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thepokedexisgay · 4 months

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Thought I'd try some edits (for myself and a friend)

Please do not request edits like these. They take a lot more spoons than I'd prefer to put in to this blog.

#not icons #art edits #trainer volo #gingko guild volo #pokemon wielder volo #team plasma colress #trainer colress #cane user #disabled #disability #disability pride

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thetwilightroadtonightfall · 6 months

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hmmm. You know. I think Brain could’ve been really interesting as a disabled character

I’ve made a post before with the concept of him being visually impaired, and others in the khux community have thought about this kinda thing before with Brain (and other characters) too! With some thought, I think him having some type of physical disability could make sense in canon, and would have been really cool disabled keyblade wielder rep

Here we have this keyblade wielder who rarely ever summons his keyblade (by extension, being someone who doesn’t fight often, but can fight nevertheless since it’s practically required for anybody living in Daybreak Town) and isn’t questioned when he designates himself as the member of the group who stays in the base. He’s good with tech and crafting and research, yes. But maybe he also can’t be out in the field for too long, and feels more comfortable contributing where he can sit when he needs to and doesn’t need to exert too much physical effort on a day to day basis.

In fact, this is the guy who’s sitting down in like 75% of his cutscenes. This is the same guy whose walk animation tends to look a bit slower as well, like when he arrives at his seat at the same time as Ven even though Ven’s was farther away. Plus he’s the only one to hold onto the table as he takes a seat, maybe to steady himself (seen below)

This is the guy who says “Thought I’d be the last to arrive. Guess I’m not so lazy after all.” in one of his first scenes. With the lens of disability, I like to interpret that as him making an offhand joke or expressing a bit of self-deprecating humour for being physically slower in general, or both. And it’s quite interesting, because even though he says that, almost everything Brain does after this scene shows that he’s incredibly hardworking and determined. He doesn’t give himself enough credit, or he’s playing things close to the chest, or he’s matured into someone who strives to do better.

Maybe he has chronic pain. Maybe he’d be an ambulatory wheelchair user, and/or a cane user. Making all sorts of cool mechanical additions to them, and finding ways to make the Daybreak tower more accessible (he’s a big fan of the gear elevators!)

I dunno, I’m starting to ramble here. tl;dr I just think it would’ve been so awesome to have disabled rep with Brain, and in kh in general. If anything, khux allows us to say that keyblade wielders come in all sorts of shapes and sizes, and that should include disabled wielders as well

#khux #brain kh #my headcanons #we have vala and xigbar (visually impaired) but we should have more!!#please let me know if there’s anything I need to fix! I’m no expert on disability & would like this to be a respectful think piece #my posts #knight in gothic armour

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broncoburro · 1 year

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Excerpts from "HISTORY AND FORME OF THEURGIC RELICS", a 1798 textbook detailing how magic (in technical: meur) is converted into a form usable by man.

This book was published during the Second Vesturian Civil War.

PAGE 213

Take for example the dragon, a once-plentiful creature. There are many intact skeletal remains of dragons below the ice of the Endless Wasteland. Northern Miners exhume these remains and separate out the pieces capable of generating magic (from here called "meurian artefacts").

The dragon in life generated red meur in its' chest cavity, summoning fire to burn its foes. The usable meurian artefacts are the thoracic vertebrae and ribs. These are sent southward to the Middle and Southern Kingdoms for processing.

A meurian artefact can be paired with an an Andimeur Synthesizer in a process aptly called "synthesis". The meur from the artefact then may be channeled in a way usable by humans.

These completed objects are called theurgic relics. Those with noble blood have the ability to handle and utilize theurgic relics for a variety of applications.

An ever-burning lamp is a common decorative relic among the elite - they are cheap to manufacture and require only the smallest artefacts to keep a brilliant flame.

FIG 11.a: Fossil remains of a dragon. Red meur can be detected in its' ribcage, where it used meur to generate fire as a defensive tactic.

FIG 11.b: Usable pieces extracted from the skeleton: "meurian artefacts".

FIG 12.a: A simple Andimeur Synthesizer, attached to a dragon's rib bone.

FIG 12.b: Early decorative ever-burning lamp of Southern Kingdom make, circa 1632.

PAGE 302

The most potent of artefacts, such as the thoracic vertebrae of the dragon, are best used in weaponry. Theurgic relics that are weapons are versatile. A skilled wielder of meur may just as easily heat a pan with their theurgic weapon as burn a foe.

FIG 30.a: A brass knuckle fashioned out of dragon vertebrae. A small and efficient Andimeur Synthesizer resides in the grip.

FIG 30.bcd: The red meur may be synthesized in many ways: projected fire, conductive heat, or ambient heat are just some of the ways it may be channeled.

PAGE 315

The greatest and most impressive theurgic weapons are made with the rarest of meurian animals. A principal examples is the unicorn staff, owned by the Andimeur family. It uses a horn from the exceedingly rare unicorn as a conductive weapon that can synthesize any meur type. There is only one known unicorn horn in existence.

FIG 30: An eclectic combination: a commoner’s weapon, the Duruger M1875, retrofitted into a black meur theurgic weapon using hare teeth.

FIG 31: The Andimeur's unicorn staff, pictured with sheath. It can be used as a walking cane when sheathed.

FIG 32: The Andimeur's other family theurgic weapon - the manticore rapier. The tail generates devastatingly hot red meur. The Andimeurs once kept and used manticores for hunting unicorns.

FIG 33: A scythe fashioned from the jawbone of a "demon", a green meur creature remembered for its habit of pilfering human corpses. This particular theurgic relic is utilized by famous Lieutenant General D'Angelo Barghur. Green meur can be dispersed into fields to boost crop yield, as well as used in combat to manipulate the earth, or cause weaponized overgrowth.

#fantasy worldbuilding #magic system #magic weapons #worldbuilding #original setting #world: forever gold

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nomorefstogive · 9 months

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Path To Nowhere Headcanons: Langley

Good Evening ladies, gentlemen, and all things that lie between, and welcome to this newest display of our wanton insanity. While we work on updating our Genshin Impact story, A Guide To Mending Broken Wings, on Ao3, we have decided to have a bit of fun with something that is somewhat novel to us.

That being our attempts at headcanons, this one focusing on the SFW ones as we plan to make a second one to focus solely on the NSFW ones, without managing to make an entire damn fic out of each entry lol. In particular, we will be starting with our headcanons for the sinners of PTN, with all of that said, let us begin!

Ah! We will also be using a Female Chief when we mention the Chief in this fic, we hope this does not bother anyone, but yuri is a passion of ours and fem chief was practically born for being paired with all of the lovely and dangerous ladies of PTN.

First up, we have the Silver Spider of Dis herself, head of the 9th Agency and wielder of a gun to make Alucard from Hellsing ultimate proud-

Langley:

SFW Headcanons

1. Like Zealous-Box on Reddit, I believe she is actually a rather nice boss to work under, although I also see her having the mentality of 'These are my agents to bully and not yours' and as such will not tolerate any outside factors weighing down on them. Debt? She'll subtly pay off the one they owe. An issue with their kids' schooling? Welp, that school is under investigation now. And so on.

2. She has trust issues as a result of having been betrayed many times in the past. It's the reason she is so quick to put a 'Mark' on someone, so if they betray her she can put them down as soon as possible, however, it can also serve as a sign of trust to those who have proven themselves to her.

A way of saying 'I always have your back, so long as you don't double cross me,' as she could use the 'Mark' to find them if need be. Of the few people she trusts, the Chief is the newest to a very small circle and as such is under her watch.

3. The Chief is her 'Little Rookie,' and no one else's. She is their superior and she will not tolerate anyone else trying to poach someone who is hers from her.

If someone tries to give the Chief an order, she will tell the chief to ignore it, before she has a nice 'Talk' with the person who tried to order her rookie. Said talk may involve her cane and their skull becoming intimately familiar with one another.

4. She hates the Old Men who run Dis. She finds them to be both incompetent and Corrupt to the point she has many times fantasized about removing them and playing kingmaker to find suitable replacements for them, but the threat of Pharma and others keeps her from going through with said dreams, afterall it is better the Devil you know then the unknown ones. She is loyal to the city, not the suit-clad rats that run it.

5. She sleeps with her pistol under her pillow. She likewise has one on her nightstand, another strapped under the bed, and many more scattered all across her home. She even has her room at Minos, it is less a cell and more a room because the Chief has accepted they are largely running more of a rehabilitation center/halfway home/apartment complex at this point, outfitted with several guns of varying caliber hidden across it.

6. She treats her stay at Minos like a vacation from her superiors, and can often be found napping with her hat pulled down over her face and her cane over her lap, Lady Maria style, or doing any other number of things to help try and relax from all the stupidity she deals with daily.

7. She encountered Suspect R once, the event left her absolutely terrified of the woman to the point of suffering nightmares of the woman and her power for several months afterward, this being what led to her meeting Chameleon, who came to be her counselor.

To this day she is terrified of meeting the woman again, and fears that should that day come she may not be able to muster the courage to actually face her. What makes it all the more traumatic to her, is that R did not even try to fight her, she simply overwhelmed her by virtue of her sheer presence alone, and this has led to Langley fearing the idea of just what the woman is capable of if she actually tries to fight.

8. Like KhandiMahn on Reddit, I think that she does collect cute things, although I personally feel she collects things such as children story books and fairy tales and has a single stuffed animal that has been with her since childhood, where it was her only real friend, that she has kept well maintained all these years.

She cannot sleep well without her stuffed animal and would more than likely have a panic attack should it be destroyed. The Chief earns brownie points with her when they find it laying around in the washroom and patch it up before she finds them fixing it in their office, Langley almost begging them to give it back to her with the chief doing so and agreeing to not tell anyone else while Langley hold her old friend to her chest.

Needless to say, Langley threatens them to keep quiet despite what they have said and heads off to get some actual sleep, the chief smiling at their superiors' antics as she leaves.

9. She is not a morning person, at all. Her subordinates consider the idea of waking her up early to be the equivalent of walking into the Rust without a weapon and with a neon sign strapped to your chest saying 'Eat Me'. She is in fact barely coherent or aware until she has coffee in her, and is in particular quite fond of Summer's coffee, the one that keeps the Chief up for a whole day in the supervision incident, though it barely affects her.

10. She suffered a leg injury that makes her occasionally have issues with her balance while walking, hence her cane. She added all of the gizmos and gadgets it contains later on, and has recently had Summer update some of them. Among them being a taser-like function that packs as much punch as a cattle prod, an option to remove the handle, which is attached to a small pistol, and a needle filled with adrenaline with a separate one being filled with sedative.

