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Celestial Deadline: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
{{quote|''"Even the arts you call sorcery are governed by cosmic laws," answered the man in the green turban. "The stars direct these actions, as in other affairs. Not even my masters can alter the stars. Not until the heavens were in the proper order could they perform this necromancy."''|'''[[Robert E. Howard]]''', ''[[The People of the Black Circle
Magic doesn't obey human-made timepieces, but follows the cycles of nature and the movement of the spheres. A spell's duration, then, extends from sunrise to sunset, or during a phase in the lunar cycle, or some other vaguely fairytale measurement of time such as one's [[Dangerous Sixteenth Birthday]] or [[A Year and
Comes in two varieties
# '''Magic Has Dramatic Units of Time''': Sunrise, sunset, [[When the Clock Strikes Twelve|twelfth gong of the clock-tower]], the phases of the moon, birthdays, saint's days, Sabbath, etc. Which invokes all kinds of [[Fridge Logic]], such as, what would use something so inaccurate as when the sun sets, especially since the world is round and there's always a sunset somewhere?
# '''[[Fantastic Fragility|Magic Has Its Rules]]''': Somehow setting limits such as a "[[Rule of Three]]" or "Until the Castle Rises Above the Clouds" or "Until the Sun Sets" makes the power work better or at all. [[Magic
If the events happen on their own after astronomical events, see [[When the Planets Align]]. Not to be confused with [[Cosmic Deadline]].
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* In ''[[The Dark Crystal]]'' we have the Great Conjunction, an alignment of the world's three suns, described as a catalyst for "great change." In the film, the Dark Crystal must be completely reassembled and the Mystics and Skeksis reunited by the upcoming Great Conjunction in order for harmony to be restored.
* Mogwai shall not be fed "after midnight", lest they turn into [[Gremlins]]. Nothing is said about when you can feed them again.
* In the silent film ''[[
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* In ''[[Discworld]]'', according to Death, {{smallcaps|The lawyers of Fate require a loophole.}} when dealing with prophecies.
* Similarly, in [[A Game of Universe]], the contract with the devil has a loophole: One year before it runs out, 13 heroes can be recruited to find the holy grail. If they find it before the contract runs out, the contract is nullified.
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Conan the Barbarian]] story ''[[
* In [[Robert E. Howard]]'s [[Kull]]/[[Bran Mak Morn]] story "Kings of the Night", Kull's appearance is governed by this.
{{quote| ''Out of the sunrise he came--into the sunset he has gone. Out of the mists of the ages he came to us, and back into the mists of the eons has he returned--to his own kingdom''}}
* In [[Adrian Tchaikovsky]]'s ''[[Shadows of the Apt|Dragonfly Falling]]'', Uctebri explains he is awaiting the most auspicious date.
* In L. Jagi Lamplighter's ''[[
* In [[Edgar Rice Burroughs]]'s ''[[
== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[
** also Pledges, Tokens, Goblins, and the True Fae.
* ''[[
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'', around late 1st/early 2nd edition, would often include powers, usually magic items, that could be used "X times per day", but didn't define what the device considered "a day" (e.g., sunset, sunrise, 24 hours from the last use, etc.). This language was clarified in later editions.
** In the ''[[Dungeons and Dragons]]'' campaign world ''[[Ravenloft]]'', adding a fanciful duration or an escape hatch when laying a curse makes it ''much'' more likely to take hold.
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== Theater ==
* ''[[A Midsummer
{{quote| '''Puck''': ''Now it is the time of night<br />
That the graves all gaping wide,<br />
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== Western Animation ==
* ''[[The Little Mermaid]]'': the contract is made until the sunset on the third day. Covering sunsets and the rule of three
* ''[[
** Most magic in ''Gargoyles'' has similar limits. According to [[Word of God]], adding any sort of "this spell goes away when X happens" condition, no matter how ridiculous it may sound, makes the spell much easier to cast successfully.
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