#htryds ask

[pencilofawesomeness]

I'm imagining at the end of the upcoming OS arc, when it's time to go home the Fairy Tail team (namely Erza, Jellal, Erik, Cubellios and Bickslow) gets hit by the backlash of the emotional toil of the mission. They're exhausted. They once again ended up near "Cait Shelter", so Erik thinks: Fuck it, I'm not going home on hellish transportation after all this. So he says : "Hey, guys, we're gonna take a shortcut home, I'm just going to need you to promise not to tell anyone and not to use it on your own. Get your wings on or whatever, we're flying there."

Before getting a response Erik is climbing on Cubellios' back who takes off. (I forgot if she has wings in your AU, if not Erik just gets carried by someone). He leads them to the cave. Bickslow either has been there or knows about it, Erza and Jellal are slightly curious about the place but mostly tired and eager to go home.

They use the portal to get back to the Dragon Slayers' house.

A few people (not Acno) are there and heard the portal activate, Erik basically tells them "we're fine now let us sleep" all of them pile up on blankets/cushions in Erik's room and fall asleep.

Acnologia does end up interrogating them once he's home and they wake up from their nap. The Thunder Legion comes over for Bickslow. There's a big family dinner with the dragon family, Laxus' team, Erza and Jellal. Only Acno and those who were there know everything that went down and how it tied to their pasts, the others are only told a little (Bickslow's team knows his part, Erik's family his - and while they don't know exactly how Erza and Jellal fit into it everyone knows they're connected to Erik's past somehow. Wendy is told about the Nirvit(s) dying.)

The dinner is sort of weird, sort of nice. Also there's way to many people, thankfully the weather is nice enough to eat outside.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my daydreams.

I very much did, yes. This is definitely in the spirit of the series, even if the OS arc might go a bit differently lol. Otherwise you are in my notes. Bonus points for remembering Bickslow's backstory deal ;) --and that he definitely knows about the dragons and the cave, 100%. (I swear I'm getting to the Bickslow content it's coming it's coming)

[pencilofawesomeness]

what were the dragon's reactions to hearing acnalogias story?

(sorry this took so long for me to answer)

Man, that scene kicked my ass. I tried to write it from a few different perspectives but it felt too... repetitive? I guess? Couldn't nail the tone. But it's a good question to ask.

Sting was the newest to the fold, so knew Acnologia the least. However, he had been operating on the coping thought of "dragon slayers are meant to slay dragons" for a year at this point, because Weisslogia's implanted memory, so the full impact didn't really set in for him.

Wendy, sweet Wendy, really has a hard time imagining it all. Acno? Hurting their parents? Seemed fake. Except Acno doesn't lie and he's really upset over this, so maybe it did happen. Conflicting points of interest, for sure, because she loves them both. Still hard to imagine that Acno used to be bad though. It's like if your straight-laced parent, whom for all your life wore sweater vests and drove the speed limit and discouraged violence went "oh yeah when I was in high school I was in a gang and did drugs and killed people."

Rogue was admittedly a little cowed. Had to rethink everything and re-contextualize, for sure. Its the gut instinct of "oh no my dad" versus the fact that he had been observing Acno for months at that point and he seemed legit, but he's also six so his confidence in his profiling is not the best. (Except Rogue is very good at people watching.) Obviously the fact that Acno is visibly distraught and has never done anything to hurt them won out. After all, Gajeel had yelled at him and said nasty things too when they met and didn't quite remember each other, but they're brothers now, so things change. Kids this age roll with things very well.

Gajeel was pissed at first—he doesn't like being lied to, for one—but then it quickly switched to being more upset that Acno looked one word away from leaving forever. His unresolved abandonment issues didn't handle being left behind again, so he mostly yelled at Acno to get his shit together at this point. Teen angst at its finest. Later though, it pieces together everything he knew from Metalicana and the others and realized it tracks. But Acno has nothing to gain from telling them this if he was still like that, so clearly he's different now.

Happy is also a baby and doesn't really understand the severity of it at the time. It's the sort of simple moral formula: you did something bad, you said you're sorry, and it's better now.

