#he pretends to be dragonkind

[junesejar]

NEW STINKY OC

[wings-of-fire-confessions]

This fandom is actually so horrible when it comes to the multiple abuse victims in the series, because most of them are viscerally hated by the fandom for really stupid shit.

Winter is constantly labeled as a toxic abuser and like. I can understand not liking how he treated Moon, or any of the jade winglet in early arc 2 for that matter. What I do not understand is people ignoring that he is actively bettering himself just so they can keep hating him, or even just ignoring why he's like that to begin with. He's not mean because he likes being a jackass, he's mean because he's been taught that showing any care for other dragons, ESPECIALLY dragons of other tribes, is considered weak. It's something he has been trying to fix, but people would rather just keep calling him an abuser than acknowledge he is changing

Peril gets called an insane psychopath who doesn't deserve love which, first of all that's GOTTA be some form of ableism. Second of all, no fucking shit she is the way she is, the dragon who raised her manipulated her to believe she's a monster who will never be loved by other dragons. No fucking shit she got attached to the one dragon her age that showed her kindness, she thought that wasn't possible!! Also another case of the fandom chooses to ignore her healing just so they have a reason to keep hating her. "She's toxic and obsessed with Clay!!" It literally says in the god damn book she's so used to having a dragon to control her, and she is actively trying to stamp that habit out, why do we keep ignoring this

Boa is by far the worst victim of this because the fandom treats like scum of the earth not because of who she is, but because of one fucking decision she made. A decision she made in a state of panic. A decision she made because fuck, why SHOULD dragons have such power that can be used for evil so easily? Boa's entire EXISTENCE is an example of a dragon misusing their magic, why are we surprised she thinks the world is better off without it? She's not a bitch who thinks she knows better than everyone else, she's a terrified abuse victim who genuinely believed animus magic would bring the destruction of dragonkind. And look. I get the decision to remove animus magic was a stupid one. But can we please just acknowledge Tui was the one who made that stupid decision instead of pretending Boa is this awful person and the worst character in the series. Because she isn't. She's not an asshole. She's not a bitch. She made one bad decision and the fandom acts like she's satan incarnate

Im sure there may be more examples, these are just the biggest that come to mind

.

[dgrailwar]

Round 13, Day 5 - A Wish for the Future

It seemed like the majority of you were willing to side with the goddesses. The tensions seemed high for just a moment, before the Ancient God's anger seemed to subside briefly, an expression resembling gratitude slowly forming on her face.

' I thank you. This future… '

There wasn't a moment for the Mother of Monsters to fully indicate her own gratitude, as another voice rumbled.

' I'VE HEARD YOUR WISH… A WORLD DEVOID OF HUMANS AND MONSTERS… '

The ground rumbled.

A massive beam shot towards Echidna, aiming straight for the core of the 'Grail'.

"...!"

The Ancient God's eyes widened, her own mystic eyes flaring with immense magical energy in defense of the Mother of Monsters as her curse flared outward, meeting the sudden attack head on and the resulting clash causing the chamber to rumble. Even then, the Ancient God's attack didn't seem to be enough, as two more waves of energy spewed outward, the cascade of magical power slamming into her massive form and causing her to stumble back with an agonizing roar.

"He's awake…?"

' Typhon… that is not my Typhon… '

While it did look almost identical to the dragon that Avenger and his Masters had seen, the pulsating purple growth on its chest was new. A small shape circled around the behemoth, white wings fluttering as dark ooze began to drip from the beast. Each dark puddle formed into a creature, as the three-headed dragon let out a massive bellow, the ground shaking once more as the Servants stumbled, quickly trying to catch their balance.

' I WILL GRANT YOUR WISH. '

The voice, that seemed to rumble like thunder and quake the earth itself spoke again.

"Hrm. So, the moth carrying Pretender's curse still lives, and it has begun piloting the Father of Monsters instead. How… vexing."

"Wait, a Pretender-Typhon? Not to steal MoonCancer's thunder as the worrier, but Pretender was already an incredibly powerful dragon… hooking up a fragment of him to one of dragonkind's progenitors is both way too compatible, and way too dangerous."

"Wait… why'd he talk about the wish being 'a world without humans or monsters', rather than a 'world of humans and monsters'…? Do you think that whatever Pretender's 'infection' is, it's like… twisting wishes around?"

The Gunner shrugged, before focusing his gaze on the Ruler and the MoonCancer.

"So, seems like the dragon doesn't want our world either. Plan on joining its team, or are we putting grudges aside?"

"...At least your wish considers humanity. Even if I don't agree with the principle… I'm not going to abandon my Masters or mankind! We're fighting together! To the end!"

"As if I'd turn down the chance to fight a final boss like this! I mean, I'm still super scared, but I've got to show off my god's divine might, right?"

"Hahaha! Glad that we're in agreement, then!"

The Avenger boldly stepped forward, throwing his arm outward. His mana, flames of vengeance and disaster, flared violently around him as you felt his Spirit Origin expand and grow in might, pushing his manifestation to the absolute brink.

"Kuhahaha-- KUHAHAHAHAHAAA! Behold, the giant Typhon! Beyond mortal, beyond dragons, beyond gods! Birthed of the Earth and the Abyss, his might was not meant to be overcome by humanity, nor his own kind! However, this serves as our final trial! A world of human and monsterkind, this is the path that our Masters have chosen!"

"I am Avenger! My True Name is the Count of Monte Cristo! Let us burn our spirits to the limit, and push on to a bright future!"

One by one, you felt as your Servants began to push their own Saint Graphs to the brink. Magical energy, prana surging like rapid rivers as they prepared to throw everything they had against the massive godkiller.

"Masters, let's prepare for battle! Show me the faith in the world you want, and I will respond in kind! You have Jeanne d'Arc's banner, so let it fly in the name of victory!"

"C'est la dernière danse! One last performance before it ends! I hope you're prepared, Masters, because there's no time to get cold feet now!"

"Alright, here goes nothing… Shree Vakratunda Mahakaya Suryakoti Samaprabha… Nirvighnam Kuru Me Deva Sarva-Kaaryeshu Sarvada…!"

"Go! Kiheitai! Come forth, Proto-Arahabaki! We're sparing no expense, we're pushing with everything we've got, so let's put on a show that'll make even the gods tremble!"

The Gunner pointed his hand outward, the space on the ground being filled with a swath of armed and ready soldiers, his mana burning alongside the others as he leapt upwards, landing on the shoulder of a massive pseudo-divine machine.

"This is it… one more battle, and we'll have done it…!"

The massive form before them let out an echoing, terrifying roar.

The six remaining Servants readied their skills and weapons, preparing for the fight of their lives.

Behold, the ancient weapon that struck fear into the heart of the king of gods. A god-killer, world-shaker, he who could rip asunder the cosmos. Behold, the ancient ephemera that struck him down in the short time of its manifestation. A being that holds no desire for wishes, but only a desire to see one's hopes laid low and their hubris brought crashing down.

The Progenitor Dragon, corrupted by the Mors King's curse! Typhon-Ephemeros!

