#she would TOTALLY be a terrible terror if she was a dragon :

[comicaurora]

What other mythological creatures would be fun in space? If the answer is "most of them?", Then limit the scope of the question to what becomes *more* fun in space?

Still "most of them," unfortunately.

Deep in the bowels of a derelict, drifting hulk, so battered with cosmic rays and space debris all sign of its original function have eroded away, something that could have been human roams the labyrinthine halls. Who knows what terrible crime or tragedy spawned it? It is huge, and hungry, and terribly, terribly alone. All anyone knows is that the drifting hulk that screams to the void in a hundred looping distress calls is to be avoided at all costs, for the maze is deadly and its lone prisoner even deadlier.

An enchanting woman knocks on the porthole with a broad smile, hair flowing in beautiful curls and mouth moving soundlessly in the boiling vacuum. She seems unaware of the inch-thick tempered plasteel, or perhaps unaware of its necessity for the mortal and the fragile within. As she stares unblinking, whispers begin to crackle over the ship radio, half-parseable snatches in many voices - surnames, stardates, coordinates. The knowledge is so, so tempting.

The astronaut is standing just outside the airlock. The sun is starting to sink behind the lunar horizon, cutting razor-sharp shadows across the silvery dust. He's been standing, patiently, for over four hours. The crew in the lander are huddled as far away from the door as possible, unconacipusly avoiding the astronaut's cold and vacant bunk. They had buried him, after all, three rotations ago, the special kind of dead you only get after decompression-induced exsanguination. And yet here he stands, looking better than ever, a healthy blush in his cheeks clearly visible without that bulky reflective helmet in the way. His eyes catch the setting sun strangely, almost red.

Space is an ocean, they say; the analogy is imperfect, and yet persistent in its poetry. The seafarers of old coasted along the surface of a vast and unknowable deep and called it sailing, and the spacefarers of the new frontier do the same. They speed between the stars or cut through wormhole gates for the occasional shortcut, skimming the three-dimensional surface of the vast four-dimensional space that wormholes can only tentatively pierce, and they are satisfied. But there are strange shadows in the stars, twisting and slow - distortions that ripple out from the hyperdepth and mostly pass without incident, barring the sensitive instruments left screaming in their wake. Nobody has ever seen the four-dimensional leviathans that cast these three-dimensional shadows. At least, nobody who's come back.

They call it a dragon because it flies and it's the scariest thing they've ever seen. It doesn't do it justice. If anything, trying to give it a familiar name only highlights its horrible uncategorizability. It flies, yes - or at least it undulates through atmosphere, seemingly irrelevant to its own mass. It has a golden hoard and breathes poison and fire, or rather the nuclear furnace that boils in its sinuous belly vomits out great gouts of poison fire that leaves stone and flesh as glassy slag and metals fused into radioactive gold. The land all around its lair is blackened and sick, a vile caldera of strange-colored swampland and twisted, fungal trees. In the absolute terror and devastation of its wake, the colonists fall back on old, bad superstitions and offer it a girl…

The sorcerer took out his heart long ago, they say. This is true, but inadequate. His true body is shattered in closely guarded pieces to protect himself from a total death; the form he presents is only a projection of his will onto and through the nanite colony his machinations spawned, a body crafted by the immortal mind and will of one who sacrificed everything to be deathless. His heart is concealed in a small life support capsule in a long-forgotten laboratory in a satellite orbiting the moon of a quarantined colony world; his nervous system wires itself through the vast, organic computer that has taken the place of the planet's core. Backups of backups of backups, redundancies laced through every stolen system. He knows there was a purpose to this, once; a goal to all this sacrifice beyond a simple extension of life. He will never remember who he wanted this for. To be truly deathless, one cannot have a heart.

It's retroviral, they think. No other form of infection could've rewired her cells this fundamentally. It's irreversible without gene therapy, but at least she isn't deteriorating, they say. At least she's holding together while they look for a treatment. She can feel it, though, no matter what the medic says; sub-cellular or not, she can feel it boiling under her skin, sharpening her teeth, burning out from the site of the bite on her arm. And she can feel, with absolute certainty, the planet's two satellites slowly shifting into opposition with the sun, right through the windowless walls of the quarantine pod. She doesn't know what she'll become when the moons are full, but she doesn't speak her suspicions. A part of her - perhaps even a part that's always been there - is very, very eager to find out.

A colony was here once, a long, long time ago. Terraformed and everything, but those were the early days, before they realized you needed a magnetosphere to keep all that air and water from being wicked away by the solar wind. The loss was so gradual it didn't make sense until over a century later, and there wasn't anything they could do for them long-term - wrong kind of core for a polarization op. They did evac, of course, but the priority was low - and it was centuries deep into social development. Everybody on that world had been born there, and some of them didn't want to leave. Way I hear it, some of them insisted on staying - strongly and violently - and the folks in charge eventually got tired of losing troops in a dessicating backwater that was gonna solve itself in less than a century, so they just fudged the paperwork and washed their hands of the whole thing. It's near airless now - stopped being a viable colony world nigh on thirty years back when the last of the ice vanished. But that's not why we steer clear. We don't land there because the locals didn't have the decency to die right, and it can be damn unsettling to catch their shadows sneaking across the sand. They're drawn to ships, you know? Poor bastards still think they can leave.

#asks #not aurora #writing stuff #love 2 horror write instead of slep

[hermitcrossovers]

So fun fact I'm currently avoiding doing my greek school work to write this haha

Anyways on to the other parts of the plot!

So Empires is another island, with nine ruling clans (I took out Pearl, Jimmy, and Gem's kingdoms due to plot). This is where most of the Emperors come from, they are the children of these leaders.

Pearl and Jimmy ended up on the island when Jimmy was thirteen and Pearl was fourteen. Jimmy had been sent by the Listeners, while Pearl had shipwrecked after escaping the Watchers.

Most of the Emperors are just kinda chilling. They're living their lives and learning how to hunt dragons and keep their island safe.

There's only one problem, the island has a history of sacrificing misbehaving children to a nearby island filled with the worst and most deadly dragons.

Everything changes when a masked figure starts attacking, claiming to control the deathgrippers. They say their name is Xornoth, and they know the secrets of the island.

Of course, they do. After all, Xornoth is the only surviving child who was sacrificed. They want revenge for their friends, and to get rid of their parents once and for all.

Oh, and they're Scott's older sibling. Scott doesn't know about this.

So, when Xornoth starts threatening Scott's island, he (very blind to the truth, because sheltered upbringings will do that to you) decides to leave and seek out somebody who could help. Jimmy offers to come along, and Scott says yes, because Jimmy could be useful, not at all because Scott has a crush on him. Totally.

They end up sailing for a few days, before being scooped up by Grian, who is overjoyed to see one of his old friends again. And to have somebody who isn't Scar around.

I should note this happens before Grian finds out BigB and Martyn are alive.

Now, meanwhile with the Crastle crew:

Cleo is about to pull her hair out, because why are they stuck with this gremlin of a teenager. All she wants to do is go home for once, not be stuck on this random island after getting blown off course in a storm.

Bdubs is having a great time! He's finally got another person on the island besides himself, and shes great! He swears he'll protect her forever, because she can get him off the island. It's been a long two years after all.

Impulse has zero idea what's going on. He and Tango were out looking for Skizz one minute, exploring an island and getting jumped on by a feral teenager and a redhead who has a knife the next. He's pretty sure he wants to go home.

Tango has given up trying to understand anything. He's just listening to Cleo and Bdubs argue about what to do with him and Impulse, so he offers to help them work on a ship in exchange for their freedom after the ship is built. That seems to work.

-------

I'm still working out most of the details but here's a list of dragons + the answer to your question:

Yes Evo is abandoned but sort of intact! However it's been pretty ravaged and needs a few years before most plants grow back, as a lightning storm that ended up making the forests catching fire happened shortly after the Watchers took and/or killed everybody.

Jimmy - a yellow razorwhip named Canary!

Scott - a red whispering death named Poppy

Bdubs - a snaptrapper named Mossy as a collective, and a terrible terror named Shrub

Cloe - a bonenapper named Bones, and she later gets a screaming death named Screamy

Impulse - a yellow and black windwalker named Ssvee

Tango - a rumblehorn named Ravager!

Joel - a pack of small shadows (you might notice I haven't done much with Joel yet, that's because I'm trying to figure out what he's even doing) - 🔮🐦 (magic bird anon)

I swear I had already answered this 💀💀

First off! The crastle vibes are on point, and Cleo with a bonenapper is just perfect, honestly I feel like she would absolutely gather bones to give to Bones lol.

Second... the empires guys are in for so much hurt, plus sailor Jimmy and Scot is now stuck in my head.

I love how you're weaving in the different servers together.

-Mod Jer

#hermitcraft #empires smp #how to train your dragon #grian #scott smajor #jimmy solidarity #xornoth #zombie cleo #bdubs #impulsesv #tangotek #skizzleman #magic bird anon

[sanfangirl-cynicalromantic]

Hiccstrid Drabble | Un-Stealthy Getaway

“Um, this isn’t good. . .”

Astrid turned to him with a disbelieving expression on her face. “What did you do now?” She asked sternly.

“Nothing!” She raised her blonde eyebrows, her piercing blue eyes unamused. She sighed and turned to the last air vent they’d have to crawl through before they could reach their getaway vehicle.

“This was supposed to be a stealth mission,” she scolded him as she deftly unscrewed the second bolt.

“Yeah, well it started that way until I saw the dragon!” he replied irritably.

“Hiccup!” She whirled around to glare at him, her braid whipping over her shoulder. Her tall, lean partner was standing with his hands spread wide in apology, wide green eyes like beseeching emeralds.

“I can’t believe-”

“I didn’t mean to, okay?! It’s just - y’know, I was leaving and - it was about to die anyway; there’s no way we would’ve been able to come back soon enough to save it and - I told myself I wasn’t going to, but then all of a sudden the lab door was open and it flew out.” He flapped his arms about like the dragon he had been describing. She looked over his bodysuit to check for scratches; if he had released a big dragon surely there would be marks.

“It was just a Terrible Terror,” he soothed her, as if he had read her mind. Astrid ignored the relief that flooded through her and grimaced at him.

“I didn’t set off any alarms opening the door either,” he went on, “But he probably flew into one of Grimmel’s scientists and they’ll know a dragon’s escaped and tighten security, but the point is this could still be the stealth mission you wanted, an-”

“Guys?” Fishlegs’s voice crackled over their earpieces. “They’ve discovered our presence and are heading your way. ETA a hundred three seconds.” Hiccup sagged and Astrid spat a curse, hastily unscrewing the rest of the vent. She yanked it off the wall and slid into the cramped metal box. Hiccup scrambled behind her, fastening the vent back on the wall as she slithered forward.

“You guys done securing the vent?” Fishlegs squeaked. “They’re one hallway away!”

“I got it,” Hiccup said tightly. “Now we just have to move quietly.”

“Remind me where to turn?” Astrid whispered.

“Uh, in about twelve feet take the left turn.”

“Translate that from GPA talk, please.”

“Turn left when you reach the first turn! And hurry up! We can’t sit here forever; Snotlout is impatient enough as it is.”

“Tell Snotlout he’ll wait as long as we need him to,” she hissed. “We’re going as fast as we can. Is Tuffnut disguised and in position?”

“Ar, Ar, matey,” Tuffnut’s voice interjected cheekily. She rolled her eyes even though no one could see them.

“We aren’t pirates, Tuff,” Hiccup said patiently behind her.

“Why not? We’re sneaking into labs and preparing to steal their loot - we’re totally like, modern pirates dude!”

“We’re not stealing anything; that infers we are profiting over what they lose; we’re setting free a captive mythological species on the verge of extinction. There’s a difference.”

“But we are profiting over stealing from them: our job is to sink their ship and we get paid to do it.”

Astrid snickered. “He’s got you there, Hiccup.” He groaned.

“Just - quit the pirate metaphors, okay?” he pleaded.

“Fishlegs. How close are we?” Astrid asked.

“Take the right turn, and Tuffnut should be by the opened vent.”

“Wait, I have to open the vent too?”

“Yes, you nitwit!” Astrid whispered-shouted.

“Jeez, okay I’ll do it!” A clang over the earpiece sounded, making Astrid wince. “Uh, this’ll take me a minute, but it should be ready by the time you get here.” She heard a heavy sigh behind her, and if there had been space to turn around in the vent, she bet she would have seen Hiccup wearing the exact same expression on her face.

She turned right and spied Tuffnut’s white lab coat through the iron grate. “Move!” she warned him before she body-slammed the metal, taking out the last screw.

“Woah, you’re like a cannonball.” She stood up, brushing a bit of lint off her bodysuit. They really kept the vent clean in here. Hiccup crawled into the room and secured the vent behind him. Tuffnut readied his stolen badge and opened the door, Astrid and Hiccup slipping out after him. Tuff’s straw dreadlocks swayed as he scanned the badge at the back door. It beeped in confirmation. He opened it and Astrid practically ran through it; the beep was never a good signal in her experience.

She was right. Footsteps and gruff voices echoed close by. Hiccup grabbed Tuffnut by his coat and hauled him outside. She quickly made her way over to the white van parked inconspicuously behind the dumpster, holding the door and ushering them in. Security guards burst through the door they had just excited, guns loaded.

“Stop!” one of them shouted. A bullet whizzed over his head and he ducked; his three companions squeezed their triggers. The pellets bounced off the reinforced steel of the van as Astrid swung into the back and closed the door behind her.

“I’ve got this,” Ruffnut called confidently over the speaker. “Hello, big boys.” Astrid chuckled under her breath and turned to the boys in the car.

Fishlegs was hunched over his portable computers, frantically typing with chubby fingers.

“Hit it, Snot!” Hiccup called as he gracefully sat down on the cramped bench across from Fishlegs, long legs crossing casually. Astrid braced herself against the door as Snotlout floored the pedal and the old van lurched forward. Tuffnut fell on his back, but she ignored him. He’d be fine.

“Um, so our getaway exit - for the garbage trucks - might be compromised if the compound has been alerted to our presence,” Fishlegs announced unhappily. He pulled up two different screens and continued to type.

“Is there another exit we could use?” Hiccup questioned. He stood up and looked over Fishlegs shoulder. His left hand lightly gripped the back of Fishlegs’s chair as Snotlout served messily again. Hiccup was always at his best and most brilliant in stressful situations.

“No,” Fishlegs voice cracked. He rolled to the side a few inches and gestured to his screen. Hiccup bit his lip as he examined the data.

