#promise motif

[raayllum]

It took me a little while, but I finally had time to review seasons 2-3 of The Dragon Prince on IMDB (under chaoticgoodthiefling) so I'm here to say that I would love to see your take on on Rayllum breaking both their promises in S7 in fic form! (or one of them keeping their promise, the other breaking it, whatever you wanna do) - if you're still doing the review fic-athon, that is. If not, nw!

I would be more than happy to do a fic-athon for each season if you'd like, so for whichever one I didn't do (aka Callum's) I might keep it for Snake Boi Callum Week on the 17th and shore it up then <3 learn more about review fic-athon here

Somehow, they manage to make it back to camp.

Soren helps her walk, and Ezran bandages the cut on her cheek, her eyes as red as the blood on his too-tiny fingers. She explains what happened in a hoarse whisper as near as she knows it—her silk-wings vanishing while in pursuit of Claudia, sending her tumbling, her head smashing open on the rock, Callum crying as the shadows began to cloak them, asking her to stay, asking her to forgive him—Rayla blinking blearily as Soren and Ezran had crashed through the bramble just in time to see Callum, eyes all black and mouth unsmiling, place the cube in Aaravos' outstretched palm, because she was too weak to stop him, only bruises and blood to show for her troubles, her blades unable to follow through.

You promised, Callum had rasped before he'd said the spell.

But even then, that hadn't been his last words. One last kiss to her forehead. I love you. I'm sorry.

And they won't be his last words, Rayla thinks stubbornly as they regroup at the Silvergrove. The tea Ethari prepared for her is going cold, him and Ez and Soren discussing things—Callum—in the other room. Giving her time to recuperate. Like she needs it. What she needs is her—

"Rayla."

Runaan sits down in the chair across from her, his lips pursed, eyes guarded.

She sighs and gives up on ever drinking the tea, nudging the ceramic mug towards her father instead. Runaan gives it a dubious sniff and then takes a sip.

"What?" she asks tiredly when he makes a face and sets it down; he's always liked weaker rather than stronger tea.

"Your... human. Is what the others say true? He's—not himself?"

She snorts even as her eyes sting, Runaan's uncharacteristic gentleness crushing her heart into even more pieces. Oh, you have a nicer word for it, for being possessed? Corrupted. Soren and Ezran hadn't even known Callum had cured himself—that he'd chosen to throw it all away, and for what? For her? "For now," she says. "We're..."

She curls in on herself.

If Aaravos ever controls me again, if he uses me, promise me you'll kill me.

I promise.

Her fist in Runaan's face, closer than they sat together now, reminding him that You taught me to never break my promises!

"I'm scared, Runaan," she admits, the words feeling unholy—blasphemous—this deep in the heart of the Silvergrove, even with her trial behind her. "What if he—" she chokes back a sob. "What if he's gone?"

Runaan stares at the tea and then at her, cerulean blue eyes more than contemplative. Maybe sad? "Do you truly believe that? I thought I was gone, in the Moon Nexus. You convinced me otherwise."

"But you were just trapped with dark magic. He's..." Become it, all ashy and smoky, the stark white in his hair. The unseeing red in his eyes. Like the corrupted banthers that had almost eaten them on more than one occasion. She tugs on her hair. "At the Starscraper, they told us that if he ever did it again, he'd be corrupted—overwhelmed, completely. That there'd be nothing left. And now..."

She wipes stubbornly at her eyes. "He made me promise, Runaan. That I'd kill him if it ever happened. Now it has, and I..."

"Do you want to kill him?" Runaan asks plainly.

Rayla recoils. "What? Of course not. I love him."

"Then perhaps that is your answer."

Rayla stares at him this time. "It is not that simple. Aaravos—"

"Rayla."

Her father reaches across the table for her hand, his thumb stroking over the inside of the wrist, where he'd bound her long ago. Sometimes the joint still aches; if Callum hadn't hatched Zym, and Zym hadn't removed it when they did, the binding probably would've claimed her hand anyway.

