Fabled Webs

Stumbling into Victory 4

Stumbling into Victory 4

Jonathan Yukawa
Brockton Bay, NH, USA

Spring break in New Hampshire was lovely. Temperatures hit forty-five, maybe even fifty degrees during the day, which was brisk and refreshing as far as my Bostonian sensibilities were concerned. It certainly made my morning workouts more enjoyable.

I woke up feeling energized. Going to sleep exhausted and completely drained of my ba helped. It was probably just a placebo, but I got to wake up to a full tank and that relative...

Troll: 45. Erised

Chapter 45: Erised

Violet Potter
Hogwarts, Great Britain

I woke up a few days after Christmas in the middle of the night. Groaning, I wiped the crust off the corners of my eyes. My bed curtains were drawn and I could barely see a few inches in front of me. I stuck my hand past the curtains, fumbling around my bedside dresser until my fingers closed around my wand.

“Tempus,” I muttered. Wispy light curled up like smoke until it solidified into glowing numbers. It was one in the mornin...

The River King 14

The River King 14

Thomas Calvert

I won. Despite setbacks, the introduction of an unpredictable variable and the loss of the Undersiders, I won. I had Dinah Alcott, a priceless thinker. The Undersiders would have to be broken free or neutralized, but that was a cheap price to pay for such a perfect pet.

And she really was perfect. She was innocent and weak, her meekness contrasted by the sheer utility that her power promised. Weak-willed enough to never rebel against me, too inexperienced to...

ACL: 50. Bug on Patrol

Chapter 50: Bug on Patrol

Taylor Hebert
Tuesday, February 15, 2011

“Hello? Theresa? How are you?” Menagerie’s voice came through the phone. 

“H-Hi,” I said, wincing at the audible crack in my voice. Why was I nervous? He was the nicest person I knew, a real hero.

No, that was exactly why. He was… He was the first person to show me kindness in a long time. Not empty platitudes and feel-good pats on the back, but real help. Hell, he noticed me when not even dad did.<...

Monthly Poll: March 2026

(I didn't forget and you can't prove otherwise.)

Spoon: 5.13 Entree

Aaron’s Pokemon

- Artoria (Kirlia)
- Jeanne (Flaaffy)
- Durvasa (Primeape)
- Magellan (Chikorita)
- EnEGGma (Larvesta)

Entree 5.13

Aaron Fulan
Lavaridge Town

The friendly nurse said my larvesta was about to hatch. She, Artoria was quite clear on that, would emerge into the world either today or tomorrow. As such, we’d collectively headed out of town so we could welcome the newest member of our family in peace. My room in the pokemon...

Apocalypse: 2.10 Burnout

Burnout 2.10

Shayne Hayes
September 2015

The mission was… not terrible. The first thing I noticed was that there was no time limit. Unlike my sole other dungeon experience, I could theoretically stay here forever. It was a relief, but ultimately not very helpful.

There was only so much supplies I brought with me. I had enough for my team and I, but the plan was never to pack everything. Every ranger knew to supplement his diet with forage where possible. Throw in Pierce, who most defin...

Stumbling into Victory 3

Stumbling into Victory 3

Jonathan Yukawa
Brockton Bay, NH, USA

A week passed. I was starting to get used to my new schedule. Which, to be clear, did not mean I enjoyed it. My ideal life was a quiet one, with plenty of free time. To me, “free” wasn’t the same as “lazy.”

I wanted the freedom to explore the things that captured my interest. I wanted to cook a Victorian era minced meat pie or try out cerulean pottery from Korea. My history major gave me the chance to explore some o...

PWP: 6.11 Build

Build 6.11

Colin Wallis
2011, January 22: Brockton Bay, NH, USA

I ground my teeth in frustration as I looked over my motorbike one more time. It was a sleek, aerodynamic thing, white and cobalt blue to complement my colors. PR said it was reminiscent of a futuristic knight on the tilt. Back when I first got this bike, I liked to imagine myself as Tron. I’d been a fan of the series as a youth, though I’d admittedly grown out of it.

Despite what PHO liked to think, the “ArmsCycle” ...

LT: 10.4 Inspiration

Preface

The king has returned (Traveler posted).

Inspiration 10.4

2005, November 14: Auckland, New Zealand

Behemoth was fast. Though he appeared to be clumsy and staggered in his walking, that was a misleading trick of the eye caused by his bulk and stone-like exterior. At forty-five feet tall, his strides were long, covering dozens of feet with each ponderous step.

Then there were the constant explosions and outflows of lava that swept him alon...

