#// will circle back to the topic of dragons in a bit

[heli-writes]

A dragon's heart, part 6.

Pairing: Barbarian!Bakugou Katsuki x female!reader

Summary: The dragonblood tribe is known for being cruel, barbarian warriors that slaughter, loot and rape all places they pass through. They are feared among the villagers and even bigger cities. Having lost most of their women to a plague, they're trying to ensure their tribe's survival by kidnapping women from other places. However, they're not the only monsters in human form out there. When y/n experiences this first hand, she has no choice but to ask for help from no other but the barbarian leader Katsuki Bakugou himself.

Disclaimer: mentions of injuries, mentions of dead animals, gutting and skinning of animals, mentions of chopping (animal) meat

[Please don't read if you are sensible to or triggered by the topics mentioned above.]

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Series Masterlist

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Y/n managed to stay up the entire night. She almost dozed off at dawn but a particularly loud crack next to their campsite startled her. Turns out it was just a small animal but it was enough to get her heart pumping that she stayed up for the rest of the night.

Katsuki wakes up later than usual. Y/n waited for him to stir until she got up and started to heat some water.

Katsuki sits up and rubs his face. His back aches and his leg still feels like it got, well stabbed. He watches y/n prepare some tea. When she walks over to him with two cups, he notices the dark circle under her eyes.

“You look like shit.“, he tells her. Y/n looks up with tired eyes and just hands him his cup. “Did you sleep last night?“, he asks with furrowed eyes. Y/n takes a sip from her tea.

Katsuki sighs. It's starting to annoy him that she doesn't understand him. Maybe he should teach her his language soon. At least a little bit.

“We need to get food for today.“, he tells her. Y/n states into her cup. She really feels the sleepless night. Katsuki watches her and starts to feel concerned. Y/n definitely needs to lie down.

They sit in silence for a while. Eventually, y/n gets up and gets the medicine bag. Katsuki finishes his tea as y/n gets ready to take a look at his wound.

Carefully, she unwraps the bandages on his leg and inspects the wound. The skin around the stitches is red and irritated but not infected. That's good, y/n thinks. She cleans her hand with some alcohol and smears some more rash cream into the wound. Then, she uses fresh bandages to wrap his leg up again.

When she looks up, she is met with Katsuki's ruby-red eyes. He's been watching her treat his wound intently. Her fingertips felt soft against his skin. She works a lot more carefully than the healers from his tribe. Of course, he can handle a more rough handling but it feels nice the way y/n does it.

“You need to take a nap.“, he tells her sternly. He starts to get up to make space for her on the bedroll. Alerted, y/n looks up and raises her hands. “No! You need to stay down or you will rip your stitches!“, she exclaims.

Katsuki swats her hands away and stands up on wobbly legs. Y/n quickly gets up and stabilizes him. Again, Katsuki swats at her and points at her and then at the bedroll. “Lay down!“, he commands.

Y/n watches Katsuki limp towards his dragon. He pats the lizard's neck and grumbles something into its ear. The heavy lizard rises up and starts flopping its wings. The rush of air almost makes Katsuki fall onto his butt if it weren't for y/n rushing over to him. Together, they watch the dragon disappear in the sky.

Nervously, y/n starts bombarding him with questions. “Where is he going? Will he come back? Why did you send him away?“, she rambles. Katsuki silences her with a swing of his hand. “You.“, he points at her. “Bedroll.“, he continues pointing at the bedroll. Then, he grabs her arms and pulls her towards it.

Reluctantly, y/n follows. Katsuki flops down next to the bedroll and points at the bedroll. Uncertainly, y/n sits down on the cushion. Katsuki gives her an angry look. “Down!“, he orders and puts a hand on her head pushing it down. At first, y/n resists but eventually, she caves. There's no point in arguing with Katsuki. He pulls his cape over her.

She looks up at him with wide eyes. “Don't look at me like that.“, Katsuki mumbles and ruffles her hair. “Sleep!“, he tells her. “Sleep?“, y/n repeats carefully. Her pronunciation is a bit off, but it's a good try, Katsuki thinks. He nods. “Yes, sleep!“, he repeats and mimics sleeping with his hands and eyes. He makes a snoring sound. With closed eyes, he hears y/n giggle. He opens his eyes again and gives her a lopsided grin. Y/n looks up at him with warm but tired eyes.

“Sleep.“, y/n mumbles in his language as she turns away from him pulling his cape over her shoulders.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Y/n wakes up a few hours later not feeling a lot better than before. She misses her foldable matress and her warm tent. Sleeping on the ground in the open air is not giving her the most restfull kind of sleep. She stretches and her joints make an unhealthy crackling sound.

Katsuki is sitting next to her. Y/n isn't sure if he moved or if he sat beside her the entire time. Part of her hopes he didn't. She really doesn't want to redo all the stitches just because Katsuki can't sit still.

"Mornin' princess.", Katsuki says and gives her a small grin. Y/n sits up. The air is cool around her and she instinctively rubs her arms. Katsuki reaches out to her and touches the side of her arm as if he were checking her temperature. Instinctively, y/n leans into his touch. Katsuki's so warm.

The loud flopping of wings rips both of them out of their thoughts. The dragon lands next to them and drops a dead deer in front of them.

„Appetizing.“, y/n comments dryly. Katsuki snickers. He may not understand exactly what she said, but he gets the sentiment in her voice and face. Chuckling, he ruffles through her hair and limps over to the deer. Upon inspection, he's sure that his dragon tracked down the flock Katsuki was hunting.

Katsuki takes his hunting knife and starts gutting and skinning the animal. He watches y/n's mimic while doing so. Y/n is surprisingly unfazed by the sight and eventually starts to build a fire. Katsuki cuts the animal into almost even parts. Smaller ones for him and y/n, the largest portion for his dragon.

„Y/n!“, he calls out to her and waves her towards him. Y/n follows suit and walks over to Katsuki who is standing with about ¾ of a deer next to the dragon. He chops off a huge part of the leg and holds it out to her.

„What am I supposed to do with this?“, y/n asks and crooks her head. Katsuki takes an equally large piece of meat and holds it out to the dragon which immediately grabs it out of Katsuki's hand with its snout. Katsuki then points at y/n and at the dragon.

„Me? I don't know...“, y/n says reluctantly. She had seen enough of the dragon's teeth when she gave him the tea a while back. „Don't be a pussy.“, Katsuki says challenging but with a crooked grin on his face. He snaps his finger and points at the dragon that watches y/n already expectantly.

Y/n hesitates for a moment, then steps a bit forward holding the meat towards the dragon with a wide-stretched arm. The dragon snaps at the meat and y/n can hear the bones in it crunching. Somehow it makes her really proud she was courageous enough to do it. She squeaks and almost jumps into Katsuki's arms who lets out a booming laugh.

„You little shit!“, he laughs and ruffles her hair again. Y/n looks up at him and gives him a big grin. Katsuki's aware of the impression of his dragon. Most people are instinctively scared by the beast and that rightfully so. He's never seen one of the other women his men brought home to get even close to their tribe's dragons. They usually stay in their mate's tents. It's rare they ever leave their accommodation and if they do, they're an eery sight. At least in Katsuki's opinion.

He's ripped out of his thoughts when he sees y/n reaching out to the dragon with an outstretched hand. „Hey!“, Katsuki warns and grabs her hands. At that moment, the dragon snaps at her. If it weren't for Katsuki, y/n's hand would be dragon food right now. „It's not a pet. They're proud beings. You can't just touch them without their permission.“, Katsuki tries to explain. Y/n looks a bit embarrassed. The dragon watches y/n with a wary expression in its eyes.

Y/n bows her head low in front of the dragon and mumbles an apology. Katsuki isn't sure whether he finds that impressive or hilarious. It's clear that it's an action of respect. It's also a stupid idea to lower your head in front of a dragon. It can get you beheaded. The dragon lets out a puff and turns his head away in disinterest. Seems like it has forgiven y/n for her foolish action.

„C'mon, time to fry this meat.“, Katsuki says and pulls her with him.

They roast the meat over the open fire and eat their meal in silence. Afterward, Katsuki and y/n sit by the fire for a while. Y/n takes the sewing kit from the medicine bag and starts mending Katsuki's ripped pants. Katsuki pokes the ember in the fire and watches y/n with a side-eye. He notices how y/n works quick and precise, just as she did when she stitched up his wound. He wonders if she is a seamstress. However, her clothes do not look like those of a seamstress. It's not the latest fashion in the kingdom. Actually, Katsuki isn't too sure what kind of fashion she's wearing. Not that he keeps up with the kingdom's latest trends anyway. Nevertheless, he's never seen a woman in the villages he passed through in clothes like these. He starts to wonder if y/n is even a citizen of the kingdom.

His conclusions actually aren't far off. As a wandering folk, y/n's people were not subjects of the Todoroki royals. They wander from kingdom to kingdom. Y/n spent most of her life in the Todoroki kingdom because simply it's the most safe. The harsh leadership of King Enji keeps crime levels on the low.

When y/n is done stitching up the pants, she wanders to the lake and washes the splutters of blood out of the fabric as much as she can. After hanging the pants up and a tree branch, she settles back down next to Katsuki. She feels tired again.

Suddenly, Katsuki puts an arm around her and pulls her closer without looking at her. Y/n shivers. Suddenly she notices how cold it has gotten. She leans her head against his shoulder and Katsuki leans his head against hers. Y/n has to admit she likes the proximity. She's been alone for so long, it's just nice to have someone so close. She also has to admit that she trusts Katsuki. From all the stories she had heard, she expected Katsuki to take her after her wounds started to heal.

Right now, she can't imagine Katsuki doing something violating like that. He's no gentleman by all means but he accepts boundaries. That's something she can live with. Plus, it's not like she's a lady. She can feel herself grow more tired with each passing second. She scooches closer to Katsuki. Almost, she didn't notice how Katsuki started running his hand up and down her arm or how he nuzzled his face into her hair.

Even if Katsuki would never admit it, he likes the proximity too. Y/n's warm and soft and her hair smells good. Living in a world of men, the smell of a woman is something Katsuki learned to miss. When he notices how y/n's head starts falling off his shoulder, he pulls her into his lap. Y/n stirs for a moment, then settles into his chest. Katsuki ignores the pain in his leg as y/n's weight presses onto the wound.

Katsuki will have to return soon. Tomorrow, he will try to shoot that stag one last time. Feeling y/n's soft breathing on his skin, Katsuki already decided what to do with her. He's taking her home with him. He's not sure what to do with her then. He kind of doesn't want one of his men to take her on as their mate but he's also not sure whether he wants to make this kind of commitment after just a couple of days or not. And then there's also his mother.

He wonders what y/n will think about this. So far, she hasn't shown any real attempts to part with him. Does she really have nobody to return to? It seems like it. But is she alright with joining his tribe? Maybe even staying with him? At least for a little while?

Y/n nuzzles her face into Katsuki's collarbone and lets out a deep sigh. Katsuki pulls the bedroll over to them. He lifts himself and y/n onto it and pulls his cape over both of them. He leans back and lets y/n snooze on top of him. He holds her by the waist and keeps stroking over her back.

Katsuki watches up at the nightsky contemplating the same questions over again until his eyes feel too heavy to keep them open.

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[haleswallows]

Happy Friday!

Fandom: DC x DP Pairing: Dead Tired (Danny/Tim) Rating: Teen High Fantasy AU, Arranged Marriage, and Dragons (oh my!) Chapter 13

TEASER:

“I dare say Phantom could not have found a better match,” Frostbite mused. A pretty flush rose on the prince’s cheeks. Danny focused on it, instead of his own fluttering heart. “If you wish for me to approve,” he directed at Danny, tone indulgently affectionate, “then you need not worry, Snowflake.”

He didn’t need to voice his thanks. It was a relief, not that Danny thought Frostbite wouldn’t approve. But the reassurance was welcome.

“You will stay a few days?” Frostbite asked as he shuffled his wings. They rasped against each other. “It is so rare a human comes to see me, and I do not remember ever meeting a prince from Gotham.”

“Mūti invited us to stay with her for a few days,” Danny said. “And I’ve been told by no less than three people to enjoy a little time from the Keep. Apparently, I’m stressed.”

“So I will get to see you both some more yet. A delightful surprise.” Frostbite rolled his eye back to the prince, who blinked at the sudden change in the ancient’s attention. “Little prince, I must implore you to look after this willful child. He has a great talent for getting himself into all manner of messes and trouble. I fear he has no survival instincts, despite all my worrying.”

“Stop it,” Danny groused. He was glad for the cold, perhaps it would hide his blush. “I was going to ask if you’d like to have the honor of doing our soulbond, but I don’t think I will now.”

