#n its not specifically just drawing dragon wings

[chipper-smol]

ok so improvement is so gradual that you really really do think you’re not moving anywhere when you actually ARE and POSSIBLY in something you weren’t even intentionally trying to improve in the first place

So anyway here are some bug dragon wings I made last year in october

and some bug dragon wings i’m currently working on right now 10 months later

[apompkwrites]

the tortured draconia || malleus draconia

masterlist characters: n/a genre: angst contains: torture/gore (specifically ripping out wings), lil draconia cannot catch a break :( summary: for (name)'s final test to become a servant of the palace, they have been tasked with hunting down a beast of the briar. notes: so uh this is what i was talking about when i said I'm not above physically hurting the black sheep :) used some french mythological creatures so have fun with that :D parts: [og post] | [previous] | [next]

deep in the forest of briar valley live monstrous beasts with gnashing teeth and serpent-length tails, said to be the cause of disappearing fae all over the valley. children are warned to steer clear of the forest's edge, lest they be snatched up and eaten whole by the beasts of the briar.

you remembered hearing that story as you grew older and as your curiosity about the forest's inhabitants grew alongside you. but miss leah was quick to erase those thoughts from your mind, urging you to never step foot past a single tree.

and yet, here you were, clad in a black coat with the hood tossed over your head to hide your horns. the people of briar valley didn't bat an eye, ignoring you as you flew through the sky toward the edge of the forest.

it was eerily quiet, especially given how the stories of regular forests outside of briar valley talked about the lively flora and fauna. it was as if the forest was an entirely different world, separated from the valley to make its own ecosystem.

with a deep breath to calm your nerves and a shake of your hands to stop the jittering, you stepped into the shrubbery, disappearing into the dark green brush.

the forest was still, despite you being caught up in the center of it all. the only sound was the occasional swish of leaves as the wind blew through the clearing.

with all of the silence, your mind wandered to the tales of the beasts of the briar. many of the younger servants would whisper amongst themselves about the nearby woods, worried about a supposed beast that could very well pounce out of the bushes to attack the palace.

sometimes, there were rumors of a beast of the briar that had thorns sticking out of its body, more than likely a result of the various thorn bushes that lined the edge of the castle.

the supposed beasts of the briar were feared by all, a permanent reminder of the cruelty of the hidden species of briar valley. it was always a thought in the back of people's minds how the valley housed so many creatures that strayed from fae eyes.

how many creatures exist in the valley?

you didn't get to ponder much on that question when a sharp pain rushed through your back.

you came crashing down to the grass floor, dirt staining your cheek and hands when you tried to cushion your fall. it was hard to see what exactly attacked you at first, its entire body weight keeping you pinned to the ground for a few seconds. but once it let up, you managed to crane your head over your shoulder to look at the cause.

gnashing teeth.

serpent-length tail.

and thorns poking into its skin.

you only managed a sharp scream for a moment. it was silenced just another moment later when your consciousness was ripped away.

you had heard one story of a creature, or rather people, in the forest. it was so long ago that you truly thought you had made it up.

the fae in white, also known as the white fae, are dangerous creatures that take refuge in the forests and caves surrounding briar valley. not much is known about these wild fae solely because no one has returned to tell the tale.

it was short, not very sweet, but it sent chills down your spine when you first heard it.

"come, little dragon, wake up," a sweet voice lulled to you, drawing your consciousness out into the forefront. you let out a little groan, your back still aching from the attack that drove you into the ground.

when your vision cleared, no longer hazy and blurry, you saw nothing but a rocky floor. now that you thought about it, it had to be a cave, right? the large flood of light was enough to prove your hypothesis.

you tried to move your arms, but the weight of your own heavy body along with the thorned restraints kept you from doing so. the spikes drove into your skin, drawing out blood the more you moved. you let out little whimpers and squeals, refusing to scream out, lest your shout echoes along the cave's walls.

for a brief moment, you felt something flutter on your back.

"ah, there you are," the voice cooed once more, a cold hand sliding up your neck and chin, tilting your head towards them.

the fae was stark white, both in clothes and skin. she had sunken black eyes as if she hadn't slept in centuries. her long black hair fell over her shoulders in strands, knotted together to make thick strips of hair that seemed like a pain to comb through. she wore something akin to a nightgown, held together with little thorned vines as if they were stitches.

"welcome back to the world, little dragon," she giggled, her hand moving up to stroke the side of your horn. she hummed to herself as if satisfied with the feeling of your horns against her skin.

"wh...who...?"

"no need for introductions, lovely," she mused, her fingers continually dancing along your horn. "you won't be here a moment more than needed."

she gave you not more than a second to gather your thoughts before more searing pain shot through your body. this time, it wasn't a stabbing pain like when the beast sunk its teeth into your back.

no, no, no. it was a shooting pain in two spots on your back. exactly where your wings were located.

now you were no longer concerned with keeping your screams down. you screeched at the pain in your back, thrashing around in the confines of the thorned vines, unbothered by the minor pain of them digging into your skin. frankly, you were more concerned with the fact that you now knew the reason why fae did not live to tell the tale of the fae in white.

they were stripped of their wings and left for dead in these caves, maybe even fed to the beasts of the briar.

"oh, hush," the fae in white sang, her other hand that had been tugging and tearing at your wing now being jabbed into your wing roots. it was as if she was digging through dirt in search of a plant's roots. she effortlessly scooped through your skin, her fingers grasping at the root of your wing.

and, in a single, horribly painful, motion, she tore out your left wing.

"my, my," she cooed at both the wing laying still in her hand and at the sound of your screams and cries. "to think i would be bestowed the honor of stealing away the wings of a draconia... i wonder."

she paused for a moment, her hand, the one not holding your dismembered wing, danced up the curve of your horn once more.

"i have never tried to take a horn before... but first."

just like before, the searing pain in your back increased tenfold as she tore your other wing from its roots. your cries were now squeals mixed with whimpers and whines.

"i'd advise you to bite your tongue, little dragon," she spoke in a soft voice before grabbing ahold of both your horns, yanking at them as if they would pop out of your skull. "ah, they're attached. i'm not a fan of killing my prizes, so..."

crack

instead of digging her hands into your skull--that would surely kill you--she sliced just above the base of your horns. they cracked at the force, leaving behind two small slivers on your head.

"perfect," she cooed to herself, unwrapping the thorned vines from your body. she scooped up her prizes, the last remnants of your draconia blood, and seemed to disappear into the light that flooded in from the cave's entrance.

and all you could do was fall onto the ground, too weak to move a muscle on your own.

had you managed to maintain a second more of consciousness, you would have felt your body lift from the ground, into the secure hold of your savior.

taglist: @brokenncrown @help-meplz @destinationdesignation @rainys-personal-garden @kalims @sxftiebee @luxaryllis @auld-a @the-dumber-scaramouche @ayra2452008 @tinywho-man @spadecentral @justeclem44 @bajifairyy @mulandi @sadimon @stormyovent0aster @sn00zl4x @f1fty-f1fty @bloomed-night-flower @madusas-girlfriend @b0nkers-papaya @arandomeroacher @randonamedcl @potabletable @meerpea @luvcalico @chlousp @prettyinblack231 @dindarasuum @elizaboba @ravenlking @mizucika @lunavixia @gasoline-eater @thesirenwashere @rainingdandelion @mariesakamari @potatohuman04 @illnesscomm @mizucika @lunavixia @gasoline-eater @thesirenwashere @rainingdandelion @mariesakamari @potatohuman04 @illnesscomm

[triclopsrabbit]

As a fellow dragon fan, I am curious if you have a preference to the anatomy of certain dragons over others- for example, I adore the Skyrim dragons, which are technically more like wyverns due to only having two hind legs and using their wings as front limbs! Are there any specifications regarding anatomy or style with different dragons that are your favourite? :3

yes, i typically dont consider wyverns dragons unless they are called dragons in their respective media (elder scrolls, GoT, etc) i understand wyverns being the preferred way to depict them in some cases bc yknow no living vertebrate on earth has six limbs so its a BIIITTT more "realistic" to have them be wyverns. but personally i prefer six limbed dragons mostly european dragon in style but i like drawing Long boys too

im gonna show u my dragonsona now shes a mixture of european dragon and chinese dragon (as a joke about how i am half white n half chinese lol) and i dont like drawing wings honestly so i just gave her six legs

[tazdrgaoneyetagain]

NEW PINNED POST FINALLY.

i canNOT deal with looking at the outdated one much longer so its new pinned time!

HELLAO! i go by taz, jevil, or if youre feeling sillay, you can call me drgaone! or just dragon. if youre normal. also any variation of the word dog

☆ he/it/bark, transmasc and pan!

☆ furry and therian (black wolfdog), selfshipper!!!1!1!

☆ not whatsoever diagnosed but everyone who talks to me agrees theres some divergent on that neuro

☆ taken and very loud about it i love them sm.

☆ theoretical cannibal. key word THEORETICAL.

