#i feel like the whole concept of dragons having that thing they hoard is like getting a cutie mark or some shit

[toxooz]

does kari have a hoard? also, if she did, what would it be?

thats her whole deal is she hoards anything PINK thats why she's the way she is the DNA ingrained Dragon Obsession that's considered a hoard lolol i like to think she even had a 'hating pink' phase before she realized that her Hoard was pink things and had a small ohno phase where she knew but still tried to deny it and even tried different things to hoard before she just accepted that her dragon brain simply Wants Pink it doesn't matter how redundant it is wrappers plastic anything that would usually be thrown away if its pink she simply must keep it

she tries to stick them in scrapbooks at least to keep them together but alas the books build up lmfao but at least they're organized by color hue, saturation, texture ect. however she can organize and have an excuse to ogle and touch pink things sksksk she'll dig through the scrapbooks and look at them over and over again for up to hours some days especially if shes struggling with things she will tinker with her collection a lot more 🌸 speaking of dragon hoards Mangule's hoard is skateboards (which reflects the fact that she may be Ollie's foil bc he has an absolute assload of boards as well) BUT the main way she finds herself collecting skateboards is by taking the skateboards of those she kills, so her 'hoard room' is just a big mass of ghost boards that she digs about in to look at and i feel like rarely if she really likes the way a skateboard looks she may solely kill someone JUST for their board bc at this point her mindset is the notion of having a board from someone she killed makes it all the more valuable so her hoard is pretty eerie if your in that room 🤫

[facewithoutheart]

Ten Questions for Writers

Thanks for the tags @shrekgogurt, @artsyunderstudy, @youarenevertooold, & @roomwithanopenfire I’m enjoying all this navel-gazing a whole bunch actually & I’ve done this before but it’s been awhile… sooo

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 169 (niiiice)

2. What’s your total AO3 word count? ~950k (yikes) although some of that is Birthday Man and collabs with people from WIP fest. Don’t ask me to do the math tho; that’s mean.

3. What fandoms do you write for? I’ve written for HP, Check Please, and RWRB although right now I’m mostly a CO writer with a toe dipping into 9-1-1. I have one Captain America fic posted and some WIPs I don’t know if I’ll finish. Nobody look at that AFTG fic; it’s pure crack.

4. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not? Whoo boy do I have thoughts here. I want to be the kind of writer who replies to comments and I harbor so much guilt that I’m not; I know I miss out on opportunities to connect with readers, and I genuinely appreciate comments so much; I hoard them in my inbox like a greedy lil affirmation dragon. I write to engage and connect. So, like, I know I should but at the same time I hate forcing interactions. I like them to spawn organically. I keep my circle small because I get really emotionally overwhelmed and then I feel guilty when I can’t give people what they deserve. And I’ve also never been comfortable with compliments or gratitude, I don’t trust them. So here’s a bulk of emotional trauma no one asked for to say: I don’t reply to comments as often as I feel I should and I’m trying to release the guilt I feel about this while also recognizing that not commenting probably has a direct negative affect on my ability to meet my goal of connecting through writing and at the same time my mental health probably couldn’t withstand the pressure I would need to place on it to get to where I’m replying to comments regularly. Hi I’m a mess who’s trying to love herself and often falls short of that goal; aren’t we all?

5. Have you ever had a fic stolen? No.

6. Have you ever co-written a fic before? So many actually! I didn’t think I’d ever get to a place where I trust someone else to the level this would take but I’ve been really lucky to work with some amazing writers even if not all of those works went anywhere. I actually don’t even think I could realistically tag all the people I’ve collabed with bc I’m afraid I’ll miss someone and isn’t that amazing? Personal growth; we love to see her.

7. What’s your all-time favorite ship? Oh man. I want to just be lame and say it’s me and Mr. Face 🤣 I shipped us when no one else did. Um! Snowbaz is always going to have a special place in my heart, but I’m really leaning into Buddie right now because of age and wanting to explore people in their 30’s still figuring out their lives while battling PTSD and late-in-life sexuality realizations. For, um. Reasons.

8. What are your writing strengths? I do like my dialogue a lot; dialogue is often where I start my scenes and I develop from there. I think I’ve done a good job of honing my ability to vary action/dialogue/internality a lot. I also think I keep people engaged or maybe I just keep myself engaged which is good enough for me. Sometimes I’m funny although sadly not as much recently.

9. What are your writing weaknesses? I struggle with remembering to add in physical descriptors. (Like oh shit have I ever mentioned this character has eyes?) Logistics are a frequent source of pain. (Wait, where were their hands?) I think my plots are kind of basic and boring; I don’t come up with really vivid and detailed concepts. I use the wrong words for things. I really hate detailing out backstory. I have to reread my fics a million times to maintain character consistency. Etc.

10. First fandom you wrote for? Hey Arnold. I wish I could find those fics; I bet they suck.

Tagging 10 peeps @sillyunicorn @mostlymaudlin @martsonmars @bookish-bogwitch @cutestkilla @ivelovedhimthroughworse @thewholelemon @palimpsessed @aristocratic-otter & @you-remind-me-of-the-babe

[balanceoflightanddark]

I feel like most think Chromatic Dragons are evil because they worship Tiamat instead of Bahumat, Tiamat is a goddess of Chaos which most people generally associate with acts of evil but chaos generally isn't evil it just is. While Bahumat the metallic god of Order is generally seen as good there are times when too much Order is stifling

Well to start, if I were to write Tiamat or Bahamut for whatever reason, I'd wouldn't try to stray too far from their moralities. I mean it's right there in their titles: Tiamat, Queen of the Evil Dragons and Bahamut, King of the Good Dragons. It's practically written in their DNA and concept. So trying to portray Tiamat as some woobie or Bahamut as being secretly evil would defeat the entire purpose of the characters.

I wouldn't even say that Tiamat is a Goddess of Chaos in a traditional sense. Chaos usually means the potential for change and the hope for a better future. Tiamat on the other hand seems to lean more to the "evil" in "chaotic evil". As in she's fully willing to commit to atrocities in order to further her goals. And indulge in her own whims and impulses instead of tearing down an oppressive order. Hell, for a Goddess of Chaos, she keeps a tight leash on her servants and has very problems with dominating them when they get too uppity. Aren't the Blue Dragons (Lawful Evil) amongst her most dedicated followers?

As a whole, I don't think Tiamat represents Chaos as a force for change. But rather as a force for shortsighted impulses and domination. She's the one who would dominate and use her domination as an excuse to indulge in her vices. Think a dragon version of a Skeksis and you get the drill.

Conversely, Bahamut is a bit closer to the "good" in "lawful good". His sphere of influence centers around justice, doing good deeds, and promoting acts of charity. He's not even focused on establishing some kind of societal order or regime since he rarely gets involved with mortals on a societal level. Usually, Bahamut only acts to right some kind of wrong or bring justice (which tends to be against his sister and her followers). In that way, he's more of a knight-errant than a king.

If Tiamat represents domination and living out one's impulses for the self, Bahamut focuses on helping others and holding the self to a higher standard. In that regard, the "lawful" is less societal and more living to a code of honor or strong morality. And their relationship is less "chaos vs order" and more "depravity vs nobility".

So with all this in mind, how would I handle Chromatics as a whole if it's less a societal standard and more a moral standard? Well to start, I sincerely doubt the Chromatics have too much love for Tiamat. Again, she keeps a tight leash on them and expects things like accepting consorts from them or reaping whatever portion of their hoards they have collected. And I did read that some Chromatics will try to keep portions of their hoard secret to keep out of Tiamat's hands. From this, I believe that their devotion to Tiamat is less out of reverence and loyalty and more wanting to stay on her good side. Thus, the idea of leaving her has to be a thought a lot of the Chromatics have.

Thing is, Tiamat is freakishly powerful and I doubt she'd want any of her children to get any ideas of rebelling. Even if somehow a Chromatic could break away from Tiamat and survive, they were still raised with the toxic mindset that their "mother" instilled in them. So it would be a pretty painful changing process if all they know how to be are vicious monsters. Add to that how many mortals rightfully think Chromatics are violent monsters, and you have a stacked deck.

Again, I do believe it is possible. It just won't be easy. If I were to write this sort of story, I would possibly have a young Chromatic who strikes out on their own from their parents who instilled that toxic mindset. Old enough to be self-sufficient, but young enough to still be mentally vulnerable and a bit awkward in terms of actually being vile. Basically enough of a threat to gain adventurers' notice, but not enough of a threat to have a massive bounty on their heads. From then, you could either see them begin to question themselves on what they're doing wrong. Not sure how Bahamut might see such a dragon though. On the one hand, forgiveness and mercy are part of his sphere. On the other, I did read that he was also pretty merciless when it comes to Chromatics (I mean, he's been in conflict with Tiamat and her brood for so long that it's hard to blame him). So it could go either way.

That's how I'd write the dynamic between Tiamat and Bahamut along with the Chromatics. Let me know what you guys think or if I'm missing something.

[aenor-llelo]

I've been reading your fox fall series and I've decided to pick your brain about the vessel-gendered and thunderus-tornadus things. But could you elaborate on those for me a little? I get the basic concept but I would like a more elaborate explanation please. Thank you in advance and I enjoy the series very much.

(second question first cus it's short) thundurus-tornadus is basically their word for a tsunami. a lot of weather events in this setting are basically considered acts of god.

(first question next because it's long) in foxfall, draconian gender operates on a trianary of which of the three tao dragons most represents their self-chosen role in life. things like trans/cisgender Do Not Exist in draconian culture because they do not factor for biological sex in how their society functions. that kind of information is considered taboo outside of lovers, doctors, or most immediate family. (hormone therapy and what we'd consider gender reassignment surgery exists, but they see it as matter of dysphoria intervention rather than a gender thing.)

sexuality also isn't something they define either. people marry or cohabitate with whoever, and it doesn't matter if that union produces children. draconians don't really care about the integrity of the bloodline, only if someone has been raised/taught in the draconian way.

(something like ingo and emmet, where they live together as a platonic civil partnership in all but name, is considered completely normal by draconian standards. it's much weirder that they're 30 years old and don't have any kids or apprentices.)

draconians as a whole will accept whatever pronouns they're assigned unless the individual finds it convenient, or even advantageous, to insist on a certain binary pronoun set when it exists in the area's language, but some dragonless choose to default to they/them for draconians out of respect to their gender privacy. precisely because they consider it private information, draconians take the genders/chosen presentation of the dragonless very seriously, since in their eyes knowing that kind of thing is an act of trust.

the setting as a whole thinks draconians are kind of mysterious. "there's this spiritual nomad culture that tames dragons, has genders we don't know about, and keeps huge parts of identities to their graves!" queer culture doesn't insist draconians are themselves a nonbinary/trans society because of the different circumstances, but draconians are considered cousins/friends of the queer community. in places where draconians are common, they're often a baby queer's first exposure to the concept of xenogenders and genderqueer individuals.

trianary semantics under the cut:

the first set of honorifics is fire/winter/storm, which is basically just an elemental vibecheck. which dragon to you kin? this sort of thing is figured out relatively early in childhood, but all of these aspects can be changed at any time if someone feels like they've fundamentally changed as a person.

the second is song/silence/roar. which do you choose to strive for- skill, patience/simplicity, or vigor?

then there's the base gender, hoard/vessel/stone.

hoard, the reshiramgender. Defined by power, knowledge, philosophy, art, parenthood (draconians consider the act of teaching to be the same as parenthood)

vessel, the kyuremgender. Defined by service, cold/ice/lack, taking aspects from everything, jack of all trades, becoming what is needed.

stone, the zekromgender. Defined by craft, skill, tradesmen, labor, hard work.

by pure semantics, draconian culture basically has nine possible self-determined genders meant to communicate the following in ascending order- what do you do in life, how do you do it, and why?