11. She cannot stand spicy food and has a not so secret sweet tooth. In particular, she is quite fond of strawberry or blueberry flavored ice cream but also enjoys coffee flavored versions of the frozen treat as well. She has a separate freezer in her home that is filled with nothing but ice cream. Her subordinates know about it but are wise enough to not say anything because she frankly deserves it given all she has to deal with.

12. She frequently has migraines and as such carries around a pair of ear plugs, a pair of sunglasses, and a bottle of aspirin, as strong as she can obtain it without going on the blackmarket, and has a special room in her home and cell that is outfitted with complete sound proofing and no windows.

Her subordinates have come to recognize the signs of one beginning to form, and will work to get her out of whatever situation she is in and either back to her home or to somewhere she can ride out the oncoming pain till it passes.

The Chief encounters her when one is forming and takes her to their office to rise out the pain with them pulling down blackout curtains and giving her a pillow to rest her head on as they go to leave, only for Langley to stop them and ask them to stay with her during it and until it passes.

13. She is somewhat touch starved, but she has had bad experiences with physical contact from her childhood and from her struggles throughout her life, and as such is somewhat adverse to it.

That said, once she feels she can trust someone implicitly, of which there are few, she will typically be the one to initiate contact, typically through light brushes against their shoulders or by threading their fingers together.

If she ever reaches the point of allowing for herself to embrace someone, or allow for them to embrace her, then it becomes readily apparent that she is quite clingy and will allow for just how touch starved she is to become apparent as she tries to maintain contact for as long as possible or initiate it whenever it is possible for her to do so.

It will be worse still if she has nothing to do, and she knows the one she is holding has nothing to do, in which case they had best be prepared for a lengthy stay.

14. She has something of a fascination with spiders, often pausing to admire their webs whenevers she gets the chance, or allowing them to scurry across her hand or nest in the corners of her home, she also has a terrarium filled with various breeds from harmless if annoying Jumping Spiders, to lethal Brown Recluse and Black Widow spiders.

Curiously, even the most hostile breeds of arachnids seem to be somewhat docile in her presence and also seem to display something akin to obedience to the Silver Spider of Dis, perhaps owing to an unknown attribute of her Sinner Power or for other unknown reason.

She is particularly proud of having managed to get her hands on, and subsequently raise, a Female Goliath Bird Eater that she has named Spook, it is unknown if the Spider is normal or not, as it has lived for almost 10 years past its life expectancy and has shown remarkable intelligence.

All of that said, the chief most certainly did not appreciate it when Spook landed on her shoulder while visiting Langley, the ensuing scream could be heard well across the Bureau and most of Dis.

15. Her driving is…let us just say it is something that necessitates boeing both soundly buckled in for, and having made sure that your last will and testament is in order, as Langley tends to pay less attention to speed limits and traffic laws, than she does on getting where she needs to go fast.

There are many reasons her agents trip over themselves to drive her somewhere, and most of them are owed in part to the sheer amount of accidents she has caused over the course of her time behind the wheel.

16. She has a somewhat odd relationship with Tetra and Bai Yi, as she has hired the 2 to do jobs for her, and by extension the 9th Agency, before and while she has had many complaints about Bai Yi’s antics in the past, she cannot help but admit that the 2 are among her most trusted independent contractors for when she needs something done outside of her own jurisdiction.

She occasionally provides them aid by subtly having charges against them revoked, or by having them bailed out of sticky situations, though she always expects them to repay her in some way once she has done so.

17. She has something of a rivalry with Eirene, the two often being found playing chess against one another and speaking, though few of those who have managed to find them during these games are able to understand just what it is they are speaking about.

This rivalry also manifest as Eirene going out of her way to purchase assets the 9th Agency is interested in, be it structures and companies, or hiring individuals they were interested in recruiting and then using them as leverage to force LAngley to play further games with her both at the negotiating table and at the chess board.

18. She has a fascination with Crache and has her eye on her as a potential recruit for the 9th, her ability to effectively control shadows and to appear out of nowhere having the potential to make for not only a lethal agent but perhaps also someone that, if taught correctly, could become a greater legend than even herself in the fields of espionage.

For now though, she is content merely monitoring the girls growth and ensuring she continues to develop along the right paths, occasionally she will provide little tests and challenges for the girls ability as well as subtly raising the education level of her tests to see her strive to grow, but outside of that she is keeping her hands off of her for fear of a certain nurse catching wind of her interest.

She despises needles and someone with a gun that shoots them is as such quite a bother for her to deal with.

19. She once attempted to deal with Nightingale’s work out of curiosity for just what the adjutant has to deal with on a daily basis, she promptly had a small mental breakdown after the first hour, crashed from an overdose of caffeine near the third, had another mental breakdown near the fourth, and upon seeing just how much was left gave up and fled to her cell.

She has since made it clear that no one is to speak ill of the Adjutant, be they Sinner or Agent from the 9th or otherwise, any person who can handle that much bullshit and not lose their minds deserves not only the highest of praise, but also whatever the hell else they want or need, whenever they want or need it.

20. She has a personal stamp made in the image of a widow like spider with a hypercube on its thorax that she uses to stamp all of her documents with, she once attempted to add a webbing design to it…it did not work like she thought it would and resembled more solid circle of ink than anything else and so she tossed the web and went back to the simpler spider design.

21. Her main gun is called the “Silver widow”, she has several spares with similar names, from a sniper rifle called the “Black Widow”, to a shotgun called the “Brown Recluse”, she has likewise had each of the weapons inscribed with the design of the spider they are named after, her main gun bearing the only custom emblem out of the lot with it being her own spider symbol, a widow like spider with a hypercube in place of an hourglass on the thorax.

22. She shares a feeling of fond exasperation for the Chief and her usual aids, Hella and Hecate, as while they do get results, their methods tend to be…rather unique and occasionally very entertaining to watch and or hear about, but she is also somewhat wary of the most unlikely of the two Sinners for her own reason.

She sees the Chief as something of a protege, though it could also be argued she seems to have a borderline romantic interest in them, or perhaps it is the growing bond between them simply showing just how lonely she truly is behind the mask of the leader of the 9th.

Regardless she tends to go out of her way to keep an eye on the eccentric Chief of Minos, occasionally going out of her way to aid them from the shadows or protect them from the various elements of Dis that just seem incapable of grasping just under whose protection they are.

As for Hecate, she finds the quiet and artistic girl to be somewhat pleasant to be around, always silent unless she is spoken to or needs to speak and always sketching she is one of the very few to have encountered Langley while she was having a migraine and not earned a bullet between the eyes as she closed the curtains of the room they were in and gave her a pillow to put her head on.

When she asked why she helped her, Hecate merely looked at her and tilted her head before saying; “You have been kind to the Chief, and the Chief says I should help people if they are in pain, and you looked like you were in pain. Is that not a good enough reason?”

Langley will deny to her dying breath that she gave the young woman a head pat after she said that, and Hecate herself will be strangely quiet on the subject, though there will be a faint glimmer in her eyes at the memory.

Since then, she has had something of a soft spot for the young woman, typically it is one shown by making sure she is alright upon returning from a mission or by encouraging her to grow beyond her current state of being, typically by arranging tests for her or challenging her to chess, she can proudly say the young woman is showing progress in her growing education.

As for Hella, one would expect her to despise the feral gremlin of Syndicate, what with her foul tongue, disrespect for authorities, and penchant for causing trouble wherever she goes, but in truth she finds her to be quite entertaining as all it takes to cause a spectacle is to say the right words to wind her up and then point her at something as she watches the fireworks.

She also harbors a grudging respect for the young girl, as at one point she found herself confronted by Hella in one of the many hallways of Minos, the Syndican casually leaning against a wall as Ninety-Nine leaned against the wall across from her.

She had been intrigued from the moment she saw the oddly calm and composed look in the little gremlin’s eyes as she pushed herself off the wall and walked towards her, stopping in front of her and looking up just enough to meet her eyes as she spoke up in an oddly calm voice.

What followed was something she did not expect, the little B-Rank Sinner meeting the eyes of the Spider of Paradiso, an S-Rank Sinner with a kill count in the hundreds if not thousands, and telling her that she didn’t trust her, nor did she like her authority over the Chief, but she would tolerate them.

But if she betrayed the Chief, if she betrayed them or hurt them in anyway…well Ninety-Nine’s fist striking the hypercube reinforced wall with enough force to cause cracks to spider web across the wall and dust to fall to the ground as she pulled her mutated hand out of the pit she had born through it with one strike finished her sentence.

The display was met with her aiming her pistol at the younger Syndican fast enough neither could blink before the cold metal was aimed at her forehead, the taller Syndican snarling as her eyes began to burn crimson as her power began to surge, only for Hella to do something that caught them both off guard.

She laughed.

She looked Langley dead in the eye, and she laughed as she lifted up her hand and pulled the gun flush against her forehead, the cold steel meeting her skin in a frigid kiss as she unblinkingly met Langley’s gaze.

“Go ahead, pull the trigger you eight legged Eastside bitch. We both know you don’t have enough bullets or strength to keep me from coming back before you can put Ninety-Nine down, and how long do you think that fancy cane will keep us back huh? Think a taser and a few knives and a little pea shooter are going to stop us for more than what? A few minutes? An hour? Doesn’t fucking matter, eventually one of us will break it, then what? How long will you last with that bad leg of yours? I give you about 10 minutes before one of us breaks it again, and this time you won’t have anyone to save you. So go ahead cow, put one between my eyes, I. Fucking. Dare. You.”

As Hella spoke she had reached her hand up to grip Langley’s wrist and begin to rest her smaller, yet more heavily calloused hand, over hers and begin to push down on the trigger finger after she thumbed the hammer back, never once breaking her gaze as she and Langley kept meeting each others eyes.

Langley could feel Ninety-Nine’s gaze on her as she moved closer to her sun’s side, her posture telling Langley that the moment she squeezed the trigger, she would be fighting the brute up close and personal and she doubted even a round from her gun would stop her.

And so, she pulled her gun back and gave an amused chuckle to the young woman and her hulking companion.

She looked down into Hella’s eyes and offered her a simple nod of understanding as she holstered her gun and began to walk away, the pair letting her pass with their peace said, though she soon stopped to call over her shoulder to them.

“I’ve known some of the best FAC soldiers and Agents in my life, and none of them have even half the guts you do brat, I look forward to seeing how you’ll turn out, little girl from Syndicate.”