☆ chronic epistaxis i am the number one bleeder

《FANDOMS :3333》

◇ wings of fire

◇ pjsk/vocaloid

◇ fnaf, specifically the dcas

◇ hfjone

◇ the walten files

◇ chonny's charming chaos compendium

◇ regretevator its birds fault

◇ kinitopet!!!!

《F/OS !!》

♡ sun (five nights at freddys, romantic f/o)

♡ six-claws (wings of fire, father f/o)

♡ sayori (doki doki literature club, romantic f/o)

♡ shadow bonnie (five nights at freddys, platonic f/o)

♡ the heart acoustic (cccc, platonic f/o)

♡ kinito (kinitopet, romantic f/o)

《TAGSSSS》

♧ drgaone roars -> og posts

♧ drgaone snarls -> asks and answers

♧ tax evasion -> art tag! i used this one across all my past blogs (@taz-drgaone, and the one i had to deactivate womp womp) so going through a tag for a literal felony is fucking flooded with fruity dragons. in retrospect i should have made it drgaone draws

♧ manatee the silly! -> manatee my blorbo my silly. also used across all blogs but you dont have to scroll past political shit

♧ drgaone scrawls -> poetry n fanfic !!!!!!!!!

♧ saveforlater -> imagine me curled up on a pile of these posts like a sleeping dragon atop its horde of treasures

♧ holy shit the images are moving -> animations i post

♧ phoenixposting -> me being in love

《MORE INFO I GUESS》

♤ feel free to send asks requests dms whateva!!!1! i thrive off interaction its my fucking lifeblood

♤ ask about my ocs.

♤ my discord is assignedmuckaatblucka PLEASE ADD ME.

♤ tazzerjevil on ao3!!! read my fics boy but maybe not the smut. currently workinf on a jashling chatfic im v proud of

♤ my biggest trigger is the military PLEEEASEEEE dont send me shit related to it. or i kill you wigh my teeth

♤ PRO-PALESTINE. except i cant post much abt it because my pro-israel mother knows my tumblr. and also the above

♤ i am worlds most annoying dog. i will spam you with barking and yap about my partner so much

BASIC DNI SHIT! pls if ur a jackass do Not follow. also anyone against cannibalism, transspecies people (not one myself but its such a cool concept), mspec lesbians, xenos or neos. also if youre gonna tag me in a reblog chain plEASE dont do one of those ones where it says "tag [insert number of people]" i panic and have no clue who ta tag,,, also no reblog bait please!

OKAY GO LOOK AT MY SHIT HAVE FUN!!!!!! yes i changed this. slay

[gaybabything]

Awwwww you have so many pets!! Agh they sound so cute. One day I will have a cat and I plan on naming it Pringles (if it is orange) and Pickles (for any other color)!!

OH THE ADVENTURE ZONE IS SO GOOD! But... you need to like their humor in order to like it- so I can understand if it isn't for you lol. Until the end of the first arch they are just following a module and having a good time, nothing really story heavy happens until later. (OH BUT ITS SO WORTH IT OMG-)

Favorite was ELA I always loved writing, I was just sad that it was almost NEVER creative writing. Just boring essays n' stuff. Least favorite was history/geography and... it shows. I am... REALLY dumb when it comes to those two things.

Favorite stuffed animal... hmmm. I would probably have to go with either Fred the GIANT stuffed bear, or my dragon with no wings (totally not a dinosaur- I refuse to admit that-) and his name is Quest!

As to what I am drawing: Right now I am working on my comic! I would show you but it might give away who I am haha (also- can't send pictures via anon)

Questions: What is underland chronicles about? Funny how similar our taste in shows was because MAN I know none of the books you listed. Do you have a favorite video game?

(also this is so fun! Thank you for doing this with me! I love meeting new people on here!!)

-🌻

History is my downfall as well!

Ok, so The Underland Chronicles follows the story of this 12 year old kid named Gregor. He lives in a small New York apartment with his mom and 2 sisters. One day, he and his baby sister fall down a vent shaft in their apartment building laundry room... and then keep falling. And falling. They wind up in this place called the Underland. It's an absolutely massive cave system running underneath like, the entire U.S. Down there is a full on city of people called Regalia. There, Gregor learns that he's a great warrior foretold by the prophecies of their people. And that basically all the animals in the underland are massive and sentient. There are giant bats that people "bond" with and can fly on the backs of. Giant man eating rats that want to kill all the humans in Regalia, giant cockroaches, giant mice, giant lizards, and just so much more.

This poor kid has been prophecized to basically save this kingdom from like a billion different threats. He has to kill this entire rat army, find a cure for a deadly plague, slay this extra giant rat dude, and like so much more. Also, this is written by Suzanne Collins, the author of the Hunger Games. So while these are books intended for 12 year olds, they are violent and graphic. So many characters die, and I think I cried over like every book. The last one really left me messed up. They are great. Like, for example, there's a scene where a character gets eaten alive by a giant pitcher plant, and they try to save her, but when they pull her out she's like completely dissolved by acid from the waist up. And on multiple occasions Gregor has been described as "drenched in blood" (not his own) and just absolutely traumatized. This kid gets messed up.

I love it literally so much. This series was like, the best thing my little 10 year old self ever read. I still encourage people to read it no matter your age cause it's just so good. It's also really hard to describe so my little summary does not do it justice at all.

My favorite video game is Little Nightmares! Specifically the first one, but I'm also a big fan of the second! I was also a big Undertale kid, but for some reason now I don't remember much of it?

Questions: Do you have a favorite video game? And aside from Warrior Cats, what's your favorite childhood book? Or favorite book in general?

(It's past 12 am here so I'm probably gonna go to bed in a bit!)

[godkilller]

@izzabizz139

I wanna hear you rant about the Gin vs Hitsugaya anime fight bc I love seeing your pov and you clearly write better than whoever extended that scene :) pretty please

          out of character.  DON’T ENABLE ME SO MUCH !!  No but I cackled when I first saw this ask because oh my god, clearly you saw a taste of my annoyance about the anime adaptation -- no, adaptation implies it was accurate, I’ll say the anime’s take was “inspired by” the manga’s quick run-in. I’ll start by saying this moment is supposed to be a bit important considering, via the audience’s point of view, THIS IS THE FIRST WE SEE OF TWO CAPTAIN-RANKED SHINIGAMI CLASHING. The only other captain-involved fight we’ve seen thus far in the manga is Kenpachi  ( who is an outlier and should not be counted... no, I joke... but, still, Ichigo was not an equal to him, his sword was sliced through like butter. )  The whole reason I enjoyed this encounter between Toshiro and Gin was simply this; it wasn’t some fancy multi-chaptered fight. IN THE MANGA, THERE ARE ONLY TWO BLOWS MADE. One, by Toshiro, to begin the fight. The second, to end it, is Gin’s strike.

          I want you to know that I’ve rewatched this specifically to answer this ask, and only due to this, as I wouldn’t have ever sought it out otherwise. HONOR MY SACRIFICE.

          Read more for length. I’m merciful.

          In the anime, they monologue at each other, and it’s mostly a combination of Toshiro making three separate death threats  ( he starts this off by saying “I’ll kill you before Hinamori arrives” and then goes on rewording it each time, and then also repeats the death-threat he gave Gin prior to this conflict about “I’ll kill you if Hinamori bleeds” )  and then also Gin and Izuru talking about how truly powerful and amazing Toshiro is -- no, this isn’t me being bitter or petty, I literally shit you not, Gin has a line that is legit “AS EXPECTED FROM HITSUGAYA TOSHIRO, CAPTAIN OF THE TENTH DIVISION, A CHILD PRODIGY OF TH' SORT THAT ONLY COMES ALONG ONLY ONCE EVERY FEW CENTURIES. HOW VEEEERY DANGEROUS. YOU’RE SERIOUS, AIN’T YA?” like don’t get me wrong, love a good sarcastic little shit comment like that, but the amount of times the anime pumps Toshiro up like he’s their shinest new cash cow ( and he is, at this point, it is not even 50 episodes into the series and they’ve realized everyone likes him and he’s jumped to high ranks in popularity polls... earning him filler spotlights, and eventually his very own non-canon movie )  so everything coming out of Gin’s mouth feels like more bullshit than necessary. Izuru’s already literally monologued, internally, how powerful and amazing Toshiro is anyways. Why this ?

          Not to mention that, prior to saying that long-winded shit, Gin’s haori changed length three times  ( and once it was longer than his entire body by several feet, and no not in a ‘to show motion’ way )  and most importantly Shinso was drawn, consistently, at katana-length for the duration of their little spat where the following, too, happened: Gin frog-leaps after doing a backflip, Toshiro gives Gin two (2) haircuts, Gin ruins some floorboards and gives Toshiro at least one splinter in his arm, Toshiro whilst wearing socks lands on Shinso’s blunt edge and pushes the sword down with his footsie because that’s how that works, there’s another backflip somewhere in there that Gin doesn’t need to be doing, twirl, twirl, and ballet, Gin’s face elongates until his chin is bigger than his face, Gin spends ten+ seconds purely dodging very close strikes to his face as Toshiro is the only one making breathy growly and ‘tsuuaaah’ sounds, there is a brief moment of no gravity as Toshiro keeps hacking at Gin midair and Gin blocks it over and over again but they still stay in the air but they’re not standing or jumping or using reiatsu they’re just like, momentum-locked I don’t fucking know, Gin frowny faces as he blocks because like somehow this kid who doesn’t even have more reiatsu than him, whose arm strength should not be an issue, is like. making him nervous?? as sword sparks fly. if you know me at all you know I hate when they fuckin’ firework sparkler-ify swords clashing.

