Something I think would be funny: Nightmare desperately trying to create negativity in the multiverse but everything he does end up creating positivity instead no matter how hard he tries
He destroys the statue of a great figure in the underground ? Turns out that person had a controversy and monsters were looking to take the statue down anyway but didn't have enough money yet
He creates a flood in Hotland with Waterfall's water ? The water end up in a dry field that was dying and can now bloom again thanks to the new lake created by the flood
For once he kills someone ? That person was a dangerous criminal that was heavily wanted but nobody could catch him and would have been sentenced to death anyway
He brings in three henchmen so they can be miserable due to their incompatible personalities ? They become besties and overcome their trauma together
He brings in a fourth one so he would be left out by the first three ? They took him under their wing and for the first time in years he doesn't feel so lonely anymore
Nightmare just tries so hard but it doesn't work and he is pissed
And then one day he gifts someone a pastries and they happen to have an allergy and die
We’ve all heard the famous spell from Macbeth, and while some of you may know it’s meaning for the ingredients, most may not!
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg and howlet's wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and caldron bubble.
Cool it with a baboon's blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.
If you go through each ingredient, you can find out what the spell ingredients actually are:
Fillet if Fenny Snake: fillet (slice of) Bistort (snake) found in the fens (marshlands in eastern England)
Eye of newt: Wild/black mustard (newt) seeds (eyes of)
Toe of frog: leaves (toes) of Bulbous Buttercup (frog)
Wool of bat/bat’s wool: moss
Tongue of dog/dog’s tongue: Hounds tongue plant/cynoglossum officinalae
Adder’s Fork: Adder’s tongue plant
Blindworm’s sting: worms are stringy roots of a local tree, and blind means the first tree you come across that has thorns. So either the thorns, or the roots of a local thorned tree.
Lizard’s leg: this one I don’t have a set answer for. Lizard leg could be leaves of the breastweed plant, or the leaves of calumniate (though I can’t find calumniate herb.)
Howlet’s Wing: howlet means either owl, or noisy dirty person. So this could mean a branch from the house of said person, or something else like juniper branch.
Baboon’s Blood: I couldn’t figure out baboon, but blood is usually a tree resin like from elder tree, and since it’s used to cook the tree, birch water/sap was the first to come to mind
Now some of you may be wondering “what the hell? Where the hell did you find those names?” And the answer is [http://www .tryskelion.com/herbs_old_world_names_for_herbs. html ] (Edited due to tumblr change to links in posts 11.19.18) It’s a handy website that lists plants alphabetically by their folk/witch name and the actual plant next to it.
It also has this handy table for parts of plants^
So if you’re witchy and you know it, clap your hands, and try your hand at translating a spell of yours into an old world recipe.
🦇Cheers, Barberwitch
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Once again based on @ancientschampionau 's Real Age AU
Soooo surprise surprise, I may have done a little something with your little something 👀
Quick summary: For some reason a Nightmare from a Dadmare au found baby Nightmare and decided he will be his fifth kid, the gang is not happy with that
Some notes at the end
How did Nightmare ended up in this AU ? Did he open the wrong portal again ? He wasn't at the supermarket, he was standing in front of a farm. Was he in Farmtale ? No, he had already been to Farmtale multiple times, he would have recognized the magical signature of the universe. A new timeline maybe ? One he hadn't explored yet ? Maybe... but he didn't have time to explore it, he left the castle to go grocery shopping for his four boys, and he couldn't just leave them alone for too long or else they would make a mess in the house again. He didn't want to clean up tonight.
He sighed, turning around, but as he lifted his hand to summon a new portal he saw someone, well, not someone, himself, he saw himself standing in front of him, himself from when he was six with his bright lavender eyelights and white bones... what was he doing here ? It wasn't his AU, why wasn't he in Dreamtale ? Did he get ejected from his AU ? Did the AU collapsed and this Nightmare found himself in this timeline as an outcode ? It wasn't his place, it wasn't a place for a child... he looked at his portal... the groceries will have to wait, he couldn't just leave him there, when he was his age he would have killed for someone to take care of him, if he could give that to this tiny version of him, he would do it, especially since the apple incident visibly didn't happen yet. No one saved him, but he would be the one to save himself.