Since then she has kept a close eye on the little gremlin, all the while wondering just what is truly going on in the head of the little B-Rank that had the guts to stare her down like that, because now that she has seen a glimpse of what lays behind the facade of a brat, she can’t help but wonder just what kind of beast stands beside the Chief.

23. She is bi-sexual, but prefers either females or feminine or effeminate looking males, she is also one to very much wear the pants in any relationship, though she will have her softer moments, especially after a long day of dealing with the bullshit she deals with and her leg beginning to ache on her.

All she will want after visiting her partner afterwards, is to have her leg massaged while she closes her eyes and gets some sleep as she dreams of the day when she finally snaps and sets her paperwork on fire.

24. She can be quite protective of those she has grown close to, and even more so in regards to those she considers friends or potential partners. Expect the Spider’s web to be thoroughly wrapped around these individuals as she maintains near constant surveillance of them and those around them.

Any fool going after them will have not only the Spider herself after them, but all of the 9th gunning for them as well, because their boss has earned those few treasured individuals after all the shit she has been through and anyone that tries to take those that make her happy from her, had best start digging their grave, cause whatever gods they worship have washed their hands of them.

And that is about all for the Headcanon we have for the silver Spider of Paradiso at the moment, we may come up with some more in the future but for now this is where we will be ending this little chapter of this mess.

Till next time, take care and stay safe everyone.

#ptn langley #path to nowhere #headcanons #ptn headcanons #path to nowhere Langley #Path to nowhere chief #ptn hella #ptn chief #ptn hecate #ptn ninety nine #characters aside from langley are just mentioned really #let's see if I can go an entry without making a ficlet out of one of these headcanons #ptn

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titanrpg · 2 months

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This sword has reached the end of its lifespan. It is likely still good for one more kill. But when you strike that last blow, the blade is going to snap.

Do you still need to draw this sword? Do you think you might still have to kill someone?

-Senzo, Zatoichi’s Cane Sword (1967)

This Blade Will Shatter: One Last Kill just dropped.

It's a game for 2-8 players where you and your friends play spirits inside one sword with one kill left in it. How will you influence the wielder? How will you make peace with the other spirits in this sword?

Right now, the only way to get a copy is to join my patreon at Tier 2 or above. I don't like paywalling games behind a monthly pledge, but I'm still nowhere near financially stable after my move across the country to escape anti-trans violence in Florida. My patrons are my lifeline right now.

If you'd like to help a trans game designer live a happier, safer life, patreon is the best way to do it.

Anyone who upgrades to Tier 2 or 3 will instantly unlock a copy of This Blade Will Shatter, along with January and February's monthly games, (Not) My Final Form and Loving Mx. Hippo.

That's three games PLUS every future monthly game for as long as you're able to support.

My aim is always to give you MORE, because you are helping me live my dream.

Click here to see how you can help.

All my love,

Lex Kim Bobrow

Publisher, Titanomachy RPG

#indie ttrpg #ttrpg #indie games #patreon

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carnificaprince · 1 year

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IDPack 〜 Razor ✦

( Warnings for the following . . . blood )

꒰NAMES꒱ 〜 Adalwolf , Adolphus , Amarok , Andrius , Anubis , Aratiri , Asterope , Astor , Barak , Bardawulf , Bardou , Beowulf , Berserker , Bigby , Bite , Blade , Blaidd , Blaise , Blakesley , Blast , Bleddyn , Bleiz , Bolt , Bone , Border , Boxer , Bronte , Cailean , Caleb , Cane , Cannon , Canon , Capitoline , Cavalier , Collie , Colin , Conan , Conroy , Convel , Crash , Current , Dane , Eythor , Fang , Faolan , Fenrir , Fenris , Flick , Freki , Fulguris , Hound , Howl , Indra , Kalev , Kennel , Kennelly , Léizé , Lobo , Loup , Lowell , Lupa , Lupe , Lupercalia , Lupical , Lupicalle , Lupin , Lupine , Lupita , Lupus , Lyall , Lycus , Lyn , Madden , Morrigan , Pawbie , Pawsia , Phelan , Raksha , Rafe , Raiden , Raif , Ramiel , Remiel , Ridge , Romeo , Russell , Shepard , Siria , Sirius , Slavc , Sorine , Soma , Steel , Sterope , Stormur , Styrmir , Tempest , Tenacity , Tora , Torben , Tordis , Toril , Tormenta , Tornado , Ulfur , Ulric , Vetra , Volt , Voltaic , Wolf , Wolfe , Wolff , Wolfgang , Wolfie , Wolfram , Wulfric , Wolven , Ylfa , Ylva , Yorkshire , Yuma , Zev

꒰PRONOUNS꒱ 〜 Arf/Arfs , Awrf/Awrfs , Bark/Barks , Bite/Bites , Blade/Blades , Blood/Bloods , Bone/Bones , Claw/Claws , Clay/More/Claymores , Elec/Electros , Electro/Electros , Elec/Electrics , Fang/Fangs , Fluff/Fluffs , Growl/Growls , Grr/Grrs , Howl/Howls , Hunt/Hunts , Iron/Irons , Knight/Knights , Light/Lightnings , Lupe/Lupes , Lup/Lupis , Meat/Meats , Paw/Paws , Pounce/Pounces , Pup/Pups , Rar/Rars , Ra/Raze , Raz/Razor , Sharp/Sharps , Shock/Shocks , Sigil/Sigils , Soul/Souls , Spark/Sparks , Sprint/Sprints , Steel/Steels , Steelclaw/Steelclaws , Thun/Thunders , Tooth/Teeth , Wag/Wags , Wild/Wilds , Woof/Woofs , Wolf/Wolfs , Wolve/Wolves , 🐺/🐺s , ⚡/⚡s ,

꒰TITLES꒱ 〜 (The) Wolf Boy * , Steelclaw , His / My Lupical * , (The) Wolf With Sharpened Steel Claws , He Who is More Wolf Than Human * , ( The ) Noble Little Wolf , ( The ) Wolf Pup , The Berserker , Big Brother * , He Who Was Raised by Wolves * , ( The ) Scarred Wolf Pup , Wolf With the Electric Roar , ( The ) Lightning Bruiser , His Sacred Silence * , ( The ) Silent Wolfpup , He With the Electric Bark * , ( The ) Voiceless Volt , His Shocking Sword * , Wordless Wolfpup , Iron Clawed Claymore Wielder ( Any Title with * next to it includes a pronoun that can be changed and all titles can be adjusted two your liking . . . ! )

꒰TERMS꒱ 〜 Auroralupincryin , Awolflector , Bloodywolfian , Clawzin , Creaturic , CryptidWolfdogkin , Darkwelestic , Electroic , Fanggender , Feralpuppygenic , Feruvel , Genderclawed , Genderfanged , Genderwolf , Lupitypen , Mawsgender , Pupawic , Pupwolfic , Rainhowlgender , Razorcharic , Sleepywolfgender , Softdogwolfial , Thundergender , Thundragender , Wolfdogpupian , Wolfpawicc , Wolfpupgender , Wolfthing

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nothingtherefornow · 4 months

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How will Miraculous Balance Lila lack's of ressources and power compared to Gabriel against the Miraculous Team ?

While surfing on a Miraculous Ladybug Reddit, I found a fan suggesting that Miraculous season 6 may be forced to introduce new super villains that have nothing to do with Lila, because for what little we know, Lila is just no match for Team Miraculous on her own.

Even if her excellents talents as a chameleon and manipulator can allow Lila to create numerous situations to her advantage to trigger akumatizations, and to potentially sow discord among heroes ("divide and conquer" as they say), the existence of magical charms that can now purify akuma in an almost Utopian Paris (and thus filled with a lot more positive emotions than in a previous full of corruptions), and the fact that Ladybug and Cat Noir are now capable of using the cataclysm and the lucky charm to infinity without detransforming put Lila in a serious disavantageous situation.

In the world of Miraculous where magic and the existence of meta-humans/mutants is common place, to introduce new original super villains who would attack Paris and ally themselves with a Chrysalis offering to make them stronger by akumatizing them would indeed be a plausible solution in the future season 6.

The problem for Lila is that according to the latest news, she does not have the same wealth or the same resources as Gabriel. The latter had his secret garden where he regularly harvested numerous butterflies which later became his akuma, in order to never fall stranded and to be able to continue attacking the heroes every day and thus give them very little respite, but also to be able to launch attacks of the scale of the scarlet butterfly.

I am certain that an akuma purified by Ladybug then becomes unusable, and we do not yet know if it is enough for a butterfly miraculous wielder to detransform then retransform so that their cane is always automatically equipped with an akuma if the the latter had just been purified. However, a wielder of the butterfly miraculous acting for good does not seem to have to worry about the same problem, because we saw in the Paris special that Betterfly could use the same kamiko, which he keeps in his weapon, to kamikoze more than one person at a time in a short period of time. Especially since Betterfly's kamiko seems to be fast enough to avoid being purified if Betterfly were to free its allies from their power just before the kamikozed object get destroyed (and in any case Betterfly doesn't have to worry about that. since the Ladybug of his world has become his ally). And in order to be able to create a second kamikozed champion without linking it to the same kamiko as the first, simply lend the butterfly miraculous to an ally so that the latter is also entitled to their own kamiko to use.

However Betterfly also showed us why having only one magical butterfly supplied with his weapon was a big disadvantage compared to Gabriel's akuma garden : the fact that Ladybug was able to find Hesperia by tracking down her only kamiko , which should automatically return to its creator. Gabriel didn't have to worry about his akuma being used to track him, because no purified akuma has ever returned to him, and an unpurified akuma can multiply, or Gabrie himself can certainly break the connection ( in the episode Ladybug, we saw the scarlet akuma turn white again and therefore "purified" after Gabriel transformed).

We do not yet know if the butterfly miraculous will always provide Lila with a new akuma in her weapon each time the previous akuma is purified by Ladybug, or if like Gabriel Lila will be forced to regularly harvest butterflies to make akumas. Especially since with only one akuma at her disposal, Lila could possibly be hunted down, unless she detransforms just in time after each fight. But unless Lila joins forces with Tomoe Tsurugi and asks for her help in creating her own butterfly garden, I don't think Lila won't have the same luxury that Moth/Shadowmoth/Monarch had.

Another fan confirmed that this idea would indeed be the best direction to take.

Although I think Lila will learn to create megakuma very quickly, magical charms can still work against them by being fueled by positive emotions. And as I said above, in the new Paris, positive emotions are likely to be much more widespread than negative emotions in a Paris that is no longer under the reign of a corrupt mayor and his equally wealthy corrupted partners.

