#Magda Knight

[simplymariac]

From Season 1, Episode 103 For I Have Sinned - Nick gets shot in front of Magda. #ForeverKnight #GeraintWynDavies #MariaDelMar

Just having fun with these screenshots. Sony has all the rights to this screenshot set. 😉

[alexbkrieger13]

Imagine this. Danish queen: "Pernille Harder. Knighted for her outstanding LGBT work. Honor knight. Magdalena Eriksson. Here are your medals." M in her thoughts: "I'm a traitor. A danish medal. I can not take it."

😅 just imagining her decked out in her sweden kit in protest

[woso-dreamzzz]

Duck on a String III

Jessie Fleming x Child!Reader

Summary: The team meet your duck

Mama lets you bring your red wagon to training today because you don't want Sir Quackers to be alone at home.

He's got a big cage to keep him safe with lots of blankets and water and food for him and you get to pull him along in your wagon.

You knighted him last night while you and Mama were playing kings and queens so now he's Sir Quackers instead of just Quackers and you love him very much.

Jessie doesn't want your duck being left alone in the house either. He's proven to be a bit of a menace by himself if the chewed-up boxes of cereal are anything to go by.

No.

He's much safer in his cage while he's still too small for the harness and leash Jessie's ordered for when he's older.

"Mama," You say," Will the others like Sir Quackers?"

You seem completely enamoured with him and, despite the fact that the duck seems to think he rules the house, Jessie loves him too.

"They'll love him," She assures you, fondly pushing your hair out of your face as you both approach the doors," Make sure you tell Magda just how thankful you are about her getting Quackers for you."

"Sir Quackers, Mama," You remind her," We knighted him."

"Oh, you're right. Sir Quackers. Sorry, duckie."

"That's okay! He's still getting used to his name too!"

Your proud entrance gets a bit hampered by the fact that your wagon gets caught at a strange angle so Jessie has to help you get it through the doorway.

By that point, the whole room has fallen silent and Magda has grown incredibly pale as you approach her.

"Thank you for my duck, Uncle Magda!"

Pernille scoffs next to her, muttering sarcastically," A dead egg, huh, Magda?"

"Er...You're the welcome," Magda manages to get out after a long bout of silence.

"His name is Sir Quackers!" You tell her, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her through the small crowd that has surrounded your wagon," Because ducks say quack and Mama and me knighted him. So he's Sir Quackers and not just Quackers."

"A duck, huh?" Erin snickers and Jessie buries her face in her hands, Niamh rubbing her shoulders.

"She was very excited."

"Do you know how to take care of the duck?"

"The vet sent us home with an information pack. Duckie's insiting we read it as her bedtime story every night."

"That's sweet," Niamh offers up," It shows she's taking this seriously."

"She keeps trying to sneak out of bed to play with him. I've had to move the duck into my room to make sure I catch her."

Erin can't stop snickering and soon Sam and Guro are laughing too.

"Is it that bad?" Niamh asks and Jessie has to begrudgingly shake her head.

She watches as you hold Magda hostage by your side, very excitedly waffling on about how cool Sir Quackers is and how he's your bestest friend in the world.

Magda looks unbelievably nervous, eyes wide as Pernille stares daggers at her. She ducks her head down to focus on you again, hoping that by showing interest, she can avoid whatever lecture Pernille's already planning in her head.

"Do you want to hold him?" You ask and Magda freeze, throat suddenly going dry.

"W-What?"

"Do you want to hold Sir Quackers?"

"Erm..."

"Are you scared, uncle Magda? That's okay! I'll hold him and you can stroke him!"

You show no fear as you pick Sir Quackers up and offer him to Magda to pet.

"I'm sorry about her," Pernille says, watching from a distance as she slides next to Jessie," She assured me it was dead."

"It's fine," Jessie assures her," I think it's nice Duckie has a friend now."

"Magda will willingly babysit them both."

"I can't ask that."

"You don't need to ask," Pernille says," It's what's going to happen. Magda can supervise duck play."

They both turn in sync to see Magda really awkwardly stroking Sir Quackers as he tries to eat her finger.

"Mama!" You say, looking at Jessie proudly," He is giving uncle Magda kisses!"

[nyhti]

I recently had an epiphany about the mannequins in Prey. So. For the longest time I wondered where the hell did the idea for Hugo's mannequin girlfriend come from? Like what on earth made Moench put something like that in the story? How do you come up with such a random and out there headcanon like that? I think I know now.

So let's look at the time line: Batman #356 ”The Double Life of Hugo Strange” (1983) Gerry Conway writes a story wherein Hugo creates perfectly lifelike robots of Alfred and Dick and uses them to fuck with Bruce's head. Batman annual #10 ”Down to Bone” (1986) Doug Moench writes a story wherein Hugo, among other things, uses his robots to fight Bruce and Jason. He has also now made a robot version of himself. Last Pre-Crisis Hugo story. Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight #11-15 (1990-1991) Doug Moench writes a story wherein Hugo, among other things, uses mannequins of Thomas and Martha Wayne to fuck with Bruce's head. First Post-Crisis appearance of Hugo and also an edgy reimagining

Are we noticing a pattern? It's honestly a little embarrassing how long it took me to realize that Hugo fucking with Bruce with the mannequins in Prey is all copy pasted from Double Life of Hugo Strange. Moench just re-used Conway's idea, but made it fit the Post-Crisis universe better by having the robots be mannequins with tape recorders inside, because everything had to be sooooooo realistic back then. So if the mannequins of Martha and Thomas are just the robots of Dick and Alfred, who is the mannequin girlfriend? Here's my best guess:

So, Moench used the robots himself in Down to Bone, even created a new robot type – a Hugo robot. Now, we don't see Hugo having a robot girlfriend in Down to Bone, but would you really find it out of the realm of possibility that the thought might have crossed Moench's mind while writing? I mean, look at Hugo around this time. He used to have a good amount of people around him during the 70s and earlier. He had thugs like any self-respecting supervillain, he had his monster men, he once formed a partnership with a racketeer and most importantly he had Magda in Englehart's run. Then suddenly in the 80s he has nothing but robots. Incredibly lifelike robots that talk to him and laugh at his jokes. Doesn't that sound lonely? Now, I will eventually write a post about all my headcanons for what happened to Hugo around this time, because I think about this every day, but to stick to the topic at hand – would you really find it out of the realm of possibility that Moench looked at this profoundly lonely man who could build perfectly lifelike robots and thought, why doesn't he make himself a robot girlfriend? Of course the time wasn't quite ripe yet for a story like that during Pre-Crisis, but during the edgy grimdark 90s? Oh boy, was it time! All he had to do was to turn her from a robot into a mannequin and there we go. Anyway, what do you guys think? I cannot peer inside Moench's mind, of course, but I think my theory is possible.

Also, this is now off topic, but I wanted to talk a little more about Down to Bone and Prey. I used to think these stories, these takes on Hugo, could not be further apart despite being written by the same man, but after reading Down to Bone again for this post and having read Prey again a few months ago, I no longer think so. You can see so much of Prey in Down to Bone and so much Down to Bone in Prey. I already talked about the mannequins, but another thing that I just now noticed was the use of media. As we know, Hugo affectedly used media to fuck with Bruce and to smear Batman's name and you know what he threatened to do in Down to Bone?

Yeah! I find it interesting that Moench had this idea of Hugo using media against Batman way back here, but maybe the story just didn't have enough room for it given that it was only one issue long and most of the time was already spent on Bruce dealing with having lost all his money, home, Jason and Alfred. I'm glad that the smear campaign Hugo launched in Prey was given enough time. Another thing I wanted to talk about was Moench's bad takes on Hugo in Down to Bone. Hugo during Golden Age was about as generic a villain as you can get. Evil genius only after money and power yadda yadda. Listen. I'm not hating on it. It's a classic, but what I'm trying to say is that when Englehart had the divine revelation of giving this character an actual personality and then when Conway topped it all off by giving him an unique goal, I personally considered that an improvement. Moench did not apparently. In Down to Bone Hugo is right back to being a very generic villain. Englehart spent so long showing how much Hugo loved and respected Bruce. How he was willing to ”die” to protect his secret. It was interesting, it was heartwarming and it was fucked up. We see none of this in Down to Bone. The relationship between Hugo and Bruce couldn't be less interesting. There's literally nothing there. No love, no loyalty. Hugo straight up willingly tells Bullock Batman's real identity (which Bullock doesn't believe, of course.) Like what happened? And then the unique new goal Conway gave him? How he got it in his head he wants to be the Batman now? Yeah, you can kiss goodbye to that one too. Nowhere in Down to Bone does Hugo say he wants to become Batman. He only puts on the outfit to frame him. His only goal in Down to Bone was to get his revenge on Bruce. Boring. And to top it all off, just like in Prey, Moench decided to ignore Hugo's well established physical abilities. He doesn't even attempt to fight Batman, but rather runs away like a coward. And don't even get me started on Moench's worst crime of all which was to try to retcon my favorite Hugo story (The Double Life of Hugo Strange) by saying that the Hugo Bruce fought was actually a robot the whole time. I've been writing this for so long I don't even have the energy to go into why I hated this so much and why it was a pointless retcon, so I'll just leave it at this: IT WASN'T A FUCKING ROBOT.

Anyway, love and light everyone!!! ^_^

[deviltakesthehindmost]

Rogue saw him from across the tower, laying on the floor with dust and havoc of what had been great buildings. She watched as he tried to stand, only to fail and fall back again, holding his hand against what should be his stomach. Magneto was hurt. Without thinking at all, she averted the lasers shot from the enemy, hearing her comrads fight him as she flew towards the fallen man.

He struggled to breath, had difficulty to keep his eyes open, barely making it as she stood beside him. "Rogue...?"

She quickly went down on her knees. "Magneto, you're hurt... let us go somewhere safe. You can't stand, can you? Let me take you..."

"Non... nonsense. You... leave me here. Go help your friends..." between every word, he coughed. Rogue felt herself tense when he spilled blood.

"Leave you? Are you out of your mind? Look at you, your state, Magneto..." she held his other hand, gloved, as hers were bare, have lost her own gloves sometime between that battle. He squeesed it swifly.

"Silly girl... then go and save yourself. Don't worry about me... leave me here."

"I can't leave you, you are going to die here, old man. Stop being such a pain in the ass." he let out a sort of laugh, blood dripping from the corner of his lips, "this isn't time for this. Spare your breath. Now, come on, let me take you..."

"My dear, leave me to die, then." his words left Rogue open mouth, scandalized. She, that intented to stand him up, stopped immediatelly, staring at him. "you can leave me here, Rogue. It's okay. Even if it means for me to die, It's okay. There is nothing left for me. I lost everything. But it isn't the same for you. You have friends. A family. Remy. Please, save yourself and forget me here, my dear."

Her eyes were filled with tears, they rolled down without her permission. "Are you out of your damn mind? What the fuck are you asking me to do? I'll ignore it because its an weaked old man gibberish, but don't you say it again. Now, come on." she barked at him, Magneto could see how enraged he got her. Once again she tried to hold his shoulders in an attempt to stand him, but his free hand grabbed her wrist.

"You can also see how weak I am right now, I will only get you late. Go girl, just listen to me."

"You know I hate when you tell me that." her grip on his shoulders weakned, she felt his hand caressing her wrist.

"I do. I know how you hate anyone telling you to listen and do as you are told. You never do that. You listen to your heart and the gospel of Miss Jolly Parton."

Rogue felt like really crying that time. He remembers. Why did he? Magneto held out his hand to wipe away the tears that escaped her eyes. Rogue let go of his shoulders to grab each side of his face.

Except that this time Magneto was weak enough not to have his magnetic field protecting him from her powers. And then, when the tip of her fingers touched his skin, she saw.

And she saw everything.

His mother playing with him when he was five. His father flying him around. His father hed him up his shoulders, playing as if he was the knight and his horse. His mother cooking dinner and then telling him a story to sleep. His father making new pieces of jewelery, Max learning from watching him manipulate each piece. His uncle, Erich, giving him woman advice. Happy family moments.

