Two identical infants lay in the cradle. “One you bore, the other is a Changeling. Choose wisely,” the Fae’s voice echoed from the shadows. “I’m taking both my children,” the mother said defiantly.
Once upon a time there was a peasant woman who was unhappy because she had no children. She was happy in all other things – her husband was kind and loving, and they owned their farm and had food and money enough. But she longed for children.
She went to church and prayed for a child every Sunday, but no child came. She went to every midwife and wise woman for miles around, and followed all their advice, but no child came.
So at last, though she knew of the dangers, she drew her brown woolen shawl over her head and on Midsummer’s Eve she went out to the forest, to a certain clearing, and dropped a copper penny and a lock of her hair into the old well there, and she wished for a child.
“You know,” a voice said behind her, a low and cunning voice, a voice that had a coax and a wheedle and a sly laugh all mixed up in it together, “that there will be a price to pay later.”
She did not turn to look at the creature. She knew better. “I know it,” she said, still staring into the well. “And I also know that I may set conditions.”
“That is true,” the creature said, after a moment, and there was less laugh in its voice now. It wasn’t pleased that she knew that. “What condition do you set? A boy child? A lucky one?”
“That the child will come to no harm,” she said, lifting her head to stare into the woods. “Whether I succeed in paying your price, or passing your test, or not, the child will not suffer. It will not die, or be hurt, or cursed with ill luck or any other thing. No harm of any kind.”
“Ahhhhh.” The sound was long and low, between a sigh and a hum. “Yes. That is a fair condition. Whatever price there is, whatever test there is, it will be for you and you alone.” A long, slender hand extended into her sight, almost human save for the skin, as pale a green as a new leaf. The hand held a pear, ripe and sweet, though the pears were nowhere ripe yet. “Eat this,” the voice said, and she trembled with the effort of keeping her eyes straight ahead. “All of it, on your way home. Before you enter your own gate, plant the core of it beside the gate, where the ground is soft and rich. You will have what you ask for.”
NotEnrique is a bit of a linguist. We know he speaks English of course. He tutors Claire in passable Trollish within just a few weeks. Despite him telling Fragwa that he “doesn’t understand that waka stuff” it’s pretty clear that he still very much understands what the goblins are asking of him. And he’s the only character we see actually able to understand Gnomespeak (though perhaps not actually speak it, as he always responds in English).
idk I just think that’s a very interesting little tidbit of his character that doesn’t get noticed much
I think that might also be a general changeling thing, I’ve always headcanoned that changelings can pick up languages really fast. And I think NotEnrique was in the Darklands for a long time, he probably learnt English and several other languages from whatever was chucked into the Darklands, the side novels say there was a TV sent through by the fetch, so anything is possible.
(It would also explain why NotEnrique had such a strong New York accent).
Oh! He also knows spanish! So that’s at least five languages, if we assume changelings have their own language.
Today’s guest artists are @dapper-shiga and @sugar0612
STORY MODE OVER, SEND YOUR ASKS NOW! You can talk to Tantamount, Derpy, and The Doctor once he wakes up, so send questions to any of them. This is going to be the last time the posts will be ask focused before the final arc.
I have a feeling there are relatively few people at this point who are both huge Weyoun fans AND aware of the now-several-years-old Nyoro~n meme, but sometimes you just have to go with your heart. May the founders forgive me for mixing fandoms like this. But something about Weyoun is very anime. It’s his big eyes and general kawaii-ness. If you don’t get the thing at the end just pretend he’s like a Pokemon and says his own name sometimes.
Episodes of DS9 That Could Have Been Improved With The Presence of The Dominion
(Let us put aside the fact that every episode of anything could have been improved with the presence of The Dominion, and just go on with the proceedings. Also this is an insane crack post that I wrote last night at 3:30am, you’ve been warned.)
1. ANY MIRROR UNIVERSE EPISODE
So Mirror Ezri Dax can show up for absolutely no plausible reason, but we don’t get to see the principal series antagonists appear in that dimly-lit alternative universe even once?
