ever in need for a teleporter or a few, go farm the painted spider in zafaria!

#8: don't forget to rate castles in castle tours so you can craft the regal and invisible floors and walls! you can find the recipes for those from angelica windspar in the castle tours building. you can apply wallpapers and floors to the regal ones, and they're especially useful for decorations, however they can get very buggy. you need to rate 100 castles to get the castle auditor rank to craft these.

#9: you can turn fish tanks invisible with castle magic and the fish won't disappear, so it looks like the fish are just floating. you can make custom aquariums!

#10: you can put house guests on bread crumbs and you can alter their behaviors too! they don't really change much, but setting their behavior to "sad" will show their death animation. if you need someone kneeling or laying down, it's perfect.

[dyvimwhitehart]

i will actually never be over the narrative importance of azteca. yes it’s the first time the wizard fails, but that failure results in the destruction of an entire world, which means the death of most of its denizens and a great deal of its culture. and the fact that it’s predated by worlds like dragonspyre and celestia, specifically

azteca was less accessible to the rest of the spiral (in comparison to worlds like wizard city, marleybone, zafaria, etc) already. by the time the yw reaches it, they’ve already been to their share of since-destroyed worlds. they are, however, always seeing the aftermath of the destruction

they’ve wandered around the destroyed academy in dragonspyre and seen the lava moats in the streets and talked to the ghosts, all those things coming together to slowly paint a picture of what was once a functioning society. and then the real tragedy of that, i’d argue, hits full-force in the hall of time when the yw gets to step into and witness the old dragonspyre in all its beauty and greenery. i think this has to be a really pivotal moment for the yw because old dragonspyre looks somewhat like wizard city. they’re a child that’s realizing, if i DONT succeed in beating malistaire, current dragonspyre is what my world and all the worlds i’ve visited since will become. and they DO succeed!

and then they are sent to celestia, another mostly ruined world. it’s brighter than dragonspyre, but there’s a hell of a lot more activity, and the overall tone is much different. however, the wizard has been introduced to destruction in dragonspyre and has had their worldview of places like that forever changed. they know what was at stake and what has since been lost. it’s a great way to start the second arc that i think can pair really well with the young wizard’s growth to young adulthood. this is where morganthe is introduced, and the next chase begins, and once again— they know what they have to do and the consequences of what happens if they don’t succeed

but there’s just absolutely no way they can see azteca’s destruction coming. even if xibalba is an ever persistent presence, even if ruin has been foretold— the wizard has never lost! morganthe plays them like w fiddle! and azteca is the first destroyed world they spend a long time in prior to its destruction. they get to know it’s citizens, they spend time in some of the most beautiful and lush locations in the game, they immerse themselves in aztecan culture and practices. they grow to care about this place before it’s all wiped away so that, when it is, stepping into the ruined zocalo doesn’t feel the same as stepping into the ruined basilica or the celestian base camp. it has to hurt so much more, feel so much heavier, like a personal loss rather than just a mission loss

and to go to khrysalis right after that? to immediately have to rally the burrowers and the mantises? to walk around a world that was thought to be lost, but is still clinging on, and have to do that all over again????? man

[do-you-have-a-flag]

i was doing some personal casual investigating the alleged "first graphic shirt on film" claim about the wizard of oz.  

embroidered/knitted graphic designs were on jumpers in photos and films as early as the 20s from examples I can think of (and i do personally think of this as a precursor) but the shirts specifically seem mostly to have started with military merch where they were mostly worn as an under-layer. so the stitched on OZ of the emerald city uniforms might be the first notable example of such a design on a t-shirt in film. however it was a wool felt stitched on as opposed to the printed design of military and sporting uniform shirts. a costume version of a casual uniform. the uniform printed shirt is also credited for popularising the graphic design as fashion thanks to a magazine feature and i think the overlap with sporting uniforms adds to this.

whatever this is actually a post about the other things I saw on the auction site i found a reference for the OZ t-shirt on

Bert Lahr's Cowardly Lion costume: Lion skin and fur, [...]displayed on a custom figure featuring a photo-realistic head sculpture cast directly from actor Bert Lahr's son replete with optical glass eyes and Italian human hair wig & mane and footwear constructed out of lion pelt. [...] as each available lion hide had very particular hair patterns, swirls, coloration, scars, abrasions, fur loss, etc. that were unique to the one animal;[...] the only solution was for actor Bert Lahr to primarily wear one costume throughout filming and for stunt and stand-in performers to wear another. As a result, after each long day of filming under early and unbearable Technicolor lights, the Lahr Lion costume had to be placed in an industrial drying bin overnight so that the perspiration could be dried before the next production day. Sold for US$3,077,000

Witch Remover: listed for $125,000+

Munchkin costumes listed at $10,00+ and $23,750+

[sailorscout93]

Okay part 2 of Cynthia and Ariana’s commentary notes I’m making starting immediately after The Wizard and I until the incident in Dr. Dillamond’s classroom. This one also features some random fun facts about me and some random facts I know that weren’t mentioned in the commentary.