“Snotlout, can you go any faster?” Hiccup urged the driver.

“I’m going as fast as I can!”

“Uh, guys, I’m out of bullets,” Ruffnut added over the intercom.

“I can go a little faster,” Snotlout amended. A bang sounded on the side of the van. Snotlout let out a high pitched scream.

“Relax, Snotty, it’s just me,” they heard Ruffnut say. Ruffnut was climbing through the window. She crawled over the front seat and threw her small revolver on the floor. “I’m done with those big boy’s guns. Your guys' turn.” She crouched by her twin and smacked him over the head. “Get up, loser.”

“There are sentiments by our exit; we’ll have to take them out,” Hiccup decided. He exchanged a glance with Astrid. She nodded resolutely.

She reached into her concealed pocket on her bodysuit and deposited the flash drive and small camera into Hiccup’s hand.

“I’ll do it,” she answered his unspoken question. He put her evidence in his pocket alongside his own.

She picked up the big rifle on the wall and loaded it, pocketing another load of bullets. As she walked toward the front seat so she could shoot through the window. Hiccup stopped her with a hand on her gun; his face was serious.

Be careful, his eyes implored. Astrid’s mouth ticked upwards in one corner.

I will, she promised silently. His hand left her gun and she brushed past him and hefted the rifle onto her shoulder.

#I have no idea what this is #I was trying to make them cool and it just ended up chaotic #welp #my writing #httyd drabble #my fics #hiccup haddock #astrid hofferson #httyd #tuffnut thorston #ruffnut thorston #fishlegs ingerman #snotlout jorgenson #dragons #hiccstrid #modern hiccstrid

[sorushing]

HIIII SORUSH!!!!

would love to hear more about your httyd oc (if you want to share)!! maybe friendships, skills, likes/dislikes etc

(if not that’s totally cool!! have a nice day though!)

omg YES I‘d love to @lil-dragon-draws!

She‘s a mix of self-insert/oc at this point, because I thought that would be more fun :). She’s nameless for now though :(

so, she‘s as shepherd a bit like way the boys were doing in the HTTYD books (I think book 5? Not sure). She and her dragon make sure the sheep and deer (do they have deer in the movieverse?) are where they are supposed to be.

She isn’t originally from Berk, she washed ashore in a boat and no one knows where from. Most say the south, though, due to her looks. Not a Viking.

her job is to make sure the flocks are herded where they are supposed to be and help fend off predators, but she sometimes dozes off while on the job, which has her in lots of trouble.

her dragon would mainly make sure she isn’t dozing off and would also act as a shepherd’s dog and a way for her to quickly get around. She probably also has some smaller dragons, like terrible terrors, as an early warning system in case of wolves.

She didn’t think she’d ever have a dragon friend, since she‘s just a shepherd, but the Nadder found her flock one day and decided to hang around the sheep for…some reason. She decided to try and feed them and now they’re friends.

the terrors stuck around because lots of scritches and snacks for little work. I imagine they are quite food-motivated.

She has several fisher friends, as she was risen between several fishermen‘s families, whoever had the most food at the time would take her in when she was younger.

She can‘t fight very well, and mainly has a shield for defense and a slingshot. (Trust me you don’t want a sword in her hands. You really don’t.)

She is pretty good at making quick fixes to fences and other handiwork in a pinch, though.

she’s also found that Nadder spines make good impromptu knives when needed, and uses them for cutting rope or similar.

I also think she probably wouldn’t be all that close with the gang. They‘d know each other, and she’s probably spoken to Astrid/Fishlegs because of Nadder-related stuff, but no more than that, I think.

i might post some doodles later…

have a nice day too!

#Sorush‘s rambles #Httyd #oc #Kind of a self-insert #not sure how much though #Moots #Answered #ask #lil-dragon-draws

[circusclownsam]

One thing I like about httyd is:

You can make up a completely random dragon- and it just fits.

The dragon could be like, a mix between a terrible terror and a night terror and it’ll just fit within the universe.

It’s awesome.

My OC’s dragon would totally eat one of the riders if she was angry enough and I think that’s okay❤️

#circusclownsam talks #httyd race to the edge #httyd movies #httyd series #httyd roleplay #httyd rp #how to train your dragon rp #how to train your dragon #normalise dragons eating Vikings when they’re angry❤️

[weaselmcdiesel]

You are totally free to ignore me but my brain saw your idea of pearl being a dragon familiar and immediately paired her with etho!

As far as I understand, familiars are not required to be around their witches, but they surely are great for extra magic focus (my guess). So, Pearl and Etho (actually two quite independant guys /gender neutral/ with this vibe of immortality around them, just in diferent flavours) made this pact a loong time ago. As Pearl is a dragon, she is very powerful and innately magical, and Etho, being Etho, is very cool etc they act more like chill coworkers. They can not see each other for years and years and still be friends.

These two literally have never interacted (well if you dont count the brief ones) this is just my brainrot im sorry. Just think that powerful creature + powerful wizard = those witches from His Dark Materials or smth. Smashing my favourite little blorbos together and forsing them to be friends in aus is just how it goes

Oh really! I definitely don't see a lot of pearl and etho interactions, but I suuuper love them both being super powerful like you said. (Wait now im thinking about how pearl and etho nearly teamed at the end of double life but didnt because of joel 👀) Actually- I was imagining Pearl as a smaller dragon? (imagine terrible terror size from httyd) simply because I couldnt see a witch being able to make accommodations for, say, a skyrim sized dragon by their house XD But you are sooooo correct. Whoever pearl pairs with would have to be someone who can handle the side effects of pairing with a dragon like extreme longevity, the wings n everything (im tempted to say dragons in this universe are revered as gods/godlike so to see a witch with dragon wings would either alienate them or shoot up their social status), and probably of course excess magical energy. and who better than someone unsuspecting like scar or etho to be housing all that energy XD I'll still think about it! ... bc i do like dragons and i want to get to drawing her soon paha

very interesting dynamic tho. both of them powerful and mature enough individually to hardly need to be around each other. i was considering that already for certain characters :)

i also believe a single witch can have multiple familiars if they can handle all that energy, so thaaaats also something to keep in mind^^

#weasel speaks #asks! #withc au #withc pearl #withc etho #oh and edit: ive never heard of his dark materials so im not sure about that ^^

[sifeng]

Love Between Fairy and Devil (苍兰诀) - Eps 1-8 Review

A very early review because this drama is definitely... something! There is an intense division in the popular opinion of this drama, some absolutely love it, others think it is dumb and childish. Personally, I think that despite its obvious issues, it has a lot of merit and deserves a lot of the hype.

Characterization: considering there has only been eight episodes, and there are 36 total, it makes sense that none of the characters have really had to develop or change dramatically. However, the initial characterizations of our main 3 (Dongfang Qingcang, Xiao Lan Hua and Chang Heng) are very solid, and clearly set their personality, goals and morals. Personally I love the characterization of Xiao Lan Hua. These “cute” type female leads can very easily become annoying and unnecessarily stupid, but Xiao Lan Hua, though innocent, kind and not the most intelligent of celestials, is by no means dumb nor annoying. She has extremely strong morals, generosity and kindness, and has the ability to think for herself - ignoring the celestial propaganda about the demons because she knows Dongfang Qingcang has been kind to her. Dongfang Qingcang’s characterization stability is a little weaker, but this is made up in how he is evidently beginning to feel and understand emotions. As we see him do no evil (except burning 2 people to save Xiao Lan Hua in like episode 2), it’s hard to imagine just how cruel this man is. The lack of information about his reign of terror also makes it difficult for the audience to understand why he is so desperate for Xiao Lan Hua to work her magic on the leaf of Chi Di Nü Zi. But, to an extent, I get the mystery behind his background, it allows us to see him as Xiao Lan Hua sees him, without the prejudice of knowing how evil he was. Chang Heng is also a very solid character. He is someone who is selfless and puts the stability of the universe and the happiness of others ahead of his own well being. 

Pacing: This drama is very fast. With so much to go through and only 36 episodes, it makes sense. But, despite the fast pace, it doesn’t feel rushed. This drama hits the sweet spot, where you really want to keep watching and keep watching (I watched all 8 episodes in a row), but don’t feel like too much information is being thrown at you. However, there are certain moments that feel very undeserved, or out of nowhere. For example, when Rong Hao discovers Xiao Lan Hua is Shen Nü. Why did he suspect her anyways? And if he suspected her, why doesn’t any of the other celestials? The ambiguity of Rong Hao and Chi Di Nü Zi’s characters are a plus right now, but I can easily see them being plot holes if the show only ever gives them random shots with no explanation. But I doubt that...

Worldbuilding: Out of the past few xianxias I have seen, this drama does world building best in my opinion. Unlike some shows that throw way too much information at you in the first few moments, this drama gives you very little in the beginning, and only begins to reveal page by page the intricacies of this universe, which leads to the binge-ability of this drama (I really want to figure out who is who what is what!) Plus, this world feels so unique and fresh. Part of this is the costuming and CGI, part of this is its look into the business, bosses, different parts of the heavenly realm. One of my biggest complaints about the heavenly realm in other shows is how empty it seems, this show actually fleshes out the realm, showing the lives of the lowly and the rich. 

Acting: now, I have to be honest. I thought this show would be terrible, mostly because I did not trust Wang Heidi’s acting at all. He was terrible in Miss The Dragon, like to the point where you just laughed when he appeared. He’s not really that good in this either BUT at least you can watch without being completely taken out or bursting out in laughter which is huge improvement for him! The scenes where he was pretending to be Xiao Lan Hua were actually okay!! I’ve always maintained the opinion that Yu Shuxin is one of the most underrated actresses in the industry. People think she’s not good because her line delivery is, shall we say, unique, but in believing she’s a poor actress simply because they dislike her voice, they cannot hear how clear her words are, how she can easily control her emotions and how her mood is always clear in her voice. Acting wise she always adds little details that really show off her understanding of both Dongfang Qingcang (when she is in his body) and Xiao Lan Hua. She makes Xiao Lan Hua so adorable, someone you want to cry for when she cries, someone you want to laugh with when she’s happy. There are moments when she does overact a little, making Xiao Lan Hua almost caricature like in moment, but overall, I think she’s doing amazing. Zhang Linghe is pretty okay as Chang Heng. The scene where he crossed Xiao Lan Hua’s name off his list did make me feel sad, but overall, I don’t feel like he’s made this character particularly engaging (not to say the character isn’t engaging, he is, just mostly because the writing is good). 

Romance: The main CP is really growing on me. Chemistry wise, they are actually pretty great. I’ve seen videos of them doing interviews and variety shows and clearly they are friends, which really makes these early scenes so enjoyable because Xiao Lan Hua and Dongfang Qingcang are also friends. I really can’t wait to see how this relationship progresses, because it’s already very clear how cute they are. The switching bodies trope is actually sooooo funny because of how Xiao Lan Hua misinterprets his actions, so it doesn’t feel old or boring at all. Xiao Lan Hua and Chang Heng (FL and SML) grouping is also very cute, and so sad. The innate tragedy of their situation makes the relationship so interesting, and I think they have pretty good chemistry too! The second CP between Rong Hao and Chi Di Nü Zi is very exciting to me because they both seem like crazy people!

Costumes: while I am not a huge fan of some of the costuming aesthetically, overall, I really appreciate how the designer managed to make such a new, different style for the celestials, while maintaining a classical style for the humans. I do think the fact that all the young celestial fairies wearing the same thing makes the idea of costume design kind of redundant, but I appreciate the spectacle! Personally I love Dan Yin in the fairy dress, while Xiao Lan Hua looks better in other styles. I totally get why the designer put them all in the same dress (to add a sense of continuity) but personally I wish Xiao Lan Hua’s wardrobe was slightly different to show her different personality and class. 

CGI: The CGI is amazing! The CGI for the heaven palace, Si Ming’s house, the place where they went to see the sunrise, the prison are all absolutely gorgeous. But the most impressive scene has to be when Rong Hao and Chang Heng were in the painting together, that was absolutely gorgeous! I used to think Love and Redemption was the best xianxia for CGI but this drama just took the number 1 spot.

Overall: If you can get through the acting and are a xianxia fan, I would 100% recommend this! A really different drama no matter how you look at it, and I would say you should at least try it even if it sounds unappealing (I thought it would be terrible and look at me now!)

#cdrama #Love Between Fairy and Devil #cang lan jue #苍兰诀 #Esther yu #Dylan wang

[zarekarstudio]

now that i’ve started rereading some of the httyd books, toothless seriously just makes me think of my cat tbh...

things i’ve said to my cat that i could see hiccup saying to toothless:

- "you're going to SQUAWK at me for moving?? YOU'RE the one that decided to lay down on my chest!" - "you little gremlin, what are you biting me for?! i've done nothing to you!" - "why are you like this? what d'you have to be mad about? am i not paying enough attention to you, somehow?" - “oh my god, just let me put my drink down, and i’ll pick you up, alright?!” - “...do you HAVE to pounce on my stomach full force when you jump onto me? is that REALLY necessary? really?” - “oh my god, yes, hi, i’ll get you your snacks in a minute!”

#httyd books #book!hiccup #book!toothless #now that i think about it #admittedly some of these could also apply to movie hiccup and toothless #griffon is a spoiled princess of a cat #she's also a smol cat #she would TOTALLY be a terrible terror if she was a dragon :/ #griffon has the most Dramatique way of begging for treats #we keep them on the bookshelf above my piano and she Knows #so she'll paw at the bags pathetically until someone gets it for her #and then MEOW like she is STARVING and has been for WEEKS #what a little drama queen lol

[eightyonekilograms]

In what is I think a fairly common experience, I've been watching less and less anime as I get older as I get more sick of Anime Bullshit. A lot of times you see people claim that the Anime Bullshit is because it's "too sexualized", but that's not right. The issue with anime is that its sexuality is so adolescent. Teenagers are terrified of sex even as they're vaguely aware it's a thing they want, and so they deal with this by falling back on a "safe" set of pre-fabricated tropes that let you experience sex at a remove, in one of those gloved boxes. That set of tropes is the Anime Bullshit.

This wouldn't even be so bad if this problem was just confined to the shows aimed at teenagers - I don't begrudge teenagers for being afraid of sex, it's a developmental milestone everyone has to go through. The problem is that for the last decade+ the inmates have been running the asylum: increasingly the entire industry is not just for but also by adult otaku who are stuck in arrested development, and their stunted sexuality is ruining my shows.