“Ah.” Nudging Danny with his snout, Frostbite nearly bowled Danny onto his butt. “Child, I implore you to allow me. You have no talent in holding a spell.”

Gods, Frostbite just kept outing all his flaws. Soon, the prince would know all of Danny’s failings. How embarrassing.

“I just thought,” Danny said as he threw his arms around Frostbite’s nose. “You would like to help. It seemed appropriate, to have the great Ancient Frostbite cast the first soulbond between High Chief and Gotham Prince. That, and I have no talent for holding a spell.”

Frostbite snorted, blowing a clump of flurries all over Danny's front and up his nose. Danny stumbled away, rubbing his face. Like father, like son, he supposed. Sometimes he hoped Aquila would drop the habit, but Danny lost all illusions he would. Afterall, if Frostbite was still doing it in his timeless state, then it was a lost cause.

Danny rejoined the prince, sniffling a little.

“Would you like to evoke the soulbond now?” Frostbite tucked away his sly smile, circling back to the serious topic. “Or shall we wait for tomorrow?”

Now didn’t bother Danny. He shrugged, and gave deference to Prince Timothy to allow the prince to answer for them. “Oh.” The prince turned to him, chewing his lip as he searched Danny’s face. Danny absolutely didn’t let his eyes drop to the prince’s mouth. “I have no qualms with now.”

Looking between them, Frostbite smiled so softly, Danny felt the warmth of his affection. Some day, it would stop surprising him. And some day, he might even feel like he deserved it. For all his flaws and mistakes, Danny didn’t know what he did to deserve the dragon’s unconditional love.

Exist, he supposed. For Frostbite, it was that simple.

“Snowflake?” Frostbite rumbled. Danny pulled on a smile, letting the dour thoughts fall away.

This was easy. Well, maybe not easy, but familiar at least. Danny had gone through the motions five times now, and every bonding felt a bit different. Of course it did, each bond was different.

The prince’s nervousness was obvious. He stood stiffly, and his grip tightened on Danny’s hand.

Danny smiled encouragingly – Frostbite would take care of them, the ancient would never be able to bear it if he did harm to a human. Carefully, he guided the prince a few steps away and took both his hands so they stood face to face. It reminded him forcibly of the marriage rites in the Keep.

Maybe this time, Danny would be able to control himself and not kiss the prince.

The prince’s eyes fluttered a moment as he took a deep breath. “Ready?” Danny murmured, just for him. “Take all the time you need, Your Highness.”

He couldn’t help it – Danny watched the prince, even though he knew Frostbite would have words for him later. Both for getting married without telling him and for being so carelessly besotted. But who could blame him? Eyelashes a thick fan over cheeks tinted pink by the cold, lips plush from all the biting he had done, the prince was a vision. To keep himself in check, Danny rubbed his thumbs over the backs of Prince Timothy’s hands, hoping it served to soothe his nerves.

The prince looked up at Danny through his eyelashes, and nodded. “Ready.”

Frostbite breathed out a great plume of swirling snowflakes. And a new bond opened, pulling on Danny’s soul.

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

The bond took. It slammed into Tim’s mind with a foreign weight, a headache forming right behind it as his brain struggled with the new input. Unknown, unlike anything he had ever experienced.

He was instantly aware of Phantom’s proximity - not just physically, the heat of his body, the sound of his breaths. But now internally. His mind was like a compass needle, and Phantom true North. A tugging in his mind, a pull that Tim tensed himself against to keep from leaning towards. Tim knew in his heart of hearts that blindfolded and turned around, he would be able to find his way to Phantom.

It was terrifying.

And nestled between the stinging pain of the headache, the pull of the bond in his frontal lobe, there was something else. A blur of emotions, a bouquet of flavors and colors in his mind, his hands quivering, his heart pounding. It took Tim a long breathless moment to disentangle it from his own feelings.

Joy-affection-warm that bled into guilt-sad-dread as he worked to pick them apart.

Was... was that Phantom?

Tim kept his eyes closed, chasing the emotions. Scared-affection-guilt felt sour and warm, like curdled milk. He couldn’t discern if the swoop in his stomach was the same as seeing Dick come back from patrol with only small scrapes, or the same as a missed step, expecting solid ground and finding nothing.

Like a hound, Tim pursued it. Relentless in trying to grasp it. His own emotions felt pale in comparison, his heart pounding with Phantom’s fear.

Fear?

And just as soon as he captured it, the bond was gone. Echoing in his mind, like the gates of Wayne Castle slamming closed. Tim blinked his eyes open.

Phantom stood a few paces apart, his face turned away. The armor he wore disguised any tension in body but Tim could see the way his hands clenched. It looked like he didn’t even breathe. The leather of his gloves creaked with the force he fisted them at his sides – the only outward expression Tim could see. Tim… didn’t understand.

[champagnedrunkandhorny]

Daemon Targaryen x Reader x Rhaenyra Targaryen

"Her lips, her skin, her nose, her eyes, her legs around my head, that is what I want, Syrax" said Rhaenyra to her loyal she-dragon, "and I´m going to get it."

Her half-sister wasn´t like any Hightower spawns. as Daemon would call them. She was determained, soft when anyone was looking, but behind her mask, she was coniving little minsk. Not even a few days ago, Daemon caught a Gold cloak climbing down from her window. After that, the princess was moved to the highest tower in the Red Keep, how ironic. If the green queen thought that would stop the shenigens, well she thought wrong. The little minsk was twrilling around. Her silk skirt moving in circles as she glides with the who-counts-anymore lord. Everyone in the ballroom tried not to stare at the little Targeryen. But her impish eyes moved only to Rhaenyra, enjoying the heiress´ full attention, and to her current partner, keeping him on his toes. "You look ravishing, when you are jealous, wife." Daemon chuckles behind his glass. Rhaenyra rolled her eyes and angled her body away from the little minsk. "Shouldn´t you be also jealous, husband." Daemon shakes his head "Oh, I am rather intrigued by your cat and mouse game." Don´t be fooled, Daemon is the Rogue prince and will cut down any idiot that tries to even look at his wife. But seeing Rhaenyra so preoccupied with his other niece, seemed to only stirr his cock, and sometimes, almost always, he allowed the small man to lead him.

As they were talking, the princess was getting slowly more annoyed. The once intresting Lord of who-knows-what couldn´t get his greasy gaze away from her, she can´t think of any more conversation´s topics and this spiel is only so long intresting as she gets to play it with Rhaenyra. She scrowls as she watches Daemon, she doesn´t call him uncle, take the heiress´attention away from her. "Lord, would you be so kind to acompany me to my table. I am parched." She doesn´t even have to look his way. Already knowing, that his mouth will water at even getting 2 feet away from the royal family. She suddely signals him to wrap his arm around her ellbow.

She could practically feel their gazes on her. Oh, what a coincidence, that her chair is right there, where they could see the young couple. "Let´s see what will the dragon do, when you pull it´s tail." the minsk thought as she angles her chest to the lord and puffs out her chest, widdening her eyes a little bit and pouting out her lips.

Rhaenyra and Daemon stopped what they were doing and watched as the princess grips the man´s biceps and whispers something. He looked as if his brain stopped working. His eyes were focused on her breasts. Rhaenyra gripped the glass under her fingers.

What none of them expected was to watch as the lord grips the lower back of the young princess, traps her in his arms and moved his wine-painted small lips her way.

That´s where the chaos started.

Daemon, that was already on the edge of his seat, sprang up. Sure, he doesn´t like Hightowers, but he is not going to watch a small, unimportant, non-Valaryen decent defily his family member in front of him.

Before he could get to him, the previously mentioned Princess, swingged her arm and smacked him across the face. Not only the smack was heard, but also the breaking of the glass Rhaenyra was holding.

The lord that was strucked, didn´t even have time to come to his senses as the Rogue prince grabbed him along with some Golden cloacks and dragged him away from the scene.

Luckely, Rhaenyra caused enough comotion for the ball attendees, that they didn´t see the other scene. Half of them were drunk or too far away to witness it going down.

The servents quickly jumped to clean away the mess. In that moment, the younger princess seemed to come to her senses. She looked around. Luckely, her mother and brothers were already in their chambers. If her mother or grandfather had witnessed that, she would be already on her ship to the Oldtown or whatever hellhole they found for her.

"Princess, you don´t seem well. Why don´t I guide you to your chambers?" A silver voice made it´s way into her ear. The girl looked up to meet her violet eyes with her older sisters.

here is the full work if you wanna read the smutty part

[countlessofvoids]

what's interesting about hiccup's character that you never see people talk about? as someone who likes him, i also get annoyed by how the fandom sees him and i prefer him in the first movie over everything else.

A lot of things honestly. I have a hard time naming them individualy lmao.

I feel like people tend to take parts of Hiccup's character they like, then mold him into something imitating Hiccup. I see a lot of interpretations where his sarcasm takes up 90% of his personality and/or his entire motivation is saving dragons and killing people as some kind of vigilante. Another thing popular in this fandom that annoys me is taking other characters' traits and giving those to Hiccup.

But what I believe mainly gets ignored, or rather purposefully removed, is him being a 'peacekeeper'. Now, I can't exactly blame anyone for doing this, because continuations after the second movie either ;

1) Completly forget it was a thing.

Or 2) The Narrative actively shames him for it, or turns it into something else. This goes for THW — where it's treated as a flaw of Hiccup's character, then reduced to him "being afraid of change" (And circles back to the whole "Humans bad, Dragons good" message of THW, I could go on about this topic for hours).

The source material itself is not interested in exploring it.

This also happens partialy because fans think peacekeeper means someone who has no understanding of how conflicts work and expects everyone to drop their weapons to go frolic in the fields together. Hiccup gets criticized for trying to find another way, when he has a reason to believe he can change people. I mean, he changed the entirety of Berk. Yes, pursuing Drago Bludvist so you can convince him to join your side when everyone who has more experience with the warlord tells you not to, is not the best decision. But Hiccup is young, he's bound to make mistakes. Besides, events wouldn't alter too much if he did otherwise.

Which is a bit disappointing. I think it could fit with the theme of him being different from everyone else; Looking for a peaceful solution when others want to destroy each other. Another reason why I find this concept intriguing is because I see Hiccup as someone who struggles a bit when it comes to sympathizing with humans, especially hunters. Not as in he intentionaly hates them — he just spent his life befriending animals & dragons instead of people, so now he's spiteful especially towards humans who hurt them. I like to think he still holds even a tiny bit of spite towards Berkians and his enemies-turned-allies (not with Stoick & Valka though, it's complicated with them).

As for why I personaly don't like him in most iterations after the first movie: He's just kinda boring. He goes from a sarcastic loner who ultimately wants to be accepted by others, to 'young movie male protagonist n.1235'. Huge part of that comes from what was done with his design. Second movie!Hiccup has started to grow on me lately. I couldn't care less about RTTE!Hiccup. THW!Hiccup was on the right path, but they chose the worst and most contradictory way of doing it. It could also be the fact he loses relatability for me.

[dukemeropide]

Wriothesley catches the ghost of a smile on Neuvillette’s lips and amplifies into into his own hearty laughter, perhaps among the scant few in Fontaine - even in Teyvat as a whole - who would do so. But a convict, former or otherwise, does not fear being sunk to the bottom of the sea a second time, and over the years Wriothesley has found that his playful jabs have been met with a kind of wonder that a man without any sense of humor at all would never entertain.

”You would have been right a few minutes ago,” he admits and uncrosses his arms to pick up the mottled grey stone. He runs his thumb across it thoughtfully. He’d indeed thought of his brooch first, then the Fortress’ three-headed dog second, but he chuckles and shakes his head.

”The insignia of a prison doesn’t sound like an auspicious symbol though. These jade charms are supposed to be for good luck, after all.” Setting it down, he rocks to one side and reaches into his back pocket to withdraw a thin, leatherbound notebook, which he places on the table between them. On its cover is a hand-drawn sticker in the shape of a shark with, mysteriously, a mop of tousled black hair not unlike Wriothesley’s. He smiles fondly at it, and turns it to show Neuvillette.

”I think a shark might be better, don’t you? And the Head Nurse has already given me a design to work with.”

