#dragon style parenting

[caissa-scribbles]

Restlessly, Gajeel ran his fingers over the ground. Deep down in the rock he could feel traces of ore, but it was more a whisper than a call. Aluminium, probably. Or nickel.

He sighed. It had been ages since he had last eaten raw iron, unsmelted, freshly broken from the intestines of the earth. A taste that evoked memories from a time when things had been easy and full of wonder. His thoughts digressed...

"C'mon, eat already. Yer crammin' down all kinds of stuff all the time."

The boy weighs the grey-black lump in his scratched hand, pulling a face.

"You can't eat rocks."

With an indignant snorting, the dragon gives the boy a mighty slap on the back of his head, thus making him tip forward, lengthways into the dust.

"Moron! Tha's not a rock, it's hematite. Iron ore. Eat."

The kid gets back up, defiantly crossing his arms but without letting go of the rock.

"But you can't eat iron either!"

"Yes, we can, you and I. 'S nothin' better. Now, try!"

To prove his point, the dragon bites a clashing hole into the rock wall, which is covered in reddish brown sediment, and crunches the ore with delight. The rumbling and tumbling from his mouth sounds like a debris avalanche thundering down the slope towards them, but the boy is not afraid.

He turns the nugget to and fro. Eating dirt is something he doesn't mind. The villagers' wastes were always dirty. And sometimes, when his hunger had been unbearable and there had been nothing edible to be found, he had chewed on leaves and twigs from the forest floor or nibbled on tree barks like a deer.

Now there is always plenty of food. Real food. The dragon takes care of that.

Doubtfully, he lifts the lump and sinks his teeth into it.

The raw ore crunches in his mouth like sand, the brittle crumbs scratch his tongue.

But it tastes good. Warm and bloody and sweet like the meat of a freshly killed animal.

Never in his life has he eaten something so amazing.

He craves more.

More.

Greedily, he wolfs down the pieces of ore the chuckling dragon keeps knocking out of the rock wall for him, chews and gulps, gulps an chews as if he were starving.

Small chips tear open his palate and throat. His stomach burns, but he can't stop eating. Rusty saliva is dripping from the corners of his mouth.

And then the iron starts to sing in his veins. The force within him, which he can now call all by himself, shouts its jubilant response as if it had already waited for the iron to come. Magic, the dragon said, not some devilish power. It bubbles up like a geyser, roars through his blood like a waterfall until he's all dizzy.

The skin on his bare arms begins to prickle as iron scales burst out from it. His legs, his face, his ribcage under the ragged tunic. Everything turns into iron. But not cold and rigid. Flexible and warm and hard like the dragon's hide, the dragon who is so strong and invulnerable.

He wonders, might he be as strong as the dragon now, too?

He grabs the nearest chunk of hematite with both hands and breaks it apart as easily as if it were but a piece of bread. The boy beams all over his face.

Next to him, the dragon bursts out into a booming laughter until little pieces of gravel drizzle down the rock wall, a garnet ember sparkling in his dark eyes. His huge paw slams the boy against his armoured chest, but this time, the tough hug hardly hurts.

"Hah! Tha's my brat!"

And suddenly the boy understands: the dragon is proud of him. For the first time in his life, somebody is proud of him.

Now he wants to eat even more iron.

[lafaiette]

Gods I feel you I'm only 10 hours in after having received the game as a gift and I REALLY try to like it but it just ... doesn't feel like Dragon Age. Characters know stuff they shouldn't know about, the game keeps talking down to me, nothing I did in the previous games mattered, the tone is completely different, the mature storytelling of the previous games seems to be missing so far & what I heard so far of how the lore and the characters from previous games have been handled is honestly the worst part and breaks my heart. idk even if i wanna finish the game at this point anymore, I'm just kinda ... sad.

I'm so sad and disappointed, too, I remember our conversations, fics, and headcanons about DA! We were so excited and happy, because Inquisition, DA2, and DAO were genuinely well-made and aimed at pleasing the fans, despite their faults.

DATV is a good action game, no doubt about that. The combat is fun, there is a lot to explore and discover, and many locations are beautiful, even though some are terrible to navigate (Dock Town's structure makes no sense). But that's it - it's a good action game with the name "Dragon Age" pasted on it. It doesn't feel like it's part of the series, it constantly treats the player like an idiot, some references to past games and characters are literally hidden in the brief descriptions of the mementos, and there is even a Glossary to make sure the new players don't get frustrated.

Everything is safe and aseptic, cleaned of every deep piece of lore that could have scared new fans into buying or continuing the game. Even the banters lack the depth of the previous games.

A good game company should lure new players in not by rejecting their past entries, but by making them look even more interesting with their sequels.