Troll: 44. Winter Gala III

Chapter 44: Winter Gala III

Lucius Malfoy
Longbottom Manor, Great Britain

“You know, Lord Malfoy. There is only one book that would be worth a king’s ransom,” Blaise Zabini said with a knowing smirk. If nothing else, he had more of a spine than most of the fools I dealt with regularly.

I felt myself stiffen with surprise. At first, I entertained this meeting out of curiosity. I’d taught Lyra well, but she was young. She could be deceived. Perhaps young Zabini was just a cunning f...

How Legends are Made 5

Preface

To my commissioner: I noticed that you gave me money on Kofi twice, and both on a monthly cycle. I can't tell if this was an accident or not. Either way, please cancel one because as much as I'd love to take your money, I can't keep writing HLM chapters at this pace and maintain quality.

Thanks,

Fable

How Legends are Made 5

Maki Zenin

Panda was way better at sensing cursed energy than me. So when h...

PWP: 6.10 Build

Build 6.10

Bryce Kiley
2011, January 16: Brockton Bay, NH, USA

“So… That was a thing,” I said blithely in the middle of a Jiffy Lube garage. I strolled over to Aegis and poked the still-frozen boy. He was truly solid, like a marble statue. Grinning, I pulled out a permanent marker. “How long is he going to stay in stasis, Clock? And how upset would you be if I drew on him?”

“Eh, probably a few more minutes? My average is about five minutes,” the white-clad Ward replied. He ...

Troll: 43. Winter Gala II

Chapter 43: Winter Gala II

Blaise Zabini
Longbottom Manor, Great Britain

Alas, my plans were foiled before I could put them in motion. Rather than permit me to flee, mother pinned me in place with a careful stare. She twitched minutely towards my new “cousin.” I didn’t need to be a mind reader, though I was one now, to know what she was getting at.

Lily was… Well, calling her grumpy would have been like calling Violet just a little danger-prone. My classmate was still glaring lik...

How Legends are Made 4

How Legends are Made 4

Yasunori Kaname

I’d gotten what I wanted. Over a month since my backpacking excursion began, I now had a solid grasp of my abilities. I could reinforce myself, heal, create weapons, cripple my enemies, and scout around me. I was no master, but even at my level, hemomancy was a ridiculously versatile ability; pity it looked so damn edgy.

Now, my immediate goal was survival in the biggest of concrete jungles, downtown Tokyo. It was early October. The specific date did...

The River King 13

The River King 13

Taylor Hebert

Purity was dead. That wasn’t what I’d set out to do last night, but that was how things worked out. I saw my chance and took my shot. I wasn’t sure what to feel about this.

On one hand, this was partially what I wanted. I wanted to clean up my city. Purity was scum. Being a retired Nazi didn’t make her less scum. Hell, her appearance tonight proved that “retired” was just a matter of her mood. She was a threat; now she was no longer a threat.

Stumbling into Victory 2

Stumbling into Victory 2

Jonathan Yukawa
Brockton Bay, NH, USA

‘Your eggs are overcooked,’ Atem said idly as I flipped a pancake on a second burner.

I hastily grabbed the first pan and took it off the heat. Alas, I was too late. ‘No one likes a backseat chef, Atem. Besides, they’re not overcooked.’

‘You wanted runny yolk. They are not runny.’

‘Piss off, don’t you have better things to do than criticize my breakfast?’

Monthly Poll: February 2026

Happy New Year, everyone. Here's to hoping you guys have fun with family and whatnot. In Korea, we eat tteok-guk (rice cake soup) because the rice cake medallions reminded people of coins and they wanted to be prosperous.

Personally? I kinda hate tteok-guk. But y'know. Once a year. It makes my aunties and uncles happy and that's what matters, right? I can choke down mushy rice cake for one meal.

A Life Worth Living is on hiatus while I plan some things out. I'm considering turning it into a multiverse-hopping story. Maybe. Maybe ...

Troll: 42. Winter Gala I

Chapter 42: Winter Gala I

Blaise Zabini
Zabini Manor, Great Britain

Christmas morning in the Zabini household was always a little different each year. The tone was, as usual, set by mother's beaus. One year, I received fuck-all as her then-boyfriend tried to monopolize her time, as if I was somehow a threat competing for her affections.

Another year, I received a hundred galleons and got told to “Make yourself scarce.” That had been quite nice. I spent the day wandering the magical h...

Spoon: 5.12 Entree

Aaron’s Pokemon

- Artoria (Kirlia)
- Jeanne (Flaaffy)
- Durvasa (Primeape)
- Huevos Divorciados (Egg)
- Magellan (Chikorita)

Entree 5.12

Aaron Fulan
Lavaridge Town

The next morning began with a call to mom and dad. Artoria, Jeanne, Magellan, and I greeted them out in the middle of a clearing. My cramped room couldn’t really fit my whole team now.