Lantern Rite: Wriothesley & Neuvillette

Lantern Rite 2024 | Dragon Charms

[bluerose5]

Pre-Veilguard Claudia/Emmrich Interactions

Note: This is a rough outline of some headcanons I have in mind for these two, regardless of what happens in my Veilguard playthroughs with Claudia (she/they). I just love exploring a Mourn Watch Rook x Emmrich dynamic so much and wanted to expand on it for a Rook that is older than what the game seems to imply. Claudia is also of Rivaini, Antivan, and Nevarran descent but was raised in Rivain, to clarify on that beforehand. For the part about their meetings, these are the major ones noted that happens over the span of years but I'm pretty sure there were plenty more sprinkled in, in between. :)

Timeline

8:99 Blessed: Emmrich Volkarin is born.

9:10 Dragon: Claudia Ardeen Rivero Vordalenski is born.

9:15 Dragon: Claudia's magic manifests. They begin their training in the Rivaini Circle of Dairsmuid.

9:26 Dragon: Showing exceptional skill, Claudia is allowed to undergo their Harrowing at a young age. (Headcanon/Note: Rivaini Harrowings are different compared to elsewhere. For those who are deemed candidates to become seers, they must survive being possessed by a spirit rather than avoid it entirely.) However, Claudia's rite of passage goes awry when the spirit that possesses them starts to turn into a demon. Since they are able to escape from its clutches (mostly) intact, they pass their Harrowing.

9:27 Dragon: Claudia requests an official transfer to study in the Necropolis. With the help of their father, a former guard of the Grand Necropolis, authorization is granted.

9:30 Dragon: Claudia first meets Emmrich when they are running late for their class, featuring him as a guest speaker.

9:37 Dragon: The Chantry explosion in Kirkwall occurs.

9:40 Dragon: The Circle of Dairsmuid in Rivain is annulled. Claudia's mother survives. Claudia returns home to speak with their father, but they ultimately avoid their mother and spends the majority of the mage-templar war tending to their duties in the Necropolis. (Their family situation is complicated, to say the least.)

9:41 Dragon: The events of Dragon Age: Inquisition begin. Rebel mages are freed, allies to the Inquisition.

9:52 Dragon: The events of Dragon Age: The Veilguard begin.

Meetings

First meeting: After a late night of experiments and study, Claudia (20 at the time) oversleeps again, arriving late to their class when Emmrich (31) is a guest speaker. He gives a lecture on reanimating corpses, and of course the topic of whether or not the departed's soul is involved comes up. A peer goads Claudia into answering, and Emmrich is both intrigued and impressed when they use their knowledge of spirits and their Rivaini perspective to address the matter. He manages to tell them as much after the lecture before another student pulls his attention away from them.

Second meeting: Not too long after their first meeting, they pass each other in one of the Necropolis' libraries, and Claudia is surprised that Emmrich even remembers them. While they talk, Claudia keeps hiding a book behind their back, and they eventually reveal it to be a copy of some of Emmrich's research on corpse whispering. He's flattered, of course, and offers to give Claudia a demonstration in person. After all, wouldn't that help develop a deeper understanding in addition to his research? Claudia has a prior engagement to deal with, a haunting that they volunteered to help with perhaps, but agrees to take him up on the offer some other time.

Third meeting: Emmrich is passing through the halls of the Necropolis when he happens across Claudia teaching a class full of apprentices. Claudia lectures about Rivaini —and, surprisingly, even some Antivan— customs and beliefs in relation to death, mourning, etc. The Necropolis teaches diversity in such subjects, but they definitely prefer to have people from other nations to pass on firsthand knowledge if they can. Emmrich stops and listens, and Claudia falters a bit when they notice him before they continue on. They meet up for a chat after class where Emmrich compliments them on keeping their students engaged, and they mention that his lecture they first attended actually motivated them to agree to teach the class. He's delighted to hear that, but they're soon alerted to an urgent matter between undead that requires their assistance.

Fourth meeting: While Claudia is running experiments in their lab, they start to get distracted when several wisps start to circle playfully around them. The wisps demand their attention. They demand that they take a break, and Claudia finds themself humming along to the tune they create —or is it the wisps who hum along to Claudia's tune? Regardless, they can't help it as they start to do a little dance as they make their way around the lab, the wisps delighted by this development! They dance around Claudia, encouraging their movements to grow a little bolder until they catch sight of Emmrich in the doorway. Claudia nearly jumps out of their skin, unable to meet his eye while he beams at them. He brought Claudia some coffee and asked if they would accompany him for lunch, because when was the last time they ate? Claudia eventually accepts the offer, but not even a second later, an apprentice comes barging in to tell Emmrich that Johanna requests his presence immediately. Claudia promises to go eat something at his insistence before he departs.

Fifth meeting: While Claudia is performing an autopsy, they pause for a split second as they're making an incision to keep from jolting when Emmrich's voice surprises them out of nowhere, complimenting them on their technique. Realizing his error, he quickly apologizes, but Claudia assures him that it's fine. They spare him a glance, smile, and then tell him that his presence is a welcome one. They claim that their hand feels a bit steadier with him around, but that's nonsense, he insists! They already deal with such delicate, precise methods of wielding magic without him there —referencing their latest research published about the magical applications of lightning/electricity in the process of animating the dead— that surely any effect his presence has is negligible. Both flattered and shocked that he read their research, they ask what he thought about it, and they launch into a long discussion together, Emmrich making it a point to mention how… skilled Claudia is. To which, Claudia returns the compliment, their attention focused on the corpse all the while.

[encyclopediacr]

Last month at the wiki — February 2024

Every month, we highlight significant work done in the previous month by our editing community at Encyclopedia Exandria. We're a little bit out of schedule, a week late, but we still take the time to look back at February 2024.

To start, here's a selection of ten articles created in February. You can find more of our newest articles at the 50 newest pages report.

Glove of Storing, magical glove that stores an item by shrinking it

Crafting a Mystery with Aabria Iyengar, special on game mastering Candela Obscura: Tide & Bone featuring @quiddie

Midst Season 2 Roundtable Discussion w/ Sam & Marisha, as it says on the tin with the creators of @midstpodcast

Kreviris Imperium, a government based in Kreviris on Ruidus

Wuukor, bison-like creature on Ruidus

Sia Kresh, expositor of the Cobalt Soul in Rexxentrum

Arborea, an Outer Plane of Existence

Lake Umamu, lake in Issylra

Dragon tooth necklace, necklace that notifies wearers of other paired necklaces that a wearer was knocked unconscious or killed

Phyllis the Pain Elemental, player character of Anjali Bhimani in the DOOM Eternal one-shot

We're continuing to explore ways to cover campaign player character stats over time. In February, levels subpages for Campaign 3 were created to help set that up and start covering this topic as part of our routine coverage. Each main player character of Bells Hells has one, and you can check out the pages for Fearne Calloway and Orym as examples.

A number of early Campaign 2 Talks Machina articles have been updated with answer summaries, including 54: The Howling Mines (2x06), 55: Hush (2x07), and 56: The Gates of Zadash (2x08).

The fourth chapter of Candela Obscura premiered in February, featuring the Circle of the Crimson Mirror. As always, we have articles for our newest circle of investigators.

[anneapocalypse]

So, the more I dig into this the more questions I have about that idea that Wynne is canonically 49 in Origins?

From what I can determine, this seems to have been derived from the fact that we're given 9:02 Dragon as a birth year for her son Rhys in World of Thedas Volume 2 (p. 199 for those following along at home), and a few other relative timeframes which fans have pieced together to determine her age.

The only citation for Wynne's presumed birth year (8:81 Blessed) on the fandom wiki says:

Wynne found herself pregnant one year after Aneirin's presumed death, whom she had taken as an apprentice two years after her Harrowing at age seventeen. Rhys was born in 9:02 Dragon.

This information is also drawn from World of Thedas Volume 2 (p. 88). Wynne's birth date is not actually specified here. What we have is that she was harrowed at 17, that she took on her first apprentice Aneirin two years later, and that she became pregnant a year after Aneirin's escape and presumed death.

So, the assumption seems to be that if we add 17 years at her Harrowing + 2 years after that for her first apprentice + 1 year after that when she became pregnant + ~1 year for the pregnancy = 21 years old when she had Rhys. 21 years back from 9:02 Dragon puts Wynne born in around 8:81 Blessed. Which makes her 49 in 9:30 Dragon... right?

The problem with this is that I don't think we have any idea how long Aneirin was Wynne's apprentice before he escaped from the Circle, and that math I just did doesn't include any time for that. Wynne specifically tells us that Aneirin was 14 when he left, but I haven't found anything in either her dialogue nor World of Thedas tell us how old he was when he arrived. If there is something that I've missed, I'm interested to see it!

Children can have their magic manifest as early as 6 (and possibly earlier, though I don't remember if we have any examples). Aneirin could have been at the Circle for at least 8 years before escaping, meaning that Wynne could be at least 57 in Origins.

I think this is still a bit dissonant with the way Wynne speaks of herself in Origins; I would have taken her for being in 70s, at least, and even expanding her timeline by 8 years or so doesn't allow for her to be any older than her 50s. Still, I think late 50s is a lot more plausible than 49, and from what I've been able to find, I think the idea that she's 49 might be based on a faulty assumption.

Edited to add: I started a new Talk topic on the fandom wiki, and Wynne's page has since been undated to reflect the ambiguity of her age.

[bigjuice34]

Private Affair (Year One)

Chapter Six

A/N: We are so back. Please let me know your thoughts!

Masterlist

Word Count: 8.1k

“All dragon breeds have different temperaments,” Professor Kaori stated while glancing around the room full of cadets. “It’s important to keep such differences in mind when approaching specific breeds during Threshing.”

“What happens if we approach a certain breed incorrectly?” A female cadet sitting at a table to Freya’s left asked, earning some scoffs from others in their class. Freya exhaled.

“No one has lived to tell the tale,” Kaori replied simply, then nodded toward the centre of the circled table closest to him. Soon enough, an illusion of an Orange Daggertail, much smaller than the actual dragon would be, appeared in the middle of each table. “Orange Dragons are the most unpredictable of the breeds. They are extremely risky. This one here is an Orange willing to bond during Threshing.”

Some cadets shared what they knew about Orange dragons before the image changed to a Brown dragon. Freya wrote down what Kaori said about each breed of dragon despite being well-versed on the topic, having come from a family of riders herself. There was always an opportunity to learn more, Freya thought.

Kaori went on to show a Red dragon and started a discussion on them. Then, eventually, the image changed to a Green Morningstartail, making Freya do a double-take before feeling herself go stiff.

“That’s the Green that was at the citadel on Conscription Day,” someone in the room spoke up, but Freya didn’t bother looking at them. Her focus remained on the illusion of Caden’s dragon displayed before her.

“Correct,” Kaori said. “This particular Green is one of the largest and most cunning of that colour I’ve seen in years. He is of Uaineloidsig lineage, making him remarkably intelligent, and he’s the only known Green Morningstartail that has been in service during the last few decades. That tail of his alone is an incredibly deadly weapon. Factor in the other traits I’ve listed, and it’s easy to assume this is one dragon you don’t want to be on the wrong side of.”

“Is he one of the dragons bonding this year?” A male cadet asked from the other side of the room.

“When was the last time he was in service?” Another cadet questioned from the table next to Freya’s. Still, she didn’t take her eyes off the dragon.

“Dìo hasn’t been in service for three years,” Kaori answered. “It’s unclear if he will be bonding this year. He wasn’t before Conscription Day, but from what I’ve heard, that may change. His last rider was a rebellion leader.”

Several gasps sounded around the room, followed by murmuring as people discussed what they’d just learned.

Freya took a deep breath, trying her best not to let her feelings get to her as she tugged on a loose thread of the material she used to wrap her left wrist. It’d been two weeks since Nolon mended it for her, she had begun sparring again, but her wrist still ached and the wrap helped. Freya made sure no one saw her with the wrap though, and always took it off before Gym. Only people she trusted knew her wrist was still bothering her a bit.

Eventually, Freya moved her gaze from the illusion and glanced at the table to her right. Xaden and Garrick were already looking at her, concern prominent on their faces.

“Do you want to leave?” Xaden mouthed to her.

“We’ll go with you,” Garrick did the same. Freya appreciated their offer but shook her head no.

“I’ll be fine,” she whispered, unintentionally gaining the attention of those sitting at her table. Nova and Bennett looked at her questionably and waited for her to elaborate. Freya sighed. However, another cadet spoke up before she could say anything to them.

“Was he the Green bonded to Caden Tarlor?”

Freya immediately snapped her gaze to the female cadet who asked the question and couldn’t help but glare when she saw it was Amber Mavis. People began muttering and whispering again.

Even before the rebellion, the Tarlor’s were known and respected around Navarre for having so many powerful riders. It didn’t surprise Freya that people knew of her family. However, the rebellion ripped the Tarlor family name to shreds, and Freya carried that burden. Nonetheless, she knew her family best and would always protect them.