Charle, despite being the same age, absolutely is on guard around him for the next few months and religiously watching over Wendy and all of the others because those boys have bad self-preservation. Charle, for magic reasons as we all know, comes pre-packed with trauma and trust issues. But. Acno gets its so he just lets her be vigilant around him and lets her have space and eventually she calms down and has an epiphany about dragon slayers and people in general. Her thing actually comes up a bit in this oneshot I want to do with her and Erik soon, when Erik first gets adopted.

Laxus doesn't have any emotional stake in this but it definitely re-contextualizes stuff. He keeps calm but has a momentary small crisis of "wait did this guy kill my dad because he was insane back then, or...?" and then quickly remembers he has loads of evidence that Ivan was insane and that Acnologia still, ya know, saved his life. He's got this moral gray stuff figured out, and clearly Acno isn't still Like That. Plus it makes sense to Laxus now why Acno bailed so hard and fast when Laxus was a kid, because he's watching it now in real time. It was the bone deep guilt.

Natsu, actually, understands Acno's whole ordeal the most, on a conceptual level. Because he's spent countless nights thinking about Zeref at this point, and how Zeref has caused soooo many problems and so much damage but Natsu still cares and still wants Zeref to get better and Not do those things. Acnologia is now proof that that can work. That someone can be awful and then choose to stop being awful. It definitely hurts him deeply that being separated from Igneel was, in part, *because* of Acnologia (and this dawns on all of them) but like... what's done is done. At this point, it's equally hard to imagine a life without Fairy Tail or without Acnologia. So. It's just life and how it is.

[pencilofawesomeness]

You focus a lot on friendships in htryds (something I love about the series!!) are there any friendships from canon that your excited to develop further? Or even friendships we don't see a lot of in canon?

(One platonic pair I always loved in canon were Lucy and Juvia, their relationship is so sweet whenever the writers aren't making Lucy Juvia's "love rival")

Man, there are so so soooooo many. The friendships really are the bread and butter to me and I am a bread lover XD

Yess Juvia my beloved, her time is coming. I do want to explore her and Lucy a bit, but I think I am most excited for Juvia and Cana. Their friendship started in the Battle for Fairy Tail arc was so cool and it's criminal it didn't really go anywhere. Although for this matter, Juvia in general is very exciting to me. She's gonna get soooo friend-adopted lol.

Another canon one that I want to do more with is definitely Natsu and Lisanna. Post-Edolas. They're still besties your honor pleaaaseee. It'll look different but that's part of the appeal and the fun.

[pencilofawesomeness]

Hi! Just wanted to let you know that I found and fell in love with your htryds series and am eagerly (but patiently) waiting for the next update. I love your writing and characterization and worldbuilding and it was so interesting to me that I binged the whole series in like 4 days. Take all the time you need on your break, really excited for what you write in the future!

(Originally sent February 2024.)

Wow okay my spring cleaning of my inbox has proven I am very bad at remembering to answer asks after I have read them. I do remember receiving this when I was still on hiatus and it was (and still is) very very sweet! Thank you!

Also four days??? The speed of which people read both astound me and encourage me. I obviously love long series but I always worry the size is a barrier-to-entry sometimes lol. Especially since it's going to keep growing..... ehe.

Obviously my hiatus has ended and it was definitely a much-needed break. Although I guess I'm in soft "hiatus" just because I am working on side stories without a schedule lol, but I am working on them for sure. So not really a hiatus. But, I can pretend it didn't take me one full year to answer this and that you are awaiting the next oneshot, in which, I can say it's already proving to be a hefty-sized one so it'll come eventually XD. Sometime this month I suppose.

[pencilofawesomeness]

question: how much of eriks past do the little ones know? like do they know that he's killed people before? how does things like that play out into the relationship between characters? or is this something that will be answered in a future chapter?

at this point? Pretty much all of it, definitely. Some of the worst points were downplayed, but ultimately it all came out over those first few months, at different speeds. It might come up in some of those oneshots but there's not really one particular moment, aside from one that will come up. As for how people react? Well, he's like the way less extreme to Acno, plus Erik came in looking sickly. It's definitely not a big deal to them. (I mean. Erik totally tried to attack Wendy upon first meeting and she ignored it lol.)