The little Nightmare on the other side... did not expect to be grabbed by this adult corrupted version of himself, like, at all. It was a nice day today, Horror told him he could play in the backyard while he was making dinner, it was supposed to be safe, he was just behind the house after all. When a portal opened he quickly got up with excitement, thinking it was Error paying him a visit, but it wasn't, since he found himself standing un front of, well, himself, but an adult version of himself, a real adult version. He didn't know what to say. What did that mean ? Was their AU, their home, under attack ? Was this Nightmare's gang, if he had one, going to make an entrance too ? Did the multiverse simply replace him since he wasn't fulfilling his guardian role anymore ? He didn't understand. And what he also didn't understand was why the adult just grabbed him out of nowhere to cross the portal again. Was he allowed to leave this AU ? Probably not. But he also wasn't allowed to follow strangers and technically the adult wasn't exactly a stranger. Plus it wasn't his fault, he didn't even follow him, and he wasn't sensing any vile intention from him either, so he would probably be fine, it would just be a small trip, he would be back before dinner !
On the other side of the portal Nightmare recognized the castle, it was practically the same as his, which made sense because since they were alternative versions of each other it was logical for them to choose the same place to live. He wondered if the gang was the same as his or if he picked different versions, maybe they came from a Fell universe ?
- Boys I'm back !
The adult called, closing his portal with one hand, holding the child against his chest with his other arm. Nightmare turned to look as he heard rapid, and little, footsteps coming from the hallway.
- Dad !
An excited high voice yelled as a small skeleton entered the room, not older than six years old, he had tar leaking from his eyesockets. Nightmare recognized him immediately despite his surprise: Killer was a kid ? Another skeleton followed, arriving just as fast as Killer and bumping into him, this one had a hoodie on with mismatched eyelights: Dust, who looked the same age as Killer. The two children rolled together on the ground, none of them looked hurt and judging by the sigh the adult let out it was most likely an habit for them. Nightmare looked at them, now fully expecting everyone to be a kid, and his theory was soon confirmed as the two remaining skeletons entered, much more calm than the previous two: Horror, who looked older than the others, maybe eight, was holding a little Cross by the hand, he looked four. So this Nightmare's gang were kids... he had heard about some AUs where he would take care of his gang as children, Dadmare and Mommymare AUs, if he remembered correctly, and since Killer called him "dad" he was pretty sure this one was a Dadmare AU, which meant this was one of the safest AU he could have ended up in with Dadmares usually being pretty chill.
- Who's this ?!
Killer asked as he got up, spotting the tiny Nightmare in his dad's arm. The adult kneeled so all the children would be on the same level.
- He's your new friend, his name is.. uh..
- Night.
Night answered before the adult could come up with anything. He didn't particularly want to change his name, but two Nightmares would be confusing and he didn't want anyone to choose how people called him, this choice was his to make, and "Night" wasn't that far from his real name.
The four kids looked at him with different level of curiosity, out of everyone Killer was the most excited to have a new friend.
- My name is Killer ! This is Dust, this is Horror and this is Cross !
He happily introduced everyone, unaware that Night already knew them. He simply nodded.
- Did you found him like you found me ?!
Killer asked Nightmare, his dad.
- You could say that.
- Dad found you in the trash.
Dust added, looking at Killer. These two seemed to tease each other just like in Night's AU. Nightmare frowned.
- Dust, don't say that.
- But that is true ! You found him in a bin !
Dust argued.
- That... that is true but it is still not a nice thing to say.
Dust mumbled a "sorry", earning a little pat on the head as to show it wasn't a big mistake and that Nightmare wasn't mad.
- How old is he ?
Night didn't notice Horror and Cross getting closer. Horror was the one who asked the question, Cross hiding behind his leg.
- I'm six.
Night answered.
- Six ? But you're the same height as Cross ! And he's four !
Killer noted. Night simply shrugged, he didn't have an answer to that, at least he didn't have one that didn't involve malnourishment, near death experience or physical abuse, so he decided to not say anything, it wasn't worth it, especially considering he wouldn't stay too long in here, he had a home to get back to after all.
Nightmare put him down, and the moment Night was on his feet Killer grabbed his hand.