          Anyways, all of this happens whilst Shinso is the wrong length and Gin’s hair is getting purpler by the second and this entire thing is somehow a big jack-off to Toshiro’s immense strength even though he’s screaming and wailing at Gin like a child and Gin’s just a vessel at this point to Enhance Toshiro, which, fine, okay, but at least be more accurate with it god damn. ANYWAYS,

          THEY JOUST. They literally run at each other, swords centered, and run past / to the side of one another. Jousting. “Cause that’s how that works. No slashes, no cutting motion. Just swords centered, because the animators were like “no worries guys I know swordfighting basics that’s a legit pose” yeah it is WHEN STATIONARY. Not rUNNING IT DOWN.

          And then Gin’s sleeve is cut, somehow, from the Jousting, because wow Toshiro wow wow wowowowow, and then Toshiro comes back and starts wailing at Gin again and Gin blocks it, again, and it’s all very annoyingly repetitive, and Gin’s frowning and sparks are flying and Gin’s using Shinso, the katana-length wakizashi I guess, with two hands because like I said, the animators knew basics and basics are “katana are used two-handed” like. Okay, you’re not wrong, but I cannot stress this enough: SHINSO IS NOT A KATANA. It’s shorter and meant to be used single-handed!!!! sTop!!! So then Gin rips off the tattered part of his sleeve and throws it at Toshiro, who swipes it away from his face using his Zanpakuto because that’s intelligent and a piece of cloth was definitely threatening enough to use your sword to bat it away  ( btw, Hitsugaya wasn’t holding his sword with two hands at this precise moment, so he could have just... used his other hand )  and then Gin goes in for the classic “stabby stabby rapidly at you while the animation gets a little breather because we repeat this cycle a few times with flashy bgs and phew money made” ... WE ARE FOUR MINUTES AND THIRTY SECONDS INTO THIS FIGHT BY THE WAY. Gin does this for seventeen (17) agonizing seconds straight. Yes, I counted. That was sixteen and a half too many seconds for me, personally.

          Toshiro somehow lassos Shinso whilst Gin is stabby stabby-ing with Hyourinmaru’s chain component. I say component like it’s somehow some type of beauty guru’s lipstick holder, but really am I that wrong ? When else has he ever used this feature ? Anyways, he lassos Shinso because yeehaw I guess, god I’m falling apart at this point can y’all tell????? I need a drink.

          and so, because now Toshiro has Gin’s sword somehow trapped with chain even though it’s just looped around it, he backflips over Gin for a cool trickshot, no blow issued, just vibes, and Gin uses a big brain moment to tug Shinso and the chains slide off. okay now what. We’re past five minutes into this fight, nonstop.

          SOUNDS LIKE A GOOD TIME FOR GIN TO PAUSE AND APPRECIATE TOSHIRO AGAIN! “I see, I shouldn’t have underestimated you, HItsugaya Toshiro” I’m starting to have a feeling Gin’s VA was told to just wing these lines because the amount of times he fills silences / Gin’s mouth movements with Toshiro’s long-ass name is astounding, he’s definitely drawing blanks here but he sure as hell knows one thing: that damn ice-boy’s name. He continues by saying “I suppose I’ll end up regretting it afterwards.”

          Toshiro says that’s not enough, and it’s really dramatic and cool. His eyes even glow all icy and blue and pretty, like his flowy reiatsu. Aesthetic points were gifted entirely to Toshiro’s animations in this scene. Gin was finished in MS Paint and each new scene they had to draw Shinso from memory and try to remember what hue of purple his hair was at gunpoint. Toshiro lets off a big wave of reiatsu and then it vanishes, and he jumps up reaaaally high. like this guy’s flying. his eyes arent glowing anymore that’s sad. Bring Back Glowing Eyes For Strong Shinigami 2k21.

          Toshiro releases his Shikai, and it’s badass, the sky darkens, Izuru looks distinctly more worried than usual, and Gin’s frowning with his teeth out like Bugs Bunny’s having a bad day, all is right in the world. Toshiro and his released Shikai have a nice moment for the Pics, and a big epic freeze frame blur moment happens with it all coiled and swirling around him. Wrow!  ( click the ‘wrow’ it’s a link to my exact reaction )  Izuru narrates for the third time about how powerful Toshiro is, his reiatsu, his Zanpakuto being a deity who is only unlocked every few centuries. The strongest ice-type sword. Pardon the pun, but that’s... you could say, so cool.

          It can even control the weather. So hey, next time it’s rainy, cold, icy, or snowing and you’re unhappy, it’s time to direct a big fuck you at Toshiro.

          Gin dodges the first dragon, and blocks the second with Shinso because blocking water and ice with a sword makes sense right? This actually takes a solid amount of seconds as Gin cuts through the entire length of this ice dragon noodle. Things dissipate, and pause, too, to really drag this out. Surprisingly, this reveals that Gin’s made a boo-boo, his left arm’s frozen, which doesn’t even mean anything because Gin is right-handed, and Toshiro teleports himself behind Gin in true fighty fashion.

          We have arrived at seven minutes and just under twenty seconds of this fight, and Gin turns, DOES THE UNTHINKABLE, gasp! He opens his eyes. His red, dull, evil, gray-eyebrowed with purple hair eyes, and shoots Shinso through its hideout spot behind his haori. This nearly takes off Toshiro’s eye and upwards of his head, but the little guy dives down fast. The rest happens in slow motion, supposedly, because it takes an eternity and people talk entire full sentences in its span of time.

          Gin asks Toshiro if he’s sure he’d like to dodge that  ( it’s a little late for that ) and says that Momo’ll die if he does. SHINSO SCRAPING ALONG AGAINST HYOURINMARU STRANGELY MAKES NOT A SINGLE SOUND. Mute. Even though before they had no problem animating and adding sounds to them smacking blades earlier. There are soundless sparks though, so there’s that. Yay. Can you tell how exhausted this’s made me? I need a nap.

          Shinso is already more than halfway towards Momo, still unconscious, she most definitely has a serious concussion via Toshiro backhanding her midair consider she’s been unconscious for longer than ten minutes. Toshiro has time to get up off the floor where he dropped to dodge, realize with a shocked gasp, turn, shout her name, and watch as Rangiku arrives in a random glow of gold which never happens ever again and blocks the attack with Haineko. Haineko almost cracks on the impact, and continues growing in damage as Rangiku holds Shinso there, implying that she’s stopped it from reaching one-hundred sword’s lengths to pierce Momo. Yes I’m including that implication / note in here because we love to see Rangiku succeeding in life and being Not-Helpless, all while potentially damaging Haineko severely if it wasn’t able to hold him off. Yikes, Gin!

          Rangiku threatens to join the fight if he doesn’t withdraw his sword. Gin smiles, withdraws it, and then Shunpos away.

          Whatta mess. Oh, and the anime fight was pretty fucked up, too.

          This is a long post, but here’s the manga version:

Toshiro leaps into the air,

This is where the fight actually starts between them:

And end. 

Five pages. Two blows. Does not equate to ten minutes of non-stop fighting and monologues. Sometimes, and I mean this in the most unbiased way possible, less is more.

[banalbones]

The Petite Prince: Chapter 5

Chapter 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8

Chapter 5: The Treasure Hunt, Part 2

Summary: Roman is a child. Virgil and Logan lost him, and have been questing to find him for way too long. Remus loves his bro, but is feeling a bit more chaotic.

Words: 2485

Ships: Familial prinxiety, logince and Creativitwins. Eventual familial royality, roceit and DRLAMP  

Genre: Fluff with a side dose of angst

Warnings: A few swears, tiny blood mention, arguing, a mention of being unconscious, a dragon, falling, tell me if there’s any more!

Taglist: @pricklyfish777 @sunflowerblondeuwu  @itriedandimtired @draw-your-perfect-world @cemmy @battlebunnyteardropsinthesun @nonbinary-lizard-2

_________________________

The ‘twins’ were doing karaoke with the birds.

“Love is an open doo-oo-oor!”

The song was perfect for the pair, an adorable ‘love’ song for Roman, and a Disney villain tune for Remus.

Roman was grinning madly, his gap tooth showing, as his sweet little child voice perfectly nailed all of the notes.

“You’re really good at this,” Remus commented, taking a break from the song. “But Elphaba’s better.”

Cue the *o f f e n d e d p r i n c e y n o i s e s*.

“She’s a bi- she’s a bird! How can she be b- be better?”

Remus cackled. Annoying his brother was fun, even when he was a child.

He probably shouldn’t be thinking that, but still.

Quoting Virgil, sometimes I just gotta be me-an.

The smol one wacked his leg with the stick.