This I can only see 4 ways in which Lila/Chrysalis could gain the upper hand over Ladybug and Cat Noir and become a more dangerous threat than Gabriel :

Create an alliance with Tomoe Tsurugi or another supervillain we don't yet know about, and give him access to other supervillain allies that Lila could easily manipulate into becoming her pawns..

Unlock powerful new powers never before seen with the Miraculous Butterfly, until you reach a power, able to counter that of Ladybug's magical charms.

Succeed in stealing miraculous from her future school friends, and even then the task will be difficult because apart from the ladybug, the black cat, the rabbit and the peacock, the other miraculous have changed shape, which could prevent Lila from recognize most of the magical jewels and steal them (unless she manages to discover with her tricks who and who within the miraculous Team)

Reveal to all of Paris the truth about Gabriel Agreste = Papillon/Papillombre/Monarch, and the fact that Ladybug voluntarily hid this truth, with the aim of sowing doubt and discord throughout Paris and within the Miraculous team, thus giving Lila more means to act and turning certain heroes and citizens against Ladybug

Without that I don't see how Lila can become a credible threat to Ladybug and Cat Noir.

This could also explain why Lila mentioned looking forward to meet Marinette again while putting the butterfly brooch on her, yet without mentioning Ladybug (if we assume that Lila doesn't know that Ladybug = Marinette). Maybe this is because Lila should be intelligent enough to understand that the power alone of the butterfly miraculous is no longer sufficient against Ladybug, and Lila must therefore at the beginning have only intended to use the powers of the miraculous against Marinette to ruin her life (what more easy than akumatizing herself into Chameleon or Volpina)

However, let's find out what scared Lila at the end of Re-creation first when season 6 comes out, and figure if it will play an important role in her future role as a butterfly super villain or not

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug season 6 theory #ml season 6 speculation #lila rossi #ml cerise #ml chrysalis #ml hesperia #gabriel agreste #tomoe tsurugi #I made that post in french #so here is the english traduction #ml Betterfly

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officialprimadonna · 1 year

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just a quick rundown of my miraculous rewrite just in case you guys are curious

note: this still might change in the future (like the names) and some things are missing because is i still can’t think of anything. their abilities—the ones considered as overpowered—only last a minute or less, depends on how strong the holder is.

ladybug 🐞: creation and restoration (the same in the canon show)

LUCKY CHARM (creating an object to help you have an idea how to win)

PURIFICATION (to purify the akumas and turn them back to what they were once)

CURE (restoration of the major damages done by miraculous related stuff but draws the line with life and death)

earings & black and red yo-yo

cat 🐈‍⬛ : destruction and ???

CATACLYSM (the ability to destroy or decay anything they touch)

NIGHT VISION

BLACK WELL (will pull anyone near it before it explodes and temporarily blinding the victim like astra from valorant)

ring & silver baton

bee 🐝 : subjection and courage

VENOM (to summon bees using the rapier and able to control them to do whatsoever and to immobilised opponents)

POLLINATION (to manipulate flowers and vines)

hair comb & golden rapier

fox 🦊 : illusion and devilry

MIRAGE (to create illusions and even make the holder shapeshift to look somebody else / change physical appearance of the holder)

HYPNOSIS (using the flute, to distract the oponents and place them in some kind of trance)

anklet & orange flute

turtle 🐢 : protection and tranquility

SHELTER (to create a shield / force-field type of protection)

HIDE (to turn invisible temporarily: not too long and not too short, long enough to cause a distraction)

bracelet & ???

butterfly 🦋 : transformation and empathy

EMPOWER (able to create champions through butterflies)

??? (to feel clear emotions of the target, to know what they desire the most through that, and to transfer yours to them - like reyna ramirez’s powers to transfer strength and lucifer’s ability to know your greatest desires)

necklace & staff / cane

peafowl 🦚 : intuition and ???

VISION (to see quick flashes into the future using the fan/foresight)

TEMPORAL (freezes time for a short amount of time/depends on the wielder's strength/)

glasses & fan

okay so, i’m thinking that the seven miraculous can form a team for a battle (??? it’s so hard to explain) like the butterfly is the leader, ladybug is the strategist, bee and cat are the soldiers (first line of defence), turtle is shield (second line of defence), while fox and peafowl operates in the background and not on the battlefield.

i don’t know yet what weapon i can give the turtle. can’t give it the shield since it’s already its ability. and i’m thinking on how i could make the peafowl miraculous be used if a villain uses it when all it can do is see a few minutes into the future and freeze time. like how can that affect your enemy if you attack using it?

There are only 7 miraculous now (the number of luck) because I think having THAT many miraculous is so unnecessary. The butterfly is now the miraculous of emotions while the peacock—now called peafowl, as it should be, since peacock are male peafowls—has the power of foresight because of its eyes theme.

okay that’s all 😭🙏

#mlb rewrite #noire’s version #mlb au #miraculous ladybug reboot #miraculous ladybug rewrite #superpowers rewrite #ladybug miraculous #cat miraculous #bee miraculous #turtle miraculous #fox miraculous #butterfly miraculous #peacock miraculous

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its-to-the-death · 9 months

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Some weapons I wish had been submitted to the Fictional Weapon War:

Lostvayne (Seven Deadly Sins): Chastiefol was one of the few I decided to put in myself for the preliminaries but I thought it’d be cool to see any of the Sacred Treasures from this show honestly. Chastiefol is cool for its multiple forms. Lostvayne is cool for its cloning power. My top two from Seven Deadly Sins.

Nichirin Swords (Demon Slayer): Another show that I would have been happy to receive any weapons from. The basic ones have subtle differences that are unique to their wielders like the color and sword guard. The Hashira who have different kinds of swords are cool too. Mitsuri with her whip sword, Shinobu has a rapier-like sword, Gyomei with a flail, Obanai with a flamberge.

Demon Blade Benizakura (Fairy Tail): I think the most notable of Erza’s swords since when she uses it, she’s putting all her magic into the sword and none into her armor.

Kunikida’s wire gun (Bungou Stray Dogs): One I considered submitting myself. He doesn’t use it too much though.

Magic Pens (Twisted Wonderland): The magestones in the pens act like an arcane focus to keep blot from accumulating in the students. Everyone has these magic pens that look very basic but the house wardens are shown with these kind of staffs that have their magestones. Malleus’ is my favorite. I love the spinning wheel on the end. Leona is a close second.

Feitan’s umbrella sword (Hunter X Hunter): I think umbrella swords are cool as hell. They have the same appeal as cane sword where you think it’s a normal item and then BAM it gets cooler because you just pulled a sword out of it.

The Soul Slugger Doom Bat of Maximum Destruction (Epithet Erased): It’s a bat with a knife taped to it.

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itsclydebitches · 9 months

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I rndmly remembered that the WoR episode on Aura basically stated that whatever was going on with Ozpin was the result of his own aura training... like damn, the original RWBY trilogy set things to go to significantly better places than we ended.

I don't remember that one, but it's been literal years since I watched those and I'm pretty sure I saw most episodes only once. But yeah, there was a lot in the WoR series that was either dropped or retconned. Which remains wild to me because if I was going to make a side series specifically about the world building that hasn't made it into the show, I'd want to be very certain about what I was putting out there. That's not a one-off comment by a background character in a random episode six seasons back. That's now the audience's go-to source for unanswered questions. I mean, we know now not to take the franchise additions at their word, but at the time you'd think that whatever made the cut could have had more thought put into it—or more commitment—considering that's the only reason for its existence.

Anyway yeah, I wish the show as a whole put more emphasis on aura/semblances than it does magic, especially nowadays. If aura can be continually trained and semblances continually evolve with the fighter, it would make perfect sense that the guy who's thousands of years old could have some buckwild abilities at his disposal. Really, as someone who loves Oz it's very frustrating to see how his skills have been treated throughout the show's run. We never return to the Cinder fight and it's never explained how she bested him (power scaling in this show is nonexistent). The gears on his cane are teased for years with nothing coming of it except a ridiculous mega-blast five seasons later. He can give people the ability to turn into birds because... that's definitely connected to his other powers and has been relevant throughout the show's run... He presumably doesn't have a semblance, but we don't know if Oscar gets one (or if Ozpin's body had a semblance that Ozma could make use of post-merge). He supposedly has magic but never uses it until it's randomly revealed that, oh yeah, he's been storing energy up for years and years. Here's a giant boom that conveniently hurts Salem, kills the grimm, kills Hazel, but doesn't touch any of the heroes still inside the whale, neatly avoiding the entire ethical dilemma here without explaining how that's possible.

Ozpin has been treated so badly by the narrative in regards to his secrets, his abusive past, and the merge that it's easy to forget that he's supposed to be a thousands-year-old magic wielder who was a staggeringly proficient fighter before he went through several lifetimes worth of experience and training. This guy should be a BEAST on the battlefield, even while controlling a child's body. He's a little like the Cas of RWBY to me. Whoops, made this character too overpowered, huh? He's not even the primary protagonist, so we can't afford for him to constantly be showing her up even though that would make internal sense and allow her to grow in different ways. Yet instead of coming up with interesting and logical reasons for why he can't make use of that astounding power at any given moment, we'll just ignore it. Until the heroes need a deus ex machina, of course. Then we'll slip in an ambiguous line about how that power is almost gone. Maybe it's still relevant, maybe not. Maybe it'll get the characters out of an impossible bind, maybe we'll never mention it again. Gotta keep the options open!

#rwde #rwby #mymetas

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the-polyam-polytheist · 4 months

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1- Göndlir- Wand Wielder/ Sorcerer

everything is magical if you put effort in, he said. everything has power. plastic, metal, wood, fabric, paint, glitter, ink, mica, ash. these things too have power. my staff is a pale walking cane with runes carved and painted in. i invoke the Well every time i wash my face. my clothes are armor and sometimes drag. some of my wands include: eyeliner, paintbrush, pen. i ensorcel the space around me.

#odin oracle #odin #devotional poetry

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groovyghostie · 9 months

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The Seer: Part 2

Part 1

Art by @creative-lampd-liberties

AO3

12: The Killers

It was as the group was setting up to sleep that Janus froze. He was in the woods, watching himself and the others get ready to bed down for the night. He felt a bow in his hands.

He snapped back to reality, then shushed everyone quickly. All chatter stopped. Janus looked at Roman and nodded towards the spot where he was sure he had just been, that someone was watching them from.

Virgil heard something from the opposite direction. “There’s more,” he hissed.

Then they all heard a twig snap in another direction. Virgil put up a barrier around them just as an arrow flew out of the woods. It bounced off the barrier and hit the ground.