The Extra Class of Twisted Wishes, Pretender!

[alt-wannabe]

MCSR D&D

Reign's sheet is FINALLY done and as per the poll I also included his character mini.

The Genie (Efreeti) Warlock 8 / Oath of Glory Paladin 7

Chat I tried my absolute best for a streamer I don't know as well so hopefully this one makes sense and is up to standards :)

So in the polls it was a pretty damn clear consensus that his highest stat would be charisma. Class wise that left me with bard, sorcerer, and warlock as charisma mains and out of those I felt warlock made the most sense. With Con voted the second highest stat, I figured I could get away with a martial multiclass so paladin ended up being one of the better options. Oath of Glory also ended up having a bunch of class features that make sense in my mind so it worked out. Finally I picked Pact of the Blade for a warlock pact in order to give him a bunch more utility as a martial attacker.

We've got two spell lists since both paladin and warlock get spells. This one was a LOT more based in utility than characterization- both because I'm not exactly confident in my ability to characterize Reign and also because this multiclass is a little funky so I can't just go all in on gimmicks. I tried to give him a pretty large amount of charm spells (ie Command, Charm Person, Enthrall) in order to reflect the super high charisma score in a way outside of just pure ability modifiers. Some other smaller references include invisibility (get it like the potion omg so im so smar- *gunshots*), Dimension Door (my mind is pretending this is like the nether and end portals even though utility wise it's infinitely closer to an ender pearl cause it's a teleport), Locate Object (spawner locating), and Enhance Ability (basically can be used for a variety of effects kinda like potions). The biggest stretch reference is Summon Fey and that pick was ENTIRELY because in this AU silverr is fey adjacent.

Here are the picks for the inventory- congrats Reign on being the first person to get a hella rare artifact yippee. A lot of these are slap in the face references: scale mail from the dragon, the brazier sounds straight out of a nether fortress, flame tongue greatsword is basically just a fire aspect sword, and I've been trying to give all the speedrunners something movement based so I added the gloves. Fun fact when you pick the warlock class you get to pick an arcane focus and one of the options was a rod so that's got double utility as a MC reference and also a spellcasting focus. Like the other sheets I gave him pearls but also note that he has a folding boat cause these speedrunners love their mf boats.

This is just the utility of the orb of dragonkind to give y'all a bit of understanding as to why I picked it.

Okay we've got a lot of features coming up so just like be prepared lmao. The top image is just ripped straight out of Tasha's Cauldron guidebook; I thought I'd let yall read about the subclass and judge if I picked right or not. Divine Sense is akin to finding spawners imo, and I picked interception as the fighting style because of the duos runs Reign does.

These are some more features from his paladin subclass that seemed fitting for specifically duos speedrunning. The big one here (and basically the whole reason I split the multiclass 50/50) is the 7th level feature Aura of Alacrity, which deadass just increases the speed of all allies nearby.

Finally here are the warlock invocations I picked up. Agonizing Blast just adds damage to eldrich blast (warlock cantrip aka an attack that doesnt use spell slots) based on your charisma score so it's an ESSENTIAL pick for a warlock (like genuinely if you make a warlock you need this invocation). Tricksters Escape gives freedom of movement which is essentially just a spell that prevents you from getting stopped by difficult terrain- really fitting for a speedrunner imo. Eldrich smite was just so perfect since he's multiclassed into paladin, giving him access to traditional smites.

And to go along with the character sheet I've also got the mini made!

Features I'm Proud of:

The sword is supposed to look like it's made from the ender dragon's jaw, and it's aflame like his sword from the character sheet

The paws/claws that are featured on his gauntlets (they're technically lion paws not bear but shhhhh)

The wand on the ground I colored like a blaze rod (I was trying my best guys there's no just plain rod)

Looking at his MC skin I have no idea what the thing on his head is so I just made it a circlet.

The teal thing is supposed to be the Orb of Dragonkind but with an eye of ender type of color palette.

The thing on his back is technically a vial pouch but I'm hoping it looks like a strap where he could put his sword when it's not in use- all of the sheaths were too small.

[officialleehadan]

Center Island

Myth and Magic

+++

The Sky Kingdom was unlike anything Seften had ever imagined.

Great islands floated in the sky, encrusted with ice. Flying residents filled the skies around them, darting here and there like a flock of starlings in the autumn sky as they went about their business, sometimes in clusters, and sometimes flooding out of the way for a larger flyer. They were not with the only dragon in he sky, although to Seften’s eyes, Hoarfrost was the biggest.

Bridges strung between the many islands in a spiderweb, although it was clearly more organized than it appeared. None of the flyers seemed to tangle themselves in the long, hanging bridges, and none of the walkers aboard the bridges were ever knocked free by the flyers.

The buildings were a mash of all kinds of cultures, from the steep-sloped rooves of the far north, to the many-layered stucco buildings of the desert folk, wrought here in ice, not clay.

As they circled, Seften realized there were markets in the heart of every island. Bright with banners and the wares of a dozen peoples or more, they were comfortingly similar to the ones on the ground. Whatever else was going on in this strange place, the people were still people, and Seften knew how to manage himself around them.

Mithale was smiling, her cheeks bright with the cold air around them. As they were flying, she had dropped the illusions she wore on the distant ground. It was, she had explained, easier to be recognizable here.

Not all of the people who filled the Sky Kingdom were welcoming to visitors, but most would recognize her on sight, and few of them would be willing to pick a fight if they did.

The story of her final mission with Aelsrik, to fight a mad god, was well-known. That she was here, alive and breathing, told everyone that she, at least, had survived it.

(The main landing pad is just there,) Hoarfrost said, just a little grumpy still, although it was clear that he was pleased to be back in the Sky Kingdom. He was a creature of the deepest ice, and he enjoyed the biting cold of this high kingdom. (You said that is where you wish to go?)

“it is,” Mithale called to him. “We’re meeting Fimbul Farwinter.”

(I don’t care who you’re meeting,) Hoarfrost huffed, although Seften suspected it was a lie. The dragon was close friends with Mithale’s lost husband, and he was helping them now in the hopes of rescuing Aelsrik. He might grumble and hiss about it, but no dragon did anything they didn’t want to do. If he was really as annoyed about the whole thing as he pretended, he would never have allowed them into his lair in the first place. (Why do you want a little ice sprite?)

“She knows how to find and capture lightning-charged tornadic cloud-ice,” Mithale explained. Seften’s breath caught in his throat. Mithale had explained cloud-ice to him, but he knew as well as anyone that capturing a component with several elemental traits in one was difficult at best. To capture cloud-ice, which was water and ice at once, with lightning and the winds of a tornado… it was power unlike he could imagine. Then again, that was true of all the components Mithale needed for her spell. “And I know her price to do it.”

(Do you need anything of my people?) It was an oddly hesitant question considering how annoyed Hoarfrost was with them, but again, his fondness for Aelsrik must be driving him forward. (Are any of your components of dragonkind?)