(Remus truly didn’t know how he kept getting it.)

“You know,” he said, “We could decorate the stick.”

That was a thing kids did right? Decorating sticks? 

Apparently it was, as Roman squealed in delight and jumped around, whilst simultaneously summoning paint and glitter and smaller sticks and a whole lot of other stuff Remus didn’t bother to acknowledge.

I would have just gotten blood.

_________________________

“Are we supposed to climb this thing?” Virgil asked incredulously.

Logan wasn’t looking at the tower, so much as the dragon. It had shimmering scales, the color of the sea, covering the entirety of its lithe body, with accents of a bright gold littered throughout. The sunset colored wings however, were the things that stuck out most.

The dragon was quite beautiful and had cool wings, in an abbreviated sentence.

It also appeared to be asleep, which was definitely a pro in this situation of cons.

“If we wish to retrieve Roman, I believe so.”

“Well, fuck.”

_________________________

Virgil for all his faults, was loyal. Or so he told himself. Janus (?!?!), when the emo was still a part of the Others, had told him that dark sides were extremely protective of what they deem to be theirs.

So he supposed it made sense that he, the literal embodiment of anxiety, was about to climb a fifty foot tower with no safety precautions, just to save the little prince.

He turned to Logan and grinned sheepishly.

“So, uh, do you want to start?”

Just because Virgil was going to do it, didn’t mean he had to go first.

_________________________

The Dragon Witch smirked slightly as she rested her scaled head atop the tower’s black roof, gazing down at the two sides.

Looked like it was time to drop the ladder.

_________________________

Logan rolled his eyes at Virgil and began to reach for the tower, not sure what he was actually going to do when he touched it, when suddenly a pile of pili fell on his head.

“What the heck?”

The sub-astute teacher looked up to see… a rope of hair?

What?

“It’s like in Tangled!” Virgil said, somewhat excitedly.

“The Disney movie?”

“The Disney movie.” Virgil nodded.

“So what do we do, climb it?”

“I mean I guess,” The Supreme Dark Overlord of Negative Commerce (That’s a throwback) paused, “Because I don’t see any stairs.”

Logan, once again, rolled his eyes.

Might as well start climbing.

And so he did.

_________________________

Roman watched LoLo begin to climb through the fly-eyes. It seemed so fun!

Maybe he could do that one day…

If Remus would let him.

Roman giggled.

He probably would.

_________________________

Remus had wanted to add a thorn bush at the bottom of the tower, to be true to the original, ya know? But the smol one hadn’t wanted them to get hurt.

Again.

So instead, he had come up with an ingenious compromise that Logan would have been proud of.

Put vines at the bottom, but make them look like thorns!

It would be so funny to see Virgil panic and try even harder not to fall, especially with the armor-

Oh yeah!

“RoRo, do you want to give them the armor now?”

The little prince nodded enthusiastically, his face scrunching up in concentration.

And then…

“I did it!”

Little did the prince know that Remus had done a slight flick of the wrist, ensuring that the metal protection would… weigh them down.

He may be my brother, and I still love and will protect him at all costs, but I am always a chaotic rat man.

_________________________

I can’t believe you acknowledged that you were a chaotic rat man.

I can.

_________________________

Patton hummed softly, twirling around as he made the brownies.

He had tried checking on Roman in his room, but the princely side hadn’t answered.

So, he decided to make brownies to give to Roman when he felt like he could talk to him again!

If he ever felt like he could…

Patton shook his head quickly, dismissing the thought.

He would! It was Roman, after all!

Patton swallowed.

It was Roman, after all…

_________________________

Logan was halfway up the tower (and the hair) when he felt a weight be placed on his body. A very heavy weight.

The logical side was now extremely glad he had made Virgil stay on the ground.

Gravity tugged a little too hard on Logan for his own liking, and then he was falling.

And falling.

And f

           a

                 l

                      l

                           i

                               n

                                       g

                                            .

Into a pile of thornbushes?

Logan inwardly groaned. It was like in the Grimm Brother’s version of the fairytale.

The prince fell into a bunch of thorns and got blinded.

I’m already blind enough, come on!

He barely registered Virgil screaming out his name through the rush of air and thoughts.

And then he landed.

________________________

Virgil screamed as Logan fell.

He was gonna die!

Could sides even die?

He didn’t think so, but what if they could?

The emo’s mind was so filled with what ifs, that he barely registered the dumping of heavy metal on his shoulders.

It was like a weighted blanket but five times heavier.

“Oof.” He was pulled to the floor, just as Logan landed… in a pile of thorns?!

How had he not noticed that?

“Holy shit! Logan!”

He heard a groan.

“Ow.”

Virgil breathed a sigh of relief.

At least he was alive.

_________________________

You fell off a tower?!

Yes. I just said that.

How did you survive?

We’re getting to that.

_________________________

The teacher figure groaned as he opened his eyes. He wasn’t blind, and he wasn’t bleeding.

That was a good sign.

It seems I have not, in fact landed in a pile of thorns.

“Holy shit! Logan!”

Logan attempted to move his head. A fall like that could not be good for his neck.

He managed it, if only slightly, to see a raccoon-like side running, well trying to run, towards him.

“Hello, Virgil. Before you ask, no, I do not know how I am alive.”

“Are you-”

“Yes, I am indeed hurt,” Logan interrupted, “I fell twenty five feet, what did you expect?”

“I don’t… whatever. How come you’re wearing armor?”

Logan responded with a dry “You are too,” before craning his neck (ow) to see that he was, in fact, wearing a bunch of bulky metal.

It was very blue. Or indigo, depending on how specific you wanted to be.

“Why is it so heavy?”

“That’s because of Remus,” a very familiar, lilting voice answered, as weapons materialized in the boys hands.

“Oh shit,” he heard Virgil mutter.

Logan looked up (once again, ow) to see the dragon that had been sitting atop the tower flying towards them.

It let out a roar.

To mirror Virgil’s earlier words, oh shit.

_________________________

Roman stood proudly, brandishing his stick for all to see.

By all, he meant Remus and the birds, as they were the only ones left to see it.

(The other forest creatures had to go, they had told Roman, it was almost dinner time for them.)

Apparently, birds had really weird eating schedules.

Big me had a really weird eating schedule too. He only ate during the night.

That, along with the fact big him never slept at night either led to the little prince forming a rather intelligent conclusion.

Big him was nocturnal!

Like an owl!

Wait…

If Big him was nocturnal (or an owl)…

Did that mean ReeRee was too?

…

“ReeRee… are you a- you an owl? Or noc- or noc-tur-nal?”

The Duke turned.

“Also, do yo- do you li-li-li’ my stick? Its glitty-ery!”

The tiny royal’s big brother looked confused.

“No? Why? Your stick is splendiferous, by the way.”

Now it was Roman’s turn to be confused.

(He was happy with the reaction to the stick.)

“Big me is. How co-how come you aren’t?”

Maybe the lack of sleep at night isn’t something that owl’s do.

Oh! Elphaba’s leaving! Byeee!

The petite prince was so caught up in his train of thought that he didn’t see Remus’s concerned gaze.

Bye bye birdies!

_________________________

Virgil stared at the bedazzled dirk in his hand, the onyx gems glinting in the light of the fire.

Wait, fire?

The emo turned to see a large green dragon (?!?!) diving towards him, flames spewing out of its mouth.

A dragon?

Shitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshitshit

“Virgil! Move!” he heard a voice shouting.

But for a moment he was paralyzed.

Then, in a way that was opposite his regular behavior, he let out a battle cry and leapt towards the reptilian rapscallion (Roman would be proud), brandishing his weapon.

The dragon roared as Virgil threw one of his dirks, the sharp metal burying itself in a shimmering teal scale.

No blood emerged.

One weapon wasted.

“What the fuck are you doing, you inbecile? Run!”

For some reason, Virgil decided to ignore the admittedly good advice.

The dragon swiped at the anxious side, knocking him into the hard brick of the tower.

The scaled beast crept forward.

It poked Virgil’s head, slamming it back into the stone.

And then the world was fading to black.

Well, he knew that wasn’t good.

_________________________

Logan shut his eyes, restraining a groan of frustration.

WHY did people (metaphysical people) never listen to him?

Virgil was the smallest of the sides (apart from Roman, at the moment) and though he was fight or flight, the anxious side really didn’t know how to defend himself, especially against dragons. It also didn’t help that he only had a tiny daggers and a leaden suit of armor to protect himself.

Logan took a deep breath.

…

When the logical side’s eyes reopened, he was subjected to the view of Virgil being yeeted (slang words) into the tower.

Virgil was quickly climbing up the idiot list.

Very quickly indeed.

_________________________

Where am I on the list right now?

The same place as you were when this happened.

Where was I?

That is not important.

What? Yes it i-

_________________________

Remus was concerned. Which was weird for him.

What did the smol one mean?

An owl?

Nocturnal?

Was Roman secretly an owl? Or did his twin have a really unhealthy sleep schedule that led to negatively affecting his mood, energy levels and attention span, making him lash out in even the slightest of stressful situations whilst simultaneously causing his metaphysical human being-like health and mental health to deteriorate?