“That would make sense with how the only person it seemingly didn’t want to burn at the citadel was Tarlor’s little sister,” Alic, a cadet from Second Wing said. It wasn’t long before all eyes were on Freya.

She glanced around the room at those looking at her, a hard and unreadable expression on her face as her gaze trailed from one end to the other, but Freya stayed silent.

“Everyone, that’s not what this class is about,” Kaori cleared his throat, bringing some attention back to him. “We’re not here to point fingers, we’re here to be educated. Freya, you do not have to comment on the topic.”

“No, I will,” Freya stated, then took a deep breath.

Kaori nodded.

“The Tarlor family has a long lineage of impressive riders. I’m sure many in this class could learn a lot about dragons from you, Freya. The floor is yours.”

Freya remained silent momentarily, considering her words, but straightened her posture once she felt many eyes on her again.

“Thank you, Professor Kaori. I grew up surrounded by dragons. At least one grandparent from each side, three uncles, an aunt, my parents and my older brother were all riders. That being said, I learned how these creatures worked from a distance, as none were mine to associate with. Dìo was my brother’s dragon. If there’s anything I learned from Caden about the greens is that you must never back down from them. A Green will challenge you. If one approaches you, be patient. Show submission as you wait for their approval or else you’ll never be deemed worthy to them.”

“Precisely,” Kaori spoke before anyone else could. “A few greens are willing to bond this year, this is crucial information to know for those approached by one, including Dìo if he does decide to bond.”

“It’s forbidden for a dragon to bond a relative of a past rider, right?” Amber asked, not even looking at Freya or showing that she listened to anything said.

“Typically, yes,” Kaori answered. “However, the dragons have their own system of law. We do not interfere with it.”

“That’s why none of the rebellion dragons were destroyed,” Bennett stated from their spot next to Freya. “Not that they should’ve been. But, it was up to the dragons how the ones who lost rebellion riders and lived through it were punished. The people of Navarre had no part in that.”

“That’s correct,” Kaori replied before the image in the middle of the tables changed to a massive Blue Daggertail. “This is the only Blue that has agreed to bond this year. Her Daggertail makes her one of the rarest types of blues. Would you like to share what you know about the blues, Freya?”

Freya exhaled, then nodded.

“They’re ruthless and intimidating,” she declared. “There is no proper way to approach a Blue. It’s probably best that you don’t. If one chooses you, let them have control over the situation.”

“What makes you such an expert, Tarlor?” Alic sneered. “Why are we listening to a separatist’s kid, anyway?”

Freya took a breath to remain calm. She didn’t know Alic well or much about him other than that he was King Tauri’s middle son. That fact, however, Freya kept to herself. Xaden told her who he was, but she didn’t lead on like he was of any notoriety. To her, he was just a pompous asshole and a bully.

“The Vale lost two blue dragons following the rebellion. They were a mated pair. The male was a Daggertail, the female a Scorpiontail. Their bonded riders were my parents. However, the dragons didn’t die during the rebellion. It was after. My father’s dragon, the Scorpiontail, died within 24 hours of my family’s execution. The Daggertail fell soon after.”

After her spiel, Freya glanced at Xaden. Had he not shared everything he knew about what happened to her parents’ dragons with her, she probably wouldn’t have a better understanding of just how strong the bond between dragon and human could be.

“This is a significant example of the strength of a rider’s and mated pair bonds,” Kaori took over. “We all know if a dragon dies, so will its rider. However, occasionally, a rider’s death causes a dragon’s demise. This doesn’t always happen, though. A mated pair of dragons bonded to a married couple is a perfect situation on paper. However, as unfortunate as it is, if one falls it’s likely they all will.”

Murmurs erupted from around the room, but otherwise, class carried on. Freya noticed the way some cadets continued looking at her as if they were studying her. Others would speak quietly to someone beside them, and then both would glance in Freya’s direction.

Despite her calm and reserved exterior for the remainder of the lecture, Freya felt the opposite internally. She didn’t mind sharing what she knew about dragons and was aware that confidently doing so showed the other cadets she was educated on the topic. However, everyone knowing about Caden’s dragon had her on edge. Freya knew she’d have to be on high alert going forward.

Once the bell tolled and the class was dismissed, Freya already had her things gathered and was one of the first up from her desk. However, she didn’t even reach the door before she was stopped.

“Freya, do you mind staying back for a moment?” Kaori asked just as she was about to put her hand on the doorknob.

“Uhm, yeah I can do that,” Freya replied awkwardly as she adjusted the strap of her satchel on her shoulder. She received some looks from other cadets as they passed by her to leave, and then her eyes landed on her two guys as they approached. “You two go. I’ll see you at Lunch. I know you both want to wait, but you should go.”

“Freya,” Xaden immediately started protesting. “Don’t do this.”

“Do what?”

“Push us away.”

Freya blinked at him surprised. Was that what she was doing?

“That class wasn’t easy, Fern,” Xaden justified. “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” Freya responded, then exhaled. “I appreciate you checking in and worrying, Xaden. But, Kaori just wants to talk to me. I’ll be fine.”

“She’s right,” Garrick spoke up. “Nothing bad will happen, Xaden. We’ll see you soon, Fray.”

With that, Garrick started pulling Xaden toward the door. Freya mouthed a quick thank you to him, he understood that there were some things she wanted to do on her own without them. Then she looked at Xaden and nodded, sending him a reassuring smile before Garrick got him out the door.

Once the door closed, Freya moved her gaze to the right and saw Nova and Bennett waiting nearby.

“We’ll wait for you,” Nova said. “If that’s ok.”

“Sounds good,” Freya replied, smiling. She felt she could spend some time with them before spending lunch with Xaden and Garrick.

Once the room was clear, Freya took a deep breath and approached Kaori’s desk.

“You wanted to speak with me, Professor?”

“Yes,” he said and leaned against his desk. “I wanted to thank you for your contribution to today's lecture.”

“Oh, it was nothing,” Freya replied. “I’ve learned a lot about dragons over the years, I was just sharing what I knew.”

“There are cadets here that could learn a lot from you. Given who your family is, it’s no surprise you’re as knowledgable as you are.”

“Yeah, unfortunately, who my family is makes my time here a lot more difficult than it originally could’ve been, though.”

“Not necessarily,” Kaori stated. “The members of your family were some of the greatest riders Navarre has ever seen. Your parents were well-respected and powerful. Your brother, Caden, was of the same calibre.”

“And we all know how that ended up for them,” Freya said, then dropped her gaze as she fiddled with the wrap on her wrist again.

“Your parents and Caden were good people, Freya. I know the rebellion makes that hard for a lot of people to believe, but it doesn’t change all the good they did before. Your parents were incredible leaders, they helped a lot of people. Your brother was just like them and saved so many people being the mender he was. I see a lot of all three of them in you. I’m not the only one who does either”

Freya was speechless and shook her head as she processed what was said to her.

“It’s not too often I hear compliments about my family nowadays.”

“I can see why that may be,” Kaori explained. “The rebellion is a touchy subject to many, but it doesn’t change everything that came before it.”

“I guess you’re right,” Freya nodded in agreement. “Thank you, Professor.”

“The pleasure has been all mine, Freya. Now go enjoy your lunch.”

With that, Freya nodded and went on her way. She joined Nova and Bennett again, and then the three of them exited into the hallway.

“So, that was interesting,” Bennett was the first to break the silence between the three of them.

“I didn’t realize that Green from Conscription Day was your brother’s dragon,” Nova said as she glanced to where Freya walked between her and Bennett.

“Yeah, it was,” Freya responded softly.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I didn’t think it was a detail everyone needed to know. Kind of like how you decided not to tell us about your brother.”

There was an unintentionally hostile tone to Freya’s voice and her eyes widened as soon as the words left her mouth. She didn’t mean to snap at Nova. Following what happened after Freya had her wrist mended and she learned that Nova and Nathan were siblings, the two girls were fine. The next day they talked it through and Freya understood where Nova was coming from with not wanting people to know her brother was a wingleader as it brought unwanted attention. Nova took a few days after that to feel she trusted Bennett enough to share, which was also a feeling Freya knew all too well.

Freya had no harsh feelings toward her friend, but the weight of what happened during class had finally caught up to her.

“Nova, I’m sorry,” Freya apologized. “That was uncalled for.”

“I appreciate the apology,” Nova responded. “It’s alright, though. That class put a lot of strain on you.”

“It’s not alright. Yes, that lecture sucked, but it’s not your fault and I shouldn’t take it out on you just because I’m frustrated.”

Nova nodded, showing appreciation for Freya’s words as they rounded a corner.

“Speaking of Nathan, have you talked to him?”

“Not a chance,” Freya stated. “I have nothing to say to him.”

“Right, you just stare at him longingly whenever he’s near,” Bennett remarked, making Freya scoff.

“I do not!”

“If it’s not my brother, she’s busy looking at Xaden,” Nova teased then nudged Freya with her shoulder. “You should talk to him, though.”

“Are you saying that as Nathan’s sister or as my friend?” Freya asked skeptically.

Nova shrugged.

“Maybe it’s both.”

Freya shook her head in response and remained silent as they entered the gathering hall. It didn’t take long for her gaze to fall on Xaden and Garrick sitting at their usual table.

“We’ll see you in Gym?’ Bennett asked, regaining Freya’s attention.

“Oh, yeah,” Freya replied. “See you two later.”

The other two went to grab a table together while Freya went up to get her lunch. She always sat with her guys during meals, which Nova and Bennett never tried to interfere with.

There wasn’t much of a line to get food seeing as most cadets had already been served their lunch, which Freya didn’t mind since she was getting rather hungry. After she had her food, Freya went to turn around and make her way to sit with Xaden and Garrick but accidentally ran into someone in the process.

“Sorry,” Freya gasped as she quickly tried to prevent anything from falling off her tray without looking up at the person standing in front of her. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“It’s alright, Freya,” the man spoke, making Freya’s breath hitch as her gaze shot upward and met a familiar pair of golden brown eyes. Nathan looked back at her with an unreadable expression until his eyes flickered down to where her left hand was holding the apple that almost fell off her tray. “Your wrist is still wrapped.”

“Yeah, it is,” she grumbled and swiftly tugged down the sleeve of her shirt so the wrap wouldn’t be seen by anyone else.

“Does it still hurt?”

“Why do you care? I thought I asked you to leave me alone.”

“It was just a question,” Nathan replied simply.

“Whatever,” Freya told him then went to walk around him and continue towards the table, but Nathan stopped her by gently grabbing her arm. Freya immediately tightened her jaw and turned to face him again. “You’re not going to make a scene here in front of everyone, are you?”

“No, I’m not.”

“Then what do you want?”

Nathan inhaled deeply.

“Meet me tonight after curfew,” he started. “Just after curfew. By the bottom of the steps under the citadel.”

“What makes you-,” Freya went to reply but stopped herself when Nathan turned away from her and walked away. She stood there watching him go, glaring at his back for a moment before continuing on her way. As she walked, Freya glanced over at where Nova and Bennett sat and didn’t miss how Nova bit down on her bottom lip to keep herself from grinning too wide, obviously entertained by the interaction she just watched. Freya just shook her head then set her tray on the table and stepped over the bench to sit across from Xaden, next to Garrick. “Hey.”

“Hey, how was talking to Kaori?” Garrick asked.

“It was fine,” Freya replied then took a bite out of her sandwich. “He thanked me for my part in the lecture. What are you two talking about?”

Neither of them noticed her run-in with Nathan, and Freya wanted to keep their topic of conversation off of that if she could.

“A few things,” Xaden said and lowered his voice. “Today is our first real day of challenges. While I was out last night, I was wandering the halls where the professors meet; I saw a list posted. It was all of today’s matchups for sparring.”

“Wait, it’s not random?” Freya asked, confused. “I mean, I guess I shouldn’t say I’m surprised.”

“It’s probably a way for them to weed people out and show the weak ones,” Garrick explained.

“Did you see who we were against?” She questioned.

“Yeah,” Xaden answered. “Garrick is against a guy from First Wing.”

“What about us?”

“Each other.”

Freya’s eyes widened.

“Oh,” she said, then let her gaze fall to her tray.

“Fern, I’m not going to hurt you,” Xaden stated. “I would never.”

“I know that, Xaden. It’s just- it feels like a setup. Everyone knows who we are and who our parents were. It’s like they’re trying to send a message by putting us against each other on the first day. If a list was posted, it’s been decided that we’d be opponents for some time now.”

“I feel like it’s impossible to get any type of leverage in this place,” Garrick groaned. “We feel like we’re one step ahead only to be pushed two steps back all because of these relics. Two other marked ones are against each other too.”