“If they were any you could give, I would call on you before any other,” Mithale said and leaned forward to press her hand to the dragon’s neck. “I already have a dragon heart, torn from an enemy that would have laid waste to this world. I would not take yours, my friend, when the heart of an enemy serves my purposes as well and does not cost the life of a friend.”

Hoarfrost didn’t answer, but he did rumble beneath them, and circled down onto the wide landing pad that boasted enough room for a dozen dragons Hoarfrost’s size. He swooped down according to some unseen signal, and landed almost delicately on the great landing field.

Before Seften could move, the dragon trotted out of the way of the other creatures coming in to land, towards an area that was clearly designed for larger flyers carrying passengers. He stopped next to a tall staircase and planted himself beside it. (As requested. Here you are.)

The dismissal was clear. Seften wasted no time gathering up his bedroll and steadying Mithale as she did the same to dismount from their barely-willing ride. When they were on the sand-salted ground, Mithale circled to face Hoarfrost head-on. For a moment Seften wondered if they would fight, certainly Hoarfrost had already tried to harm them once, but instead, she let the dragon press his nose to her belly.

(When the fledgling comes,) he said, and nosed her so gently she didn’t even rock on her heels despite his great size. (And you have recovered Aelsrik, come to see me. No child should live their life on the ground.)

“We will,” Mithale promised, and bent to kiss the dragon between his eyes. He hissed at her, but even to Seften, who knew little of dragon noises, it sounded playful. “Thank you. You’ve given us the priceless gift of time. It would have taken moons to get here without you.”

(Get him out of Hell. I still owe him a debt, and I don’t want to go to the Shadow Gates to pay him back.)

With those final words, he leapt for the sky, and left only a rush of ice-scented wind in his wake.

Mithale watched him go and sighed, one hand pressed to her still-flat belly. When he was out of sight, she turned to Seften and offered him a smile as she bound up her bedroll and tucked it back into her pack.

“Come on,” she said as he did the same and made himself ready to follow her wherever they were going next. “We have an appointment with an ice sprite to keep.”

+++

Myth and Magic: (FULL COLLECTION)

A Found Connection (Subscriber Only!)

Train to Spell (Subscriber Only!)

While We Walk

Night Burn

Storming Hell

Blood of a King

Terrace Legends

Fire in the Ring

Battle Scars

Shadowmelt Hell (Subscriber Only!)

Snow Dusting (Subscriber Only!)

Glacier Wall 

Into the Sky

Center Island (New!)

+++

MASTERLIST

[rowanthefierce]

one of the things that kills me about the httyd live action (besides, y'know, all the usual stuff) is that dean deblois has stated that it draws more inspiration from the books or whatever, so it's a live action version of the first movie but hoho! with more stuff sourced from the books!

but like i do not trust what he means by that after he said he was drawing inspiration from the books for httyd 3

all THAT amounted to was him slapping the opening monologue from the first httyd book over the epilogue of the third movie and pretending they were analogous

httyd 3's ending sucks major butt for so many reasons but it especially galls me that it was a so-called effort to hew to the books when the books clearly have such different reasons and contexts for why the dragons left and how the dragons left. and in the third movie they left because hiccup got sad? or because toothless was suddenly representative of all dragonkind?

so i have zero hope for how the live action movie will pull ~inspiration~ from the books. if they wanted to live action the books, age hiccup down, give him flaming red hair, and make toothless the little shithead he so gloriously was in the series

[melkyt]

Dragon Rider!Sabo and Dragon!Ace AU

If Ace is a Dragon Shifter that refuses to have anyone even try to make a bond with him. He grew up in the wilds and is determined to stay free, considering the bond between dragon and Rider just a chain by another name.

He knows that dragons without a bond will die young, and he has come to terms with it since a long time ago.

There is only one he ever considered to be his rider, and well, he is gone now. So Ace wonders the world, trying to live as much as he can in the short time he has left.

At his last year, last chance to take a bond, he decided to go home and spend time with family.

Its a big gathering as he had made a lot of friends and so did his younger brother. It is going to be the biggest living wake that only happens every few hundred years on the rare time a dragon dies young. It is when anybody who is anybody in the world of dragonkind gathers with gifts and wishes.

Luffy, as the first family Ace found and chose for himself, is there to inherit anything Ace will leave behind. (Ofc, if you ask him, he is there for the food and Nami takes the treasure lol)

Luffy being there means Dragon is nearby, not close to the main party but mingling with his people. One of those is a blonde that he had raised as his own child, despite the latter being a human. Dragon has dragged Sabo to this party for the chance to find a young dragon to make a bond with, a blind date if you will.

He shrugs and accepts it, enjoying the party and making friends. However, he also does not go to the main event.

Ace in the middle of it all and getting overstimulated has Luffy make some commotion and slips away to the gardens. The mingling here is relaxed and quiet. He is tired of pretending that he does not welcome his death and that he would hate to go. He has always felt that he should have gone a long time ago.

Then he stops, there is a familiar scent in the air. He follows it, his feet moving before he can think.

He catches sight of blonde hair, familiar eyes, an easygoing yet sly smile. "Sabo..." his voice cracks, he reaches out, losing control of his form. Claws glint in the light, tail drags across the bushes.

Sabo turns, excuses himself, and freezes. Every lost memory, every broken promise that they would stay together, and the pain of years apart comes crashing down as he *remembers*

Ace runs for him, pushing everyone aside, catching Sabo just as his knees give out. It's too much, but they are together again, and maybe, just maybe, Ace is no longer ready to meet his death.

[bittrlys]

So, dragon society is basically a kratocracy, right?

There's 0 explanation why dragons suddenly decided they needed a king despite living without one for a presumed while but I imagine it went something like this:

SOL REGEM: I am your king. EVERYONE: Well, we didn't vote for you. SOL REGEM: You don't vote for kings. Now do you want to repeat that to the dragon that can bite your face off?

So now dragons have a king, hurrah! But oh no, humans have done a naughty!

LUNA TENEBRIS: I am your queen. HUMANS: Well, we didn't vote for you. LUNA TENEBRIS: You don't vote for queens. Now get the fuck out of my country before this dragon bites your face off.

We know Thunder just straight up brawled for the right to take the throne because LT didn't leave an heir. (Royal bloodlines matter a lot to dragons, don't you know. They're just like us!) Zubeia, my useless angel, can still bring herself to let out the occasional mighty roar or lightning flash to scare others into line. EVERYONE has to listen to these violent lizards who just said "OBEY ME."

Remarkably, we're also supposed to see the dragon monarchy as a good thing that should continue, despite it providing very little benefits as far as I can tell. Most elven societies are self-sustaining and have their own rulers. Dragons are undeserving emperors who -- what? Keep other dragons in line? I haven't seen much evidence of that yet. They also fail to protect drakes from elves, which seems fucked up to me, but hey. The social stratification of that which may loosely all be called dragonkind is not for me to comment on, as it seems like the writers didn't think about it at all.