Bioware wasn't afraid of offering piece of lore after piece of lore in Inquisition - it was a game set in a precise moment, whose prologue was directly tied to the events of the previous game, and new players had to accept this if they decided to buy it and play it. If they liked that premise, all that information and those details, then they were more than welcome - they were encouraged! - to go back, try the older games, and see how it had all started. It was a game made for the fans the company had already managed to win over, not for possible fans who may or may not bring new money in.

In DATV the new players can jump right in after quickly learning who Solas is and what he's trying to do, and old fans are left with an empty shell, with minor references that are supposed to make us feel happy and accomplished peppered here and there, while all our past choices and our favorite characters are forgotten or brought back with a terrible case of amnesia. It's lazy, infuriating, and very sad, and it smells of reboot, because the new devs probably realized they couldn't keep up with the amount of lore and choices the series contain, and they needed to start anew.

[fangsandfeels]

Shathann deserved better

Among my many jabs at writing, I feel that it did Shathann dirty.

The concept itself is fascinating: a woman from a society that doesn't have such thing as "family", who became a mother. Who chose to be a mother. She a scholar. She never meant to be a parent. She is nostalgic, but she chose to leave her home and become an apostate in her kin's eyes - out of love for the child she meant to surrender to caretakers.

She is used to calm, analytical thinking, but she made a very emotional decision and took an uncalculated risk.

She doesn't know how to mother, she sticks to the routines she knows even after finding herself outside her society.

And she loves her child, but she doesn't know how to show it.

She is clueless but she is trying. She wants Taash to like her, but she also wants to make sure that Taash never gives in to impulses and can put emotions behind them when necessary.

I don't say that Taash shouldn't have had a conflict with her, but it should have been centered around Taash being an adaari. Because not only did Shathann abandon the Qun for an entirely "selfish" reason - keeping a child to herself instead of letting the Tamassran take care of them and find their place in the Qun, but she also absconded with a dangerous thing, the one with dragon blood in their veins. The one that Qun would have wanted either contained, leashed, and serving or destroyed. For the greater good. We saw what Viddasala did to a dragon in the Trespasser - we can only imagine how Ben-Hassrath and the military forces of Par Vollen would have weaponized the adaari. It certainly wouldn't have been pretty.

It should have been about Taash wondering sometimes if their own mother is afraid of them or regrets having them because she had to leave her home and life behind.

It should have been about Shathann being torn between simply loving her child and trusting them and feeling responsible for whatever will happen if she doesn't teach Taash control, if she doesn't show them the way, if it turns out that her emotions blinded her and she doomed her child from the very beginning.

It should have been about Taash feeling guilty for enjoying themselves when they let the fire burn, when they don't have to hide their heritage as they fight, live, and love - and not knowing whether they should be mad at Shathann for putting that shame into them, do their best to prove her wrong that they're not a mindless beast to be put down or to give up and prove all her fears, just because they can never be what she wants them to be.

It should have been about Taash wondering whether Shathann even loves them or just sees them as some kind of an experiment, to prove a point.

It should have been about Taash's confusion overlapping with Shathann's own repressed trauma of having to leave her life and put everything behind, dive into the unknown - out of love.

This could have been such a fascinating story to explore - the story of a Qunari woman undergoing the trial of parenting, the lore additions about the Kossith and their draconic heritage, the scholarly discussions Shathann could have had with Rook.

There are so many identity issues and questions that we could have dug into, but it all boils down to Taash throwing a tantrum even though Shathann isn't even angry or unaccepting of their gender.

She is inquisitive, trying to understand and obviously worried that she might have made Taash feel inadequate about their biological sex, that her comments about Taash's manners or way of dressing hurt Taash and she didn't even know. This is not offensive, it's a normal reaction. Shathann is an inexperienced parent and she knows it, but she cares a lot about Taash and beneath all of her polite and strict attitude, she is terrified of hurting Taash.

Moreover, as soon as Shathann sees that Taash is obviously distraught, she removes herself to give Taash some room and not to add to their discomfort. She is upset herself, but she prioritizes Taash's wellbeing over her own feelings.

And then later Shathann just symbolically dies to redeem herself for the crime of...trying to have a dialogue with Taash and check in with their feelings.

A dialogue about the matter she already accepted, just wanted to make sure that Taash's identity doesn't stem from self-hatred.

Yes, Taash's final quest was supposed to show just that: that all that time Shathann was trying to protect Taash and that she always accepted Taash and that all that time Taash loved their mom, but instead of being painful in a good way, it was just painful.

Because Shathann's death and final words were clearly showing "see, she accepted Taash in the end and died to atone for her sins, hooozah" - and nothing more. The writers didn't exploit Shathann feeling homesick and having her doubts - for instance, if she gets contacted by the Ben-Hassrath (yes, I still think that it should have been Qunari invasion, not the Antaam going rogue and playing warlords) and offered to surrender Taash voluntarily in exchange for being allowed back (under strict supervision and with a permanent ban on reproducing, but still), but she refuses because no matter how out-of-place she feels, she would always choose Taash. Always.