It does help that Erik was pretty fresh into said life of crime so his rap sheet is not thaaaat long. That said, outside of the dragon circle and a few others (namely Erza and Jellal) it's not really something he advertises. Like with Jellal. Part of it is not wanting to deal with that being public (understandably) and the other is not wanting to draw attention from Brain, wherever he is. (Especially at first. Now a lot of time has passed and Brain clearly never tried anything, but it's just awkward.)

[pencilofawesomeness]

Was re-reading your HTRYDS again and got me thinking. The relationship between Zeref, Lacrade and August is so messy and tragic.

From August side alone, he knows that Zeref's curse kills everyone he loves. So he understands that Zeref can't allow himself to love him. Yet he sees small signs that Zeref DOES care about him. Basically adopting him when they first met. Letting him stay by his side. Perhaps teaching him all he knows. Giving him the highest authority of his empire. Perhaps he might've wanted to reveal that he is his son, but never did for various reasons. Then Zeref created Lacrade. Someone who looks so much like a child Zeref and Marvis might have together. So this is the proof that Zeref did wanted a son. Someone like him. But what is he to do? He's already gray and old, yet his father remains the same. He knows that he's going to die soon, so isn't it better to keep it a secret to prevent further heartbreak? Maybe even wondering if Lacrade is actually a replacement goldfish. A preparation to replace a son Zeref saw in him when he died of old age. So it's perhaps proof that Zeref did see him as his son. Yet also painful because he's going to be replaced after he died. But shouldn't he feel glad about this? The entire reason he hid his relationship is so Zeref won't be in pain after his death. So Lacrade being there after him should be something he should be glad about. But it's still so painful that one day, he might be forgotten and replaced by Lacrade. Someone he knows is a demon of Zeref. With the ability to live as long as Zeref allows it.

Oh yeah, well said.

[pencilofawesomeness]

I stg everytime you mention something about supremacy magic in htryds I get more and more worried that you're gonna do something to Acno. On one hand I'm here for it but on the other hand please let this poor man Sleep

Remember that it was said that dragon supremacy magic didn't work on Acnologia in canon. Functionally he's not full dragon, technically.

But.

We all know there's more than one way to traumatize people :)

[pencilofawesomeness]

Heyy!! Do u have any wip’s or ideas regarding the dragon cry movie??

Kiiiind of. It's probably more accurate to say I ended up plucking elements out of the Dragon Cry movie and throwing them into a different arc that has so much other stuff going on it can't really be called a Dragon Cry arc, if you get what I mean. And it's still way off in the future so I'm still developing a lot of details and going back and forth on some things.

[pencilofawesomeness]

I was just looking at your httyds age chart for all the characters and I noticed Zeref's wasn't on there so I was wondering where you'd put it

Personally I've always thought (with no evidence) that zeref was like 6 or 12/13 years older then Natsu which would coincidentally make him and acnologia the same age in your AU! I just think that's neat

See I imagined Zeref was 5ish years older, because he was just old enough for school but definitely on the young side and didn't deal with loss well. Spent his teenage years thinking about heresy magic, and then got stuck at forever 17/18.

Plus I thought it would be really funny if Acnologia was older, but not actually by that much.

[pencilofawesomeness]

Funnily enough, now that the OS arc draws closer I'm actually starting to think about the Tenrou arc more.

Here is what I assume will happen : Zeref will be on Tenrou Island during the trials despite Acnologia knowing that it's a regular haunt of his, either because A) Acnologia went days/weeks before to check Tenrou, before he went into hibernation, but Zeref wasn't there at the time and arrived in the meantime, or B) Zeref lost track of time. (Or C) he somehow decided this was an appropriate time to see Natsu - to be fair Tenrou does protect FT members from death...) Now the interesting thing to think about is who will figure out that Zeref is on the island, when will they do so, and what will they do with that knowledge ?