With all this in mind, when Ezran steps up to ask a bunch of dragons do to do him a solid, are they obeying him simply because the show wants to pretend Xadians have no issue with humans? Because they see the threat as more important than their pride or prejudice? Or because Zubeia is a wrathful queen who shares her husband's propensity for an iron fist, and she's hulking menacingly behind Ezran? Are dragons, Ezran's horrific weapon turned against his own people in season 3, representative of the unquestionable power granted by the divine right of kingship, and thus when he acts in authority, even when intending to be 'diplomatic' and 'peaceful', it is always with implicit threat of violence? Makes ya think!

[miniaturegiantspacerat]

The instant you enter the chamber, sparks fly from the fingers of an incredibly ancient elven wizard. The sparks don't do any particular damage, but they certainly serve notice that you're not welcome here.

Glancing quickly around the magician's combination laboratory and library, you see many magical items: floating potion bottles, spellbooks, scrolls, a five-pointed star and circle inscribed on the floor, jars of spell components, and even several pairs of mysterious eyes peering at you from atop a bookshelf. And watching each move you make is a small, curious reptile, clearly the familiar of the wizard.

Suddenly the sparks change color, and you sense that they are steadily becoming more dangerous. Do you want to quickly try to talk to the wizard? Turn to 113A. If you want to use your own magical weapons against the old elf, turn to 68D. Or do you want to pretend he's not there, and just look around as quickly as possible and get out? If that sounds good to you, turn to 92A.

The wizard's laboratory is one of the first rooms you can access from the faerie king's throne room. Unsurprisingly for this book, it is full of ways to teleport yourself somewhere else before you get a good look at everything.

Scan from Faerie Mound of Dragonkind, 1987, published by TSR, out of print.

[theclaymorrigan]

Sunlight cascaded through a fissure in the forest floor into a subterranean chamber which would have otherwise been devoid of it's warming rays. The sound of a distant, flowing river could be heard, punctuated by the closer drip of water somewhere in the tunnels and an enormous, deep breathing from nostrils the size of barrel heads. What could not be heard was the pad of hide boots upon the stone approaching the gigantic underground sleeper. 

   "I know you are there, feyfahliil," intoned a dragon,curled in repose within the lair. 

   "I never doubted that you would, Shulkunaak," replied a smirking Wood Elf. "Or else, I'd have announced my presence. Only a fool would sneak up on one of the dov." The elf strode into the light, leather clad with an Orcish Scaled helmet upon his head. 

  "Then it is a task well suited for you, Claymorrigan," grumbled the ancient Shulkunaak.

   "Now, now," the Bosmer chided. "Can the lokhaal that you bear me afford no better greeting than this?" 

  "Thou art a vokulin," the dragon spat. "Would that the khajiit loremaster never sent ye hence."

 "But, alas," Claymorrigan sighed, "Desperate times call for strange bedfellows or some such. I can hardly fathom the sayings of men."

 Shulkunaak was pleased his draconic visage didn't betray his inward amusement. Certain traditions must be maintained, or so he believed. A Dovah, or dragon, could not appear pleased by a visit from one of The Blades; supposedly the sworn enemies of dragonkind. So, he pretended to take exception to Claymorrigan's visits and, in turn, the Bosmer-and-former-Blade pretended to be assuring himself the dragon was not seeking domination or destruction rather than acknowledging the truth: he checked in on Shulkunaak to be sure no one with aspirations of dragonslaying had discovered the old wyrm. Claymorrigan had prevented one such occasion in the past and still gave his tacit guardianship to Shulkunaak. 

Often, one-time enemies found they shared much in common once the war had ended. In their own ways they had both lost their wars yet retained their honor. So was their state of unlikely friendship.

"How is it you came to be as you are?" Shulkunaak asked unexpectedly. "Perhaps I might fathom better your dichotomies if I knew what forged you into this conundrumic concoction of curiosities."

"I cannot say that I understand it, myself," Clay admitted and seated himself on a sun-warmed stone. "But here is what happened…"

             TO BE CONTINUED 

[joshuaorrizonte]

Untitled chapter Thirteen: Alastair

Not me not being able to find the "Create" button on desktop. It's going to be a long day.

Sorry for the long delay with this. I got distracted.

@zottower @eventide-imp

Ask to be tagged/untagged!

The two groups stared at each other in tense silence. Stormsong was the one who broke the stalemate. "I trust him. He's done nothing to make me doubt his loyalty to dragonkind."

"Except slaughter dozens of them," Tristan hissed. 

Adele said his name sharply. Solaris intervened grimly, "But he's right. Skyglow single-handedly murdered dozens of our dragons. And he's never answered for it."

"I did," Gavin contradicted quietly. "I stood trial for it and was acquitted of wrongdoing."

"Oh, bullshit!"

"Tristan," Solaris threatened. 

"But it's true! They made a big show of arresting him and promising he would pay for what he did, then everything goes silent and suddenly he did nothing wrong?! It doesn't make sense!"

"No, it doesn't," Adele agreed, "but it's undeniable that the crown hushed the Captain of the Riders up quickly when he was arrested." She looked at him, her expression neutral. "So?" she prompted quietly. "What's the deal? What really happened?"

Gavin looked away. "I am forbidden to discuss it."

"Convenient," Tristan sneered. 

"No, it's really not," Solaris said gently. "He has no defense if he can't talk about it." He looked to Gavin. "You are not among friends," he said firmly, coldly, "and I won't pretend you are. But my gut is telling me to hear you out. No one here is going to tell the King that you spoke about it." 

Gavin was torn. "I... don't know if it will truly make a difference. Tristan will despise me no matter what I say, I think."

"You're probably right," Tristan said, just as cold as Solaris. "But you're a dragon singer, same as us. I owe it to you to hear you out, if you’ve got a defense to what you did. We need to stick together, especially now.”

He swallowed thickly, knowing what the boy was referring to. Dragon singers had never been looked on in Eaurex with kindness. But it was almost Gavin’s single-handed fault that they were seen as less than human now. “Very well,” he said softly. “The dragons I killed were… ill.”

“Ill how?” Adele demanded sharply. “And why didn’t you try to help them?”

Gavin sighed. “Imagine a rabid animal. They are uncontrollable, vicious, aggressive, too fearful to allow anyone near them to help—if it would even do any good, because it’s an incurable disease.” His gaze was intense. “Now imagine a fully grown dragon with such an affliction.”

“Are you saying the dragons you killed were rabid?” Solaris’s voice was hard and unyielding. 

“Of course not,” Gavin scoffed. “They’re immune to such diseases. This was worse.”

They were all quiet at that. Gavin continued, “The dragon who was first noticed to be sick had already laid waste to a settlement on the western shore.”

“We never heard about that,” Solaris said quietly.

“It was kept quiet. If the people found out that the dragons were infected with a communicable disease that made them violent, there would be utter panic. We couldn’t risk that, but we also couldn’t risk the disease spreading further. We had quarantined the dragons we knew to be ill, but…” He smiled bitterly. “You know as well as I do that dragons that don’t want to be quarantined will not be for long. We had to do something, because they were beginning to demand their freedom.�� 

“You were just the fall guy,” Tristan murmured. 

