TwiLyghtSansSparkles

It seems to me like he'd be assigned to Read certain suspicious parties--Epics who had caused disturbances, vanillas caught in dubious situations--to see if they were planning anything nefarious. Maybe he has a parade of minor criminals and City Guard Epics brought to him throughout the day so he can gauge their threat level? Or the best way to get them to cooperate?

What does he usually do?

Meanwhile, the somewhat distant kingdom of Dalle is ruled by an ordinary peasant who rose through the ranks of the Republican Army, before the rise of powerful sorcerers caused the Republic's collapse. General Vondra, as he is known to his subjects, rules Dalle with the aid of sorcerers he conscripted into his army and impressed into service on penalty of death. Harsh though that may sound, it has allowed Dalle to survive—plagued though it is by stubborn minor sorcerers and one moderately powerful diviner who treats secrets like weapons. All is not quite well in Dalle, however. A smaller army of unhappy sorcerers has risen up to challenge General Vondra and his kingdom. A sorcerer-knight in shining armor is making his way toward Dalle, but he may not be the savior the citizens want. He may not even be a hero. For all his supposed righteousness, this knight could be worse than all the sorcerers in Dalle. Will he become a tyrant? Only time will tell….

Unlike Sorceress Funtimes, who allows her servants friends to feast upon pastries and bacon each morning, her unhappy ally the Green Necromancer forces his servants to work long into the night. This isn't due to malice on his part; the far more sinister truth is that his servants are literally unable to think for themselves, and he simply forgets about them until they fail. Instead of telling them to get a good night's sleep, he kills them with dark magic. Then he tells them to get a good night's sleep. However, there are rumors that Nathaniel le Sperre commanded one of the Green Necromancer's servants to think for herself, a truth that would cause the Necromancer's head to combust should it ever be made known to him. (The sight of his head exploding is one that would cause Sorceress Funtimes and Gladius Claymore no end of amusement.) (Don't. Don't even think about it too much. Instead, enjoy this video of a pug refusing to go to bed.)

Rather than a reclaimed Portland suburb, Thougttown would be a charming village somewhere in Europe, run by a powerful illusionist who ensures his subjects have access to all the latest spells and news…and unceremoniously dumps all the children who don't pass his rigorous magic exams out in the forest. ("Let it go, let it go, can't hold me back anymore….let it go, let it go, turn away and slam the door…." Much more sinister that way. Especially if you envision one of the more corrupt Epics, like Mobius or Lucentia.)

That's exactly what I think, too! (I also have a hard time not thinking of Elsa as an Epic.) Thanks! Backtrack whimpered. He looked to Autumn, his lip trembling, and before he could contain it he began to cry. Autumn turned to Reader with a sigh. "All right, Reader, what did you do this time?" "Nothing! I didn't do anything! He's just a crybaby." ​"I—am—not—a—a—crybaby!" Backtrack managed through sobs.

Thank you, mail-mi, for providing Reader's dialog! Two years agoFor one shining moment, Koschei strode through the soldiers unimpeded. Frequency’s claps were far more effective than even Koschei could have dreamed. At the sound, every soldier within the thirty-foot blast radius fell to the snow. It was a beautiful sight, really, watching them crumple as their comrades covered their ears and dropped their weapons. Koschei felt the beginnings of a smile tug at his lips. This was how it ought to be, he thought as he stepped over one fallen soldier, then another. This was how it could be, would be, when The Dalles was his. Another barrage of gunfire, cut short by another one of Frequency’s whistles, tried and failed to block his passage. Koschei stepped over another body, turned, and spoke without raising his voice. There was no need. “The church, such as it is, belongs to me, as do the children in it. Attempt to take them, and they will die in your arms.” A quick wave of his hand, followed by the reopening of George’s throat, prompted shouts and cries from the nearby soldiers. The one holding him tried futily to stop the blood pouring from the wound. Koschei smiled. “Frequency, ensure my wishes are respected, and call if they are not.” By the time they resumed firing, Koschei had already reached the garage. His mouth tightened when he saw Reader, sitting on a metal bench and holding his arm. Blood soaked his fingers. “Tell me who shot you.” "No idea," Reader said, wincing as Koschei lifted his arm to examine the wound. "Just a stray bullet." With great effort, Koschei kept from rolling his eyes. Reader could know a mortal's childhood crush at a glance, but a shooter's identity eluded him. A shooter who would have been unable to fire had he and his fellow soldiers simply been Read before they betrayed him in favor of Remington Springfield and that wife of his. Koschei was tempted to leave the wound as it was, but an alliance was an alliance. "Did you at least remove the bullet?" "No," Reader scoffed. "I figured that you, the immortal Deathless One and God of Healing, could remove it painlessly." Frequency was whistling again, bullets ceasing to be with loud pops. Koschei's radio crackled with three separate suggestions for which child deserved to die. Somewhere, close but not close enough, Remington Springfield was making his escape, and Reader fumed over a bullet placed in his arm by his own stupidity. Koschei wanted to twist Reader's bicep until he screamed, but there simply wasn't time. "You do realize what you did, don't you?" He placed his hand over the wound. "What you gave the people in this city when Springfield escaped?" Reader looked at Koschei, his eyes widening. "No, no, that won't happen. What you just did, just barely, at the church, that will crush their hopes. Besides, we'll kill him personally when we see him again. We'll make sure that happens." "If we don't, we'll have a savior on our hands." Savior. The word tasted vile, like treachery. Reader's blood was warm against Koschei's palm, oozing through his fingers, where it ought to have stopped flowing. Frowning, Koschei lifted his hand. The wound was still wide, still bleeding. No. Koschei covered the wound again, willing the edges together, but the flow of blood continued. When he lifted his hand, the wound was still there, still an ugly gash on his skin. A gash that would not heal. "What did you do, Reader?" He searched his comrade's eyes for any hint of deception, of malice. "Why won't you let me heal this?" "I'm not doing anything! Why aren't you healing me?” There was genuine panic in his eyes, but the note of accusation in his tone made Koschei withdraw his hand. Reader’s wound wouldn’t heal, and Springfield was getting further away by the second. He wiped Reader's blood on his shirt. "You did something. I don’t know what you did, but you did something.” His teeth clenched, and he stood. "Remove the bullet before I try again." He left Reader clutching his wound, tripping over half-formed words as he struggled to voice his rage.

