#dragon tamers

[selfish-thunder]

I’ve got another idea.

Okay, so I love those fics that have Harry trying to use his Parselmouth on either (or both) the basilisk and the dragon in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, with varying degrees of success. And a lot of the time, talking to the dragon kinda works, right? Like, it’s not direct communication, more like two people who are just above beginner’s level in learning the other’s language, and both languages are derivative of another one, so even if they don’t fully understand they can kinda piece together what the other is saying?

So, let’s say it’s like that. And of course, dragons aren’t born like squishy humans who take forever to learn to even roll over; they immediately start walking, flapping their wings, and hiccupping sparks, right?

AU

FIRST YEAR Harry, of course, doesn’t realize yet that he’s a Parselmouth–he doesn’t even know what Parseltongue is and just assumed being able to talk to that snake in the zoo was just a wizard thing.

So, they’re in Hagrid’s hut, Norbert(a) is born, and Harry hears something that sounds an awful lot like, “Food? Hungry? Momma?” or whatever a newborn dragon would try to communicate.

Harry tries to tell Hagrid he thinks the dragon is hungry, he might want to feed it, but the others are confused because it sounds to them like Harry is hiss-cooing or something to the dragon. (Hagrid thinks it’s adorable.) But anyway, however it comes about, it becomes obvious in the time between the dragon being born and Charlie’s friends coming to get them, that Harry can, in fact, understand the dragon and speak to it.

It’s not perfect, but he’s able to communicate to the dragon not to set something on fire or that they need to try to eat the rats as they’re being weaned off the whiskey/blood mix thing. No one thinks it’s a perk of Parseltongue because hello, he’s talking to a dragon, and isn’t this incredible? It must be some kind of ancient inheritance thing.

So, when they write to Charlie, they naturally have to ask him if he’s ever heard anything like that, so instead of just coming to collect the dragon, Charlie comes, too, and they witness this incredible thing. (So does Draco, in the shadows, of course.)

Charlie is super excited and reaches out to every expert he can, and he convinces McG to let him bring Harry out to a dragon range to be evaluated, and they try to keep this new, rare ability under wraps, but some of the assessors blab, and Draco wrote to complain to his father who goes on his own investigation, etc. At any rate, it becomes A Thing.

While Dumbledore steps in to ensure Harry goes back to the Dursleys, the obsessed dragon crowd refuse to be refused outright and secures Harry a camp-like thing at a dragon resort (because they think it’s clearly Harry’s destiny to become, like, the Ultimate Dragon Trainer, and Harry thinks dragons are cool and likes the sound of getting away from the Dursleys for a few weeks).

Their letters don’t get through that summer, though, and Charlie hears from his brothers that they haven’t heard from Harry either, so it’s Charlie who goes to check on him and finds him locked up with bars on his windows. Unlike Ron, Fred, and Geroge, Charlie is a grown-ass adult with his own connections now, which go beyond Dumbledore’ reach because the wealthy dragon resort that’s so interested in Harry is in a goddamn different country with a whole different magical government, and also, ain’t nobody wants to get on the bad side of a self-sufficient DRAGON RESORT that has a ton of dragons that aren’t just roaming their countryside thanks to them.

So, a new arrangement is made. Harry will return to the Dursleys, under strict Romania supervision (I imagine it's some seasoned, scary-looking dragon tamer who demands to stay in the house with them, taking over the guest room, like… ahhhh chef’s kiss) just long enough to satisfy the protection spell, but for the rest of the summer, Harry stays at the resort. Charlie becomes his unofficial guardian, kinda, and: enter, a bunch of OC dragon tamers who are awesome and very protective of their little dragon-speaker.