Ingo, fire-roar vessel. "for the sake of an honest world, i put my passion to realizing the ambition of others. show me your true form!"

emmet, storm-song vessel. "for the sake of an ideal world, i hone my skill to reveal the talent of others. let this be the perfect battle!"

drayden was once a winter-roar hoard, but nowadays is winter-silence hoard. "for the sake of inner peace, my wisdom is the strength i wield to teach and protect others." (the transition from roar to silence happened after his sister died.)

iris is winter-song hoard! "for the sake of harmony, my skills will hone and defend the world."

[cinhomi]

unfortunately I had a nine am class 💀 it completely slipped my mind last night that milk tea had caffeine haha

class was good though, at least most of the lectures were :P

hanjisungstatas sounds delish. not me renaming the blog name to something jiddies related even though I don't really post there anymore-

OK RORA MY LOVE I PROMISED filthy ot8 thoughts and unsurprisingly its Chan related. again. like Chan absolutely strikes me as having a devotion kink in the sense he's absolutely head over heels for the rest of skz. possessive, too, I just read a fic about dragon!channie and how he'd just hoard them and sit on top of them- he always has to have them near, a stray kid cuddled into his arms, telling him that he's theirs, hyung is here. love being the centre of their affection. being felt up. loved being known that the 8 of then are so tightly intertwined they're inseparable. loves worshiping each of them, watching them fuck in his bed. he's theirs and they're his.

there was more to this but I completely forgot 🥲 hope you're having a great day my love <3 I will go to sleep now (finally!)

- titracha nonnie

my reaction to this whole ask wtf nonnie why are you always right...

there could be a whole lore built around this concept... ah... I have so many ideas about this? I would need a bit more time to think about it tho... this is genious and perfectly makes sense. are you graduated in Chanology perhaps? I want more about this omg I have so many concepts to go in depth with thanks to you but I have so many things to write this is a curse I'm cursed. I don't know if I should add something now or wait for a better moment... oh...

Channie being possessive, obsessed with his members... because he's the leader and he chose them and they are sewn together by destiny's thread... doing everything together... feeling for each other love in its purest form... omg I adore this.

ANYWAY WHERE DO YOU FIND SUCH FICS I WANT THEM TOO PLEASE??????? DROP SOME RECS?????????? it also has been a while since I last searched through tags because now I usually just check how my fics are doing lol

If you come back with this I'll write more about it, it's a promise!

[m-r-levine]

On Interruptions of Flow

Blocks used to be just part of the normal cycles of work and rest and refilling the well, the rhythms of moving between projects. (I won’t deny the good feelings and brain juices from feedback on the work, but it was never the driving force. I treasure comments like a dragon treasures their hoarde, but the urge to write and the pleasure of storytelling are not primarily or even secondarily grounded in the reception of the work.)

In the last few years, that changed. I don’t know if this was a true cause or if it was just one little part of a whole system of events that led to my creative process breaking down, but.

In 2019, I dropped all my other projects to meet an absurd deadline for a zine piece, and then for various reasons, a month later I took that story to pieces to see if an actual novel length concept might be hidden in there**.

Meanwhile, some fairly major things were going on in my personal life, and the tremors were getting markedly worse.

Suddenly I didn’t have blocks of time or steadiness of hand to paint either, except for pushing through for a couple of excruciating outstanding commissions, and struggling to wrap up the second volume of the graphic novel. Yet even with a few of those deadlines dealt with I could no longer make words go on any other project. I tried everything in the toolbox to get the brain going again, especially after a side effect of quarantine gave back my former 3+ hours daily commute time.

Finishing the renovations on the old house ate almost everything I had to give, and my partner’s mental health struggles took the rest. I cannot begin to explain to you just how few spoons I have had between the boring job (which became much more intense with the effects of the pandemic) and Life™️.

Previously, writing and sketching helped me unwind and ground after a shift, or even during breaks. In the last few years though…

Words came slowly for La Mala Suerte, but opening any other story filled my brain with static noises. I could not string basic sentences together. I could not outline plot, I had no fragments of dialogue or vignettes fall into my head like before. When I ran out of backlog to post… Suddenly I had nothing.

Short stretches being dry like that are familiar enough, but days and weeks turned into months and years of desperately wanting to tell the stories and in the few moments of quiet I could steal away? Nothing. It’s an eerie feeling, having the vivid and even visceral scenes that are already written and outlined still looping in my head, screaming to get out, but the moment I try to write connective tissue? Right back to tv snow.

Unlike painting, my writing is accessible everywhere I go, even when it hurts to hold a pen - being able to get ‘lost’ in stories helped me through some incredibly hard times in the past, and losing that ability was devastating. The disappointment and yes, the shame of being adrift and wordless has been wretched. I have longed for the elation I used to find on the other side of a hard passage, the joy of solving the puzzle and freeing the spirit from the proverbial stone.

I still don’t entirely understand what happened in my brain that autumn of 2019… I just know that something changed, and we’re still not… entirely back from it. I am suspecting that Long Covid is now part of it - that was summer of ‘21 though, and I was already firmly lodged in The Block by then.

Maybe it was just one a longer but still normal drought and needing recovery time from intensely brain-heavy Life Events™️ until that extra layer was added? I truly don’t know. I don’t know if it matters either, except in that I am deeply afraid I will lose it again.

Anyway, that’s the ramble for the afternoon on the writing side. Hopefully the Boring Job leaves me some braincells to work on asks and stuff later.

* caveat: Except for the fact some truly wretched negative/judgy feedback can entirely poison the affected work for me and make it impossible to get forward motion(Obsidian Slipper is one such victim, I may talk about it more later.)

** hola Teca. 😒

[gingersnappish]

Hi! I just want to say I absolutely adore your art, and I'm so excited to see your new stuff! Particularly anything Kylo Amidala related, it's my favourite au/concept of mine and I love seeing different artists takes on it!

I was just wondering if you had any advice for new artists? I want to be good at drawing but I get so discouraged when things don't come out how I envisioned.

Also, could I ask what you use to draw your art? Is it a digital setup you have? Would you have any recommendations on things to get?

Sorry to ask you so many questions, so please feel free to ignore this! I hope you have a lovely day, and thank you so much for all your wonderful contributions to the kylux fandom ❤

Thank you so much, Anon, for this lovely missive! It was such a warm feeling to find it in my inbox and brought a smile to my face! I love Kylo Amidala more and more the longer I'm in kylux fandom-honestly I wasn't sure if he was my 'thing' or not at first, years back, and then the more I saw takes on him in art and writing and fandom in general, the more he grew on me :) He allows for so much fashion fun and character creativity-like you said, it's really fun to see everyone's 'take' on him! Part of the reason it's taken me this long to respond is that I read what you asked about starting out with art and related hardcore! The thing where you got the vision but it can feel discouraging when stuff doesn't come out finished like it looked in your head? That was me for like- a couple decades. Still me on certain days. Like, MOOD, my friend! The good news is: every artists struggles with the above problem. So you are not alone! I guess in a sense, the bad news is also: 'everyone from beginners to seasoned professionals ' struggle with this....so yeah, it doesn't ever *entirely* go away? BUT! Better news: There have been a lot of 'takes' written and a lot of good advice given about how to mentally manage the 'it doesn't come out how I wanted' phenomenon! It's not so much 'make it go away' as it is 'learn to manage that phenomenon in a healthy, painless, productive way'. And that is a learnable skill that gets *a lot* easier with practice!

Also: I hoard tutorials/drawing resources for all levels/YT channels/'how to think about and approach art meta'/etc like a dragon hoards gems, so I'm putting together a post of resource links that might help or give you some starting points--that is taking a hot minute to craft though, so I figured I should just go ahead and respond here today and then post the resources list as soon as I get it finished (so you don't feel like your ask just went into the void)! Re: What I use to draw....time was, that would have been a whole post to itself on traditional materials and comparing computer programs and such. These days it's real straightforward: Procreate on an iPad :) I'm entirely digital these days but my honest opinion is that everyone is drawn to different materials and media and you should feel free to try out working in whatever interests you, whether that is digital art tools, or traditional media like acrylic or ink or something else! Also: making lots of drawings and practicing with what is cheap and available will get you farther,faster than any expensive supplies when you are starting out. Ballpoint pens and a pad from the Dollar Store (or equivalent where you are) are perfectly serviceable for practicing-plus sometimes I personally find I relax and have more fun experimenting and less angst if things don't come out how I wanted if I'm not working with something 'precious'. Case in point: I have custom-leather-worked sketchbook made by a friend sitting up in the office, being exquisitely beautiful and gathering dust. It is empty but for a single drawing, that I became unsatisfied with the day after I finished it. I got that sketchbook 7 years or more ago and I'm still trying to convince myself to use it properly. In contrast, last summer we went to the beach near our house and while we were there I ended up with access to cheap kiddie art supplies from a summer 'communal stash'-a blank sketchbook of the lowest quality paper and 10 colors of crayola pencils, half sharpened. It was a 'throw away', didn't matter what was done in that book-there were 10 more like it in the pile. I ended up doing a bunch of messy stuff born of people-watching and seagull-antics-observation. Filled 5 pages, both sides, and felt incredible joy in the making of shitty scribbles! And then I just put the book back in the 'communal stash' at the end of the day, since there were still a bunch of blank pages left. It was low-pressure and extremely freeing. (side note: when we went back a week later, the other sketchbooks were gone but that one I'd messed around in had more doodles from artists of all ages and beginning skill levels. And more the week after that. I think it turned out to be pretty freeing for a lot of people.) OK, this turned into a way longer response than I intended-boy, can I 'talk'! I hope you have a good day! Wishing you lots of positive creative vibes!

[kittttycakes]

Yes, that look in 1789 is a whole lotta hot damn.

I love the thought of Morpheus and Grace teaming up to torment Hob. *holds hands and considers this very, very much*

I think it would be great to see Grace get her freak on. I also feel like I can picture a baroque or renaissance-esque scene with Hob caught between Morpheus and Grace. Or even Hob caught between Demon!Morpheus and Angel!Grace (thinking George Clark Stanton’s Death and the Maiden here).

I am also imagining your dragon’s hoard of smut ideas and I want to Scrooge McDuck dive into it!

Yes, you should definitely watch it, it’s quirky but so good, and Idris Elba is just nnnnghhhhh. And his voice. And hands. Omg.

I'm obsessed with that look Morpheus gives him in 1789, and I'm dying to know what the acting direction was there or if Tom and Ferdie just...ran with it.

Hob would also be very into it. Two of his favorite people, focused on him? He's highly motivated to make it through any torment, knowing that he's getting exactly what he wants in the end. He can be patient when he knows it’s worth waiting for.

Someday Grace will absolutely be allowed to get her freak on! I think the thing about Grace is that she's just as unhinged as Hob and Morpheus are, she's just better at keeping it in, until she realizes that she can just match their energy and neither of them think it's odd.

Demon Morpheus and Angel Grace I'm!!!! Absolutely losing my mind over this. God, what a concept. There’s just something about Morpheus to one side, whispering promises in his ear, and Grace pressed to his other side, fighting equally for his focus and attention (in the end, of course, they all win, there’s no losers here, no matter who Hob gives in to first).

(I have to link the painting here as well, because yes hello yes absolutely yes.)

Please feel free to dive in with me any time! I have so many thoughts about all of them, and eventually I will get around to properly writing them all, but until then I just turn them all over in the microwave of my mind and enjoy them. I feel like I haven’t given Grace’s specific fantasies enough page time and that really does need to change.

I am such a sucker for a voice. You know what I mean, the depth, the resonance, that ineffable quality that just stops you in your tracks and makes you go oh. And don’t even get me started on hands……..

[wittynameme]

Okay so this one's incredibly specific from a story that I'm writing in my head.

Hung in the church is a painting of a knight slaying a dragon

A was treated like a monster by the townspeople A's whole life and has a bitter hatred towards the head religion of the town. Secretly internalizes the cruel jeering of the town and believes themself unworthy of love, or nobody safe enough to love A. On more than one occasion people have tried to warm up to A but A realizes too late that they were just trying to convert A to the religion and use their marriage to steal A's hoard of gold...oh did I forget to mention A is a hot dragonoid?B is a devotee of the religion of the highest order of the land, a virtual angel who was sent on a holy mission to put an end to the disturbance of the town. They tell him to kill the dragon.