Agreed. Once Upon a Time has its flaws, but boy, do they know when to place a flashback for maximum feels. (And I really, really love what they're doing with two certain sister-princesses this season. But then again, Frozen is one of my favorite movies of all time, and the writers are doing a fantastic job with the material this season.) I'll post it now, then. I think it'll fit with Reader's flashback, both consecutively and thematically.

At this point, I'd be surprised if someone did like Reader.

This one is a scene that casts Reader's claim that he and Koschei are/were totes besties into doubt, so it would probably fit thematically here or close by. I think there would be a mix. The Dalles is kind of a paramilitary city-state, so it isn't unreasonable to assume a sizable number of citizens are in the armed forces.

I won't be able to post it for a while anyway, so however it winds up happening is good. How much distance between Backtrack and the flashbacks (not a bad band name) do you think is logical/allowable? I agree that having a strict flashback-Backtrack sequence isn't necessary anymore (and might even feel constrictive to the reader after a while) but how far apart do you think the Koschei and Backtrack posts can/should be?

Kobold, did you want to post for Backtrack first, or should I go ahead with the Koschei flashback after Voidus posts for the twins?

He has no reason to poison himself at the moment. Besides, he prefers chocolate chip muffins. That comic was amazing.

When he resurrected, he would mournfully rename himself Koschei the Candy-less.

"Come here, little girl. Would you like some candy?" "I love candy! I'll--wait a sec. Why is your van so old and shady-looking?" "It's Deathless. Like me." "It looks like a kidnapper van." "Do you want candy or not?"

Now I kind of want to see a meeting between Voidgaze and Koschei. My theory: Her sweet adorableness would cancel out his evil derangement, creating a rift in the space-time continuum that erases Koschei from existence and kills Nighthound.

Humble? Please. His radio show reached a grand total of 35 people! Not this one. This one takes place just outside the church, so he'll probably see it as he's walking out.

Koschei, who operated on the assumption that YOLO is "Carpe Diem" for morons, would simply shoot the offending party, nudge the body with his boot, and say "You only live once." Speaking of, there be a new flashback for him.

If someone were to say "YOLO" to Lightwards, would they receive a long lecture about the many inaccuracies of that phrase and why saying it to him in particular was an especially egregious mistake?

What, lie to the heroes and then say "YOLO!"? Or just make YOLO his new catch phrase? ..... I'm not sure how I would feel about that.....

That sounds like a very painful contest. I would not want to be the winner, or even a runner-up. Edit: I think I'll split the next Koschei flashback into two parts. The first half takes place just outside the church, which should be easy to justify, and then the one after that takes place in the woods just outside the church.

Yes please. And maybe one of Reader winning a Most Punchable Face contest…and receiving his prize. No, of course not. She's not even heartbroken. She's just sitting on the couch eating a gallon of rocky road ice cream right out of the tub because she felt like it. And she's crying because Impact picked that day to chop every onion in The Dalles.

I'm writing another Koschei flashback. I need sweet and adorable to take the edge off. Not while we're trying to scare him straight, no. Now, if he were to meet Soundtrack, who moved to The Dalles to try and straighten herself out, after Koschei scares him out of his apathy, and they share some cute moments as they both recover from Calamity's corruption…well.

"Thin, overly simplistic shadow" is being too generous. This is like someone took a gorgeous old mansion and did a complete gut-and-remodel to transform it into a daycare, then painted the front with bright colors to hide what they did. Let me put it this way: There was an entire subplot about Starfire feeding her weird alien dog (which she didn't have in the original show) the wrong food. It's terrible. Watching it might make you cry.