What would the Dominion be like in the Mirrorverse? This is a serious question! Are the Mirror founders benevolent and kind, do they want universal peace instead of order, are they the STARFLEET of the Mirror Universe?! Or are they just EVEN MORE EVIL? Mirror Odo somehow ended up in the Alpha Quadrant, so it seems the Mirror Founders still went ahead with their “Put 100 Babies on Rocketships and See What Happens” master plan. So they’re probably at least a little evil.
I guess Mirror Vorta would want to kill Changelings, and would probably be spearheading the Gamma Quadrant Coallition to Kill All Shapeshifters. But without the Founders’ help they’d all still be lemurs on Kurill Prime, so I’m not sure how that would work.
Two identical infants lay in the cradle. “One you bore, the other is a Changeling. Choose wisely,” the Fae’s voice echoed from the shadows. “I’m taking both my children,” the mother said defiantly.
Once upon a time there was a peasant woman who was unhappy because she had no children. She was happy in all other things – her husband was kind and loving, and they owned their farm and had food and money enough. But she longed for children.
She went to church and prayed for a child every Sunday, but no child came. She went to every midwife and wise woman for miles around, and followed all their advice, but no child came.
So at last, though she knew of the dangers, she drew her brown woolen shawl over her head and on Midsummer’s Eve she went out to the forest, to a certain clearing, and dropped a copper penny and a lock of her hair into the old well there, and she wished for a child.
“You know,” a voice said behind her, a low and cunning voice, a voice that had a coax and a wheedle and a sly laugh all mixed up in it together, “that there will be a price to pay later.”
She did not turn to look at the creature. She knew better. “I know it,” she said, still staring into the well. “And I also know that I may set conditions.”
“That is true,” the creature said, after a moment, and there was less laugh in its voice now. It wasn’t pleased that she knew that. “What condition do you set? A boy child? A lucky one?”
“That the child will come to no harm,” she said, lifting her head to stare into the woods. “Whether I succeed in paying your price, or passing your test, or not, the child will not suffer. It will not die, or be hurt, or cursed with ill luck or any other thing. No harm of any kind.”
“Ahhhhh.” The sound was long and low, between a sigh and a hum. “Yes. That is a fair condition. Whatever price there is, whatever test there is, it will be for you and you alone.” A long, slender hand extended into her sight, almost human save for the skin, as pale a green as a new leaf. The hand held a pear, ripe and sweet, though the pears were nowhere ripe yet. “Eat this,” the voice said, and she trembled with the effort of keeping her eyes straight ahead. “All of it, on your way home. Before you enter your own gate, plant the core of it beside the gate, where the ground is soft and rich. You will have what you ask for.”
Changelings on bone sand going berserk, narrow pupils going round, with extra limbs growing and stuff, fight or flight response going into hardcore FIGHT and PROTECT.
Nomura with four arms and four swords who speaks only this very rough troll language.
Strickler forsaking his knifes, growing wings and diminishing only into one-word growls.
Both other coming back with a headache to end all headaches and needing time to actually get back into shape and get their minds together.
I was going to make this about Love and Music AU but realized it applies to canon too, so:
Barbara knows that Walter is wealthy, but doesn’t truly understand it until one morning she offhandedly mentions her finances, like a student loan or mortgage payment coming up, and he’s like “oh, I can pay that.”
At first she thinks he means that payment. But, no: he means all of it. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt gone, poof!,before she finishes her coffee. And when she protests, saying that’s too much money, he just smiles and assures her there’s plenty more where that came from.
Finances are boring and unsexy, but I think the gap between their income levels could still open up the door to some interesting, and potentially contentious, conversation between them. Mainly because Walter wantsto spend his money on her–she’s struggled for so long, she deserves to never have to worry about something so mundane ever again–and for whatever reason, Barbara can’t quite stomach that idea.
Yeaaaaaah I’m gonna bet that while some is legit–like his teaching salary–a lotof that wealth is drenched in blood. As an example, I remember during the “Walter is not a good person” conversation thread someone brought up the very good point that Walter would have been alive during the era of a certain profitable trade industry. Given the Janus Order’s role in world events it would not be the least bit surprising if he too was involved in said trade to some extent–coughEastIndiaCompanycough–and benefitted accordingly.