They realize that the world around them was spun from generations of complex misunderstandings and form a tight bond as they go on a campaign to discover what really happened and make the world a better place as B has set out to do.

B has serious daddy issues, Bs dad is a dragon slayer. He has a complex where he tries to be as nice as possible to try and "make up" for looking just like his dad. He tries to fight inequality from inside the system and doesn't seem to understand any issues with that . A will not hesitate for even a moment to correct him on this.

For like 4 seasons (including one where they go on a pirate ship and have a whole pirate story arc) their dynamic is the optimist and the nihilist working together for a shared goal. A comes out of their scales and B forms a more complex perspective of the other side of the wall.

(I was planning on just keeping them like this because I genuinely hate forced romance, well oops)

It breaks his heart to realize she's been such a fool and overcompinsates twice as hard. Eventually burning himself out.

A always event hard on B because A truly never thought that his near endless rays of obnoxious sunshine could go out. A feels horrible and shuts down, blaming themselves for breaking their prescious source of glowing warmth.

A becomes overly agreeable and enabling of B in hopes it will bring his spark back, thinking themselves and their constant badgering and putting down the course corrosion that works away at him. A's not entirely wrong, but their approach is completely misguided by conditioning saying that a dragon is only compatible with agreeable society if they are a docile pet.

B doesn't need doting . He needs A more then ever now and instead of helping A shut down. The sudden personality change terrifying him as this was exactly what he was trying to avoid by enabling A to express themselves even to extremes. He's reminded of his mother.

They eventually get over it but the world is slightly dimmer now. As the sun has been overcast and the pessimistic dragon will never change.

A has crippling paranoia and is hurt too deeply to handle a relationship

B is hands over heels in love with her but understands that A will take any approach as some kinda trick, and he doesn't blame A one bit for this. He also has a handy helping of purity culture guilt that prevents him from acknowledging or fully understanding his feelings.

A and B are just friends to spite eventually doing all the things a couple does. They don't notice because it all happened so fast and so authentically and smoothly and all these events on the "they're in love" checklist (which A denounces the entire concept of) happened spaced apart between acts of sacrifices and near deaths that leave both of them shellshocked and unhealthily dependant on each other. They never stopped to look back and put it all together. Even if they did they'd have no other word for these repressed feelings other than "very close friends out of nessesity".

Through a combination of the world conspiring against them B is pressured to Merry by his horrible mother and is about to be wed to a beautiful but indescribable stranger to carry on his "proud lineage". As stress (and his unhealthy relationship with A) is wearing him down and the time is slowly running out he rolls over in his bed which at some point he started sharing with A (As cold blooded and was freezing to death) and realized he can't imagine being without A and proposes. Both of them were not emotionally prepared enough for marriage but they both don't know that because both of them don't know what the signs of relationship burnout is and blame themselves, playing the roll of happy domestic couple to try to prove to themselves that they're fine. Both of them can't tell the difference between being desperate and touch starved and being in love.

A once again realizing that maybe they messed up by pushing B away feels guilty and tries to offer him their body. Thinking that this is what he'd want. He does not , he might actually be asexual but he doesn't know and now thinks that this is what A wants.

They try , they both have a massive panic attack after which A is completely emotionally detached and B is the one left to do the aftercare for both of them

Both of them are told by their peers completely different and contradictory things about how love is supposed to feel that constantly lead to them bickering. They are living in the same house and hold no contempt for the other , no , they desperately need each other, but neither of them can approach the other anymore.

They desperately fight off any signs off their relationship falling apart while scrambling to put up more scaffolding of a home that was never on a sound foundation to begin with.

At some point through all this they actually did fall in love with each other...at least they think so.

Hung in the church is a painting of a knight slaying a dragon.

[abbinurmel]

This whole post and all its concepts is SUCH an awesome idea. For not just Dnd alone, but also ALL fantasy media. I confess I was having my own dorky set of ideas on rebooting lizardfolk. But nowhere as good as this one.

I was considering a very different spin: what if one took ALL of the negative stereotypes associated with lizards? All the problematic irl political reptilian conspiracies, the outdated “cardboard brute savage” inherent in lizardfolk and similar races in DND, all the true and untrue stuff known to science about real dinosaurs, the phobia of modern reptiles and how venomous snake bites work, and the cool lore/less cool but interesting Creationist ideas of dragons, and their depictions in myth, AND the cavemen who lived with Dinos Creationism falsehoods, AND the depictions of lizard kaiju like Jurassic Park/Godzilla…

...what if one was to actually push them ALL into together, into one crazy stew, and made up an absurd tight knit DND origin concept, as the Lizardfolk backstory?…all the eugenics and Nazi propaganda, and Creationist/Aryan theorist dinosaur origins AND the popular myths about reptiles as animals that are false(they are ‘icky’ or ‘slimy’ and they ‘don’t have feelings’)- what if we mix them ALL and yet go in all of the VERY POLAR OPPOSITE OF DIRECTIONS, philosophically? What if we took lies and disinfo and use them from a reverse *positive* slant, as tropes. By going so ABSURD over the top it thumbs the nose at people who make all these bad ideas about reptiles, Jews/gays/the Liberals who they represent them by, both figuratively and literal. What if we steal these bad ideas, creatively mashed them til it becomes unrecognizable, if not wholesome and completely unique fantasy lore, separated from the original inspirations, and one plays it as a means of taking our collective identities back, thinking about different spiritual and secular philosophies, and just mainly for creative funny laughter?

One example: There was once a specific race, of gigantic, scaly, godlike long lived creatures…DRAGONS…they were ‘aliens’ or like angels, or the Urskek from the Dark Crystal. Great mysterious cosmic beings of vast, vast power and knowledge, but still, at heart, an expressive and inherently ‘flawed’ race, not an all knowing divine one. Basically High Elves, with added space travel or dimension hopping. They are a platoon of ‘Space Lizards’, if you will. (Reptiloids)

They came to your fantasy realm using superior tech/magic, and inhabited a world that before our time, was pure wilderness. Then humans, dwarves and other races, of much smaller lifespans and intellect, all started to evolve. The High Ones also start to breed with them….(Angels/Demons in biblical and other religious myth.)…this leads to things like Naga and Kobolds and even goblins and maybe other established creatures.

Some of them abide this, some do not, as wars or schisms of philosophy are thrust upon them. Some squabbles and scandals. Dragons as a whole are often growing less harmonic, less interested in Enlightenment, more so in teams of selfish power, cult worship and pushing who is the real head honcho/has the better fate of humanity idea and the fate of Magic itself. Soon baser, more material desires emerge, and Dragons are fighting each other more, and trying to outdo each other both in forms of magic, enhanced bodies for greater strength, and soon learn of the concept of Greed, and Worship, knowing how having often more gold attracts followers or charity beggars /more bribery of kings and armies/more access to magical artifacts and natural land sources of great power for themselves. The Dragon ideology shrinks in scope as the dragons once ethereal more long lived cosmic forms become ‘baser’, for better or for the worse. They grow to hoard gold, but also now get to understand ideas of Art and Beauty and Flamboyance. They learn to fight and even eat each other. But thru this also understand the concepts of now ‘Standing for the Greater Good in Defense of our beloved humanoids/A noble good god who sacrifices their life in fighting the Evil god’s imperialist destruction/humanoids are NOT inferior or to be made to be our pets or study lab animals, they deserve our Love and Guidance but not OUR WORSHIP and RULE over their life./Individualism vs Collective Spirituality/Equality for All to Mix and severance of old cultural ways and religious ties vs. the need for Ancestral Pride and in more negative way, Bigotry.’

(Fantasy quests, More Ancient Aliens and loose ideas of creation myths, the Fall of Man and Biblical story archetypes, all of real human history, the prehistoric dinosaurs. Human History Misinformation. Evolutionary competition between reptiles and earl tribes.)

Supposed fears of Dragons ‘de-evolving’ and ‘loss of our magics/our pure lizard genes’ concerns arise, both fabricated and grossly exaggerated and yet, some mildly based in fact alike. To a degree, as dragons mix, THEY DO grow small and more humanoid and less long lived, less toughly powerful, both physically and magically….but they ALSO get more CLEVER….they develop war machines, and languages, and technologies that never have been seen before. And let’s not exclude all the actual learned concepts of Love and Carnal Sex that do emerge out of these dalliances with the other creatures.

All of this, it is neither good, or bad, it is just inherently NEW, and for the Old Dragons, the really really BIG ones who still remain of the ancient ones and bear their ways, and those whom are of the younger generations but who admire the ancient ways and the size and powers of the ones before who came to this land, they wonder if the humanoids and/or they can ever ‘ascend’, or return back to the spirituality/might/actual plane of reality they supposedly once held. Some dragons create whole spiritual schools of thought around this, and develop ways of living in harmony with the world, to purify the soul and raise one’s consciousness back to a higher reality and Love for all things. (Founders of major religion and schools of thinking like Taoism, Kabbalah, Buddhism, Christianity, the New Age religious guru figures, martial arts and spiritual meditation and psychedelic practices as rituals to get cosmic oneness or feel linked back with nature/achieve a better sense of identity and wholeness in therapy,…and on the negative side, the dark con artists and cults who manipulate these ideas. There are those whom worship in the service of a god who believe in lifes of simplicity, shunning Hate and Material needs, and in offering constant shelter, aid and merciful kind advice to others, like certain orders of real world monks, and the friars and nuns of the Medieval ages who weren’t concerned with status or war, just being able to harbor the sick and the poor, and the undertrodden… and those who claim to be about this, yet take it so far, it becomes a dragon who demands HUMANOID SUFFERING, mental or physical, to achieve their ‘enlightenment’/bring this dragon its twisted warped idea of ‘being true enlightened overlord beings again.’ Anyone who questions the dragon’s authority or beliefs, shall be brainwashed, sacrificed and eaten or violently tortured to be made an example of.(MesoAmerican human sacrifice, the majority of religious history, witch trials. Evolutionary competing again, predator animals using mimicry and biological trickery such as pheromones, hypnotic voices, other DND magic macguffin plots,to lure followers to their cult and also gain prey.) These deceptions ESPECIALLY work on Kobolds and the eventual denizens of the tinier Lizardfolk, who grew from aforesaid hybrids of Dragon/other monster species.

“WAIT” I hear you ask, I thought ya said Early Dragons are HUGE, cosmic beings. How did they FUCK primitive man….yknow, size wise.

AH, but you see, that’s the beauty of being *magical lore* with SpaceLizards/religious allegory/real world evolution and science. All that shit is GOOFY, and all KINDS OF crazy manifested things happen! …why, just look at starfish and fungi and sea squirts and special worms, tell me HOW IN THE WORLD, do you get US, somehow ALSO being closely by DNA being related to THAT.

And, tell me ALSO another wacky common alien/myth trope?

We don’t actually *fuck* the Dragons. We later fuck their descendants, who bear humanoid organs and size proportions, but the so-called REAL Dragons. These dragons simply mated with us via technology, thru alien SCIENCE(coff I mean magic) aka Grey Aliens aboard a ship we I mea, A COOL FLOATING SKY CASTLE LAIR, probes style OR, as a ritual on a dream plane or psychotropic spirit plane style…. Maybe, maybe, the whole Jesus getting put into the Virgin Mary…IS AN ALIEN DRAGON REPTILOID GOD THING. (YEAH I AM GOING THERE, BRO, COME SHARE THIS BONG WITH ME!)

Just kidding. I do not take any of this seriously. You can like all DND stuff take or leave whatever makes sense and whatever does not.