The "who" obviously depends on who will take part in the trials, be it as examiners, candidates or partners. For the candidates : I assume Natsu, Gray, Mest, Cana and Levy will still take part. Freed and Juvia's circumstances are a bit different from canon due to the Battle of FT not happening, but I still think they'll be nominated (actually maybe Freed was already a candidate in X783?). Elfman won't be there, but I'm actually thinking Erik should be a candidate (I'm actually not sure why he hasn't been yet - is he asking the master not to have him complete with his siblings for the title? Does he not want to be S-Class for some reason? I would have assumed Erik would be nominated before Natsu or at the same time, not after). As for partners, Happy, Loke, Lucy and Bixlow will most likely accompany the same candidates as canon. I guess Lisanna might go with Juvia again, but you might also have Juvia develop some new friendships. Actually I think a Juvia and Evergreen team might be nice. Bonus if they fight against Erza in the first round. Erik would go with Cubellios (or maybe with Wendy, if your unison raid art was related to that arc, but I don't think he would 'cause Sting (and Rogue) would be jealous). So the most uncertain partners are those with Mest and Levy. Mest might not be able to use the "Mystogan's pupil" excuse again, given that Mystogan is less of a loner here; that plus her protective elder brothers has me doubt he would ask Wendy. But it's not like I have a better idea for a partner either. As for Levy, well she might go with Jet or Droy, but she might also pick Lisanna, if Juvia goes with Evergreen? I feel like their proximity to the dragon slayers probably made them better friends than in canon. Finally, for the examiners, I'm assuming that Mystogan will be in Edolas and Acnologia sleeping, but that Laxus, Jellal, Gajeel, Erza, Mira, Gildarts and Makarov will all come. Mira could stay behind this time, but I'm thinking she won't. They might also bring Wendy along for emergency treatment if she's not Mest's partner (though I don't think they usually bother, so maybe not).

Now my assumption is that the trials will be the same as canon. So first the S-Class examiners come to the island. Gajeel might be able to tell that Zeref is there (dragon senses + having encountered the guy a couple times), or maybe Laxus, but it's not a given. Also I'm thinking that the magic of the Tenrou tree/island might be overwhelming enough that it partially hides Zeref's presence. Then, all the way from the ship, I don't think that Natsu or Erik, who might have a better chance at feeling his presence, would be able to tell (especially behind motion sick). Trial starts : Mests teleports with Wendy, Freed throws up a barrier, Levy and Evergreen rewrite it. Mest, Freed and Levy pick the same routes they did before. Juvia now has an option that was closed last time - the Mira route, though here it's Gajeel waiting instead. For fun, they go the Erza route again. Then comes, in order, Natsu, Erik (or maybe Erik then Natsu?), Gray and Cana. Natsu being less fight oriented, might not pick the E route again (where Laxus is waiting). Or actually, he might go with "G for Gajeel" and fight Freed and Bixlow. Erik, hearing people and thus knowing the options between fighting Laxus / fighting Mest and Wendy / fighting Gajeel, would probably pick Gajeel. Then Grey and Loke go against Mest and Wendy, Lucy and Cana against Laxus. (Damn, actually maybe Gildarts should still fight - no, it makes no sense unless there's extra candidates, he's overpowered). Anyway, everyone is focussed on the first task so most likely not noticing Zeref. Except maybe Erik.

Other option : rather than keeping the same structure as canon (3 fights with S-Class mages, 2 duels, 1 lucky road), all 6 S-Class mages are possible opponents, + 1 or 2 lucky roads (depending on if there's indeed 8 candidates, since I'm not really sure all of them will participate), or Acnologia also comes along and it's 7 S-Class fights + 1 lucky road. I might actually like that option better, it also gives GH a real reason to use the Dragonsgrave pollen, but then Acnologia would sniff out Zeref immediately so there's that downside.

Anyway, back to my first theory, Gray and Levy obviously pass. I would bet on Natsu passing, but in essentially a 2 vs 1 fight (with Freed having the time to write rune traps) it might be a difficult fight. Juvia probably fails, Cana might pass against Laxus for the same reason Natsu passed against Gildarts. That or they outsmart him and use transportation against him, but I wouldn't bet on it. Cana failing in the first step would be very ansgt-y, and a good reason to have her and Lucy wander around the island because she doesn't want to be go back to the camp where the S-Class mages (including Gildarts) are. For Erik I think it will depend on whether he is actually trying to make it to S-Class or not (similar to Jellal previously), and/or if he has something to prove against Gajeel for some reason.