Nah, he was probably an owl.

And with that (most of) Remus’s concern washed away.

His brother was an owl.

_________________________

Roman was watching the battle through the fly-eyes. Well, battle was an over exaggeration. It was really just VeeVee getting smacked into a wall by a dragon (who looked suspiciously like the Dragon Witch Big him had killed a while ago).

The prince looked to where Logan was.

The nerd looked reeeeeally annoyed.

Probably because now he had to defeat the dragon all by himself.

What’s he gonna do?

Roman watched as the logical side got up, a broadsword appearing in his grasp.

The prince summoned a bowl of popcorn.

He should throw it. Mama should definitely throw it.

Logan threw it.

And missed.

The sword didn’t even get near it!

Come ooooon, Mama.

The dragon roared and pounced on Logan, baring its teeth.

Roman leaned forward, a handful of popcorn nearing his mouth.

This was getting good.

A drop of saliva dripped onto Logan’s face…

Aaaaaannd…

He was whisked away from the fly-eyes view by a pair of grimy hands.

“ReeRee! No fair!”

“Sorry RoRo.”

The little prince pouted, and Remus held something out to hi.

“Look I made a stick!”

_________________________

Did it work?

Did what work?

The stick. As a distraction.

It wasn’t a distraction, I just really wanted to show him my stick!

Liesssss.

It was also a distraction.

_________________________

Patton was becoming concerned.

Roman usually would have come out by now.

Maybe he decided to talk to someone else.

But who?

Definitely not Janus, for obvious reasons. Maybe Virgil?

I should check. Just to see if he’s okay.

I’ll bring the brownies.

Just in case…

And so the walk to Virgil’s room began.

_________________________

Do it for the child.

That was the mantra that Logan was repeating in his head.

He truly did not appreciate being carried through the sky in a dragon’s claws, especially since it had caused his glasses to fall off of his face.

For the last time, I’m already blind! Why is it always me?

It also didn’t help that every single part of his body was aching.

_________________________

Do it for the bean.

That was the mantra that would probably have been repeated in Virgil’s head at this moment, if he wasn’t unconscious.  

_________________________

Patton frowned.

Virgil wasn’t there.

Maybe Roman and his dark strange son were with Logan!

And so the walk to Logan’s room began.

_________________________

Remus giggled.

RoRo had forgotten about the fly-eyes almost immediately, being too distracted by the glowing stick.

He waved his hand.

A visitor (or two) was about to drop in.

_________________________

Patton furrowed his brows.

Logan wasn’t in his room either.

Were they all together?

Who else could they be with?

Remus?

It was worth a shot.

And so the walk to Remus’s room began.

_________________________

Back in the dragon witch’s claws, a fully healed, very confused Virgil awoke, and Logan felt all of his physical pain disappear, along with the stupid heavy armor.

And then they were thrown through the window of the brick monstrosity,

----------------

As Patton twisted the door handle,

-----------------

As Virgil and Logan crashed through the floor of the tower,

-----------------

As Remus looked up to see the ceiling falling in,

-----------------

As Patton pushed open the door,

-----------------

As the left brain boys fell into the Duke’s room.

Oh boy.

_________________________

Roman looked up from the stick to see ReeRee grinning like a madman (That’s pretty normal), VeeVee and Mama sprawled on the floor (Yay! Why’s the ceiling broken?), and Da- Patton glancing around the room with a plate of brownies in his hands (ohnohonohonohonohonoh).

The petite prince was feeling slightly overwhelmed.

“Wha?”

_________________________

Thanks for reading this chapter of the Petite Prince!

(And by the way, at the time of the stick distraction, Roman is around five. If you’re confused, don’t be scared to ask.)

Any and all feedback is appreciated!

[theindiegamereview]

Meet the creative team: “Spellstone”

Are you a collectible card game (CCG) fan? If so, read on, because this week we spoke to the makers of Spellstone, a free-to-play (F2P) casual story-based fantasy card game that features vibrant, colourful, hand-drawn art on hundreds of beautiful cards that you can acquire and use in battle, both against the computer and other players!

TIGR: PABLO and DUSTIN are artists who have worked on Spellstone's art, helping create some of the iconic characters Spellstone fans know and love. We asked them how they came to work on the game, as well as what intrigued them about this project.

DUSTIN: I was working as a contract artist when I was asked to create some sample cards for a potential CCG, which is something I'd always wanted to do. The samples I submitted eventually led to me getting a contract to create the initial art for Spellstone. After about four months, I was offered a full-time position. I had such a great experience working with the team that I jumped at the opportunity!

PABLO: Prior to starting work on Spellstone, I remember doing an art piece to test my skills. I greatly enjoyed that because I particularly liked this game's art style - which is actually similar to my own! There were still slight differences though, so I've had to adapt a little. Blending my own personal style into an existing one was challenging. But something that intrigued me about Spellstone was the variety of factions in the game. Each and every one opens up a big array of possibilities when it comes to creating a character. I felt my options were unlimited and I loved it!

TIGR: Spellstone features many different cards and characters. We wanted to know who conceptualises all this, and how much creative licence artists get when crafting a character. FERNANDO, currently the main artist for the game, gave us more insight.

FERNANDO:  That Spellstone has such an immense variety of characters means it's a complete and delightful dish for artists. It's hugely gratifying to find such visual diversity with which to play with. You're completely free to create, as long as you respect the game's universe and visual language.

As for the process, the concept of what a card must look like and how it must be functional in terms of gameplay comes from the guys in the game design department. Very creative people... sorcerers maybe? I don't know. Haha!

From a brief but concise description they give me, I can get a sense of what kind of character and action they want to see in a card. Once I have all the information I need to start sketching, my favourite hour finally begins: creative hour!

If the card description involves an existing type of character, like a goblin, part of the fun has to do with the way you depict that character, situation, action and specific emotion. There's also some freedom to create from scratch if needed - that's exciting and challenging! Sometimes the ideas come from a mix of characters, and that's when the laboratory inside my mind starts working: I press a button and something cool, spooky or funny comes out - whatever the game requires. Other times, new concepts require that I look for approximate references of what's needed, so that serves as the starting point. No matter what, it's always a very enjoyable process. Sometimes we have to make corrections, that's true. But as with everything in life, this is necessary for things to work properly. You may have to redraw stuff, but finally the card is done - it works, it delivers and it entertains!

  TIGR: In Spellstone, cards can be upgraded from a single to a dual to a quad, and we really like that this sometimes tells a "mini story" of of sorts through the artwork. Some are funny (we just love Honeycomb Lobber!), some cute (Bomb Spirit is soooo adorable when he’s angry!), some uplifting (Aurora Shaver ranks among our favourites), and some, um, a bit disturbing, to be honest (Cleaverstorm Hunter, anyone?!)! And some are just sad - we can't help but feel sorry for the poor li'l forest furries that presumably got devoured by Alphamech Stalker! We asked the team how they came up with ideas for all these tiny narratives, and MELINDA, one of the game designers, told us more.

MELINDA: When I was younger, there were a few creatures in video games that terrified me. One of those I remembered most was Medusa, an air jellyfish from Ecco: The Tides of Time. While traversing through a water pathway in the sky, Medusa would try to pick up Ecco the dolphin and fling him off the path. Tetraspout's concept came from that, and you can even see poor little dolphins getting swept up in its attack!

  TIGR: We asked the team if there were any cards they particularly liked creating, or found challenging to conceptualise. IVÁN, a colorist who worked briefly on the game, chipped in, as did TONY and RHADA, two of Spellstone's game designers.

DUSTIN: I loved working on the goblin cards! You could get silly with them. Frogs were a lot of fun too - the variety of colours made them interesting. For me, the water cards were challenging but I grew to love working on them.

PABLO: My favourite characters are Goblins! You can play around with them, making them look funny even when the card is telling a dark story, like a massacre. All of the cards were challenging to create!

IVÁN: I enjoyed working on Hedron The Critical Threat, Zyd The Unhinged, and some awesome Insect cards that have yet to be released (as of the time of this interview). I mostly liked them because of their cool concepts and Fernando's awesome sketches. Hedron in particular was a technical painting challenge, as it has textures, transparencies and glow!

TONY: As something of an artist myself (/sarcasm), the card I am most proud of has to be Dinged Waptor. Or really any of the cards I did for the April Fool's event, which is about the only time the art team lets me anywhere near card art. :) For April Fool's, I decided it would be funny to try my hand at drawing some cards I felt players would enjoy. So the first year I drew some original characters that consisted of a few stick figures, a chicken, and a bomb. The response was good, so the following year I continued the tradition, eventually going through and tracing some famous cards like Winged Raptor. My one rule while making these cards was that I could not erase what I did!

RHADA: We used to sell boxes that contained two new premium cards instead of one. We thought of making both cards in the box thematically linked. At the same time, while brainstorming concepts for dragons, I thought we could try to make cards that formed a bigger picture on the battlefield when placed consecutively, side by side. The initial idea was a serpent whose artwork overflowed into a second card, and after some iteration, we stumbled upon the idea of a dragon dance. The result was very cool!