ANYWHOOZ. These Parents of Lizardfolk. These dragons, they see this crazy debauchery going on, and some see it as an excuse to spread their seed far and wide, establishing whole nations and tribes of Kobold and Lizard people to either far or dotingly worship them/pursue glorious wisdom or science along to honor them, and, for some OTHER ones, all of this stuff is only ‘modern child garbage’ and even frightening. Remember, these guys can live for CENTURIES, so all these games of Humanity, are like, watching someone play GTA all day and all night. Quaint and inoffensive at first, sorta novel and interesting, but by a certain point it gets boring and stupid at lowest, unhealthy and unnerving at the middle end, ans HOLY SHIT STOP WITH THE VIDEOGAMES , I MUST CRUSADE A STOP TO THIS MONSTROSITY THAT IS POISONING OUR YOUTHS….and, like with all things, to some extent, they are correct, to some extent, they are very misguided and very very wrong. Dragons are USED to being the supposed top apex predators, and when the humanoids began to be sapient, as powerful idols of holy guidance. Many of the original cosmic High Council decided ‘Let’s aid these poor struggling souls/teach them not to fuck around with magic SO badly so they don’t present us with a rivaling threat, but, let us teach them enough about the secrets of the universe some of them can still be more useful and propagate ’, and so, they teach them of great ideas, give them language and symbols. Some extra special humanoids even get to flaunt their power or wealth in return for being such a good servant/literal hybrid born bastard child of theirs/religious recruiter. Some could become kings or heads of state, or belong to special enlightened / “enlightened” societies and clubs, that don’t REALLY know everything yet THINK they do, and will behind the scenes pull all the strings of humanity. (Warmongers, Illuminati, Reptiloids again, Cults/pagan societies during the Age of Reason and The Enlightenment Period in Europe, The Masons, Knights Templar and other similar groups, the rise of established universities, corporations, scientists with guarded military secrets, Popes, global alien conspiracy, missionaries, and much, much more….)

We start to rebel against our ‘gods’. Often. A lot. It often isnt pretty. We hunt them, they hunt us. We try to beg for reason, they try to beg us to see reason. Sometimes it works, if a Lizard or Kobold acts as an ambassador/holy priest. Sometimes, the dragon just says ‘fuck off, my ungrateful children, imma gonna eat ya now.’

But remember, the dragons, THEY ARE NOT gods, and the Lizardmen are also not children of gods, they are just LIZARD ALIENS. They do flawed things and lizard folk do flawed mundane things too. They build many different cultures and types of villages, they try to achieve a lack of humanoid emotion, to varying result. And also to varying result, some may have xenophobic ideas about breeding with mammals and some make efforts to be as nonhuman as able by living naturally in the wilds, or in lairs which are spiritual attempts at matching the giant mysterious alien aesthetic and structures and vehicles their ancestry supposedly had. Some might even go so obsessive as to dig up and preserve the bones of their dragon idols and worship them like holy relics, or just put on glorious prominent display, like in science museums, to objectively marvel at and study. (Giant ancient alien chunks again, paleontology.)

They can like real lizards do shed molts, and they and dragons alike need to both eat, and they get weaker without heat source. Hence Lizards I can see flocking to mostly warmer climates, such as deserts, and tropics, with all the inherent tropes associated with such geography irl, and their functions. Cold and food scarcity, and habitat destruction, all these things affect both the macro and the micro, and so, the dragons suffer more and more from the crutches of mortal society and growth, just as much as any great wild beasts do, in real life. When the humans begin to rebel, they lose ground, and habitat, and as result, dragons get small, rarer, meaner. (Bear, sharks, crocs, any larger apex predators being reduced in modern times. The phases of evolution and the modern climate change and other Extinction events destroying reptiles irl.)

As the products of spreading their wisdom and technology changes, so too does the land, and, heck, why not just for completion sake THROW IN A MAGICALLY MANIFESTED ASTEROID OR AN ICE AGE TOO…some human wizard goofed up big time, or maybe some other dragon did, and ruined a lot of people’s days….the dragons start due to the cold going into hibernation, which turns into death, as the permafrost doesn’t leave, all except the mightiest die, who seal themselves in ice, to sleep dormant, for thousands of years….(myths and games again. Actual fossils being discovered of dinosaur and mammoth. Perhaps their bones and preserved remains can be used for DND plot item macguffins.)

As the dragons in this period are dying off, the lizardmen begin to also slow down in brain activity and heighten in aggression and survivalist Spartan qualities. They panic at the way they lose numbers and grow desperate, breeding whenever they can, leading to incest, which makes them MORE stupid…they turn to wandering, bloodthirsting, rough edged brute conquerors, like old classic Orc and Goblin stereotypes, except a bit more cunning, and a bit more magical. Years pass, and their brains are growing more sluggish and stupid, and empathy is stunted, due to the cold, and their once flowering wise cultures, their vast empires, generations crush them into becoming more primitive in style and simple in aesthetic and need, as they go from New Upper Egypt level civilization levels to nomadic tundra climate clans(Mongolian horsemen, Russian pagans, and tiny pockets of hillbilly folk, or cannibal Pulp comic tribes, just little pockets of sneaky predatory buggers, just eating and fucking and scheming and barely struggling to keep their humble rural societies alive, in the face of nonstop filthy human invaders, constant fighting over game, wood to make fires, and shelters to keep sane and alive. All in the face of serving any last straggler dragons who beg and DEMAND worship and fire fuel, to stay alive.

Lizardmen at reclusive because the endangerment of dragons is akin to that of real actual dangerous exotic wild beasts that once roamed and owned the WHOLE PLANET, like sharks, bear, wolves and tiger. They are all now being reduced into smaller wild places in exile, whenever humanoids subvert them, or start to rebel and hunt them, for sport. So Lizardfolk aren’t cold dumb heartless monsters for evil sake. They just are SICK OF THE WORLDS SHIT.

Humans for centuries now are responsible for erasing their gods and destroying their culture, and while it all mostly was for the sake of getting rid of their dragon overlords tyranny, it is also which led to our usual pursuing of gold and the mere spectacle of trophy hunting, and stealing their hoarded precious magical artifacts and inventions…(King Arthurian legends, Eastern Asian myths about certain yokai and forest spirit.) Thus, when dealing among to those who dare show their ass in THEIR FORMER WORSHIPPING TEMPLE RUIN, or THEIR LONELY CAVE SHELTER which is their last resort refuge from both human knights AND other competitive dragons….the more cold hearted ones, who decide to say a big FUCK YOU to the world. Hence, you get ‘chaotic evil’ perceived races, tales like The Hobbit with Smaug.

The bitter dragons get smaller and meaner, more bad ‘clever’ solutions are thought of, and all the while, generations of primordial cosmic wisdom are lost, INCLUDING WHERE THE DRAGONS ALL ORIGINALLY CAME DROM OR WERE LIKE ONCE, IN THE FIRST PLACE. They have come to this planet with the intent to breed and fill it (The Garden of Eden). But instead, they LOST in numbers, as humanoids overtook them and changed them (Replacement theory), and hence MOST dragons, they only grew more solitary and antisocial. More darker magics, more bitter hearts, stupider selfish minds, and more material desires. They know they lost SOMETHING and yet, rarely can claim it, for the very egotistic urge to be MORE, and to pursue, at all cost, to become PERFECT, and never just accept humble surrender, is what clouds the minds most with animalistic behavior and Wants, not Wisdom and Magical Higher Insight. (Buddhism, Monotheism, and Zen again.) Instead of teaching humanity the greatest secrets of the Unvierse….We, made THEM more like US. Dragons, and now as an offshoot, Lizard folk, all follow OUR ideals and act like our fellow wild creatures. Lizardfolk, by extension, are as obsessed with their origins as Dragons, just as clueless, and just as uninhibited as man. All the kinder enlightened unselfish one’s, want peace and harmony, and they share with the humans and other mammalian beings all their wisdom to survive better against their other hateful SpaceLizard enemies. (Eugenics revisionst theories, Ancient Alien Conspiracies, both fanciful and harmless and actually bigoted ones.) They rule over the kingdoms with a dogmatic, parental approach, which like most any council of rulers TRIES to mean mostly well, but like most authoritative figures or parents, gets their charges reaaaaal sick of them telling us what to do and all of their hypocritical other bullshit after a while.

Thus, we generate in their DND world all these cultures and the ideas of ‘Kind Gods’ and ‘Evil Gods.’ (Egyptian and similar animist faiths which use crocodiles and dragons and other elemental beings who act on a spectrum of Kind to Wicked, to Bored Fey/Blue and Orange Ambiguous Mischief.)

…..say where did all the time go, I was supposed to be checking on my car appraisal.

Hey friends, I was thinking of taking a crack at doing an oft requested "monsters reimagined" for lizardfolk in the next little while, but I found myself stalled out on creating an alternative pitch for their lore.

The problem is that there's so little to work with in the " Ignorant primordial savage" role that they've been pigeonholed into that I'm having genuine trouble finding inspiration.

As such, I figured I'd encourage you all to write your own favourite take on the lizardfolk in the replies/comments, and we'll see if we can't brainstorm our way to an awnser.

Here's some of my own thoughts to get you started:

Lizardfolk as they are presented primarily exist to fufill the role of stock primitive antagonists, a one step more fantastical version of the jungle dwelling cannibals often encountered like pulp heroes like Indiana Jones/Doc Savage/Conan the Barbarian.

In many ways they are the epitome of the "fill in the blank baddie", with everything from their culture to their religion to their motivations being wholly based on the fact that they're lizardy lizards who like to do lizard things and could never be anything but. This is flat and boring, and needs to change if we have any hope of doing something with them.

The whole "uninterested in knowledge", " think with their stomachs", "don't have emotions, just instinct" is one of d&d's most glaring examples of biological determinism. It assigns lizardfolk the concept of "spear chucking savages" and then works backwards to justify why they remain savage while detouring through 19th century race science talking points.

When dealing with any kind of anthropomorphic reptile we're inevitably going to get into the "lizard people" conspiracy theory milieu, with all the baked in antisemitism. On top of that, we're also open to ancient aliens style conspiracy theories given how often Lizardfolk are typecast as "ruin dwelling primitives descended from civilizations long before recorded history".

[stealingyourbones]

Okay, so fanon has pretty much stuck with Danny having a protection obsession, right? So for awhile Danny has done the hero gig, but it sucks. So instead, he tries to find things to protect, okay? So he starts to protect objects and stuff (like a dragon), but that just isn't doing it for him. THAT IS UNTIL he witnessed the murder of Thomas and Martha Wayne. Anyways the end of it is that Danny is the spirit of Gotham.

Thoughts?

(also he's kinda immortal)

My thoughts are ricocheting around my brain at frightening speed rn because this is beautiful. (also fuck I accidentally added heroing to this my b but I don't wanna scrap this draft)

Danny has a 'dragon hoard' and adds Bruce to his hoard after the death of his parents. Suddenly Danny feels fulfilled for the first time in years. It's like he can finally breathe again. He will protect this boy and the town that he resides in.

Before The Batman, whispers in the darker corners of Gotham talk of a demon with glowing white hair that crackles like a roaring bonfire and with piercing toxic green eyes that seem to look directly into your soul and read your entire life story like a book. A horrible creature of teeth and stars and darkness that wants to consume you whole. This demon stopped violence and death around the city for years... until suddenly it stopped. The last appearance of the King of Demons was the day before The Bat made his debut in Gotham.

A terrifying beast made of shadow whose billowing figure seems to curl and twist unnaturally as it raced over rooftops and made mob bust after mob bust. Its glowing eyes are the only thing to cut through its silhouette.

The beast is accompanied by a small creature that is in no way considered a boy, for that would make you think something so unearthly would have a concept of gender in the first place. A small figure of lithe frame with flaming white hair and glowing green eyes. Its crooked crown sat upon its head and somehow stayed on even as the being flipped and twirled along the city's skyline.

They say that the Beast managed to tame the Demon. All those beware being stuck in their path, for you may not see the light of day in months.

It's been six months since the appearance of The Bat. Crooks and thieves wake from their comas brought on by the watchers of the night. Their ravings and rantings of a swirling green expanse with far too many doors lands them in Arkham Asylum. To this day, there is an entire wing in Arkham dedicated to these creeps and crooks. Their minds fully broken by the Demon and the Bat.