So yeah, we need more mature sexuality in anime. Sometimes this would manifest as less sexual content: one of the manifestations of adolescent sexuality is sticking fanservice where it patently doesn't belong, and for sure there are tons of anime that would be vastly improved if the fanservice was cut out altogether. But plenty of times it would be just the opposite! Shield Hero is IMO a great example of a show that would've been better if it was way more sexual.

If you're not familiar with it, the premise is: angry misogynist blackpilled dude (Naofumi) gets isekai'd to fantasy world, except instead of being the hero beloved by all, everyone there hates his guts and wants to kill him. For plot contrivance reasons he has no offensive capabilities, and so has to buy a slave girl (Raphtalia) to do his fighting for him. Said slave girl ends up falling in love with him, he refuses to reciprocate because, yo, that's weird.

This should've been kinky as fuck! The entire show should've been filled-to-the-brim with sexual tension and self-loathing. Naofumi should've been angry that the world programmed him to have to decline to bang this girl. Raphtalia should've gone through torturous cycles of self-doubt after having it explained that she's only in love with Naofumi because of the hella weird power dynamic, and not knowing whether she should believe that or not. At one point they should've hooked up, and then afterwards he throws up with guilt from it, which makes her feel terrible because she wants another round. But, no, because this is written by and for adolescents, the show immediately reverted to Generic Harem Garbage with utterly standard fanservice tropes and nothing else. What a waste.

(And then there's a third category: shows with should've had less and more sexual content at the same time. Dragon Maid is exactly this: less fanservice with Kanna/Saikawa, more angsty sexual tension between Kobayashi and Tohru please. That scene with the love potion was the ultimate example of anime's terror of sex pissing me off: you wrote yourself an utterly perfect setup and then chickened out with a dumb gag right when it could've paid off in a half-dozen totally different ways. Infuriating!)

[utilitycaster]

Wizard Breakdown Tracker #3, episode 133

Greetings and salutations to the exercise I have set upon myself, which is to say deciding the relative mental stability of Wizard NPCs who have been subjected to the Mighty Nein. My intent is to do this at least until Trent Ikithon has fucked off this mortal coil and/or been thoroughly deposed and humiliated.

As a reminder Caleb Widogast is a member of the Mighty Nein and a PC and therefore excluded from these calculations. Wizards who haven’t been seen or heard from lately and about whom I don’t have anything funny to say about will not get a full blurb, but as they re-enter the main narrative so will they re-enter the list. Currently, this is the Essek Thelyss Show ft. Trent and the Volstruckers with guest appearances by Yussa and Allura.

Currently sidelined: Oremid Hass, Known Gem Wizard Hotsauce Lutefisk (I am going to reuse this stupid joke name for him until it doesn’t make me laugh at my own joke anymore, which will probably be never), Pumat Sol (who I hope is having a great day), Ludinus Da’leth (who I hope is not but in true laissez-faire rat bastard form, probably is).

Vess D wasn’t there/morning time in Eiselcross or at her job or anywhere/they snuck in and took her life/and we noticed that her spellbook’s gone and that she’s covered in red eyes.

Trent Ikithon: Okay with the caveat that it’s been a very long time since I saw the entire movie and our only update is Artagan taking a moment from his busy schedule of traveling the globe in the direction of the sun such that he is always technically day-drinking to tell Jester that Trent’s biding his time, I’m getting real Disney Hunchback of Notre Dame Frollo vibes. Except instead of Catholicism and lust, it’s nationalism and an unquenchable thirst for power and control, and also he does not feel guilty in the slightest. He’s not at Hellfire levels yet but he will get there and I am slightly disappointed that due to the constraints of a D&D game we do not get an even more fucked up version of the song Hellfire.

Conclusion: 6/10. Slowly stepping it up. Also here’s the great thing: while we know Caleb is going to come after him next, he doesn’t, and the Nein didn’t tell any world governments about the threat of the city unless you count the Tal’Dorei Council via Allura, which means for all intents and purposes they just disappeared into Eiselcross...except Trent also knows Caleb disappeared for five or six years once before and reports of his death were greatly exaggerated. If Caleb weren’t dedicated to the noble goal of ending the Volstrucker program ASAP, he could just chill for a year or so and then pull a really stellar Surprise Bitch move and maybe just get Trent’s heart to explode.

Essek Thelyss: He got a good night’s trance and weird physical affection from a giant ape Caleb and he was healed by Caduceus and he had a serious conversation with the first true peer and one of the first friends he’s ever known about how high-level wizardry may not necessarily corrupt absolutely. And, of course, soup. I mean they are about to head into a terrible battle but he’s at full health and spells and he’s a valued member of the team and his friends love him SO MUCH.

Conclusion: 5/10. There is a distinction between a breakdown and being in a very high pressure situation, and he got some nice moments of respite this week. With that said do I think that post-battle, should he survive (HE BETTER) a whole lot of anxiety will come crashing back? Yeah.

Astrid Beck: With Trent in a holding pattern he’s got to be turning up the mind games on her; I have to imagine he suspects and then she suspects that he suspects and it’s a whole mess, but I’ve said that already. But also just like, in general, I think her speech to Caleb back when he first contacted her was genuine in many ways and specifically I think she was likely to have been Trent’s New Golden Child and then suddenly that got yanked out from under her for still more mind games; I think her difference in demeanor between that meeting and the dinner was partially Trent being present, but partially her having realized in the interim that she will likely never have anything to show for two decades of pain and doing terrible things and nonstop bullshit.

Conclusion: still keeping her at 8/10 until further notice but like. Astrid’s having a bad time.

Um actually Eadwulf is the monster? The hero’s name is Grendel: Okay meanwhile here’s my totally unsupported Eadwulf headcanon of this week which is that he meanwhile always knew he was not the favorite and probably never would be and while I doubt he ever had particularly noble goals I would not be surprised if he had an exit strategy. Personally I hope he tries card-counting in that casino in Ank’harel and gets kicked out posthaste and then tries being a wizard/some kind of divine caster multiclass in Vasselheim and also gets kicked out but finally becomes like an old-school hermit figure somewhere in the woods of Issylra and Campaign 3′s party runs into him.

Conclusion: also keeping him at 4/10 until further notice.

Allura Vyesoren: It’s time to acknowledge that this episode covered a span of like...8 hours? And presuming the Nein are sort of trying to keep a normal sleep schedule, maybe, and using a comparison of Eiselcross being at a comparable time zone to say, Nicodranas, and it’s 5 hours into the night for them, and we know that around mid-day for Nicodranas was early morning for Emon...honestly she’s probably relaxing with a glass of wine. Unless Wensforth contacted her.

Conclusion: I’m going to let Allura have a good day. She’s at 2/10 because the threat of Aeor will be in the back of her mind but also she’s seen a bunch of idiots kill dragons and Vecna and they didn’t even have a wizard.

Yussa Errenis: Experiencing a great disturbance in the Astral Sea, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and then just like, kept doing that.

Conclusion: I decided to really go all out last week on the infinity jokes and left myself nothing to go on, huh. Anyway this breakdown goes to 11 (out of 10).

#me looking at the pitiful handful of non-STEM courses I took in college: is this a potential source of referential internet jokes? #critical role #critical role spoilers #wizard breakdown tracker #your musical references were no body no crime by Taylor Swift ft. Haim and obviously Hellfire from The Hunchback of Notre Dame #which is a weird pairing tbh

[vickylamore]

Enemy Of The Wolves [2]

TW: Language, Violence, Mentions of deaths

Pairing: [slight] Mark Lee x Female Reader, NCT OT23 [Mostly platonic] x Female Reader

Genre: Action, Military Style AU, Organized crime AU, Mafia AU, Angst and Fluff

(2/?) Part 1 Part 3

Word Count: 5k

[Main Masterlist] [Enemy Of The Wolves - Mini Masterlist]

Summary: Not only were you one of the few females to be apart of Neo Culture Technology’s underground organized crime association, you were also the only and top ranked female captain in the entire industry. Even if you worked in a majority male industry, you earned respect from nearly every one of your male counterparts. All but one. That one not only exposed your name to one of NCT’s worst and most vicious rivals but signed NCT’s entire demise. Only one group will prevail, the other left in ruins with no chance of recovery.

Notes: The way it’s 1am and I know I wont finish editing til 2am is sending me into orbit. This took.. a while to update for various reasons but here it is!

Disclaimer: Please remember that this is a work of fiction and solely fiction. Any of the idols written and mentioned in this series would never take part in these actions, let alone stand by/condone them. The idols mentioned are merely used as characters and in no way am I saying that this is how they act in real life.

“Not you telling Jisung that him punching another student was justified.” You deadpanned as soon as you arrived in his office where most members were, Yuta closed the door behind you as you looked at Taeyong. “Really? That it was justified?”

“‘Hello Taeyong, great to see you again Taeyong, I missed you Taeyong, how are you and Neo Culture doing, Taeyong?’” He exasperated, setting down the documents that were once in his hands to look at you, an irritating smirk on his lips. “Not one of the following has come out of your mouth.”

“Of course not,” you scoffed, moving your hair out of the face, “who do you think I am, an angel?”

“Far from it.”

You looked at Johnny with an annoyed gaze and mumbled, “exactly my point.” You groaned and threw your head back, exhausting seeping into your veins. “And you wouldn’t believe what happened in the lounge…” you turned to Yuta and asked, “my head feels like it’s about to explode so please fill them in on what happened.”

“Lee Jihoon was being disrespectful, got on her nerves, disrespected her again, it attracted a crowd of students and she got fed up, went all commando on him and all his friends, told them to meet in her office in thirty minutes and now she’s here.” Yuta summarized what happened in about thirty seconds.

“Yeah, pretty much.” You shrugged your shoulders.

“It was bound to happen,” Doyoung spun in his chair to face you, a tired look crossing his features. “Him and his little friend group have been getting on my nerves ever since you left.”

“Speaking of which,” you said while looking back at Taeyong, “what do you mean the punch was justified?”

“It was.”

“It was though,” Jaehyun supported Taeyong, a small laugh escaping his lips, “it was funnier when Jihoon tried playing the victim in front of us. Oooh, the look on his face when he realized we saw everything.”

“How about his ‘friends’?” Questioned Jungwoo, who sent you a small wave, “his friends tried defending him too. But yes, it was totally justified.”

“Welcome back to Neo Culture, (Y/n),” Taeil said sarcastically, “take it as welcoming since all the bad news crashed onto you.”

You were finally back home, you were finally with your family again. You weren’t away from them for a little over two months. You completed your mission, despite the altercations, and came back home safe and sound. You were happy, they were happy too- despite the fact that half of them won’t admit it. “Thank you, it feels so much better to be back.” You almost laughed at yourself, “despite everything.”

Taeyong pointed to an empty seat in between Jaehyun and Doyoung, one you gladly took as Yuta sat in between Jungwoo and Taeil. You fist-bumped Jaehyun as you sat down, taking out the USB in your pocket, sliding across the table to pass it to Taeil. You suppress a yawn despite looking exhausted.

“Report.”

“I’m doing okay, not great but not terrible. Exhausted? Yes. That nineteen-hour flight was not it, lemme tell you that.” A few of them chuckled at your words. “The mission was successful, all information acquired and secured in the USB.”

“Canada, sorry- Toronto was nice though, more or less the people than the land itself. I enjoyed it as much as I was able to on an undercover mission to wipe out the headquarters but it was okay.” You said, your mind distracting you from the heart-wrenching news about to come out. “Other than that, I’m fine, I’m alive… a few cuts and bruises but I’m okay… physically. Mentally? Not so much.” You laughed it off, yet the crippling guilt and regret settling in your chest.

“The Dragons in Canada eliminated, no other known locations, intel gained on the fallen group; all files gained on Neo Culture gained, all the information of current members in Seoul gained, one known locations of SS in South Korea; 89137 Gugandum Lake, underground mine, no traces back to Neo Culture, base burned to the floor… no survivors.” You said the last part a little quieter than the rest, which made Taeyong look at you curiously. 

“What’s up?”

Yuta glanced at you, trying to figure out what got you so upset. By the time he figured it out, you were stopping tears from flooding your eyes. You hated it, you hated it with a passion. You hated your sensitive side, your emotional side, the one that cared for kids and teens. It made you more down to earth but it made you soft. You, of course, didn’t let that side of you interfere with your job but you hated the feeling inside your gut each time you came across the enemy. 

To Neo Culture, they were the enemy. To you, they were the enemy but to your eyes, they were children.

“How many?” Yuta asked, his voice softer compared to before. By the short conversation you had with him while walking to the boss's office, he could tell it bothered you to the point where it was so close to breaking. The little heated moment in the D.R.E.A.M.S lounge definitely didn’t help you emotionally.

He read you like a book and uncovered what was bothering you just by one question from earlier, “how many were there (Y/n)?”

You stared at him, knowing that if you glanced at anyone else, you would cry. If you were honest, you were devastated. You hated it. You didn’t know they were there, you didn’t even know they recruited so young. The one in Korea didn’t, so why would the one in Canada do? If you had known you would’ve tried to get them out in time… but you didn’t. You wanted the feeling of zemblanity to cloud your thoughts but the more you tried to ignore the fact that you let them die, the more it was hitting you, harder with each suppressed thought.

“Eleven.” You finally said, letting a sigh escape your lips. “Eleven of them were burned alive because I didn’t know The Dragons recruited children.” The sentence hanged in the air, the reason why you were so upset was revealed. No one said a word as you closed your eyes, the screams of terror and agony filled your mind once again as you balled your fists, guilt feeling your chest. “Eleven kids, the same ages as tier nine and ten… eleven kids who I didn’t know were there burned alive all because I had the ideology that The Dragons Canada would do the same as the one in Korea; they wouldn’t recruit anyone under the age of eighteen.”

“Are you sure none of them escaped?” Taeyong asked, chin resting on his intertwined knuckles.

“The case file had counted 123 members in The Dragons. The updated files I acquired read 123 members including 11 members under eighteen…” you swallowed the lump in your throat, the agonizing burning climbing up your chest. “After the explosion, I went in to make sure that everyone was dead… I came across eleven bodies of teenagers… I know what a teen’s body looks like Taeyong.”

But you wish you hadn’t. You wish you didn’t. You wish, in that moment, you forgot what a teen’s body looked like. But you remembered. You remembered as soon as you stumbled upon the first one, then the next, then the next… the burned corpses engraved in your mind will forever haunt your nightmares.