1. Ari being so self conscious of her writing in the letter to ‘Momsie and Popsicle’ 😂

2. I love how Ariana keeps referring to Elphaba as Elphie when talking about the character, she really is Glinda but also…. I’ve done that too when talking about these characters to people. I call Elphaba ‘Elphie’ more often than her full name and I regularly switch between “Galinda” and “Glinda” and while I try to keep it depending on whether they’re at Shiz being Galinda and from the train to the Emerald City onward to parts I haven’t seen yet because I haven’t seen the full story of Act II or anything that could potentially occur post canon in fanfics I read and such being Glinda, I regularly still manage to use them interchangeably

3. “Bowen and Bronwyn ATE this choreography!” (During What is This Feeling?) I know Bowen Yang specifically was very self conscious about dancing in this movie so to hear them praise them about it makes me so happy

4. Cynthia mentioning that “This was my birthday! Well, my first birthday that occurred while we were filming….” For the part when Elphaba comes out from behind Galinda’s stuff with the pink parasol. Just a little fun fact but ALSO it reminds you JUST HOW LONG they worked on these 2 movies to think that at the very least Cynthia had TWO birthdays during filming. Knowing that both of them auditioned in Summer 2021, I’m guessing that first birthday for her would’ve been January 2022 (yes Cynthia’s birthday is next week for those who didn’t know). So please cut the crying girls in the press tour some slack, they’ve been working on this and been in this world for 3 and a half years now, of course they’re emotional!

5. Cynthia’s “Jon always managed to catch my weirdest facial expressions!” But Ariana loves them! (And so do I)

6. Ari CRINGING at Galinda’s behavior in Dr. Dillamond’s classroom. She gets it! She knows Galinda was playing a part, knew she was being watched, that she was just a shell of who Galinda actually is. She wasn’t her best. But then praising Elphie and Cynthia’s like “Nah, this isn’t Elphaba’s best either. She’s also a shadow of her true self here.” I LOVE how talented they are that they can both SO EMBODY these characters so much to the point that they can portray a shadow of that character’s true nature!

7. Ariana is back to fangirling over Cynthia with her “awww I love you two together!” About Elphie and Dr. Dillamond 😂 as Terrible as Galinda acts in that whole scene, Ari’s true nature shines through in the commentary about how much she loves Elphaba and Dr. Dillamond

8. Ari: “How are we gonna make it through the whole movie?!” Cynthia: *groans* “I don’t know!” PLS I LOVE THEM SO MUCH!

If you’re still here I don’t know how I AM GONNA MAKE IT THROUGH THIS WHOLE MOVIE! Lol it took me 2 parts and like 2 hours just to get through the first hour of the commentary 😂 this is gonna end up being a multi part, possibly multi day saga of me trying to get through the commentary with my own commentary! Expect by the end its gonna be 5 or 6 parts

[ossidae-passeridae]

13 :)

Question from here

13. Were the Jedi right or wrong to ban attachments? What constitutes an attachment?

SO GLAD YOU ASKED

Attachment, as the word is used in Star Wars, is an attempt to translate the Buddhist idea of upadana. I… don't think it's a good one — I would have used rapacity personally — but uh, points for effort I guess. 

More than anything else, it's specifically and explicitly a cause of suffering. 

It's not love, not in any positive connotation of the word. It's coveting. It's greed. It's wanting to possess someone, not caring what their feelings are on the matter. Not letting them go, even if they beg. It's needing the next hit of a drug to function, even if you hate what the drug does to you, hate the person you become under the influence.

@gffa has an excellent post on attachment as we see it in the core lore (movies, TCW, word of god etc) if you want further explanation/examples.

So, back to the original question: are the Jedi right to ban attachments? (An aside: they don't ban it, they're not the church, but we'll ignore that for now.)

The Jedi are magical space wizards, with the power to cause mass destruction. They choose not to, because they've grown up understanding that they must be responsible, and live harmoniously with the world around them. This keeps both them and their society safe(r). 

Do I think people with built-in abilities to raze cities should be controlled by greed and fear? No, actually. I think that's a terrible idea. We had one darksider with Jedi-level powers completely destroy democracy in what was once the Republic after plunging the entire known universe into a years-long war. One. There are 10,000 trained Jedi Knights. 

I don't want to even imagine that universe. 

(All opinions expressed above are solely those of pass e. ridae and do not express the views or opinions of any affiliates or associates, passerine or otherwise)

[chronurgy]

i loveeeeeeeee your hc about gortash in all your tags!!! can you share your favorite hc about durge/gortash shenanigans in the city?

Yeah absolutely! Shenanigans hmmm....

Some of these will be a little more specific to my durge (Vesper, half-drow wizard) than others

During the Hall of Wonders heist, gortash specifically left some guards out of his reconnaissance to test how Durge handled themselves under pressure. He wanted to know if this was someone he would work with or someone too crazy to manage.

Gortash and Durge did a heist in the House of Hope as a trial run for their heist of the Crown - this is when they stole Raphael's shoes (the helldusk armor boots that Gortash keeps in the chest at the foot of his bed). Gortash didn't tell them about his history there or with Raphael before they went in. I think after seeing him there Durge did put at least pieces of it together and really left lots of burn marks and blood and guts spread around in their wake to get back at Raphael. They also broke at least one priceless and irreplaceable vase on "accident" while they were there. Their ire towards Raphael from this realization actually manages to carry over even when they can't remember why and it's partly why they're so determined to kill Raphael and so insistent that they won't work with him.

Gortash takes Durge to fancy parties, for a number of reasons - as a bodyguard, to bring them close to a murder target, to introduce them to the kind of high society stuff they'll be involved with as his co-ruler. But also because he loves to show them off, his darling assassin, loves the vicious little comments they make about the other attendees. He starts finding excuses to bring them to any party he can because he only ever enjoys these parties when they're with him, when he has someone just as brilliant as he is at his side. Durge usually has to attend in disguise but sometimes just dressing up fancy enough not to look like a sewer rat is enough to fool people.