Thomas narrowed his eyes, peering at the woods around the clearing for hiding spots that may be in use. He didn’t need to, though, because people began emerging from the woods all around them.

There were about fifteen of them in total. Some carried bows, some wicked-looking knives, and some swords. There was a crossbow and a whip somewhere in that mix, too.

A man stepped forward. He wielded a staff from which Janus could feel power emanating. He raised the staff and fired off a blast toward the shimmering purple barrier.

When it hit, Virgil grunted and grit his teeth.

Patton and Logan both looked at him in concern.

Thomas gripped the hilt of his sword, while Remy reached for his dagger.

Roman unsheathed his shortsword quickly and instinctively moved toward the man with the staff, while Remus eyed another man, shorter than the others and smug-looking. He held no weapon, and instead his arms were crossed over his chest as he leaned against a tree. There were several weapons hanging from his belt, though.

A moment of stillness passed before the man with the staff blasted more power at Virgil’s barrier, a sustained arc of blue lightning. Virgil gasped and staggered, and Logan rushed to support him, holding on to him tightly. After wavering for a moment, Virgil’s barrier glowed brighter. Then the staff-wielder increased the power of his attack, and the barrier sputtered out.

It took less than a second for the clearing to erupt into chaos, weapons being drawn and fights being initiated. Blades clashed, and arrows flew.

Roman cried out, and Janus turned to see him clutching his shoulder, then found himself pinned to the ground with a knife to his throat. He glared at the woman leaning over him, and she sneered back.

The next thing Janus knew, the bandit was gone, and he looked over to see Roman wrestling her on the forest floor. The bandit that had injured Roman’s shoulder was coming for them quickly, so Janus stuck his foot out to trip them. They fell hard and hit their head on a rock. Janus’s attention returned to Roman and the other bandit just in time to see Roman punching her in the face over and over. Roman’s sword and the bandit’s knife were on the ground nearby.

Janus sat up, grabbed his cane, and snatched the knife before scrambling to his feet. He looked around. Thomas was holding his own, as were Remus, Remy, and Logan. Virgil was practically pinned between Remy and Logan, though he had a hand on the hilt of his rapier and was firing off spells. Logan appeared to be chastising him. Then Janus spotted Patton.

Patton was fighting his hardest with the large knife that Remus and Roman had made sure he had, but he was being forced further and further back toward the treeline by three bandits. Janus loped toward them, too filled with adrenaline to let his limp slow him down more than a little. He stumbled, but righted himself quickly and stayed up.

He jammed the knife into one bandit’s back and pulled it out quickly.

The bandit fell.

Patton and Janus met eyes over the bandit’s body.

Something sharp was suddenly at Janus’s collarbone, which had been uncovered in the fight by his clothes becoming ruffled. A body pressed against his back. “I ought to kill you for that,” a rough but high voice said. Janus inhaled shallowly and let it out slowly.

Patton took an instinctive step forward, but stopped when the sword against Janus’s chest pressed harder and Janus winced. A drop of blood ran down the inch between the sword and the collar of Janus’s shirt, staining the fabric there a darker black. Janus stared at Patton with wide eyes.

The person moved away and removed the sword before kicking Janus in the back of his bad leg, causing him to fall to the ground. “Stay down,” the rough voice said.

The two remaining bandits near them cornered Patton and forced him to his knees next to where Janus was on his hands and knees. Janus stared at the ground underneath him, breathing heavily.

When he heard Thomas yell angrily, Janus finally looked up, only to be kicked in the side by one of the two bandits. He looked up from where he now lay on his side, and found that the others had been cornered and disarmed, weapons on all sides of them. The staff-wielder held Virgil tightly, and the man with many, many weapons hanging from his belt stood looking at him.

“How fortunate,” said the rough voice. “We’ve hit it rich, friends! Do you know who this is?”

There was silence.

The man reached out. “Hello, little prince. What are you doing all the way out here?” He touched Virgil’s cheek. Virgil spat at him.

The man wiped the spit from his cheek, unnervingly calm, then struck Virgil across the face, fast as lightning. Virgil’s head snapped to the side, and he breathed heavily. He spat blood onto the ground.

“Leave him alone!” Logan cried.

The man sneered at him. “How cute,” he said dryly. “Someone has a little schoolboy crush. Oh, well. Everyone except our prize here will have to die anyway.”

“Don’t,” Virgil said softly, just enough for Janus to make it out.

“Oh, don’t make so much of it. I won’t kill them yet. They could still prove useful,” the man said. He made a gesture.

Janus felt a sharp pain on the side of his head, then everything was black.

Janus blinked himself awake, his head pounding and his vision swimming.

“Jan?” he heard. “Janus, are you okay?”

Was that… Roman? “Yes?” Janus said. What he heard come out was, “Nnh?”

“Is he awake?” Patton asked, sounding very worried.

“’M awake,” Janus answered, with a fair bit of effort.

Patton breathed a sigh of relief. Janus thought Roman did too, but probably not.

Janus forced his eyes open the rest of the way. They were all tied up, all seven of them. Seven? He counted again, then his eyes widened. They were missing Virgil.

They all had their hands tied behind their backs, but not to anything. They were in a tent. Logan’s head was hanging. Thomas had his eyes closed. Meditating, maybe? Remy glared forward. Patton looked at Janus worriedly. There were two other people in the tent, facing them. The staff wielder and the woman Roman had punched. A lot. Her eye was black, her lip was split, and she was glaring at Roman. Roman was ignoring her, looking at Remus instead. Remus raised an eyebrow. Roman nodded slightly.

Remus and Roman hopped to their feet without need of their hands. Janus watched, stunned, as they barreled toward the staff-wielder and the other bandit. The staff-wielder managed to put out a hand, and Remus bounced off a wall of force. Meanwhile, Roman ran full force into them both. He managed to catch them both off-guard, and he knocked them back.

“Emile, now,” Thomas said.

The ropes around everyone’s wrists loosened at once. Janus pushed himself up, only to be caught by Remy when his leg gave out, his cane nowhere to be found. Patton sprang up to support him at his other side.

Roman and Remus both came down hard on the bandit woman, wrestling away her knife and forcing her down, and Thomas rushed to incapacitate the mage, grabbing his sword from behind the woman and the staff-wielder, then hitting him over the head with the hilt of his sword. He swiftly did the same to the woman.

“Let’s go,” Logan said, and they all looked to him. He held the mallet that was intended for hammering down stakes to attach the tent to the ground.

Janus shrugged off Patton and Remy, and Roman shot him a concerned look.

They all grabbed their weapons, Janus both his knife and cane, and they went to one side of the tent, where Logan peeked through a gap in the tent canvas.

Roman placed a hand on Janus’s arm, and Janus gave him a confused stare.

Roman looked into his eyes, and Janus felt his face warm up. He prayed it didn’t show.

Roman nodded slightly. “You’re still dizzy, right? I hope you’re not hurt too bad.”

Janus frowned. “I’m fine.”

“Nope,” Roman said. “You’re staying close to me.”

“You don’t need to protect me,” Janus insisted.

“Just let me help,” Roman hissed.

“I’m not helpless!” Janus hissed back.

Logan shushed them. “The path is clear for now. Knock out any bandits you come across, so that they don’t alert the others. Find Virgil. Let’s do it.” He walked out of the tent sneakily. The rest of them followed.

Janus carried his cane, so as not to make any more noise than necessary.

Despite his annoyance, or even anger, at Roman, he did stay close to him. Roman checked often. Remy and Patton shared a look after Remy gestured his head questioningly at them. Patton shrugged.

One after the other, they clubbed bandits over the head. Mostly Logan, Remus, and Roman.

Finally, one let out a yell. Logan swore, at which Remy and Patton both looked especially surprised.

They all fought harder, more ferociously, as one bandit came after the other. Janus wasn’t sure how many were just unconscious and how many were dead. He thought of the bandit he’d stabbed before, in the clearing. He hadn’t seen him again.

Finally, it seemed like things had died down. “We have to find Virgil,” Logan said, pushing onward despite how exhausted he seemed. Janus noticed blood dripping down his leg from a gash in his pants.

“Logan,” Patton tried.

“I’ll rest when we find him,” Logan snapped.

“Looking for something?” asked a rough voice that Janus had definitely heard before. The group whipped around to find the apparent leader of the bandits holding Virgil tightly, a knife pressed to his throat hard enough for a droplet of blood to run down to his collar. The bandit was sneering at them, rage written all over his face. “I should’ve killed you lot when I had the chance.”

Virgil’s eyes were wide and fearful, and his face was bruised in a couple places. Logan glared back at the bandit with just as much anger, if not more.

“You probably should have, yeah,” Remus said. Patton shushed him.

Janus froze for a moment. For that moment, he thought he saw a snake climbing up the man’s leg.

The man held Virgil even tighter, and Virgil visibly held himself back from flinching.

“Leave, and he lives,” the man threatened.

“Just let him go,” Logan said, trying to compose himself. “We’ll be on our way when we have him back.”

The man pulled Virgil a step back. Janus watched with wide eyes as a rope snaked its way up the man’s leg, then up his side.

Logan appeared to have seen it too. “Don’t hurt him,” he begged. “Please…”

“I will if you don-”

The man was cut off as the rope tightened around his neck. It glowed purple, as did Virgil’s eyes. In his desperate struggle to regain air, the man let go of Virgil, who fell to his knees on the rough dirt. The glow of his eyes painted the dirt purple.

Logan rushed to Virgil, scooping him up to pull him away from the man who’d threatened his life. “It’s okay,” he soothed.

Virgil’s eyes still glowed. The rope tightened and tightened around the man’s neck until he stopped moving and his face was just as purple as the glowing rope. The glow abruptly vanished, and Virgil gasped for air.

Patton knelt next to Logan and Virgil, blocking Virgil’s view of the man. “Hey, Virge, it’s okay,” he murmured as Virgil attempted to calm his breathing. Logan pulled Virgil’s hand to his chest and took a deep breath for Virgil to imitate.

When Virgil was somewhat recovered, Logan having pressed many soft kisses to his scalp, and the group was less stunned, Roman spoke. “We need to get moving before anyone comes to. Can all of you walk okay?”

Logan went to stand, supporting Virgil, but he faltered when his leg oozed more blood, the gash having reopened. Thomas gently helped both Logan and Virgil stand, then scooped up Virgil, much to Logan’s chagrin. Roman offered Logan his arm, and Logan reluctantly took it.

“Let’s get somewhere safe, then regroup,” Roman said.

“Lemme heal you guys,” Virgil protested.

“No,” Logan answered immediately. “You’re tired. Rest first.”