TIGR: With the Spellstone story campaign recently concluded, we asked what was next in store for Spellstone fans. Would there be anymore new characters and amazing art to look forward to?

TONY: Absolutely! While the main story has come to a close, we still look forward to adding new characters, cards, and art to the game that lets our artists have fun and shows off the world of Spellstone.

TIGR: And finally, the most important question of all: would real-life Spellstone merchandise ever be made available for fans of the game? We really want a plushie of the adorable Bomb Spirit (complete with detachable bombs, perhaps?), as well as his angry counterpart, Firebomb Spirit! Also for Quetee Que and Adorabilis, please! And would there ever be any actual physical Spellstone cards produced for collectors?

TONY: I would personally love to see real-life merchandise, but we currently do not have the means to take on such an endeavour. Maybe one day we can strike a partnership with a team that can make this happen!

We thank the Spellstone team for their time and all the wonderful art assets that accompany this interview! Check out the game here on Kongregate, on Steam, or on mobile - three different ways you can enjoy this fun, cheeky and adorable CCG!

P.S. We just had to include our favourite card: Darkwater Adonis - don’t be fooled by his charms!

[paradisobound]

“Stormy” Days

Summary: Dan finds a dragon sitting on the street one afternoon and takes it in as a pet. However, a suspicious note is beside it that leaves Dan thinking about his future with the new pet...and Phil's reaction to the sudden creature.

Word Count: 4.3k 

Warnings: None 

**Read on Ao3**

A/N: This is my 3rd and final fic for the @phandomreversebang! I had a lot of fun writing this prompt and I hope you all find it just as cute too! The fic was beta read by @masoncore and the art was by @phantasticphun! I have a few more fics coming (one for phandom gives) and then my PBB fic in the fall. I hope you all have enjoyed all of the pieces from the PRB this year!

Phil had just left for the weekend, which was completely normal. Dan was used to him leaving to go to his parents and with Phil’s mum’s birthday coming up, he knew that it made sense for Phil to leave to go and visit them.

Phil had asked Dan to go, but Dan had refused this time because he was busy working on his finishing touches on his new project: a poetry book that told the story of life. It had taken, the better part of the last two years to write, so with the publishing so close, he was putting all effort possible into making it as best as he can.

But there was also a problem with this. Dan hated being home alone. He was scared of the dark, so night was especially a challenge. He’s pretty much learnt how to sleep with a light on at this point, which...he doesn’t mind all that much but he wakes up completely exhausted.

It was day two of Phil being gone, and day two of having this new sleeping routine. He wakes up completely drained, his eyes feeling cottony and a migraine beginning to take residence in his temple from exhaustion.

He swings the duvet off from his body and slowly starts to get up, stretching out his limbs that had stiffened from the tense position he had been in trying to sleep and ward off any intruders. He shuffles to the bathroom and relieves himself and then turns on the shower to a cold setting and strips down, getting inside.

The cool water feels like pricks to his skin but it works in waking him up more. He shivers a bit, and washes the cold over his face and his eyes feel less cloudy. He washes his hair and then washes down his body and steps back out, wrapping a towel around his waist and another around his head. He’s taken Phil’s habit of multiple towels as the years have gone by and Phil will pick on him. But really the jokes on both of them when they get too lazy to do the laundry and suddenly all of their towels are dirty.

When Dan walks back into the bedroom, he sits down on the edge of the bed and ruffles through the duvet for his phone because he has a bad habit of falling asleep without putting it on the chargeer. When he finds it, he unlocks it and looks over his messages and emails that are lighting up his screen.

Two are from Phil, which is unsurprising. The messages are telling Dan that he dropped his cereal in the kitchen and his mum banished him into the living room and the other one is that Martyn doesn't come down for the weekend too. So Dan just shoots back a reply and then scrolls the rest of the way through his notifications until he sees a text from Bryony asking if he wants to go out to lunch at Nando’s. He hasn’t been to Nando’s in well over two years, but at the thought he suddenly craved it and sent her back a text telling her he could.

Deciding he needed to get his ass into gear, Dan got back up and strolled to his closet. He opened the curtains and pushed them aside to see the array of black clothing on the hangers in front of him. It was almost comical actually when he looked to the left and saw Phil’s array of colors compared to his monochrome.

He goes with his normal striped sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans. He grabs a black cap and puts that on his hair to cover the unruly mop that it’s become. He needs a haircut desperately but he hasn’t made an appointment with his hairdresser. He and Phil normally do that at the same time so he’ll wait for Phil to get back home to do that.

Bryony texts him back and he calls for a taxi  and starts heading downstairs to meet it.

***

Lunch was good as always, but yet again, he never has a bad lunch with Bryony. They’ve always been close, as far back as Dan can remember. So every time he meets up with her, it’s always fun. Bryony will talk about her newest KPOP fascination and Dan will waffle on about his new obsession with The Real Housewives of Orange County, because damn it there is something about that show that just grabs him.

But now, it’s only half past one and he’s not sure what to do with the rest of his day. The weather, when he looks into the sky, looks a bit grey, but that’s normal. Although, he doesn’t want to get stuck in the rain if he decides to do something outside...which is already unlikely.

Dan folds his arms over his chest and hurries his strides down the pavement. He’s close to their flat, not too far now from the building. So he continues on his way, passing by the little shops and other apartments along the way.

As he passes by the park on his right, he hears a noise that stops him in his tracks. It sounds almost like a dog panting, but the noise also doesn’t sound like that at all. He sees a small bush of flowers down by his feet and he bends down, looking at it.

He shouldn’t look at it, he thinks, because he doesn’t know what is there. But there is someone drawing him in. Just as he peeks over the grass, his eyes come into contact with something he had never seen before.

It looked like a baby dragon, straight out a Game of Thrones episode. He stumbles back, falling on his ass on the pavement. Dan looks around, noting that no one is around and it’s like he’s the only one even in the area. That’s weird in and of itself.

It’s starts walking out from behind the bushes now, it’s little tail wobbling behind it and it’s wings extended away from its body. Its scales were blue and purple, shining quite prettily in the afternoon glow. Dan didn’t know what to do though. This felt like a weird fever dream.

Surely, dragons aren't real? They were just mythical creatures but…

Dan notices a note sitting on the pavement next to the little creature. It was a white piece of paper, but Dan could see something written on it. He picks it up, because maybe this will tell what exactly is happening with this little creature that Dan swears can’t be real and he’s seeing hallucinations.

“Be Careful of Who You Trust”

Dan read the note over and over again in his head. What could that possibly mean? That sounds like a threat...but also not like a threat. Dan’s confused. He doesn’t know what it means. He doesn’t know what to do.

Does he turn this into the police? What about an animal shelter? Do places like that even take dragons? What about an exotic animal pet store?

The little creature looked up at Dan, it’s eyes so big and wide that it was almost comical. As Dan reached down, his hand extended in a gesture like a puppy to let it stuff him, it’s nostrils flared and it huffed out a puff of smoke.

Dan slowly stands back up, and backs up slightly, but the dragon waddles towards him, following him like a lost puppy. Now Dan knows he’s in trouble. What is he going to do? He stuffs the note in his pocket and looks around. There was still no one around the area.

“Hi little buddy,” Dan finds himself saying in a calm, gentle manner.

The dragon’s tail begins to swing back and forth excitedly behind it.

“Where did you come from?” He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand.

Maybe he should just leave and call the animal shelter as soon as he gets back to his flat. But he can’t leave this animal here. That would be inhumane to do. He needs to help out the creature in any way possible. But how does one take care of a dragon?

Up until now, Dan didn’t even know they were real.

Just as Dan begins to back up again, the sound of footsteps sound down the pavement from him and he turns his head to see a woman walking his way. He has just a few seconds to make up his mind, so without thinking too much, he bends down and takes the creature in his arms and bolts towards his flat.

The creature is squirming a bit, it’s tail hitting Dan’s cheek as Dan tries to run without seeing anyone. Because how can he explain to a random person why he’s carrying a dragon in his arms?

He’s not far from his flat so getting there isn’t that much of a hassle, but as he gets out his keys from his pocket, holding the dragon in his arms like a puppy, he realizes just the situation he has gotten himself into and begins to panic.

Can he even take this creature into their flat? Can it breathe fire? Will something happen to it? Will something happen to Dan? What does he even feed it?

He lets out a sigh and looks down at the dragon. For all intents and purposes, it seems friendly really. If Dan didn’t know any better, which being real he doesn’t, he would think it was smiling at him, wagging it’s tail and flapping it’s wings.

It looked almost excited.

“What am I going to do with you?” Dan asks and the dragon stares up at him with a cocked head. Dan sighs and opens the door to the flat, and walks inside. He sets the dragon down on the floor and almost immediately, it flaps its wings and begins to try and fly.

Dan’s eyes widened and he reached out, catching it in mid-air, “Oh no! You are not flying around in here.”

The dragon seemed to huff in annoyance of being reprimanded.

Dan gently set it back on the floor and looked at it. He had no idea what he was going to do now, “Do you eat food?”