“Oh, no: I killed them. I was the one chosen to do so, and I could have refused. I’d have been disgraced for refusing to obey a direct order from the king, but I could have refused and I chose not to. But they were suffering. The disease was painful, as well as being mind-altering. We never discovered the cause of it, but the harder they resisted their instincts to destroy, the more painful it was for them. I did what I thought was right.” His gaze was critical as he looked them over in turn. “And if I was in the same position, I’d do it again. I won’t let anyone suffer as they were suffering.”

“So,” Adele said, after a couple moments, “if you were operating under orders from the king, why the trial?”

"Word had gotten out." Gavin's voice was haunted. "We never found the culprit, but his Majesty had to do something. That's when I became the fall guy. The trial was for show; I was never going to be convicted. But I was guilty in the eyes of the people, and no matter how his Majesty tried to protect me, there was no containing it."

There was silence in the room as they all mulled it over. Stormsong said quietly, "This was before I was born, so take this with a grain of salt, but, Gavin: there is no disease that affects dragons like that."

"I'm not lying," Gavin said defensively. 

"I know you're not, Gavin. But that leaves the question of who was controlling them, and why."

They looked at each other, chagrined. If someone had been trying to control the dragons to do humans harm, how long would it be before they tried again?

~*~

Kain, Ash, and the others walked in silence. Kain couldn't believe what was happening. What could the father of the dragons possibly want with him? He had barely enough magical talent to bond with Stormsong. There was nothing Bahamut could use him for, yet he had demanded Kain's presence, specifically. 

Michel and Petre followed behind sullenly. Both of them were furious with Kain for refusing to come back to Elymont with them, but Kain didn't know what else to do. He needed to find his dragon. 

He needed to find his friends. He needed to find his lover. Stormsong would know why Bahamut wanted him. Gavin would know how to defend himself, if it came down to it. 

Alastair - their new friend - was a question mark to all four of them. He was handsome, in a cold way. He claimed to have sugar sickness, although Kain hadn't seen him eat anything in hours, not since they met. And he could see that the man was strong, possibly stronger than Kain himself. 

And the magic that came off the man! Kain didn't have much magical talent, so the magic Alastair was exuding must've been massive for Kain to feel it. Ash did, as well; he could tell from the uncomfortable glances the elf kept shooting the newcomer. Kain nudged him, tilting his head towards Alastair; Ash grimaced. "He could flatten us in more ways than one, if he wanted to," he whispered. "I've got a bad feeling about him."

"He did help us, Ash."

"He did, but what does he want in return?"

"I can hear you."

They looked back at Alastair. The man was smiling at them benevolently, amused by the conversation. "I'm not going to 'flatten you,'" he said kindly. "I'd be a poor traveling companion if I went around 'flattening' my friends. I will admit to wanting something from you, however."

Ash gave Kain a flat, knowing look. Kain made a face back. Seeing that neither of them were going to entertain Alastair, Michel said, glaring at the two of them, "And how may we help you?"

"I'm looking for my son." Alastair's voice had gone soft. "I... abandoned him, decades ago. I regret it immensely, and I was hoping to make things right between us. Alas, he was gone from the village I left him in, and no one knew where he'd gone."

Kain's attention piqued at that. Was it possible-? No. It made no sense. "What makes you think we can help, sir?" Kain asked, his voice respectful and carefully void of the doubt he was feeling. 

"Intuition, my friend. That's all," Alastair replied softly. "I have a feeling you will be able to help me find him. I have no proof beyond that, but my intuition is rarely wrong. It is a curse, really."

"A curse?" Petre repeated in disbelief. "If I knew my intuition was right every time-"

"Imagine knowing something is about to go wrong, but not knowing enough to stop it, or to help mitigate the damage." Alastair's face took on a far-off look. "There was only once this intuition of my was actually helpful, and that was when I left my son with my friends in the village. I always intended to go back for him, but... time escaped me. He'll be a grown man now, and likely operating under the assumption that I didn't want him in my life. It can't be further from the truth. I... had to leave him behind."

The longer Kain listened, the more he felt compassion for Alastair. "I was abandoned in my village by my father," he said softly. Every eye turned to him. "I was told that my father unequivocally did not want me in his life any longer... but I've always wondered what it would be like if that weren't true."

Alastair, in an odd voice, replied, "Perhaps it wasn't. How old were you?"

Kain grimaced. "An infant, actually. Something happened between my father and one of the village women that no one will speak of, but he felt the need to leave afterwards. He left me with the woman he'd had the altercation with, and vanished."

"I... see. Were you ever told what this altercation was about?"

"No." Kain closed his eyes for a moment, taking a deep sigh. "And now I'll never know. They're all dead, and at Bahamut's hands." 

Kain seethed at the thought. The idea that he'd be able to avenge Reythak was a daydream and nothing more; there was no way he'd be able to make the father of the dragons pay for what he'd done. He was a mere human; there was just nothing he could do but seethe futilely. He had never felt so helpless before in his life as he did then. 

Alastair looked at him, compassion on his features. Kain looked back, and hesitated. There was more than compassion there. There was regret.

Why would this stranger regret what Kain had just said?

Kain shook his head slightly, as if trying to dislodge the thoughts. His own son was left in a village somewhere on Eaurex. It wasn't hard to imagine that Bahamut could easily wipe out his son's village, if the dragon decided to take his search for Kain to Eaurex. It was a miracle that neither Alastair nor Ash wanted to just hand him over to protect their own home. 

Ash, with a shaky breath, said, "Well, there's little we can do for Reythak now. And Elymont, if Michel and Petre are right. I'm not handing a friend over to a genocidal dragon, no matter what he threatens."

"That genocidal dragon could eat you for a midnight snack," Michel snapped, "and you'd never know the difference! If Bahamut wants Kain, he's going to get him. Why shouldn't we cut our losses and just hand him over?"

Alastair cast a baleful look at Michel as Ash said, his voice brooking no argument, "Because we're stronger than you and might makes right."

"You've got to be kidding-"

"In this case, I'm not," Ash cut him off bluntly. "You want to sacrifice the one person in the world who's trying to rescue the dragons."

"What if Bahamut has the same goal?" Alastair asked suddenly.

The other four stopped, and looked at him. Even Petre saw the problem with Alastair's proposition. "What does Kain have to do with that?" he asked blankly. "I'm all in favor of tossing the bastard in the dragon's maw and washing my hands of it, but I don't see how doing that will help Bahamut save the dragons."

Alastair looked like he wanted to say more. Instead he simply shook his head. "I don't have all the answers," he said softly. "But have you considered that perhaps Bahamut's intentions towards Kain aren't as ignoble as they appear?" 

Kain's expression hardened, and he kept walking. "He destroyed a village in a snit when he discovered I wasn't there," he clipped. "If he wants my trust, he's going to have to make amends for that."

"He is the father of dragonkind, my boy. He doesn't answer to you."

"He does if he wants me," Kain replied, his voice flippant, hiding his discomfort and fear. Michel and Petre scoffed in unison and Ash murmured his name in surprise. The only one who didn’t respond was Alastair, his expression going thoughtful. 