They searched for the rest of their belongings, then once they had retrieved them, they left, in the direction Roman had determined the mountains were.

Janus was at the front with Roman, Logan, Thomas, and Virgil for a minute, then he fell back to talk to Remus and Patton. “Pat, are you okay?”

Patton nodded. “Yeah. They didn’t really hurt me that much, just twisted my arm and bruised my knees.” He smiled tiredly. “Are you alright?”

Janus nodded back. “And you, Re?”

Remus hummed. “I was hoping for a little more blood and gore, actually.”

Janus and Patton each made a face. “Gross,” Janus said.

In front of them, Remy nudged Thomas. “Are you alright?”

Thomas nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

“Are you hurt?” Remy rephrased.

Thomas glanced down at Virgil to make sure he was sleeping, as he’d drifted off shortly after they’d begun to walk. He lifted one arm, careful not to jostle Virgil. There was a gash in his side that he’d already secured clean cloth around, but he was bleeding through the dressing.

Remy’s eyes widened. “We need to take care of that,” he hissed.

“We need to get to safety first,” Thomas responded.

“You’re losing blood,” Remy insisted.

“What’s going on?” Logan asked.

“You and Thomas need medical attention, that’s what,” Remy snapped.

“We can stop soon,” Roman butted in. “Just a bit longer.”

Remy quieted, but his expression showed his dissatisfaction. He knew when to back down, though.

It was only as they began to stop and regroup that Janus let his leg go out. He knew he wouldn’t be able to lower himself carefully, so he fell back against a tree instead. Roman, having just gotten Logan situated next to Virgil, stepped over and gently pulled him back upright. Instead of the disdain Janus expected to see on his face, there was only concern.

“You’ve overworked yourself,” Roman said softly and helped Janus to sit before sitting next to him.

“Not like I had much of a choice,” Janus huffed.

Patton sat down on Janus’s other side, with Remus next to him.

“Maybe you and some of the others should go home,” Roman said, tone gentle and careful.

Janus’s face hardened. “I have to see this through,” he said. “The vision—I need to be by your side.”

Roman nodded grimly. “Alright. Just… please be careful.”

Janus paused. “I’m trying,” he finally responded.

Remus and Patton shared a knowing look.

13: The Father

Janus awoke to the sound of someone emptying the contents of their stomach. The pre-dawn light barely illuminated his surroundings. Roman and Remus were already sitting up, as was Remy, and the rest were slowly waking. He looked around to find out who was missing. “Patton,” he said finally. He and Remus met eyes, then jumped up to find Patton as quickly as possible.

They found him leaning heavily against a tree, wiping his mouth. He was sweaty and disheveled, but he smiled as much as he could when he saw them. There was something frightened in his eyes, though.

“What happened?” Remus asked, pulling Patton to him protectively.

Patton waved a hand. “I’m fine, must have just eaten something bad.”

Janus frowned. “We’ve all been eating the same things…”

Patton hummed. “My stomach is just being sensitive….”

Remus furrowed his brow. “If you’re ill…”

“I’m not,” Patton said.

“Are you sure?” Janus asked.

“Yes,” Patton insisted.

“How do you know?” Remus pressed.

“Because I’m pregnant!” Patton put both his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide. He had definitely said that loudly enough for all the others to hear.

Remus stared at Patton like he’d suddenly sprouted a new head out of each shoulder.

“Pat, that’s-” Janus began to say. Then Remus bolted, off back toward the spot where they’d slept. Janus and Patton stood there for a moment, stunned, then Patton burst into tears. Janus hugged him and began to guide them back towards camp.

When they arrived, Virgil held out his arms to Patton, and Patton practically fell into them, sobbing.

Roman grabbed Janus’s hand and began to pull him along. “We have to go get my brother,” Roman informed him.

Janus inhaled sharply. “I’d say to give him space, but time is of the essence…”

They followed the obvious path Remus had left, broken twigs and footprints in the dirt. Finally, Roman spotted him.

Remus was crouched with his back against a tree, hands clutching the sides of his head as he stared off into space.

Janus moved forward and lowered himself to the ground in front of him. “Talk to me, monster,” he said gently. “Tell me what’s going on.”

“I can’t be a father…” Remus ground out through clenched teeth.

“Oh, sure you can,” Janus said. “You’re a half-decent husband, why not a dad?”

“You don’t understand!” Remus snapped.

Janus glanced at Roman.

Roman chewed on his bottom lip for a moment, then plopped down next to Remus. “Look, Re. I’ve known you our whole lives, yeah?”

Remus was silent.

Roman pressed on, “You may be… crass, rude, disturbing-”

Janus cleared his throat.

“Right, uh…” Roman flushed. “Despite all that, you’ve always stepped up for the people you care about. Why would this be any different?”

Remus sniffled. “I’m… afraid.”

Janus nodded. “I’m sure Patton is, too. But we’ll be there to help, right, Roman?”

“Right,” Roman agreed. “Me and Janus, and I’m sure the others, too, we won’t abandon you. You’re not alone.”

Remus swallowed heavily. “Is Patton okay?”

Janus and Roman shared a look.

“Well, we should probably check on him,” Roman said. He stood, then helped Janus and Remus to their feet.

Remus practically ran back to the campsite, Janus and Roman lagging behind him. When Janus and Roman arrived, Patton and Remus were clinging to each other tightly.

“I’m sorry,” Remus said, “I shouldn’t have run off… I was scared.”

“I’m scared, too,” Patton responded, sniffling softly.

“It’ll be okay,” Remus said. “Roman and Janus will be there. It’ll be okay.”

“Yeah,” Patton said. “It will be.”

Janus was really starting to get tired of walking. The mountains had been looming over them for hours, and they never seemed to be getting any closer.

Roman stopped. “There,” he pointed. A break in the trees. Rocky terrain. The group picked up their pace. Soon they were running, even Janus.

They breached the treeline, and there was the base of Pious Mountain. Janus froze again. There was a cave, about a quarter of the way around the mountain if they went right. He informed the others. He wanted to despair at the thought of more walking, but they were almost there.

After another hour, Roman spotted a cave. They began to run again, then Virgil cried out, “Stop!” Everyone froze.

Virgil crouched, picked up a rock about the size of his fist, straightened again, then threw the rock toward the cave. About four yards from the cave entrance, the rock fizzled away amid sparks of orange light. They all stared.

Janus saw Roman walk through the barrier, a gateway of orange light forming around him, then he blinked, and nothing had changed.

“Roman,” Janus said. When he had Roman’s attention, he asked, “Do you trust me?”

Roman frowned. “Why?”

“Because you need to just walk into the cave,” Janus answered.

Roman balked. “Are you trying to kill me?”

“Trust me, Roman, please. I had a vision.”

Roman hesitated. “Come with me, then.”

Janus took only a second to decide. “It’s worth a try.”

“What?!” Patton exclaimed. “What if you get hurt, or worse?!”

Janus looked at Patton, keeping his expression calm. “We have to try, for everyone’s sake.”

Patton wilted at that. “Be careful,” he said softly.

Janus gave him his most reassuring smile. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

Roman walked toward the barrier, and Janus followed. They stopped before they got too close, feeling the buzzing energy in the air.

“I think our best bet is for me to carry you,” Roman said.

Janus tried to think of an alternative and came up short. His face was hot. “Fine.”

Roman gently scooped him up, hunched over him, and sprinted through the barrier.

Orange light crackled around them, but did not touch them. Then they were through. Janus took a shaky breath, and Roman looked incredibly relieved. He let Janus back down onto his own two feet gently. “Right,” Roman said. “I guess now we keep going.”

They steeled themselves, then stepped into the cave.

14: The Witch

It was dark, but very warm inside the cave. They paused.

“You brought a lanter-?” Roman began to ask, then torches along the wall lit up with crimson fire in pairs on either side down the passageway.

“Right,” Janus said. “That’s…”

“I’m choosing to believe that’s a good sign,” Roman said, raising himself up to his full height. “Let’s go.”

“Slowly,” Janus said. “Who knows what kinds of traps the duchess has down here…”

So the two continued cautiously. There were a few obvious traps that they avoided carefully, but soon they came to a fork in the path.

Roman turned to Janus. “Which way?”

“Why are you asking me? You’re supposed to be the hero here!”

“You’re the one who got us into the cave!”

“Fine, um…” Janus closed his eyes to concentrate. “I don’t know… Left?”

“You don’t sound very confident,” Roman pointed out.

“Well, I can’t make myself have a vision, can I?” Janus responded, voice rising slightly at the end.

“We’re going right,” Roman said.

“What, just because I said left?”

“No, because that’s the way it feels like we should go,” Roman snapped.

“Fine,” Janus snapped back and began to lead the way down the right passageway.

“Janus-” Roman began as he hurried after him.

Something sank underneath Janus’s foot, his left. He began to trip, and the floor disappeared in front on him. Before he could even think to be frightened, he was yanked back by the back of his shirt and found himself pressed tightly to Roman’s chest. His cane was no longer in his hand, and after a couple more seconds, they heard something shatter far below them at the bottom of the pit.

Janus took a shaky breath. “You, ah… You can let go of me now,” he said softly.

Roman backed up another step away from the pit, taking Janus with him, before finally releasing him. “I’m sorry about your cane,” Roman said.

“It’s replaceable,” Janus said dismissively.

“You were right,” Roman added. “We should have gone left.”

Janus just hummed. They turned back and went to the fork again before taking the other passageway. Janus had to steady himself against the wall, and when Roman offered help, he refused.

They only saw one trap this way, a tripwire which they stepped over.

Eventually they saw a doorway, a green glow coming from within. As they entered the room, Roman gasped. It was filled with glittering gold and shimmering gems, all with that green glow glinting off of their surfaces. The light was emanating from an object at the top of a pedestal in the center of the room.

Upon closer inspection when they made their way closer, this object was a simple hand mirror. It looked exactly like the one in Janus’s bag. Something dark seemed to come from within it, a creeping sense of dread, a paranoia.

“What now?” Roman asked.

“The mirror,” Janus said breathlessly. “You have to destroy it.”

Roman looked around, then picked up a ruby larger than his hand. He hefted it and, satisfied with its mass, brought it to the pedestal. He took the ruby in both hands, held it high, and brought it down on the mirror heavily.

It shattered.

A wraith-like screech ricocheted through the cage, and Roman and Janus both covered their ears. The cave began to rumble as the screech faded.

“We have to get out of here!” Roman yelled.

“Just run!” Janus answered. “I’m right behind you!”

