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[warncdandwiles]

"I --- that's not ---"

He puts both hands up, on either side of his head, and tries to set the record straight. "No. You 'ave the proper manners, I don't. I'm the robber. You're the robbed. I'm the ne'er-do-well. Doncha know how this goes?"

This girl's making fun of him, isn't she? Talking like some nanny when he's twice her age, or close to. He slaps a hand over his face, drags it down as if he call pull the frustration from his fur.

"So you can run to the coppers? Not a chance, miss." She's gone and flipped the script, she has. Or is she playing the nice card, so he'll say something foolish?

"Snow White? Your parents look out the window and name ya after the first thing they saw?" Rude.

' not supposed to be courteous , ' says he . could you blame her for finding that a little humorous ? she didn't realize there was an improper way to behave when one is being robbed .

“ if we're speaking of proper behavior , ” snow white coyly retorts . “ then robbing me isn't quite it , no ? ”

heavens , you'd think she were a little mother or governess-- or more appropriate to the situation , of simple mind . a youthful demureness is in her stride , not at all cautious ; simply put , there were more frightening things in the world than a fellow mouse .

“ it's such a big city , no ? much of man's resource , i would imagine . . . ” she shrugs . “ ach , no matter ! think of it as a gift . ”

you would not believe how much it took her to finally relent her morals and live off man's labor . to mice , it was a necessity -- and virtuous or not , snow knew she had to live . and such would require her to know where she'd ought to go ; although ridden with man's activity , the streets of the city were still littered with deathtraps .

“ my name is snow white , by the way . ” she formally . “ what is your name , sir ? ”

[warncdandwiles]

starter call!

[warncdandwiles]

starter call!

[warncdandwiles]

The Land Before Time  {Sentence Starters}

“Yep, yep, yep!”

“I will keep up. I will.“

“You again? Go away!“

“My stomach is talking.“

“Oh, don’t worry so much.“

“I’m not afraid to be alone.“

“We’re not frightened. Are we?“

“You’re a flyer, now start flying.“

“What about me? I’m still hungry!“

“Are you just gonna stay up there?“

“Still a long way, but we’ll get there.”

“Let’s get rid of him, once and for all.“

“What’s your problem? You’re not hurt.“

“I’ve never wandered so far from home!“

“Well, how do you know it’s really there?“

“I’ll be with you. Even if you can’t see me.“

“You can fly! Now open your skinny wings!“

“What happened? Why are you so frightened?“

“See? I can take care of myself, all BY myself!”

“Alright, come on… but, you’ll have to keep up.“

“Look at what they’re doing. They’re so greedy.“

“I tried to do what you told me, but it’s just too hard.“

“Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely.”

“Don’t step on a crack, or you’ll fall and break your back.“

“Well, because we’re different. It’s always been that way.”

“It is alright. Many things cannot fly. Rocks, trees, sticks…”

“What do you mean I can’t see you? I can always see you.“

“I’ve looked all over here. You can’t climb up the other side.“

“Some things you see with your eyes, others you see with your heart.“

“We’ll coax him to the deep end of the pond. He can’t swim with those scrawny arms.“

“And you’ll always miss her. But she’ll always be with you, as long as you remember the things she taught you.”

[warncdandwiles]

A few notes on the 'Sugar-Land' AU for King Candy:

Rather than a in-universe game world, Sugar Rush is an actual magic kingdom. I think the racing would still be a part of the place, but there's a lot more villages and towns like in the concept art. While there are human citizens (or at least what appear to be humans) most are living candy-people. King Candy is their beloved eccentric monarch...who can secretly turn into a monster. Anybody who steps out of line or questions his authority a little too much disappears, and why would anybody care when they're living in a beautiful paradise where the very ground is edible?

I do like the idea from Cuphead where certain things are safe to eat, but Hansel-And-Gretel style there's always a danger. Maybe there's a specific treat you're not supposed to eat, or if you spend too long eating the food in Sugar-Land (Fairy style) you end up becoming a sugar-person and can never leave, adding to King Candy's many 'loyal subjects'.