So for the second task : Gray, Levy, Natsu?, Cana?, Erik? are qualified. Mest and his partner wander around the island, Juvia and Evergreen go back to camp. There's the question of whether Freed and Bixlow leave like they did the first time - but back then it was with Gildarts, who in my version has yet to play a role in the trial, so it doesn't make much sense. Laxus and Gajeel (and possibly Erik if he fails) being dispatched the find the wayward Mest (and Cana?).

So who finds Zeref first, during the second part of the trial (which might be modified so that Gildarts / Mira / Jellal have a role to play, or they're part of the 3th challenge) ? Well, canon events would say Natsu. I'll argue Erik will either find him first or hear Natsu finding him and come to check on the situation and/or warn one of the examiners (Laxus/Gajeel/Mira). Another option, if they get eliminated, is Lucy and Cana, just, Because. Obviously Natsu arrives before they get - well, killed, as much as is possible with the Tenrou protection. Question is, at that point, does Zeref leave? I would say yes, but he didn't in canon... then again the context was different. It would be fun if Natsu / Erik took advantage of the situation and asked where Mavis' grave is XD.

Then GH arrives and all hell breaks loose. They're looking for Zeref who isn't on the island anymore, the dragon slayers except Erik get taken out by Dragonsgrave pollen, Fairy Tail is panicking over Zeref supposedly being on the island but for different reasons, and some secrets probably get dragged up in the process. Plus the Mest/Council stuff. (I wonder if they would try to fire Etherion on the island as is threatened in canon. It would actually be pretty fun to have Etherion fired only for Acnologia to block/eat it. A bit less fun but also interesting would be for Etherion to be the reason Fairy Sphere is used - with Acnologia, Sting and Rogue being left behind in the 7 years skip. Hopefully that wouldn't kill Loke.)

Anyway, definitely lots of potential with this arc as well!!!

🐧

Fascinating, I love seeing people guess ahead. You got a few things, but I won't say what lol.

I will answer one thing though, because it has come up a few times, but really the main reason Erik isn't S-Class is because he doesn't want to be. (Does this make him a tiny bit of a hypocrite after Jellal's trial? Perhaps lol, but that's part of the fun.) Not really for self-loathing reasons though, but mostly because he thinks it'll be a huge hassle because of the popularity aspect. (Aka Mystogan's biggest regret lmao.) He's avoided getting nominated at all so far because the people who know him know he doesn't care and from a larger perspective (like Makarov's), he doesn't really do much as far as solo quantifiable jobs go. At least not enough to make it known. (He can do some ultra-impressive group takedown for a job and come back and downplay it so well lol.) But. Lately Erik has been impressive on main a bit more, so :)

[pencilofawesomeness]

Hi! Hope you're doing well.

Any random thoughts or facts about HTRYDS you want to share today ?

sorry I couldn't commit to a random thought when you first sent this lol. My head has too many at any given time.

Hmm. You know what. Let's go vague but relevant to the Deep Lore. This will come up eventually (and it mostly already did in Demon Tales) but I am impatient lol, but it doesn't spoil things without further context. Anyway.

There are four primordials—the first gods, and arguably the only "true" gods—even though no god is every truly immortal. They have many titles but they can be defined as thus:

—the god of the rising sun —the god of the setting sun —the god of the waning moon —the god of the waxing moon

Two of the ogs are still alive—in that they are completely conscious and mentally intact, at least. Two and a half if you're generous. The power of all four still exists.

[pencilofawesomeness]

In your au, would Zeref complain that between Arcnologia and him, the two blight of humanity, He's the one who ended up with almost every dark mage making a cult in his name, while Arcnologia doesn't have even one and is forgotten. I mean, the Black Dragon Od Apocalypse got to have SOME cult in his name?

I feel like he'll be pretty salty about it.

I mean. Nobody said that Acnologia doesn't have any cultish following at all....... but certainly not anything close to the level Zeref has. Even when Acnologia was a problem, he was a far more mysterious one and usually more of a dragon problem than a people problem, if that makes sense. If anything, his legends got wrapped into Zeref's so it's not an uncommon take that the "black dragon of the apocalypse" was actually just a big demon of Zeref.

Both of them despise this rumor, of course.

But yeah when Zeref isn't being uber apathetic and depressed he definitely has the capacity to be salty. Unfortunately for him, crazy lads latch onto the guy with lots of spells and inventions to his name, with the power to create life and insta-cast death and be god-like, more than the tales of the dragon that destroyed things.