Freya glanced at her friend and nodded, completely understanding how he felt. Then she started thinking about something the three of them discussed a few days prior.

“I think we need to do what I suggested the other night,” she started. “A meeting or something similar with all of us. Marked ones. We lost Warner the other day because of pure negligence. It could’ve been avoided. Some of those here with us don’t know what we know about dragons or combat and could use our help. You’re responsible for all of us, Xaden. I know it’s risky, but we have to do something. We need to look out for our own.”

Xaden observed Freya as she spoke and when her green eyes met his dark ones after she finished talking, he nodded.

“You’re right,” he responded. “I like your idea of a meeting. It’d have to be after curfew because if we get caught, it won’t be good. I don’t know where, though.”

“What about under the citadel?” Garrick suggested. “Down in the valley by the river. It’s not too far and if we give proper directions, I don’t think anyone would get lost. When we were down there yesterday I noticed a massive boulder and some oak trees around a bend. Those trees would be good for coverage if we thought someone was coming. What about there?”

Freya and Xaden immediately looked at each other again. They both knew what trees and boulder Garrick was referring to, it was where the two of them had met during their first night at Basgiath. Freya couldn’t help but think of what happened the last time she and Xaden were there but shook her head so she could stay focused on the topic.

“I think that could work,” Freya agreed. “But when? It should probably be sooner than later with today being our first day of challenges. Gauntlet Training is going to come up quickly too.”

“I think tonight,” Xaden replied.

~*~

“You ready?” Garrick asked as Freya handed him the last of the four daggers she had crossed the parapet with. Xaden had done the same. They weren’t going to use any weapons against each other during their sparring match.

“As ready as I’ll ever be,” Freya responded, then glanced at the crowd gathering around the mat. She and Xaden gained a bit of an audience of other cadets and riders wanting to watch the showdown between two marked ones.

“You’ll be fine, Fray.”

“Tarlor and Riorson, go ahead,” Professor Emetterio spoke up, then nodded at the two to get into position.

“Here we go,” Xaden muttered then turned so he could lead the way onto the mat.

With a deep breath, Freya followed Xaden then stopped and got into a fighting stance when he turned to face her again. This wasn’t the first time the two of them sparred against one other. Growing up, they play-fought and trained together all the time. Where Xaden was larger and stronger, Freya made up for it with her speed and agility. She was an extremely skilled fighter, but so was Xaden and they knew each other's moves.

Murmurs and whispers sounded from those closely watching them, but Freya kept her gaze on her best friend, easily blocking them out. She was about to attack first but then noticed Xaden glancing down at her left wrist, which was unwrapped so it wouldn’t seem like it was still bothering her to those watching. It was a quick and subtle glance, but Freya didn’t miss it and she knew he was already planning on being mindful of her injury.

“Don’t go easy on me now, Riorson,” she said, then smirked when Xaden shook his head.

“Have I ever gone easy on you?” He asked, quirking an eyebrow at her.

Freya chuckled.

“No, but I won our last matchup. I’m expecting you to want this one back.”

“That’s true. Let’s see if there’s anything new you’ve learned over the last three years.”

With that, Xaden took the first swing. Freya dodged it by crouching out of the way but didn’t miss how close he’d gotten to almost making contact when a whoosh sounded above her head. She felt her French braid hit her back, falling with her sudden movement and immediately regretted not braiding her hair into a crown. Although she knew her long hair didn’t matter while in combat against her best friend, Freya got very annoyed when it got in her way.

Although it felt longer, only a few seconds had gone by since Xaden struck first and Freya used her crouching position to her advantage by kicking her left leg out and trying to sweep his feet out from under him. Xaden lept over the attack with ease.

“Going to have to be quicker than that,” Xaden taunted, a smug smile tugging at his mouth.

“Oh, I’m just getting started,” Freya replied as she stood straight, then took a quick breath before charging at him. She started with a series of punches, which Xaden mostly dodged or blocked, but she still managed to get a few good hits in.

Xaden began retaliating and Freya was finding it gradually more difficult to keep up with his fast and calculated moves. She knew she had to do something to knock him down a peg and quickly. After she dodged another one of his kicks, Xaden swung at her with his right fist. Freya reacted by reaching across in front of her body and grabbing his wrist with her right hand to prevent him from making any contact. She then spun to her left and brought her knee up as she completed an almost 360-degree spin, quickly because she was taking no chances having her back to Xaden for long, before extending her leg and kicking him firmly in the chest.

Freya let go of Xaden’s wrist and watched as he stumbled backward, the wind knocked out of him, before he stopped and looked at her with wide eyes then shook his head.

“Nice move,” he said then charged at her again.

“Thanks,” Freya replied then blocked another one of his hits.

The two of them continued battling for a few moments making it evident to everyone watching that they weren’t only great fighters, but also evenly matched against one another. Freya could feel herself growing tired, but she knew she had to keep going. She got another good kick on Xaden’s exposed side as he blocked her incoming fist, then responded by faking a right hook toward her. Freya ducked out of the way again without realizing he had no intention of hitting her, which was what Xaden wanted. Instead of completing a punch, he ducked too and swiftly landed the same move she had tried on him earlier, sweeping her feet out from beneath her with his leg and watching as she fell back onto the mat.

Freya groaned at the impact but had to quickly recollect herself because Xaden was already coming at her again. She rolled out of the way of his attack, but he didn’t let her get very far. He grabbed her leg and pulled her back toward him then climbed over her into a straddling position so he could reach for her left arm and twist it behind her back. Freya inhaled sharply at the searing pain that came from where Xaden gripped her previously broken wrist, making him freeze slightly. He immediately let go of her wrist and debated his next move while Freya took the opportunity to roll onto her back and bring her knee to his groin area.

Xaden’s face scrunched in pain as he fell forward but prevented himself from landing on Freya by placing his hands next to her shoulders on the mat, holding himself mere inches above her.

“Finish this, Freya,” he whispered to her, only loud enough that she could hear. Freya looked at him like he was crazy for saying such a thing, but the hard gaze coming from those onyx eyes told her that he meant business. “Now.”

Without another thought, she wrapped her hands around the elbow of Xaden’s right arm and pulled to bring his shoulder crashing down to the mat. Freya then raised her left knee again, lifting his right thigh and continued pulling at his elbow. The move allowed her to roll the two of them over so that she could be the one straddling him instead.

Once on top of her best friend, Freya elbowed his gut, not too hard, mainly for show and Xaden played along. He groaned in fake pain rather convincingly, but Freya knew better. Still, she wasted no time pinning his arms down to the mat, his arms bent so that his hands were next to his shoulders, then stopped and Xaden didn’t fight back.

The two of them stared at each other, both panting as they tried to catch their breath. Their fight was over.

“What a show,” Emetterio stated and loudly clapped his hands together. “Now that, right there, are two of the best fighters I’ve seen so far in this group of cadets. The rest of you could learn a lot from what you just watched. Next up we have-.”

Emetterio continued talking, but Freya and Xaden’s eyes were still on each other. Freya let go of Xaden’s wrists and let her arms fall to her sides as she took another deep breath. Xaden did the same, and Freya felt tingles when his hands brushed her thighs in the process. Her heart started to race when his right hand didn’t move from where he placed it just above her left knee, then squeezed it, making Freya blush slightly.

“Why did you let me win?” Freya whispered before climbing off of Xaden, then held out her hand to help him up too. She needed to no longer be in the position of straddling his waist.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Xaden replied with a smirk as he took her hand and they both stood.

“I can’t stand you sometimes.”

“We both know that’s a lie.”

Freya rolled her eyes as Xaden nudged her with his shoulder then let him lead the way as they headed off the mat back to where Garrick was waiting for them. After taking a few steps, Freya looked up at everyone who was still watching them for the first time since her match with Xaden began. The way people were looking at her ranged from awe to glares of envy, but she was unphased until her gaze met a familiar pair of eyes observing her intently from within the crowd. It was Nathan.

The two of them held each other’s gaze as Freya continued making her way off the mat until she brushed shoulders with Nova, who was next up sparring against a male cadet.

“The tension between you two,” Nova muttered so that only Freya could hear, making her freeze.

“Me and Xaden?” Freya asked and stood with Nova as the male cadet stretched, then glanced toward Nathan again, who was talking to Finn. “Or…”

“Both of them.”

“Oh.”

Nova chuckled.

“I think if I had to pick a team out of the two, you know who I’d have to be loyal to,” she teased, making Freya roll her eyes again. “But Xaden seems alright too and is your best friend so I can respect it.”

“Good thing it doesn’t matter because there’s nothing like that with either of them,” Freya grumbled.

“Sure, Freya. Real convincing.”

Freya’s mouth fell open in shock at that response, which made Nova laugh again. However, before Freya could say anything, Nova’s opponent spoke up.

“Are you two done talking?” He asked. “This matchup is already going to be a waste of my time with how easy it’ll be. Let's get it over with.”

Freya raised her eyebrows, surprised at his words, then looked at Nova again.

“Embarrass him.”

“Oh, I will,” Nova replied simply, then stepped further onto the mat while Freya walked off.

Once off the mat, she was met with Garrick looking at her with an amused expression as he handed her daggers back.

“Say nothing,” she hissed, knowing his amusement was because of what happened between her and Xaden on the mat.

“I’m not saying anything,” he chuckled, then winked at her. “But that was something.”

“I hope you lose your matchup.”

“I won’t.”

Freya huffed in annoyance, which made Garrick laugh even more. A moment later, Xaden joined them, coming back from wherever he’d gone off, and then they all turned to watch Nova make a complete fool out of her opponent.

~*~

Later that night, Freya was lying awake in bed, trying to get her timing right. It was maybe half an hour after curfew, and she’d told Amira, whom she’d gotten to know better since meeting on Assessment Day and the other female marked ones about meeting in the valley below the citadel an hour after curfew. Xaden and Garrick were taking care of telling the boys. Freya didn’t get the chance to tell the girls what the meeting was for, but when she explained it was just marked ones, they seemed less hesitant to take part, seemingly comforted by the thought that it was all people like them. It made Freya happy because that’s what the meeting was for, so they could all help one another.

However, Nathan was waiting for her to talk, and she somehow needed to ensure that didn’t crossover with the illegal meeting of all the marked ones she helped plan.

With a deep breath, Freya sat up and quietly put her boots on. She slipped Caden’s dagger into her left boot once it was tied, always having it on hand in case she needed it, then grabbed her cloak to throw on. Her movements were quick and stealthy, and she thought she was in the clear to start sneaking out until a whisper sounded from nearby.

“Tell Nathan I said hi,” Nova said from where she lay in her bunk. Freya immediately whipped around to look in her direction, and even though she couldn’t see through the dark, she was sure Nova was smiling.

“He told you we were meeting?” Freya asked, keeping her voice low.

“No, but I saw the two of you talk at lunch and figured that might be why you’re sneaking out after curfew again. Seems like your thing when it comes to him and Xaden.”

“I’m not going to entertain what you’re implying because we’re just going to talk.”

“I’m not implying anything. You’re assuming I am,” Nova countered. “Either way, please go easy on him, Freya. I may sound biased in saying this, but he means well. He doesn’t let people in easily, but with you, he’s different. I don’t know what that means yet or why that’s the case, but regardless, he’s a good guy, and you bring something out of him I haven’t seen in a long time.”

Freya couldn’t help but smile at Nova’s words but quickly shook her head so she didn’t read too much into anything.

“If I thought he had any ill intent, I wouldn’t be sneaking out to meet up with him,” she stated. “But I should get going. I’ve already made him wait longer than I intended to.”

“I expect to hear all about it tomorrow.”

Freya shook her head again, smiling as she finished putting her cloak on, then quickly and quietly snuck out of the dorms.

She snuck through the courtyard and down the steps with ease. She’d gotten quite good at making her way around after curfew without getting caught but remained on high alert because she never knew who also might be out.

The moon was bright, which helped illuminate Freya’s path, but it was incredibly hot. She regretted wearing something as heavy as her cloak, but the cloak was needed when it came to blending in with her dark surroundings and concealing her identity.

Once she reached the bottom of the steps into the valley, Freya looked around for a sign of Nathan being nearby but didn’t see anyone. She took a few more steps, still not seeing anything that indicated he might be there and thought that maybe he got tired of waiting for her and left. However, Freya was soon met by a strong breeze that blew the hood of her cloak down and whipped her hair around which she knew had to be caused by Nathan and his signet.

“I wasn’t sure you were going to show,” he said, then stepped out from the shadows, also wearing a cloak.