- Come, we'll show you our room !
And with that he pulled him to go to their room, a big room where they all slept and played together. Night let out a little yelp when Killer suddenly ran, he wasn't used to run anymore and he felt a pinch in his back, luckily the room wasn't far so he didn't have to run for too long. Horror opened the door, never letting go of Cross, and they all went inside.
The room was heavily decorated with lots of toys and posters, no doubt the children choose their decoration themselves and Nightmare didn't object. Killer let go of his hand to go stand in the middle of the room, his little arms stretched out to show everything.
- This is where we all sleep and play ! Dad doesn't let us bring food here but don't worry ! We found a way to sneak some food in here without him knowing !
- Dad knows, he just doesn't say anything because he thinks it helps us develop our skills.
Horror contradicted him, but Killer wasn't listenning, already looking through their box of toys. Night noticed Cross staring at him, he was the only one who hadn't said anything yet and stayed close to Horror, he couldn't blame him: Horror was a reassuring presence. He waved at him, making the small skeleton flinch but shyly wave back.
Killer finally found what he was looking for and brought back multiple little cars and action figures.
- Here ! All we need to play !
Dust grabbed some pillows, putting them on the floor to lay on them so they would be more comfortable. Night looked at them settle before going next to Dust.
- Can I sit here ?
He asked. He wanted to be with Dust, he knew he was different from his own Dust, but he was still a Dust, he felt safe with him. He felt safe with everyone, but Dust was just.. special to him.. he couldn't explain it, he just felt it.
Dust looked at him for a moment before nodding and looking at the new kid settling down on the pillow.
It was nice, very nice even, to play with kids his age, especially when these kids were alternate versions of his family. For how long had Night wished to have friends ? For how long had he looked at the villagers, wishing that at least one of them would want to play with him ? He knew his gang would arrive soon, but he kinda wished they wouldn't arrive too soon, he wanted to play a little longer, to enjoy something that had always been denied to him. He felt good here.
- What do you mean he's gone ?! You were watching him !
Back in Farmtale, a scream emerged from the house, making the birds flee from a tree nearby.
- I mean he's gone ! He's not in the garden ! I looked at him, put the chicken in the oven, and he wasn't there anymore !
Horror screamed back at Killer, worried but also pissed that he was insinuating that he failed watching over the child. Killer didn't mean it like that, it actually came out meaner than he thought, but it didn't matter now: Nightmare was gone and they didn't know where he was.
- Who the f#ck would kidnap a random child ?!
Dust asked, clearly as mad and worried as everyone. Cross tried to calm him down, to reassure him, maybe Nightmare wasn't far, maybe he was in the vine field or the woods, he always liked taking walks in the woods before. But it wasn't like before. He wasn't as strong as before. If something happened, he couldn't defend himself.
- Don't you ever read the news ? Kids get kidnapped everyday !
- Killer, please, you're not helping...
Cross gently scolded him, they were already worried enough, no need to add such information.
- What if the Stars found him ?
Dust blurted out. They looked at each other, they all thought of that but no one dared to say it out loud, as if not saying it would prevent it from being real.
- We need to search the AUs.
- That would take ages to look through all of them !
Horror claimed. He was right, that would take long, especially when they didn't know which one to begin with.
- Do you perhaps have a better idea ?
Killer asked, losing patience. That's when Cross remembered something.
- I have one; when I went shopping with Nightmare Error opened a portal above us and told us he sometimes looks to make sure everything's fine, maybe we could try to leave a sign so that the next time he looks he knows something is wrong ? And then he can localize Nightmare's code in the multiverse ?
They thought about it for a moment. That could work, Error could find his code faster than they could, and even if Killer didn't particularly like the idea of seeking Error's help, he was their best and only solution at the moment.
- But how are we gonna leave him a sign ? We don't know when he's looking.
Horror asked before a glitchy voice interrupted their thoughts.
- No need for a sign, I heard you talking about me. What do you want ? And make it quick, I have other things to do.
