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krysslabryn-fanfic · 5 years

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The Ancient Magus Takes A Bride

Just a silly little thing I banged out about a couple weeks ago and then nearly forgot about. It’s only on here for just now, but I’m considering posting it on Ao3/ff.net for April Fool’s, ha ha.

I’ve also got the first chapter of a slightly ridiculous Hallowe’en TAMB fic done, now that it’s wildly out of date (or just so, so early, ha ha), so I’m plonking away at that trying to get it finished for this Hallowe’en. And I’m working on a quiet little evening-at-home-in-a-winter-storm one-shot that I’m hoping to get done before Spring, sheesh. So more TAMB fics are in the pipe! Maybe I can whack out a Valentine’s one; we’ll see! :D

Meanwhile, please enjoy "The Ancient Magus Takes A Bride”.

Once upon a time there lived a terrifying inhuman mage.

He had a terrifying wolf's skull for a head, with terrifying big sharp teeth, and terrifying horns, and wore a terrifying (but surprisingly natty) black suit. His name was Elias Ainsworth; but people also called him the Thorn Mage, or Pilum Murialis (which means Spear Wall), because he tended to burst out in thorns when he was aggrieved; but he preferred people to not call him anything at all and to just leave him alone. He was something of a recluse, which is a polite way of saying a prickly misanthropic jerk.

It wasn't so much that he actually hated people, though; it was more that he just didn't really give a fuck about them, and deeply wanted them to not give a fuck about him in return. However, he had unfortunately come to the attention of the Church some time before, during a particularly unfortunate interaction with a very obtuse Customs agent in France, and now they wouldn't leave him alone. They kept checking up on him. They weren't very subtle about it, either.

Every Sunday morning, Elias (who was decidedly not a morning person and therefore inclined to be extra prickly when roused from his extremely comfortable bed, or otherwise bothered before he'd finished his morning tea—or at any other time, to be honest) would answer the door to find a pair of overly-chipper young idiots darkening his doorstep. “Hello!” They'd say to him. “Have you found Jesus?”

“No,” he'd scowl; “Try under the sofa cushions.” And then he would very firmly close the door in their faces, and they, satisfied that the terrifying recluse was still reclused at home, would wander off for another week.

Frankly, it was a relief when the latest priest sent to bother him did so by merely hiding in the bushes, which was far easier to ignore—except for his persistently annoying cough. Elias eventually had enough of it, bopping him on the head to get his attention, and giving him some cough medicine, which apparently the priest hadn't thought to try taking. “Shut up,” Elias advised him, which apparently endeared him to the priest enough that the priest subsequently considered him (and treated him as) something of a friend. Elias, meanwhile, was just happy that the noise had stopped. He was also happy to keep him in cough syrup if it meant being left alone.

Elias had tried to fit in, he really had, for a very long time, decades, centuries even. Unfortunately though, humans tended to be a bit put off by very large inhuman creatures with very large teeth and glowing eyes who looked like they might eat them (which, to be fair, he might do), no matter how natty their suit was. And so, at this point, unable to fully integrate into human society (at least, so far as the European ones were concerned; but he doubted any others would be any different), but also unable to return to being the simple fae or spirit or ambulatory thorn bush or whatever he had once been (he didn't quite remember anymore—it was a very long time ago), all he wanted was to be left alone to live out the rest of his apparently-immortal life in peace.

The contradiction inherent in that plan had not yet occurred to him. He was not unintelligent; but he could be a bit obtuse at times.

Unfortunately, he was still not being left to his own devices. He avoided humans, and the Church largely left him alone (thanks, apparently, to his so-called friendship with Father Simon, who was perfectly happy to ignore his more minor doings so long as he didn't actually eat anyone else); but there were other mages as well, and they insisted that he had a duty to them, to mage society, and that he should take on an apprentice. To share his knowledge.

“Why?” he'd frown. “I learned almost everything I know from Lindel. Go bother him about apprentices.”

“He's already taken at least two, and he's busy with the dragons,” they'd reply. “It's your turn.”

“You can take my turn; I don't mind.”

“It doesn't work like that.”

And so they kept nagging at him, whenever they crossed his path (or he theirs, which was slightly more often, as he did need to go out for supplies occasionally, as even the most traditional of British grocers do not tend to stock the more esoteric magical ingredients, and the paperwork to put in a special order was usually more hassle than it was worth). This did not seem to be a problem that he could solve with simple cough syrup, alas. Still, he put them off, or ignored them in turn, for as long as he could, while he vaguely contemplated various plans to shut them up.

One happy day, however, he heard about a unique item up for auction at Sotheby's, the magical British auction house, where one might acquire anything from unicorn horns to the odd Aston Martin (which he had heard was a very high calibre of horseless carriage, although he had no personal experience with it, since he didn't fit into most of them very easily, and far preferred to travel by train, when he had to travel at all). The unique item was called a Sleigh Beggy, and was a type of magical battery, more or less. Wonderful! They tended to break down after a decade or two, less if one actually made use of them, and this one was already a decade and a half old. Almost used up! He could tell everyone he was going to use it as his apprentice, watch it for a few years and maybe learn something more about humans, and be done with it.

And then maybe they'd leave him alone for a few more centuries.

All he had to do was to go and get it after ascertaining that it wasn't too objectionable. And to his satisfaction, it wasn't. To be sure, it was rather grotty; but he gathered that giving one's new pet a bath was rather a tradition, anyways. Best to start off on the right foot.

And so he washed it, and belled it, and fed it, and showed it where its bed would be, and even remembered to ask if it already had a name, instead of just giving it a name he liked himself, as humans did with pets that couldn't speak. And much to his delight, and as he'd planned, when finding one without any other social ties, it bonded to him very quickly, even refusing to follow the ariels into Tír na nÓg, despite them promising it a far happier life than it had apparently had heretofore.