Runaan gives her wrist a gentle squeeze. "When you were growing up, I fashioned you into my little blade. You were eager for it, and I was a suitable whetstone—I thought it was the best way to protect ourselves. To protect you. But you were not made to be an assassin, and I am sorry if I have ever made you feel like it is your greatest weakness instead of your greatest strength. At the time, I did not know better; I do now. That boy loves you, and you love him. Yes, you may kill him, and save the world—but will it be a world you want to live in, afterwards? What do you want when this is all over?"

"I..."

She knows, of course. Walks in the garden. Moonberry surprise by the square. His hand, warm and wrapped around her fingers. It's all she's ever wanted: a life with the boy in peacetimes that she could've had all along, if she'd just...

"I kept my promise to kill a king, and I have regretted it each day since," Runaan says. "If I had broken it, and listened to you, we would've been better for it. I would have, too. Trust yourself, and trust him. If your situations were reversed—when they were—what would he do? What do you want to do?" He levels her with an even, steady stare. "What feels right?"

Rayla blinks back a fresh wave of tears. "Saving him," she says, "of course, but—"

"Then Ethari and myself will stand by you," he says, "as you do just that."

Her chair scrapes against the floor as she rises, throwing her arms around her father; Runaan hugs her back tightly. "Thank you," she mumbles into his chest, her heart feeling lighter than it had in years.

He takes her by the shoulders when they pull away, a small smile playing over his lips. "Now, what do you say we join the crownguard and the young king, and decide on what to do next to save your mage, hm?"

[grandkhan221b]

More DW stuff

[dovalore]

sharing literature

first panel: (left and right evbo designs by @cowboyskeletons)

second panel: rightmost evbo by conn1e_ on twt, every other (except the one holding book) by me

[ninicaise]

"why don't we see laurent's schemes in kings rising? why does he act so helpless, like a puppet?" idk maybe because laurent & damen are no longer friends for the entire first half of kings rising so laurent is back to being completely alone and after prince's gambit he has no idea what to do without damen beside him. maybe bc laurent is not actually the domino master of the series. the regent is. maybe bc laurent is (canonically) behind in the game and the only reason he ever had a chance of winning is literally bc not him nor his uncle can ever predict wtf damen is going to do next. this is textual btw i am not making shit up. just as the "captive prince" is both damen and laurent, the "prince's gambit" is both laurent's and damen's gambit.

[artbowls]

I am the king and you’re just a pawn

[luna-fortunaa]

What does it mean to see a reflection of man itself?

[tennessoui]

girl your hanahaki au is absolutely wrecking my shit i--- I don't ever read ongoing fics and this is why. I just cannot wait?!? But the waiting somehow makes it better too?!? I'm literally dead bro I can't I love it so much

hahah omg thank you !! I’m really happy to hear you took a chance on this wip and that you like it so much!

not to get on my soapbox or anything but you have given me a great corner to shout from

as a disclaimer I totally understand why people will choose not to read wips and I truly think you know your mental health and what you can stand to wonder about/think about/obsess over/NEED to know a conclusion for better than anyone else

BUT as a writer who almost exclusively posts in wips, people reading them before they’re finished is my life blood and I am so grateful and it makes the writing process so much more fun for me because I know at least someone else is invested in my brainworm of a story?? someone else is enjoying it and thinking about it and I’m putting a small amount of good into the world??

the best analogy I’ve been able to come up with is like:

when you read a finished fic you’re eating a whole meal and that’s great that’s so amazing (especially if you tell the cook you liked it after you’re done). and you’re literally always welcome to eat that meal whenever you want. finished fics are like standing dinner invitations: I am always happy to have you and I mean that very genuinely

but if you read a wip, you’re keeping me company in the kitchen while I cook. and that’s sort of priceless. in some instances, you can even tell me the food needs more spice and I’ll think about it and listen!!! you’re sitting on my kitchen counter as I bustle around my space and we’re talking about what I’m doing and also how I’m feeling and maybe how you’re feeling and it just feels like community more than anything else I’ve experienced in any fandom. like you’re with me in my space as I’m creating food I hope you like. we’re both invested and it’s amazing

and I think in general that’s why wips are a lot of fun and also maybe why the waiting between chapters is fun for you - you’ve suggested that I add paprika to the pot and you’re waiting and wondering if I will, and I’m laughing and hoping you like the soup either way but also wondering if paprika will work with the recipe, and if I can add a bit to it just for you while staying true to the dish I envisioned at the get go.