And then, the camps. The corpses. The gold. His family gone. The threats. Magda. His promises to her. They finally free from the nazis. Their marriage. Max staring at her, so happy, as she caressed her belly. The first time he saw Anya. Her laugh. Her cry. Her voive. The last time he saw Anya. The things he thought while trying to find Magda. He giving up. Erik acknowledging his powers. Learning from it. Practicing. Meeting Charles for the first time. Saying goodbye to Charles many times.

Getting to know Wanda and Pietro. Lorna getting into his life. A lover or two. Caos. Destruction. Losses. Wins. Broken hearts. Deception. Happiness. Life. Death. Over and over again.

And the, she saw her. The first time they saw esch other. He choosing her life by the time they were at Savage Land. He making a vow, secret to himself, that she would not suffer as Anya and Magda had before. She would not die because of him. He wouldn't allow anything happening to her, may God punish him before anything even tried. He was always looking at her, from afar. She learned to control her powers, only to unlearn again, but she never gave up. She had lived. She had laughed. She had cried. She had lost. She getting married. She with Remy.

So, she felt what he felt. Pain. Suffering. Hurt so deep ot had reached his soul. Had he had a soul yet? Heartaches. Aches everywhere. But also happiness. Desire. Deception. Broken heart as she said 'yes' to Remy. But also, love. Love so deep, love so intense. Love so great as he saw her so happy laughing in the arms of someone else. Relief. Love that lighted up his body and soul. Love that kept him strong, ready to go on. To build a better world. To bring peace over the mutantkind.

Love he felt for her that kept him pretty much alive.

"I am sorry, Rogue... I couldn't... keep it up. You saw everything, didn't you?" he found some strength to at least push her a bit off of him. She drained some of his energy, not that he had much left. He felt worse than before.

Her eyes were waterful, intense gaze upon his own.

"I did. I saw everything, Erik. Everything I needed to see. And for that, I'm not going to let you die here. You're not dying any time soon. You are staying here. Right here, with me. I need you here, Erik. Please, I cannot let you go. I know its selfish of me to ask more of you, but I do. Please, Erik, stay."

Rogue just bended over and covered his lips with her own. Erik felt her tears mix with his as he closed his eyes, letting she kiss him.

"Anna, I love you. I always have. I would never say 'no' to you." he said when they parted lips, she still close to him, their foreheads near.

"I love you, Erik. I know you are gonna say that, this time, you are going to say no, so I can go save myself. But if ain't coming with me, then I rather lay here with you and wait for death to come get us. There is no life for me if you are not here."

"Very well then, my love."

[darklordazalin]

Azalin Reviews: Darklord Inza Magdova Kulchevich

Domain: Sithicus Domain Formation: 720 BC Power Level:💀💀💀⚫⚫ Sources: Secrets of the Dread Realms (3e), Gazetteer IV (3e), Heroes of Light (3e), Spectre of the Black Rose (novel)

Once the Dark Powers grew bored with Lord Soth collecting dust and kicked the overcooked Knight of the Rusty Rose out of Ravenloft, a new Darklord took on his mantle - Inza Magdova Kulchevich became the Darklord of Sithicus during what is now referred to as the “Night of Screaming Shadows”.

Seeing that Inza has always been a screaming child overshadowed by her famous mother, this is quite fitting. Inza was born to Magda Ilyanova Kulchevich in the Domain of Gundarak on the exact moment Duke Gundar, the Darklord of Gundarak, was assassinated. A little foreshadowing there, I suppose.

Since Magda is far more important to this tale, let’s discuss her first. Magda’s tale begins when Lord Soth slaughtered her entire family and tribe, then forced her to serve as his guide as he angrily swung his sword at everything in Barovia and Gundarak.

You can read about Soth’s tale here. For Magda’s part, she did act as Soth’s guide, for given the choice between him and Count Strahd, she choose the rusty bucket, which should give you an idea of how pleasant it is being around Strahd for more than a few minutes.

During her wary adventures with the Death Knight, Magda discovered the fabled Gard, an unbreakable cudgel that is said to belong a legendary ancestor of hers, Kulchek the Wanderer. It is said that Kluchek carved the cudgel with his fable dagger Novgor from a tree “on top of the world”. Utter nonsense, but there are grains of truth in these tales for both weapons are imbued with powerful magics.

As soon as she had the chance, Magda fled Soth and began gathering other Vistani who had lost their tribes and formed her own - The Wanderers. Despite her youth, Magda was the raunie of the Wanderers and viewed as a hero to her people. She hoped to find Novgor someday to add to her family’s legend.

Inza was an apple the fell very far from the tree. She caused problems for the Wanderers wherever they went, but her mother was blind to her selfish and brash attitude. The Wanderers would often complain about Inza but never to their raunie. I’ve heard the saying “love is blind”. Magda’s love for her daughter was akin to being blindfolded in a cave far below the Shadow Rift.

Inza is a master of manipulation and convinced others to teach her how to move as silently as a shadow, pick the toughest of locks, and break into the most well-guarded homes. Where she learned magic, however, is unknown. Some say she made a pact with an unknown entity to obtain it. I venture that it was our tormentors that granted her this gift, paving her way into her eternal prison.

The Wanderers knew to avoid the Domain of Sithicus, but sometimes the Mists have other ideas and they eventually wandered (pun intended) within. Lord Soth allowed them passage through is land and his protection for Magda’s past service, but he forbade them to ever leave and closed the borders whenever they made the attempt.

Once in Sithicus, Inza formed an alliance with Soth’s werebadger seneschal, Azrael. It was Azrael who obtained the Novgor dagger from Malocchio Aderre, the temporal leader of Invidia, and gave it to Inza.

Azrael agreed to assist Inza in eliminating her mother so she could become raunie of the Wanderers and in turn, Inza would assist him and Malocchio in overthrowing Lord Soth. Of course, Inza had far greater plans than being a mere raunie.

With Azrael’s ability to concrol the creatures known as 'salt shadows' and using Novgor to sabotage Gard, Magda was murdered. Inza also ended the life of her mother’s favored guard dog that night, for she has a deep fear of the creatures. Dogs, she believes, can smell the taint upon her soul.

After manipulating everyone from Soth to Malocchio, Inza saw all but three of her fellow Wanderers killed and herself safely behind the walls of Soth’s fortress, Nedragaard Keep. She then directed Soth’s attentions to Azrael’s ritual at the salt mines that would allow him to steal every shadow in Sithicus and use their power as his own.

While Soth was distracted, Inza placed protective wards around herself to ensure her shadow wouldn’t be stolen and Soth’s minions could not touch her as she opened the gates to allow Malocchio’s Invidian forces into the Keep. Soth, always one to deal with a woman that wronged him instead of an apocalypse, ran back to his Keep as soon as he learned of the treachery and left Azrael to his own devices.

Soth broke down Inza’s wards and his undead forces slaughtered the invaders as a do-gooder of the name of Ganelon interrupted Azrael’s ritual. These events lead to the Night of Screaming Shadows, in which the shadows ripped apart Soth’s Keep and the Death Knight disappeared.

Inza survived this ordeal, yet as she was attempting her escape she was accosted by the surviving Wanderers. To escape them, she jumped into the Great Rift. Not the best escape plan…but as she did the shadows embraced and transformed her and she became the new Darklord of Sithicus.

Inza is a mostly hidden Darklord with Azrael attempting to take on the mantle of leadership as she manipulates things to her pleasing from the shadows. Mostly Inza enjoys turning those pure of heart towards the darkness and cares little about actual ruling.

The shadows made her into a creature of formless, shifting darkness. Though, with concentration, she can appear as she was before. She rarely takes anything head on, preferring her minions to handle direct physical conflicts though she has some skill in the arcane and with her dagger, Novgor.

As one of the Wanderers, Inza cannot sleep in the same place twice and as a Darklord cannot ever leave her Domain, which may be trying for a lone Vistana. The presence of someone pure of heart is detrimental to her. Given how difficult it is to fine one so innocent in these lands, I hardly think it’s of much concern for her.

Her shadow form is akin to a vampires mist form, though much faster. She can use it to escape through the smallest cracks in the earth and reverts to this form if defeated so she may raise again another time.

If you make an enemy of Inza, you likely won’t realize it until it’s too late. Her expert manipulation, shadow form, and countless spies make her a difficult individual to counter. Though, I find her type easily dealt with by employing a bit of sunlight.

[sundove88]

Despicable Me (Sundove88’s Version Casting)

You can find the original Here.

A man who delights in all things wicked, supervillain Guzma hatches a plan to steal the moon. Surrounded by an army of little green bug types and his impenetrable arsenal of weapons and war machines, Guzma makes ready to vanquish all who stand in his way. But nothing in his calculations and groundwork has prepared him for his greatest challenge: three adorable orphan girls who want to make him their dad.

Now that Guzma has forsaken a life of crime to raise Nezuko, Eri, and Lillie, he's trying to figure out how to provide for his new family. As he struggles with his responsibilities as a father, the Anti-Villain League, an organization dedicated to fighting evil, comes calling. The AVL sends Guzma on a mission to capture the perpetrator of a spectacular heist, for who would be better than the world's greatest ex-villain to capture the individual who seeks to usurp his power.

The mischievous bug types hope that Guzma will return to a life of crime after the new boss of the Anti-Villain League fires him. Instead, Guzma decides to remain retired and travel to Freedonia to meet his long-lost twin brother for the first time. The reunited siblings soon find themselves in an uneasy alliance to take down the elusive Binary Bard, a former Astro Knights inventor who seeks revenge against the world.

Evolving from single-celled multicolored organisms at the dawn of time, bug types live to serve, but find themselves working for a continual series of unsuccessful masters, from T. Rex to Napoleon. Without a master to grovel for, the Bug Types fall into a deep depression. But one bug type, Golisopod, has a plan; accompanied by his pals Accelgor and Escavalier, Golisopod sets forth to find a new evil boss for his brethren to follow. Their search leads them to Maleficent, the world's first-ever super-villainess.

In the 1970s, young Guzma tries to join a group of supervillains called the Vicious 6 after they oust their leader -- the legendary fighter Jiraiya. When the interview turns disastrous, Guzma and his Bug Types go on the run with the Vicious 6 hot on their tails. Luckily, he finds an unlikely source for guidance -- Jiraiya himself -- and soon discovers that even bad guys need a little help from their friends.

Guzma as Felonius Gru (Pokemon)

Beedrill as Bob (Pokemon)

Centiskorch as Carl (Pokemon)

Golisopod as Kevin (Pokemon)

Escavalier as Stuart (Kirby)

Accelgor as Jerry (Kirby)

Dustox as Mel (Kirby)

Butterfree as Dave (Kirby)

Ledian as Tim (Kirby)

Yanmega as Otto (Pokemon)

Ribombee as Themselves/Gru’s Emotional Support (Pokemon)

Eri as Agnes (My Hero Academia)

Nezuko as Margo (Demon Slayer)

Lillie as Edith (Pokemon)

Awoofy as Kyle (Kirby)

Agatha as Marlena Gru (Pokemon)

Professor Turo as Dr. Nefario (Pokemon)

Ghetsis as Robert Gru (Pokemon)

Kai Chisaki as Vector (My Hero Academia)

Scar as Mr. Perkins (The Lion King)

Zira as Herself/Mrs. Perkins (The Lion King)

Dolores Umbridge as Miss Hattie (Harry Potter)

Raiden Shogun as Lucy Wilde (Genshin Impact)

Asgore as Silas Ramsbottom

(Undertale)

Ruto as Jillian (The Legend of Zelda)

Magda as Shannon (The Legend of Zelda)

Vaati as Antonio Perez (The Legend of Zelda)

Ganondorf as Eduardo Perez/El Macho (The Legend of Zelda)

Lady Maud as Herself/El Macho’s Wife (The Legend of Zelda)

Maleficent as Scarlet Overkill (Sleeping Beauty)

Hades as Herb Overkill (Hercules)

Mal as herself/Scarlet's Daughter

(Descendants)

Felix as Walter Nelson (Encanto)

Pepa as Madge Nelson (Encanto)

Dolores as Tina Nelson (Encanto)

Camilo as Walter Nelson Jr. (Encanto)

Antonio as Binky Nelson (Encanto)

Various Villains as the Villain Con

Attendees

N Harmonia as Dru Gru (Pokemon)

Youngster Joey as Himself/Dru's Adoptive Son (Pokemon)

Binary Bard as Balthazar Bratt (Poptropica)

Holmes as Clive (Poptropica)

Monster Kid as Niko (Undertale)

Gogoat as Lucky (Pokemon)

Jiraiya as Wild Knuckles (Naruto)

Magica De Spell as Belle Bottom (Ducktales)

Haxorous as Dragon!Belle Bottom (Pokemon)

The Ghoulfather as Jean Clawed (Yo-Kai Watch)

Annihilape as Monkey!Jean Clawed (Pokemon)

Gaston as Stronghold (Beauty and The Beast)

Tauros as Ox!Stronghold (Pokemon)

Queen Grimhilde as Nunchuck (Snow White and The 7 Dwarves)

Arbok as Snake!Nunchuck (Pokemon)

Jafar as Svengeance (Aladdin)

Incineroar as Tiger!Svengance (Pokemon)

Korina as Master Chow (Pokemon)

Duke Caboom as The Biker (Toy Story)

Here’s your hint to the next Crossover Casting (It’s Don Bluth):

👸🇷🇺🎶

[dick-helmet-magneto]

Demon knight!Erik

Moria: *shoots Erik with a poison arrow*

Erik:

Erik: Ow?