Second year goes a little differently. First there’s Draco, who hates Harry more than ever over this, but while he knows he’ll never get a dragon-in with the Weasleys, there’s still a slight chance with Harry (and goddamnit, dragons are his NAME’S SAKE, if anyone deserves free access to any dragon they want, it’s HIM), so he tries to become less of a bother. Harry’s still outed talking a different language during duel club, and some people are still suspicious, but most people know about his dragon-ability and wrongly assume the opposite of what it actually is (ie, he can kinda talk to snakes because he can talk to dragons), and Harry only tells Ron and Hermione that the snake was actually a lot easier to understand.

Go to next summer, when his new dragon-tamer-family learn about the events of second year, they firstly, throw a fit because they should have been informed their charge was in danger, and secondly, go and collect the basilisk because like hell are they going to let something like that just rot somewhere. So, figuring out how to destroy Horcruxes later becomes, like, SUPER easy and accessible.

Charlie’s the one who tells Harry about Sirius Black when he escapes, and he straight up tells Harry everything, about Black being his godfather and betraying his parents, all of it, so Harry goes into third year fully informed. He, of course, does not see the grim that summer. But he doesn't spent the year an emotional wreck, just getting a little bit of the info at a time, do with that as you will.

Harry arrives to school with a signed permission slip for Hogsmeade, and even though McGonagall still wants to refuse him because of Black, members of his dragon-tamer family just happen to be in the area for that year for ‘business’ or whatever (aka, protect Harry because ain't nobody said shit to them last year) and escort him to Hogsmeade anyway.

(“With all due respect, Professor, I once had a Peruvian Vipertooth grab my leg and toss me over a hill, and I still got back up and got the collar on her. You think Black scares me?”)

Most of their patronuses are dragons, except for one tamer whose patronus is a chipmunk, and funnily enough, it’s the most powerful patronus of all of them.

Draco doesn’t insult Buckbeak because he wants to prove to the tamers and probably Potter that he can, in fact, handle himself with larger magical creatures. He becomes Hagrid's best, most dedicated student.

I mean, COME ON,  imagine how the whole series can go differently.

Maybe the tamers get hilariously invested in the Scabbers/Crookshanks feud. It's the tamers, maybe, that figure out Scabbers fucking Pettigrew.

Different dragons have to be imported for the first task because Romania would be too biased - or they change the first task altogether because Harry's a known dragon-speaker.

They would DESTROY Umbridge.

Death Eaters vs Dragon Tamers. Dragon Tamers in the Order. Sirius lives because a Tamer was there in the Department of Mysteries to save him. Sirius not going out of his mind being stuck at Grimmauld because he can go to the resort where no one outside the Order recognizes him/cares.

Draco not becoming a Death Eater because he wants to become a Dragon Tamer.

DRAGONS AT THE BATTLE OF HOGWARTS. USING THE GRINGOTTS DRAGON INSTEAD OF GRIPHOOK TO BREAK INTO (AND OUT OF) GRINGOTTS.

THE POSSIBILITIES

[ant1quarian]

What dragons would each Bad Sans Member have? Is it like How To Train Your Dragon? Or different kinds of dragons?

Heheheh

Yeah it'd be out of How to Train Your Dragon dragons because I'm the most familiar with those- except expect them to be scaled up to a biiiit bigger

Dust would absolutely have a skrill. There's something about the two of those together that tickles something in my brain- Plus, seeing him on the back of a lightning-wielding dragon would be awesome (he probably gets electrocuted sometimes)

Killer feels like he'd have a Triple Stryke- Quick, fast, agile, and scorpion-like. His kind of fighting style!

Cross has the general vibes of a Stormcutter. A sense of aloofness yet also sass... it suits him pretty well!

Horror would probably have a Deathgripper. The sort of... solidness and ambient danger about them suits quite nicely I'd think

Nightmare "has" a Bewilderbeast. Him and Dream were entrusted with them as kids. Other than that, he actually rides a Monstrous Nightmare.

[edlucavalden]

Oh my god.. this post was cooking i had to..