Because the main thing is... what we have seen thus far is largely from a human and modern perspective. And modern history barely agrees that dragons existed, and doesn't really know them beyond super powerful creatures. There's more of a disconnect there. So for people in the market to follow a god......

Zeref was an evil mage—a man—and Acnologia was just a monster.

[pencilofawesomeness]

How would you feel about someone creating a physical copy of your fics? I've been thinking about getting into bookbinding so that I can create physical versions of my favorite fics and your htryds series is at the top of my list! (The whole thing is so good and well written and the comedic parts never fail to make me laugh when I need it, I've reread it at least 2 times at this point.)

However I did wanna check to see if you were ok with it before I went and did it. It would 100% be for my own personal use and I would never try to sell it or anything.

Your writing is such a comfort and inspiration to me and I love the way you handle large casts of characters and just the Fairy Tail characters in general.

(That being said I completely understand if you're not comfortable with something like that!! There is absolutely no pressure!!)

Hi???? Omg???? Dude I would be so honored. I love the craft of bookbinding and I have been wanting to bind my own fics sometime when I get the chance. Absolutely go for it! (And send me pics when it's done if that's okay; I love looking at books dude.)

That's actually why I made a cover for ODAF (though now the art is old and I would do it differently lol) but sadly I didn't fully commit and it's not a full spread cover, otherwise I would share XD (obviously do whatever you want, it's your personal print, I'm just rambling lol.)

Thank you so much for your kind words! :D

[pencilofawesomeness]

I was rewatching dragon ball and I can't help but think that, if we'll ever see a second gen in your fic, acnologia could be that piccolo-like grandpa that is scary but is always surrounded by little kids that love him and have him taking them from the kindergarden when their parents are busy

Haven't seen dragon ball but yes absolutely, Acnologia would be utterly surrounded by tiny gremlins. He is familiar enough with this, having done it the first time with his kids and half the fairy tail kids, but now they all call him grandpa and he is slightly in crisis. (He secretly enjoys it, of course.)

Anyways you understand the vision, and the vision is this

but with guild toddlers using his hair as a jungle gym

[pencilofawesomeness]

I literally just caught up with runaways and as soon as I got to the last chapter I saw you’d posted an update LMAO I’m so excited for Wendy to kick Arias Ass next time.

Haha you have fantastic timing! XD

It's gonna be so great when she gets to go Feral Mode and I'm so ready for it. Until then I'm sitting here staring at the meme you made and giggling every single time. It's so great

[pencilofawesomeness]

Question how would Daphne be treated in the papalogia au? Because in the story it would be a 100% confirmation that the dragon she say is acno. Also with how obsessed she was I am shocked she didn't have a dragon slayer lacrima.

I've been overthinking this ask for a week now lol.

Okay so. In terms of the Magnolia area, and really all of Fiore, I don't think anything would change. Acnologia is still the only dragon to be spotted, and even though he's flying around, he does make an effort to not be seen. Arguably, he's making more of an effort that canon-Acnologia, who simply did not care. That said, there may or may not be other dragon sightings in other parts of the world, so Daphne may be bolstered in her obsession with dragons all the same.

I don't think it would equate to her getting a lacrima though. Not only are those suckers hard to find and risky, her fascination strikes me as... a mix between scientific and fanatic. Her love and obsession with dragons and learning about them, as well as proving them real, supersedes most rational thought and morals. I mean, she was totally cool in using Natsu as a battery, and given the opportunity, she would have poked at him more I am sure. She seems to me like the Mr. Crocker of Fairy Tail, except with the room to be really amoral and scary for it.

Some peeps know this already but I have flirted with, and sometimes am still flirting with, the idea of a mini arc involving Daphne, except if fanaticism was just a bit more dangerous. The fact that there is a bit more evidence of dragons out there, but the dragon slayers are more tight-lipped about dragons and their own magic in Magnolia, is enough to drive someone like that bonkers. I still don't have solid ideas for this so it may or may not happen in htryds at all; I just... really like mad scientist psycho antagonists, so if I ever get struck by inspiration and want to hit a dragon slayer or three with a really spiky stick... Consider this a forewarning >.>