Magda: Are you okay?

Erik: I'm starting to think that this arrow was for you. No trace of holy water.

Magda: Well fuck you bitch!

Erik: This might me by trauma talking. But fighting just a knight?

Magda: No no. You're a knight who died defending someone you love. I suspect this knight has no one.

Moria: Oh screw you witch!

Magda: Hey are demons immune to poison?

Erik: You can't kill what is already dead?

Magda: You don't know!?!

Erik and Magda bantering and ignoring the hunter after them. Because at this point she's not even a threat. She's just someone they run into.

I've been hit with the thought of Erik saying "This might be the trauma talking" and then saying the most normal shit. like "This might be the trauma talking, but I'm hungry." "This might be the trauma talking, but I think I'll take a nap." And everyone is like what does the trauma have to do with it? Erik: "Everything."

But they'd be right. Moira. They could take her out. Erik could just direct that arrow at her and this whole thing would be solved. I'm not saying he should, but he kind of should

[lordsothofsithicus]

A Serious Review of Knight of the Black Rose, Cont.

Strahd just will not cut his losses with Lord Soth. Despite Soth literally hacking his way out of Castle Ravenloft, killing Strahd's pet Red Dragon in truly epic fashion (the narrator makes a point of noting it's the most astonishingly badass thing Magda has ever seen) and before that taking a detour through Strahd's pantry to KILL ALL HIS FOOD Strahd just thinks he can keep yanking Lord Soth's chain. Dude, Strahd, even Azalin didn't stop to kill all your food on his way out the door.

So basically headed into the second half of the book we have an acknowledgement that Soth is really too powerful to be controlled and too dangerous to safely be handled. This is a guy who knows when he's being manipulated and he... doesn't like it. He's also growing increasingly frustrated with the futility of the whole thing; after the SECOND portal in Gundarak turns out to be a dud that takes him back to Barovia Soth goes on a murderous rampage. Which Azrael approves of.

Magda continues to grow in courage and bravery, until finallly she becomes brave enough to - just leave. Given how relentless he is, it's a given that Soth could catch her but instead he lets her go, and the narrator notes he's a little disappointed to lose her. I'm not sure if Lowder decided her competing narrative was too much to continue with or not, but I know she reappears and figures prominently in Spectre of the Black Rose. It's an interesting arc through it ends abruptly.

Azrael's not a deep character, but you can only do so much with a guy who considers killing people to be his greatest talent and whose response to the discovery that he has no soul is happiness because he gets to duck punishment for all the terrible, awful things he's done. He's quintessentially chaotic evil.

The creepiest scene in the book was Medraut Gundar playing Snakes and Ladders with people he'd Reduced as the playing pieces. That's messed up. Duke Gundar himself is an uninteresting character - another ho-hum vampire - which is probably why Gundarak was cycled out when the Ravenloft setting was revised via the Grand Conjunction.

So as we wrap up the plot, Strahd realizes he has only one thing left to lead Lord Soth around by, and that's Caradoc. Strahd might be powerful enough to destroy Soth in a fight but it's obvious he's not confident enough that he could pull it off to take the risk. So instead he plays his last card pretty cleverly, by revealing Caradoc to Lord Soth but promising to protect him, discerning pretty astutely that Caradoc will go neener neener neener at Soth from what he perceives as a position of safety. Which he does. Then Strahd kicks Caradoc out. And since Caradoc was one of the two things he wanted all along, Soth goes right after him, chasing him all the way into the Mists before he gets his hands on him.

How much must you hate a guy to actually physically strangle his GHOST to death? Because Lord Soth hates Caradoc that much plus one.

The ending of the book is the Dark Powers taunting Soth with an offer of salvation they know he'll never take - this is noted as Soth "Failing his Final Test" but really there are sinister overtones to the whole thing that make it pretty clear he was being set up to fail. The Dark Powers in Action I suppose. This segues into the formation of Sithicus, with Soth in power and Azrael as his hatchetman while he scours the domain looking for Magda and Kitiara.

Final thoughts: I need to read more of the Dragonlance novels to understand Soth's fascination with Kitiara, but it's not a focus of this book anyway. It's the least of his three motivations, those being "Return to Krynn", "Throttle Caramon" and "Possess Kitiara". It's easy to have sympathy for Soth, because juxtaposed to Strahd he's a straight-shooter and much less self-aggrandizing. But while he lacks bloodthirst, he's also a vicious, remorseless killer with an icy nasty streak. I think the reason Magda chooses to leave is because she comes to understand that he's a vicious killer and that the only way she's likely to survive his conflict with Strahd is to get out while she can.

Final thoughts: Knight of the Black Rose is one of the better Ravenloft books. It stands out as unique among them because the main protagonist matches or exceeds the power level of all the antagonists. Its flaws are that Lowder decides to excise the character he was using to ground the story and more clearly define the horror element of what was happening before the end of the book, and there are a few bumpy elements to the plot. Soth is shown to be powerful, dangerous but also understandable in his towering sins; Strahd is decadent, cunning, and knowledgeable. He ultimately rids himself of his Death Knight problem because he understands what will happen when something that evil with a will that strong walks into the Mists.

It makes me wish that somehow, Soth had met Azalin; I bet that would've been fun.

[giulolosblackmail]

god i just, they literally threw that in the last line of his epilogue, fine lets never talk about that either

like the sister, and the being raised by sulla as a human sacrifice, or the cursed knight thing, or the being trapped in a magic forest for god knows how long with just a tree to talk to, or the apocalypse dragon he was supposed to be guarding, or the fact that he broke out of the forest without ending the apocalypse threat, or the being abandoned as a baby, or the gloves thing, or the human trafficking thing, or the architect family he may or may not be related to, or the innate magical soul bond he has to magda as the rhime queen that will never be activated because they never met within the confines of the forest so that she could be awakened, or how the hell he became friends with shana, i am strangling you right now with my bare hands

[scarlet--wiccan]

Do you have any thoughts on the idea of a “new” ultimate universe that’s being explored? The og obviously had its fair share of issues (especially for maximoff fans) but also had its high points (miles, for one). If they’re going to sort of repeat the original conceit of the universe (completely new starting point for readers and characters) it could be a good way to give characters with questionable backstories etc new, less stereotypical life.

I’m not particularly optimistic for a number of reasons, but if you were to write the maximoffs with a modern introduction inspired by their og storyline (coerced teen villains into high profile heroes), how would you go about doing it/starting it? Even just explaining Wanda’s original powers obviously has caused others trouble

Personally, I would not choose to revisit the Ultimates world. There are some parts of it that are, like, fine, but on the whole, I think Ultimates is similar to the M C U, in that it betrays and most of things that I find compelling about Marvel Comics-- and most of my favorite characters are completely unrecognizable. Everyone fixates on the inc*st thing with Wanda and Pietro, but Ultimates totally ruined those characters, plus Erik and Magda, on several different levels. I'm glad that Miles has been extracted from the Ultimates world, and it seems like Hickman is going to leave him alone for now.

Reblog this post if you think the twins on the right are WAY HOTTER AND COOLER than the twins on the left.

Let's say, for argument's sake, that I'm adapting Wanda and Pietro for a new continuity and I can't make them mutants or connect them to Magneto. I would probably do something similar to Midnight Suns, and focus on their origins at Mount Wundagore. That location has a lot of interesting history, and I think that expanding on the Elder Gods mythology would be smart way to unify all of the magical and fantasy elements of the Marvel universe with cohesive world-building. Comics have never really succeeded at this, and the M C U honestly never even tried, so that's where I would start.

Starting Wanda and Pietro out as unwilling villains is a little tricky once you take the Brotherhood out of the picture. I think I would either use the High Evolutionary or the sorcerer Modred-- both were occupants of Mount Wundagore, and both have had a hand in manipulating and exploiting the twins. Modred is a stronger choice because of his connection to Chthon, but if I need to introduce the Evolutionary for my larger continuity, this would be a good time to do it.

This guy; not to be confused with the Arthurian Mordred, also a Marvel character.

So here's my plot--

Wanda and Pietro's childhood and adolescence would basically follow 616-canon-- raised by Django and Marya; separated from their family during a racist hate crime; and forced to live on the run for years due to their emerging powers and further discrimination.

They return to Mount Wundagore seeking answers about their powers and their birth mother. They are taken in by the Knights of Wundagore, who, as in Midnight Suns, are an ancient order tasked with safeguarding the mountain and its hidden magic. Little do they know, the Knights have been corrupted by the same villain-- be that Modred or the Evolutionary-- who killed their birth mother and experimented on them as babies.

Wanda is given pages from the Darkhold, which she believes are ancient magical texts that will help her master her abilities. In truth, of course, they are priming her to become Chthon's vessel. She performs spells from the Darkhold to bolster the Knight's powers. Pietro has joined the Knights, believing that they will help him protect his sister-- as in canon, Pietro protective to a fault, because he believes that people are always trying to take advantage of Wanda and her abilities. And he's not wrong!

Agatha Harkness infiltrates the Knights of Wundagore, disguised as an elderly healer. She is an ancient witch whose coven once worked alongside the true Knights to keep Chthon bound while studying the mountain's magic. She has known the Maximoff family for generations, and has been seeking out Natalya's children ever since receiving a premonition of the return of the Scarlet Witch.

Agatha doesn't have the power the stop Wanda now that she is under the Darkhold's influence, so she sends a warning to Doctor Strange that Chthon's return is eminent.

Strange gathers a team of heroes to prevent Chthon's return. This leads to a big fight wherein Wanda and Pietro are technically the "bad guys," which ends with Wanda fully succumbing to the Darkhold. She unleashes a devastating attack against the heroes and descends deep within the mountain.

Pietro find himself abandoned on the mountainside. Agatha reveals herself to him and explains the truth, not only about his family but also about the Modred/Evolutionary situation. Pietro joins the heroes, and Agatha urges him to seek out Django, who she has discovered living in a nearby Transian village.

Django's memories are distorted by trauma and a magical curse that was inflicted on him by the Knights to keep him away from Wanda. Upon reuniting Django with his son, Agatha is able to lift the curse, explaining that their family's legacy-- not their blood, but their love for each other and the gifts they have passed down through their generations-- is the true source of their magic.

Chthon emerges from the mountain, using Wanda as a vessel. There's another big fight, and the heroes are able to get Pietro and Django close enough to Wanda for them to exorcize and bind Chthon within a doll that Django had crafted as a gift for his pregnant sister, Natalya. Django tragically passes away after the battle, but the twins are able to properly mourn him and their mothers. Wanda witnesses the spirit of Natalya and awakens to her true power as the Scarlet Witch.