They kept walking, ducking through brush and under tree limbs heavy with summer leaves and fruit Kain wouldn’t dare try to eat. Ash gathered the strange, misshapen fruits, their skin translucent and their scent almost cloyingly sweet. He took a bite from one, handing another to Kain. Kain took it, staring at it in apprehension. “It’s fine,” Ash said, a smile dancing in his eyes. “It’s not going to poison you.”

“You’re an elf. Your biology is different.”

Alastair issued the laugh Ash wouldn’t. “It’s fine,” he repeated Ash’s comment. “Here, let me.” Ash passed one of the fruits into Alastair’s outstretched hand, and the man took a bite without hesitation. He chewed, looking a bit thoughtful before swallowing, and then he shrugged. “A little overripe. Perfectly fine for consuming, though.” He took another bite, humming cheerfully.

Ash offered a fruit to Kain again, and this time, Kain took it, eyeing it in open doubt. But he took a bite; sweetness burst in his mouth, reminding him of rock candy flavored with pear nectar. It was delicious, and he took another bite, careful not to let any of the juice drip from his mouth. 

“Hey, can we-“ Petre started.

Ash glared. “Get your own. They’re all over the place.”

As Petre huffed in anger, Michel said evenly, “Relax, Petre. We’re not their friends, and we all know it. And Ash is right. This fruit is all around us. We can easily take what we want.”

Kain, on impulse, snatched a fruit from a tree as they passed and slowed, handing it to Petre. “We’re not friends,” he said quietly, “but there’s no reason we can’t be civil.”

Petre stared at him hard for several seconds, suspicious. Michel shrugged and plucked the fruit from Kain’s hand, biting into it enthusiastically. “You’re quite right,” Michel said after swallowing, raising the fruit in a mock toast. “To civility.”

“Michel,” Petre said, his voice low and aggravated, “he chose a night elf over us-“

“Do you see the night elf here?” Michel cut him off.

When Petre didn’t respond right away, Kain said, “We will be finding the night elf, and I would choose him over you a thousand times. He’s never hurt me. You two did.”

“It was for your own good,” Michel replied stiffly.

“It was for your own pride,” Kain snapped back, “because you couldn’t stand the thought of one of your own going with a Dark Knight on a mission you knew nothing about.”

“Same thing!” Michel’s eyes flashed. “That Dark Knight could have hurt you any number of ways-“

“And he didn’t!” Kain yelled. “Gavin has never hurt me, and never would-“

“He is a Dark Knight! They only know how to hurt-“

“He is the most gentle soul I know-“

“Enough!” Alastair shouted over all of them. Much to Kain’s surprise, the yell silenced Michel and Petre, as well as himself. Satisfied after a moment that he had their attention, Alastair said quietly, “So you’ve become entwined with a night elf who is a Dark Knight, as well. Interesting.” Alastair’s voice was dripping with authority. “Tell me about him.”

What are you, my father? But Kain found himself incapable of disobeying the older man. “He passed through Reythak on his way to the Light Shrine, looking for our dragons. When we discovered that all of them but one was gone, I agreed to go with him to find them.”

“All but one was gone?” Alastair rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Which one was that?”

“Mine,” Kain answered, although his mind was screaming at him to stop. “Her name is Stormsong. She forced herself into human form to stop herself from being taken, and she can't change back now."

 "Stormsong..." He said the name as if he were tasting it. "And where is this dragon in human form?"

Kain winced. "Lost. She was with Gavin and my friend when the ship we were on was attacked by a scylla. We sank. I know they survived; my link to her remains. I just don't know where she is."

Alastair made a thoughtful noise. "I may be able to help."

"How?" 

Ash's voice was suspicious, and he made no effort to mask it. Alastair gazed at him mildly before answering. "I am a singer; a powerful one, at that. I can find any dragon within a reasonable distance. If she's still somewhere on the southeastern shore, I'll be able to call her."

"Except she's in human form," Kain reminded him, almost sullenly. 

Alastair gave him a toothy, not-quite-human grin that filled him with dread. “That won’t be a problem,” he said, his voice smooth and, Kain realized, menacing.

[astraves]

Inertia Versus Obstacle

Pretend, for a moment.

We only see the back of his head as he walks.

Bloodied and beaten, his plates rustling and robes fluttering. Fires and screams rage all around him in that expansive network of caverns - once otherworldly and curious, now hellish in their presentation of fire and ruin.

Here, where mortals play part in the politicking of dragonkind and forgotten horrors are dredged up to torment the world once more.

But that’s a day in the life, for him.

The last scaled foe standing against them falls, and onlookers watch as Volseth takes account and begins to write on the good half of a broken crate. The frontline advances. Soldiers rally.

Ironically, it’s his own soot and blood that Astraves swipes on the parchment this time around as he finishes his report.

He takes a ragged breath as onlookers talk amongst themselves.

What the hell is he doing?

Eyerolling and comments about mages follow after. He vanishes in a twist of arcana, clumsily signing the portal with one hand and opening the spaces between This and That, directly into an office.

Really, THE office.

There isn’t much of a chance to look inside. They wouldn’t understand what’s on the other end of the portal anyway.

He’s still rustling and fluttering with a slight limp as he steps through into Suramar, into Director Ouvedhe’s office without any prior consultation or warning.

The old Shal’dorei sputters and drops his tea at the sudden roar of magic opening up next to his desk. He kicks back in the chair and staggers to his feet, hands raised.

“Vo- ...Astraves?! But the wards-”

“Outdated software,” we hear from the back of Volseth’s head as he drops the report onto Ouvedhe’s desk. “Trespasser, right?”

“Ugh! Go- Get the hell out of my office, damn you! This was not authorized!”

“Good morning, Director.”

Volseth offers a half-hearted wave. Ouvedhe throws his tea cup at his agent and curses through his teeth. When it hits his shoulder, he lets out a mock cry of pain and sways. The swaying, hamming it up, almost actually sent him to the ground with that poor footing and the tweak in his knee now. He slouches as he limps along, another portal. Another tower. The architecture changes to something more whimsical, and yet somehow less auspicious. The fixtures - cabinets and counters, the furniture that doesn’t move, seems wrought from the same living stone as the rest of the circular room, pale and blue with striations of arcane flecks like gold in more terrestrial marbles. Cabinets and hutches grow from the ceiling down. Counters from the floor up. Impeccably masoned - perhaps something beyond masonry, all as one solid piece. A nightborne woman in layered, black robes looks up from a divan, book in hand. She looks like him, but less battered, and doesn’t linger long on his condition.

Or maybe he looks like her? - No, he’s older. Squatter’s rights.

None of this was new to her. Similarly, another day in the life.

“Brother,” she muses quietly.

“Sue,” he remarks in response.

He can’t get his boots off. The sides and tongues of them all flap as he undoes the buckles and ties running up the inside of his leg, and the lot of it collapses from about his knees to drag around his ankles.

“Val went to sleep an hour ago,” she tells him.

Easier now to kick them off as he drags himself up the stairs. Once, he falls, and the dragging is more literal for a moment until he stands again.