Gortash is the kinda guy who will work himself to exhaustion and then fall asleep at his desk. The first time Durge found him like that, completely dead to the world on top of his diagrams and sketches, they thought about killing him. They imagined every detail, knew exactly how it would go. It would have been so easy, because he's so defenseless like this. They see his eyes moving under their lids, see his hands flex, and little expressions pass over his face - they know he's dreaming. They wonder what he's dreaming about (is it them?). And they don't kill him. They just watch him sleep, fascinated by the differences between the waking man they know and this unguarded sleeping one. They leave before he wakes up. I think they do this a couple of times before he finally catches them (maybe because they try to stroke his hair or something in a fit of softness). At first he's like, "oh my apologies, please don't hesitate to wake me should this happen again" before he puts together the look on Durge's face and realizes they've been watching him sleep and tried to like, touch his hair. He considers this a success because they could've killed him a whole bunch of times and didn't and they seem to be developing some sort of feelings towards him. He resolutely does not acknowledge the existence of any things he could possibly be feeling about this. Not at all.

Gortash keeps a large fancy estate in the city, Durge has a guest room there - it starts out as just an extra room but as they spend more time there Gortash starts to customize it more to their liking. He also moves their room to be next to his once he realizes that they're staying over more often, blaming a maid for knocking over a candle and causing fire damage in their old room when they ask why it was moved.

I think one night they have to have at least one really stupid caper they pulled off while extremely drunk that neither of them will talk about - as an example, they got super drunk, decided that since they were so good at heists they should do more of them, broke into some patriars estate, and stole a ton of fancy liquor. They also stole the bust of some guy from the entryway and staggered up the stairs to escape out the window of the daughter of the house's dressing room. Anyway, they woke up the next morning on the floor of Gortash's bedroom, extremely hungover and both of them (and the bust they stole) were wearing fancy little fascinator hats they can't remember but must have stolen out of the dressing room. They try to laugh at each other but gortash just ends up violently throwing up in a trash bin while durge lies on the floor with their eyes squeezed shut because the room won't stop spinning. They refuse to speak of this and will adamantly deny it ever happened if asked. Durge absolutely killed sceleritas while trying to force him into a stupid hat. The exact series of events might need some workshopping, but the core idea is some extremely stupid adventure the two of them had together that neither would ever admit to but is also a cherished memory for both of them.

Gortash's gauntlets (before he had the netherstone) used a series of capacitors and a setup akin to a self winding watch to generate an electric charge that he could attack people with. He designed them himself.

Vesper finds these gauntlets fascinating. When they first meet in person, he shows them off and discusses their construction and it's the first thing about him that they find impressive and intriguing.

As a gift, Gortash gave Vesper a set of sharpened rings designed after his gauntlets.

Vesper actually helped Gortash with some of the designs for the steel watch, looking at the plans and making suggestions - they were especially helpful when it came to the magical portions of the construct.

I think the closest the Urge ever comes to forcing Vesper to kill Gortash isn't when they first meet or during sex. It's one day when they're waiting for some spy's report, so they're sitting around in his room. He's tinkering with something at his workbench, and they're sitting at a desk working on a spell. They realize they need certain special inks for the transcription and look up to see them in the desk's little shelving unit and then they look closer and realize the desk is stocked with all the things a wizard needs - inks, chalks, paper, magical components. And this is the desk they always sit at when they're here and need to do some work. And Gortash has stocked it as a wizard's desk. He's made it their desk. And he's working at his workbench and they're working at their desk together in companionable silence. It's domestic, almost. And that's when the urge hits, with just absolutely crushing intensity, and they turn on gortash. Jokes on them, he's into that shit. After some back and forth between them (the level of explicitness is up to you! Or me, if I can get my act together and write this!), Vesper more or less jumps out the window and spends the next couple of days cutting a bloody swathe through baldur’s gate. When they finally return to him, gortash just asks them if they enjoyed their little vacation. After that, even when recreating much the same scene, the urge never comes on as strongly again (they don't know it at the time but this is the first time they've managed to throw off Bhaal's yoke when he really wanted them to kill someone. He never pushed that hard again with gortash because he's afraid of the consequences, though he still does push them to kill him a little bit).

Gortash gave durge a number of gifts over their acquaintance, both practical and fantastic: jewelry, enchanted items, clothes, shoes, books, any and everything you can imagine. He loves seeing them using his gifts, carrying or wearing something he gave them, because it helps mark them as his. He spends absolutely lavishly on them, buying them beautiful and fancy clothes for them to wear when they're in his house or out with him in public. He also buys them more practical gifts, well-fitting boots, weapons, armor, all of it enchanted and worth a small fortune.

On some of his gifts to Durge, he encodes messages for them in their cypher. They say things like "For my dearest assassin" and "To the sorrow of all" on a weapon and "pari pasu" (Latin for with equal step) and "I've always liked to play with fire", plus any number of other things.

Gortash has a thing for Durge wearing his clothes. One cold morning durge throws on his black coat when they get out of bed to check something and seeing them wearing nothing but his coat is such a thing for him that he ditches all their plans for the day to spend the day in bed with them.

Gortash has a number of affairs, to help his star rise in the upper city. He may use them to make durge jealous, but they are ultimately people to be used and discarded. He doesn't care what they do, because they're tools. Durge is his. His partner. And that's why he doesn't share.

[mask131]

So you want to know about Oz! (5)

Now that we looked at the MGM-continuity of movie and cartoons adaptation, I propose you in those post some adaptations that are either more in line with the original novels or... just not following either the novels or the MGM movie, and just doing their own thing. Since there is a lot of Oz adaptations, for this movie I will stay by American productions, post-1939.

First my three faves, and the rest will be under the cut.

2005's The Muppets' Wizard of Oz

This movie did quite poorly upon its release - and of all the Muppets movies, it is not considered to the best in any way. There is notable use of some old CGI that aged very poorly when it comes to the Wizard's scenes... But, not only does it have one of the most hilarious depiction of the Witches of Oz ever (what do you expect when they are played by Miss Piggy?) and some cool songs - this movie has the honor of being the most book-accurate, book-faithful adaptation of The Wizard of Oz there ever was. (Well outside of Japanese animes I'll talk about later). Yep... this Muppets parody is the closest you can get to experiencing the original novel as a movie. Crazy, right?