“I debated not coming,” Freya replied. “But you didn’t leave me much of a choice.”

Nathan’s eyebrows furrowed at that.

“You always have a choice with me, Freya. After the last time we talked, I wouldn’t have blamed you for still not wanting anything to do with me.”

Freya inhaled deeply, then exhaled.

“Everyone has their reasons to keep secrets and just because that happens doesn’t mean it’s despite anyone else. Sometimes it’s out of care and respect for someone or something and there’s no intended maliciousness. In your case, you were protecting your little sister and not wanting to put a target on her back. I can respect that. You and I don’t really know each other, Nathan, and I wasn’t entitled to know such a thing. However, now that I do know, I have no intention to betray Nova’s trust or friendship. I haven’t told anyone.”

“Not even Riorson or Tavis?” Nathan asked.

“No, not even them,” Freya explained. “It’s not for me to tell and although I trust those two with my life, it’s not something they need to hear from me.”

“You’ve got a pretty interesting perspective on secrets, I must say.”

Freya shrugged.

“Secrets are nothing new to me. As much as they can hurt sometimes, there’s often a bigger picture to look at when they come to the surface. The truth can be more painful. There’s a difference between flat-out lying and withholding information that could shake someone's world. The only downfall is that secrets rarely stay hidden forever. They usually come out and a lot of the time, it would’ve been easier if there was no secret-keeping in the first place.”

Nathan nodded in understanding, then stepped toward her. “You sound like you’re speaking from experience. Not that I’m prying, just an observation.”

“Yeah,” Freya started. “When you have a family that took part in a rebellion, that tends to happen.”

“Right.”

“Now, why is it you wanted me to meet you out here?”

Nathan’s gaze fell to the ground briefly, but he quickly recomposed himself and looked back at Freya, his eyes seemingly sparkling in the moonlight.

“I was hoping we could talk,” he told her.

“About anything in particular?” Freya questioned.

“Not really. I just missed talking with you. You’re good company, Freya.”

Freya couldn’t help but smile at his words because although they’d only just met the day before their fight, she enjoyed his company too and had also missed talking to him. There was just something gravitating about Nathan that continued pulling her no matter how hard she tried to ignore it.

“Lead the way and let’s talk.”

With that, Nathan nodded again, then turned and started walking toward the nearby river. Freya followed and soon fell in step with him as the bell tower tolled in the distance, indicating the start of a new hour.

“You were incredible on the mat today,” Nathan said after a few moments of walking in silence. “I wasn’t expecting to see such a good matchup between two first years.”

“Thanks,” Freya responded. “Xaden and I have been sparring with each other our entire lives so that also wasn’t anything new.”

“The two of you grew up together?”

“Yeah, we’re both from Aretia. My parents and his father were very close friends before we were born, which led to us becoming inseparable. He’s my best friend. I don’t know life without him.”

In the moonlight, Freya was able to see how Nathan’s jaw stiffened as she talked about how fond she was of Xaden.

“I see,” he uttered bitterly without making eye contact with her, which made her smirk. He was jealous, that much was evident and Freya wanted to teasingly call him out on it. However, she noticed they were approaching the bend that led to the trees the marled ones would be meeting under soon. Her eyes widened in realization and she knew she quickly had to wrap their conversation up and prevent him from seeing the others. “Riorson’s lucky to have you in his corner.”

Freya racked her brain for things she could say that would potentially make him want to stop talking to her but hated the idea of pushing him away. She enjoyed being with him, but she couldn’t risk him finding out about her and all of the marked ones meeting when it was her idea to do it in the first place. She had to protect her own.

“Is that jealousy I hear?” Freya asked, not knowing what else she could end their conversation without changing the topic entirely. Maybe if she called him out, he’d get angry and leave. “Because it sounds like you might be jealous, Nathan.”

At that, Nathan stopped and turned to face her.

“Maybe I am. Like I’ve said before, there’s something about you. I can’t say I’m too thrilled about another guy having so much of your attention when I want it. I want to get to know you, Freya. I wasn’t lying when I said you fascinate me.”

Freya blinked in surprise. That was not what she was expecting him to say, but his words made her feel endeared. She liked him too.

“Nathan, I-,” Freya started but cut herself off when the wind picked up again and Nathan’s posture went stiff. “What is it?”

“Someone’s coming,” he stated, then grabbed Freya’s hand and started leading her toward a nearby tree to hide behind. “Come on.”

Freya didn’t ask questions and followed his lead, not speaking again until they were behind the tree.

“Do you know who it is?”

“No, but they're coming from various directions. There’s more than one.”

It wasn’t until then Freya noticed she was still holding Nathan’s hand and she gulped as she let go of it, then turned to face him. Nervousness took over her because either he’d soon see the marked one's meeting, or they’d be met by others who may not be so forgiving seeing the two of them out after curfew together.

“Nathan, we should go,” she said in a shaky whisper. She didn’t want to lie to him, but she had to do something.

“Hey, I’m not going to let them see you,” he assured, then reached up to delicately tuck a strand of hair behind her ear, just like Xaden always did. The gesture made Freya feel like her stomach did a flip and suddenly she felt even more guilty for not being honest with him. “I promise.”

“I believe you but-.”

Before she could finish her sentence, two voices became clearer in the distance and her heart dropped at whose voices they were. A moment later, Xaden and Garrick came into view. Nathan watched them looking puzzled.

“Is that your friends?”

“Y-yes,” Freya stammered, then watched her two best friends walk by. After they were a bit further away, she looked up at Nathan and saw that his expression hardened.

“Did you tell them we were meeting?” He asked, his voice much colder than it had been moments prior. “Is this some sort of setup?”

“No, I didn’t! I wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Then why are they talking about where you are?”

Freya took a shaky breath. Although she couldn’t make out Xaden and Garrick’s conversation, she knew Nathan could because of the wind. She worried about what would happen if he saw the others.

“They’re waiting for me,” she admitted.

“Did you agree to meet with me hoping you’d get information just to take back to them?” Nathan questioned.

“It isn’t like that! You have to believe me.”

“Then what is it like, Freya?”

“Watch and you’ll see,” she whispered, hoping she’d be able to do damage control when he saw what was about to happen.

Gradually, pairs of more cloaked figures made their way past where Nathan and Freya were hiding. They all made their way toward where Xaden and Garrick had gone and in the distance, Freya could see them gathering under that one tree. There were eight of them, she was the ninth. After a few moments, she spoke up again.

“Nathan-.”

“They’re all marked ones,” Nathan replied, his tone still cold and firm. Gone was the guy she wanted to get to know better, suddenly replaced with a harsh wingleader again. “This needs to be reported, what they’re doing is illegal.”

He went to step around Freya, but she quickly stepped in front of him and shook her head.

“I can’t let you do that.”

“What do you mean you can’t, are you defending those people?”

“You’re seeming to forget that I am one of ‘those people,’” Freya replied firmly. Something about the way she referred to the marked ones as ‘those people’ rubbed her the wrong way and it showed.

“Freya, I didn’t mean it like that,” Nathan explained, picking up on how her demeanour changed.

“Then what did you mean? Because to me, it seems you’re just like everyone else here thinking we should be treated differently because of the relics we have. That our families getting executed in front of our eyes wasn’t enough. We still pose a major threat for what they did.”

“No, I don’t think that at all. You and the other marked ones have been painted so poorly to the rest of Navarre since the rebellion ended. I’m not saying that makes it ok or that I agree with how you get treated because of your family’s part in it all, but it’s been ingrained in our minds. I’m sorry. I was just caught off guard.”

“I believe you,” Freya replied because she did believe him. She didn’t think he meant her any harm because of her relic. “I promise we’re not doing anything bad. I know we’re not supposed to meet because Melgren can’t see the outcome when we do, but the reason we’re meeting is so we can help one another. Whether that be with studying or in combat, these people are my own and I want them to make it through this college. I owe it to them to watch out for and help them where I can. The odds are already so stacked against us, it’s the least I can do.”

Nathan watched her intently, then shook his head, making her heart drop once again.

“Nathan, please keep this secret to yourself. I know that’s asking for a lot from a wingleader and at the end of the day, it’d make sense for you to report this, but I really hope you don’t. You’re not like the others here. I feel like I can trust you. But if it comes down to it, I will take the fall to protect everyone standing over there when it comes to this. It was my idea that we meet up in secret, no one else’s. Xaden, Garrick and I worked together to make it happen, but I was the one who suggested it. Please, Nathan.”

“I won’t say anything,” Nathan responded after a moment of silence, making Freya let out a sigh of relief. “What you’re doing is admirable, Freya. I believe what you’re saying.”

“Thank you, thank you. I just- I need to look out for them.”

“I understand, and there’s no need to thank me. I can hear them talking right now and it’s lining up with everything you’ve said. You should go, though. They’re waiting for you.”

Freya smiled and nodded, not being able to help the tears welling in her eyes at how sweet and understanding Nathan was being. He didn’t have to be, but she greatly appreciated it and had a gut feeling she wouldn’t regret trusting him. Without giving her next actions a second thought, she stepped closer to him, linked their hands together again then stood on her tip-toes to place a peck on his cheek.

“Thank you,” she said again, then moved back and put her hood up again. “Goodnight, Nathan.”

“Goodnight, Freya,” he replied, then watched her run off toward the others.

Nathan observed the group for a few minutes, listening in the wind to Freya apologizing for being late then immediately helping explain the purpose of all of them meeting in secret. She hadn’t lied and Nathan didn’t feel a need to eavesdrop. Freya trusted him with this secret and he wasn’t going to betray that trust. So, he turned on his heel and headed back toward the steps leading up to the citadel, letting his mind wander to the tingly feeling on his cheek from where she kissed him.

[triscribeaucollection]

Hi! For the writing asks: ✨ and 🌷?

Hi Crystal! Your timing is perfect, and I'm gonna combine these to ramble about my topic of the evening: Justice League Unlimited plays Wolfen and Warlocks

✨ - newest wip / 🌷 - writing achievement you want to brag about

Some of the stone elementals charged forward to throw punches. Others cracked and split the ground, making it harder to approach them by foot. The biggest one, guarding the portal, created a ring of spikes to better protect it.

And Clark’s friends proved exactly why an RPG was the best choice for them to play, rather than a card or board game.

Wally annoyed different targets into following him into range of Diana’s fists. John pinned others in place for Shayera to strike and destroy. Clark and J’onn cast magical shields and restored health points, keeping everyone else moving, and when Bruce’s fairy reached the others to share what he’d learned about the portal’s crystal power source, the seven of them formed up seamlessly to go after it.

Even better, they all clearly had fun doing so.

And *I* had *immense* fun writing this nonsense, okay?

Picking out races, abilities, and stats for each of the seven, figuring out how to balance them against one another through the game encounter, picking the exact worst possible moment for Bruce roll a 1 and almost hit Wally's character instead of the final boss, which he is absolutely never going to live down, that's gonna become the running joke for however many chapters this thing goes:

Flash: "You missed! He was three feet in front of you, how could you miss-!"

Batman: "Shut. Up."

Flash: =D

But of course I've already determined how I'm going to have more fun with it, by bringing in Zatanna to play Storymaster so Clark isn't pulling double duty. And she gets invested, my dudes, full on spooky voice reading the intro blurbs, using magic to make a veil of mist around her spot at the table, bringing the map and character tokens to life for a bit of flair, so on and so forth

There will be other superheroes who get interested. Further interactions in twos and threes as the game spreads through the League. Robin hears about all this and pesters Batman to teach him to play, and between the two of them at home it basically turns into an extra training exercise, Bruce making use of the 'solve a mystery' aspect woven into most pre-made campaigns to teach Tim some more detective skills (this being the DCAU and not comics continuity)

I might even have Alfred insist on hosting one night, just so he gets to lay eyes on Bruce opening up his walls bit with friends- sorry, *cough*, colleagues. Tim will of course get to join in, and does NOT hesitate to grab the "You Missed!" joke and run with it like the little gremlin he deserves to be. Dick and Babs will be beyond delighted when he lets it slip to them as well >:D

And this is like. Full circle, for me. Rather emotional, when I think about it.

Few years back I was writing a scene for a story in a whole other fandom, and decided the kid main character and his best friend needed to be distracted from ongoing misfortune in the form of a new adult friend teaching them to play a D&D knockoff game. I didn't want to use *actual* Dungeons and Dragons, because where's the fun in that, but I felt I needed some actual Thing to use as reference rather than purely winging it. And thus, Wolfen and Warlocks was born.