“I’m asking for a temporary break from all overseas missions,” you asked sternly, your eyes moving to your boss, your eyes glossy and tears threatening to spill. A lump in your throat, you ran a hand over your mouth. “A few weeks, a couple of months at most. I just-”

“(Y/n),” Taeyong cut you off, stopping you from talking further. His hands were clasped together on the table, eyes empty so you wouldn’t be able to decipher any emotion from him. “Ask granted.” you met his eyes as he nodded, understanding what you needed right now. He might be your boss and he might be cold and ruthless, but he was your brother, he understood why you were asking. 

Taeyong was always one of the few people you would turn to in desperate need. It was always him, Kun, Mark and Lucas. Taeyong was the one to recruit you, the one to give you shelter, the one to give you the position you have today as Captain. He proved that women could be soldiers with you, that women could be just as ruthless with their job and he proved that with you. He was the one you would turn to in intense mental and emotional turmoil because he understood everything just by how he created Neo Culture.  

It wasn’t common for corporations to be close. There was one simple goal that was recurring in almost every organization; get the job done. It was different in the space you were practically raised in and honestly speaking, you were grateful that it could be considered a safe space for teens that were brought here at a young age. There’s a reason why NCT was huge and successful; it all started with a good foundation.

It was also rare for generals to be close with their inner circle; they were supposed to take charge, not babysit their soldiers. Taeyong somehow managed to incorporate both into one. His words will always echo in your mind; “Having a good foundation is the key to success, and I plan to use that to all of our advantage, starting with the idea of family.”

“Take the time you need, you don’t need to explain yourself.” He sent you a small smile, one that you greatly appreciated. He might be the heartless NCT boss but when the doors were closed, when he was with 127, WayV and Dream, his true nature showed; the one where he was caring, loving and warm. Where he would laugh like there’s no tomorrow, moments when he would joke around with you and everyone else. The one that wouldn’t be afraid to ask anyone for a second opinion (mainly Yuta, Kun, Taeil and Johnny) and won’t be afraid to tell anyone to talk to him if he sees them struggling.

“Do you need someone to take over your classes?” 

You shook your head, your shoulders slouching in defeat. “No, no… I got my classes under control.” You look up at him, “thank you.”

“You need it,” was all he said, “go rest up back at Dream’s dorm. I’ll let Mark know you’ll be there soon, right after your discussion with the boys in tier two.”

You nod your head then proceed to get up from your seat, everything weighing down on you at once. You keep nodding to yourself to stop yourself from breaking down, not wanting to cry in front of them. Heck, some have never seen you cry, again, only a select few and you really wanted to keep to way.

When you got up, Jaehyun got up with you to give you a hug, one that you needed for your own well being. You hugged him tightly, appreciating the act he rarely gives as he whispers, “if you need anything, you know where to find us. WayV is here too.” You nodded your head again, a small ‘okay’ leaving your lips.

He’s never seen you so broken before, he knew you had a soft side for kids, especially the tenth tier but he didn’t blame you for being so upset. He knew you felt guilty, he knew you felt responsible for their deaths and even thought that you were the one that caused it. One side of him, the older brother, wants to tell you that it wasn’t your fault. The interrogator in him knew that telling you such things were lies because he too, knew deep down that the explosion was the cause of their deaths.

You release him from your hold, thanking him again before walking towards the door. You sighed and offered the men of 127 a small smile, one that hides all your emotions and troubles. “I’ll see you guys later.”

--

You still had a couple more minutes until your small meeting with the second tier boys so you decided to visit WayV. You hadn’t seen them in what felt like forever, almost six months to be exact. You missed them like crazy and you didn’t want them seeing you in an emotional mess so you decided to visit them now, right before you went back to your respective dorm.

You scanned your hand on the scanner at the end of the hall, opening the door as soon as it unlocks and, instantly, you’re met with a hug that almost knocked you backwards. You kept your balance though, clutching onto his shirt like your life depended on it. You missed him, you missed him so much. Hell, you didn’t realize just how much you missed them til right now.

“You’re back…” you muttered under your breath, tears threatening to spill from your eyes. He was one of your first students, him and Dream. And now he’s got his life together with WayV. “You’re back.”

He giggled under his breath, “you’re back too… we’ve been in Korea for almost a month and I wanted to see you again- but that doesn’t matter now, you’re here right? That’s all that counts.” You heard his voice crack the tiniest bit at the end but you didn’t point it out. You didn’t want to. 

Yangyang is your only graduate student. He was in the D.R.E.A.M.S and was under your wing until you deemed he was ready to be a part of WayV. It was so hard for you to let him go, you’ve seen him grow as an individual and a teammate… you were devastated, to say the least, and now that you’re seeing him for the first time in a while.

If it wasn’t already clear, WayV was more like your best friend group, 127 was your older brothers/mentor group and Dream were your little brothers.Well, as much as they could be in the life you live and the job you did. It just happened and it fit as it was. 

You pulled away and immediately baffled on your words at the sight of his hair colour. It was black, which wasn’t out of the ordinary (you’ve seen him in both black and brown before), yet he had silver-white streaks in his hair. 

“You did not pull a Jason Todd.” You deadpanned, touching his hair as you glared at him, “You better not die on me, you got it?” 

“How can I possibly die when I’m coding all the time?” He giggles again, pointing at your own hair.

“Okay female reserve Todd, you’re the one to talk with the ombre silver hair,” you push him lightly as you both giggle like little kids. “But it suits you, you look more like a badass than before.”

You scoff, running a hand through your hair, “I’d say the same to you, only that you now look like a badass, not before though.” You giggle as he playfully hits your shoulders, his own giggles leaving his mouth. After regaining your composure, you asked, “where’s everyone else?”

Yangyang only grabbed your arm and pulled you across the entrance before stopped when you wanted to take off your jacket and left it on the coat hanger, as well as your mask and your arm gear. Taking those off revealed your tattoos, on the right the written of NCT on it and the left; the marking of Captain for D.R.E.A.M.S. He waiting until you were done to pull you into the living room/kitchen where Kun was cooking with Sicheng, Ten was sitting on the couch furthest away from the TV, Hendery and Lucas were currently sitting in front of the TV playing Mario Kart as Xiaojun observed from a distance on the couch.

“You’ve been playing this game with Yangyang forever and you still suck!”

“Say the person who can’t drift properly.”

“You both can’t trash talk each other when you both suck,” Xiaojun laughed, adjusting his position on the couch.

“Shut up!”

Your eyes widen when both Mario Kart players tell the other to shut it. You spared a glance at Yangyang who was smiling while leaning against the doorframe. “They’re trash-talking… over Mario Kart?” You whispered. 

“It’s nothing new,” he whispered back, a happy smile on his face.

“Over Mario Kart…” he shrugged his shoulders as you looked back at the tv, watching Lucas horribly losing as Hendery was way ahead of him. He suddenly picks up a blue shell but doesn’t use it. You’ve truly never facepalmed so hard in your life until now.

“Lucas, if you want a chance to win, then use the blue shell on Hendery right now, it’ll stun him for a couple seconds, which will give you enough time to catch up to him,” You quickly say and he does as he’s told, the strategy working and eventually, Lucas winning the game.

He smiled in victory as he said, “thanks (Y/n).” There’s an immediate pause after he says your name. You rolled your eyes, knowing that they all heard you talk and Lucas even mentioned your name, what’s there not to realize.

“You guys are so slow.”

“Nah for real…” you agreed with the youngest as everyone snaps their heads in your direction, smiles beaming across their faces. Hendery is the first to move, getting up and almost falling on the floor, hoping over the couch to reach you. 

You’re met with his warmth, his hug, as he buries his face into your neck and you on his chest. You missed him so much too, it hurts how much you missed them. Hendery wasn’t your student per say, he was already on higher tiers compared to you when you first got to Neo Culture. But then you both waned up in the same tier, tier three and that’s when you both hit it off. He and Lucas became your best friends.

You started tearing up a bit, you weren’t going to lie. It was great seeing Hendery again, you almost forgot how amazing his hugs were too. 

“I missed you so much,” he whispered in your ear, causing your heart to swell in awe. “I missed you more you idiot.”

“It’s you already insulting not even five minutes of hugging for me,” you let out a small laugh, one that’s muffled against the fabric of his shirt.

“It’s you not understanding how much I’ve missed you for me,” you whispered, tears threatening to spill. 

“I hate you for making me cry.”

Hendery laughs under his breath, “honestly me too.” He pulls away, smiling softly down on you as he laughs again, it being a lot more soft this time around, “why are you crying?” 

“Oh, I don’t know… it’s not like I haven't seen you or anyone here for the last six months. It's been rough okay?” You said, groaning and pressing your forehead on his shoulder, “plus I’m not crying, my eyes are sweating. It’s super hot in here, okay?”

You hear a couple laughs behind you as you turn around to see Sicheng and Kun smiling at you as well. You giggle and quickly run up to them, crushing them both into a hug. More tears spill from your eyes, the thought of missing them once again fills your mind.

“You’ve grown,” you roll your eyes at Sicheng’s comment. 

“No, shut up, you can’t say that. You can’t say I’ve gotten taller when you’re literally six feet tall-”

“I think he meant matured (Y/n),” you stay silent for a moment, ignoring the way you just embarrassed yourself by assuming something. 

“No words, truly, genuinely, forget it ever happened.”

They both chuckled as you released them from your hold, quickly wiping the tears from your eyes. Kun and Sicheng have seen you grow into the amazing woman you are today. Both have trained you in both the medical and weaponry field, teaching you all you need to know. You thanked them for everything and unlike 127, who baby you (some way more than others) despite the fact that you all are in the corrupted military, WayV doesn't, hence why you consider them your best friend group.

“You didn’t see me crying,” you said but let out a fit of giggles as someone grabs you from behind, spinning you around and crushing you with a hug. “If you don’t be careful Xiaojun, you’ll suffocate her before Lucas gets to her.”

“Who said I’ll let her go to Lucas?” He said sarcastically, or that’s what you want to think. You know Xiaojun, especially when it came to you, was very much clingy. Which, to anyone else, was unusual, especially for the investigator of the group but he had a lot of reasons to be.

Of course, since you all are involved in the underground activity, it’s bound for one of you to get hurt. You and Xiaojun actually didn’t start off on the right foot, you both just didn’t click. To you, he always was cold and honestly rude towards you. You didn’t really care, at the time that is. That all changed when you both were on a D.R.E.A.M.S mission and you were kidnapped by the enemy; you and twelve others. You had distracted the enemy long enough for him to escape, to get help and to rescue the rest of the lower tiers. At the time, you and he were leading that mission as you both were in the second tier (you just turned 18 and he was turning 18 in a couple of months). 

He promised you that he would come back for you, the guilt was swallowing him whole as he raced his way back to base. When he had come back with reinforcements, you weren’t where he left you, and that’s what scared him the most.

He didn’t know that you were trying to take down the person behind the kidnapping, that is until he heard a gunshot. He remembered his heart bursting in thousands of pieces when he heard it and rushed his way to the location where it was heard. Of course, he wasn’t rude or cold to you for nothing, he just didn’t know how to act in front of you, someone who excelled in all her classes and was one of the strongest and smartest people he knew. So he was more upset with himself that he thought he wouldn’t get the chance to tell you how much he looked up to you before it was too late.

When he got to the locked room and found you lying on the floor, seemingly unconscious, his heart dropped. He kicked the door down and cleared the room before rushing to your side, looking for any injuries which he found, a bullet to the shoulder. 

Long story short, he kept his promise and realized that he was acting horribly towards you for no reason. After you had recovered, you both became very close friends. That being said, Xiaojun is a lot more protective than the rest of WayV, Ten being the least out of the seven men.

“Hey Jun.”

“Hi (Y/n).”

He rested his chin on your head, as you pressed your head against his chest, his heartbeat thumping in your eyes. You wrapped your arms around his waist, holding onto him. It was calming, to say the least, relaxing almost. You both didn’t say anything, you didn’t need to. You just listened to the sound of his heartbeat, letting it fill your thoughts.

You didn’t want to think about how you’ll tell them about what you did. You were still very upset about what happened on your mission, you couldn’t help but feel so much guilt and hatred towards yourself but you needed to hold it in, just until you finish with your small discussion with the cinquet.

“Alright, I’m done,” you lifted your head to see who said it but you were suddenly ripped from Xiaojun’s arms and you were falling backwards on the sofa with his arms wrapped around your waist before falling down the sofa and landing on the floor.

“Lucas!” You yelled but it was muffled by his shirt when you toppled on top of him, your head laid on his chest as your arms were practically pinned against his stomach, limiting your movement and all the air leaving your body as the taller male suffocates you without it crossing his mind. “Xuxi-”

“Lucas, you’re suffocating her,” you heard Hendery complain as Xiaojun scoffs from where you used to be. “And this is why I didn’t want him hugging her. He isn’t going to let go.”

“Of course not, I haven’t seen her in decades.”

“I mean, duh,” you chuckled, “we haven’t been alive for more than three, barely passing the two mark.” You get back up and kick him in the thigh, “that’s for tackling me like a linebacker dumbass.”

“Tennie.”

“Don’t ever call me that again you bitch,” you laughed and gave him a hug when he walked over to you, a smirk on his face. “I’m being serious, what a horrible nickname.”

“It’s cute.”

“It’s horrid, disgusting, pitiful,” whacking you on top of your head, he acted offended while pulling away, “I can’t believe you’d treat me this way, after everything I’ve done for you.”

Ten was your trainer when you first got to Neo Culture, teaching you everything you know from hand to hand combat to weapons to large arms. Maybe he’s the reason as to why your personality resembles his too, you used to hang around him all the time.

With the time passing and catching up with the boys, you realized that it was time to talk to your students in tier two. You weren’t dreading the conversation but you definitely wanted to avoid it as much as possible since you just got back.

“I actually gotta go, as much as I don't want to,” you sighed as you moved away from Lucas’s hold, a small frown on his face. God, you didn't want to leave them already especially since you just got here but you needed to resolve the issue with your second tier students. “I need to resolve some issues with some of my students.”

“But you just got here,” Yangyang protested, his back facing you as he surveilled the food on the countertop.”"Since when are your students more important than me?”

“Screw the kids, just stay here,” you rolled your eyes at Ten, playfully hitting him on the shoulder as he pushed his glasses further up his nose. “I'm not joking; they should be fine. Plus, you taught them how to fight and you learned from the best; me.”

“You both are being selfish,” you say as you shake and turn to the youngest of the group. “And I never said they were more important, which technically they are, but I got my priorities sorted out.” You started walking towards the entrance of the living room.