It was late in the AU Night was in, he didn't know if time was passing at the same speed for him as it was for his gang, but here it was almost dinner time. Would it be okay if he ate here ? He was hungry, but he was already supposed to have dinner at home, would Horror be mad if he ate before dinner ? They were still so cautious about what he ate, what would they say if he ate something that his magic couldn't digest yet ? Maybe he shouldn't eat, but he was hungry... he would just ask for a little plate, not too much food should be fine, he would say his tummy hurt a little and he didn't feel like eating a lot. It would be fine, surely it would be fine.
- Boys, dinner is ready !
Nightmare called. The boys rejoiced and quickly abandoned their toys to get up, Killer left the room first, followed by Dust, Horror helped Cross getting up and looked at Night.
- You're coming ?
Night looked at him for a second before nodding and getting up. A pinch. His back hurt. He must have made a face because Horror was still looking at him, frowning.
- Are you okay ?
Night nodded again, he didn't want to worry them, his back would probably be fine, it was just a pinch. Horror didn't insist, Cross tugged on his arm, he wanted to eat but didn't want to speak, eyeing Night. He seemed shy. Night followed Horror in the dinning room to the big table. His back hurt when he walked, he just hoped his wound didn't reopen, because there was no one there to take care of it properly. He watched as they all sat at their respective seats and before he could ask anything he felt the adult grab him to sit him down on a chair.
- You can sit here, I hope you like cannellonnis ?
He asked as Night looked at the plate in the middle of the table, it looked like tube shaped pastas with meat and tomato sauce inside and grilled cheese on top. It looked good, but he still couldn't eat too much.
- Can I have only a little please ? I'm not very hungry and I don't want to waste..
The adult looked at him with some worry before smiling.
- Of course, you eat as much as you want.
Once the food had been served, they all started to eat, Nightmare helping Cross to eat and not make a mess but still watching Night to make sure everything was okay with him.
- What do you mean he's in a Dad AU ? What the f#ck is a Dad AU ?!
Killer asked, not satisfied by the localisation Error gave them. The Destroyer sighed, did he really have to teach them everything ?
- A Dad AU is an AU where Nightmare, usually called Dadmare, takes care of kids, with most of the time the kids being you but it can be anyone.
- Why would he be there ?
Dust asked, not satisfied as well but not yelling like Killer.
- How the hell would I know ? You asked me where he was, not how he got there !
Error responded, quite pissed with all the questions.
- Can you make a portal to this AU ?
Cross asked before they could start a fight that they clearly didn't have the need of right now. Error sighed before raising his arm in the air, focusing for a second to find the right line of code and tearing it open to create a portal.
Night was hiding. His back hurt. It was fine before dinner, hurt a little during, and started to hurt a lot when he went back to play with the others. He got scared, he wanted to go back home now, he liked playing here, he really liked it, he liked having friends, but his back hurt and he didn't want to be touched, he didn't want to be with strangers when it hurts, even if he technically knew everyone here, he wanted his gang, he wanted his family, he wanted Dusty...
- Night ? Where are you ? Come out please, we're not gonna hurt you..
He heard the adult version of himself looking for him. He curled up even more in his hiding spot, trying not to make noise as he felt tears forming in his eyesockets.
- Why are you crying ?
Night flinched at the voice and quickly looked on his left: Horror was sitting next to him, he didn't hear him arrive. He shouldn't be surprised, Horror had always been the best at finding things, of course he would have found him before the others.
- I wanna go back home...
Night sobbed, he was tired. Horror looked at him with sympathy.
- Why didn't you tell dad you had a home ?
He shrugged, he didn't know why, he was just curious to see what would happen.
- Dad brought us here because we didn't have a home anymore.
Horror explained.
- But if you have one then you should go back to it. Do you have parents too ?
Night nodded, he did have parents, he didn't know if they considered themselves as parents or simply as caretakers, but to him they were his parents, his family.
- Then you should go back, they must be worried. Come, we will talk to dad.
Horror got up, stretched out his hand for Night to grab and get up too. He didn't let go of the older child's hand, clinging onto it as he left his hiding spot. He followed Horror until they both stopped. There were screams, people were yelling, and Night knew these voices.
- Where is he ?!
Killer, the adult, yelled. Him and Dust were the first to cross the portal, Horror was in the middle of it and Cross was on his side. Nightmare was in front of them, visibly confused by the sight of the adult versions of his kids, worried for their safety and mad that these people broke into his house to scream some nonsense at him.