The Phantom grins as he watches the wrongdoers invisibly in the center of the 'Phantom Wing'. His core thrums happily as he listens to the fiends go mad. They'll be fine in a few years, but for now, they're out of the way of harming His City. No one messes with his hoard.

[nightmareworks]

hey so i'm gonna talk about the wargame i'm writing

its called DRAGONSMOKE: A Game of Black-Powder Fantasy Battles and is basically my attempt at making a Warhammer that I can more easily share with folks unfamiliar with why my brain clicks into place at the concept of Your Dudes and using a big setting as a springboard.

i'm talking about it rn bc i'm thinking about fantasy worldbuilding and i'm really proud of what i have in it so we're gonna call this the Worldbuilding Post in tagging systems okay? okay. insert a read more here if you remember

The setting of Dragonsmoke is the Known World, which is based on the Mediterranean and near-east of earth in terms of culture, history, and terrain

so the Known World has a bunch of stuff you'd expect from a fantasy wargame that the author has admitted is a Warhammer heartbreaker- we got your invaders serving a dark god, we got your necromancers doin evil stuff, some funny orcs, we got the empire of men, we got some elfs, some dwarfs, yaknow, all the good stuff!

so as you can see most of the map is taken up by the Sultanate of the Dragon, this is the empire of men i mentioned. i like my fantasy a little less grim than warhammer tends to be, so they're all right in general. they're my first of the Good factions as i term them in my writing. the Good Guys of the story, even if they can do wrong and war with each other or just be Dicks, at the end of the day they're gonna usually do the Moral and Honorable thing for the kinds of stories the setting wants to tell. i go through all of this cause, yaknow, empires are bad things, but also i love when the Good King on his Rightful Throne struggles against the impulses of power and does what's best for all the people of the lands. it rules.

anyway that's the basic idea for the Sultan and basically carries over into the rest of the very Ottoman vibe the whole army is meant to give off. The Sultanate is the Son of the Wyrm God, the Emperor Beneath, Last Victor of the Diamachy, Patriarch of Scalekin- a gigantic and truly ancient Dragon that slumbers beneath Truyvillium. It is with the mandate of the Dragon that the Sultan rules, and the Oath of the Sacred Hoard binds the disparate cultures and peoples of the Sultanate. In every human of the Sultanate flows the blood of Dragons, their Oaths becoming scales on their bodies. Such is the way the nobility is given the right to rule- through their scales and their promises and their binding oaths of service to protect and maintain the Sacred Hoard. For the Sacred Hoard is all the Sultanate, every piece of gold and every child born within its borders are the Hoard of the Wyrm God. The most precious treasure of one of the beings who shaped the world when it was young. And so, woe to those who break their faith with the Emperor Below and the House of Ozmani. May their scales fall out. May their ambitions rot. May the Dragon Blood within them catch flame at the Emperor's Ire.

the Sultanate of the Dragon are, in game terms, a host of well trained and equipped mortal men doing their best to protect their homes and livelihoods from the Darkness that threatens the known world, supported by heavy artillery, the dragon-blooded Janissary Corp, auxiliaries from the far reaches of the Sultanate (like the Cynophelli, the Beastmen with the heads of Dogs; and the Men of Blyemmae, the Ogres who are as tall as two men, as strong as ten, and posses a great gnashing second mouth on their stomachs), and the Dragons who answer the ancient oaths betwixt Man and Drake.

so that's the Sultanate, whom i really adore, but there's another human faction! and this one is the Evil one. i don't feel like i really have to explain the ideas behind the Evil factions quite as much as the good ones cause Evil's easy to grasp when you read it so i'm gonna launch into them with a little less preamble

from across the Great Sea, the reavers come bearing their dark miracles- A Heretic's Crusade, lead by knights astride steeds gone mad with fear and clad in enchanted armor that refuses to let them die. In the wake of their charges follow the Sinners-at-Arms and those blessed and damned by That Miracle's touch. They have come from the Blessed Lands at the order of the Holy See of That Wretched Miracle, to burn the Known World and pick through the ashes for whatever their wicked masters desire- all to bring That Miracle into this world. The Crusaders are just that- Crusaders. A roving army of murderers warped by the attention and touch of That Miracle, bound together in their Dogma and their twisted Faith.

in general the Heretic's Crusade has a bit less to say about it than the Sultanate bc, well, they're the Chaos Warriors- servants of Evil, come to despoil and burn. Its very straightforward! they're from fantasy italy (which they ruined) and focus on having heavier cavalry than everyone else. the Crusaders on their horses (or on foot sometimes) make up the core of the army, supported in the wings by the twisted porcelain angels of That Miracle, the enslaved footsoldiers they brought with them, and the occasional dark theologian capable of speaking the foul un-words of That Wretched Miracle. i love my bad guys cause they're just the worst, and sometimes you want Just The Worst. and what's The Worst more than catholic legalists who are capable of a lot of murder? not much!

so that's where we leave off for the human factions and i'm tired of typing so we're gonna call this done and post it and next time talk about the dwarfs (sexually dimorphic elementals who invented socialism recently) and orcs (a kind of youkai)

[accirax]

Wow, this is such a smart theory, from connecting how many characters have various animal motifs to explaining why there are only 11 characters in the cast! Since you said you were still looking for monkey, rat, and horse, and characters #2 and #3, I've been thinking about how I might sort them out. I think you're spot on for most of it, but I wanted to share what thoughts I came up with myself.

(CW for an image of a rat, for anyone who's afraid of rats)

Man, why do we have to start with character #2, the one I'm least confident on? Honestly, I think that how you originally placed him in your reblog of skulemojee's post is pretty strong already-- he definitely could be the monkey. (okay looking back at the reblog it does not say anything about #2 being the monkey. i don't know if you edited the post or i just hallucinated this connection but anyways. monkey.) The playful vibe that the monkey has just sort of suits what we've seen of #2. #2 also seems pretty close to the protagonist from the art we've seen so far, and the monkey is right next to the rooster in the calendar order. If he wasn't the monkey, he could possibly be the pig? The beady eyes kind of remind me of how cute pigs are drawn.

I find it very likely that #3 would be the rat. The whole white hair/pink eyes thing totally reminds me of the albino rats that are often used in lab experiments.

XF-Ture Tech seems like it might be a pretty experimental company, so if #3 was part of any of those experiments, being associated with a lab rat could make a lot of sense. In the zodiac myth, the rat is also a very clever character who manages to place first in the race to the heavenly gates due to its strategy and manipulations. A character with that sort of disposition would make a lot of sense as an antagonist, which is what I feel #3 will be.

With those two out of the way, it's time for... a contradicting opinion?! (dun dun dun...) In both this post and the original reblog, you said that #10 would be the dragon, which does make some amount of sense. An intimidating dragon feels like it could be a good sibling match for the fierce tiger, and some dragons are known to breathe ice or be associated with weather. However, I also think that #10 could be a good fit for the horse. To me, he has the sort of dignified yet hardworking vibe that horses encompass, being both a symbol of wealth and a symbol of labor depending on when and where in history you're looking. More importantly, #10's outfit reminds me of some outfits that horse riders wear-- apparently, specifically when they're competing in "dressage."

It's the combination of the collared top, tight pants, and especially high boots that reminded me of this look.

If we make #10 the horse, that also frees up #11 to be the dragon. Personally, I don't really see what visual elements would make her appear to be the pig, although I'm certainly willing to hear any explanation out. While the concept of a dragon's hoard is (I think) more closely linked with European dragons, Asian dragons are still sometimes known as a symbol of royalty. #11's crown hair clip and cape would fit in with that perfectly. Additionally, given that #11 appears to be Caucasian herself, DRDTdev may have chosen to associate her more with European dragons than Asian ones. However, it could also be that #10 could still be the dragon, and you could make #11 the horse for the same associations with wealth I brought up before.

At any rate, I don't think that the mascot would be the horse, just because Monohorse sounds... strange. Like, not just the name, I'm just trying to imagine what a mascot-ified horse would look like. My Little Death Game: Killing is Magic, I suppose? Monomonkey or Monopig sound much more viable as something that could be mascotized, to me.

Also, can I ask what made you decide that #7 was the dog? Is it just the dog tags he recently received, or was there something else to it?

Anyways, I just want to reiterate that this theory is super smart, and I think it stands a good chance of being correct in some form. Ox, rabbit, snake, rooster, sheep, and tiger all seem like shoo-ins to me. For the others, though, hopefully this feedback will be helpful to you in some way! :D

Another DRDTDev Danganronpa Fanganronpa - Lunar Calendar Zodiac Cast Motif

This cast follows a Sheng Xiao (The lunar calendar zodiac or umm, the 'Chinese zodiac') motif, right ?

I don't have many feelings regarding these characters because we only have designs and some abstract ARG text connections however just by engaging with these designs where they're at it feels clear to me that there is a throughline of animal motifs all of which align with the 12 animals assigned to each year in the lunar calendar cycle.

Only really pointing this out because I'm having trouble identifying this connection for two characters in particular - If anyone could help me in tying this specific character character to an animal it would be greatly appreciated since I think that this would both lead us to identifying the basis for the mascot as well as potentially discussing certain attributes of the characters characterization in the future whenever they do yield more significance.

For the purpose of this post being read with more universal ease, the characters will be labeled by numbers reading from left to right.

1 - Ox

4 - Rabbit

5 - Snake

6 - Rooster

7 - Dog

8 - Sheep

9 - Tiger

10 - Dragon

11 - Pig

The only three remaining are the monkey, the rat & the horse - the only currently unidentified characters are the mascot, #2 & #3 - if anyone could point me towards any ideas that might help making this connection easier I would greatly appreciate it though it may just not be possible until we see the mascot.

Thank you. 🛐

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

What do you think of the theme in DMBJ of foreigners being evil and trying to steal artefacts? and how anti-foreigners-buying-them Wu Xie is?

Well, IDK if you can say "Foreigners being evil" when from what I've seen it's mainly just the one Cox Hendry dude as the villain. A single character does not a pattern make.

But to the overarching theme of Wu Xie being against foreigners buying artefacts for private collections (stated in Lost Tomb 2 several times), I agree with it.

Like- the whole concept of foreigners- such as Americans though Lost Tomb doesn't usually specify- coming in to China and taking advantage of economic or social lows to pillage antiques for a song and then hoarding them like dragons with treasure... That's not base-less. That's kind of the standard game plan. I mean *waves a hand to museums everywhere but ESPECIALLY in England*

And I agree with Wu Xie there. Cultural relics should belong first to the peoples they originated with. From there relevant authorities can decide to send out artefacts for museum exhibitions and use them for educational purposes that way, rather than some random person being like "Look 'tis pretty so I bought it I know nothing of the culture but wanted you all to know I'm rich enough to have old things illegally obtained."

I started off college studying museum management (History and Museum Studies double-major) before deciding it was too much networking and politicking for my personality. But one of the things I was most passionate about was kind of an unpopular opinion back then-- give all artefacts back to their people and then let THOSE people say if we can display them and how they should be displayed (the main museum in our area is Native American art and you run into a lot of 'this was my grandfather's ______ why is it in a museum case and I'm not allowed to use it which is its entire purpose?').

So yeah. I'm 100% on Wu Xie's side in this. Chinese antiquities and artefacts should belong in Chinese museums or even in the hands of Chinese people. Not being whisked away taking advantage of starving peoples (for those not familiar, a lot of the stuff in DMBJ was traded for pitiful amounts of food during a massive famine).

If a foreigner really wants some piece of that then they can buy reproductions or high-end copies. Don't hoard history.

Obviously there are exceptions to this when it comes to countries (yes many do it) self-censuring their history. That's a whole other thing I don't feel like getting into and don't think I need to for this specific question. Like I said, I didn't get the degree, decided against it.

[solastia]

The Dragon’s Lair | 6

- Riddle Me This -

Pairing: Dragon Hybrid Namjoon x Reader

Word Count: 5,094

Notes: It feels like so much has happened and this has been going on for so long, right? But this is actually the very beginning of my long and complicated outline lmao. Anyway, it’s time to meet our Sphinx! I wonder who this could be *insert lenny face here*  And if you’re wondering if there will ever be an end to me adding other kpop fandoms: no, no there will not be. We’re catchin em all. 