Wanda agrees to study under Agatha, Pietro joins the hero team, and they both both meet Victoria Montessi, who is going to help them track down the Darkhold pages that have now been scattered to the wind. VICKI + WANDA BESTFRIENDS REAL

And that's my first draft at a magic-focused, no-mutants adaption of Wanda and Pietro's origins that hopefully includes a lot of the same themes, and would hopefully enable more authentic representations of their Romani background while also doing some more cohesive worldbuilding. IT'S JUST A FIRST DRAFT... I might tweak it! Be kind.

Anyways, I've said it before, but I don't actually think Wanda's abilities are that difficult to understand. Her hex power is admittedly, not well-defined, but it's pretty easy to work with if you think of "manipulating probability" as "manipulating physics." Her ability to control matter and energy, then, would correlate to her knowledge and understanding of the particular forces she's working with, so you get a dynamic power that scales to different situations and works really well in a group setting where she can play off of other people's abilities.

[vaultsixtynine]

magda waking up naked caked in dried blood with the wound still oozing slowly in her chest (and it's the kind of wound that Won't Close, metaphysically) in a stone prison in a barrow wrapped up in her own tattered cloak given to her in neverwinter when she was knighted (not that she wanted it. but it had its uses) and realizing she has zero zero zero negative non-existent access to ANY of her warlock skills: 😳

[tehuti88-art]

6/9/23: r/SketchDaily theme, "Free Draw Friday." This week's character from my anthro WWII storyline is Magdalena "Magda" Jäger. She's the wife of THIS GUY; the two of them are devoted to each other and have a slew of kids. Also, they're both fanatics, though this isn't revealed until late in the story in a tragic way. There'll be more about her later in my art Tumblr and Toyhou.se.

Regarding her design, like her husband she's leucistic, not albino. You see I also have issues with braids.

TUMBLR EDIT: Magda Jäger isn't a major character, she mostly provides a sort of comic relief in interactions with Capt. Otto Himmel. A sort of running joke is that she's pregnant throughout pretty much the entire series; by the storyline's end she has nine kids, with a tenth on the way. Result is she's almost constantly hormonal, and her behavior alternates between being sweet and motherly, flying into rages over affairs she imagines her husband's engaging in, weeping her eyes out apologizing to him, then wanting immediately to drag him off to bed with her. Himmel's frequently on the receiving end of her erratic moods, and he finds her rather terrifying, though the large brood of Jäger children adore "Uncle Otto" and swarm him for candy whenever he visits his boss Maj. Ludolf Jäger. (Himmel always acts annoyed by the attention, though he loves the Jäger children right back--having always wanted a big family of his own--and always has plenty of candies in his pockets for them to pick.)

Magda is almost slavishly devoted to "her Teutonic Knight" Jäger (despite being certain half the time that he's cheating on her with all of the young pretty secretaries in his employ) (he really isn't, BTW), viewing him as having rescued her from a potentially unhappy life. She'd go to the ends of the earth for him, and rather sadly, that's about what she ends up doing. I used to believe their marriage was more transactional than romantic--Jäger had definite motivations when choosing her for his bride, and Magda had her reasons for saying yes--though I'm sure by now that they genuinely do love each other. It just ends up being an unfortunately fanatical love: Jäger gradually but effectively radicalizes the formerly pretty neutral Magda, molding her into his image of the ideal Aryan wife, and the same ends up happening to her eldest daughter Leopoldine. So they might be sickly sweet and cutesy at times, but there's a lot of darkness simmering beneath the surface of the Jäger family.

When probably in her late teens, Magda has a brief fling with a handsome SS officer--she doesn't really care what the SS stands for, she just finds them dashing, like modern-day knights--and ends up pregnant. The officer isn't interested in marriage, and Magda can't afford to raise a child on her own, no matter how much she might want to. She takes the only route open to her and approaches a Lebensborn maternity facility. Lebensborn, organized by the SS to help boost the nation's faltering birth rate, operates homes for SS wives as well as unwed mothers-to-be of children deemed to be of sufficiently Aryan heritage. Here, pregnant women who might otherwise be shunned are welcomed and well cared for, their every need seen to to ensure their health and that of their babies. There's healthy eating, healthy living, healthy exercise; no drugs utilized during the birth process, which is intended to be natural; and then, of course, for the unwed mothers like Magda, the baby is put up for adoption to a childless SS family. Magda is saddened by this, but has no other options; she can't make it as a single mother, and it's unlikely anyone would want to marry her. She informs Lebensborn of the pedigree of her child's father, and to her relief, when questioned he confirms his relationship; Lebensborn takes Magda in, sets her up in a nice room, gives her a nice bed. She passes her pregnancy in relative peace and comfort among the other expectant mothers, and she can't really complain, though she does often look wistfully after the SS wives when their husbands arrive to take them home, and wishes that such an ideal life awaited her, too.

One day, it's so warm she decides to go sit out in the garden and take in the sunshine; after a time it gets to be a bit much, and she moves to get up from the bench--somewhat awkward, with her large belly--before a shadow falls over her, making her gasp. Looking up, all she can see at first is the silhouette of a man in uniform; he tilts his head a bit and she gets a better look at him. It's an SS officer with the collar tabs of a captain; he smiles at her, and offers his elbow. Magda mutely takes hold and he helps her to her feet. He carries a sword, just like a knight. He has the kindest, bluest eyes she's ever seen. "Walk with me...?" he offers, and Magda accepts. She would accept literally anything he asked, as she instantly falls head over heels in love. Magda has just met Ludolf Jäger, her future husband.

The two of them get to know each other over the next few visits, taking walks arm-in-arm around the Lebensborn property. Magda can't believe her luck: Jäger is tall, handsome, genteel, and he's chosen HER to lavish his attention upon. He finally asks her one day what it is that she desires the most out of life and she admits that she wishes she could keep her baby and start a family, it just unfortunately isn't in the cards for her. Jäger seems intrigued by her answer--is it true, she wants a big family? When she confirms it, he clasps her hands, looks her intently in the eyes, and says well then, let's do it, we can start a family together--he the husband, she the wife, and all the children they'll have--for the Reich. Magda doesn't care about the Reich that much yet--here's this handsome man asking for her hand despite her circumstances, and promising to offer her everything she's ever wanted. She leaps at the chance and tells him yes, yes, yes!...then sheepishly asks him what is his name again, because she forgot. After he leaves, she repeats the name "Ludolf" to herself dreamily. Such a noble name for such a noble man. She can hardly wait for her child to be born, so she can leave this place and start her new life as an SS bride. Her very own knight has come to sweep her away. A dream come true!

As planned, Magda gives birth at the maternity home--no painkillers, no anything but a natural birth just as Gott intended, that's the Lebensborn way--but the agony is worth it, for the life it promises her, in more than one way. She names her new daughter Leopoldine, and she's just the most perfect baby ever. Despite this, Magda awaits Jäger's arrival rather anxiously, afraid he might be disappointed that she didn't bear a son. When the squirming Leopoldine is placed in his arms, however, Magda can tell her fears were unfounded; Jäger smiles at the infant and murmurs adoringly, "My perfect little Prinzessin Leopoldine." He promptly adopts the girl as his own when he and Magda are wed, a lovely SS ceremony with swords and daggers and occult symbols and reading excerpts of Mein Kampf and all that weirdness, and then bundles the two into his open-top car and whisks them away into the mountains, off to his vacation home. The word "cabin" or "cottage" doesn't do it justice; it's nearly a chateau, with a large help staff on hand to cater to Magda's every whim, and so many rooms she could get lost in them. Jäger points out the amenities and curiosities as they stroll the halls and the grounds. Magda feels like a lady with her knight as she marvels at it all, hardly able to believe it isn't a dream, yet Jäger assures her it's real, and it's their life now. In addition to the mountain home he keeps a lavish apartment suite in the city--nowhere near as big as the mansion, but still impressive--and so when he returns to his job as an administrative official in the Allgemeine-SS, she can remain here, or she can accompany him, and she'll have maids and servants and nannies to help her there as well. Whatever she wants or needs is hers, all she has to do is ask.

Magda finally asks what's been lurking in the back of her mind: Why all this? Why her? Why is he offering her all this kindness? Jäger replies that she offers him just as much in return, as they both desire basically the same thing: A family, a large beautiful Aryan family, for the good of the Reich. When Magda admits she doesn't know a whole lot about the National Socialists and all they stand for, Jäger tells her not to worry--he'll teach her. He'll be her perfect Nazi husband and she'll be his perfect Nazi wife, and they'll raise Leopoldine and any other children they may have--hopefully plenty--in the Nazi ways, and bring glory and honor to the Fatherland. Magda has no problem with any of this, just that it's all a bit overwhelming for her; and it still doesn't quite answer her question: "But...why me, in particular? A woman with a child who isn't even yours...when someone like you could've had anyone, anyone at all...?" Jäger clasps Magda's hands and again looks her intently in the eyes.

Jäger: "Do you believe in Schicksal? Fate...destiny...life's purpose?"

Magda: "I'm...not sure. I've never thought about it."

Jäger: "Just looking in your eyes, I believe you do. You've thought about it many times, your entire life."

Magda: "I have?"

Jäger: "You have. Just without knowing what it was called, but you've always believed in it, always yearned for it. When you said you always wanted to be a mother, you recall?"

Magda: "Ja."

Jäger: "And fate, Gott, the universe, heard you and granted it. Maybe not the way you planned. But it worked out, ja?"

Magda: "Ja."

Jäger: "You're here now, with me, ja?"

Magda: (excited) "Ja!"

Jäger: "Fate always works out the way it should. Even if you don't understand why, it becomes clear in time. What it intends for you. Your purpose. When I saw you that day. Sitting in the sun. The light shining down on you, all golden. Motherhood and beauty and life. I hadn't known yet but I knew then, that was what I wanted. You were who I wanted. Seemingly imperfect, yet able to be made perfect. The same as our broken society. A scarred, crumbled Fatherland rising into a golden and glorious Reich. An abandoned, unwanted woman rising into golden and glorious motherhood. That other man has no idea what he's left behind, what he's given up. But I do. The seeds to start the perfect family on the way to a perfect society and then a perfect world. If only everyone could be as fortunate as we are, and find our life's purpose so easily, and pick up and build on from there, ja...?"

Magda: (wide eyed, murmuring) "Ja."

What Jäger doesn't say aloud: He's an expert judge of character, and a master manipulator. He could tell just from looking in Magda's eyes that first day at Lebensborn what sort of person she is: Idealistic, desperate to please, lonely, and naive. Especially naive. He sees a lump of clay he can mold to be whatever he wishes, and he won't even have to force or coerce her, since that's not his style, coercion is for unintelligent brutes, which Jäger is not. Jäger is intelligent, charismatic, sly; why use force when all you have to do is persuade someone of what they've wanted all along? Magda's worldview requires a few tweaks, a little pruning and cultivation here and there, yet for the most part she's ready-made to suit his purposes. He does sincerely believe in fate--it was purely by fate that he ran across her at Lebensborn that day. Yet even fate needs an active hand now and then, and that's his job. As he answers Magda's question, he sees the look in her eyes, those blue, beautiful but vapidly gullible eyes, shift--just slightly--as her own version of understanding starts to dawn. Magda is really rather stupid. She'll believe whatever anyone else tells her. Jäger will not only make her smarter, but he'll make sure he's the one she chooses to believe. And judging by the look in her eyes, they're both well on their way to that goal.