- Where is our kid ?!
- I don't have your kid ! How many times do I have to tell you ?! Get out of my castle !
Night tightened his grip on Horror's hand.
- They're my family...
He said quietly to the older child who seemed pretty confused by the strangers and why did they look like them. Horror still nodded, he knew universes existed, since their dad brought them all from different places, but he had never seen other versions of himself. He wasn't supposed to, as they weren't allowed to leave the castle without Nightmare and he never took them with him when he made his portals. They got closer, just enough for the adult version of Dust to spot them.
- Nightmare !
He rushed to his side, but before he could get close enough to grab him a tentacle blocked him, impaling the floor in front of his feet between him and the child who grabbed Horror's arm for more reassurance. They were fighting because of him, he didn't like that.
- You are NOT taking him away.
Nightmare growled, his corruption dripping. When Night still had his corruption it would sometimes drip too, usually when he was really angry or too sick or tired to maintain it in place.
The other kids were on the doorstep, alerted by all the noise and scarred for their dad.
- You were the one to take him when he was in our backyard !
Horror accused him.
- Because he belongs here ! He needs someone to take care of him ! To protect him ! I need t- He needs to be safe !
Nobody responded. Cross looked at Horror to see if they understood the same thing. They did. This Nightmare was still a Nightmare, he had his own bagage of trauma, and he found himself in front of his kid version, of course he would want to protect him, how could they not figure that out before lashing out on him ? He faced terrible things, and he faced them alone, he didn't have anyone to protect him, he must have thought that protecting this tiny version of himself would help him cope with everything he went through... he was not a monster, he was just hurt and nobody ever saw it, nobody ever tried to understand what he felt and to help him...
Horror took a step forward, Nightmare tensed but didn't attack, he knew his boys were there, if a fight started he couldn't protect them alone against four. Could he even fight them ? Could he fight when his opponents had his kids' faces ?
Horror spoke, calmly.
- He is safe. We can assure you that he has everything he needs and is being taken care of by all of us. He is not in any danger.
Killer didn't understand what he was doing, why was he so calm when their baby clearly got kidnapped ? He was about to say something when Cross made a quick hand gesture to tell him not to, to let Horror manage it.
- No one is gonna hurt him, no one is gonna approach him like that again, he isn't in danger anymore. He is safe now. I promise.
Nightmare's gaze locked on him as he was speaking, his corruption dripped less and his tentacle relaxed a bit.
- We just want to take him back home, we don't want to fight, I'm sure you can understand that.
Nightmare felt a tug on his shorts. He looked down: Cross, his baby, was looking at him, his eyesockets filled with tears. He bent down to hold him against his chest, standing back up with his kid in his arms. He couldn't imagine his life without them, without his children, his little gang as he called them, if anyone tried to take them away from him he would tear up the whole multiverse just to take them back. These four adults seemed to have done just the same for their kid. He didn't have the right to take him from them. He retracted his tentacle.
Dust quickly grabbed his baby and pulled him against his chest, returning with the others as he looked at the black skeleton. Night looked at them too.
- Can we come back some times... ?
He hesitantly asked Dust. He liked his new friends, it was fun to play with them, at least when his back wasn't hurting. Dust looked up at the others, Killer didn't seem to like this idea, but it looked like he was the only one as Horror and Cross both seemed okay with that and the group of kids was looking at them expectantly. The little Horror went back to his dad's side.
- The kids liked him...
Nightmare simply said, gently rocking his baby Cross in his arms. Horror smiled softly, this Nightmare wasn't dangerous, he could tell he really took care of the children and they all genuinely liked and trusted him. This castle was a safe place.
- Of course, we're happy he made some friends.
He agreed, shushing Killer before he could protest. The kids looked happy, and a quick look at their own baby comfired he was pleased too.
- We have to go now, we can't be gone for too long.
- Of course, I'm sorry.. for what I did..
- You better be.
Killer spat before crossing the portal again, rapidly followed by Dust, he needed to check Night's wounds.
Horror nodded at Nightmare, and he too returned home with the others, Error closing the portal behind them. Their baby was safe, it was all that mattered at the moment, that he was back in their home...