The winter storms were slowly giving into the spring rains. Of course, this made everything horribly humid and muddy, but at least you weren’t snowed in for days on end anymore. 

As soon as you were able, you scheduled contractors that specialized in hybrid-friendly rooms to help get one prepared, as you fully planned on starting the adoption process for Mark when it was done. You had to make sure it had its own heating and cooling system separate from the rest of the house, insulation for winter, and UV lighting, among other things. Needless to say, it was not going to be a quick process, but Mark was safe at the shelter with Heechul’s near-constant vigilance. 

You’d also begun to clear out the barn that you’ve only been using for storage since your grandparents had adopted out all of their animals. You weren’t quite sure how serious you were yet about getting some animals in there again, but for now, it gave you something to do while construction was going on inside your home. 

You spent a lot of time throwing out or giving away anything unusable, sweeping out stalls, and scrubbing everything down until it shone like it hadn’t in years. Thankfully you still kept in touch with a lot of the people that had worked with your family over the years and it was easy to have fresh supplies brought in, half of which you weren’t even sure you’d ever use, but everyone was happy to hear that the farm was going back to work in a sense. 

Despite all these other changes, your relationship with Namjoon was settled into a comfortable path. Not to say that things were unexciting - the man never failed to find some new way to make your heart flutter - but it felt secure and steady now. Like the two of you being a forever thing was assured. It continually surprised you when you remembered that you actually hadn’t been together for very long. He felt like he’d always been there. 

Most days were simply routine. You’d both wake up at the same time and shower - together more often than not -, have breakfast and then he’d head to the shelter while you’d work in your office. At least three times a week you’d meet up to have lunch together, thankful that both of you had lenient bosses that wouldn’t freak out when an hour-long lunch turned into two or three. Once he was home for the day, the two of you usually just spent your time together. You’d watch a movie or read while you cuddled on the couch, oftentimes ignoring the screen to simply listen to him talk. The way he viewed the world was beautiful and you never grew tired of listening. 

Namjoon had put his foot down and declared date night mandatory. So every single Saturday without fail he’d drag you into town for some event or into the mountains for a hike, always doing his best to create the most romantic day possible. You’d tried to convince him that he didn’t need to do all this, that simply walking with him in the forest near your home was romantic as long as he was there, but he claimed he was still “courting” you so it wasn’t something he could just stop. You assumed that meant it was something to do with his Dragon side and let him do as he pleased. 

Once a week you’d usually tag along and go to the shelter, spending most of your time in the playrooms. According to one of the volunteers, Heechul’s shelter held an average of one hundred and fifty hybrids at any given time, which seemed an astronomical amount if one didn’t know about the secret wings and the fact that you were pretty sure he’d borrowed the whole ‘bigger on the inside’ concept. 

You tried to spend as much time as you could with all the hybrids, but as you were only one person there was only so much you could do. Still, you did have your - as Heechul called them - “cub club.” There have been many arguments in the little group about the name - starting with you wondering why they needed a name at all - since they were composed of all different species, but they gave in after Heechul’s continuous use of it and the fact that it apparently was cute, according to Namjoon. 

Basically, it was a group of hybrids that seemed to have singled you out as a clear favorite and would follow you around the moment you stepped into the building. The unspoken leader of the group was your little Mark, who was always waiting by the front door of the building when you would come in. Usually right next to him was Felix, who seemed to split his time between your cubs and Namjoon’s fan club fairly equally. Some newer friends of yours were a teen tiger hybrid named Seonghwa, and wolf pup siblings Changkyun and Jooheon. There were a few others that came and went, but these were your regular crew. 

Today was one of your shelter days, and you were once again surrounded in the playrooms. Mark was sitting next to you with his raccoon hybrid friend Donghyuck, who was an honorary member of Star’s Cubs at this point with how often he was attached to Mark. They were both coloring a picture of their dream bedroom - a sneaky idea you’d gotten so that you could have Mark’s room ready and decorated when the adoption finalized. 

Felix was having a Namjoon day, so after he’d run up to hug you when you’d first arrived, he’d gone right back to the class that Namjoon was currently teaching. You’d probably see him again at lunch, and then he’d talk a mile a minute about everything Namjoon was teaching him and demand cuddles. 

Changkyun and Jooheon were currently wrestling around on the floor near your feet. They were a complicated pair. They had both been found in the wild several months ago, seemingly without any sort of parents or guardians whatsoever. The boys themselves weren’t sure, but you judged them to be around nine or ten. They were smart kids but had obviously been living on their own for quite some time. They mentioned a “her” a few times, speaking of someone from their memories that would make certain foods or clean them, but they couldn’t remember who she was. Their mother, you assumed. 

Needless to say, they were perhaps not the most well-mannered children, but they were sweet and eager to please. To you, at least. The other volunteers usually tried to interact with them as little as possible after a few too many bites and temper tantrums, often referring to them as feral monsters. You had, of course,  taken that up with Heechul, but the damage had already been done and they were labeled as such by everyone. From the day Jooheon had met you, however, he’d decided you “smelled nice” and would bring you scraps from their dinners (that they apparently hoarded - bad habits left from living in the wild). It had taken Changkyun a little longer to warm up to you, but one day he’d just walked up and pushed Felix out of your lap and took his place. You’d scolded him and made him apologize, but you’d let him stay, deciding it had probably been a very long time since he’d been hugged by anyone besides his brother. They’d gotten better about waiting their turn and learning to ask first, but you still went out of your way to cuddle them as much as they’d let you. 

Seonghwa sat nearby doing his homework. He was...interesting. It was the nicest thing you could think of to say about that whole situation. The thing was, he was a nice kid. Almost seventeen, had been here for a few years. Definitely beautiful, no denying that. You didn’t know too much about his past yet, as you hadn’t wanted to pry and he didn’t volunteer much information. He helped you with the younger kids a lot though, asked you about your work, was genuinely sweet, and fun to talk to when he was just chill. The issue was...you were apparently his “first love.” 

He wasn’t creepy about it or anything. He really was super sweet. He would bring you flowers and treats, help you carry anything heavy, and was just really attentive. Unfortunately, then he’d start walking around you in circles, staring intently with his tail flicking around in the air as he sang to you. He had a sweet voice, but they were of course all highly inappropriate love songs to be singing to an older woman. And according to Namjoon, the circling and singing thing was a tiger courting ritual, so you took great care not to acknowledge it. You’d tried letting him down as gently as possible, but somehow he seemed to just consider it more of a challenge, and you really didn’t want to be mean and be his first heartbreak as well. Namjoon surprisingly - or not since he could be a brat himself - thought it was hilarious. He’d often ask how your tiger cub was doing, laughing when you’d swat him. Of course, he was still a territorial dragon, so he would occasionally go out of his way to kiss you with a bit too much tongue or pinch your butt where everyone could see to get the message of your status across. 

Things at the shelter have been fairly quiet and routine, as far as such a big place could be. That’s why you were awfully surprised when Heechul storms into the playroom looking distraught and frazzled. He brightens slightly when he spots you, rushing over and placing his hands on his hips. 

“You’d be perfect, I don’t know why I didn’t think of that earlier!” 

You frown, thoroughly confused. “Thanks, I think. For what?” 

He clucks and shakes his head. 

“We have an exotic on his way here. He was one of mine that I raised until he was ten, and then he was adopted by this lovely couple. Unfortunately, they were a bit too old even then, but they adored Seokjin so I let him go.” He sighs wearily and flops into a nearby recliner. “They passed away last year and left him everything. He’d been living on his own just fine until someone tried to rob the place and he ended up hurt. Then the police of course had to see his medical records and - surprise! - a hybrid had been running around owning a house and living free for an entire year and they don’t like that. They were going to send him to a state-run hybrid institution, which essentially means death if you’re not a baby or usable on the black market. So, he called me in a panic and I have it all settled with the police that he’s officially one of ours and they don’t have to worry about him anymore. But he’s too used to independence to stuff him back into regular hybrid life, so I was thinking maybe you could foster him? Just like, let him hang out at your place until we figure out some way he can go back to living how he likes?” 

“I mean, I have to check in with Namjoon, but I don’t see why not. What kind of hybrid is he?” 

“Sphinx,” Heechul answered, his deadpan voice at odds with his amused eyes. 

“A what now?” 

“Sphinx. You know, part bird, lion and man. Likes riddles. Has big statues.” 

“Sure, why not,” you sigh. This place really made your brain hurt. 

Heechul chuckled and reached out to pat your shoulder. 

“Thanks. I know it’s a lot to deal with right now, with your new romance and getting ready for Mark, but Seokjin deserves a chance. I think you’ll like him.” 

“You know, it’s really creepy when you do that. At least let me tell you with words what I’m planning about Mark.” 

“I didn’t even need to use magic to see that’s where it was headed. He’s basically already yours,” he scoffs, standing up with a light groan. 

“When is this Seokjin going to be here?” 

“He’s on his way to the shelter now. I figured he could just come here first, meet you and have dinner with everyone, then head home with you guys after. If that’s okay.” 

“Again, just have to check with Joon, but it should be fine. Sphinx and dragons aren’t like, mortal enemies or anything, are they?” 

Heechul grins, “Hardly. In fact, I remember they were actually pretty good friends when they were little. Jin was older and would tolerate Joonie like a big brother. Not sure how well Namjoon remembers him, though.” 

“Alright, I guess. Joon’s class is over in a few minutes. I’ll go talk to him now.” 

“Thanks, Star!” 

You shake your head as he flounces away, wondering when he’d started using that name too. At this point, that was basically your official name. 

“Does that mean you’re going to have to stay home all the time? To take care of a new hybrid?” 

A little sniffle came from your right as you registered the fact that your cubs had just been quietly listening to your conversation with Heechul. Mark’s eyes were beginning to glisten with unshed tears and you quickly snatched the boy up and cuddled him close. 

“Of course not, sweetheart. By the sounds of it, he’s older than both me and Joon, so he’s not going to need much looking after. He basically just needs a place to crash until he figures out what to do.” 

“Oh,” he sniffles again, and you try not to laugh about the fact that it’s not helping, as his nose is starting to water too. “So you’ll still come to see me?” 

“Of course! And as soon as the farm is cleaned up you can come to visit me too. How does that sound?” 

“Really? And Felix? And Hyuckie? And...and…”

“Yes,” you interrupt, knowing the boy will try to name literally everyone he’s ever talked to. “Anyone that wants to visit will be able to. I just wanted to make sure it’s safe first, so no one gets sick.” 

“Okay!” Mark squeezes you clumsily but is quickly back to being a ray of sunshine and crawling off of you to go back to his picture. 

“Seonghwa,” you call, snorting inwardly as the tiger practically jumps to attention, “Watch the kids for a bit, okay? I’m going to see Namjoon.” 

He nods quietly and sets his books down, smiling softly as he watches you leave the room. 

*** 

As you’d expected, Namjoon was more than agreeable to the idea of helping his childhood friend but was understandably concerned over how his dragon instincts would react to another creature in his new den with his new...well, mate. (Although he insists that you aren’t official mates yet. And he blushes and refuses to answer whenever you ask what makes you official).

“It’s just, like, I don’t want to stress him out even more, you know? If he’s already going through all this, then I don’t want to be growling and snapping at him,” Namjoon sighed as he stood with you in the lobby, grasping your hand tightly as you both waited for Seokjin to show up. 

“I know, but Heechul told me that Seokjin is the only one of his kind as well so if anyone were to understand that this is a learning situation and not blame you for it, it would be someone like him, right?” 

Namjoon shrugs, “I guess. From what I remember, Jin hyung was really outspoken too, so I think he’d be sure to let me know if I do something to offend him.” 

“And if all else fails, you can just take him behind the house and piss on him,” you try to hide your grin as you tease him. 

He growls playfully, leaning down to tug your hair. “Watch it. I’ll mark you next.” 