The whole family sat around the couch, mom and dad in the middle. The twins were ...

LT: 10.3 Inspiration

Inspiration 10.3

2005, November 14: Auckland, New Zealand

The battle began in earnest. As Behemoth took his first steps, so did I. My awareness exploded outwards and I stopped relying on the chips of enchanted ice in my eye sockets. Every life, every soul, was a candle, a flicker of potential shining in my mind’s eye. Be it a cockroach or a human, I could sense the world. And when a flame was snuffed out, I noticed. 

The same awareness that threatened to overload my mind not three mo...

LT: 10.2 Inspiration

Inspiration 10.2

2005, November 14: Auckland, New Zealand

The day of truth had arrived. The rest of the world breathed a collective sigh of relief as Oceania threw up its hands in outrage. Twice in a row wasn’t the record for the most consecutive endbringer attacks in a region, but it wasn’t exactly the kind of record anyone wanted, either. Behemoth surfaced, three months since Leviathan’s demise, in the middle of Auckland.

As for us, we in Cauldron who knew what had been at stake fel...

Playing God 12

Playing God 12

Charlie Foxtrot

“Chhaarrggee!!!” the little girl on my back roared.

Well, she thought it was a roar, a battle cry worthy of a true knight. Really, it was more of a squeak, the kind that might intimidate an elephant from the sheer “what the fuck” factor.

I was happy to oblige. I was in my beast form, resized to be about the same height as a pony. Two of my tails wrapped around her thighs while a third encircled her waist. She couldn’t fall even if she tried to ...

How Legends are Made 3

How Legends are Made 3

Yasunori Kaname

Training under a Darkin was utterly miserable. It was one part bootcamp, one part ascetic meditation, and one part foreign language immersion. Admittedly, I wasn’t very good at anything but the physical aspect.

Domination was supposed to give me knowledge of all languages, but that didn’t mean I could use lesser runes effectively. Each rune needed specific amounts of mana depending on what I wanted them to mean or which other runes they were used w...

The River King 12

The River King 12

Taylor Hebert

I considered leaving. Sacrificing Hookwolf to Tahm Kench was the whole point of tonight. So long as he was still breathing, him being a little braindead was actually a good thing for me.

But, even as I called the River to me, I hesitated. I was a hero. Maybe not the kind that got children’s cartoons made about them, but I was; I truly believed that the city was made better through my efforts. Armsmaster wasn’t my enemy.

Admittedly, a part of me was ...

Spoon: 5.11 Entree

Aaron’s Pokemon

- Artoria (Kirlia)
- Jeanne (Flaaffy)
- Durvasa (Primeape)
- Balut (Egg)
- Magellan (Chikorita)

Entree 5.11

Aaron Fulan
Lavaridge Town

I looked out over Lavaridge Town. Like every other town I’d ever been in, it was far more expansive than the games could portray.

Mountains surrounded the sleepy village on all sides. Verdant forests made way for orchards, corrals, temples, cemeteries, and herb gardens. These in...

Monthly Poll: January 2026

First one of the new year. You know how it goes. Winner is guaranteed 2 chapters for that month.

Stumbling into Victory 1 (Worm/Yu-Gi-Oh)

Stumbling into Victory 1

Jonathan Yukawa
Brockton Bay, NH, USA

I woke up.

This was exceedingly strange. I was no doctor, but I was quite sure that getting my head caved in by the backblast of a cannon was lethal.

It had been an accident. I was a university student studying history. Historical reenactment was one of my hobbies. I remembered meeting up with some people I’d met online, people I’d been assured were veterans at this stuff.

I’d been lied to.

We met up i...

Crossover Omake: A Very Strange Thanksgiving, Part 3

A Very Strange Thanksgiving, Part 3

Tianyu Yue

“What do you think of them?” I asked my beloved as they began to trade blows from within conflicting weather patterns. They were probing shots for now, but even that would have humbled many a great knight in our world.

“They are powerful, for mortals,” my lovely wife muttered softly. She’d conjured a seat behind me and had taken to playing with my ears.

I wasn’t fooled, though. No matter how distracted she seemed by my ears, h...

Crossover Omake: A Very Strange Thanksgiving, Part 2

A Very Strange Thanksgiving, Part 2

Violet Potter

“You know, somehow, I don’t think American Thanksgiving dinners are anything like this,” I said dryly.

Not that I was complaining. I was currently on my second beef rib, smoked to perfection and sliding off the bone. It was salty, peppery, and rich, and went phenomenally well with this hot sauce the owner called the Tohsaka Special. 

Blaise laughed at the name for some reason. Apparently, Tohsaka was a real person who had a ...