I feel genuinely sorry for her and the potential she and Taash had as characters. They both could have been so much more and they both didn't deserve this (like many other characters in Veilguard, to be honest).

[suranastair]

Kestrel "Kes" de Riva 🐦‍⬛

🟣 Age || 31 🟣 Lineage || Human 🟣 Pronouns || He/Him ~ Transgender 🟣 Identity || Gay 🟣 Class || Mage 🟣 Specialization(s) || Spellblade 🟣 Faction || The Antivan Crows 🟣 Romance || Lucanis 🟣 Besties || Neve & Emmrich 🟣 Frenemies || Davrin

[haharuspex]

asher izenburg :) he's a npc from the dnd campaign i'm currently in and. well. dare i say i like him very very much

[cjbolan]

Unpopular Opinion: Alicent Hightower is an abusive parent.

[peridot-tears]

I think a lot of people miss the point of Alicent Hightower's parenting methods. It's toxic and awful, but she was raised to social climb no matter the cost. For her, love is control and steering her kids on the right path even if they don't want it. They're in a precarious position where their family painstakingly reached the status and power they have now, but a misstep could spell death and suffering for all of them.

Rhaenyra, on the other hand, was born into a dynasty where their place on the throne had long been secured. And her father was able to raise her with a secure attachment to him.

Watching House of the Dragon as an immigrants' kid, I recognize Alicent's actions as the ultimate parental love. But apropros to nothing, I also don't talk to my mother anymore.

[synchodai]

I was worried they would make Aegon II a recycled Joffrey but I'm glad they didn't! They're both failsons desperate for dad's approval but Joffrey obviously had money thrown at him to make him shut up while Aegon just got told to shut up.

[nexus-nebulae]

found my ancient mp3 player recently. finally found a charger for it and plugged it in. and remembered i found a yt playlist of the whole httyd movie chopped up into like 20 videos and i downloaded the mp3s of all of them to listen to on the school bus. which is why i can effortlessly quote the whole first movie now

[latinokaeya-moving]

the entitled ownership parents often feel over their child’s body is interesting to me but specifically in the way it can often contradict itself or betray their own morals/biases. like i think abt the fact that my mother To This Day hates me talking abt doing anything at all to my hair and consistently says i ruined it in comparison to the way it used to look like when i was a child and didn’t ‘let me’ get it cut short until i basically just went n did it myself without her permission (a week before my quinceañera, and she Fumes about it to this day bc ‘why couldn’t have i waited until after at least’, lmao) and like how this all very obviously ties into Something to do with gender (and probably sexuality since i came out to her as a preteen) here. and yet she was fine with me getting a tattoo at like 15, Paid for it and took me to an artist to get it done lol. i talk abt it a lot but the skewed priorities here have always been sooo weird to me 😭

[todayisafridaynight]

I completely agree! I'm glad you don't mind at least, but of course, it's totally natural to be predisposed to liking what you end up liking. I think that's gonna happen no matter what and it's not something that ever needs to be suppressed. There are very obvious patterns in my favorite characters and pairings for a reason lol

Same! I'm very selective as well, so a fic that stands out that much is always gonna be one for the books. I'm thrilled the language barrier didn't get in the way. The scene at the park GETS ME like the way Jo just knows that it's gonna eat away at Masato and does his best to accommodate instead of dragging him straight home like bro😭😭

I've always wanted to know what differs in Jo's and Arakawa's "parenting styles" that made Masato have such a clear "favorite," and maybe it's things like that that build up. ALSO AGREE on the drama theme in Confession, there's a bit of that in Y7 as-is so it was a great choice to hone in on and highlight it.

I knew you'd say that haha, but I think my subconscious simply understands that if I'd trust anyone with AraSawa, it's you. Also no worries, I genuinely wasn't even expecting a reply until you got home, godspeed lol--super excited to see what you come up with, and I hope you enjoyed your trip + the sushi!

Of course! Nothing wrong with liking what you end up liking. I only worry about it so I don't miss out on good things just because I'm not familiar with it or it's something new- trying to be open minded and ready to try different things and all :]

YEAHYEAH it especially felt great since like. Jo seeing Masato cry about not being able to walk was of course what got him back into his life, so it was nice to loop back to that and instead of Jo not being able to do anything like the first time, he go to be there for him now ;;

On the topic of parenting styles though, I'm genuinely surprised I haven't let slip any of my personal notes about how they parent Masato- or at least how I've speculated they parent him (of course we see how Masumi takes care of him more, so the 'speculation' part more so lies on Jo's end since obviously we didn't get to see it as explicitly). I actually thought of writing up a post about their parenting styles, but I thought I'd be repeating a lot of points we went over uu;;

Even if I might not ever write a fic, I'm glad that I've gotten the mark of approval for AraSawa interpretations (I guess my silly comics are the closest to written fics huh lmao)!