Magda, as emptyheaded and malleable as she is at first, is no innocent in this scenario: Despite her lofty dreams of knights and ladies, at the very heart of it all is her own desire for self-preservation. Jäger is her meal ticket, and Leopoldine's as well. He takes her teenage mistake and turns it into all her wildest dreams granted--all she has to do is give him a family. She's never had particularly grand aspirations--being a housewife was basically it. So Jäger doesn't even have to convince her to change her mind about her goal. Rather, he places it in a new and different light, making it not selfish but selfless, not just about her and her daughter's needs but about the greater good, as well. And the more Magda hears, the more she likes, because the more opportunities she sees. She doesn't have to settle for being JUST a housewife. Jäger suggests that she can be the catalyst of an entire movement, the mother of her own grand destiny. Granted, he'll be there right beside her, guiding her at first...but it's a much more appealing outcome than the one she'd originally envisioned at Lebensborn. She isn't just a dumped unwed mother with a bastard kid to feed. She's a mother and a wife, she's life, she's the start of something glorious and wonderful. Jäger plants the ideas in her mind and they quickly take root. She didn't know or even really care about all this before. But he frames it all in just the right way to cover everything Magda's ever feared or hoped for. She has her own goals, but Jäger skillfully weaves them in with his so they become the same. He starts to lay out his plans for them both, for Leopoldine and the unborn children they plan to have, and Magda listens closely, an eager participant.

The marriage starts out as transactional--both of them are getting out of it something that they want and need. Both Magda and Jäger are using each other--and they know it. Magda proves to be such a willing and apt student, however--and Jäger such a cunning mentor--that a transactional marriage soon shifts into a devoted partnership. Magda quickly jumps into the role of housewife and mother and it isn't long at all before Leopoldine gains a new baby sister, Lisbeth. Magda again worries Jäger will be disappointed to have a daughter but he adores "Meine kleinen Prinzessinnen!" and showers them with affection. Over the years, seven more children follow--daughter Liesl, son and daughter Lars and Lara (twins--an unexpected but welcome prize), son Lothar, daughters Lilli and Lotti (more twins), and final daughter Liane, before Magda becomes pregnant a tenth time. She earns herself a golden Mother's Cross which she displays proudly, on the proper occasions, of course.

This isn't to say that these are the only children Jäger's fathered. While Magda is pregnant with Lisbeth he tells her about his life before they met. He served briefly in the Waffen-SS before an injury forced him to seek a transfer to a non-combat position; he decided to transfer to the Allgemeine-SS. While recovering and waiting for all the details to be sorted out, a comrade suggested that he volunteer his services to Lebensborn. Now...Lebensborn not only runs maternity homes, but also a network of large, well-furnished country estates which are well known but not spoken of publicly very much. These homes periodically host mixed gatherings of single women and SS men, each of whom has been vetted for appropriate Aryan-ness as well as good health, mentality, and physical makeup; at the gatherings, the men and women mingle, chat, play games, relax, walk the grounds, and get to know each other--on a semi-anonymous, first-name basis only--before the host gathers them all together again, has the men stand in a row, and the women pick which man they find most appealing. This pair is to spend the next several days--and nights--together, in the hopes that a pregnancy will ensue--the entire thing is scheduled around the women's menstrual cycles to ensure maximum effectiveness. After this period the men go on their way while the women remain in touch with Lebensborn doctors, checking for signs of pregnancy; those who succeed go into the maternity homes to await the birth, after which the child is given up for adoption, while those who don't--and those few men who aren't selected the first time around--return to the country estates as soon as they're eligible again. In essence, Lebensborn runs a specialized stud service making use of unmarried women and SS men, and it's considered a good, albeit morally ambiguous, way to boost the German birth rate. SS officers who haven't yet settled down and started families are in high demand for this service--indeed, at such gatherings the women often outnumber the men--and are believed to be performing a noble and necessary job for the Third Reich. As he wasn't yet able to resume work, and was single and athletically fit, Jäger was a prime candidate for Lebensborn after leaving the Waffen-SS, and although even he had to mull it over a bit first ("I must confess, no matter how noble the cause, it all sounded a little...odd"), he decided he would give it a shot, for the Fatherland. Before he was accepted into the Allgemeine-SS and was able to return to work, Jäger surmises he fathered at least a handful of other children whose names and fates he doesn't know, as the fathers are never allowed contact. Magda has mixed feelings about all this--it's strange to think of half-siblings of her own children out there somewhere--yet this is just a part of life now, and rather than feel jealous, she decides it's a better use of her time to fill the role those anonymous women once did. The SS prefers traditional families, after all, and now that Jäger's found her, he has no more need of Lebensborn, same as her.

As it becomes clear Magda's 100% on board with Jäger's plans for her, he privately lets her in on some further details which are for her alone. A large part of his administrative job in the Allgemeine-SS (where he's since been promoted to major) involves approving--or not approving--financing for a medical project, Weltuntergang, being run by one Dr. Kammler. Capt. Himmel oversees the project and reports back to Jäger regarding his progress or lack thereof. (None of them are aware that Himmel, resentful that Kammler tried to have him killed and forced his son Kolten into the project, is actively sabotaging it from the inside, occasionally with Kolten's help.) Although Weltuntergang has dealt with a disappointing lack of speedy progress, it's managed to succeed at its initial goal: To create a sort of "Übersoldat," or supersoldier, to ensure the success of the Reich on the frontlines. The experimental serum works...just on an extremely limited, and thus ineffectual, basis. Kammler (due to Himmel's intervention) hasn't had luck tweaking the serum to work for more blood types...so Jäger has decided to go behind Kammler's back and seek alternate means of perfecting the serum. He's enlisted the aid of SS doctors who've been working on the formula separately from Kammler, first utilizing subjects from the nearby camp run by Maj. Klaus, then moving on to lower-level members of the Wehrmacht sworn to secrecy, and finally to members of the Waffen-SS. Without Himmel's interference, this "alternate" Projekt Weltuntergang--operating under the tentative name Ultima Thule--is showing much better progress than Kammler's experiment. "I always knew that quack was trouble," Jäger confides in Magda, "Kamerad Otto tried to warn me, I didn't listen! Lesson learned. But he did get us started off on the right foot. It's just like any endeavor, dear Magda, you start out with imperfection, and you work from there. Not that I need to explain that to you!"

He lowers his voice as if someone may be listening--Magda accordingly leans in--and tells her of future plans for Weltuntergang--or, more accurately, Ultima Thule. He's spearheading a contingency plan in case their original idea fails, meaning the collapse of the Third Reich itself. Magda is horrified--"My Ludolf!--don't speak of such a thing even in jest!"--so her husband has to calm her down to listen. "Such things happen sometimes, Liebe," he says, "and you have to be brave and be prepared. This is why I've taught you. Someday, you might need to act without me there to guide you." Magda can hardly bear to listen to such things, her eyes filling with tears, yet Jäger gently dries them and presses on. He points out that, while the two of them publicly abide by the principles and morals of the Nazi Party, in private there will be a few changes. Women in the Third Reich are, in general, second-class citizens, subservient to their husbands and lacking any real power or authority; "Yet you, you're different, my Magda," Jäger tells her. "All this time I've spent molding you to perfection has been as much for your good as for mine. You aren't perfect--yet. Neither am I. One day, soon, though, we all will be, you, me, Leopoldine, all of us. I helped lay the groundwork but from now on, the two of us are partners, equals, in this together. In the open, in front of the Reich, we'll still need to play our parts; but behind the scenes where it matters the most, you'll wield the same power I do, be capable of all the same things I am. Leopoldine will follow us, and all the rest. Even should worst come to worst and the Reich should fall, we'll have all we need to start anew, the seeds of a Fourth Reich, a far better and perfect Reich." He sees the look on Magda's face--after everything he's taught her, what he's saying is practically blasphemy--so he pauses and then adds, "I'd never force you into anything that makes you uncomfortable or goes against your principles, my Magda, so if this isn't what you want, let me know...?" and awaits her answer.

Magda: (murmuring) "I want what you want, my Ludolf."

Jäger: (shaking head) "Nein."

Magda: "Nein...?"

Jäger: "Stop and think, Liebe. Don't just say. I've taught you well, but now it's time for you to start standing on your own. Don't just say what you think I want to hear. Say what you mean. What you want."

Magda: "I do want what you want."

Jäger: "You're sure...? Stop and examine your thoughts. Make sure. You have no questions? You have no doubts? There's nothing wrong with doubting, Liebe. Questioning things is how we perfect them. Look at your thoughts, and if anything makes you pause, say it."

Magda: "I..." (trails off)

Jäger: "Go on, Liebe, say it. Your thoughts are equally as valid as mine."

Magda: "Just that, you know so much more than I do..."

Jäger: "You're no fool, Magda, I've taught you well. Go on and tell me. What makes you doubt?"

Magda: (bites lip) "Just..." (pause; deep breath) "Everything we've learned from the Reich, everything we stand for, how could it be imperfect?--how could it ever fall? Everything they taught us, Liebe, did they teach us wrong? The Reich is life. The Reich is all that's important. How can it ever fail? Why should we even need a Fourth Reich if this is the most perfect it can be? I don't understand."

Jäger: (smiles) "See, you do understand, Liebe. You haven't been lied to, yet you haven't gotten the truth. They've taught us what they believe and know--not lies. The thing is, their minds are so limited they don't KNOW the full truth! If you spend all your life living under the ground you won't even know there's a sky and sun and moon above you, will you? Everyone else, the people writing the books, teaching in the schools, they've been living underground. They can tell us only what they know. Yet we've found the surface. We know there's more. We can take what they've taught us, and build on it."

Magda: "But, how did we find the surface...? Why don't they know?"

Jäger: "My Magda! Such smart questions! I knew I made no mistake trusting in you. See, there are parts of the mind that most aren't even aware of, don't even know how to use. Yet there are ways to access them, if you know how to look. Ultima Thule will unlock one of these paths, make it easier for anyone to reach their full potential, use their whole mind. Me, I had to find out the hard way, through lots of searching, lots of studying of the old texts, lots of dissecting the old tales. They called these folk in the old tales 'gods' for a reason, Magda. A god is simply a being who's reached his full potential. Wotan! Donar! Frija! The primitive superstitious folk fear them and call them supernatural but really they're just Übermenschen. Folk who reached their full potential. So few of them and so awesome and inexplicable in their abilities. Of course the powers that be would assume our society is as perfect as it can be. They simply don't understand. We're on our way there, though, Liebe."

Magda: "To...being gods?"

Jäger: "Ja!" (clasps her face) "Meine Liebe! You understand me. Just wait. You'll see. We'll get there together, soon, and you'll see not only how imperfect is the Third Reich, but how perfect and wondrous will be the Fourth. Ultima Thule is the goal, and you and Leopoldine and die Kinder will be right there with me. A perfect new world."

Magda has to admit: When Jäger first swept her off her feet and out of Lebensborn, she wasn't counting on "becoming gods" being part of the deal. Yet here they are. He instructs her and Leopoldine--who appears to be following directly in his footsteps and hangs on every word he says--on what to do and what to expect as the war drags on, and when things start looking grim for the Axis, it just proves that he was right all along: The Third Reich is teetering on feet of clay, and shows signs of collapsing at any time. Magda can't help it; she's full of dread and anxiety and longs for simpler, happier times--she really doesn't want to be a god. Jäger, however, is more hopeful and enthusiastic than ever--"It's just an unfortunate fact, my Magda, as fresh flowers bloom from a rotting corpse, so the old Reich must fall so the new one can be born"--and Leopoldine is just as excited at the prospect as he is, truly a "Daddy's little girl." As Magda adores her husband and trusts him in everything, she decides to trust him, too, in this, and doesn't protest, though she's definitely fearful.

Jäger takes the family out to their mountain chalet to stay while he finishes with some business in the city; Magda begs to go with him, yet he assures her he'll be careful, that she and the children are to remain there for their own safety. Magda agonizes the entire time he's gone, frequently standing on the deck and watching for his return, having to pull herself away to look after the younger children. She tries also to keep the help staff calm as their own agitation grows, though when they start asking to return to their families to get them out of the city, she obliges so that only a skeleton crew of the oldest and most devoted staff remains. She tries to bite back her tears and growing panic as she does more of the chores herself, reminding herself that this is what a good Reich bride does, to trust in her husband and not worry so much that, as always, the only news that comes over the radio is propaganda about how well things are going for the Fatherland.