Around in circles, to the second floor. Downstairs, he hears the low thud of the vast, round front door leading into his house that barely gets used.

Toys and books are strewn around. Volseth lets out a hoarse, low chuckle through his weak breath and hobbles over to the tiny form curled up on a vast, tall cushion beneath layers of blankets. It takes all his strength to kneel down before the little lord. Despite the cuts and drying blood on his fingers, he reaches out to brush the boy’s hair away from his face with all the tenderness he can muster.

Father kisses son on his forehead.

The dryness of his lips cause them to crack when he smiles.

Standing is a struggle, but he manages. The boy is lost to his dreams, the father is almost lost to gravity again.

The third floor returns him to the excuse for a bedroom the man maintains.

A ceiling to the stratosphere, and walls lined up with bookshelves. Shelves all cluttered in relics and tomes, odd finds and curiosities not meant for outside access. Tools and tables, telescopes and scrying circles.

All the toys a government agent could ask for and more.

These are all dead to him, as he himself is dead to the world once he hits that round, raised dais of a bed. It’ll be like diving into silk, he thinks.

It’ll be like collapsing into a giant breast with a tit big enough to be a pillow, he thinks.

One foot in front of the other.

Maybe not like a giant breast with a giant tit, maybe more like...

...Maybe just my fucking bed after a day like today, good gods above why do I do this to myself?

I miss all the other parts.

I miss...

                                                    Company?

...Maybe.

His head remains still. The world around us spins as he falls face-first into the covers, not even bothering to remove anything on his person.

He lays there, face against the pillow and motionless, limbs splaying however they landed.

His chest swells from the back as he draws in a breath...

And he screams into that great, comfortable bed until he doesn’t.

[nixalegos]

"The hood is actually so I can be properly identified." He replied enigmatically before lifting his mug to his lips, once pulled back he added, "So I suppose we can chalk that up to my comfort." "You'll have to forgive my rudeness. When a dracthyr adopts such a guise, it's out of misplaced connection to a progenitor race that they have little in actual common with. Their masks imperfect, they don't know what they're pretending to be, and have no real idea whos behind the mask yet either. And yet, here we are in Valdrakken proper, the city and stronghold of dragonkind from the days before the Sundering itself...And all the buildings are sized for mortalkind." He said with a good humored 'pff' before having some more from his mug. "You don't find it particularly -odd- how many dragons have forced themselves into mortal communities over the ages, adopting personas to placate us and keep us ignorant of their existence, rather then the other way around, and we shorter lived races adapt to you?" As icebreaker questions went, the hooded elf had chosen a line of questioning as tactful as a sledgehammer.

@gilnoruil

"A query stranger, are the horns in your visage for your comfort, or for the rest of us?" The hooded man said as he walked up to their table, a flagon of something more akin to engine degreaser than ale in their mug. "Seems to defeat the point of playing pretend."

Gilnoruil looked up from the book he had perched in one hand, his faintly glowing eyes dragging meticulously over the stranger who approached him. His dark brows flattened to a near straight line.

"A draenei cannot hide their horns," he remarked matter-of-factly. "While it is true that I can if I choose to, the simple answer is, I choose not to hide them nor any of my other distinguishing features. If that makes others comfortable or not, I do not care."

He seemed to go back to reading, but even as his eyes drifted back over the page he was on, he spoke again.

"I might ask the same of you with your hood. For your comfort? Or that of those around you?"

[artbyifer]

Captain Eddie and his Totally-a-Normal-Dragon (are you going to tell them otherwise) Venom

His Majesty's Dragon/Temeraire!Venom AU for @mific for the Venom Holiday Exchange 2021

Maria is a feral featherweight dragon, among several that Eddie feeds partly out of affection and kindness and partly cause they bring him information sometimes. He finds her heckin sick one day (she probably tried to get to him for help but maybe couldn't make it all the way) and brings her to dragon doctor Dan.

Venom is a klyntar that has been going through dragon hosts and somewhat imprinted on their posessiveness and captain-love. It's been trying to keep its hosts alive longer periods, and in a better state of mind, but with only moderate success. It's hoping to find a better match soon that will work with it, biologically speaking, rather than against it. Something stable and longer-term.

When Eddie touched Maria, Venom did its usual check for compatibility of the new being - surprise, perfect match! It switched over immediately but is going to take some time to get its bearings in a mammal.

Maria slowly starts getting better (though she's babbling about her sickness like it's alive), but Eddie has Caught Something.

Shenanigans occur.

Humanity does not know about Klyntar, but they sure know dragons! It's a lot easier for Venom to just pretend to be a tiny dragon riding around on Eddie's shoulder than for Eddie to pretend to Not be talking to someone right now.

Means that Venom can interact with people too, so that's a bonus, and with a "leash/lead" they can plausibly get a bit of distance from eachother without the jig being up. With

V imprinting on dragonkind before humanity, their combined form is Much more draconic in nature; they can pass as a lightweight if they feel like being quadrupedal. Flight might be tricky but do-able; definitely Actually Venomous, and in this AU there's stuff large and dangerous enough for that to matter!

If they're willing to separate at all (captain-feelings > symbiotic feelings? might conflict), bonding with a dragon would up that dragon's size and defense and the crew would have much less chance of falling while borders would have a lot more trouble. Interesting team-up possibilities.

Either way they've got hecka special-ops potential. Black-as-night dragon that can appear out of nowhere even in buildings and disappear just as suddenly? Captain extremely underestimate-able and nearly impossible to ransom? Heck, a really weird black dragon? That could start some big rumours and propaganda going if properly applied, depending on the time period.

Venom gets Heckin Fed in this AU. Live cows for days and no-one bats an eye at the lower-c carnage.

Nearly the inverse of the Temeraire-Lawrence Morality Situation. Roaring vortex of chaos and heart of gold with no impulse control and very little attention to consequences, but they're trying.

Anne's got her work cut out for her trying to determine the legal status of Eddie "Kind-of-a-captain" and Venom "Not-really-a-dragon". Mrs Chen works provisions. If historical, access to chocolate is a much dearer issue so she's absolutely vital to taming their whole Deal.

[ID: A very goopy dragon about the size and shape of a sphynx cat perches on Eddie's shoulder. It is slick black and in addition to the customary opalescent eyes, grinngin rows of long grasping teeth, and prehensile pink tongue, Venom sports 4 claws on each of its vaguely-formed paws, 4-tined wings (only one visible in this shot, unclear if it's even bothering to form the other one as that's the side Eddie's head is on), and a lengthy wisp of a tail. Loops of slime fall from and reconnect to its form. /ID]

[iturbide]

If you don't mind multiples can I please ask for Brady and Phoenix Wright? And if I recall you have not played much Binding Blade, but if you feel comfortable enough with the character to answer, Idunn please?

Of course I don’t mind multiples also excellent choices

How do I feel about this character? 

BABY BOY.  I love Brady so much with his scary face and intimidating scar as the rough exterior over an incredibly soft heart and boundless compassion.  I love how gentle and kindhearted he is, I love how he talks like an absolute gangster but wants to use the violin to express how he really feels, and I love that he gets teary over the small miracles in the world like flowers growing in difficult places.  He’s a delight and deserves to be popular with the ladies.