“I thought you already did,” you quirk an eyebrow as you refer to certain activities that had taken place before he’d let you leave your bed that morning. 

“Hey, let's keep the rating down in my presence, please,” Heechul sighs wearily from the other side of you. 

The two of you fight valiantly to keep your giggles under control, only able to stop fully once a taxi pulls up in front of the building and nerves once again take over. 

The man that steps out takes even your breath away - quite a feat considering how whipped you were for your own boyfriend. He’s tall, nearly as tall as Namjoon, and has a regal bearing. He has a face that many would pay millions for, with full lips and wide expressive eyes. His hair and lion ears were the same mahogany brown shade, as was the fluffy tip of his long tail. It seemed he had no trouble showing off his lion side. You weren’t sure if that’s all there was to his transformation though, considering he was a Sphinx, not just a lion. 

He turned to pay the driver, who was actually smiling and laughing like the two of them were old friends. Seokjin reached out and shook the man’s hand heartily and shoved what was apparently too much money towards him if the way the man tried to argue about it was any indication. You supposed this meant Seokjin was the friendly sort, which boded well. 

You were a little confused by the fact that the hybrid was only carrying a single suitcase. Perhaps he had left the rest behind to be picked up later? From what Heechul had told you, the hybrid had grown up in a fairly wealthy household, spoiled and doted on. You would think he would be walking in here with twenty name brand suitcases, and yet here he was with only a small rolling suitcase meant for a child with Mario on it. Something about that felt wrong. 

The hybrid seemed fine, however, breezing through the front door with a wide smile like all was right in the world. He stopped right in front of Heechul and stared at him a moment, cocking his head. 

“You haven’t changed a bit, hyung. You don’t have a single new wrinkle. Are you trying to compete with me?” 

Heechul huffs and reaches out to hug the man. Seokjin laughs quietly, pulling Heechul into a bear hug so fierce Heechul squeaks a little. He releases him and pats him on the shoulder before he turns to Namjoon. 

“Don’t tell me you’re little Joon bug? You can’t be anyone else, with those dimples. I used to swear I could use them as cereal bowls if we ever ran out.” 

Namjoon shyly looks down and kicks his foot, but he’s smiling. “Hi, Seokjin-ssi. It’s nice to see you again.” 

The hybrid waves his hand carelessly, “Just call me hyung, Namjoon. Or even just Jin.  We don’t need honorifics with our kind.” 

Namjoon nods and pulls you closer, drawing the Sphinx’s attention. His thick brow raises your way as his smile quirks mischievously. 

“And this must be Miss Star, the one I’ve been hearing so much about,” he raises up his hand like he’s going to shake yours, but the moment you grasp it he holds on tightly. His face suddenly settles into serious lines as he looks down into your eyes. 

“Answer me this. As small as your thumb, I am light in the air. You may hear me before you see me, but trust that I’m here.” 

You hadn’t been prepared for this, for some reason. Duh, Sphinx’s whole thing was about riddles. 

You bite your lip and give it some thought for a moment. “A hummingbird?”��

His smile brightens back up and he releases your hand before he slaps Namjoon’s back. 

“Hey, she’s smart. You got a good one” 

“Yeah…” Namjoon answers dreamily, staring down at you with a dopey grin. You blush and grab his hand. 

Jin’s arm was back to flailing around again, and you were wondering if he was in control of his limbs or if it was the other way around. 

“Hey, listen, want to hear a joke about construction?” he asks. You’re not sure if he really expects an answer, but you squeak out a somewhat genuine sounding “Sure,” anyway. 

“I'm still working on it,” he answers, before cackling loudly, his laughter practically shaking the glass windows as he slaps his leg in amusement. 

You decide, if nothing else, he seems easy to keep entertained. 

You politely laugh and wait for him to finish before taking the chance to steer the conversation in another direction. 

“Are you hungry? We thought we’d stay and have dinner here before we went home. Only if you’re comfortable with that, though.” 

“I’m famished,” Jin answered, slapping his flat and obviously in-shape stomach like it was the opposite. “I wouldn’t mind sticking around. Kyungsoo still the cook here?” 

“Yup. And Wendy is making dessert,” Heechul tells him as he grabs the little suitcase. 

“Sounds great.” 

It hadn’t escaped your notice that no one brought up his past owners or any difficult subjects. You sigh quietly as you walk behind everyone as they went to the dining room, knowing that it was probably going to be all up to you. 

***

Dinner had gone as it usually did, with only the occasional fights to break up between over-enthusiastic kids. You used the time to observe Seokjin, trying to see what you could pick up about him in a group setting like this. He was polite and charming, yes, but very quick to steer the conversation away from himself. You supposed he wasn’t ready to talk about his problems, which was fine. You had time. 

He was also an enthusiastic eater and at one point seemed to have an almost mini-competition going on with the elephant hybrid over who could eat the most. You’d decided to break it up before anyone found out since the elephant was only seven and didn’t need to compete with a grown man. 

Seokjin and Namjoon seemed to get on perfectly well, thank goodness. Jin treated him like a little brother - making sure his bowl was full, teasing him every time he stared at you, telling him at least five jokes about giants. 

The man didn’t seem to have a shred of animosity in him at all, which would normally be a good thing. If one didn’t take into account what had happened to him. He should be upset and crying, or at least mad. Irritated. But he seemed more like he was just visiting some dear old friends, with nothing to fret about. That worried you more than anything because the poor man was probably just really good at covering it up then, and you hoped you’d be able to help him. Or that he’d even let you. 

These thoughts plagued you the whole way home, as you occasionally peeked into the rear view mirror to see Jin sitting quietly with his tiny suitcase that you still hadn’t been able to bring yourself to ask about. 

At least he was here with the two of you, somewhere he could be safe and have people looking out for him. That was the best you could do for now. 

After you show him to a spare bedroom, he thanks you quietly, smiling with his lips but not his eyes. The door closes and you sigh, retreating to your own room to wrap yourself in Namjoon’s arms. It haunts you that something like this could happen to him if anything were to happen to you. That he would get sent back to the shelter with nothing, despite the fact that you wanted to give him the entire world. You’ll have to ask Heechul what you can do to make sure he’s safe. 

***

When you wake up the next morning, it’s to the smell of meat cooking. Normally, this would be a dream come true. Unfortunately, you’ve been living with Namjoon for far too long and your mind now associated unsupervised cooking with near-death experiences, so instead your first reaction is terror. 

You jump out of bed, unmindful of your state of near-undress, and run to the kitchen. Your ears are hyper tuned to every sound, waiting for bellows of pain, but so far you simply hear the slap of your bare feet against wood and sizzling from a pan. 

You round the corner and grab the wall, catching your breath as you stare into the kitchen. Namjoon is sitting at the bar eating a heaping plateful of scrambled eggs and cheese, giggling as Seokjin preforms some a dirty gesture involving sausages and eggs. The Sphinx is standing over the stove with your bright pink apron, confidently cooking away, and both men are fine. You breathe a sigh of relief, slumping slightly as the tension leaves your body. Both men turn at the sound, smiling in greeting. 

“Morning, baby. Jin’s making breakfast. He’s a good cook!” 

“I see that. Morning, everyone,” you reply, walking in and trying not to let on how nervous you’d been. You peck Namjoon’s cheek and peek over the bar at the stove. 

Jin meets your eye and smiles mischievously like he knows what you were concerned about. 

“And here is one for you, madame,” he says with a flourish, setting a plate in front of you piled high with food and even garnished with a couple of tiny flowers from the garden. 

“Wow,” you blurt, honestly astounded by his skill. Everything looked perfect and you couldn’t wait to dig in. 

“What’s with that look?” He says loudly, quirking an eyebrow at you. “You just fell for me, didn’t you? Ah, I’m too charming.” 

You laugh and take a bite, nervously peeking at Namjoon to see if he’d taken the joke too seriously. Seokjin must have magic in his food because you doubted the dragon had even heard since he was too busy shoveling food in his mouth like you’d been starving him for months. 

“Slow down,” you cluck and tap his shoulder. He turns and grins at you with a disgustingly full mouth.

“Isth good,” he mumbles, and you laugh despite your disgust. 

“I can see that.” 

You swirl your fork around as you watch Jin settle in with his own plate, letting him get a few bites in before you strike. 

“So, Joonie and I both took the day off to help you get settled in. We figured you might need to do some shopping or something. I know the bedroom is pretty bare since we were focusing on another room right now.” 

Jin glances up and for a moment his gaze is troubling. You’d seen the brief flash of melancholy before he’d covered it up with a charming smile. 

“I could use a few things to tide me over until I’m out of your hair, I suppose. I do have my own money, but most places around here won’t let you shop without a license.” 

“That was nice of them to leave you money, They must have been good owners.” 

His eyes cloud over and he glances away from you, staring at one of the windows. 

“They were amazing parents. But the money that they left for me got taken away. I believe everything went to my Mom’s cousin - someone she didn’t even really know.”

“I thought you said you had money?” 

“I...uhh...had some stashed away. My dad never liked banks - didn’t trust them. He always had a rule that whenever you used your card, you should take out some cash and squirrel it away just in case. So we’d always take a little out and stash it in this fake book. From the outside it looks like Crime And Punishment, and who reads that willingly?” he snorts, peeking over at Namjoon. “Besides this kid, obviously.” 

Namjoon just shrugs, unbothered with the truth. 

“But...Jin hyung, you mean they kept everything?” 

The Sphinx sighs wearily and drops his fork, reaching up to rub his forehead. 

“Everything. The cousin’s lawyer grabbed my old suitcase from storage and told me I could keep anything I could fit in there as long as he approved of it. I got some clothes, my mom’s recipe book, my dad’s favorite fishing lures, and the stash of cash because he thought it was just another book,” Jin shrugs like he’s just telling a story, never mind that the sound of your heart breaking was probably audible at this point. 

“I’m so sorry that happened to you,” you murmur, struggling to stay calm for his sake. 

He shrugs. “No big. I’m a hybrid. Should have expected it.” 

“No, you should not have. People treat actual animals better than they do hybrids and it’s disgusting. I’m so very sorry. I know nothing I say can erase what’s been done to you. Just know that you are safe here and welcome in my home for as long as you like.” 

Jin opens his mouth to say something but snaps it shut again like he can’t figure out what to say. Namjoon grins proudly at you and slaps Jin’s shoulder. 

“Told you, hyung. She’s the best. And she’s right. You are welcome here and I can assure you that I feel no urge to fry you to a crisp.” 

“I...was not aware that was a potential issue. Thanks for not ruining my beautiful face, I guess,” Seokjin says, obviously done with the serious talk and choosing to fall back into humor. 

“And with that settled, I should probably go put on some pants. Thanks for the breakfast! We’ll meet up and go shopping in an hour, yeah?” 

You grin at them both and leave the room, the smile dropping the moment you were sure they couldn’t see. 

Poor Seokjin. 

He had grown up loved and cared for by those people, and just because he was a hybrid he’d lost everything. The fact that this could easily be Namjoon’s story if you were to kick it tomorrow didn’t sit well with you, either. You needed to figure something out that could stop this from happening. Or at least figure out somewhere hybrids could go besides back into shelters. It seems like an impossible task, but one that needs doing, obviously. 

As laughter filters towards you from the kitchen, you smile. One thing is for sure, your first task is going to be convincing Seokjin that he’s already home. 

[tonystarkbingo]

Presenting, for your entertainment and amusement, a Titles Game from the TSB Discord!

Aim of the game: a title is suggested, and everyone pitches in their idea of what kind of fic they would write for that title.

“Hot Chocolate Kisses” - suggested by @rebelmeg

@lbibliophile-mcu - Tony and Bruce are undertaking a very serious series of experiments to determine the optimal ratio of hershey kisses to milk in hot chocolate. And taste-testing the results. (actually, that would be fun to do as Tony and Morgan)

@summerpipedream - Natasha/Pepper - Natasha hates hot chocolate. It's always been too sweet, too sticky and if she could drink any other winter holiday drink, she would. Figuring out how to tell her girlfriend Pepper that, the biggest chocoholic in the world (Tony literally bought her a chocolate fountain for her birthday one year), well...it was a problem.