“Ouch,” whispered Hendery, “could you be any more harsh?”

You ran a hand through your hair, looking at the second youngest with a tired look, “do you want me to be?” He raised his hands in defense as you turned to everyone but the two youngest. “Gimme a few hours and I'll be back. I'll see you guys later.”

Waving you off, you walked out of the living room and made your way towards your office in the D.R.E.A.M.S building.

#nct #nct 127 #nct u #nct dream #wayv #nct x reader #nct u x reader #nct dream x reader #wayv x reader #nct imagines #nct u imagines #nct 127 x reader #nct 127 imagines #wayv imagines #nct dream imagines #nct mafia #nct 127 mafia #nct dream mafia #nct u mafia #wayv mafia #nct mafia au #nct u mafia au #nct dream mafia au #nct 127 mafia au #wayv mafia au #nct scenarios #nct 127 scenarios #nct u scenarios #nct dream scenarios #wayv scenarios

[dzamie-oc]

11 - Holiday

i’m what the kids call tired

Length: 1500 words Rating: T (suggestive words, only kobolds are naked and they’ve got scales) Summary: Morning for a particular adventuring group, and it turns out there’s a holiday about slaying a dragon about. What an event.

-----

Falina groaned and shifted under the covers. A pair of somethings yawned, then snuggled back in against her, trapping one arm. Her mind paused for a moment, then, staying as still as possible, the human woman moved her free arm to carefully, tentatively feel what had latched onto her in her sleep. Scales. She felt the tough, but not unpleasant, texture of scales under her fingers. Opening her eyes, she found herself still in the room above the Adventurer’s Guild, with her elven partner still in his trance state against the wall.

A lump under the blankets shifted. The woman lifted them away, and found herself staring at a pair of jaws spread wide, baring a plethora of small, yet sharp teeth. Adrenaline surged through her body, and she reached for the knife on the table... when those jaws closed, revealing the face of a small, dragon-like creature with yellow scales and eyes to match, slowly blinking sleep from her eyes.

Right in front of her, Rinta sat up on her knees and stretched her arms up with a groan, giving Falina a good view of her bare scales. Then, the kobold leaned over, nudged the other lump in the blankets, and made some growling and hissing noises Falina assumed to be Draconic. A few moments later, a second, green head poked out of the covers. Kassar said something back to Rinta, but extracted himself from Falina’s bedspread and shook himself. The human looked at the yellow kobold, and noticed she was looking back at her. No, not at her - at the knife in her hand.

“A-ah,” Falina said, letting the weapon fall back onto the table. “Look, to my tired eyes, a yawning kobold looks a lot like a hungry dragon, especially a foot away from my face.”

To her surprise, the kobold smiled, and her tail swished back and forth excitedly, running into Falina’s leg. “Really? Oh, thanks!” She hopped off the bed and began to stretch the rest of her body, then looked back over at the human. “I’m glad your reaction time is lacking, then. I use magic best when there’s not a dagger buried in my scales.”

With her two apparent bedmates no longer on the bed, Falina threw the sheets off of herself and sat up, feet on the floor. With the kobolds having discarded their clothes before getting in her bed, she was relieved to find that her own garments were still on her. “Yeah, well, try not to yawn in my face once Arwyn and I hit silver rank. You’re not like the tales of evil kobolds passed around the Guild hall.” Falina pulled on pants, then a shirt, both a little baggy to conceal the tools of her trade. “So why were you two in my bed?”

“Why wouldn’t we be? You invited us to sleep with you last night,” Kassar chimed in, “something about it being cold.”

“I WHAT?!” Falina exclaimed. Off to the side, she heard Arwyn chuckling; the elf was evidently only feigning to still be in a trance.

“Yeah, I’m glad you’re warming up to us a bit,” the green lizard replied, “you’re very soft, by the way. I mean, obviously without scales, but still! Very comfortable.”

“I- with you two?!”

“Hm? What’s that supposed to mean?” Rinta said, scaly arms crossed over scaly chest. “We may not be dragons, but there’s no need for tha-”

“Ah, you younguns. Before we spill each other’s blood...” Arwyn interrupted, “Falina. They meant literally that they slept alongside you. Rinta, Kassar. In human slang, ‘to sleep with’ someone means to have sex with them.”

“Ohhh...” Kassar and Falina said.

Rinta huffed and put on her cloak. “That reaction was still rude.”

After they all got dressed, they opened the door of their room, ready to see what people needed helping and what creatures needed slaying. To their surprise, the hallway had been decorated with streamers, and they could hear raucous cheering and singing more clearly from the hall below.

“Oh, that’s right!” Falina said, “it’s Drachenfell today! Oh, we’re definitely taking a day to have fun.”

“Drachenfall?” Rinta asked. A human adventurer rushed past them, knocking her aside; in retaliation, she gripped her staff and growled at the receding hooligan, the glow in its crystal fading when a green-scaled hand pulled at her arm.

Falina pretended not to notice the interrupted spell, and instead explained, “yeah, about seventy or so years ago, a team of the king’s great knights slew the terrible dragon, uh...” She snapped her fingers a few times, trying to remember the name, and finally continued, “Kazerahad. And it happened close to here, so we celebrate it like it was entirely our doing.” With a proud grin, she crossed her arms and nodded. “Which, of course, it was, even if the knights came from other places.”

Arwyn tossed his dark brown hair. “Ah, and to your people, this is all ancient history, I’m sure.”

Two tails and a hand smacked the elf. “You’re forty, ‘gramps;’ nobody’s buying it,” Falina said.

Arriving in the food hall, the group broke off their conversation to grab a meal: meat for the kobolds, a salad for the elf, and eggs and toast for Falina, herself. They all reconvened at an empty spot at one of the tables. Next to them, a few adventurers with badges of copper or iron traded extremely true stories of the many, many dragons they, personally, had defeated, oftentimes without the aid of their party. Falina caught Rinta looking between her meat and the boisterous braggarts with a mischievous, hungry glint in her eye, so she reached over and tapped the kobold’s snout with the handle of her fork. “Hey, none of that. No fighting in the Guild Hall.”

“I wouldn’t call it a fight-”

“Not happening.”

Rinta still looked reluctant to give up her quarry, so Kassar spoke up. “So, this Drachenfall thing,” he started, “it commemorates the death of a dragon, in one of those ‘don’t be sad because it’s over, but happy because it happened’ things?”

“Well-” Arwyn started, but Rinta cut in.

“No, it probably started as a somber event, but over time got happier, because festivals are more fun than days of remembrance.”

Falina furrowed her brow. “No, it’s a celebration that the dragon died. There was a monstrous, fire-breathing beast terrorizing the city and devouring people, and the valorant knights saved the citizenry from its horrible hunger.”

“Ah... right,” Rinta said, her downward-curved horns seeming to reflect her mood. She tore off a bite of her breakfast and lethargically swallowed it in a few gulps. “So... maybe Kassar and I will take a small assignment or two, and leave you people off to celebrate the killing of Khazhra’ad.”

The human, for her part, felt like a bit of a jerk. She looked down at her own plate, idly listening to the roar of voices all around. The only one not downspirited seemed to be Arwyn, who finished off his salad before suggesting, “a pair of small, dragon-looking beings unaccompanied around town, on a day that’s, well, kind of about dragon slaying, and therefore probably has plenty of world-ignorant children and cocky teens with toy swords? I can’t say I like that combination.”

Rinta sighed. “Yeah, and beating or eating kids is a no-go, no matter what you think about my...” she cast a glance at the adventurers who were showing off scars that totally came from dragon fights and not accidentally stepping on a cat’s tail, before continuing, “... hunting desires. So, what then, Arwyn? Because if you think we should just stay in here all day, I’m gonna invite at least one of those humans to our room and have myself a snack.”

“We could go with them and try to forget the real theme of the holiday,” Kassar put forth. The others gave him strange looks: Arwyn looked impressed, Falina looked confused, and Rinta looked at him like he had renounced koboldhood and would be living as an alligator. So, the green kobold explained, “you said it yourself, there’s enough time for the celebrations to change. Besides, this is a pretty major thing, it seems; if we spend the day avoiding it, we’ll come up miserably short in our report to Azurel.”

Rinta gulped down the rest of her breakfast, and chased it with a swig of her drink. “Alright, for Azurel.”

Falina smiled, though her enthusiasm was still tempered by her earlier misstep. “Great to hear! So, we’d have to avoid... that, that... that one... probably there... oh! I know what to start with. You two can eat sugar and bread, right?”

Kassar shrugged. “We can eat just about anything. Our lack of gag reflex isn’t just for draconic pleasure.”

To the side, one of the noisy adventurers choked on his toast. Rinta leaned over and remarked, “another casualty of draconic superiority. Tragic.”

Falina shook her head at the yellow kobold, then leaned in conspiratorially to Kassar. “Well then, you’re about to learn the glory of funnel cake.”

#text #kobold #kobolds #ocs #oc: rinta #oc: kassar #oc: arwyn #oc: falina #writing #writers on tumblr

[lloydskywalkers]

call the police and the fireman

I have zero explanation for this except that during the rare occasion of me working on my original novel, it occurred to me that out of all the dragon characteristics Lloyd could have, I’ve been short-changing him on of the coolest ones possible. Also @ninjawhoa did not talk me down so here’s Lloyd ignoring his one brain cell. 

In his defense, Lloyd most certainly had not been trying to completely eviscerate the inside of his throat. That hadn’t been like, anywhere even remotely near the end goal. Was it something he'd wanted? No. Was it something he’d planned? Of course not, his plans aren’t that bad. Was it something he probably should have expected?

….well, maybe, but it’s too late now.

Way too late, Lloyd thinks to himself, as he finishes hiding the last specks of the incinerated fire alarm in the bathroom trash and immediately retreats to sticking his head beneath the running faucet again.

The thing is, though, smart as he normally is, Lloyd’s had it — well, he’s had it not so great, lately. It hasn’t been the easiest of times in his life, which is saying something, compared to the rest of it. So maybe he’d gotten a little too focused on the barest shred of good news he’d received during the entire thing, sue him.

You try being told you’ve actually been part-dragon your entire life, what would your first move be? And having grown up with dragons as a normal staple in his life, Lloyd’s had a whole lot of inspiration on that front.

In hindsight however, Lloyd thinks, as he tries not to cry over his poor, mutilated throat — he probably should’ve stuck with like, trying to give himself claws, or something. Or even the flying thing. The flying thing would’ve been way better.

The worst part is that it actually looked so stupid cool. Kai would lose his mind over how cool this is, and Lloyd can’t even show him, because he might lose his mind in an entirely different and much less enthusiastic way.

Lloyd tries for a tentative “hey guys”, and immediately doubles over in a bout of wheezing gasps, wishing he’d tried for the sweet bliss of unconsciousness-via-head-bashing instead.

Stuffing a towel in his mouth so the rest of the team doesn’t hear him hacking like a chronic smoker, Lloyd wonders 1) how long it’s going to take the green power to fix his throat, 2) how long he’s going to be able to get away with not speaking, and 3) how much of this he can blame on his great-grandmother before she vaporizes him.

He comes to the conclusion that he’s just gonna blame the whole thing on her.

******************************

Despite the circumstances they’d met under, Lloyd likes his great-grandmother. She’s pretty cool, as far as family members go, and he enjoys talking with her, even if ninety percent of their conversation ends up devoted to lecturing him about what “an absolute scumbag your great-grandfather was, child, truly the spawn of *garbled dragon curses*."

Actually, all their conversations tend to end that way, but Lloyd doesn’t mind too much. It’s kind of like if his great-grandparents has just divorced like normal people, instead of being otherworldly, immortal god-like beings who went to war with each other.

He hasn’t been talking to her for that long — it’d taken a lot of finagling the means of reaching the First Realm from his uncle, for one, and then he’d had to make sure he could get back home, of course. The whole thing ended up being pointless anyways, since his great-grandmother ended up coming to visit him, because he’s the only family member she hasn’t considered barbecuing at some point, apparently. (Yet.)  

“—and you do look just like your father, back when he didn’t take after your thrice-cursed *garbled dragon cursing* of a great-grandfather,” she had said, inspecting him with her large eyes. “I was quite fond of him, you know. He was a true terror, as I’m sure you are. Or perhaps not, you have a sweeter look in your face. It’s the cheeks, I think, you’re not nearly as threatening as he ever looked.”

“Um, thank you,” Lloyd had awkwardly replied, as he’d had little to no reference point of whether or not she genuinely liked him at the time, and was being extra-cautious, because certain recent familial encounters had left him with the mindset that it was best to believe everyone related to him probably wanted to murder him.

Fortunately, his great-grandmother was not one of those types.

“I don’t know about the wings, little one,” she’d informed him as he’d dangled upside from her tail, eyeing him mournfully. “You seem to take too much after your mother’s side.”

Lloyd had been less than thrilled with that response, but he’d swallowed his disappointment the best he could.

“Now the teeth, though,” she’d said, her eyes gleaming. “Those, we can work with.”

That was how the fire-breathing had come to be in the first place — which, as you should note, was entirely his great-grandmother’s idea. She’d reasoned that since Lloyd not only appeared to have manifested most of his dragon characteristics in his mouth, but also had a direct connection to the element of fire, he might be able to both successfully breathe fire and survive the attempt.

“Wait, there’s a chance I wouldn’t survive?” Lloyd had asked, blinking.

“You’re exhaling fire through your little mortal throat, hatchling. Of course there’s a chance you wouldn’t survive. A very small one, mind you — I happen to like you a good deal, and it’d be a terrible shame if all I was left with in the world was the rest of your *garbled dragon cursing* family.”

She had also reasoned that since Lloyd seemed to have an excellent handle on both languages — even if Dragon did sound like butchered yowling in his accent, she bemoaned — perhaps there was a connection with the throat there. At any rate, they had both agreed that Lloyd would be far more likely to breathe fire from his throat than he would be sprouting wings anytime soon.

Lloyd had deliberately mentioned absolutely none of this to his team. If Kai ever learns that he’d been warned dying was an option and continued to try it anyways…

Well, it’s breathing fire. Lloyd’s staking his hopes on Kai being so impressed with how cool it is that he totally forgets about all about murdering his reckless little brother.

******************************

While his great-grandmother gives him all sorts of throat exercises he’s supposed to do — apparently the actual fire’s supposed to come from his chest, but the throat will take the worst of it — he doesn’t get the chance to actually test it out until a week or two later, when he’s walking home alone from the grocery late one night.