[digi-lov]

Shoto Kazama EX7-064 by Tsunemi Aosa, Pteromon EX7-031, Galemon EX7-032, GrandGalemon EX7-034, and Zephagamon EX7-036 by Spareribs from EX-07 Extra Booster Digimon Liberator

[ghost-bxrd]

Little Robin sneaking into Bat’s cave

[laurasimonsdaughter]

@lostmidnightwriter tagged me in this prompt...

The young man stood gazing upward and waited, increasingly nervous as time went on. The giant, reptilian face seemed somewhat bemused, which was a worrying expression on a dragon.

"You have not come to slay me and save the princess?" the voice boomed.

"No, Your Dragoness, honest!" he called back. "I would like to stay here if I may!"

The dragon did not spread her wings again but crawled partway down the castle wall towards him, curved claws digging painfully into the hewn stone. A large, ruby eye peered down at him. "I am no dragoness, we are all Dragon."

He swallowed. "I meant as in, You Highness."

"Ah!" To his amazement the scaly maw curved into a smile. "That is most appropriate, I am the noblest of beasts." The dragon tilted her head to examine him closer. "Who are you? And why have you no sword or steed?"

"Well," he said uneasily. "The king's already sent six noble knights to free his daughter and I'm the youngest of three over at the nearby mill, so it's only a matter of time before they'll expect me to go and succeed and be married to her."

The dragon nodded approvingly. "Very traditional, one must admit, only I do not intend to be defeated with either bravery or trickery, so you see you have come in vain."

"No!" he pleaded. "I don't want to defeat you, or get married, but I'll never hear the end of it if I don't go, so maybe I could stay here instead?"

"Stay with me?"

"Well, you do have a beautiful isolated castle far away from everyone and a princess for company... That sounds pretty nice." He looked up at her hopefully. "Surely you could use some help around here? I'm no nobleman, I know how to work. I won't be anyone's servant, even to someone as pretty as the princess, but I can help out."

The dragon considered this for a long, thoughtful moment. "She is a very good princess," she said after a while. "Loves flying, sings very beautifully, knows exactly how to scratch behind one's horns."

"She certainly sounds more talented than the average princess, ma'am."

"Why of course, she is my princess, after all," the dragon said proudly. "But I must confess, she is a deplorable cook."

Ah, that explained the recent raids on some of the local farms.

The dragon came down from the castle wall with an elegant leap and sat down before him, her head slanted curiously. Strangely, she looked much less intimidating close up. "Can you cook?"

The miller's son smiled. "Do you and your princess like pasties?"

[kagooleo]

my main reasoning for timeskip!silv having long hair is for the sole purpose of dragon baby storage

the modern pokeworld’s medusa if you will

[n-evermores]

I just know Emmrich says shit like, “good girl” to my Rook when she does something clever. And he doesn’t even realize what he’s done.

[twisted-confessions]

Wake up honeys, Ramshackle got a new Dorm Uniform Armour-

Was working on Bella's Dorm Uniform card and I realised that Grim's a student too and deserves his own Dorm Uniform too and for my fic I figured Bella would want to make sure her little buddy is safe when flying and doesn't feel left out and so she made him his own Dragon Scale glider armour to go flying in! His ribbon actually doubles as his wings and unfolds to his feet.

Now Night Raven has to deal with a fire breathing monster with a fire-proof suit that can turn invisible under the right conditions lmaooo. F in the chat for all Grim's enemies XD

Bella's art created by the lovely @boopshoops

[wisyhana]

Yugi and Anzu for the Monster Tamer AU!

Anzu is one of Yugi's closest friend. She is a sorcerer in training, she wants to go to the big city to study at a famous sorcery academy, but she needs money for that, so she has a side job at the local bar in Domino town.

She's a bit afraid of monsters so Yugi always tries to help her to see the gentle side of the beasts.