Now, rather than making things up as I went along for that fic, I've got the Actual Game to reference, or at least all the materials meant for the first edition of it. Not put together or published, yet, but that's only because I'm still beta testing with the help of various friends - including @yogurtbear242, Player The First who gave the best reactions to unexpected developments and was an all around good sport despite not ever having played a tabletop rpg before, in-person or online:

(Everybody salute Bear for being a wonderful crash test dummy)

And now! I get to put the Justice League's founding members through the same shenanigans!!

Self-indulgence *and* self-promotion at it's finest x)

[dragonmasterhiccup]

———

“‘Persona?’ What, what are you even talking about, Hiccup? This is no ‘persona,’ this is just me and all my awesomeness shining through—“ She held up a hand. “—Shh, don’t even try to argue with me, I know I’m the coolest person you’ve ever laid your eyes upon, it’s okay to admit it.”

Danny, of course, picked up on his small crack of a smile, and she couldn’t let that slide, now could she? “Oh, oh my Gods, Hiccup, did you just…smile? I think you did! Wow, I didn’t know you had that in you, I thought you were some emotionless pound of flesh walking around!”

“Woah, really? You would’ve been dead? What happened? And why did Gobber save you?— Kidding! I’m just kidding! I’m glad he saved you, if that means anything to you.”

Danny nodded, a large smile making its way onto her face at the mention of her dragon. She missed Twilight, too; hopefully Hiccup would be able to find someone to take her own her flights… “Uh-huh, sure can! I’m telling you man, you’re really going to like Berk, just give it a bit.”

“Hm.” She was able to pick up on the fact that Hiccup didn’t seem too keen on having this conversation, and so she dropped it. “Somewhere warmer does sound amazing— y’know there’s some islands, maybe a few hours south; freshwater hot springs, best things known to mankind!”

———

Danny’s smile only seemed to get wider, and she took off her satchel and pulled out the harpoon-like device.

Rolling up her sleeves, she took off her boots and stepped into the stream, shivering a bit at the cold before focusing her gaze on the water, trying to spot some fish.

“Tch, have fun using your net, because this bad boy is going to catch so many fish so fast, you won’t even be able to blink!”

———

And, that’s basically how it went; Danny caught loads of fish in no time, though definitely not as fast as Hiccup could blink.

Lightly splashing Hiccup, she stepped out of the stream. “Well, hey, look at that! It really was no time!”

Hiccup, of course, didn't agree. To him, the coolest person he'd seen was Astrid.

He just rolled his eyes, not looking to continue that topic.

"Hey! I'm--I'm not emotionless! I just, I'm a Viking! Vikings aren't prone to showing emotions, regardless of what they feel!" He sounded a bit like he was trying to convince himself more than her, but determined all the same.

Letting out a frustrated groan at her teasing, he explained. "We were up against the Gronckle, and my shield was shot out of my hand, and...and he had me with my back right up against the wall. I could see the blast charging up in his throat-- and Gobber, well, he used his hook to jerk the dragon's head up...the blast hit the wall above my head."

Not his finest moment, as he had been cowering and ducked, using his arms to cover his head.

Sarcastically, he asked, "What, did my older self fail to regale you with tales of my, my many failures at being...at being what a Viking should be?"

His eyes lit up at that. "Really? Hot springs?" That sounded nice...to not have the lingering chill in your bones... "So...so you've traveled the archipelago a lot, then?"

-----------------

Hiccup thankfully made sure to remove the tail from the basket before they loaded it with fish.

He managed to catch maybe a dozen or so, but Danny really outshone him with that tool she brought.

Putting his hand up to prevent the water from hitting his face, he nodded, giving a little grin at their teamwork.

"You're right! Quick, let's gather everything and go see Toothless! If this works, he can fly again!"

----------------

The dragon was lying by the water when they arrived, watching a bird take flight.

Hiccup motioned for Danny to follow him. "Hey, Toothless! We brought you breakfast!"

The Night Fury tilted his head, eyeing the basket as Hiccup tipped it over, causing the fish to spill out.

As he listed the types of fish they brought, he slowly circled towards the back of the dragon, signaling for Danny to stay by the fish.

Straddling the long black tail, he struggled to get it to stay still, since it was bopping to and fro. Lining the tail up, he began strapping it on, leaning back to examine how it looked, muttering to himself his thoughts.

But Toothless...he could feel that there was something different back there. He froze, raising his head up. Testing his tail, he spread his wings out to their full span...

In his excitement, he bolted forward, taking Hiccup with him.

"WHOA!"

The Night Fury took off as Hiccup held on for dear life, getting higher into the air before starting to lose height...

They started plummeting down.

Thinking fast, Hiccup reached forward, pulling the prosthetic tail fin out to match the real one, and they were soaring once again.

"Yeah!!! I did it!"

The Night Fury glanced back, shocked to see the human boy on his tail, and quickly shook him off, causing him to fall and skip along the waters surface for a moment before coming to a stop.

Without Hiccup working the prosthetic, Toothless crash landed, too, also landing in the water with a very large splash.

Hiccup gathered his bearings, leaping to his feet in victory and pumping his fists into the air. "YEAH!!"

Toothless was not amused.

Trudging out of the water, Hiccup raced to Danny. "Did--did you see that?? He flew!! I just have to make a few adjustments, maybe use a string to manipulate the tail positions for flight..." He continued rambling on, listing idea after idea in his excitement.

Toothless pulled himself out of the water, shaking himself off before wrapping his tail around him, getting a closer look at the contraption Hiccup attached to him.

[kordifm]

Dragons Rising S1 No Spoiler Review

Dragons Rising was truly amazing. For context, my brother and I stayed up until 2 am to binge-watch the season after I got home from classes for the day. We initially wanted to split the season in half for our watch through, but every episode, we found ourselves drawn in by the lore and the world building and all the silly little funny moments in between that could just exist because of the 20 20-minute episodes.

The opportunity to watch a season that isn’t capped at a short runtime due to corporate meddling is honestly a dream come true for Ninjago fans. The season felt so full and well-rounded, and I felt like the writers really were able to get everything they wanted in to the season. Obviously not every idea makes the final draft for any piece of creative work, but this one felt so much less bare bones than the previous seasons as far as time goes.

But my favorite part is the character development, hands down. I was so on the fence about Arin and Sora when the trailer first came out, not because I didn’t want to like them; but because I was afraid that they would seem too much like next-gen replacements in comparison to the OG ninja. Boy, was I wrong. They felt so real as characters and were absolutely written beyond my expectations.

Arin is such a pure cinnamon roll who looks up to the ninja and then gets to be one in his own right. He has this air of humility, always wanting to do what’s right as he learns what it takes to be a hero. And he just loves his new family all the while maintaining his hopes for seeing his parents again one day.

And Sora…well, I could write paragraphs about her character development. She honestly reminded me of myself in quite a few ways, so seeing her grow from being very non-involved and on the run from Imperium to conquering her initial doubts about the ninja and her own insecurities was such a treat to watch. She’s a character that is cynical about the world in many senses, but her heart is open to her new family and later in the season, herself and who she wants to be.

Needless to say, I loved them both, and I can’t wait to see where their stories go from here.

Alright, I have to talk about the OG ninja. Gone are the days when they are sidelined to be comic relief. Each episode had a very accurate picture of who they are as mentors and young adults (I will never get over Lloyd calling Arin and Sora “teens,” thereby distancing the OG ninja from that label). I love how Lloyd, Nya, and Kai get to be guides for Arin, Sora, and Wyldfire; albeit in their own ways. I could also spend an exorbitantly long amount of time on this topic, but the highlight for me is that they all had a different answer when their apprentice, if you will, asked them “Is that a Master Wu saying?”

I won’t write about the other three ninja at length here because I want to keep this non-spoilery, but I will say it’s great to see everyone once again, even for a little bit.

My brother likened the original Ninjago being a circle, and this season being the outer circle. We get to take a step back and see a bigger picture of the world and the characters, and we’re not even done yet. I want to make a list of all the open-ended questions that the season left us with because I am totally hyped up here. And of course, credits to everyone who worked on this project. I cannot wait to see what comes next.

[yarn-drag0n]

#mARTch challenge day 2 - inspirations

Im writing since the things off this list that Id want to draw are a circle diagram with "favorite thing to draw"

Animals and plants are probably the biggest source of inspiration. Especially lesser known animals and weird plants. I like looking into flower symbolisim and stuff too, the idea of being able to communicate complicated ideas with a coded visual language is appealing to me. Tho probably not a lot of people know flower symbolisim of hand (i dont either) its just a way to guide myself in picking which flower... i feel similarly about gemstones and minerals. I like drawing them and i love looking at them, but i think its harder for me to capture the "essence of beauty" in a stone than a plant or animal. I think birds and fish are the most fun for me to draw and I love learning about them. They all have really different life cycles and "personalities". They can also be very colorful and I'm drawn to that. Same with insects, they are funny little guys, and they have great features to incorperate into other creatures.

Similar to animals I love mythological creatures. They are probably on of the most consistent and lasting sources of inspiration for both my art and writing. Its a pretty much never ending topic, its why i went with it as the theme for my long term comic project Tidal Lines. I also just love learning about and drawing weird little guys. Tsuchinoko are an eternal favorite. Dragons also, since they can be so many different ways. The dragons in breath of fire 4 are some of my favorite and a very early (like age 7) source of inspiration to draw and think about dragons.

Those are like the main inspiration for subjects i like to draw... in terms of actual drawing style its a bit more difficult to talk about since I tend to just draw "however it wants to be drawn" in the way that I can manage. In a sense the tactile elements of the medium are the inspiration. I love the way watercolors control, and love watching it and ink on the page. I dont do a lot of "style studies" and sometimes I think i really should.... Id like to be influenced by the art of yoshitoshi abe, range murata, clamp, miyazaki (especially the nausicaa comic and his pencil+water color style). I also would like to be able to draw in a more simple but appealing way, the style of digimon adventure is one I like a lot for that quality. I think once i list these out I can see the influences in my "style" but im not sure if one would think of it nessecarily... im always interested to hear what people think my art looks like and compaires to, since i feel like i can't really tell.

Oh, the way I draw noses is consiously chosen because of Secret Saturdays and early Soul Eater. Its changed a bit, because I wanted ways to get more variation, but its something in the way I draw faces that can be directly traced back to those styles.

I am also inspired just gennerally by the marriage of visual art and storytelling. I like being able to include character and worldbuilding details visually. In a sense it feels more naturalistic to present these sorts of details visually, and when I see nice examples of it in other works its really exciting. There is a lot of this in miyazaki's films.

I am also inspired by people who can get "messy" or scraggly lines to look good and give a vibe. Randal's friends is a comic that i think of, and I want to draw with more looseness and weirdness.

I am very much inspired by my friends who draw. Drawing together and working on our art and talking about it and showing each other is one of the main things that keeps me encouraged to keep drawing.

TLDR i am inspired by everything in the world, all beaings and stories and my friends :>

[orangesunsets12]

Everyone knew the name Steve Harrington. 

It was whispered among classmates as a desk sat empty, gossiped about by mothers over tea, and discussed in length among the police. 

Eddie didn’t like hearing the name. It reminded him of his own parents’ names, when they had died in the fatal car accident. No one stopped talking about them, not for a long time. It was the biggest news the town had ever had in years, the biggest conversation topic that circled among everyone who could talk, and it took everything in him not to hide away forever. 

But now, as the conversation wasn’t about him, he didn’t want to hide. He didn’t want to run. He just…felt bad. Felt bad that this Steve Harrington was now the word going around the town, an endless loop of gossip, even though he wasn’t even there. No one would talk about anything else.  Even Harrington’s parents, before they left, selling the house and never coming back,  talked about it for a bit, in town meetings and grocery store conversations.

Steve Harringon: missing, lost, disappeared; like the stars in the sky at dawn. 

Some rumored that Steve had run away from his parents, others said that he finally left town, but most agreed that he had died in some horrific way. The police hated that theory, as it meant that they had to find a body, yet no body was ever found. 

Everyone expected him to make an appearance again, like Will Byers, but there hadn’t been any luck so far, and it had been a month. 

Eddie knew that, with time, everyone would give up, and the name would be forgotten. He wasn’t sure if he was looking forward to it or not. 

He remembered Steve very well. He could see his fellow classmate in his mind’s eye, hanging out with jocks and being a jerk although never seeming to believe in what he was doing. He was sweet to the girls he went out with, a jerk to teachers on good days, but was always a good student if the teacher was clearly having a rough time, and had even paid for Eddie’s lunch when Eddie had run out of money. 

Eddie didn’t know if Steve Harrington was a good guy, or if it varied from day to day. Yet, did it even matter? He was gone. 