All he’s picked up is an extra-large bag of M&M’s and like, four things of cereal, so Lloyd’s in good spirits as he crosses one of the older alleyways. He’s also relaxed enough for the first time in about three months to let his guard down a bit, so it’s a real shame that he immediately gets jumped by thugs the second he does.

“Hands up, kid, nice and easy,” the biggest guy says, waving his gun at him. “We don’t want any trouble, just your money.”

Lloyd bites back a retort. Yeah, sure, they can have all fifty of his cents he’s got left. Lloyd’s a real billionaire here, in his training shorts and Zane’s old sweatshirt, who’s even teaching these guys how to pick targets—

“He said hands up, kid!” the second guy barks at him, his own gun leveling out somewhere wildly above Lloyd’s shoulder. “And drop the bags, too!”

That has Lloyd scowling. He spent the last of his junk food money on this, he’s not leaving it on the city streets, gross. He sighs, shifting his arms and beginning to call up his power, when an idea hits him. Lloyd’s mouth curves into a deliberate smirk.

“Hey kid, we said — hey, stop that creepy grinning, we’re pointing a gun at you—”

Lloyd just grins wider, opens his mouth, and breathes an explosion of streaming flame toward their faces.

If he were his father, Lloyd would call out something terribly impressive, like “may my hellfire vanquish you back to the eternal pit of misery you crawled out of, foolish scum” — but he’s not his father, so he’s been figuring he’ll end up saying something along the lines of “stop right there, sucker” because he was raised by a bunch of teenagers with the combined schooling level of mid-high school.

Unfortunately, all he ends up actually saying is a bunch of strangled screaming, because he’s currently forcing a miniature bonfire through his throat, and wow, he definitely did not calculate how much this was actually going to hurt—

It does the trick, at least. The thugs’ faces lose all their color faster than he can blink, and they jump back screaming in terror, dropping all their guns in their haste to escape.

Lloyd would be cackling like he hasn’t since he was about nine, but he’s too busy trying not die inhaling smoke through his scorched throat.

“Son of — hngh—”

Smoke is billowing out from between his teeth now, and Lloyd sucks in a strangled wheeze, his eyes tearing up as the smoke stings against them. He feels like he’s swallowed a blast from Kai, his throat hurts so bad, but it doesn’t feel deadly. He can already feel the buzz of green power doing it’s job, and the pathetic whining noises he’s making reassure him that his vocal chords are still there, even if it feels like he’s flambéed them.

“Worth it,” Lloyd croaks through his abused, raw throat, before collapsing on the street and nearly passing out.

******************************

The next morning is awful. If Lloyd hadn’t developed such a high pain tolerance as he has, he’d be in serious trouble right now.

Not that it makes it any better, he thinks to himself, trying not to whine as he accidentally swallows, his throat vengefully reminding him that he tried to charbroil it last night.

“Morning, Lloyd,” Cole says cheerfully. Lloyd gives him a weak smile in return, adding a little wave for flair, and hopes it’s enough.

“How would you like your eggs?” Zane asks him. Lloyd jerks a shoulder up in a shrug, trying to look as tired as he can. If he can convince them that he’s just exhausted, instead of slowly dying inside because he breathed fire through his throat last night—

“I want scrambled,” Jay says through a yawn, saving Lloyd from Zane’s quizzical gaze. “Make ‘em all scrambled, Zane, with that cheese you use.”

“A ‘please’ would be appreciated once in a while,” Zane mutters, but he’s already reaching for the fridge again.

Lloyd grits his teeth, trying desperately to ignore how much his mouth tastes like ash. Like, actual ash, which is disgusting. Lloyd’s never gonna be able to eat burnt marshmallows again, which is a true tragedy.

The price you pay for being a badass, Lloyd thinks to himself mournfully.

Kai comes in about then, still scrubbing at his eyes, yawning as he sits next to Lloyd. “Sleep alright?” he asks, words mangled through the yawn.

Lloyd nods, then tries to hide the wince that runs through him as his throat twinges. He’s apparently unsuccessful, because Kai narrows his eyes at him, suddenly looking much more awake.

“Hey, are you okay?” he says, sounding concerned. “Talk to me, bud."

Lloyd bites his lip. If Kai keeps asking, the others are gonna start looking over, and then that’ll be more suspicious. Maybe he can just tell him he’s got a cough? Yeah, he can do that. Just one small sentence, a few little words. He can handle that.

“I’m—ngh—”

Lloyd’s voices catches on the first word, squeaks like a broken recorder, and then coughs a burst of bright fire across the breakfast table.

A chorus of high-pitched screaming rings out across the breakfast room, Cole and Jay jumping back from the flames as Nya and Zane rush toward him, quickly putting out the fire that’s caught the wooden table. Kai’s dancing around Lloyd as he doubles over in hacking coughs, sounding two seconds from a panicked breakdown.

“—coughed up fire, that was fire, Lloyd what the FSM was that?!”

“M’a dragon,’member?” Lloyd wheezes, as he’s stared down by his family’s terrified faces. He coughs again, waving at the tiny puff of smoke that comes out, before giving them a shaky grin. “S’cool, right?”

He’s met with five blank stares.

“Oh dear,” Zane finally says, looking like he’s come to the conclusion that Lloyd is going to kill himself with this. Which is rude, Lloyd can’t be cool as heck if he’s dead.

“This is worse than the lightbulbs,” Cole says, faintly.

“Lloyd, how,” Nya breathes into her hands.

“Dude that’s sick!” Jay bursts out in excitement, immediately cementing his place as one of Lloyd’s favorite people ever. “You can breathe fire, what the heck!”

Kai shakes his head at him in awe, his voice reverent. “That’s so cool, that’s not eve—ennn oh my god he’s dying—!”

Kai’s excitement turns to a horrified shriek as Lloyd coughs up a mouthful of blood.

“S’okay,” Lloyd croaks, waving everyone off they crowd him, wiping at his mouth. “S’normal too. Throat’s just raw. It heals up after a bit.”

He’s met by five of the most unimpressed stares he’s seen all month.

“I’m making you a doctor’s appointment,” Zane sighs, tapping at his phone. “And you’re going over this with Sensei Wu.”

“And you’re not breathing fire anymore,” Cole scolds, eyebrows furrowed in worry.

“Without us,” Jay adds. Cole elbows him, and he scowls. “What? C’mon, this is super cool.”

“Jay,” Nya says, a warning in her voice.

Jay laughs nervously. “I mean, super dangerous, haha! Real, uh, really dangerous. You’re coughing up blood, that’s bad.”

Kai hovers by his shoulder, still looking torn between dreadful concern, overbearing overprotectiveness, and most importantly, an vicious kind of curiosity.

As Lloyd had hoped it would, curiosity wins out. “D’you think it’d work with me?” he finally asks him, a gleam in his eyes. “Since I can control fire, do you think I could breathe it too—”

“No,” Zane says, quickly.

“Absolutely not,” Nya says flatly. “Not a chance. Neither of you are going to try anything else with fire. If I catch you coughing up smoke, you’re both toast.”

Lloyd and Kai both nod dutifully.

“Of course,” Lloyd assures her, through a creaking rasp.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Kai echoes.

******************************

Nya storms out of the monastery at one a.m. that night to find both Kai and Lloyd in the middle of the training field, half the dummies burning down and both sprawled out on the ground. Lloyd is still hacking smoke up, having been responsible for the flames on the right side. Kai is on his hands and knees, his face pale and sweaty, responsible for the fires smoldering on the left. In terms of breathing fire, he’s only been able to trigger his gag relax about seven times, but in terms of enthusiasm, he’s contributed to the blaze on the whole by boosting Lloyd’s flames by eighty percent.

Nya spends about forty-five minutes alternating between yelling at them and dousing them with twin jets of water from her hands. Neither Kai or Lloyd mind getting sprayed by that point, but the yelling definitely doesn’t do wonders for the headaches they’ve both got from smoke inhalation.

******************************

After that fiasco, Lloyd is officially banned from breathing fire, influencing anyone else to try and breathe fire, or even mention breathing fire.

Lloyd declares that this is a prejudiced offense against him being half-dragon.

“You are a prejudiced offense against the entire health world on the whole,” Zane glares at him, tying off the last of the bandages he’s been wrapping around his throat. Lloyd makes a face at him. The bandages are overkill, and Zane knows it — all the damage is on the inside, anyways.

Next to them Nya is still chewing out Kai, who’s steadily chugging at the glass of water Cole forced on him. “I don’t care if you think you’re fireproof, and I don’t care if you—” she stabs an accusatory finger at Lloyd. “Have special elemental powers that’ll heal you eventually. If I so much as see a spark of fire from either of you, anywhere near your mouth, I’m going to super-soak you with the illegal water gun Jay built last summer.”

Kai and Lloyd pale in unison. Kai speaks up hesitantly, “Wouldn’t it just be easier if you hit us with your powers—”

“No,” Nya hisses, her eyes flashing murder. “Because it’s making a point. It’s the water gun of shame.”

Kai and Lloyd exchange commiseratory glances.

Cole and Jay don’t say much until Nya and Zane have wandered from the room, at which point they surge forward, eyes gleaming.

“Tell me you got video of it,” Jay whispers.

Kai grins. “Duh. Wait ’til you see what he did to the balance beams.”

******************************

After that, unfortunately, Lloyd really does have to stop breathing fire. Mostly because he’d like to be able to speak again without doubling over in wheezing coughs, but also because Nya’s legitimately terrifying with her water gun.

Also because Kai’s too scared of Nya as well, so Lloyd’s lost his claim to a bad influence.

Ah well, Lloyd mopes to himself. It’s a nice card to have up his sleeve in a pinch, he guesses, but clearly it was never meant to be a natural thing. He’s just too human. (Or too Oni — maybe that’s influencing it? He’ll have to ask his great-grandmother, next time she goes off on another rant about them.)

The important point is, he has every intention of not doing it again. Every intention.

But then he visits his father in prison again, because his dad’s chatty like that now, apparently. Which isn’t a terribly bad thing on its own, because Mr. Self-Proclaimed (or was it Harumi-proclaimed?) Emperor Garmadon has at least mellowed out a bit since the whole “wreck half the city in a rage” thing. And Lloyd’s been called here in person to check out the new security measures they put up, so he does have a good reason.

No, the breaking point comes when Lloyd’s trying to leave in peace, and his terrible dad of a father decides to make some snarky comment about how “boringly quiet you are today”, like Lloyd’s supposed to be his entertainment, or something.

Normally Lloyd would just ignore it and storm off, but his throat’s been killing him this whole time, and the vein in the upper right corner of his forehead is throbbing just a little too much. So instead of leaving, he whirls on his father, eyes flashing as he growls. Garmadon’s teeth bare, prepared to snap at him, and Lloyd opens his mouth to snap right back—

And promptly breathes a campfire’s worth of bright flames at him instead.

Lloyd claps a hand over his mouth in horror as the flames blossom out against the glass barrier, before doubling over in ragged coughs, smoke streaming through his fingers. A clamoring of alarms goes off, and that’s the only warning Lloyd gets before the emergency sprinklers come on, soaking both him and his father. At least they’ll hide the brimming tears from the smoke in his eyes, Lloyd thinks miserably, watching as his gi soaks through.

Garmadon is dead silent. He stares at him with wide eyes, his mouth hanging slightly open. He closes his mouth, blinking twice, his jaw working. Then, finally— “That is undeniably unfair,” he growls. “She taught you how to do that? I’ve been begging her since I was six.”

Despite the intense agony his throat is in, Lloyd beams. “It’s so cool, right?” he says, his voice sounding like a malfunctioning blender. “Totally awesome. No idea why she wouldn’t teach you. Must suck to be—”

Lloyd doesn’t get to gloat much more than that, because he starts wheezing again and the security guards come drag him out “for his own safety”, but for the look on his dad’s face?

So worth it.

#lego ninjago #ninjago #lloyd garmadon #kai smith #nya smith #the whole squad's there but mostly just lloyd #and his great grandma #the alternate title was 'lloyd's too hot (hot damn)' dont judge me #my fic

[mudwingpropaganda]

Princess Sunny of the SandWings (and NightWings)

Sweet. The line that haunts Sunny yet it’s the quickest way for an onlooker to describe her. Sunny has so much weight to her. So much underminding to her character outside and within the canon. The baby SandWing Mary Sue that precedes Qibli (back when Tui could actually write a believable story about one individual being so vitally important to the fate of the entire world. I feel like things went way too perfectly for Sunny in the end. It went from everyone disregarding her to everyone immediately giving her her full respect. Sunny’s idealism was rewarded, and she didn’t quite get the satisfying splash of realism to set in quite as I would have liked. 

A splash of realism shall be below the button.

Design headcanons

The smallest and stoutest of the Dragonets of Destiny. She has a more munchkin cat build and is honestly quite stubby and humorous as opposed to the intimidating dragons she stands shoulder to shoulder with among the ranks of ending the SandWing War of Succession.

She’s designed in a similar likeness to a sun beetle, a brown and yellow beetle that I thought perfectly captured her not quite sandy SandWing design nor nightish NightWing design. She has a gaudy, buggish appearance, with nicked horns like a beetle and iridescent undersides to her wings.

Sunny is small, but tough. Hardy and quick. She’s surprisingly agile and almost impervious to being flung at things or falling from things....

She was always poked at by the Guardians, questioned for her misshapen appearance and lack of venom or generally intimidating features. Admittedly, Dune did take her in, feeling a sense of responsibility to watch over this malformed SandWing and make sure she didn’t feel too inferior. He feigned pride over his scars from an ugly war and told her that the odder the SandWing looked, the more they were a force to be reckoned with. Though he never voiced this softness in front of the other Guardians.

Sunny has the brightest scales out of her siblings, somewhat shiny and golden, as stated in the book. A treasure she takes great pride in, because it was nothing that the Guardians could take away or eat, like her sparkly stones and her strange crawfish.

Implications of Heritage 

Going all the way back, Sunny is related to Queen Diamond and Prince Arctic, she’s related to Darkstalker and Whiteout, she has animus blood in her veins, and also the plainest common folk of SandWings on her mother’s side. 

There’s something odd about how no one really acknowledges how Sunny was so close to being an animus. But I guess when your story has so many magical dragons, being “almost magic” doesn’t quite cut it anymore. Her father was a rogue NightWing who ran away feeling guilty over things that didn’t even really seem to happen? He ran away from his tribe, his family, and his life, a coward.