As soon as Dan says anything, he facepalms because of course the animal eats food. Every living being does. But what does this creature eat in specific?

Dan began to walk to the living room and the pitter patter of feet behind him reminded him once again that he wasn’t alone. He made it to the couch and as he sat down and reached for his laptop, the dragon flew up and landed on the couch next to Dan, curling into a ball and looking up at Dan with those big eyes.

Keeping it well within his view, he opened his laptop and googled Dragon Pet and he was shocked at the amount of websites that came up. Apparently dragons were extremely popular among people as a new form of exotic pet. According to the blog that Dan found, they require a high protein diet and lots of water. They also like sleeping in a comfortable bed at night but a lot of people claimed that they slept right on the edge of their own beds so Dan figured he could let…

Dan suddenly breaks out into a sweat because he forgot the most important part about this entire ordeal. He had to tell Phil about the dragon. What was he even going to tell Phil about it? He was going to have to tell Phil before he came home tomorrow.

Their landlord didn’t want them to have pets of any kind.

And then came the other tough part. Can you even keep this animal as a pet? Is that even feasible? He could barely handle a hamster, how can he handle a dragon that is...currently looking up at him with big eyes.

Dan turned back to his laptop, trying to ignore it’s gaze as he scrolled down the website further. They are like any normal pet really. They require vet visits and other various things. They also require walks, occasional baths, and they loved to be petted as well. Dan bit his lip and continued scrolling but found nothing else that stuck out to him.

Knowing what the thing eats now, Dan decides to google exotic pet shops around him and see if any of them would have any food for it. He would need to get food regardless if he is even going to keep this thing because it needs to eat. He can’t let it go without food.

He looks at the first website and goes to the search bar and searches for dragon food and much to his surprise, he sees that they have all kinds of options for various high protein diets for them. He clicks on a few of the different varieties of food and then checks out, putting that he would pick them up in a half hour.

Dan goes to stand up, shoving his laptop off to the side of the couch. He places his feet on the floor when he hears a little whine and he remembers that he can’t just leave. The little creature is flapping its wings and huffing through its nose and Dan doesn’t even know if he could trust to leave it alone for the whole fifteen to twenty minutes he would be gone.

But he doesn’t have a way to take it with him like one would take a dog on a walk.

Dan takes the chance and decides that it shouldn’t take him more than a half an hour so he can totally make it back before it destroys his entire flat. So he gives it one more look and a hopeful smile before grabbing his wallet and walking out the door.

***

Bag of food in hand and other various things like a “dog bed” and toys, Dan walked back to his flat as fast as he could. He looked at his phone many times to see how long it was taking him and by the time he reached the door to his flat, it said it took him approximately 27 minutes to walk there, get the stuff, and walk back. He figured it could be worse but also he was terrified to open his door in case he walked in to everything smouldering or tore to shreds.

Much to his surprise though, what was waiting on the other side wasn’t complete and total destruction, but rather a very well behaved creature sitting on the other side ofother of the door, waiting for him to walk in.

Dan was suspicious. He walked in further and the dragon followed him inside, like an actual puppy to it’s mother. Dan scoped out everything in view in his flat and noticed that nothing seemed out of place besides a pillow from the couch now sitting on their floor. He walked over to inspect it further and nope, nothing looked weird or out of place. Dan was actually relieved.

Walking to the kitchen, Dan takes the bag with the dragon’s new stuff and puts it on the floor. He pulls out the bowl for the food and then a water bowl and places it next to the counter. He pulls out the bag of high protein dragon food that sat on the bottom shelf of the pet store...much to Dan’s surprise… and opened the top, pouring its contents into the bowl. As soon as he finished, the dragon rushed over to the bowl and began to eat, it’s swings and tail moving rapidly, content.

Dan found himself smiling. Even though he has no clue what he’s doing, he still feels good knowing he’s going to take proper care of the animal. He can’t keep it, he knows that. But for the time being until he can find a place for it, he can try his best to take care of it.

Instinctively, he reaches down and pets it. Of course the texture of it’s skin is nothing like the fur of a cat or a dog. It’s rough, a bit coarse, but also has a soft feel that makes Dan want to continue feeling it.

Standing up, Dan grabs the bowl for the water and takes it to the sink, filling it up and then setting it on the floor. The dragon moves from the food to the water and laps at that as well. While the dragon is finishing that, Dan goes to the living room and sets down it’s bed and some of the toys he bought. He keeps an eye on the dragon and just as he looks into the kitchen to make sure it’s doing what it’s supposed to be, the creature flew out of the room like a bat out of hell and Dan screeched trying to catch it before it broke something.

To no avail, the creature flew from corner to corner and Dan had to just run after it and hope for the best. Tripping over the coffee table, he managed to reach out and grab onto the flying dragon just as it was zooming for another corner. He held its squirming body in his hands and took a few deep breaths.

This was going to be a rough night.

***

“Dan? Where are you?”

It was the next morning and Dan was currently laying in bed, the dragon curled next to his body. He was up most of the night, mostly because of the dragon in question not sleeping at all. Dan had also learned that the dragon had a new ability: it could definitely breathe fire. Dan learnt that the hard way after Dan woke up to the smell of burning and looked to see the dragon sitting on a burning pillow. Dan immediately threw the pillow in the sink and got the fire out before it spread, sweating at the adrenaline of having to move so fast.

But now...Phil was home, and Dan was sitting straight up in bed as he looks down at the creature and heardhears the footsteps outside of his room telling him that Phil was now walking around inside of the flat.

Dan gets up, giving the dragon one more look before heading out of the room to greet Phil, “Hey! How was the trip?”

Phil looked at Dan and smiled, “It was fun! Martyn and Corn showed up and it was fun to have the family all together for a bit. I also beat my dad at Scrabble.”

Dan just laughed.

Phil started walking into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks and turned to Dan. Dan at first didn’t know why Phil was stopping but then he remembered that food and water bowl on the floor.

“Dan...did you get a dog?” Phil asks, turning to him.

Dan bites his lip because he knows he’s going to have to tell Phil now.

“Not exactly.”

“A cat?” Phil says. “You know I’m allergic.”

“Not exactly.”

As if on cue, the dragon flew out of the bedroom and zipped past them both, landing on the island in the middle of their kitchen. The dragon sat there, panting and huffing and looking like the happiest little animal in the world.

Phil yelped and held his hand over his chest, “What is that!”

“It’s a dragon,” Dan mumbles. “I found it on the street and took it in.”

“A dragon!” Phil yells. “This is a dream. There is no way you have a dragon.”

“I haven’t named it or anything but yeah, we have a dragon.” Dan says, scratching the back of his neck.

Phil slowly walked up to the counter and lookedcounter looked down at the creature. He placed his hand out, offering his scent to the animal who just stared at him and then turned it’s head the other way away from Phil. Dan thought that was odd. The animal has been so receptive this entire time but suddenly it doesn’t even want to go near Phil, the gentlest person Dan’s ever known?

Maybe it has something to do with the note that came with it?

Dan hadn’t forgotten about the note. In fact, it’s sat in the back of his mind this entire time and he has no clue what it means. It said to beware of those he trusted but that doesn’t make any sense to him because he knows he can trust Phil. He’s not had any reason to not trust him in the long time that they’ve known each other.

“What do we do with it?” Phil asks.

“I’m not sure.”

They both look at each and then look back at the dragon sitting patiently on the counter. Dan has no clue what they even can do.

***

Over the course of the first week, Dan and Phil take turns researching the dragon and how to properly care for it. Dan even takes it on a few walks at night when he thinks people won’t be around to comment on the weird creature in a harness.

Dan’s trying not to become attached to it. But it’s slowly making it harder when he’s already came up for a name for it. Stormy. He knows that it’s a cheesy name, and also the same name as Kylie Jenner’s daughter. But the dragon’s temper was that ofthat of of a stormy nature so he thought the name fit.

Stormy also got used to sleeping next to him in bed. He feels bad that Stormy has taken the middle so now he and Phil actually don’t touch at night but Dan supposes that’s normal for a new animal.

Dan has also gotten Stormy better food, toys, and even a cute collar so he can keep track of it. He also found a vet that specifically handles dragon’s and other exotic animals and Stormy’s first appointment is in a week'sweeks time.

But Phil is adamant that they’re not keeping the dragon.

Dan kind of thought that Phil might be against it. Maybe it’s because the dragon won’t actually take to Phil. Stormy never comes to Phil for anything. Even if Phil tries to play with it, the dragon will huff and turn the other way.

However, it still catches Dan off guard when Phil turns to him one day and says, “I think I’ve found a new home for Stormy.”

Dan’s heart aches and he furrows his brows, “New home?”

“I found a special humane society that takes in dragon’s. The turn around rate for their adoption is less than a day, so Stormy will go to a good home really soon.”

“But why can’t we keep it?” Dan asks. Stormy was currently laying on his lap as they watched TV, curled up with his wings relaxed and his tail curled around him.

“Dan, be realistic. We can’t keep a dragon.”