2011's The Witches of Oz

Originally it was released as a mini-series in two parts ; and in 2012 it was recut and edited as a single movie known as "Dorothy and the Witches of Oz" (but the single-movie version deleted a lot of scenes and segments from the complete mini-series). It tells a sort-of sequel to the Oz books (yes ALL of the Oz books), while mixing it with urban fantasy - as young real-life Dorothy, all grown-up in 2000s Oz, is depicted as the current author of Oz books, only for her to discover the fictional adventures in Oz that were written about her are real, and Oz is coming to New-York to get her...

Now... this mini-series aged VERY badly. The special effects are so cheap, most of the characters are insufferable, the plot is very weak... BUT! BUT this mini-series deserves to get some attention and to be known due to specific elements, such as, the most badass depiction of Langwidere ever ; Christopher Lloyd delightfully playing the Wizard of Oz... And the Wicked Witch of the West! This incarnation of the Witch is without a doubt one of my favorit reimaginings of the character, striking the perfect balance between the character of the original novel and the MGM Wicked Witch. Just in design she is the coolest Wicked Witch of the West there ever was. Too bad the rest of the mini-series is... quite cringe.

2017's Emerald City

Yet another proof of the "Oz curse" that plagues most of Oz adaptations - because the series got cancelled after its first season, leaving the show unfinished.

What is Emerald City? It was an Oz television series from the era of "post-Game of Thrones". Since the success of GoT, every channel and network tried to create its own dark and gritty big-budgeted high fantasy series... And "Emerald City" is what happened when Oz got caught in the trend.

People were very divided on the show (hence why it ended up cancelled) - some people adored its beginning and got tired of it by the end, others hated the first episodes but by the final ones were eagerly awaiting for the next season. On one side, most people agree that it is too much and that the show handled itself in a strange way, everything being a bit crammed-in. This TV show is actually adapting simultaneously THREE different Oz novels (The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Marvelous Land of Oz, Ozma of Oz), all mixed together in a new, dark, adult iteration of Oz, so yes, that's a LOT.

However the show does work out several very cool and interesting concepts, playing around with both the MGM and the novel heritages. And while the story can get a bit convoluted due to the so-many plots and subplots mixing each other in a complicated way and not giving each other enough time to breath, the visuals are 10/10. There was a real visual effort on this show that makes it entirely worth the watch, if just as an eye-candy. They literaly used GAUDI ARCHITECTURE for the Emerald City, come on, how cool is that?

And also it is one of these shows were several actually working languages were created by experts, so that's always cool. I always stand by fictional linguistics.

Now I'll go a bit quicker for these ones because else it's going to be one LONG post:

In the 1960s, there was one animated show that dominated the Ozian landscape. 1961's Tales of the Wizard of Oz.

One of the early creations of the future Rankin/Bass studios, it is a cartoon that reuses the settng and characters of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"... But not the plot X) Basically Dorothy and Toto end up entering Oz by... by a hole, as if she was Alice. And there she meets her companions and each episode is about them trying to have a wish granted by the Wizard of Oz, or trying to avoid the schemes of the Wicked Witch. So... it is quite a VERY loose adaptation, and the modern cartoon "Dorothy and the Wizard of Oz" is kind of a modern heir to this old cartoon.

After 114 episodes, there was an animated special created to conclude the show. Called "Return to Oz", it IS actually an adaptation of the plot and events of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz"... But happening after all of the events of the cartoon, and thus taking a different direction in terms of set-up.

1969's The Wonderful Land of Oz

This low-budget movie was an adaptation of the second Oz book, "The Marvelous Land of Oz". There's quite a lot of interesting stories surrounding this production - from Judy Garland supposedly having been intended as the narrator, to the background actresses having appeared in nude films created by the movie's director... However the movie tend to be ignored or forgotten compared to the other 60s Land of Oz adaptation...

1960's "The Land of Oz". First episode of the second season of Shirley Temple's Storybook

This was a much more famous adaptation of "The Marvelous Land of Oz", if only because of Shriley Temple's name. Retrospectively, I should have added it in my previous Oz post because this mini-movie takes a lot of visual cues from the MGM's Wizard of Oz, such as the Scarecrow and the Tin Woodman being designed after their MGM incarnation, or Glinda's outfit calling for the MGM Glinda's design.

1980's "Thanksgiving in the Land of Oz"

An animated special for Thanksgiving of the year 1980, which is - as the title says - about Dorothy going to celebrate Thanksgiving in Oz. In 1981 it was re-cut to become "Dorothy in the Land of Oz" (with most Thanksgiving references being removed so the animated short could be aired at any time of the year - which is quite a challenge since the special is ALL about Thanksgiving... Dorothy is literaly brought to Oz by a "giant green turkey ballooon", come on!)

1987's Dorothy meets Ozma of Oz

This animated middle-sized movie is an adaptation of the novel "Ozma of Oz", and remained for quite a long time the only adaptation of Ozma of Oz alongside Disney's Return to Oz.

1997's The Oz Kids

A direct-to-video cartoon series that is just what it says. We follow the adventures of the children of the various protagonists of the Oz novels. Dot and Neddie, Dorothy's children ; Bela and Boris the children of the Cowardly Lion ; Tin Boy and Scarecrow Junior ; the son of the Nome King, and more...