Late one night as Magda is lying in bed trying to fall asleep, she feels a hand press over her mouth, and bolts upright with a muffled scream. Before she can fight back the shadow in front of her hurries to whisper, "Shush! Shush! Magda, Liebe! It's me," and Magda lets out her breath and throws her arms around Jäger, hugging him tight. He hugs her only briefly before ordering her in a low voice, "Wake Leo and the rest of die Kinder and have her help you fetch them some of their clothes and belongings. Schnell. Then fetch some of your own. I'll get our papers. What happened to the rest of the staff?" When Magda replies that she let them go home to their families, he touches her face and says, "Smart Magda, good decision. Let them go see to their own. I'll let the rest go when we're done here. No questions, just fetch die Kinder and do as I say and I'll explain on the way, schnell," and he leaves.

Biting down the flood of anxiety that threatens to overwhelm her, Magda obeys. She wakes Leopoldine and the two of them rouse the rest of the children, grabbing clothes, diapers, toys, necessities. On her way hurrying them through the house she spots Jäger collecting their important documents and other things she wouldn't have thought of bringing along. Outside, she's surprised to find a military truck waiting; the driver waves them forward and helps them climb in the back. Magda peers out and sees the remaining members of the help staff emerge; Jäger gives some sets of keys to the head servant, who wipes his eyes and actually hugs him before they hurry off to the family car. Confused, Magda asks, "You gave them your car...?" as Jäger climbs in the truck with them. "We won't need it where we're going, Liebe," he replies, and thumps his hand on the truck's cab. "Best settle in, it's going to be a long trip," he advises, and they do so the best they can as the truck pulls away from the chalet and makes its way down the mountain path.

As the children doze and the truck bumps along, Jäger quietly outlines the situation. As Magda had suspected, the news on the radio hadn't been accurate; the Americans have arrived from the west, and the Red Army is pressing in from the east. The city is on the verge of falling to the Allies, as the few remaining Wehrmacht and SS troops are starting to desert. Himmel and Kammler have been captured by the Americans already, and Projekt Weltuntergang headquarters seized (though not before Jäger made off with the most important documentation). Magda moans and covers her face but Jäger gently pulls her hands free and cups her cheeks, cooing, "Magda, mein Schatz, don't be afraid, I told you this was coming, don't you believe me?"

Magda: "I believe you, Ludolf, but what's going to happen to us now? I'm trying to be strong, honest, but I'm afraid."

Jäger: "It's going to be all right, Liebe. Trust me, trust the plan."

Magda: "I don't know the plan!"

Jäger: "Keep your head. I had some small hope it wouldn't come to this, yet it has, so this is what we do. We're heading south, to the mountains."

Magda: (confused) "The Alps--?"

Jäger: "Ja. It's going to be a long trip, but don't worry, we'll make a few stops for food and fuel and for die Kinder to stretch their legs. We need to hurry, though--no dallying. We'll be joining some more men and vehicles along the way. Nothing for you to fret too much about. We'll have everything we need."

Magda: "Everything we need for what...?"

Jäger: (kisses her) "For our glorious new Reich to be born."

As they continue, several other vehicles arriving and accompanying them to form a small caravan, further details emerge: They're indeed heading for the Alps, where Jäger informs her a specially built fortress awaits. They'll be starting their new life there, and will shelter in the mountains until the situation on the ground is under control, then for a while afterward: "We need to start building things up again, Magda Liebe, and it'll take time before we can head out into the world again, yet we can do it!" Magda worries about the prospects of trying to live in an Alpine Fortress--surely they won't have enough to get by--but Jäger dismisses her fears, reassuring her that there's enough food and other resources to last for at least a decade. As they finally reach the mountains and switch to vehicles that can better handle the terrain and weather, slowly climbing higher and higher until at last Jäger pulls Magda and Leopoldine forward to look out at the scenery, it at last dawns on Magda how severely she underestimated the concept of a "fortress." All she can see of it from the outside are occasional entryways built into the mountainsides, yet they're gaping and cavernous when they open (skillfully disguised when closed), and after their own caravan enters one she gets her first look at just how prepared they really are.

The Fortress has been under construction for years--almost since the first days of the Reich--and as Jäger tells her, it was originally intended for the Führer and his staff and families to flee to should the Reich fall. Sometime along the way, construction and planning were abandoned and the Fortress was deemed no longer necessary...yet a small group of elites-within-the-elite, a group known as the Thule Society, took it upon themselves to quietly resume work upon the project. They incorporated it into their plans for Projekt Weltuntergang and referred to the whole as Projekt Ultima Thule--an expansion upon and perfection of the original project whose goal was simply to create a supersoldier for the Reich to win the war. The war is now almost lost, yet the project continues, with the renewed purpose of creating the true master race ("It turns out it actually has little to do with race, Liebe," Jäger explains); as they grow in numbers and gather power, they'll remain hidden in the Alps, but they'll eventually make their way back down to the world to seize control and begin the Fourth Reich. It'll be a long, slow process, yet "We're here, together, my Magda, and take courage in the thought that we and our children will be in the vanguard of this wondrous new incarnation of Herrenvolk!" He adds that more SS families will start moving into the Fortress as they escape the war, and their children will marry and start families of their own. Leopoldine, when Jäger informs her of this, is excited at the prospect of being an SS bride and raising a big family just like her mother--"For the glory of the Reich!" Despite her own loyalty to the cause, Magda feels an uneasy twinge at hearing her young daughter (timeline is iffy but Leopoldine is probably between ten and twelve years old) talk already about bearing children for the men, and hopes such a thing doesn't come to pass TOO soon. Jäger assures her he'll let nothing inappropriate happen to Leopoldine or any of the others, though Magda privately determines to keep a close eye on things herself as well.

She does still have questions about how, exactly, they intend to overcome their shortcomings and "become gods" as the project promises. Here, finally, Jäger reveals something that truly fills her with dread: Everyone participating in Ultima Thule is to take the serum. That includes her, and all the children, even the youngest. Magda balks, when Jäger fills her in on something: He himself has already started the regimen of injections. He has her look closely at his eyes and she can't believe she hadn't noticed it yet--a hazy, almost glowy blue tinge, which she can see really only over his pupils as his eyes are naturally light blue. "What is that?" Magda gasps, and Jäger replies, "Just one of the small side effects, Liebe. You see me, I'm still alive, still healthy? I didn't want to needlessly worry you but I've already been feeling the intended effects of it. This is the first step to us becoming Übermenschen. Bitte, Liebe, join me? I want you here beside and equal to me. You can choose whether you want to take it or not, I'd never think of forcing you, yet if you decide nein, we can't go forward in this together."

He seems genuinely saddened at the prospect of her deciding to decline, and she does pick up the implication: He'll just go on without her if she refuses. Magda panics at the thought of losing her Ludolf, but does ask him what will become of the children if she says no? Jäger replies that the younger children, being unable in his opinion to decide for themselves yet, could go with her, but Leopoldine is old enough to make up her own mind. Magda's even more torn at the thought of leaving behind even one of her children, and requests that they ask Leopoldine what she wants. Jäger calls the girl to them and outlines the plan with the serum; he's barely finished speaking before Leopoldine's eyes light up and she bounces like she's been offered a shiny new toy. "The glory of the Reich! The glory of the Reich!" she exclaims; "You want to be a part of this?" Jäger asks, "It's all right if you wish not--" but Leopoldine cuts him off: "Ja, Papa, ja! Bitte, bitte! I want to be in the perfect new world. Das Herrenvolk!" After Jäger dismisses her he says to Magda, "Just in case you think I've coached her to say that. Let's give her some time to make sure, ja...?" Yet Magda slowly shakes her head: "I know her...she's made up her mind. She knows what she wants." She pauses, wringing her hands a little, then says in a small voice, "Will it hurt...?" Jäger takes her hands and smiles at her. "Magda Liebe, it's just a needle prick, and then illumination. Even if it weren't, you've borne all my children, you've been so strong! You can take anything. But nein, it doesn't hurt. You have absolutely nothing to be afraid of, Liebe."

Although she still has her doubts--doubts which Jäger insists are normal for her to have--Magda finally agrees, and is given her first injection. The serum used to require a lengthy IV infusion (this can still be used), but has since been simplified into a series of shots, and she grimaces a little and shuts her eyes, turning away from the needle, as she gets the first one directly into her vein. Leopoldine doesn't flinch or look away at all. Jäger gives Magda the chance to see for herself that there are no ill effects before the rest of the children get their shots. She's perplexed to notice no difference afterward; Jäger tells her it may take a bit, possibly more shots, before she does, and to be patient. And indeed, over the next few weeks, she begins to notice things. The cavern interiors start to seem almost luminous so she doesn't realize she's been walking in near-darkness until she's almost overpowered by a well-lit room; she hears the guards and doctors having quiet conversations several caverns over, despite the distance between them; and she can feel things as well, subtle changes in the air currents, vibrations, the movements of others far off, sensations she can't explain. She tries to describe this to her husband one day and is frustrated to find she lacks the words; he seems vaguely amused when he tells her, "You can't describe the ineffable, Liebe." Magda asks what does "ineffable" mean. Jäger removes a dictionary from his shelf and hands it to her. She doesn't have it in her to feel insulted, just takes the book and starts looking through it. A few hours later, she asks if she can look at the other books on his shelf. She spends the next several days devouring them all, when previously she'd never had much interest in reading, had considered it a masculine pastime. She shows up at Jäger's new office with a strange look on her face, eyes wide and blue and luminous, and murmurs, "I believe I understand now."

Being a woman, and surrounded by all the men doing all the heavy work, Magda has no real reason to test her strength and endurance. All activities feel easier, though, and she finds she doesn't tire nearly as quickly as before. She actually understands much of the talk she hears the others engaging in, and uses this to her and Jäger's advantage, reporting back to her husband what they've said--they all still believe she's too ignorant to comprehend what they're talking about, which makes her an excellent eavesdropper. Jäger rewards and punishes his men based on Magda's reports, and is amused when Magda also reports how confused the men are every time they get caught. In the evenings, Jäger instructs Magda and Leopoldine on the tenets they'll abide by in the new Reich, and they eagerly soak up the information like sponges. Then after all the children are put to bed, Magda shows Jäger that the serum definitely has affected her stamina; she soon ends up pregnant with their tenth child. "Our first to be born in this wondrous new world!" Jäger exclaims proudly when the doctors give them the news.

Magda isn't privy to all the deepest goings-on of the experiment itself, but Jäger willingly fills her in, especially now that she has the ability to comprehend what he's telling her. Members of the Einsatzgruppen, the former mobile death squads of the SS, had been tasked with collecting "valuable corpses" for use in the project. Magda learns of an additional tweak to the original Projekt Weltuntergang: "When people become gods, Liebe," Jäger explains, "that implies immortality, as well." Projekt Ultima Thule won't just confer increased abilities on its participants--it'll also grant them unending life, and will even bring them back from the dead. Magda finds this difficult to believe until she sees it for herself; the Einsatzgruppen had retrieved the body of a slain American soldier, a Trench Rat nicknamed Indigo, toward the war's end, and he's been literally kept on ice since then; following a few more changes to the serum, his lifeless body is finally brought out and hooked up to an IV. Magda declines to watch the procedure, deeming it too gruesome for her tastes, but is introduced to Indigo after he's sufficiently revived. She'd seen that he was in fact deceased; and now here he is, alive again, albeit with significant changes: His eyes have the same milky blue tint as those of everyone else in the project, and he's nonvocal and unresponsive to her greeting of "Guten Tag, Herr Indigo." All he does is stare blankly. Magda wonders if she's offended him, when Jäger murmurs in her ear, "Obviously, there are still a few flaws here and there. Ones we've brought back like this, they don't talk, don't interact, though they do follow orders quite well." He adds that subjects are traditionally programmed to respond only to orders given by doctors, though this can sometimes be overridden by wearing some sort of recognized medical insignia, tricking the subject into thinking one is a doctor. He shows this off by issuing Indigo an order; Indigo ignores him, though when Jäger then attaches a Caduceus pin to his breast--"The American military lacks sufficient understanding of the folklore, they think this is a medical emblem"--Indigo at last shows a response, his blank stare shifting in Jäger's direction. When Jäger issues the order a second time, Indigo now complies. "This seems like it could be quite a serious flaw," Magda says, to which Jäger agrees: "You're of course right, Magda Liebe, I've already brought it up for future correction. Still wrinkles to iron out! But we have plenty of time to get it right." He adds, "I'm sure you'll have some decent ideas to offer," which makes Magda blush with pleasure at the thought of assisting in such a grand project.