As for the few humans that live in this place, they may be a special case. Maybe the 'children of the candy corn' are in cahoots with King Candy, able to keep their human forms because they're his willing lackeys making sure to snitch on anybody who might be up to something in this candy-coated heart of darkness. (Maybe they even get to stay kids forever, frolicking in candy paradise, but they too are stuck there, but don't wish to leave, like a twisted Neverland. There are exceptions, like Beard Papa.)

Suffice to say any stranger in this place would be 'welcomed' so long as it was clear they'd a, not be causing trouble and leave quickly or b, were going to be easy to trap. King Candy would probably have someone following them around to make sure they didn't get nosy.

[warncdandwiles]

unsaid rule of candy kingdoms, if you eat the candy you end up in an oven.

[warncdandwiles]

too long.

"Yessir." He's holding a pint in his own hand, froth slipping down one side, but he doesn't take a sip. Bill had thrust it into his hands as he usually did. At least the fake grin has faded a tad.

"Joined up just --- before the Big Ben Caper."

Ratigan stared the mouse up and down as he stood there, overly happy to be in his presence, a sorry attempt not to offend him in any way. But he could appreciate that. He appreciated the FEAR.

He swirled the glass of wine in his hand, humming in thought before taking a sip.

"I'm sure you've been with us for a while, correct?"

[warncdandwiles]

finally, finally he manages to notice the little being flittering around and realises dimly that this is where the extra voice had been coming from, and he prods his memory for --- ah, one of their...friends. The little green-lander who was always throwing barbs. A...bug of some kind.

Again, another thing in the back of his head dings, and he hears that voice yelling carrot nose! and fight me!

He hides a wince.

"The only one getting chopped is me," he threw back, some of that old waspishness coming back. The polar bear he recognizes as one of his Lily's little entourage. The one she outright demanded become her bodyguard. Boss? Hm. If he's here then why would he still call...?

"Er. Yes. Well. Much obliged." He waves a hand, realizes his glove is still missing, and is peering around for it when they bring this danger to his attention.

Not someone he wants to meet? He fears he has. And clever as he might be, he hasn't put two and two together yet.

"Lead on then, you little menaces. If this is a trap I shall freeze your ankles." He says this with the same cadence as 'I'll send you to the corner'."

“ ᵃⁿᵈ ⁱ ᵍᵘᵉˢˢ ᵂᴱ'ᴿᴱ ʲᵘˢᵗ ᶜʰᵒᵖᵖᵉᵈ ˡⁱᵛᵉʳ . ” bully retorts , nudging limbo with his tiny leg . the young bear blinks blankly before shaking his head good naturedly .

when the faux lord of ice sways , lilli almost reaches out instinctively , but her servant is first to steady him . on his front paws , limbo uses his big head to gently push the snowman upright , silently offering his size and strength .

“ ... hi , boss . ” he mumbles sheepishly , looking like a dog guilty of chewing up the furniture while his master was away . old habits are still hard to shake off , but it's difficult to not believe what is right in front of you .

still , lilli averts her gaze .

“ hey-- you don't melt here . let's go somewhere not so close to the border , alright ? ” t.abaluga insists , motioning back to the jungle . “ no offense , but uhh-- yeah . OUR arktos ? not someone ya wanna meet . ”

heaven knows how he'd react to ANOTHER him , but the younglings were unanimous in thinking that he certainly wasn't the type to share , even with himself . besides , it may be in all of their interest that terror of the north NOT become too privy to however -- ALL THIS came to be . who knows what he would do .

“ once there , you can tell us more . ” the young dragon explains . “ we'll figure this out . ”

the cubs nods in approval .

[warncdandwiles]

While the first season of the Tabaluga series got retconned a bit and Arktos' menace was a little more potent, I'm going with the later version who wasn't responsible for Tyrion's death, and whose freezing doesn't kill. In fact, in one episode he unfreezes a thief on a whim to add to his scheme, and he's (physically) no worse for wear.

That says, it takes powerful magic to safely unfreeze anybody safely, and while he's not completely immortal, Arktos is still very long-lived and doesn't appreciate the fact that some of those statues have been stuck there for years.