2007's Tin Man

Ah, Tin Man! A cult-classic a lot of people remember fondly - especially on Tumblr. This mini-series was part of the long suite of SyFy "dark sci-fi" fantasy reimaginings (2011's Neverland ; 2009's Alice, etc).

Described as an "adult steampunk reimagining" of the Wizard of Oz, it depicts the adventures of DG, a waitress of Kansas, as she gets taken by an interdimensional storm to the otherwordly "Outer Zone", and there befriends a telepathic leonine humanoid, a man who lost half of his brain, and a former cowboy-like law enforcer of the dictature a wicked witch-queen set upon the Outer Zone...

Speaking of steampunk, the last two Oz adaptations I want to talk about are...

2015's Lost in Oz

This animated show was part of Amazon Prime Video early days at producing its own content. Originally it was just a pilot episode released in 2015. Since the pilot episode proved good, it became a three-episodes mini-series in 2016. Since THIS mini-series proved good, it became a full season in 2017. And since this first season proved good, a second season was released in 2018. And then they stopped.

At first it seems that this show is just an "updated" version of The Wizard of Oz: Dorothy and her dog Toto gets transported to the Land of Oz, and must find a way to get back home while making friends and all together fighting through the many plots and scehmes dividing the land... Except that this Oz is a more modern and updated Oz filled with magi-tech, and Dorothy's companions are not exactly your traditional band... Turns out Dorothy has to team up with Ojo, here depicted as a "giant Munchkin", and a teenage witch by the name of... West. Yes, she is the (not so) wicked witch "of the west".

And thus starts a quite unique retelling of Oz where the three teenagers must face various threats taken from later Oz books: Langwidere, here West's evil aunt ; the mysterious Crooked Magician ; and Roquat, the Nome King.

And a last steampunk Oz for the road: 2018's "The Steam Engines of Oz". This Canadian animated movie is actually an adaptation of an Oz graphic novel of the same name, by Erik Hendrix and about a modernized Oz set after the events of "The Wonderful Wizard". A young mechanician of the Emerald City, Victoria, is chosen by the Good Witch of the North to help fight the ever-growing expansion and industrialization of the Emerald City, pushed by a Tin Man who became a cruel dictator of Oz...

[lanafofana]

WIP wednesday

I want to write something cute and fluffy and sweet but all my heart knows is hot chip and angst.

The Inescapable Inevitability of Goodbye

It started with Lae’zel. Tall and proud. Regal. Astride a dragon that Tav had been powerless to talk her down from. The look she had given Tav could have cleaved her chest wide open. A lifetime of words in one fierce stare and then she had nodded, just once, and the dragon had launched to the skies.

Goodbyes were inevitable, she reminded herself, heart pounding with loss.  

Next had been Karlach and Wyll. Beautiful, incadescent Karlach who had nearly given in to her fate but for dear Wyll, the voice of reason and conviction to change her stubborn mind at last. Their goodbyes had been hasty, desperately quick. Tav’s not even sure she could remember the words they exchanged, nothing specific.

But long after they’re gone, in the secret quiet places of her mind she hears Karlach’s voice saying, “My friend, my companion, I adore you.” She keeps it close to her heart so she might be warmed by it when all other sources of warmth were sapped from her. 

She’d hardly taken a beat to process the emptiness of a Faerûn without Karlach Cliffgate and Wyll Ravengard when Astarion had gasped, his skin flaking away like burning ashes. He’d run for cover and that had been that. Another gaping wound in her chest. She wondered how it kept beating. 

Standing at the edge of the docks, grasping for something to feel victorious about Gale had materialized, staring at the horizon. Right. The crown. His duty. She was proud of him, he’d come such a long way from the wizard who had fallen out of the portal so long ago. Traded his pride for humility, his ambition for wisdom. His course was set, soon he would retrieve the crown and reforge it, taking it to his goddess. 

Tav smiled and cupped his face, ignoring his surprise. No matter how long they took dithering at the door, the goodbyes were inevitable, she had learned to grasp at what comfort she could when she could. So she stroked his beard with her thumb and memorized the exact shade of his eyes when they’re emblazoned by a smoldering city. Before he could give voice to the concern in his gaze she’d patted his cheek fondly and stepped away. 

Their night of celebration passed in a blur of music, laughter, drinking, dancing and fucking. When she woke up and rolled over to see Halsin already looking at her softly she felt another hole burning through her chest and she hated that she wasn’t even surprised. Only resigned.

Goodbyes were inevitable. 

When he began to explain the path he was now set on, his place in this post-Absolute world she smiled and nodded. Said all the right things. Because she had learned a long time ago that goodbyes were not for her, never for her, they were for other people. An opportunity for them to glean a measure of comfort and it was her place to provide it.

So she smiled while her heart cracked open and she congratulated and she soothed while the brittle spaces between her ribs turned to dust.  She promised to visit because lying came as naturally to her as breathing. And then she left.

Sometimes you had to be the one to leave first when someone told you goodbye. 

She lingers in the city, telling herself it’s to help the wounded. Tending and nurturing and healing she fills her days with servitude to those in need. At night she sits at her window, staring out at the view being rebuilt. Each night the scenery changes little by little, the wounds closing, the Gate piecing itself back together. Erasing the scars with repairs. 

She sits, and she watches, and she plucks at the chords of her heart, testing how sharply the pain twangs, and thinks about how a thing must be broken beyond recognition before it can be fixed. And wonders, if there’s nobody left to help with the restoration, can a thing be pieced back together at all.

Or if it really matters, when all her heart has ever learned to play was the same melancholy tune.  

She wakes one day and Shadowheart and her parents are gone. Jaheira and Minsc and Boo too. Forging the new paths of their lives. Tav wonders what it must feel like to hold a world of possibility in your own hands. Is it heavy? Does it burn? She packs her things and goes to the dock one last time. 