[acquired-stardust]

Dragon Quest Monsters Game Boy Color 1998

[goldstarknight]

A Trainer of Every Type (2024)

They are often overshadowed by story-relevant characters, gym leaders, etc., but the more generic trainer classes also have a lot of fun designs with a wide range of personalities. I wanted to show a variety of characters that have appeared over the years with this piece. :)

support or commission me on ko-fi | buy a print

[plor-bindery]

Bound: Under Giant Mountains by wolfpants

The delightful, evocative, and thoughtful Under Giant Mountains by @wolfpants is up next in my tour of wolf’s fic I bound. This landscape of this fic is soaring: mountains and dragons and wilderness. But at the same time, its subject matter is as small and carefully contained as Harry's postwar pain. This is a Harry who is struggling, and struggling to even admit he's struggling. At the risk of spoiling anything, the way wolf writes Harry's breakdown and surrender is so, so soft and sweet and real. I love a Harry who confronts any danger head-on except the danger of what's going on inside him.

(Fun fact: this fic was posted while I was in the midst of writing Polar Night/Midnight Sun and I was like OH GOOD WOLF HAS DONE THE DRACO IN NORWAY THING AND DONE IT BETTER THAN I COULD, I CAN STOP WRITING NOW but of course, I didn't stop; I let wolf's words inspire me onwards, and this is another reason why I love fandom: the overlapping of writerly worlds, the echoes and resonances we experience as creators and fans.)

For this bind, I chose a relatively simple aesthetic, but couldn't resist inserting little tiny dragons as scene breaks.

More process and materials talk under the cut.

Materials: This was my first go at making bookcloth! I had purchased a little remainder scrap of forest green cotton at the fabric store and only noticed after ironing it out and laminating it to the tissue that there were stripes of sun damage on the creases of the cloth, sigh. I had to start over. I used mulberry tissue but some of the fibres are palpable through the cloth, which I am not wild about. Still -- homemade bookcloth! Fun!

Text block is printed on 24 lb cream letter cut down to a quarto bind, and is actually the first bind I did where my grain direction was correct. (I know, I know...) Sewn on two linen tapes with waxed linen thread.

Endbands (which I neglected to photograph, apparently) are machine made.

End papers are just scrapbook paper, nothing special.

The decoration is gold HTV. Hoo boy. More on that shortly.

Process: My first quarto bind! First bookcloth making! First bind with the grain direction correct! So many firsts!

That being said, there was nothing particularly special about this bind's process. My biggest struggle (which is visible) was the gold HTV. I think I've since cracked the code more on how to apply larger bits of HTV without making marks in it (short version: higher heat, less pressure, more patience) but I was still struggling here, as you can see. That being said, I do love the sort of hobbity vibe of the rune-ish font and the dragon/mountain.

I made myself a copy of this as a test first, and the HTV is even more messed up on that. :| Also, I realized when reading it afterwards, I fucked up the page order in one signature. This is fixed (god, I hope it's fixed) in wolf's copy.

Signature length is a tricky thing with case binding/sewn binding in general. I wound up needing a bunch of blank pages at the back of the typeset so I did something I have since done in other binds: added a "selected praise for" section where I copy/pasted AO3 comments into the text block like literary reviews. I love this so much: the juxtaposition of the formal literary trope with the squee and all-caps and hype of fandom commenters. I am not the first to do this, of course, but you'll see it appear again in future binds from me for sure. (And of course I put my own comment first. OF COURSE I did. Binder's privilege!)

[digi-lov]

Takato Matsuki BT17-080, Guilmon BT17-008 by Sanosuke Sakuma, Growlmon BT17-010 by GOSSAN, WarGrowlmon BT17-013 by Tomotake Kinoshita, Gallantmon BT17-016 by tyuga, and Gallantmon: Crimson Mode Ace BT17-018 by toriyufu from BT-17 Booster Secret Crisis

[paruecake]

Some of my favorite slimes 🍮

[variouspolltournaments]

Propaganda

Xiraxus: He gets sucked into the future by a Meyarin who has gone insane with hate for mortals and wants to harvest his tears from him, is saved by the main character, and saves her life in turn by bonding with her and pulling her into the past with him to escape said Meyarin.