Dustin, Lucas, and Mike, three freshmen that had a good mind for Dungeons and Dragons, started their high school career with frowns on all of their faces. Naturally, Eddie took them under his wing, teaching them all of the ins and outs of the school. He was the expert, after all. Two of them, Lucas and Mike, seemed to warm up to him pretty quickly, but it was Dustin that took the longest to get used to Eddie, or even like him. He stayed silent throughout their D&D sessions, constantly glancing to Lucas for support, and Lucas would wrap him in a small hug.

Eddie didn’t know what to make of it. Was the kid always like this? Was he nervous about high school? Did he hate Eddie?

But it was Lucas’ quiet confession, after a session, that made Eddie’s heart break. Dustin was close with Steve, the two were practically brothers, until Steve vanished. This was the first couple of months without Steve, and it was clearly hurting him. 

Eddie didn’t want to replace Steve, but he was sure going to try and help Dustin get through the difficult emotions that came with it. He knew what it felt like to hurt, to loose someone close to you. He didn’t want Dustin to be alone through that. 

From then on, he made sure Dustin had everything he needed, and he could slowly see the energy the kid had and the genius that the kid was. Though, despite everything, there was still something dimming his personality, as if his mind was elsewhere. He was really good at hiding it, but Eddie could see right through it. 

He just wished that Steve would come back. Dustin would no doubt get better if he did, live up to his full potential, and maybe Eddie himself could have witnessed the incredible Steve that Mike and Lucas talked about when Dustin wasn’t around, as they didn’t want to hurt Dustin even more. Yet, as the school year went on, the chances of Steve’s return dwindled to basically nothing. The rumors stopped. Everyone seemed to forget. 

He didn’t. Dustin didn’t. Lucas didn’t. Mike didn’t. But no one bothered to hope for the best. 

In fact, Eddie had lost all hope until Chrissy had died right in front of him, and he was told of the mystery of the Upside Down. Dustin told him with tear filled eyes that Steve had been dragged into the other dimension, never to be seen again, and that everyone had given up on his return. The Upside Down was dangerous, full of monsters and poisonous air and vines that could kill. No one dared to believe that Steve was alive, even though he could’ve been, in Eddie’s opinion. Will survived it, so why couldn’t Steve?

Nancy told them that there was no chance Steve was alive. Will had been stuck for a week, while Steve had been for nearly a year. 

Yet her insistence didn’t stop him from keeping an eye out for Steve when he was in the Upside Down. Even though it was a dangerous place, he knew that Harrington could survive it. Steve was, apparently, a hero, protecting the kids with a mere nail bat, a strong knight that wouldn’t stop at anything to complete his task. That wasn’t a man that would go down easy. 

Eddie hoped to see him in the distance as they biked, hiding in the homes they entered, walking in the woods when they did, but he never saw anything. He never saw that great head of hair in his field of vision, or even a body. 

He didn’t really know what to think about it. Did it mean that Steve had died long ago? That he was alive and in hiding? That he had run from this horrible version of Hawkins and was living somewhere else? 

When Eddie, Nancy, and Robin had gotten back into the real world, Eddie had to watch Dustin’s face fall, as he no doubt noticed that there was no Steve with them. 

Eddie didn’t say anything to him. There was nothing to say. No comforts, no bad news. Nothing. 

Everything after that was a blur, full of people and plans and tons and tons of bats. Eddie remembered seeing Dustin’s heartbroken face at one point, and then nothing. He thinks that he might’ve died. He wouldn’t have been surprised.

The next time he woke up, he felt warm.  He opened his eyes to see a fire in front of him, flickering and crackling, reminding him of the many campfires he had with Wayne when he was younger. He blinked, and pain flared up on his chest. He groaned, trying to sit up, but he felt a firm hand push him gently back to the ground. 

“Don’t try and sit up, I just wrapped up your wounds, I don’t want to have to do it again.” He heard, and Eddie could feel his confusion quadruple. He could feel the damp air of the Upside Down in his lungs, see the horrid darkness of this cursed place broken by the fire, so he knew that he hadn’t escaped. So what was this voice doing here? Was he dead? Was he hearing things that weren’t there?

“Who…what…?”

Eddie’s eyes focused on a man that was kneeling in front of him, covered in dirt, blood, and grime, with hazel eyes that watched him with sympathy. The left side of his face was scared, three pinkish lines starting from his forehead, cutting into his eye socket, and stopping on his cheek. He had scruff on his face, yet still carried a boyish look about him, like he was only a teenager, a look that Eddie recognised. His brown hair was full of the particles from the air, yet still carried a strong sense of identity. The man smiled gently, and Eddie blinked, finally realizing what was so familiar about the man in front of him. 

“Harrington?”

[adventuringalchemy]

Heya! P:

I read through some of your asks answers during work and it gave me an idea. [Your blog gets more questions/is more active than other MC ask blogs I follow atm, so I stalk ya a lil' bit hhhh don't mind me]

I am not the anon who sent the AU ask, I am not knowledgable enough of MCSM to ask big questions, -wheeze- but some ungodly possession gave me an image in my mind and is now bothering me. I gotta write it down somewhere, so my first choice is to pester you with it. /hj

For some reason when it got mentioned that Jesse would spawn a monster, or some other threat, that then blew out of proportion [haphazardly so], I just saw an image in my head of them drawing a summonig circle/building a shrine Herobrine style. Crudely, but alas. A terribly bad idea but also "This ain't ever gonna work,"-like so it wouldn't hurt, surely!

What if they mistakenly summoned Crona, glitchy admin lad, with that. Pulling them from their own broken, shifting server over to theirs. The spiky beasty is so nonchalant, floating about, chill and unbothered but the MCSM world isn't acustomed to a glitchy mess like Crona, so things around them just break, glitch, shift, affected by weird effects, physics break in a radius and spread. Posing as practically a bug in the system.

Ah- It doesn't fit timeline-wise since none of the main cast actually ever met an admin at that time probably in the AU [I don't know how tightly woven the MCSM timeline is, I just know the admin shenanigans come after the witherstorm, after the portals, when Jesse is already aknowledged as a hero, and Beacontown got built? Romeo wouldn't really have his eyes on Jesse if none of that ever happened, I guess?], therefore they wouldn't have reference or concections what a big deal this is and big confrontations later interactions could pose are practically nullified in that case, but the image won't leave my brain. -wheeze-

Soooo! Maybe that idea doesn't really fit into the mentioned AU [and the timeline shifts give me a headache, since I have poor understanding of the characters/timeline in the first place. My diligent mind wouldn't give me a rest unless I study MCSM history if I were to attempt to play a part in that AU /hj]

-But I feel the idea itself is worth savekeeping since you expressed interest in RPing with me and that character. I think I'd absolutely attempt to trial run through. Just wanted to share. Thinking what big of a deal it would actually be- and the idea of basically summoning Herobrine is such a nostalgia trip for myself! -wheeze-

[I actually considered whether to DM you rather, but I gotta stop lingering in the shades, so here goes this gköwkflfük]

[I enjoy how you answer asks in detail and share your thoughts, bet other people like to read though those too, so let me indulge. P:]

@sollyraptor sent an ask .

no but i adore the idea of them trying to summon herobrine. i can TOTALLY see the vibes fitting into mcsm! a lot of the story has little, niche topics that bring back the nostalgia of minecraft itself. going to defeat the ender dragon being a huge part of it.

i don't necessarily see jesse making the mistake personally because i feel like they would have a little more brains than axel. they would do the research to summon herobrine. they would make sure that everything made perfect sense and fit together to ensure that that would be the outcome. jesse isn't impulsive ( unless you hurt their friends / they're angry ) , but axel most certainly is. i can totally see axel just wanting to get it done and over with and messing up the structure that summons herobrine. he'd put the wrong block, put the wrong flowers, do something. and in comes crona, who is probably much, much more destructive and would cause much more havoc.

i love the idea of crona bringing in glitching to their world. just because they haven't met admins yet doesn't mean they can't meet one sooner. it's an au so anything goes. and the lore of mcsm is a little different than minecraft lore to begin with so mixing in some of our touches wouldn't hurt at all.

i imagine that if this were to happen, ivor would want to use to command block to get rid of crona. something with powers that the command block has, they could very much use the command block to get rid of it. that would be his biggest idea at least, very much like how he thought of the way to truly get rid of the witherstorm; destroying the very thing that made it.

but he would have no idea how to get rid of the glitches. he would try magic, he would try enchantments, but i imagine nothing would really work. glitches don't just go away. they are made because there is flaw. and crona is flawed. meaning that nothing can really save it. ivor would spend years trying to figure out how to get rid of it, only to never find the answer. poor man would work himself to death.

honestly this sounds like it could turn into a fully plotted epic, which are my absolute things to write. i adore long threads that have a huge story from start to finish. i stay the most in character with them, i get the most excited for, and keep the most in my brain. i think about it. i want art for it. i make headcanons for it.

please do this with me.

[kyarbrougharts245-02]

Blog Six

For this week's readings, we were assigned pages 34-58. A reading with a generous title of “Anatomy, Size, Classification, Families, Big Families, Designing Typefaces, Logotypes, Screen Fonts, Bitmap Fonts.” Of all the readings we’ve had in the semester, I found these pages to be the most visually interesting. I’ve always really liked fonts, especially super fun, dynamic ones. This week’s reading was plentiful in examples as one of the major topics focused on designing type. 

On page 57, the audience is introduced to the Bitmap, a geometric, pixelated font. I always associated cubic fonts like Bitmap with old platformer games though usually I prefer when fonts are a bit more bold. Here the pages to succeed Bitmap shows multiple student-made prototype fonts for the font.

It’s a similar assignment to what we did this week. But before I delve into that, I’d like to describe what works for me from these student examples. Out of all of them, I took to Wendy Neese and Bruce Willen’s prototypes the most. Both have clean, cubic fonts that give an almost Futurist, sci-fi vibe. I think the dynamicness of the prototypes sticks out to me more as opposed to the others which feature more solid and bold designs. While I like a certain boldness on some fonts, here I realize the preference doesn’t always work for some designs.

That being said, I do believe Joey Pott’s design would be the most faithful prototype to what would be Bitmap in this hypothetical situation. The other designs are much busier than Bitmap and would have to be simplified to a drastic scale if one is to image these prototypes to result in the final font we have today. At least that is what I believe.

Brendon Mcclean’s design would most likely be the second most hypothetical prototype as opposed to James Alvarez where the fins on the stem lead me to believe a lot more simplification would be needed or result in a font entirely different from Bitmap.

Aside from that, I liked the two logotype features on page 53 (top right). The curves and loops I find to be visually engaging in both, though I will admit I find the red example to be a little hard to read (I have to work on my cursive distinction). Castaways (on page 49) was also a fun font to discover with an interesting little history under its belt to share. 

While I found everything to be quite interesting, I will admit the poster of the dinosaurs was a bit of a jumpscare. The fonts were bubbly but the image was very unexpected. Glad I didn’t accidentally read this one in public or near my family, I’d rather do without the side-eyes. That and, as hard as I tried, I could not for the life of me understand what the poster was trying to promote. I think a bar, though I’m not so brave as to search the internet for the reason for including the two dinosaurs screwing each other. Maybe in another timeline.

To shift away from that fascinating section of the reading, I’ll now circle back to our project. We were tasked to design two letters, one serif, and one san serif. We’d give them both a name and a place in the Alphabet. I quite enjoyed this one. It was much less nerve-wracking than our last projects and I especially liked all the designs I was able to come up with.

Naming them was my favorite part. My two final letters I named Rhael (pronounced rail) and Qr’ax (pronounced cure * ax). Some of the sketches I favored more than others also got names. You can find some named Magma, Ramma, Sümra (pronounced soom*ra), Hydra, Wyrm, and more. Some letters were just given the first sounds I had off the top of my head like Sümra. Others I based on appearances like how I found both Hydra and Wyrm to resemble dragon variants.

Rhael is guilty of being an example where the first thing that came to mind became its name. I just slightly changed the spelling to make it more interesting. Now I am no longer lazy. Qr’ax was initially going to be named Serys (pronounced series) but I was informed Qr’ax fitted it better. It was also initially going to be spelled Q-rax but I thought Qr’ax made it seem more interesting.

Credit honestly goes to Game of Thrones, inspiration-wise. There are some wicked cool names in the book. For example, Serys just came from a character named Viserys. I also had another letter I called Tesserion (pronounced tes*e*ree*on) inspired by one of the dragons named Viserion. In other words, if it sounds cool it is cool. As such, me will be taking it!

(Here be Rhael and Qr'ax, respectively.)