@rebelmeg - Iron Family winter tradition that comes about the first day they get a big snow. everyone wears their coziest sweaters, fuzziest socks, and wooliest winter hats, and they all drink hot chocolate out on the porch swing as they watch snow fall

@somesortofitalianroast - Hot chocolate kisses: Bucky teaches Russian History at Appalachian State University. Steve Rogers is the new World War II teacher. It always amuses Bucky that the UNC System decided that they needed an entire 3-credit hour class on World War II, and why AppState was chosen as the university, since Fayetteville is, like, right next to Fort Bragg. Or something. At least Steve’s easy on the eyes. Even if he’s not into guys. Except he is. Into guys that is. They’ve just started dating, Steve’s coming over to Bucky’s house for the first time, and a snowstorm hits. Featuring hot chocolate, declarations of love, only one bed, and enough pining to repopulate the pine barrens.

@darthbloodorange - Captain America is meant to be the paragon of virtue, the pinnacle of perfection. Or so Tony thought until catches Steve stuffing his face full of chocolate in the middle of the night. He demands Steve share the chocolate, but he's eaten it all ready. The only way Tony's get some, it seems it, is to kiss it from Steve's hot, chocolate covered lips.

(Keep reading for more amazing ideas!)

“to love and only love” - suggested by @somesortofitalianroast

@rebelmeg - giving me tony and maria vibes for some reason. can't decide if it's angsty, about how maria loves her son more from a distance, or if it's fluffy, and she loves him more than enough to make up for the ways howard doesn't.

@summerpipedream - Tony/Bucky - "To love and only love" is what the world always said about soulmates. His mother always said that when he'd meet his soulmate, he'd know. But what did that say about him when his soulmate kept running away?

@somesortofitalianroast - To love and only love: Cap!Steve/oblivious mechanic, Tony. Snarky identity porn. (changed it because, now that i think about it, it's tony/steve, that fic. lol)

@jamesbuckystark - to love and only love - Angst - Tony falls in love way too easily and quickly. Even when the ones he loves hurt him time and time again, he cannot find it in his heart to hate them

@jacarandabanyan - To love and only love: Tony hates soulmates and destiny deciding who he’s supposed to love and all the cultural adoration around the whole concept of soulmate marks. But nothing beats how much he hates that he loves his soulmate, despite himself. Steve clearly hasn’t seen their matching marks, and even more clearly doesn’t like, let alone love Tony. Tony can’t stop himself from living Steve- another thing to add to the list of things he hates, his stupid, insuppressible love for Steve- but he can avoid letting Steve know about their matching marks. He can love Steve and do nothing about it.

@lbibliophile-mcu - The vibe I'm getting from this title is subverted love triangle. The set-up is all there for angst and jealousy, but the characters all decide to focus on the positives instead. Whether this is one character deciding that (close) friendship is enough, or some degree of poly. Just everyone deciding that the important thing is that everyone is happy and together.

@trashcanakin - I get arranged marriage, enemies to real lovers vibes from it. Winteriron of course if I wrote it xD

To love and only love: Why does Tony have to marry him of all people. It's bad enough he's being forced into marriage because it's what the "kingdom" needs, what about what he needs? Or wants for that matter. And Bucky doesn't even like him, always silently glaring at him. It will never work, they just can't pretend to love each other when it takes all their strength just to like each other. But things change with the seasons. Could one terrible accident move the tide and show the true feelings hidden below?

@darthbloodorange - To love and only love (Stony): It's been years since anyone one has come by Tony's lair, leaving the dragon alone to tinker and work with his tech hoard. That's how he likes it: no knights, no paladins, no trouble. Just him and his bots. One day a werewolf (Steve) makes his way into his lair. He does everything he can to get rid of him, but the werewolf always returns. Before long Tony realises he likes having Steve around, likes how happy Steve is when he returns to Tony. Before long any frustration Tony feels for the werewolf is worn away, and all there is left is for him to love him. But would it ever work out between a dragon and a werewolf?

“Falling off the edge of the world with you” - @summerpipedream

@rebelmeg - pepperony, tony is teaching pepper how to work the rescue armor. they've been at it long enough that she's got the hang of it, and they celebrate by taking a thrilling flight together, far enough up that there's nothing but them, the edge of the world, and the stars

@summerpipedream - Tony & Rhodey - Whenever he got angry or tired at the world, Rhodey always used to drive him to their favourite lookout. Told him to yell and scream when things got too much and the world would fade away. Through the years, this never changed.

@jamesbuckystark - falling off the edge of the world with you - Rhodey knows it's unhealthy, following Tony to the ends of the earth. He also knows that Tony would understand if he said no. But there's something about the rush he gets when he's with Tony

@lronhusbands - falling off the edge of the world with you - ironhusbands. Idk like soft and fluffy boys who are just flying in their suits just to fly and playing games with each other and like total au where Rhodey doesn’t fall like he does so like they’re total idiots who cut their jets and plummet to earth and laugh bc they think they're invincible

@somesortofitalianroast - Falling off the edge of the world with you: 70 years ago, Steve Fell. Capital “F” Fell. There’s only one term for it, anyway. He might have survived, barely, yes, but he survived. But the thing about a Fall is that you never fly again. Even if you recover. Steve had resigned himself to never see the world from the air again. Until Tony.

@lbibliophile-mcu - Something different: Extremis!Tony (technopath version). Jarvis has been helping him get used to his new skills and senses. Because as much as Tony prefers to run rather than walk, he can also feel the very real risk of losing himself in this world of information and connections. The climax has Jarvis 'standing' beside him (acting as his guide and tether) as he takes his first dive into the internet.

@darthbloodorange - Falling off the edge of the world with you (Stony): Tony thought he would be the last person Steve would turn to for flying lessons. He didn't even have real wings anymore, not since Afghanistan. He doesn't fly like he used to. He didn't even think that Steve wouldn't know how to fly. With the broad, strong wings the serum had given him, Steve should be the best flier out. But as Steve stands before him, shyly stammering out his request for help, Tony could only find in him to say "yes" Tony schedules in time every week to help teach Steve how to fly. It soon becomes their thing.

@jacarandabanyan - Falling off the edge of the world with you: Space AU- Tony has always dreamed of exploring out beyond the edge of the known universe, and Rhodey has always known that he would follow Tony anywhere, no matter where. Even if current mathematical models of the edges of the known universe indicate that the two of them are more likely to end up falling into the void of nothingness than discover another universe or whatever it is Tony thinks he’s going to find.

“My heart beets for you (Mint to be)” - @darthbloodorange

@rebelmeg - the avengers have transformed the roof of the tower into a garden. and it's going pretty well. they've all got their own spots for their own stuff, and a section they do together, it's a good team bonding activity. at least... it is until tony's mint ("it's peppermint, get it?!") starts taking over clint's beets ("they're purple!"). then it's all-out war, and the one with the greenest thumb wins (pun not intended, hulk.)

@trashcanakin - My Heart Beets For You (Mint to Be): (No powers AU) Bucky runs a little cafe in a nice quiet town. They specialize in pastries, some say that their mint pies are the best around. Then some loud, rowdy, asshole buys the lot across the street and puts in a music store. Oh, it is on! This Tony guy wants a war, he's got one. And toss in soulmate AU on top because it would be funny xD

@jamesbuckystark - My heart beets for you (Mint to be) - Bucky is a garden sprite. No one sees him, and he bestows his loving touch to those who deserve it. Tony tries to be a plant dad... but fails miserably, due to the lack of sun and his forgetting to tend to his plants. Bucky takes one look at the man and falls in love. Imagine Tony's surprise when his dead plants are now alive and blooming!

(addition by @trashcanakin ) Tony's apartment is full of plants, flowers, and greenery because every time Bucky looks at him and blushes it makes more plants grow xD

And he's like "IDK WHAT'S HAPPENING!"

@summerpipedream - My heart beets for you (Mint to be) - Tony/Sam - Maria's last instructions in her will to Tony, along with the keys to her old family manor, were "Be Happy". It didn't take long for Tony to decide to quit his job, pack up his things and move out in the middle of nowhere to turn his mother's old home into a bed and breakfast. Of course, he never expected to run into Farmer Sam, who insists on sharing his extra fresh produce with him, dropping by 'just to see him smile'.

@darthbloodorange - My heart beets for you (Mint to be) (Stony) Steve and Tony retire from saving the world after the defeat of Thanos. Steve takes up gardening, wanting somewhere calming to do his art, somewhere he can relax. He needed something sedate, something peaceful that he could manage. He starts small, only a handful of flower beds, and learns as he goes. Slowly he starts expanding his garden, growing new sorts of flowers, and food. Herbs for Bruce. Flowers for Nat. A mediation/sensory garden for Sam. Pumpkins for Clint and his kids. A coffee tree for Tony. Soon he has a huge garden at the Compound with something for all of the Avengers. With a little work he manages to convince Tony to help him out in his garden (even if it is mainly to ogle Steve).

“If You Only Knew” - @jamesbuckystark

@rebelmeg - welp. okay. angst. tony ruminating about all the ways the people he loves don't understand the way he loves them. the way he shows them, tells them with different words. all he wants is to be loved back, and he can't understand why he's so unlovable.

@trashcanakin - Bucky would do anything for Tony, anything. Tony's the reason he's free, has a roof over his head, food, has his life back... Tony and Shuri even gave him his mind back, too. But Tony thinks Bucky hates him... Of course, why wouldn't he. Bucky keeps tryin' to show Tony how much he actually cares, but things keep gettin' in the damn way! A story full of misunderstandings, hurt/comfort, and eventual romance. Ayye. Could easily turn that into humor and crack as well, 'cause it's my brand xD

@summerpipedream - If You Only Knew - Steve/Tony "Do you know how long it took me to get home?" scowled Tony, "Every werewolf I ran into on the street told me congratulations, or took him long enough. Did you have something to tell me Steve?" Werewolf Steve is a little too enthusiastic with scenting his human mate. Whoops.

@jamesbuckystark - If You Only Knew - Tony talks in his sleep... a lot. Rhodey has experienced hearing some weird-ass stuff that he's said ever since college. Now Bucky gets woken up by Tony shaking him then saying something like "I farted by a hairy man yesterday" or "who grabbed my cheese in the ocean?" before zonking back out. Tony knows he talks in his sleep and often asks what he said when he wakes up. Bucky can't tell him due to laughing so hard so he ends up wheezing out "oh if you only knew what you said."

@jacarandabanyan - If only you knew: Tony loses his memories after a magical head injury. Nothing should be more important than getting his memories back so he can get back into the field and fight the good fight with these hero-types that claim to be his teammates. But one teammate in particular keeps distracting him from this vital work. For some reason, Bucky Barnes is both eager to help him in any way he can and totally unwilling to be alone with him. If only Tony knew why.

@celtic7irish - It would be a story of one-upmanship of the craziest stunts the Avengers have ever pulled. "If Only You Knew" the TRUE story behind some of those missions. If Only You Knew what really happened in Budapest. If Only You Knew what really happened during that one summer at MIT. Lol.

@jamesbuckystark - Also, angst version. If You Only Knew: Tony Stark, the control freak. Tony Stark, who thinks he knows best and screws stuff up. Tony Stark, the creator of Ultron. All these things, Tony has heard and will agree with. Rhodey does not. The others don't know what he does to keep shady government agencies off their backs. They don't realize what Tony sees at night. He wants to tell them, but Tony won't let him

@darthbloodorange - If You Only Knew: (Stony) Steve locks himself away in his room as Tony brings back another Omega to the tower, not wanting the Alpha to see the tears it brings to his eyes. It wasn't fair, he had no right to be hurt or jealous, Tony wasn't his Alpha. Tony would never be interested in him. Tony was only interested in soft, pretty Omegas. As far as the world cared he was an Alpha. But he wasn't. He was an Omega. If only Tony knew... maybe he would pick him. ...Maybe he would love him.