One day, guards arrive at Ultima Thule headquarters with an unusual visitor in tow: Another Trench Rat, this one alive. His codename is Silver, and Jäger seems unusually excited to meet him. "He was truly a somebody, Magda Liebe," he says, "drove us absolutely mad always breaking into headquarters, stealing our papers, even killing our guards! We called him Der Silbergeist. He liked breaking people's necks." Magda is perplexed about why he'd be so enthusiastic to meet somebody who sounds so awful; Jäger explains this is exactly why: "Can you imagine?--if we could turn someone like THAT to our cause. He was formidable enough without the serum. Just imagine the possibilities with him on it!" Magda has her concerns about this plan: "Ludolf Liebe, why do you think he would want to join us...? What if he has his beliefs the way we have ours? These Trench Rats, they were pretty loyal to their own, weren't they...?" Jäger, however, gently brushes her off: "We at least offer him the option. If he refuses, it's regretful, but we terminate him. Yet he might prove useful. It would be such a waste not to try."

Well...the one time Jäger doesn't listen to Magda turns out to be the time her worries are well founded. Although Silver--after a carefully worded threat by Jäger--agrees to join them and be administered the serum, and then appears to be interested in Jäger's ideas, secretly he's watching, gathering info about the Fortress's defenses, and biding his time. Magda never quite shakes off her bad impression of him, yet has nothing concrete on which to base it, so holds off on protesting further; Jäger had always told her to trust her intuition and question things, yet he seems invested in Silver, so she ignores the warnings going off in her head. When a group of intruders arrives--former Trench Rats as well as those who once served alongside Jäger, such as Otto Himmel and Ratdog--Silver at first continues to side with Jäger. Despite the small size and limited resources of the group, they manage to turn Indigo, and Silver provides them with important information--as well as takes out some of Jäger's medically enhanced guards--so they gradually gain the advantage. With each setback, Magda sees Jäger's mood deteriorate, and he finally takes her aside during a lull to speak with her privately. "Magda Liebe," he says quietly, looking her in the eyes, "do you remember the plan we made...? The one I told you was only if worst comes to worst. You recall...?"

Magda: (covers mouth & lets out a dismayed sound) "Ludolf, nein."

Jäger: "You remember?"

Magda: "Of course I remember. But bitte--we can't."

Jäger: "When we went over this, I know I told you the chances were infinitesimal. Yet real. Sweet Magda." (cupping her face) "I still believe this is a plan we needn't use. Yet I need to know that you're ready, and that you're willing."

Magda: "How can one ever be ready for such a thing--?"

Jäger: "You know what it is you have to do, and when to do it--?"

Magda: (eyes tearing up) "I know, my Ludolf, I remember all of it. But I don't want to."

Jäger: "Liebe, of course not. I don't, either. And there's still a chance we needn't. But when we went over this, before, you assured me you could do it. That you would do it, if it finally came to this. You've changed your mind...?"

Magda: "It was different then! Things were going so well, you said so yourself. I didn't think we'd ever actually have to!"

Jäger: "If you think I misled you, Liebe..."

Magda: "Nein, my Ludolf, I'd never...I know you've only ever been honest with me...just...I'm afraid. This isn't what I wanted, what we planned for so long."

Jäger: "I know, Liebe, but we aren't gods yet, we aren't perfect. I make mistakes, I misjudge sometimes. You yourself tried to warn me, ja--?"

Magda: "Nein, meine Liebe! I never said you were wrong--"

Jäger: "It's all right, sweet, you may have been right. I should have listened to you. Yet I never lied to you. This glorious new world...it might await us still. I fully believe it's there. Yet maybe...maybe we aren't the ones intended to reach it. Maybe we only laid the groundwork for those to come. I don't know."

Magda: "Liebe!"

Jäger: "You do believe me, Magda...? You believe in this too...?"

Magda: "Of course I do, my Ludolf. Sieg heil! The glorious new Reich!"

Jäger: "Even if it isn't us, even if we aren't the first gods in this wondrous new world, you'd do what you can to make sure it comes to pass? Make any sacrifice...?"

Magda: (tearing up again) "I don't..."

Jäger: (puts his forehead to hers) "My only Magda...?"

Magda: (swallows, takes a breath) "I will, my Ludolf."

Shortly after coming to live in the Alpine Fortress, Jäger had sat down with Magda and Leopoldine, a serious look upon his face, and laid out a contingency plan. "It's almost certain we'll never need it," he'd assured them, "though absolutely nothing in life is certain, but uncertainty. Right now you needn't fret about this, needn't let it worry you. But we need to be prepared for anything. You're willing to sacrifice for the Fourth Reich to come, for Ultima Thule...?" Leopoldine, of course, had agreed immediately, without a second thought--"For the glory of the Reich, Papa!" Magda had been ready to do the same...when the tiniest little twinge of doubt had emerged in the back of her mind. Jäger had asked before if she were willing to give, to work, to struggle for their vision...he'd never used the word sacrifice. "What is it we'll need to do...?" she'd gingerly asked, and as plainly and openly as possible, Jäger had told her. Leopoldine, ever the born true believer--never having known any life other than that she had to offer the Reich--hadn't wavered, had still agreed that she was fully willing to follow through. Magda, however, had gone white as a sheet--not quite able to believe that such a sacrifice would be asked of her, and seriously doubting Jäger's vision for the first time in her life. She'd almost rejected the request--yet felt a hand clasp hers, and looked down to see Leopoldine staring back up at her, eyes wide and blue and utterly credulous, simply believing, not questioning in the slightest. Also for the very first time, Magda finally understood what others must see when they looked at them. Leopoldine had the stare of a fanatic.

Just as quickly, Magda had shoved the feeling back down and smothered it. To see such trust and devotion from her own daughter had convinced her, and she'd agreed to Jäger's plan. He even took out his Ehrendolch and used it to slice open his palm, making smaller cuts on her hand and Leopoldine's--Leopoldine not flinching at all--and they clasped their bleeding hands together. "Meine Prinzessinnen," Jäger had exclaimed, beaming at them; "I knew I chose you well! You've never let me down, not once."

Now, Magda feels it--the urge to disagree, to back out, to go her own way, as he'd once promised her she had the choice to do. Yet she knows she'd be doing this without him--without Leopoldine--and for the first and only time, she'd be letting him down. The fear of this overrides her fear of the emergency plan, and she swallows it down again and promises him she'll follow through if necessary. "No matter what?" he asks; "No matter what," she replies, and he murmurs, "Mein liebster Magda. To me, you have always been perfect," and kisses her.

Jäger heads deeper into the Alpine Fortress to confront the intruders, leaving Magda behind in the safety of their family stronghold. I haven't yet worked out the details, but almost the moment her husband is killed in a rock collapse--turns out the serum has its shortcomings after all, and destroying the brain is the way to nullify the prospect of immortality--Magda knows it, knows that in an instant her love is gone and isn't returning for her. The feeling almost overwhelms her and she lets out a dry sob, but catching sight of Leopoldine nearby, she tries to push down her grief just long enough to call the girl to her, asking if she remembers their plan. Leopoldine does; her normally cheery face gets serious and she murmurs, "Papa isn't coming back...?" Magda swallows her tears--"Nein, Liebling, not this time...bitte, fetch your brothers and sisters and bring them here for me...?" Her eyes blur over and she bites down a whimper; Leopoldine grasps her arm, and she looks down at her again. "It'll be all right, Mama," she says, as sure as ever, her eyes alight. "We'll be together again in a glorious new world! He said we will!" Magda can't help it--her eyes start streaming and she hiccups and wipes them, but forces an unconvincing smile--"Go on and fetch die Kinder...you know what to do."

Leopoldine gets the children and Magda gathers them in a cavern just off their family quarters. She has a tray full of porcelain mugs, steam rising from the tops--"Hot cocoa, a treat for you all, gute Kinder!"--and Leopoldine hands out the drinks, taking the youngest, Liane, and giving her a bottle. They make sure every child finishes their drink, then Leopoldine drinks her own cocoa. When the rest of the children start yawning and nodding off, Magda and Leopoldine lay them down side by side, tucking blankets around them, humming lullabies as they fall asleep. By the time they're done, Leopoldine is rubbing at her own drooping eyelids; "You've done well, sweet, time for a nap," Magda murmurs, and helps her oldest daughter bundle up in her own blanket. She sits by her children for a little while, watching them sleep, trying to gather her courage; she cries a bit, but manages to pull herself together, and digs in the bottom of the sack in which she brought the blankets. Her eyes well up anew and she can't help whimpering as she removes a pistol. Fighting hard not to sob, she stops next to Leopoldine, but can't bring herself to do anything; so she moves to her second oldest, Lisbeth. She points the pistol at Lisbeth's forehead, steadies her shaking arm, shuts her eyes and fires. Then lets out an awful wail which echoes through the cavern, her ribs heaving as she's suddenly racked with sobs.

The rest of the children--Liesl, Lars, Lara, Lothar, Lilli, and Lotti--strangely go much easier and quicker, though Magda's crying gets louder, her grief more raw, with each shot. When she comes to the baby, Liane, she almost loses her nerve, yet steels herself and fires once more. Then needs to change the magazine, as the pistol is out of rounds. Her hands shake so badly she almost drops it as she walks back to Leopoldine and aims. Despite their lack of shared blood, Leopoldine had always been Jäger's favorite, his best student, and had taken after him; he'd always beamed at her in pride, declaring her his natural successor, first among his princesses and princes. She and Jäger share no relation, but she's the last little bit of Jäger that Magda has left, and once more she falters, overwhelmed by tears. She reminds herself of the plan, however...and contemplates a life without her husband or the rest of her children, with a daughter who would never forgive her...and again pulls the trigger.

After a few moments to cry herself out, catch her breath, try to stop her trembling, she stoops down and carefully draws the blankets' edges up over the children's heads, granting them a bit of respect. She sits down next to Leopoldine's still form, wiping her eyes and sniffling, clasping the pistol. She's the last; there's nobody left to cover her face when she's gone. She tells herself it doesn't matter. All they're leaving behind are shells; true, they won't get the chance to experience the glorious new Reich for which they'd planned so long, but there's another, different, glorious world awaiting. Jäger believed it, Leopoldine believed it, once upon a time when she dreamed of a knight to come and sweep her away, Magda believed it, too. She takes a few deep breaths, lifts the gun, shuts her eyes.

"We're coming, my Ludolf," she says with the slightest quaver in her voice, puts her hand on her belly, and places the gun to her head.

[Magdalena Jäger 2023 [‎Friday, ‎June ‎9, ‎2023, ‏‎2:00:23 AM]]

[mnmovdoom]

Breaking the Tumblr inactivity to zoom over here and ask for prompts 7 and 38! (I didn’t think through the characters so genuinely pick whichever ones you want to write for X) )

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASKS!!!

Since you let me on the loose, I did 7 for my OCs Magda and Wolfram and 38 for Rex and Ahsoka!

7- “I’ve been in love with you for years. I just never had the guts to say it.”

She felt his eyes on her, with the attention of a bird of prey and the gentleness of a dove. That was how he usually looked at her, but only when he thought she couldn’t see him. Foolish man if he thought she wouldn’t know. 

She had, for years now. But she had never done anything about it, not until she was certain it was what she wanted - the nearly full year her knight went missing, roaming the wilderness as a wolf, was a better teacher than all the scholars that provided Madga with education. 

And even so she had waited, wanting to be absolutely certain that she was not deceiving herself with something she had never fancied in the first place; she wanted to be completely sure that it was not only her favour that Wolfram wore around his mail-clad arm on tournaments, but her heart too. 