Sunny doesn’t think much of her father. He’s given up on everything, too stuck in his own dwelling and self detriment to do anything worthwhile. 

Now Queen Thorn... Thorn is a ruthless mob boss who killed a child to intimidate two other children. But it’s okay, because the Scorpion Den has some odd order that sounds like it’s lovely, in reality, where children eat first and get the freshest water. As long as you don’t mouth off Thorn.Thorn should be Sunny’s foil. A dragoness who gave up on pacifism because she’s seen the reality of the world. She thinks that there is no other way but violence. And, unfortunately, she butts heads with her daughter and thinks of her as naiive and unsuccessfully hopeful for the future, despite proving her wrong with the end of the war.

Sunny being a Princess is a fate that she, personally, denies. She focuses on her own school and her friends, for her parents make it difficult for her to take pride in her heritage. There’s NightWing traitor and a criminal SandWing she made the Queen. Who has the love of her people because of her intimidation? But not her intimidation. She’s also a good person?

Sunny sees through her and understands who she is and where she came from. But she doesn’t believe in peace through non-violence. And for that, she stays out of her line of sight, letting children who do look up to her feign royalty, like Qibli. 

Miscellaneous thoughts

Sunny’s real name is “Sun Beetle.” One of Thorn’s favorite options when she mused the name ideas to her dragons. She tapped Sunny’s egg and called the hatchling inside her Beetle and when Dune reluctantly snatched her egg for the sake of the prophecy, without missing a beat, he told the other guardians the hatchling would be named Sun Beetle. Eventually, growing up with her siblings, it was condensed to sweet little Sunny, where most people know her by.

Sunny is an optimist, despite the world beating her to the point where she even does begin to doubt herself. She’s been shown the ugliness of the world, the pain dragons go through, the mental manipulations parents will put their children through, and she remains hopeful despite of it. Yet, when she does feel like the world is getting too much for her, she always confides in Clay. He’s not the most articulate when it comes to comforting, but his warm hugs and ear to listen (and later on his growing knowledge of physical and mental health) truly does help her cope with the small terrors of the war she experienced after a totally sheltered life.

Sunny ends up being the Headmaster of Jade Mountain Academy. Less so a school focused on “founding peace” but more directed towards unbiased teaching of history, lore, and information about dragon biology. She avoids teaching any form of violence and shies away from the most recent history, due to controversy among the child soldiers who are still traumatized from the war and their eventual children who only know the terrible stories they tell. She focuses on the shared history between the tribes that went relatively unspoken while the tribes were versed in propaganda and hatred for their enemies.

Sunny is terrified of animus dragons. She will never admit it, but the idea of being related to Darkstalker, to Stonemover, to have that itch for power and domination and window or manipulation crawling in her veins... it terrifies her. She loves Anemone and understands the struggle she goes through and wants to be a good aunt figure for her, but she can’t help but be unnerved when she’s around her. Something that makes her feel guilty and selfish for.

Sunny avoids most royalty, not wanting to be seen as a universal peacekeeper from now until the rest of time. She has been through enough and wants to focus on her true passions nowadays. But she is a main consultant for her sibling Queen Glory. She senses that Glory genuinely appreciates her opinions and has grown past her snappy, cutting-her-off nature and is more thoughtful and considerate now that she doesn’t have anything to prove.

LGBT+ headcanons

Sunny is aromatic, asexual, and genderless! She still uses she/her pronouns, but she finds gender irrelevant and doesn’t quite appreciate gender roles or expectations put upon the dragons of Pyrrhia, especially with the toxic beliefs of royalty. She is simply comfortable in her own scales despite everyone in her life trying to tell her otherwise.

She is also immensely comfortable not feeling romantic attraction for other dragons. Like Clay, the bonds of friendship she makes with her siblings is already worth so much to her, and the idea of being able to be a good rolemodel for the dragonets of Jade Mountain and the future is much more fulfilling to her. 

#wingsoffire #wings of fire #wof #sunny wof #wof sunny #wof sandwing #wof nightwing #sandwings #nightwings #wof redesign #sebastiowu #enigmew

[red-the-dragon-writes]

Treasure Hunting

Context: I agreed to write a few "explores" for an art game I play on DeviantArt, Fields of Valhalla. Doe is an intrepid treasure-hunting deer who has recently figured out how to break into dragons' homes and rob them blind go looking for treasure in dragons' lairs. There wound up being several thousand words of this, and three separate stories. As well as an art piece!

Listed here are three stories in one series.

Doe delicately stepped into the cave and ducked her head to avoid banging it on the ceiling. This close she could already tell that there was a dragon in here. Or, something, at the very least- but she figured it was most likely a dragon. She’d never seen a troll leave deep scratches in the wall and carve a fireplace out in the same space, at the very least, and trolls usually at least bothered with doors. And didn’t live in caves. No, this was definitely a dragon lair.

She’d come to see if she could steal away with an egg. It’d make for a spectacular prize, for sure; and to be honest she mostly just wanted to see if she could find one. What bragging rights that would make for; how fitting it would be. After all, if anyone were to return triumphant with a dragon egg from a trip, it should be her.

She made her quiet way into the darkness of the recessed cave and marveled at how neatly laid out it was. She hadn’t been in terribly many dragon caves before, but enough to know that most of their hidey-holes were kind of a… mess, really. Muddy or dirty, full of dust, for sure. Treasures scattered about on the ground, ripe for the taking, as though they were just haphazardly dropped trash and not spectacular jewels or pieces of gold. They were kind of sloppy. Doe always thought that it seemed kind of like a shame, that they kept their lairs in such disrepair, but it really wasn’t her problem at the end of the day. And the mess made it easier to slip a handful of precious treasures into her sack and be on her way, even if she found a dud hole and there weren’t any eggs in it.

She tiptoed deeper, the cave getting darker and darker as she went. There were little side passages clotted with stalactites, wet and dripping, but it looked like the main body of the cave had been cleared away. The floor was smooth and easy to walk on, and the ceiling was free of any dripping spikes though she could see that water was still running down the sides in little rivulets in places. It must have been an awfully uncomfortable, damp place to live. She still saw no treasures, but far off in the distance, dancing upon the walls, she could see firelight.

Well that was bad news.

Doe crept closer to the chamber that the firelight was coming from and then nearly flattened herself into the wall, getting dust and cave water all smudged into the pretty white fur along the ridge of her back and her sides. It was a massive central area. Smelled like someone was cooking something, spicy, almost like human foods. Maybe she was in the wrong place after all. And above the crackling of whatever massive cooking fire had been in there someone was humming.

Carefully, very nervously, Doe stuck her head around the corner to look into the chamber.

Hunched over what looked like a pot of stew, back to her, was a massive dragon. Its lizardlike body was perched upon a long stool, and it was standing up on its back legs, stirring a pot nearly twice Doe’s size and sprinkling leaves into it from what looked like the largest salt shaker Doe had ever seen in her life. The dragon itself was dark blue, with lighter blue feet; but where the firelight touched it it shone a brilliant red, almost brighter than the fire itself.

Tucked away into the corner, behind it, sitting in their own cheerily burning fire, was a large clutch of what looked to be nearly fifteen eggs. Each one was leathery, almost soft-looking, with a strange moving shape visibly shining through from the fire underneath. As she watched, one of them twitched and shook as the—what must have been the baby dragon inside rolled around in the egg, stretching out softly like a sleeping creature.

Doe took a step forward, to get a better look— and there. At this angle she could see the treasure hoard of the dragon as well, a neatly organized shelf filled with trinkets and pieces of gold and jewels taking up nearly a third of the room. Doe had never seen a neatly organized dragons’ hoard before, but it was neat. Still, with the dragon awake and active, she didn’t think it would be wise to sneak in there and try to grab anything—

Sitting on the shelf was what looked like nearly twenty Odin’s Eye tokens. With that many— she could have riches she never dreamed of. Gifts and items she could never have even heard of. That would be a prize worth having, for absolute sure.

She took another step into the room, as quietly as she could, and attempted to tiptoe her way across to the shelf; but she stepped on a discarded bone halfway over to the shelf and the dragon abruptly stopped humming to turn around. Up close, its face was scaly and reptilian, and its luminous eyes struck terror into her heart as they fixed directly onto her. The dragon roared, and Doe panicked.

She grabbed whatever was in reach and hightailed it the hell out of the cave, sprinting as fast as she could as the dragon came hot on her heels, scurrying across the ceiling and bellowing in fury the entire time. She got the fur on her back singed when it spat fire and fury at her, but her luck was great, and she made it out without dying. Once outside, she hid in a copse of trees, struggling not to shake, and the dragon looked around for her fruitlessly, squinting its big eyes against the burning sun, before eventually giving up and shaking its head and walking back into its lair.

That was terrifying.

Doe glanced into her heavy bag, laden with treasures. Well. She was probably never coming back here again, but the trip hadn’t been a total bust. Not by a long shot.

-

Story 2: Close Encounters of the Reptilian Kind

Doe tightened up her sack and headed out to the newest dragons’ den she’d scouted out. She was still on the hunt for an egg, of course; but this one was settled on the shores of one of the deepest, fastest rivers, and it was rumored that gold could be found there like common stones. Doe hoped this meant she could find jewelry, or pieces of precious metals, in the dragons’ lair. They were known for keeping large, messy hoards of gold and treasures, after all; and what greater treasure could there be than delicate pieces of jewelry? And what would suit her better, of course, than elegantly crafted, sparkling jewelry?

As such, Doe packed a nice, big, sturdy bag, something she could take heavy items without much difficulty in. She was hoping to walk out with it laden so full she could hardly even walk. That would be only fair, after all the work she’d put in to get the location of the lair.

The dragon that lived in this lair was a water creature, long and lanky. In the hopes of avoiding the same situation she’d run into last time, she’d sat herself outside and waited for the long black dragon to carefully emerge from its lair, straighten up, and then take a breath and dive into the river for a good swim. It should be out all day; or at least she would hope it would be. The creature was ugly and sharp-scaled, narrow in the face and the body, serpentine aside from the wickedly curved long legs that ended in talons almost like that of a hawk. It was a thoroughly alarming monster. She’d rarely seen a dragon that looked nearly as… predatory, as designed to hurt and cause harm. But it looked like an eel that had been turned into a dragon; and Doe was not a fan of eels either. So perhaps she was just biased. Maybe it just looked like a perfectly normal sea creature with jagged, jutting teeth and massive jaws and tiny, beady eyes that never blinked.

No, Doe had not wanted to find herself stuck in the half-collapsed structure with that thing inside it. She waited for it to leave. And once it had left, she slipped inside.

This lair was some half-sunken ruin, the remnant of some building that the ancient humans who had lived in this area had once made. It was, in its prime at least, a castle, white stone reaching up into the sky. Now the spiralling towers had collapsed, and weather had worn the once-bright stones, nearly the same color and sheen as Doe’s fur, down to a dull gray-green and brown. There was water all coating the uneven stone brick floor, and her hooves splashed and echoed loudly down the hall. Plants were growing through the broken windows, and vines hung lowly from the damaged ceiling. In places, Doe could still see faded paintings on the walls; but in others the paint had flaked off, or been peeled off. Here there was a mural of a knight, sitting astride a massive rukaan; the knight was battling with a massive creature. It was too faded and damaged for Doe to really make out the details, but the face of the knight had clearly been intentionally scratched off and defaced.

Doe figured that if she were a horrible gross monster, and she were living alongside a painting of some human killing a horrible gross monster like her, she might try and deface that painting, too. That was kind of sad, actually. She took an experimental swing at the painting with one hoof, and a big sheet of the paint fractured and fell to the ground, splashing into the muddy water.

Oh, okay. That was going to be noticed. Uh, hm. That wasn’t smart.

Doe decided to hurry up and go get her treasure instead of standing around looking at the scenery, after that. Everywhere there was the clear, crystal evidence of this being a dragon’s lair, of course. There were scratches on anything tall enough and sturdy enough to serve as a scratching post, and discarded scales sat in the shallow water. Finally she made it into what must’ve been the primary cavern of the dragon’s lair, a once-resplendent banquet hall that had clearly fallen into disrepair. Rotting wooden tables were stacked along one wall, and looked to have been made into a sort of rough bed, fur pelts and straw and fallen leaves stacked atop the cracked top of the highest one. Piled in one corner was a massive, shimmering hoard of old coins and precious stones, and perched on the very top of the pile was a spectacular set of golden armor, and a crown fit for a king. The armor was a bit big for her, but clearly made for a rukaan; the crown was far too small and probably meant for a human. Doe shoved it into her bag regardless, struggling to pull the armor onto her back; it was fortunately tied together in a bundle but unfortunately rotten and nearly falling apart at the seams regardless of the fact that the metal wasn’t even tarnished. It might have been ceremonial. Gold didn’t make great armor, did it? But she would look good in it, and everyone else would be jealous. And that was good enough for her, really.

Doe filled her bag with riches and went looking around for a nest or clutch of eggs, just in case, but she found none; and then she made her way out. While she was walking back through the watery halls she heard a loud, echoing splash, and then what sounded like massive footsteps; and in a panic Doe flattened herself into an alcove. There was no place to go, after all, and her hoofsteps were loud and obviously wrong. She found herself frozen, rooted to the spot, after realizing that. Oh, no, oh, no, she was doomed.

She realized abruptly she was right across from the mural she’d kicked, too. Even better. Oh no. It was going to know she was in there.

Before long the lanky creature pulled itself into the room, half swimming, half crawling on its belly. It didn’t see her, or at least it didn’t seem to; it came to pull itself up to its full height, looking at the mural quizzically. Doe held her breath in true, real panic. She could feel her body starting to shake. It was so close, and so big, its talons hooked and nearly as long as her head, and its teeth were even more jagged and dangerous up close, and it clearly could snap her up in one bite—

The dragon turned around to fix Doe with a clear, surprisingly intelligent look. She made terrified eye contact with it.

It nodded once, and went on its way.

Minutes after it left Doe finally relaxed enough to let out the breath she’d been holding and stumbled her way back out to freedom. She— she’d clearly taken some of its treasure. Did it just not care? Did it not notice? It definitely saw her. What did any of this mean?

Doe decided to leave that part out when she told this story. Because really. What on earth.

-

Story 3: Cooperation

This latest lair was an abandoned building again, once the cavernous hall of a giant and now the half-collapsed hidey-hole of a small dragon. Doe wasn’t sure if it was just young or if it was only about the size of a large ruk, but either way was cool by her. Maybe its hoard would be small, but she was confident that it had giants’ treasures in that building of its.