Yes, this would work out very well, he thought. It—she—could be his apprentice, and he could teach her a few things about magic, and if she lived long enough to become a full mage, she could stay on with him indefinitely, and he could keep on observing her. And she could answer the damned door.

The End

#my writing #fanfic #mtny #tamb

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fmservers · 5 years

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Here are the startups and the agenda for the TC’s first Startup Battlefield Latin America

In just a half hour, we’ll be starting Startup Battlefield LATAM in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Along with interviews with Nubank, Movile, Yellow, and a keynote from Facebook (TC’s partner for the event through FB Start), 15 startups from all across Latin America will be pitching their innovative companies on the TechCrunch stag for the first time.

We will be posting videos of the pitches, panels, and the competition winner on TechCrunch later today, so if you can’t be here in person check back.

In partnership with FB Start, this is the first year that TechCrunch is hosting Startup Battlefield in Latin America. TechCrunch reviewed hundreds upon hundreds of startups from all across the region, finally selecting 15 of the companies most promising startups to compete for Startup Battlefield. Startups are competing for a $25,000 prize (equity free), plus a trip for 2 to TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 and the coveted, objectively correct title of “Latin America’s Favorite Startup.”

Founders have received extensive coaching from the TC team and are ready to launch on this prestigious international stage. For each round, teams will pitch for six minutes, including a live demo, followed by an intense six minute Q&A with the judges – elite VCs and product experts. After judge deliberations, five companies will move on to the final round of TechCrunch Startup Battlefield – the same pitch but a more rigorous Q&A.

Who are the 15 top companies? From rapid diagnostic TB tests and cattle weight management artificial intelligence, to finance banking solutions, management systems and point of sale solutions, this batch of companies impacts the lives of millions globally. Companies also include, at-work medical service innovations, music management platforms for brands, blockchain based prescription management, and even innovations in keyless entry for short term rentals and office spaces. Founders in the agricultural tech industry are poised to revolutionize how we grow food.

From innovations in utility tracking and management, farm management platforms, to women focused direct sales optimization platforms, Startup Battlefield LATAM is poised to showcase the regions top innovations. Stay tuned for videos on TechCrunch.com after the event.

Session 1: 9:35am – 10:40am

Cuidas, Nube, Beluga Pay, SimpliRoute, Unima

Session 2: 11:40am – 12:40pm

Elenas, Finerio, Space AG, Agilis, Olho do Dono

Session 3: 1:40pm – 2:40pm

LoopKey, 1Doc3, Brandtrack, RxChain by Prescrypto, Cuenca

Finals: 4:00pm

_________________________________________________

9:30 am – 9:35 am: Welcome Remarks by Jordan Crook (TechCrunch)

9:35 am – 10:40 am: Startup Battlefield Session 1

TechCrunch’s iconic startup competition is here and for the first time in LATAM, as entrepreneurs from around the region pitch expert judges and vie for US$25,000 no-equity cash prize and a trip for two to compete in the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2019.

10:40 am – 11:05 am: A China Twist to Brazil’s Mobility Revolution with Ariel Lambrecht (Yellow), Eduardo Musa (Yellow), Tony Qiu (Didi Chuxing), Hans Tung (GGV Capital)

With Didi Chuxing’s acquisition of car-sharing service 99 and GGV’s investment in scooter / bike mobility startup Yellow, what lessons from China’s mobility revolution will unfold in Brazil?

11:05 am – 11:20 am: Break

11:20 am – 11:40 am: Keynote by Konstantinos Papamiltiadis (Facebook)

Facebook’s Director of Platform Partnerships discusses the Facebook developer ecosystem. Sponsored by Facebook.

11:40 am – 12:40 pm: Startup Battlefield Session 2

12:40 pm – 1:40 pm: Break

1:40 pm – 2:40 pm: Startup Battlefield Session 3

2:40 pm – 3:00: Fireside Chat with Cristina Junqueira (Nubank) and David Velez (Nubank)

With $180 million in fresh capital and a $4 billion valuation, where will Nubank go from here

3:00 pm – 3:20 pm: Keynote by Rodrigo Schmidt (Instagram)

The director of engineering at Instagram discusses the rapid growth and development of the popular photo-sharing app. Sponsored by Facebook.

3:20 pm – 3:45 pm: Venture Investing In Latin America Today Eric Acher (Monashees),Veronica Allende Serra (Innova Capital ), Hernan Kazah (Kaszek), Fernando Lelo de Larrea (ALLVP)

The pace and scale of venture investing in Latin America is accelerating fast. How will the ecosystem adapt?

3:45 pm – 4:00 pm: Break

4:00 pm – 5:15 pm: Startup Battlefield Final

The final round. One of these five finalists will be the winner of Startup Battlefield winning US$25,000 no-equity cash prize and a trip for two to compete in the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2019.

5:15 pm – 5:35 pm: 20 Years Ahead of the Curve with Fabricio Bloisi (Movile)

Movile started with SMS and ringtones in 1998 and evolved into a powerful conglomerate of digital businesses on mobile platforms. Founder Fabricio Bloisi discusses the journey and what’s next.

5:35 pm – 6:00 pm: New Wave Latin Founders with David Arana (Konfio), Juan Pablo Bruzzo (Moni), Ana McLaren (Enjoie), Sebastian Mejia (Rappi)

The latest generation of tech founders in Latin America may be more disruptive than their predecessors but also face rapidly rising expectations at home and abroad.

6:00 pm – 6:15 pm: Startup Battlefield Closing Awards Ceremony

Via Neesha A. Tambe https://techcrunch.com

#TechCrunch

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