[warncdandwiles]

Thinking about if the TADC gang got dumped in Sugar Rush for an adventure King Candy would not be happy.

[warncdandwiles]

Send me a muse that you would want to see mine interact with.

whether if it's yours, another's, or just a character in general. It can open up some opportunity

[warncdandwiles]

The visage of the girl, gone ghoul-like, pale, eerie-eyed, has him freezing in place, forgive the pun. not many forms of magic could addle his head like this. Arktos is mildly afraid of the strange presence, but something in core tastes no treason or threat. It's...silly, to be so trusting, when he'd been attacked.

Something about her is different in another way, he can't quite see...

This magic is not like his, or his mother's, it's something...new. Yet it is ice, so it's familiar.

She's powerful. And...heartbroken?

The world's gone mad.

He blinks, and the spell is gone. He is sat before this strange doppelgänger, his arm returned to him like it had never been gone. The glove is missing, and he gives the fingers a wiggle.

"...like my sanity is hanging by a thread," he admits, slumping. "But my...arm is back, which I'll take to meaning that you believe me. Stands to reason that if you're not the Tabaluga and Lilli I know...then I am...not the Arktos you are familiar with."

He makes to stand. Wobbles. Pitches to one side, arms sluggishly flailing.

Whoops.

for what it was worth-- no one expected the bogey to start telling jokes . that bit about the arm actually earns a snort from bully and limbo , and t.abaluga's eyes light up a little . although it may not be the intent of the other , it's ... oddly reassuring.

how easy it is to forget that their worst enemy is , in fact , a snowman . and while their a.rktos had a sharp wit to him too , it was harder to appreciate it when one's busy trying to evade his icy grasp .

when contact is made with lilli's hands , soft and distinctively flesh , her bones begin to buzz . the maiden fixates on the wound , her gaze unbreaking . just a little cold . don't overdue it . don't panic .

the magic takes hold gradually , like being lowered into an ice bath . soon , the air chills and is filled with lulling drone . lilli's breath is visible , her body shivers , but she doesn't break hold ... have her hands darkened ? lilli's long , snowy hair begins to sway like the leaves of the weeping willow , revealing her face and her pale , cold eyes .

if her patient would dare look into them-- he'd find not the wickedness and danger of something vile and ancient , but ... something far more delicate . melancholic ; the deep blue of a winter's night , tranquil and lonesome . not the eminent danger of freezing , but the exhaustion that follows . when cold's sting is numbed and the deep snow feels like woolen sheets .

' it's so cold ... ' the ice whispers . ' but i'll keep you close ... ''

" wake up ! " cry the voices . lost . disembodied . they come from the ice . " wake up wake up wake up ! a.rktos ! a.rktos -- ! "

“ a.rktos , ” says lilli . “ it is done . ”

the air is warm again and the silence has returned . the magic has gone as if it had never been there in the first place , but the snowman's arm has miraculously returned .

“ how are ya feelin' ? ” t.abaluga asks .

[warncdandwiles]

Ah! An out to this awkward stumble in social interaction!

"Ah, yes. Let's."

Arktos seems far cheerier when he takes up the task again. As cheery as he can be, when his second attempt is...only slightly better than the first. But he's getting there!

"Do polar bears bread each other's hair?" He asks out loud, wondering where this idea came from. He, a bit sheepishly, tugs the hair back out of its braid to start again, hoping she doesn't notice that he messed it up.

“ nevermind . ” lilli insists , turning away to hide her lilac cheeks .

it's best to end that right there . lilli doesn't think she could bear hearing a lecture about how being overly-saccharine is a detriment to the empire's name . how was SHE supposed to know that kisses don't ACTUALLY heal wounds ? as perceptive as the little nymph can be ( sometimes too perceptive ) not everything about everyone makes sense .

besides , she's nice . but not THAT nice . eugh .

“ ... can we go again ? ” she fiddles with her long hair once more . work doesn't get done around here anymore , does it ?