It mattered so much that no one noticed that the chicken burnt in the oven. Good thing Nightmare already ate.
- the end -
●●●●●●●●●●●
I'M DOOOOOONE
So many characters it was hard to keep track sometimes :')
The baby got kidnapped, but he made some friends ! So it wasn't that bad
Dw about Killer he was just very worried for his tiny baby, Horror did explain everything to him afterwards and, yes, he did feel a little bad, but not too much, because this other Nightmare still stole his baby, and that is unforgivable
@ancientschampionau here's your surprise ! If you're wondering why I asked you about Cross's and Horror's age/responsibility it was because I couldn't decide which one should be 8 and which one should be 4, but I didn't want to spoil so I asked the question like that ;3
Also i HAD to put some angst I love writing angst SO MUCH so here you go, a little bit of angst sprinkled on the fic
Was Nightmare projecting his trauma onto baby Noot ? Yes, yes he was
Hope you'll like it !
I proof read this at 3am so there is a HIGH possibility that there are still mistakes left
Trying to make him more than just an evil meanie who does mean things 'cause he's mean
● He would actually love animals and wouldn't hurt one if his boys subordinates brought one to the castle. He grew up outside, surrounded by nature, so of course he would be used to seeing all sorts of animals all the time, and with the incessant bullying he might have seeked shelter in the forest because there he would be safe, surrounded by animals who aren't mean to him because he isn't mean to them. The only ones aside his brother not hurting him were animals, so I think he would feel safe with them, at ease.
● He would not be homophobic/transphobic/misogynistic/racist/... why ? Because even if he started out like this to get negativity I think that in 500 years of exploring the multiverse he would have realized that supporting minorities/the oppressed would get him more negativiy than being against them. People got killed for promoting new ideas, MLK got killed for wanting equality and civil rights, women got killed for wanting to be seen as equal to men, queer people got killed for wanting to live freely, a civil war started because people wanted to abolish slavery, a revolution started because people wanted rights, whereas no one got killed for being a conservative (most of the time). At some point he probably would have realized that promoting new ideas would infuriate more people because the oppressors would lose their privileges. He's spreading more negativity as an ally than an enemy because that way he can anger more people to extremes.
When it comes to spells, blessings, hexes jinxes and curses it truly does fit the old witch’s proverb
“A blessing and a banemaker on the same branch.”
But what does that mean? It comes down to this, magic whatever it’s purpose comes from the same place and is thus subject to some of the same rules and pitfalls. Or, the more commonly used caution: loopholes.
To get a better understanding of loopholes and how they work, just look to pop culture, folklore, fairy tales and you’ll see them in bright technicolor. Stories of people making a deal for something and it backfires. Wishes granted but in strange ways, things taken literally etc.
So, my tip is to work backwards. What’s the end goal or your base of the spell, and play around with it! Pretend you’re a tickster and figure out all the ways you could make it go sideways.
“I want Jessica to stop being mean to me.”
What could be done with that? Does Jessica leave you alone because there was an accident in the family and she quits her job? Does she stop bugging you because suddenly your best friend becomes her target? Maybe she gets a promotion and you no longer report to her, and she makes your life miserable because she gives more work to your team (she’s not directly pestering you, but by association.) or maybe she becomes suddenly fascinated by you and wants to be your best friend in a cloying way.
Maybe you’re trying to do something nice! “Ronald is less stressed about his relationship.”
Suddenly Ronald is apathetic not just in his romantic relationship, but friendships too! Maybe he doesn’t have to stress about the relationship because his girlfriend/boyfriend breaks up with him. Maybe he stops being frustrated in his relationship because he quits his job and moves to Atlanta. Or, maybe he stays frustrated in the relationship but 5 years down the line he has the perfect one because you didn’t specify time.
Take a look at those “simple” spells and see how a genie would mess with it. It can also help give you inspiration for other spells and workings. Maybe you don’t want to pass the buck to your friend when Jessica is on a tirade, but could you direct it at the jerk from accounting? Kill two birds with one stone as it were.
Figure out the most ridiculous interpretation of a spell, and if you’re inclined, share it with me!
I know a with who wanted to make plants grow more...and weeds suddenly took over their herb garden. Oops.