[pinkypastal]

If I had a nickel for everytime my favourite character in a piece of media was:

a white haired terminally ill warcriminal that was traumatised from lab stuff (which caused the illness) and loss of family who was also the kinda-sorta-it's complicated love Interest of the main character as well as a kinda-sorta-it's complicated antagonist with bird/flight motifs with a secret identity they use for crime with a ultimately well meaning goal who also died that one time

I'd have three nickels, literally how has this happened thrice

[kuroananosanji]

So if the all blue is really the result of a sunken world then the only way sanji could be happy is if he dies and is reincarnated as a fish

[melancholiaenthroned]

harlan guthrie, malevolent part 34 / rebecca morgan frank, on making / jane hirshfield, the promise / carl sandberg, wilderness / andrew kane, how to be a dog / anonymous, trans. fiona sampson, charms for love

[beedreamscape]

At the end of both ExUs it was love/fear that broke their resolve.

It was love for Ted that made Opal call for the Spider Queen and fear of losing her that made her put the crown on.

It was love for Quay that made Laerryn allow herself to be grappled and fear of losing him that made her blight the tree.

[sskk-manifesto]

!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[transformers-bold-bright-brisk]

Guess who just finished Laserbeak!!!

[glsneeg-enthusiast]

hi can we. can we pretty please talk about episode one. can we talk about the cannibalism that took up half the episode and then everything with sneeg. and charlie and the creature eating sneeg. can we talk about it

[chiropteracupola]

back from bisque again

[concernedbrownbread]

Hello, i am a fellow reader from A03 who likes your fic ‘The promise of Dawn’ very much.My username is ‘Fatchoppedsalad’.I am interested in talking about himiko. Though i dont know what to ask.

..Ah! How was himiko’s past life? It was given that she was somewhat of a political figure or was going to be one but she died before winning the election. Others than that if its okay with you. Could you please tell me more.

Sorrybtw iam a huge sucker for spoilers🌚

Heyy thanks so much for the ask!!! I really appreciate your comments on the fic! I would LOVE to talk more about Himiko.

Okay so the thing about her past life is that … we don’t know much about it. We’re not really meant to. In the next chatpter (ch4) we see a bit more of the fact that Himiko pretty much Does Not Care. The only person she ever mentions fondly is her “PR guy” and the fact that she was kicked out of her parent’s house. She mentions that she was a”governer” of a “province.” I used those words SPECIFICALLY because I didn’t want her to be associated with the usual US/Japan and those were the most generic versions of those levels of power/division that I could think of. All we really know was that she was probably a middle-aged politician. I love keeping it vague!

She’ll drop random hints throughout the fic because of course she still remembers it, but it’s mainly comedic.

Also, can I please rant about motifs? Imma rant about motifs: Spoilers below.

Okay, Himiko has 3 main motifs: suns, spiders and death. The last I’ll elaborate on as the second arc rolls around, but I’ve (tried to) set up the first two. The first is obvious: Himiko is constantly crowned by the sun, literally my QUEEN (also her being a Princess is going to be a Thing later, thus the usage of “Hime” already). The spider thing I’ve tried to be a little more subtle about but … the book is literally titled the Weaver. Her plots are webs. The very first scene is eight minutes. I have no subtlety for this.

I AM trying to have subtly for the various unfolding “mysteries” like the underground press and the whole Root debacle. Chapter 4 has a bunch of foreshadowing but okay … looking back maybe not subtle. Looks like I need to rewrite this lmao. Hopefully I can get it out by next week!

Anyway, the spoiler is she's going to get a spider summons soon! But before she does, she's going to get her death motif going by getting a scythe. As Himiko develops, especially in the second arc when she begins properly training with her team + eventually finds the underground press, she's going to become something of a monster. A polite, smiling monster that strikes beautiful, beautiful fear in the hearts of people.

A small spoiler for chapter 5, where the Nine Tails Attack happens ... she's going to mimic something very similar to what Kurama does (with the KI). It's a form on ninshu, and she uses it liberally when she figures out how to. After all, what is cooler? Killing someone or making them feel as though they will literally DIE if they cross her.

Feel free to shoot me another ask! I love them!