Who do I ship this character with romantically? 

Nobody, really!  I don’t have any real romantic ships for the second gen Awakening characters -- usually I joke that I ship them with happiness, because it’s what they deserve after everything they’ve suffered through.  Just so long as he’s in good company with people who appreciate him for who he is, I’m happy for him.

Who is my brOTP for this character? 

OWAIN.  But honestly Owain is my answer for any and all second gen brOTPs because Owain is great.  The fact that he appreciates Brady as he ought is just icing on the cake.  I also really love him and Yarne, especially for him actually helping the scaredy bun to toughen up (and undoubtedly offering healing support so that Yarne doesn’t go extinct).

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character? 

Brady is underappreciated and it’s a crime.  He’s so good but he’s one of those characters that gets passed over for kids like Inigo (who has predatory tendencies and is also a huge jerk in multiple supports) and Severa (who is manipulative bordering on abusive and also a huge jerk in most of her supports).  I legitimately do not understand why people don’t appreciated the soft-hearted gangster so I will instead love him that much more because they won’t (which is why I got him to +10 in Heroes).

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon? 

I really, really wish that he’d gotten a chance to play his violin for his mother in their support chain.  I know that in his chain with his father she tricks him into playing it, but I really think it would have been incredibly poignant if Brady had traded all those attempts at learning Maribelle’s hoity-toity speech and just played from the heart, something so profoundly touching that she came to realize it’s not the words that are important.  Yes, their supports are funny, but...I really would have liked something more heartwarming for them.

How do I feel about this character?

I love Phoenix Wright so much.  I love his snark, I love his improv, I love how he literally rolls with everything no matter how ridiculous even if he does kick himself mentally when he does.  The man interrogated a parrot on the stand, literally what is there not to love about him.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

Miles Edgeworth.  That’s honestly it.  I do see him as bi and I do think that he loved Iris while she was pretending to be Dahlia, but that was a long time ago and they’ve both grown as people to the point where they can (and I think should) remain friends, just not romantic partners.  I have a major soft spot for him and Edgeworth though, it’s my hands-down favorite ship in the entire franchise (even though I put them through the wringer in fic).

Who is my brOTP for this character?

Does Maya count?  Because I absolutely see him and Maya being like siblings, with Phoenix as the long-suffering older brother and Maya as the occasionally obnoxious younger sister.  I can’t see their love for each other as anything other than familial, so them as a brOTP just makes sense to me.  Iris, too, if we want to get technical: their romance ended, but I like the idea of them being able to maintain a friendship.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

He’s more of a realist than people give him credit for.  Fandom loves to joke about Phoenix being dumb or unobservant, but while he certainly can (and does) leap before he looks, he’s smart and his incredibly wry internal monologue heavily implies to me that he’s most often rolling with the punches rather than blundering blindly into them and reeling into success through luck alone.  He’s pretty savvy in my view, and it irritates me that fandom likes to play him as the eternal butt of the joke (since they also like to forget Larry exists -- apparently Phoenix is the one they substitute in for him).

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

To be honest...I kind of wish the events leading into AA4 had never happened.  That timeline legitimately breaks my heart because I love Phoenix, and seeing him so broken -- even if it is in part an act to trick the one who set it all in motion -- is more than I can bear.  I really wish we could have just gone forward with Phoenix staying a defense attorney and succeeding, bringing Apollo on as a successor and teaching him in much the same way he learned from Mia, rather than piling yet more trauma onto a man who has never deserved it and who has already lived through too much of it after three games.  

And while it’s true that I haven’t played Binding Blade, I do still love Idunn in Heroes, so:

How do I feel about this character?

This sweet child did not deserve this and I am going to protect her at all costs.  Similar to Grima in how she suffered at the hands of others, only her abuse came from dragonkind first before humans sealed her and Zephiel turned her into a weapon to achieve his own ambitions -- only heartbreakingly they stripped her of her very soul, making her a shell of her true self.  So I love her, I want her to be safe and cherished, and I want to see her recover from all she’s gone through.

Who do I ship this character with romantically?

boy I’ve said this a lot tonight but no ships!  Idunn...well, first off she’s still trying to recover her personal autonomy, and second of all she got sealed very young and so has a lot of growing to do mentally once she does.  She’s not really a character I’m comfortable shipping at all until she’s gone through a significant amount of therapy, and since that needs to come first and foremost rather than setting some romance as an end goal (which would be creepy), I’m just not even thinking about it.

Who is my brOTP for this character?

FAE-FAE.  BEST TINY BABY SISTER A DRAGON COULD ASK FOR.  Fae seems like the perfect dragon sibling and I love the idea of them having a sweet sibling bond where "big” sister Fae is taking the lead while "little” sister Idunn follows her lead and learns from her.  Also the Grimas, as both guardian figures and fellow victims of heavy-handed cruelty; having their grounding influence for stability, especially when she slips in her recovery, would be very important, and the more of herself she gets back the more I think she would appreciate that unspoken concern.

What’s my Unpopular Opinion™ about this character?

are there any popular opinions about Idunn out there?  I don’t see her too much sadly but I’ll just go out on a limb and say that she enjoys flowers and all things colorful and still struggles with doing things on her own unless someone asks her to directly; deep down, she also really likes being taken care of, told stories, and taught new things like making simple crafts and flower crowns, because none of it is a real responsibility falling to her that she has to see through.  It’s just a quiet kind of relief that comes with such low-stakes activities.

What’s one thing I wish would have happened with this character in canon?

Probably the big thing is I wish canon would have given us more of a resolution for her.  You only have a chance to save her in what amounts to a secret ending in Binding Blade, and her fate remains pretty heavily in question from what I understand?  I wish canon had given us more.  Tell us if she recovered, and what she was like if she did.  Tell us what she ended up doing, whether she stayed with Fae in her village or left it at some point, or if they eventually left to travel the world together when Idunn started doing better.  Basically tell me that my dragon daughter ended up happy.

Give Me a Character

[qhazomb]

so i used that FR dragon size visualizer to compare my science team cosplay dragons gordon and tommy are TOO SMALL and benrey and coomer are TOO BIG, ha ha. but of course, i didn’t pick their breeds for the sizes. gordon’s a tundra because he needed that floofy hair. NEEDED it. (otherwise i prob would’ve made him a guardian). benrey’s a nocturne because nocs are good at adapting and pretending to be things they aren’t. coomer’s a bogsneak with the female art because i really like the friendly face on the female bog art. also, bogs are chunky, and i’ve always pictured coomer being a stocky guy, too. bubby’s a pearlcatcher because they think VERY highly of themselves. pinnacle of dragonkind and all that. bubby is best. tommy’s a spiral because long and lanky, and spirals being super energetic just makes me think ‘way too much caffeine’ :P darnold is a fae right now, but i wanna make him a coatl one day, since they’re the most non-confrontational breed. but first i need 2000 gems;;;;