Besides, she’d seen it a few times, and it was a pretty thing, bright blue spangled with gold and silver like the sky. It reminded her of a kingfisher, really, the few times she’d seen it, skittish and delicate with broad wings and a narrow, delicate body. It was currently sitting perched atop the intact part of the roof, staring off into the sky as though it could see something more interesting than she could, something more than just the full moon and the stars sparkling brightly. Its eyes were fixed straight up. It had been doing this for nearly three hours. Doe had expected it to take off, but it hadn’t.

She waited a few more long moments, and then abruptly out of nowhere the sparkling creature sat bolt upright, glancing around nervously. It let out a loud caw, almost like that of a crow, and then a high pitched roar that sounded like it were mimicking the calls of larger dragons. Then it spread its wings, shuffled about a bit, and took off into the air. It made a loop in the sky, around the moon; and then it was gone, blending into the night sky as though its shimmering scales were made for this. It probably was, Doe realized after a second, watching what she thought were its wings flap into the distance. It sure looked like just a cluster of shooting stars.

Nonetheless, with the beautiful creature gone, she was free and clear to go break into its home and steal from it. Er. Explore. Explore its home. And steal from it.

Doe stood up, shaking herself, and went to walk through the long stretch of dark, craggy forest to make it to the dragon’s lair. She kept an eye turned to the skies to make sure it wasn’t coming back, and fortunately it didn’t, and she made her way up to the half-collapsed building with little issue. Up close it stank of mildew and rust, strong and disgusting, and it was cold and icy atop the peaks like it was. The wind blew so much more strongly it was unreasonable. Doe ducked inside the uncovered doorway and into the building, and then quickly realized she’d made a mistake as she looked at the blocked path in front of her. There was a little hollow arch, something she could maybe get through, but it was nearly flat to the ground. Evidently the dragon used that on the regular, but Doe’s legs weren’t designed to bend that way, and she didn’t see a way through. She stuck her head through it, struggling to push herself through, but eventually had to admit defeat after nearly getting herself stuck and hearing the whole of the partially-collapsed roof, leaning on the ground and above her, creak and groan as she struggled to free herself. If that came down, she would be dead, her spine broken. It wasn’t worth it.

She went back outside and let herself in from one of the broken windows instead, neatly making it in without having to worry about the broken segment. It wasn’t great, and she scraped herself up on the sides on the broken glass- evidently there was a reason that the dragon didn’t use that method of entry- but they weren’t serious wounds, and she would be just fine. Finally she made it to the central hall, freezing and shaking from cold, dripping little droplets of blood onto the stained and half-frozen floor. Not so triumphant. But surely the treasures would warm her heart, even if they wouldn’t warm her poor frozen ears or her poor freezing hooves.

But when she made it to the central room, fire cheerily burning in the cracked hearth, there was no treasure. The room was almost totally bare. There was clearly a little nest in the corner, built up with sticks and twigs and what looked like scraps of fur it had collected from somewhere, and there was a dead wolf lying in front of the fire. There was maybe twelve kroner lying in the center of the room on the floor. Probably the beginnings of this dragon’s hoard. It really must have been very young after all.

Doe sighed, and went to dig around in the halls. Maybe she could find some treasures the dragon had failed to turn up.

It turned out she was right. After nearly hours of searching, occasionally returning to the center room to warm herself up a bit more, she finally stumbled across what must have been a weapons cache that hadn’t been cleared underneath a rotten section of collapsed ceiling. She could see the glimmering red-gold and steel, still bright after all the exposure to the weather; but the debris was heavy and hard for her to get a grip on. She couldn’t free it, and she was starting to get seriously concerned about really hurting herself if she tried. Every time she shoved a piece of the rotting wood or collapsed brick over, the entire structure groaned and twisted, and the more she moved, the more unstable it seemed.

Then, horrifyingly, while she was tugging at a board with her teeth, she heard flapping overhead; and looked up at the gaps in the ceiling to see the eyes of the sparkling sky-dragon looking down at her curiously.

“Oh no,” Doe mumbled.

The dragon glanced at her, and then looked at the room she was digging at, and then fluttered down to the ground alongside her and struggled to grab the other end of the board Doe was pulling at. Doe registered that after a second and renewed her efforts.

Between the two of them, they were able to much more easily clear the path, though there was a scary moment when half the bricks behind them came down. Fortunately, they didn’t block the hall; but Doe jumped and pranced nervously, and the dragon took off and fluttered back to the ground after a couple seconds. It made a quiet coo at Doe after it landed, and she ducked her head and snorted reassuringly. On that note they went back to work, by mutual agreement.

The giant weapons, once they were cleared out, were far too big for Doe to even try to carry them out. There were flails and axes, heavy swords and massive knives, and even the smallest of them was too big to fit into Doe’s pack. The dragon watched in mild consternation while she struggled to take them, before eventually lifting one of the massive heavy tools and dragging it back to the central room without much of a care. Doe went to help with that, because even if she wasn’t walking out with the treasure the dragon sure seemed to want her help with getting it; and there, lo and behold, on the ground below the sword she’d picked up, was one small heap of gold coins sitting in the rotted remains of what had probably been a massive money-pouch. Doe scooped it into her bag, hoping the dragon wouldn’t notice, and then went back to dragging the weapons in to sit near the hearth.

When they had all been dragged in, the dragon chirped happily, sounding for all the world like a bird. Then it ducked its head to its chest, and carefully plucked one of the golden shimmering scales from its breast with both hands. It held it out to Doe shakily in what was clearly a demonstration of thanks.

Doe took it carefully and set it in its pouch, and she could’ve sworn the dragon smiled at her before curling up atop its new pile of weapons.

When she got home and could see it in better light, the dragon’s scale wasn’t gold at all. It glimmered, iridescent, in the light, and sparkled as though it held the entirety of the night sky in it. It looked gold on first impression, or maybe silver, but if she looked closer, she could see spots of pure black shining through, and bright gold and white and blue, and if she looked any closer than that she started getting dizzy, as though she were going to fall into it. Truly, she’d never seen anything like it.

And this is a model of the dragon's scale, made in Blender!

#my writing #red writes #doe #dragons #fields of valhalla

[dicapriho]

Important quotes to take from this article, that sums up perfectly why Daenarys’ treatment in season 8 was so heartbreaking..(long post with bullet points for easy reading):

Game of Thrones is "a world where women are often treated as disposable objects, Daenerys outwitted and overpowered her male enemies. As the sole protagonist in her own storyline, far from the rest of the characters, she was set up to be one of the few unambiguously [female] heroic figures in the series."

"in just a few episodes, she quickly transformed from a woman who has prided herself on saving the downtrodden to one who burns the innocent."

"[Daenerys’] treatment this season from the makeup of the writers’ room: The writers and directors on the show have always been overwhelmingly male, and women were shut out of both writing and directing jobs for every episode in season 8."

"Throughout her life, Daenerys has shown a commitment to justice...She freed the slaves in Meereen... When Drogon burned one child, she chained up her other two dragons, leaving herself more vulnerable...She put her fight for the Iron Throne on pause to fight in Jon’s war against the White Walkers [in the North where she knew she would feel unwelcome]."

"She was called the “Breaker of Chains” for a reason. When she misstepped, we forgave her, as we forgave, say, Tyrion for strangling Shae." [And Jon for killing a child for betraying him!]

“Daenerys has certainly used “Dracarys” to punish plenty of people during her reign... she always gave some compelling reason for doing so.”

She first used her dragon’s fire to kill a warlock who tried to imprison her, and again against a slaver who tried to cheat her...she crucified all the masters in retaliation for them having killed slave children — but they had killed children...She burned all the Khals who were threatening to keep her as a slave or rape her, or both."

Dany’s advisors gave awful advice:

"Daenerys agreed to make Tyrion her hand because Tyrion said he “knew things”...specifically, he claimed to know how to make alliances in Westeros and exploit people’s hate of Cersei in order to put Daenerys on the throne. Except, Tyrion did…none of that."

"...when did Tyrion convince a single lord that if they joined their side, they could get a new title and nice castle and see the land’s most hated woman [Cersei] burned to a crisp? Never."

"...what Tyrion did do: Try to cut a deal with slavers that would have kept slavery legal for a longer period of time, until Daenerys decided to burn their ships instead; convince Dany not to fly to King’s Landing and burn the Red Keep, which would have resulted in far fewer Kings Landing deaths; come up with the horrible plan to capture a wight that almost got Jon killed and lost Daenerys a dragon and still didn’t earn Cersei’s allegiance; convince Daenerys to trust Cersei, who has never proven herself to be trustworthy; forget to remind Daenerys that Euron and the Iron Fleet would almost certainly be waiting near Dragonstone, thus losing Daenerys another dragon; free Jaime from captivity in an effort to help both his brother and Cersei escape death at Daenerys’ hands..."

"Don’t even get me started on Varys, who didn’t write a single letter to a single lord to gain intel against Cersei or an ally for Dany but did find time to spread the word about Jon’s true parentage...”

“Tyrion and Varys were supposed to be her helpers. They failed her. Instead of owning up to this and realizing the part they have both played, Tyrion and Varys begin to worry that Daenerys is a flawed ruler exactly because she’s losing faith in them over their terrible decisions."

On the Sansa v Dany struggle:

"...The writers of the show cited much more petty reasons for their [Sansa and Dany's] conflict: “[Daenerys is] also very pretty, and how much does that factor in? Sansa starts off this season very suspicious and not at all friendly with Dany.”"

Her Isolation:

"In the last few episodes, Daenerys finds herself envying the love that Jon’s people feel for him...it’s destabilizing for her to arrive in Westeros and find that people are not eager to see her. Why, exactly, the Northerners don’t appreciate her dragons — without which they could not have defeated the Army of the Dead...."

"Daenerys rightfully glowers at Jon as his countrymen celebrate the fact that he mounted a dragon a couple of times when Dany has been riding one for years [Not to mention she is the first Targaryen in hundreds of years to have successfully mothered & raised/trained dragons]...In a mission to make Dany feel as isolated as possible, the show killed off her closest advisors, Jorah and Missendei."

"Daario is controlling Slaver’s Bay in her absence. Yara Greyjoy is sworn to her. In theory, the new Prince of Dorne would be allied with her since Daenerys struck a pact with Ellaria Sand. Daenerys could have called on any of these allies when she faced Cersei’s army but didn’t — simply because the show needed her to be alone ."

On Missandei:

"Game of Thrones fridged Missandei. There’s no other way to put it. Her capture and death happens just so Daenerys would feel isolated. The fact that the writers turned the only major black female character on the show into a device to motivate Daenerys feels even more cringeworthy."

"The fairly quick transition from complicated hero to totally mad villain leaned heavily on an oft-repeated line: “every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin”. But should Daenerys’ Targaryen blood necessarily doom her? After all, Jon is half Targaryen, too. So why does he get to sit comfortably on the other side of the coin?...The show has long been obsessed with various characters’ struggles to shake their family’s legacies. Tyrion killed his own father and joined Team Daenerys, only to betray Daenerys in order to help his family again." 

"Daenerys has long tried to differentiate herself from her father, the Mad King, only to become her father’s daughter."

"...the show’s most recent plotting flaws was Varys’ rushed decision that Daenerys was a terrible enough queen that he would endeavor to poison her — quite a stretch for a man who served under King Joffrey...Remember that Varys once wanted to put Dany’s brother Viserys, a demonstrable megalomaniac, on the Iron Throne."

"...when Varys found out Jon was a Targaryen, he began openly conspiring to undermine and overthrow Daenerys...He accused her of being paranoid while simultaneously conspiring against her, which means she had every right to be suspicious...Again, it’s a failure of the show that the man who was once revered as Master of Whispers walked up to Jon in the middle of a crowded beach and suggested he usurp Daenerys."

"Other rulers we think of as heroes in this story have executed men for less than attempted murder: Robb Stark executed Rickard Karstark for killing the Lannister hostages, against Robb’s orders...Ned Stark executed someone for abandoning the Night’s Watch...Jon Snow executed the men who succeeded in murdering him (before he was resurrected) including Olly, a young boy."

"...Jon betrayed Daenerys’ trust by telling his family, and Tyrion betrayed her — twice. Davos also betrayed her too for totally inexplicable reasons by helping Tyrion smuggle Jaime to Cersei...Her advisor’s lie to her and gaslit her, plain and simple. And yet the way that Daenerys’ destruction of King’s Landing is shot, we are supposed to see her as the irrational one and Tyrion as one of the victims of her terror."

"...either due to time restrictions or lack of source material or just plain lack of creativity, the show took shortcuts this season...And those shortcuts tended to rely on the laziest of sexist stereotypes about crazed, power-hungry women."

"Maureen Ryan at the Hollywood Reporter put it best: “Inescapably, infuriatingly, what we’re left with is apparently the central message of Game of Thrones: Bitches are crazy.” "

"...Had [Dany's] paranoia been seeded many episodes ago and grown over the course of several seasons, it would be an epic Shakespearean tragedy. Instead we must infer this descent based on her frizzy hair."

"Worse, the moment when she seemingly decides to rule with fear, not love, comes after she’s romantically rejected by Jon...” [Suggestible that the lack of requited love is a strong enough reason for a level-minded strong woman to fall into a pit of craziness, despite all the good she has ever done and vows to continue doing..]

"Varys suggested that Jon would be a better ruler exactly because he did not want to rule. Figures in mythology and history ranging from Moses to George Washington to Harry Potter have been heralded as heroes because they came to power reluctantly. Those figures also tend to be male. How do our stories cast women eager for power? As evil queens. And now Daenerys is a cliché."

"There have been a lot of problematic characterizations of women this season, as revealed by the writers’ own commentary surrounding the episodes...Sansa essentially parroted what the writers have been saying for years about her rape by Ramsay Bolton — that it made her stronger...and the showrunners called Cersei, one of the smartest, most vicious characters on Thrones, “just a girl who needs the comfort of a man..”

"...in the end, Daenerys cycled through several tired stereotypes: Another evil, power-hungry queen literally shot with a dragon’s wings behind her; the crazy lady that a noble man has to heroically overcome..."

Like Cersei, Dany was a character introduced in the first episode, who ws incredible meaningful in the narrative of Game of Thrones. Instead of going out with a bang, Daenerys’ death wasn’t a bang like she truly deserved, but a whimper and forgotten to emphasise the man’s conquer and victory.

#game of thrones spoilers #anti got #daenerys targaryen #got spoilers #long post #sexism #anti d&d