The sky is no longer on fire, the streets are no longer littered with corpses. When she drinks in the air she can smell fish and wet stone and something briney that gusts in off the water. 

“Good bye, sun,” she says to the gulls that cry over the harbor. 

“Good bye, sea,” she says to the horizon, blue and sparkling in the late morning light.  

“Good bye,” she says to her adventure, the Gate, and the million and one tiny little might-have-beens that tumble out of her heart and into the sea. 

She dries her face and tells herself the ache in her chest is a bruise and not a tear. 

“It’s time to go home.” 

[shroomyart404]

I’ve been thinking about the thunder legion, more specifically how they came to Fairy Tail. Because out of all the characters we see stuff about, we don’t see anything about them or their initial connection to Laxus.

So I got to brewing

Evergreen was the first to meet Laxus, she was maybe 12 when Laxus passed through with one of the adults in Fairy Tail. They were on their way to the train station to get back to the guild and stopped for food. She overhears Laxus say they’re headed to fairy tail and she gets so excited by the fact theirs a fairy guild she interrupts and asks Laxus numerous questions, saying she’s gonna join. So when she shows up 2 years later, dropped off by her older brother, Laxus isn’t too surprised. He is a bit caught off guard though when she only seems to hang around him though - he’s the only person she knows and joining a guild isn’t like what she’d thought.

It was just her and her brother, and he thought Fairy Tail would be a good place for her to start making friends and earn money she wouldn't get back home.

Between meeting Evergreen and Evergreen joining is when Bickslow meets Laxus and joins Fairy Tail.

Laxus had finished up a solo mission, and needed a place to stay afterwards as it was getting to night. And he was hungry. He passed through a really run-down town, grumbling about how he wasn't gonna find much out here until an old man calls him over. it's clear Laxus isn't around here, and after confirming that Laxus is a wizard asks him to protect the house for a few days in exchange for food and shelter.

Laxus agrees and stays out on guard the first night, watching as some kids his age make their way through town going to houses and taking food, led by a lanky boy with a trail of 5 dolls following him. One of the kids tries to approach the house Laxus is guarding but is quickly scared off. The next night, similar happens, but this time the lanky kid, Bickslow who is clearly the ringleader of this group, approaches him.

"You're messing with the wrong place. I suggest you leave before things get messy." Bickslow says, and Laxus refuses. So, Bicks challenges Laxus to a fight. And to no surprise Laxus wins, and before he helps Bicks up he asks what's even happening around here.

Bickslow tells him about how the city was plagued by attacks from a dark guild that's now been disbanded. The town didn't have the money or the resources to rebuild, Bickslows friends were caught in the crossfire of the dark guild's anarchy - these friends' souls are the ones in the 5 toys, later to be his totems. Laxus knows he can't help, but he tells Bickslow that money's needed he can join Laxus on higher-earning quests. Help keep other towns from ending up like this. This convinces Bicks, and the future of the town gets better because Makarov talks with his connections and the town gets rebuilt.

Finally, Freed. It's maybe a year after Evergreen joined. Freed has been travelling around Fiore trying to find someone who could take away his "curse" (the forbidden magic). He often goes to the cathedrals and such, but most either direct him on to the next or to wizarding guilds - which Freed doesn't want to go near fearing rejection. He comes to Magnolia, and after Kardia Cathedral also say there's nothing they can do, he's sat on the steps knees pulled up to his chest.

"You crying?" Evergreen approaches him, having nothing better to do while she waits for Bickslow and Laxus to be done with whatever they are doing.

"No." Freed doesn't look at her, which Ever finds rude and gives a huff.

"Well then stop looking like you are."

"My sadness is none of your business."

"So you are sad?"

the conversation carries on like this back and forth, Freed utterly confused how this girl keeps asking questions and invading his business. Eventually, Laxus and Bickslow come over to ask Evergreen who she's talking to.

"Oh, I dunno. I didn't ask his name."

"Freed. My name is Freed Justine."

"It's got to be a bit cold sat on those steps," Bickslow says

"Does it matter? I've got nowhere further to go on my search."

"Then you can get out of the cold, don't go being stupid." Laxus holds out his hand to help Freed up, and he takes it. They take him along to the guild so they're out of the cold and have some food. They ask why he's in Magnolia, and Freed reluctantly tells them about his fruitless search to have his magic taken away.

"Well, you've come to the right place," Laxus says, and Freed has a look of hope.

"Really? You mean there's someone here who can take this curse away?"

"Nope. but there are people a bit like you here." Laxus gestures to Bickslow and Evergreen. "I seem to keep collecting randos with weird eyes, what's another one."

"Hey!" Evergreen huffs and gives Laxus a shake "But he's right. You'd fit right in, Freed."

And thus, the Thunder Legion was formed.

[biscuitsofthesevenseas]

A Sea Cookie Hyperanalysis Post (Sugarteara/Wandercrab)

I couldn't think of a proper title. WARNING: Long.

Now, anyone who has at least seen/clicked on this blog before knows that the Ovenbreak sea cookies are my absolute favourites. I love them. However, making analyses tend to take a long time for me due to being a crippling literary perfectionist especially when it comes to characters I like, which may be why i ended up writing up this post waaay later than i intended to. Fashionably late too, as Wandercrab is now over a year old.....shoot.

But anyways, this analysis will be split over two posts. This first one will be mostly about Sugarteara, the next one Wandercrab. (For the sake of my sanity i am not confusing myself by bringing up Octopus here. They're going in the next chapter. ) There will be some mention of the Tower of Frozen Waves gang, but I wont be talking ahout them much. Mostly due to me generally not being as interested in them as much as the underwater guys.