Now she was certain. It was in the way her heart picked up pace with the way Wolfram’s eyes never once left her, even though the view ahead of them was, in her opinion, much more beautiful. Riding out in the Spring was one of Magda’s favourite distractions: as her palfrey cantered through the green fields dotted with blossoming flowers, birds and butterflies would rise from below and envelop her and her horse in a swirl of colour that she thought was the closest there was to magic; the sky above her was endless and so bright and blue that she pitied God for living up there and being unable to see the sky from below. 

There was the field and the sky, and yet Wolfram, cantering next to her on his charger, had eyes only for her. 

With a gentle whistle, Magda pulled her shoulders back and tightened her fingers around the reins. Her palfrey fell into a collected trot, until she let the reins slip through her fingers and Erec slowed to a quick step, raising his head and looking around with his ears pointing forward. Next to her, Wolfram copied her every move, and for a while longer, they let their horses take them where they pleased.

They reached the bank of a narrow, shallow river that ran in a bed of pebbles and sparkled under the sun. Easily, Magda climbed down the saddle, arranged her dress, and made a beeline to the edge of the bank, so that she could see herself reflected on the water, her long long red braid whipping happily as she walked. 

It didn’t take long for Wolfram to join her, Great Helm under his arm, mail coif pulled back and the padded coif he wore underneath it clutched in a hand. She didn’t look at him, but through their reflection, she noticed with fondness that his unruly black hair was sticking out in every direction, like not even the weight of his headgear and sweat could keep those hackles down. 

“Spit it out, Wolfram,” Magda commanded, turning away from the water and looking at him. He did the same, fixing her with those brown eyes of his. Physically, he was everything and nothing; he was as sturdy as the walls around her keep, but his face lacked the clever engineering of the walls. His unruly black hair constantly reminded Magda of the fur of a wolf; his face was heavily scarred and even the tip of an ear was missing; his teeth were yellowed and crooked with sharp canines; his smile was a wolfish snarl. And yet, there was nothing of the beast in him, except for the rampant one painted on his shield. 

“Countess?” he asked, brows shooting up. He wasn’t particularly bright, but he was humble and knew his place. Magda pinched her nose bridge:

“Say it, Wolfram. The way you look at me, put it into words,” she commanded, arms falling to the side and one hand brushing over the hilt of the dagger she was carrying at her waist. Her eyes never left Wolfram’s face, which grew considerably paler at her command. She watched him work his jaw, shift uncomfortably, until he finally looked away:

“How did you-” he begun, prompting Magda to roll her eyes:

“You’re not very subtle, sir knight.”

“I think I’m decently subtle, countess…” With a wry smile, Wolfram’s eyes were on her again, resignation splayed across his face. “I’ve been in love with you for years. I just never had the guts to say it,” A pause. Magda suspected what Wolfram would say next, and the way he turned his face away again and gripped nervously at the pommel of his sword was enough confirmation. “And I’m just a knight, Magda. I’m your property.”

“And what kept your mouth shut all this time: being my property or fearing I’d reject you?” She crouched down, grabbed a pebble from the edge of the bank, and tossed it in the water for the simple pleasure of watching the impact ripple through the water. Not even a second later, a larger stone was hitting the water with a big splosh, close to where Magda’s pebble had hit. 

“You know I fear you,” Wolfram said quietly. “You can be so heartless and cold at times, Magda…” 

She knew. She had doubted her own ability to love, sometimes. She had doubted she would ever feel anything besides the friendship running between her and Wolfram.

And yet she took his hand, large and calloused and with a missing phalanx from an axe blow, years ago in a skirmish in the marks, and entwined their fingers. 

38 - “Just do it! HIT ME ALREADY!”

Rex had seen enough cadets and shinies to know the signs that something was off. Maybe low self-esteem, maybe too much frustration. In Ahsoka’s case, maybe it was a mix of both. She was good with her lightsabers, but she wasn’t that good when it came to hand-to-hand combat. It seemed like useless knowledge for a Jedi, but Rex agreed with General Skywalker that anyone should have that knowledge - especially during a war.

So Rex had taken it upon himself to train Ahsoka. Rex himself wasn’t an instructor, not like Alpha - he was a captain, meant to lead trained men into action. But Alpha’s training had stuck with him, and Rex was avoiding everything he thought was unnecessary for Ahsoka.

Like going as hard on her as Alpha had gone on him. He could phase things, start slow and easy, then move on to more complex blows and faster strikes once Ahsoka had a good grasp on the basics. 

There was no need for Rex to brutalise her and accidentally injure her. 

As Ahsoka dodged a blow, Rex watched realisation dawn on her face as she noticed that she had just given her back to Rex - the logical outcome was a rear-naked choke, and though she still tried to get away, it was too late: Rex kicked the back of one of her knees to knock her out of balance and as she went down, he caught her, arms locking around her neck and head and pulling her against himself. 

“Again…” Ahsoka huffed in frustration, wriggling herself free from Rex’s loosening grip and immediately jumping to her feet, adopting a low attacking stance. She was getting fed up with training and it showed in how hasty and careless she was getting - for example, her guard was more like an open gate than anything, and to point that out, Rex threatened to knock her out with a hook.

But his fist never collided with her face; instead, it stopped just a hair’s breadth away from her cheekbone. She had tensed up and frozen in place when Rex had feigned his attack, and right now, Ahsoka stood shock still, her head tilted just slightly so that she could see Rex’s fist out of the corner of her eye.

Rex thought she’d deflate and confess she was no longer in the right mindset to learn anything. That was fine, they had time and Rex wanted sparring to be fun for her too.

For a long second, Ahsoka had no reaction… until her eyes widened and she clenched her fists, where they still hovered loosely in a sloppy guard:

“Just do it! HIT ME ALREADY!” she all but yelled the last part, her eyes widening and lips peeling back in a snarl. The air around them prickled with electricity, heavy and dense and filled with something that hadn’t been there a second ago. 

For a battle-hardened clone, Rex startled like a cadet and pulled away abruptly, eyes wide and eyebrows shooting up to his hairline. He had seen Ahsoka angry before… he just hadn’t been on the receiving end of it. But he recomposed himself quickly, meeting Ahsoka’s snarl with sternness:

“We’re done for today, Commander Tano,” His tone was clipped, the same he used to reprimand his men. Just like that, the air cleared and Ahsoka’s anger morphed into regret. Her eyes went wide in shocked realisation, tension and aggressiveness left her as if blown by a gust of wind, and now she was simply a scared kid looking up at Rex.

And while Rex could hold his own against his men… he was weak to those big blue eyes staring at him pleadingly. Sighing, Rex deflated and simply shook his head disapprovingly.

“Rex, I’m so sorry, I-”

“We’re done for today,” Rex interrupted, kinder now. “General Skywalker and I disagree on this, but I think that you won’t learn anything if I keep insisting with you…”

“I’m sorry…” she repeated, sheepish, averting her gaze to her boots. Her shoulders were slouched, her stance defeated. Immediately, guilt washed over Rex for having been harsh with her. He was just a clone and Ahsoka was a padawan, already with the weight of the galaxy on her small shoulders. He didn’t have half of the pressure and concerns she had. Rex’s life was simple: fight, follow orders, live to fight another day or die for the Republic; on the contrary, Ahsoka had to study the Force, and progress in her instruction, and learn how to use her powers, and learn how to be a commanding officer. It was a lot and she was just a kid. 

Gently, Rex placed a hand on her shoulder:

“Talk to me like that again and who knows, I might have to put you in your place, soldier…” he said, lips quirking up in a small smile. It took Ahsoka a second to catch up to Rex’s humour, until she finally smiled, relaxing under Rex’s hand, and chuckled:

“Gotcha, Captain.”

[chaosdndsquad]

Drabble on what Galud admires and judges each member for

Fang: Admires his brute strength in combat and his strict adherence to his moral code. Thinks he says some wise things despite how he looks and how young he is. But he probably thinks that moral code is too focused on personal freedom, too insular, too simple, and too violent to justify lacking a selfless dedication to helping outsiders.

Magda: He admires her striving to not become a hag like she is cursed to be. That she wants to be good and better than people judge her and fear her to be. And carrying trauma and being unable to go home is something they share. And he likes her nurturing side. But he is probably judgmental about her stealing stuff sometimes.

Bryn: She is confident in herself and chill during stressful moments. Dislikes that she is not reliable, lies, distracts the party with silly stuff, doesn’t take responsibility/culpability seriously, and seems to care more about fun shenanigans than preventing suffering. She probably exasperates him most in general.

Sasha: She is an ideal knight who fights for good and justice and cares deeply about her allies. She’s exactly someone Galud would want on his side fighting the Dreaming Dark and saving innocents. But when she was tested, she chose personal gain and pleasing authority instead of going against the grain to do the right thing, and this failure is heavy to Galud, who sacrificed everything he knew and everything he was to fight for what was right. He hopes she does learn from it and grow to be better—and that she enacts justice against her betrayer, yes, but that she doesn’t let it become a flame for revenge that burns them, herself, and passersby alike. (And he is bitter about how the pointless, stupid Last War hurt Korel so badly and left her scarred and anxious, so thinking about Sasha’s involvement is maybe off-putting, too—both her and Fang, though both seem to regret their service).

Sterling: He is a very reliable ally and competent and will not distract or hinder the party but instead focus on valuable tasks and solving problems. But I don’t imagine Galud “gets” technology at all, so he probably finds his interests bafflingly foreign and hard to understand.

Ash: Galud is probably very uncertain what to make of Ash. He once was ready to sacrifice himself to save the lives of hundreds of innocents, which Galud thought was incredibly noble. But he also has a tendency to avoid interpersonal bonds, hunger for power, and think the ends justify the means, so Galud is unsure if he can trust that, if pushed to an extreme situation, Ash will make good choices.

Overall, he is happy that the party will be strong allies against the Dreaming Dark, that they fight on the side of good, and that its members make Korel happy. That’s a major thing—they make Korel feel safe and loved, which is he very grateful for because he loves Korel dearly. But overall, he’s antsy that they are focusing on all these other things, including silly matters or drama or unrelated problems he doesn’t think are as important, when every day Korel risks death for a cause other than their own. He may see her die unfulfilled while off on some silly little errand while thousands suffer due to Galud’s people--which he, too, also causes and thus is a debt he owes the world to rectify at the cost of almost everything. So... Galud gets a bit grumpy old man over that.

(Idk; I might have to work on his characterization and how it comes across; not sure I get it across in a way I’m happy with, or if it feels cohesive. Trying a lot of complexity! Whatever, I am tired, I‘m all off on Wednesdays without sleep, and this is enough tonight).

[wizardelf]

OC POLL BRACKET: MOST BELOVED LOSER BONUS ROUND

A poll to vote for our favourite losers voted out too early imo ❤️

Petra Bogdan vs Elisar Aimer

Read the brief description, look at the picture, then vote for your favourite OC!

Petra (he/him, human, 27 years old) is a war orphan from a country torn by a 100yr civil war. Taken in by a church that follows the Sun God he was raised in his happy little found family despite the chaos around them. At age 12 his church was attacked by bandits. In an act of desperation he managed to attack and accidentally kill one of the bandits trying to hurt his little sister, Magda. Since then he has been trained by the head of the church and cleric, seeing as he was blessed by the Gods with unusual strength to help fight the evils of the war. Petra has taken this in stride and is a protector of the weak and abhors anything he views as evil. His world view is narrow and naive and his greatest pitfall is that he can fall into black and white thinking, but his heart is in the right place and he hopes that he can be a part of helping end the civil war.

Elisar (they/he, elf, 150 years old) is a knight in the Sylvan Guard, the formal elven army, as their father was before him. Elisar is unwavering loyal, kind, and wise. Part of him wishes he was more willing to go against their family's tradition of joining the Sylvan Guard and has a burning need to know what the world is like outside the elven forests. However, they want nothing more than to protect those who cannot protect themselves and would give his life for someone without a second thought. They are known to be an intense listener, if they are interested in you a conversation with them will feel like you're the only person in the room. A gentle giant through and through.