That being said: One couldmake the argument that after all this time his liquid assets have been laundered so much that even the best forensic accountant would grudgingly declare that his money is squeaky clean. And it may be that he has enough “legit” money from reputable jobs in his accounts that he could assure Barbara that he will never spend a penny of his “dirty” money for her benefit.
Which…she might be okay with? That seems dicey. It really depends on if she stops to think about where his money came from or if she’s just like “it makes sense someone alive for centuries would have the wealth of centuries too” and doesn’t question it.
#despite his clean money he’s probably got some non-liquid assets of questionable origin lying around #(Artwork/artifacts/properties/etc) #that are stark evidence of his ne'er-do-well days#if she learns about those #and suggests he get rid of them#I could see that leading to a bigger argument #because those things have always been his safety net #Ex: he sold a few items to fund the months he spent after he fled Arcadia #and he’s not ready to burn that net #because even now there’s a part of him that’s waiting for the other shoe to drop #for happily ever after to dissolve like the dream it’s always been for his kind #also on a more practical note her lifespan is a blip compared to his and my dude is gonna need money to survive the next few thousand years
#AAAAAAAAAAH THIS IS ALL SO GOOD#YES Strickler having to think about his life long term whether he wants to or not#definitely think Barbara would dig VERY deep when it comes to Strickler’s past#he’s kept SO much from her and the ONLY way this relationship is gonna work is if he keeps no more secrets from her#him burning part of his safety net might even be the show of trust that Barbara needs?#like#if he uses his illicit money/assets not on her but to take care of the familiars for example (a good cause in her eyes)
YES. Given that he enjoys teaching, I could see him establishing a bunch of scholarship funds for the familiars. And then he thinks about all the things he’s observed over his years of teaching: inefficiencies, systemic inadequacies, and all the ways kids can fall through the cracks.
So he starts investigating how he can improve those things, too. And from there it spirals: he realizes that with centuriesof experience there are a host of problems he’s uniquely positioned to solve– or at least, to empower other people to solve. And that he finds greater purpose in supporting people and uplifting them than he ever did in manipulating and destroying them.
And that’s how Strickler over time, and of his own free will, shifts gears to become a philanthropist.
#‘strickler is not a good person but he can get better’ #Barbara pushes him to start the journey #and it’s rocky at first #there are stumbles and backslides along the way #but when he finds his feet #he RUNS #and he doesn’t look back #I’m having feelings about stricklake emotional baggage and healing again help
The Adhene, often also called Denizens or Dark-Kin, are specific groups of fae who have opposed the Tuatha De Dannan and their progeny, the Kithain.
Nature: During the War of Trees, the Adhene were mostly allied with the Fomorians. When their masters were imprisoned, they were banished within the Dreaming between the Silver Paths, unable to reach the Autumn World except some who didn’t participate in the conflict.
During the Week of Nightmares, the spirit nukes of the Technocracy blasted the Nightmare trods into being which were used by the Adhene in order to escape their imprisonment.
The Denizens are not Changelings. When they come to the Autumn World they have no physical body and no Banality. They are able to possess human bodies through a variety of means, or go without a physical form, which accrues Banality faster but has its own advantages. Some Denizens employ an Art called the Autumn Way to better deal with the world of humanity.
Aria: Each Denizen has three “Aria”, which determine which Legacy is dominant, what their current Tempers (Glamour and Willpower) are, shape much of their current personality and even alter their fae mien to some extent. These three Aria can change at any time, and the Denizen’s attitudes and demeanor along with them.
Types of Adhene include: Acheri- Spreaders of disease and corruption. Aonides- The muses, promoters of artistic inspiration. Fir-bholg- Primal winderness spirits and bringers of chaos. Fuath- Wild spirits representing the fusion of animal and man. Keremet- Spirits of the dead brought into the Dreaming. Moirae- Triune-aspected agents of fate. Naraka- Amnesiac embodiments of destruction.