Small note that I am not a media literacy wizard and may have interpreted some things wrong despite my research! I've tried making it as best as i can though, because not only is this a pretty self-indulgent post, but I kinda just... you know. Want the best for my lil guys. They deserve the best.

Anyways, moving on!!

The Role of Sea Fairy Cookie

First, I want to quickly talk about Sea Fairy. Because not only is she an interesting character, but she's also indirectly (or directly, if you interpret it that way) the reason this whole storyline happened in the first place.

Lore wise, she's probably one of the most interesting CROB legendaries (I specifically say CROB because I know that her lore in Kingdom is very different). She's constantly trying to escape the darkness trying to consume her, the curses inflicted upon her by an unknown higher power, all the while looking to the sky in search of hope. Misery lies in every corner of the ocean, to her. And when the threat of death and corruption is so near, it makes sense, actually. She fights fate already by simply staying alive. The moon, so close yet so far away, is the embodiment of the hope she's been searching for. The only source of light when the waters she calls home are darker than the night sky. The Tower of Frozen Waves is a symbol of escapism, yes, but also hope. Everything about her echoes hope. Because she has it rough, she truly does, but she'll suffer her fate again and again and countless more times so long as she lives and breathes.

Despite this all, she's also very willing to discard her hopes and dreams if it means her domain doesn't suffer as she does.

Which leads to events such as this happening:

Hmm Sea Fairy why are you all the way down in the deep ocean what happened here-

The Lost City of Sugarteara

An underwater city crafted from a legendary being's profound sorrow. A place that seemed radiant, almost a utopia, but in reality, the opposite was true. To the point where the being who held the grief had to keep herself captive in the city in order to not have the darkness seeping into the place spread to the rest of the ocean.

So if its fall was inevitable, then why did they make the city in the first place? We know the place didn't instantly materialise but was instead an active choice made by the founders, so why did they have so much faith in the pearl? Even knowing that the raw emotions of the divine was not something to be easily reckoned with?

And I think that this logic can be explained by the simple fact that Sea Fairy was, to them, nothing short of a god. She was the being who had sole and complete power over her domain and their home, the one who bestowed compassion to everyone throughout the seas. To them, a treasure with such connection to her as the Sacred Pearl, was a blessing. And what better way to memorialise the Almighty Sea's fallen treasure than in the form of a civilisation? A place where everyone the pearl has blessed can come and celebrate it and the prosperity it brings?

However, no matter how much they protected, decorated and celebrated the place, the denizens could not hide that the city's existence was one of sorrow, just like its source, the pearl. The emotions of despair infused into the treasure were never meant to last forever, trying to keep it from deteriorating was impossible, and soon enough, the people realised this and they left. One by one, until the faith that had held the city together in the first place was suddenly on the verge of a devastating collapse, only delayed by the steadfast loyalty of two.

Now cut to a depressed crustacean leading two children (well, it is heavily debated as to whether Sorbet Shark is actually a child or not) and Wave Drop (another one of Sea Fairy's treasures, this time it's one of happiness and she left it on the tower as far away from the ocean as possible, while her treasure of misery was left to sink. Oh, symbolism, my best friend) down into the frozen city to save Sea Fairy from her fate once more, and also defeat the Very Evil Manta Ray trying to hold control over the city via the captive Sea Fairy. So really, all of their goals are being met here. There isn't much left of the city, apart from the buildings and sugar crystals, and they don't encounter much on their way to the temple.

Only thing is, the Very Evil Manta Ray speak Lobster had been doing pretty much consisted entirely of lies. Most of what they said at all in the cutscenes consisted entirely of lies, full stop. However, these were lies that Lobster themselves actually believed in a way. To them, they were the only one of the two left actually doing something to bring the denizens back. It didnt matter that it involved seemingly corrupting the one thing that held the place together, it just mattered that it did the job. To bring back the city's glory. Which is why they were surprised when Mocha Ray decided to oppose them. Surprised, hurt even, to the point where they genuinely believed she didn't actually want the people, and in turn, the city back. That she herself was the corrupted one. After all, one effort was better than what seemed to be nothing, so why prevent it from happening?

Peppermint and Sorbet don't know this however, for the better or for the worse, and when they eventually get into the temple (after a bit of experimentation with Wave Drop), they're met with Mocha Ray's iconic first appearance that, while iconic, also seems to play along with the lies they've been told about her.

Everything about this scene screams "villainous". The context behind it, the barriers, heck, even the lighting seems villainous here. The general mystery surrounding her as up to this point, the only information we know about her being the few words spoken by Lobster (the untrue ones as mentioned above). If the city was just as abandoned as they said it was, then why lock yourself up in one singular place? Why lock yourself up in what is basically the core of the city, the one place that dictates the city's existence? What else could you be doing there, other than scheming? Other than villainy? This mystery is what made the lies so easy to believe. We never saw Mocha's own side of the story, heck we never even saw HER up until now.

Which is why it comes as such a surprise when the two guardian's intentions seem to do a complete 180 when they both reach the pearl. The supposed villain ends up taking the good side, trying to protect Sea Fairy, and in turn, the entire ocean from harm, and the supposed hero takes the other. They then proceed to fight to the death, with Mocha Ray being overpowered, until Sea Fairy manages to come back to her senses and quickly eradicates the city (which was directly linked to both of their powers, but I'd say it definitely affected Lobster's more. I mean, they lost their claw. Again. It's a bit of a stretch to say Mocha's powers were directly influenced by the city at all, since it has been showed she kept them even after Sugarteara. )

But one thing I want to quickly talk about is the dynamics between the two. They're complete opposites. In personality, in morals, their roles in the story, they're on opposite sides of the spectrum on almost everything. Even design. (I think the fact that if you inverse their colours they end just having the other's ones was very intentional.) They literally could not be more different if not for one thing - the fact that they were both guardians of the same city. A similarity that shouldn't have as much impact as it does. The fact that these two, despite having their different reasons, were still the only ones who actually stayed until the end. They both were the only citizens who didn't leave on their own accord and actually had it taken away from them, unlike literally everyone else. And weirdly enough, that makes them more similar and intertwined than most of the characters in the entire franchice. Sugarteara is just like that.