Roman looked conflicted for a moment, then the cave shook harder. Instead of doing as Janus said, he instead picked him up, despite his wriggling and protests, and began to sprint back toward the cave entrance. He jumped over or ducked around each trap, even as gravel began to rain down around them. He dove through the cave entrance just before it was covered by a falling boulder, wrapping himself around Janus as he rolled with his momentum.

“Roman! Janus!” Patton’s voice cried.

Janus found himself extricated from Roman’s arms by Remus, then he was being brushed off and checked over by Patton. Roman was getting the same treatment from Thomas.

“What happened?” Logan asked.

“I broke the mirror,” Roman answered. “The Dragon Witch’s mirror.”

Janus stumbled forward into Patton. He was back in the ballroom. It was on fire, it was so hot, people were screaming and bleeding and dying and dead on the floor, there was a dragon. A huge, hulking red beast, and Roman was standing between her and Janus, sword drawn, blood dripping from his temple to his jaw. Janus tried to cry out, but he couldn’t.

“Janus, are you alright?” Roman asked urgently.

“We have to get back to the palace,” Janus answered immediately. “My vision, it’s still… The mirror, I think it just made her angry.”

“I can get us back,” Virgil said. “It’ll use up… a lot of energy.”

“No, Virgil,” Logan said. “That’s very risky.”

“I have to,” Virgil insisted. “My parents are in that palace. Valerie is in that palace. Our friends are there, good people!”

Logan hesitantly nodded.

Virgil took a deep breath. “I’m going to open a portal. You’ll all have to get through it as quickly as possible, I’ll go last.”

Logan opened his mouth to protest.

“Logan and I will go last,” Virgil corrected himself.

As soon as everyone was ready, Virgil opened his arms, and a portal opened, like a tear in the air itself. It swirled with purple energy.

The adventurers filed through, one at a time, but as quickly as possible. Logan and Virgil walked through last, sweat beading on Virgil’s forehead, then the portal closed with a sound like the air was being sucked out of the area around it.

15: The Hero

Andy stood in the ballroom, off to the side, trying to disappear into the background. He took comfort from the fact that Pryce was somewhere nearby. Their cover story had finally failed when Eschive had barged into Virgil’s room to demand that he attend the party. At least he didn’t spend enough time around his nephew to recognize that Andy was not actually said nephew. Eschive decided he looked well enough to come downstairs, so Andy got dressed in Virgil’s clothes, and he went downstairs. To a party. Where multiple people would see him. And realize he wasn’t the prince. And arrest him. And torture him. And execute him-

Pryce slipped his hand into Andy’s behind a pillar and squeezed gently before letting go. Andy took a deep breath. Right. It was okay. Because Pryce was here. And the makeup made him look more like Virgil, and he had the right haircut, and their voices sounded alike. It would be fine.

“A wonderful party, isn’t it?” said a lilting voice.

Andy snapped his head over to look, and there was Duchess Adalinda Draco in all her glory. She wore a maroon gown, and her neck and ears dripped with wine-colored jewels that glinted red in the light. A gold circlet inlaid with rubies adorned her gorgeous hair. There was a glass clasped in her delicate hand, full of a translucent yellow liquid. Her lips were painted the color of blood. Andy held back a shudder at the thought.

“Your father has been so welcoming to me,” the duchess continued. “A going-away party is just the cherry on top, don’t you think?”

Andy nodded a little. “It’s a wonderful party…”

“Isn’t it just?” Adalinda asked. As she stepped closer to approach him, she stumbled slightly, and just then, Andy noticed Eschive out of the corner of his eye. He was cornered. It was a trap.

Adalinda’s drink splashed all over him as Eschive caught her. Andy looked down to find his makeup running down onto his shirt.

Eschive gasped loudly. “You’re not Prince Virgil! Guards! Seize him!”

Andy stood, shocked, as multiple guards rushed towards him. Then Pryce was in front of him, backing him toward the wall to stand between him and anyone who might harm him.

“There’s a perfectly good explanation,” he said calmly.

The king and queen had stood from their chairs and were beginning to move toward the commotion.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing shriek echoed through the ballroom. Most everyone in the room covered their ears as every glass in the room burst into shards.. They all looked toward the source of the sound to find Adalinda thrashing in Eschive’s arms. “Duchess Draco, what’s wrong?” Andy heard Eschive ask through the ringing in his ears.

Adalinda lifted her head. Red scales speckled her face. The scleras of her eyes were pitch black, her irises crimson, and her pupils slitted. She glared at Andy and Pryce, then turned her head to the king and queen.

The party guests all watched as more scales formed on her skin, as she grew in size, ripping her gown to shreds, as her face elongated into a snout, as her fingers stretched into talons, as wings burst forth from her shoulder blades. She shrieked again, this time from a mouth filled with several rows of sharp teeth and steaming spittle.

Then she breathed out a column of flames toward the ceiling.

The fire caught and spread quickly, and the chandelier fell onto several people. There was screaming and wailing as the guests fled.

“Andy, go!” Pryce commanded.

“Not without you!” Andy answered stubbornly.

Huge claws swung toward them, and Pryce drew his sword in a flash, catching them against the blade. “Andy!” he exclaimed. “Just listen to me!”

Andy ducked under a table as the Dragon Witch raised her head again and spat more fire. Then he watched as her tail swung across the floor and hit Pryce head-on, knocking him to the ground. He didn’t move. Andy went to his side immediately. He didn’t care about anything other than getting Pryce away from there.

The sound of ripping filled the room, and Andy turned to see a purple portal in the center of the room. Out stepped each of the members of the adventuring party. Prince Virgil and Logan came last, and the prince slumped into Logan’s arms as soon as the portal closed.

Janus looked around quickly, surveying the scene.

Roman, on the other hand, charged straight in, sword drawn. Thomas followed after him, though Janus could hear Remy protesting. The smell of burning flesh made Janus’s head spin.

“Virgil!” someone called. Virgil, Logan, and Janus looked over just in time to see Valerie engulfed in flame. Virgil screamed.

When the flames receded there was nothing left.

Eschive and the king and queen promptly met the same fate.

Logan started to pull Virgil toward the door, and Patton rushed to help, but Virgil fought with all the strength he had left each step of the way.

Janus looked up at the Dragon Witch. She looked back at him. “Come and get me, then,” Janus cried.

The Dragon Witch ignored Roman and Thomas in favor of Janus. She swung her claws at him, barely catching his leg and leaving three large gashes and one smaller scratch there. He fell to the floor.

Then Janus watched as Roman’s sword separated the Dragon Witch’s head from her body. It hit the floor with a mighty thud, her body hitting the floor just moments later with an even louder one.

There was silence for a few moments. Janus and Roman stared at each other with wide eyes.

Laughter. Someone was laughing. In a very familiar voice. Everyone turned to look at Remus, who was standing next to the Dragon Witch’s severed head. He laughed again.

“Of course she couldn’t finish the job,” he said. A vicious smile split his face. “Useless. There’s still one left.” He turned his head to look at Virgil.

“Remus…” Roman began softly. “What are you talking about?”

Remus turned his attention to Roman. “What do you mean? I’m the one pulling the strings, dumbass!” He stalked towards Virgil, and those not already with Virgil moved with him, trying to stay in his way. Janus couldn’t get to his feet, though.

“It took me years to get that stupid witch strong enough to stage a coup, and she couldn’t even kill all the royals!”

“Why?” Virgil asked softly, voice choked.

“Because your great grandfather stole my true name!” Remus snapped. “And when you do that to a fae, you steal their life away! I was a slave to him for forty years, and then to your grandfather for another forty!” He sneered at Virgil. “And I swore revenge against their line.”

“What?” Roman asked, unable to get any other words out.

“Keep up!” Remus said. “I’m a fae, the king stole my true name, I escaped, I meddled with Adalinda Draco’s magic… They punished me for that, my court. That’s how I ended up here. ” He made a disgusted face. “They were going to replace you,” he said, pointing at Roman, “with me. Luckily for you, Galena’s smarter than the idiot they sent to steal you away and leave me in your place.”

“Remus,” Patton spoke up. “This isn’t… This isn’t you!”

Remus sneered. “It is me, though, isn’t it? I’m not the person you met back then. I didn’t know who I was when I met you. Then I remembered, and here we are.” He turned his attention back to Virgil. “And all that’s left for me is to kill him.”

As Remus took a step forward, Patton stepped in front of Virgil, arms spread. “If you want to kill him, you’ll have to kill me first,” Patton said evenly. “Please, Remus… You can stop this now… Please.”

Remus took another step forward. “Careful what you wish for, Patty-cakes.”

Janus could see it in his mind’s eye, Remus sending a blast of green energy from his hand. The energy hitting Patton. Patton falling. So he moved.

Janus sprang to his feet and launched himself to be in between Patton and Remus, fueled by only adrenaline as his leg screamed out in protest.

It only felt cold where Remus’s attack hit him. He fell back to the floor, dazed. Patton fell to his knees at his side and began desperately trying to keep him awake. He could only pay attention to Remus, though.

“Janus!” Roman cried. He stepped in next, sword raised. He quickly turned his attention to Remus, hyper-aware of the threat he posed. “Re, I’m sorry,” he said. “I’ve been a horrible brother. I should’ve stood up to Father for you, and for Patton. I could’ve done right by you, and I didn’t. But I’m trying now. You can leave. You can run away, and no one other than us has to know this was you. If you just leave Virgil alone. Please.”

Remus stalked ever-closer, a dark look in his eyes. “I’ll kill you, too,” he told Roman.

Roman lowered his sword. “Then do it.”

Remus bared his teeth. “I’m not bluffing, Roman. Get out of my way!”

“No,” Roman answered. “I won’t.”

Once again, Janus saw Remus attacking someone. This time it was Roman. He looked to his side. The mirror had fallen out of his satchel. There was a crack in the glass, vertically down the middle.

“Remember to keep your mirror nearby!”

Janus grabbed the mirror, pushed himself up as far as he could, and tossed it to Roman.

Roman caught it with his back turned, then looked at it, puzzled. Then he saw Remus lift his hand to attack again. He threw the mirror at Remus with all his might, somehow sure that was what he needed to do.

They all heard the sound of glass shattering, but when the bright red light that filled the room faded, the mirror fell to the floor, intact and unbroken, with a series of soft clinks.

Janus’s vision, once again, faded to black.

Epilogue

Roman cradled the mirror in his hands as he stepped into his home, which now felt incredibly unfamiliar. He was still covered in scratches, bruises, and worse. Grey was rushing toward him to check on him, but Roman spoke before he could get a word out. “I need to talk to my mother and father urgently. I’ll meet them in the study.”