[caissa-scribbles]

Metalicana: Do you remember when I taught you to swim in that lake?

Gajeel: Taught me?!?! You tossed me into the water without a warning! I almost drowned!

Metalicana (proudly): Yeah, you learned really quickly. And you got clean, for a change.

[misano17]

do I start lore dropping about the fire emblem goofy yah fan project thing I’m doing?

it’s literally a fake fire emblem game isekai transmigration thing with all OC’s and it’s own world that’s just inspired by fire emblem. I just also happen to be making up mechanics and maps and shit for it. I have a bunch of art of it that I haven’t posted on here and concepts so I’m thinking about making a big post once I have a bunch more.

[diminuel]

That's your stinky child too now, Dragon~

You can read the first part of this comic here.

As always, apologies for style inconsistencies I just never draw anyone looking the same *lol*

(I'm also not sure how I want to draw Crocodile >w< So I'm just saying that he's not sure yet either what to do. Does he need to be someone else to put as much distance between the pirate and the parent? But Dragon isn't doing that, so does he? Etc etc.)

[balrogballs]

I have never had a normal thought since I realised Aragorn/Estel would have been around 10 years old — more like 7/8 considering his heritage — when Thorin's Company passes through Rivendell, so here are some brainrot headcanons (continued under the cut):

Estel is obsessed with Thorin. Just completely obsessed. Follows him around everywhere like a cat, begs him to play with him, offers to run errands for him. Literally every elf in Rivendell is completely stunned at the behaviour because Estel is, normally, a card-carrying ankle-biter.

The Dwarves, on the other hand, are shocked by the fact that by a few days into the visit, Thorin seems to like Estel too. Gloin would have sworn that he expected Thorin to throw the child off the banisters the minute he made him hold his pet python. Thorin didn't just hold said snake, but played with him, let him do little odd jobs, even letting him sit up with him at the dining halls. On two evenings, he even takes Estel out with a wooden sword, to show him how to "fight like a Dwarf lord". All the Dwarves are just as shook as the elves, minus Kili and Fili, who knew Thorin as Uncle Thorin and are completely unsurprised that he is so wonderful with little Estel.

Lindir and Elrond find a content python snoozing in Elrond's study. Lindir and Elrond are both utterly and irrationally terrified of snakes. After much screaming and climbing on sofas, every member of staff swears Estel had been in his mother's quarters all day. Nobody thinks to mention that they saw Bilbo and Thorin hanging about outside the study, because what relevance could that possibly have?

When the company left Rivendell, Estel was understandably quite unhappy because he'd miss them, also they were going to see a dragon, and he begged to go with them. Thorin does what most parents do before going on a trip, and promises to bring him a present from the dragon's lair when they returned.

Bilbo returns without Thorin, but with the promised present for Estel. He visits the boy in his quarters and they hold each other and share their grief. Bilbo then shows him the present. He explains how Thorin wanted to give him something more substantial than a golden cup scraped off the floor of a dragon's lair — he had told Bilbo, the night before the battle, to give the boy Thorin's own solid gold wristband.

On the same return trip, Elrond expressed his condolences over Thorin's death, and enquired if there were other casualties. When he finds out that Kili and Fili had also died in the battle, a strange, terrible expression twisted across his face and he said, almost reflexively, both? both together? good. that's good. The remaining Dwarves and Bilbo were all stunned, thinking it was Elvish apathy at best, and deliberate disrespect at worst. After all, they had no reason to know that Elrond, like his immortal brethren, found it somewhat difficult to gauge the ages of mortal beings — and had thought the two late brothers were twins.

Decades later on the night before the Fellowship were set to depart, the elderly Bilbo Baggins found it hard to sleep from worry, and wandered onto the balcony, and saw a lone man practicing sword moves in the courtyard. He realises both man and combat style seem faintly familiar, like the heavy striding and swinging and slashing are the steps to an old dance he once used to know, which now lives in a deep, forgotten place within him, under layers of unravelling memories. He can't quite put his finger on it. But there is a strange comfort in the sight, so soothing Bilbo's eyes start to close, falling asleep curled up right there on the balcony. He slips off into a wonderful old dream, lulled by the rhythm of fallen leaves crunching in the courtyard — where Aragorn "fights like a dwarf", solid gold wristband twinkling under the light of the stars.

[first-and-last-neocount]

I see that Claudia attends the ‘gaslight, gatekeep, girlboss’ school of sibling relations.