[warncdandwiles]

writing a villain devoid of sympathy or mercy is harder than it looks since I'm a sucker for the ones with a twinge of love within them. The movie!Arktos is one I have to stick to my guns about. Rinkus is easier because he has a legit attachment in Sierra in-movie, but movie Arktos is portrayed as 100% willing to murder his daughter, and I sprinkled in a bit more nuance to that (titbits from the musicals and other media that I could find) but writing-wise I have to be mindful not to have him come too close to an actual feeling of love.

It wouldn't be interesting if he didn't feel...something. Or at least, the awareness that he could feel something. A toxic, possessive attachment that could transform into true love if he stopped being a monster. Shallow, to not risk real love.

Because if he was truly a force of nature with no sense of morality, he'd be above deliberate cruelty, pettiness and evil. He wouldn't understand those concepts. But he does.

And if he's capable of evil, then he's capable of good. Otherwise Arktos would have no agency as a force of nature --- and he does.

[warncdandwiles]

“ ah, how shall I do it ? Oh, I know! i’ll turn him into a flea, a harmless , little flea, and then I’ll put that flea in a box, and then I’ll put that box inside of another box, and then I’ll mail that box to myself, and when it arrives… .I’ll smash it with a hammer! It’s brilliant, brilliant, BRILLIANT , I tell you ! GENIUS , I say ! ”

he's mocking you, arktos . with the voice and everything . took the hat , too. the rim practically swallows his head and he can't see squat -- but it's funny .

"what - why - how did you -"

it is not funny, it is an affront on sinister monologues everywhere! he pads his bare head, sputtering, then the yelling starts,

"You will do no such thing! You have no such magic, you imp of chicanery! Give that back at once!"

A single ill-timed blast misses the little dragon by a mile.

"And a complete waste on postage! Have you no grasp of economics?!" Of course he doesn't, and that dratted old owl wants to slap a crown on this boy's head!

[warncdandwiles]

"... of course you do." He lapses back into comforting silence, and it would be easy to let it go. Chalk it up as another nightmare, refuse to dwell on it now that the edges of his terror have subsided. And yet.

Call it instinct, but something is telling him to keep talking, even as she cocoons them in this blanket. As absurd as a snowman huddling in a blanket is; it isn't for warmth, but comfort.

"My dreams have turned strange lately. A presence, lurking in the shadows. Terrible. I'm supposed to lurk in shadows. I'm the king of winter. I am..."

A phrase comes to him, unbidden, completely unfamiliar and yet.

the lord of light and shadow.

He shivers, shakes his head.

"Ever had a dream like that?" Of course, he has to turn it into a competition.

placed upon her father's chest , lilli makes sure the blanket is fixed , covering them both before she nestles into the comfortable cold . her head lays over where the ancient's heart would be , weighing down upon it as if to ground him back to the languid humdrum of the palace at night . it's okay , now . it's over .

it helps with these things , lilli's learned , when she'd too , wake in the dead of night . t.abaluga would be there to hold her close and stroke her hair until she fell asleep again , swearing he'd singe anything that would try to hurt her . at home , she'd seek out limbo's comfort , or some other sympathizing servant . she would always be too timid to wake her father .

she's glad that she made the decision to stay .

lilli nods . “ i do lots of things . ”

she could ever since she became real . before that , she was the dream ; hoping to be dreamt of . to be heard . only one , had .

[warncdandwiles]

Roger's unwittingly drawn attention to himself. It would have been safer to slip back into the ground. But he'd slipped before. Not kept the boss's eerie, yellow-sights on less offensive things.

He'd rather it be him that Bill or Chomper, and...that made him feel a little dolt-ish.

"...Roger, sir," his delivery's perfectly chipper. He couldn't look him in the eye, even as he plastered on a grin.

Ratigan took a sip from his glass lazily, spreading himself out over his throne in a very 'I own it all' sort of smug way, smirking down to his many 'friends' as they began to very quickly celebrate and drink themselves into a stupor.

"Ahhhh, yes, of course they do! Why, is it not SENSIBLE to announce to all such a dastardly brilliant criminal is on the prowl! How they should look over their shoulders and keep hold of their valuables?" He snickered to himself and finally glanced the mouse that followed him over, examining him and squinting as his figure and form. "Who did you say you are again, good fellow?"