The walk to the study was numb, empty. The portraits on the walls stared at him with disgust. He reminded himself of the court doctor’s assurances that Janus would survive. It would be okay. He looked down at the mirror. It wouldn’t be okay.

He sat down in the armchair in the corner of the study, looking around at the room as if he were seeing it for the first time. It was utilitarian, but it somehow still comforted him to be in this place that he’d often worked in from a very young age.

His father arrived first. “Good gracious, Roman, look at the state of you! Go clean yourself up.”

“I need to speak with you and Mother first, Father.”

There was silence for a few moments before Carine entered. “Roman! Are you alright, dear?!” She carefully knelt before him.

“I have something to tell you,” Roman said in lieu of an answer. He finally gained the courage to say it when he saw Galena sneak into the room. So he told them the whole story. From Remus’s grudge against the royal family to their adventure in the woods to the confrontation at the palace. He held out the mirror.

Though the duke looked at the mirror dispassionately, the duchess touched it and began to sob. Roman joined her in her tears, and once the duke left without a word, Galena came to them and hugged them both. Roman cried into the arms of both his mother and his nanny for hours.

Virgil held Patton tightly. They lay in Virgil’s bed in his chambers. Patton had finally stopped crying a while before, but he still occasionally shivered, despite the blankets wrapped around them.

Virgil looked up as Logan entered the room, carrying a tray. He set it down on the bedside table, then he and Virgil worked together to get Patton into a sitting position. Logan sat down with them, then distributed the glasses of water and the jam thumbprint cookies from the tray.

Patton sat between Virgil and Logan, and Virgil and Logan held him and held each other’s hands behind Patton’s back.

When Patton fell asleep, Logan moved the cups, Patton’s glasses, and his own glasses to the bedside table. He and Virgil snuggled up to Patton and fell asleep, too. They desperately needed a rest.

“It was… hard on us all, Emile, but I worry about Patton, Janus, and Roman especially,” Thomas said.

“All you can do is be there for them, Tommy,” Emile advised. “They all need friends right now, and you’re their friend. Be there when you can, and ask what they need occasionally.”

Thomas nodded. “You’re right…”

“Whatcha doin’?” a voice asked from the honeysuckle trellis archway that led into the center of the temple gardens.

Thomas turned to see Remy standing there, dressed in his more stylish clothes he wore on his days off. “Talking to Emile,” Thomas answered.

Emile made himself visible to Remy and waved.

Remy smiled and waved back before walking over to sit on the stone bench next to Thomas. “How’re you feeling, hun? That whole thing was… a lot.”

Thomas gave him a tense smile. “Really tired. I’ll be alright after some rest, so I’m taking a break from training. Or… Janus told me I had to, anyway, and I’m going to listen.”

Remy smiled more softly. “Good. One of the older servants is letting Logan and me take a break. Logan won’t step down as Virgil’s personal servant, but he’s accepted some help.”

Thomas nodded. “Good.”

Remy nodded back. “Yeah.”

They both looked at the fountain in front of them, and noticed that Emile had disappeared. They still remained silent. Remy slipped his hand into Thomas’s. They rested.

Pryce opened his eyes blearily. He caught the coattails of Prince Virgil leaving the room, and he realized he wasn’t in any pain. He looked to his right.

Andy was sitting in a chair next to him, leaning against the wall and snoring softly. Pryce smiled fondly. He sat up and gently held Andy’s hand. He watched him sleep, taking comfort in the rise and fall of his chest, until he woke up and smiled sleepily at him. And Pryce smiled back.

Janus sat at his readings table, head in hands, staring at the table. The wood grain was not interesting enough to keep his thoughts from wandering to Remus.

He didn’t look up when the door opened, or when someone pulled out the chair across from him and sat down.

“Mother and Father agreed to let Emile’s acolytes watch over the mirror,” said Roman. Janus just hummed in response. Roman sighed, sounding more tired than Janus had ever heard him. Then he set down a bottle heavily on the table. “Screw this, let’s drink.”

“I so saved your butt,” Roman slurred, pointing at Janus around the drink in his hand.

“Did not!” Janus responded in kind. “I had it all under control! Takes more than an angry bandit to kill me!”

“Admit it!” Roman cried. “You need me around.”

Janus paused for a moment, looked down at his drink, looked back up at Roman. “I do,” he said softly.

“Huh?” Roman asked.

“I do need you,” Janus said. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Huh?” Roman repeated.

Janus leaned forward over the table suddenly and pressed his lips to Roman’s. Roman’s stillness worried him for a moment, but then he leaned into the kiss.

When Janus awoke in the morning, he was curled up in his bed, in Roman’s arms, still wearing the clothes he’d been wearing the night before.

The coronation wasn’t exactly a happy day. Virgil didn’t particularly want the crown. Valerie was the one who was supposed to be the next ruler. The thought of replacing her made Virgil want to vomit. Logan squeezed his hand. Then the acolyte of the Queen Goddess began to speak, to ask Virgil about his oath to the kingdom. Virgil agreed. The crowd cheered. When he left the temple, at least all his friends were waiting for him. Patton hugged him tightly.

“What did you decide to name her?” Janus asked, looking down in awe at the cooing infant in his arms.

Patton took a deep breath. “Rhiannon.”

Virgil grinned as the baby gripped his finger. “I love it. That’s a perfect name.”

Roman patted Patton’s shoulder. “Get some rest while you can. We’ll watch over her for a while.”

A chorus of agreements sounded throughout the room, and Patton found himself feeling so safe and loved that falling asleep was as easy as taking a breath and letting it out.

Logan bounced Rhiannon around the group gently, holding her exactly as Patton had shown him.

“Logan,” Janus said.

“Logan,” Roman repeated.

“Logan!” Virgil said.

Logan looked over.

“She’s not fussing anymore, silly. Come set her down and lay with us,” Patton instructed.

Logan set the baby down between Virgil and Patton, then spread himself out on the picnic blanket between Virgil and Thomas.

“That one looks like a duck,” Patton said softly, pointing to a cloud.

“Yeah,” Janus said. “Yeah, it does.”

Final Note

Wow! I'm so proud of this one, guys! Longest fic I've ever finished!!! I hope you really enjoyed, please tell me what you think! Remember you can find @creative-lampd-liberties's art here [link to art post]! Thank you so much to the mods of @tss-storytime! And thank you to you, yes you, for reading!

#tssstorytimesubmission2023 #sanders sides #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #character thomas #remy sleep #remy sanders #dr emile picani #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #ghostie writes #mind the warnings in part 1

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galacticnova3 · 3 months

Note

this is your free invitation to post a headcanon of your choice

I think this might count as multiple headcanons but they’re all connected by the same base topic and I’m not just deleting all of this so! Funny rat’s magic stick time

The Triple Star is the same kind of weapon/being as Galaxia, but rather than more or less pure offense, she’s intended to play a role of mixed attack and support in a group. Unlike Galaxia her standards for worthiness aren’t ridiculously strict, and she’s much less direct about someone not being fit to wield her. Which is to say instead of basically attacking such a person they simply wouldn’t ever talk to them or make their power known. As a result she spent a lot of time being moved from place to place— far longer than she was ever left in her pedestal for any length of time. For a while nobody really knew exactly what or who she was, most folks just thought “Wow! Gold cane/staff/scepter/stick with a block on it!”, and that was really the main reason she didn’t completely fall into obscurity. People like to own valuable things, after all. That’s also how the Squeak Squad eventually caught wind of them— not as a sacred artifact but as a very valuable gold cane some rich person obtained for a large sum.

Daroach actually didn’t know any different until he stole her in the eventual heist and suddenly there was a new voice in his head going on and on about Oh my STARS, FINALLY SOMEONE CAPABLE WHO ISN’T PURELY MOTIVATED BY GREED AND SELF-INTEREST, DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW LONG I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR SOMEONE TO FIND ME WHO MIGHT ACTUALLY STRIVE TOWARD THE GREATER GOOD OF OTHERS, I MEAN SERIOUSLY IT’S LIKE EVERYONE JUST FORGOT I USED TO BE CONSIDERED THE IMMORTAL VESSEL OF A PARAGON OF UNITY AND SELFLESSNESS AND NOT JUST A FANCY GOLD STICK THAT CAN BE SOLD FOR A LOT OR STOLEN AND THEN SOLD FOR A LOT, IF I END UP IN SOME DISPLAY CASE OR VAULT OR WHATEVER AGAIN I MIGHT ACTUALLY LOSE IT, anyways greetings I am the Triple Star, you have been deemed worthy to be my wielder and it is your sacred duty to utilize me for the protection of those around you, no pressure or anything though I’m not impossibly strict or anything, if you have any questions I can answer them as you think of them if you want, no this isn’t a dream, no this isn’t a hallucination, no you’re not losing your mind, ok is a magic staff forming a telepathic connection with you REALLY that unbelievable to- no I do not usually talk this much these are just very special circumstances at the moment, and I am just very- WHAT DO YOU MEAN IT SOUNDS LIKE I’VE JUST BEEN BEAMING A RUN-ON SENTENCE DIRECTLY INTO YOUR HEAD, DO YOU EXPECT ME TO STOP AND CATCH MY BREATH WHEN I DON’T EVEN BREATHE TO BEGIN WITH, HONESTLY THIS IS A HUGE HONOR CAN YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU AREN’T MAKING YOUR GETAWAY TO QUESTION IT, actually that would probably also be a good time for you to figure out the magic I granted you- WHAT DO YOU MEAN “WHAT MAGIC” IS IT REALLY THAT SUBTLE

Basically imagine Meta Knight and Galaxia but like 5% more dysfunctional, 10% more likely to argue with each other, and 40% more likely to be complicit in a crime if said crime is for The Greater Good™️ in some fashion. She likes the other Squeaks, but doesn’t talk to them directly because she’s not supposed to. However there’s nothing stopping her from having Daroach do the actual talking for her and this is something she’s happy to take advantage of. She did/does speak more directly with Kirby in situations where they’re wielding her, and the two get along, but she’s far closer with Daroach by virtue of knowing him better and whatnot. In general they are a lot more talkative than Galaxia, wanting to be a more active presence rather than just a guide or advisor in the background. If they were to get to know one another, they’d be civil and not necessarily dislike one another, but Galaxia would think they’re too lenient and borderline irresponsible when it comes to fulfilling their purpose, while Triple Star would think she’s too serious and more passive than a sacred sword ought to be.

Also, Triple Star says eat the rich, and that has nothing to do with decades spent being stolen and bought and sold and hidden and stolen and sold again by a bunch of people with hearts that make crude oil look as pure as spring water.

#asks #rambling #my headcanons

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