But that's where the similarities end. Because even though they are both left with practically nothing by the end, they have some VERY different reactions to this whole situation.

Mocha Ray is surprisingly unfazed. Calm. Which is a bit uncalled for as she is the one who almost died in that. And when such an important place to her had suddenly been lost, you'd think there would be a small amount of grief. But no. Instead, she immediately looks to the future and eagerly tells everyone about her plans. And admits that maybe the city was doomed from the start. In a way, she's sort of facing her own fate head on, like Sea Fairy. (which by the way, their dynamic is hella interesting too because well, Mocha at this point is most likely Sea Fairy's biggest worshipper. She lived in the city crafted from and dedicated to one of Sea Fairy's treasures, and lived the best part of her life in the temple as a priestess specifically while also being one of the last denizens left before the whole destruction happened. And she was definitely the last one who still believed in Sea Fairy's will to keep the treasure and the city alive. The tremendous influence is showing here and I love it.)

She carries on, fully knowing rebuilding a city that in her eyes is just as beautiful as the place she left will take a long, long time. Despite having almost no remnants of a plan on how to get there. I say almost none, because her plan at the end of this is to find Lobster, who seems to have entirely disappeared (We will get to this later). You know, the guy who almost killed her?? The one who attempted to corrupt Sea Fairy with the darkness in the first place???? What the heck??

But in Mocha's perspective, it makes sense. Because she knows they are quite literally the only other person with the same goal as her. It also helps that despite moving on (somewhat) fairly quickly, she's also stuck in the past, and I would say almost as rigid as, if not more rigid than Lobster. Because at least Lobster's viewpoint of a person can change, hence the whole switch up with Mocha Ray. But Mocha still sees Lobster as a good person who is simply misguided, because of how they were back when the city thrived. So rigid, but in an hopeful way that could be confused as blind trust, but it really isn't that. Naivety? Maybe.

Its just a bit too bad, seeing how Lobster is her foil and all, because on their side of the story....

Yeah. That. The weirdly ominous scene where we find out that the plan to corrupt Sea Fairy via the pearl was not their own. Instead, that can be credited to the aptly named Eerie Anglerfish (who just so happens to be a messenger-type creature made by Dark Enchantress. It's unknown whether this is just a random fish corrupted and turned into a spy for evil, or whether this is the voice of DE herself.) But the reason I say it's aptly named is.. well.... look at the way it convinces Lobster to carry on.

Manipulation at its finest. The way this is worded makes me think that, no, makes me sure that Eerie Anglerfish was watching Lobster for a long while before making a move. I mean, there was lots of time, and there would've been more if Lobster didn't try and corrupt the pearl. Watching, of course, to try and bring Sea Fairy to the darkness. She seemed like the easiest target to DE as well, too hopeless and pathetic to protect herself, but powerful enough to have some sort of value. And as always, with a being such as her, there will be followers. Even DE had some. Now they were indeed loyal and would follow her every order, but there weren't any that could traverse the seas, and her goal was to conquer all of Earthbread, was it not? Including the domain of the lonely ocean. How? Via the lonely ocean legendary. Where? In the lonely ocean city. The only way to do this, however, was to recruit a new member, one who could access the domain which wouldve been unpassable to any of her other servants. And to DE's surprise, when the time came to strike, there only seemed to be two to pick from. Perfect.

Mocha Ray was out of the question. Despite being the closest to Sea Fairy, she most likely never even met the angler, because for a start, the temple, where she permanently resided was filled with barriers and traps of her own making. But even if the angler could get to her, she would absolutely not be convinced. Because as mentioned earlier, she is Sea Fairy's biggest worshipper, and would more likely kill the angler than be swayed. Mocha ray, following Dark Enchantress? Nope. Not happening. Non. Nada.

So that just leaves one. Lobster. Surprisingly easy to manipulate seeing that they had practically the same amount of loyalty to the city as Mocha, despite it showing in drastically different ways. And in those opposite ways lied opposite chances. Watching the two guardians fall apart, latching onto one was a piece of cake. Playing around with falling loyalty and watching it slowly dissipate as the target loses trust in the being meant to protect them? Easy.

When compared to the indiscernable mind of the temple keeper, the crystal-clawed sentinel's thoughts could be read like a book.

All she had to do, for them to join her, was provide a remedy. A cure for the dying, sacred city.

But with the plans of Dark Enchantress, the remedy was not going to work anyhow. It was never going to restore the glorious city, only conjure a twisted version of what was once a place of radiance. It didn't need Sea Fairy to fail, but she wasn't expecting it to end this way either. So she did the only thing she could possibly do without losing this newfound follower.

Another remedy. Another cure. Sugarteara was gone, so where else could they go? And the city would be revived. Back to its rightful glory, with newfound powers and a leader they could actually trust.

All of this, with one small condition. Their loyalty.

An offer they could not refuse.

TO BE CONTINUED !!!

This is the end of the first half of my hyperanalysis! (This took way longer to write than I intended, almost two months of pure procrastination) The wandercrab sector will probably arrive three years late if I'm being honest (just like the actual update), but I had a lot of fun writing this! If you actually got to the end then thank you for being one of the people actually interested enough in my words!!

Until next time!