Dan felt a bit hurt. He has grown to really like Stormy and having them as a pet. He didn’t want to get rid of Stormy unless he had an actual worry as to why he couldn’t keep them. He did all of the research. Stormy shouldn’t grow any bigger in size. Dan can even teach and train Stormy to control their flying and fire breathing.

“I’m not going to get rid of them, Phil,” Dan says, his voice unwavering and serious.

“We can’t keep them,” Phil repeated.

Dan picked up Stormy and held him close to his chest and walked to their bedroom, shutting the door and sitting on the bed with Stormy. He wasn’t going to let Phil take Stormy away. He was going to keep them regardless.

He just hopes that Phil will understand why.

***

The note is replaying in Dan’s mind. Be careful of who you trust. Dan can feel the words bearing into his mind and he couldn’t quite move past them. He has a feeling that the note is about Phil now. The note was a future comment about Phil not wanting to keep Stormy and trying to convince Dan as well that they can’t keep them.

Dan knows why. Dan knows why Phil says that they can’t keep Stormy. But that doesn’t make it hurt any less. Dan has grown to really love the little creature and he’s found it hard to not think about Stormy and all he can do for the dragon during its life time.

It’s been two weeks now since Stormy first came to live with them, and Dan is sitting on the floor playing with Stormy as he plays fetch like any other pet. Phil is sitting on the couch on his laptop and Dan keeps looking up at him to see if Phil will say anything to him.

Stormy brings the ball back to Dan and Dan pets the back of their head as Stormy huffs and pants and wags their tail excitedly at being praised for doing the right thing.doing right. Dan ruffles behind their eyes and leans down, pressing a soft kiss against Stormy’s head. The dragon sticks out it’s tongue and licks against Dan’s skin and Dan giggles at the feeling of the slimy tongue against him.

“Stormy’s appointment is tomorrow, right?” Phil asks.

Dan turns to him and nods, “Yeah, their check up is tomorrow.”

“After their appointment, I found this shop next to the vet that carries dragon specific stuff. I think we should stop there and see what they have.”

Dan’s heart races a little bit as he smiles, “Are you sure?”

Phil nods and flashes him a smile, “I’d be lying if I said that Stormy hasn’t grown on me.”

Stormy huffs out a breath and Dan smiles wide.

Yeah, he was happy to have the little creature as a new family member.

[winterironbang]

Art Previews

Below you will find the art previews for this year, remember authors that its not quite time for claiming yet!

Take a good look and pick 2-3 favourites and remember which Number they are for when claiming does begin.

1. Prompt: Tony was taken by Hydra not long after the New York invasion and experimented heavily on Tony. The Winter Soldier escapes his captivity and kinds Tony locked up in his dragon form in a huge cell and decides he should break this poor creature out as well.The Winter Soldier could be his own personality next to Bucky, and if so he doesn't like Steve if that would come up. Restrictions: No Rape/Non-con, No OT3 (Stuckony), preferably a rather happy ending, or bittersweet. No sad endings. CLAIMED

2 Prompt: Tony has always had a thing for swimsuit models.Limitations: go wild.Additional notes: happy to be as involved or uninvolved as the writer wants! CLAIMED

3. Warnings: None that I can think of? Prompts: Definitely don’t have to stick to this, but this was just what was in my mind drawing this — They’re a Shoulder Angel and Shoulder Demon each trying to do a good job for their assigned Human - Natasha Romanov. I’d love it if maybe they’ve been working together over time to help Natasha (maybe to get out from under Red Room) without actually really seeing each other for a while until eventually they do. Not-Quite-Identity!Porn of some sort, with a bit of oh no he’s hot when they meet. Just imagine the hijinks with a little Nat and these boys as her conscience! Ha! Limitations: I know Tony is depicted as a Demon here, but this is Tony, please don’t make him out to be the actual Devil? He’s just doing his job but - oh no! - he gets attached to his Human and adversary and only wants the best for them, screw Hell’s policies CLAIMED

4. warnings: none i thinkprompt: Post-apocalyptic AU! Scrappy mechanic Tony meets badass loner and fighter Bucky (with a clunky metal arm)? Maybe some getting to know (and later: trust) each other and surviving (together?) in a hostile world? Trying to make a living? limitatons and any additional notes:  No dubcon/noncon between Tony/Bucky, no sad ending, no super descriptive toture/body horror, Tony and Bucky should survive. Angst/Pain/Suspense otherwise are fine :)The second art is optional. CLAIMED

5. Desired collaboration level(s): I would love to be included with the writing/brainstorming process, even just so much as being a cheerleader for it!-Additional details/requests/Prompt: Pre-WI/getting together fic. Wing Au. Maybe something like "Winged beings are discriminated against/unliked/people are nervous of them. Picture scene is: Tony was sitting out in the rain/stuck in the rain, Bucky comes and sheilds him from it with his wing. -Do Wants: Hurt/Comfort, angst is fine too, must be happy ending please, I prefer canon-divergent, but total au is fine too. -Do NOT Wants: Beastiality, Mpreg, A/B/O dynamics, BDSM, D/S verse, Hardcore kinks, Genderbends, Non-con, MCD, underage/age-changes/de-aging, Sad endings!(I would prefer no other/background ships, but can be discussed!) CLAIMED

6. Warnings: blood Limitation: non-negotiable absolutely no Steve Rogers bashing Wants: OUAT crossover (non negotiable). Jefferson IS Bucky OR Bucky is Jeffersons twin. Steve as a main character as well. Prompt; Bucky goes missing after a mission, with seemingly no reason. A year later They find Bucky, only he's calling himself Jefferson and crying about a broken hat, and a horrific scar around his neck.

7. warnings: possible gun violence, languageprompt: loosely based on Killing eve "you hired me to kill you!?" "I wanted to see you..." basically, Tony and Bucky (established relationship? Mutual pining? ) haven't spoken in awhile for reasons (are they fighting? Busy? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯) so Tony Hires Bucky to kill him. limitatons and any additional notes: none that I can think of but if you think there's something that could be squicky/a no go, just lemme know. I'm very open to collaboration with my author. CLAIMED

8.  No warnings or limitations.  CLAIMED

9. Warnings: None Prompt: Tony Stark meets Bucky Barnes in 1993 and they both fall for each other. One night, Bucky starts to cry. Tony asks what's wrong and Bucky tells him what happened to his parents. Notes: It really doesn't matter how you end this fic as long it includes some good old fashioned angst! CLAIMED

10. Warnings: noneNotes: Was thinking of a Brookly-99 spin on it, something cute and funny for some feel good happy, but very open to anything really :) CLAIMED

11. warnings: None Prompt: (Description: View is outside of a building. In one window Tony plays the violin. In the other Bucky types away.) CLAIMED

12. Warnings:NonePrompt: (description: Bucky is sitting atop a motorcycle. Tony is approaching him, offering his hand for a handshake. Scene is dusk on an empty road.) CLAIMED

13. prompt: tony is one of the last of his kind (inherited from his mother’s side). he hides his wings from the world, and only pepper, happy, and rhodey know what he is. everything else is canon as per the mcu. it’s up to the author to decide how far in the universe they want to take it, and if they wish to incorporate his wings elsewhere in the series, but tony is iron man and it must be post winter soldier. pre-relationship to getting together. limitations: please no graphic depictions of rape, suicide, or self-harm (specifically cutting. other forms of self-harm are okay, but please no self-inflicted cutting). no character bashing, ESPECIALLY of steve. no major character death. things i would like to see: BAMF!tony, ptsd (from either bucky or tony, or both!), a COOL secret reveal, angst, hurt/comfort, and fluff. some smut is okay! i would love if tony keeps the arc reactor. arm maintenance!! please!! tony being terrified of bucky finding out about his wings, and bucky being scared of hurting tony. relevant notes: tony’s wings are 18 ft (5.4 m) in diameter, and are red and gold. bucky still has hydra arm. that’s about it! i’m flexible on most things :) CLAIMED

14. Description/Prompt: John Wick AU in MCU Open for brainstorming or alternate interpretations Warnings: canon typical violence for story (john wick levels or mcu levels up to author?) Limitations:  DNWs include a/b/o, mpreg, noncon, dubcon between major protagonists, death of major protagonists, unhappy/ bad endings CLAIMED

15. Description/Prompt: any frontier myth/ old wild west tropes welcome Open for brainstorming or alternate interpretations Warnings: canon typical violence for story? Limitations:  DNWs include a/b/o, mpreg, noncon, dubcon between major protagonists, death of major protagonists, unhappy/ bad endings CLAIMED

16. Prompt: Romancing The Stone AU. Tony is a tech reliant city boy who is out of his depth in the South American jungle while trying to save a friend. Bucky is the broke traveller who he convinces to be his guide. Adventures and hijinks and a happy ending ensue. Notes/Limitations: Doesn't have to follow the movie if you're not familiar with it. I don't want Tony to be a damsel in distress that needs to be rescued, just a fish out of water who adapts to his new environment. Any rating is fine, smut is welcome, no character bashing.  CLAIMED

17. warnings: general audiences prompt: Bucky is part of the Avengers but he and Tony keep their distance. On a mission Tony saves Bucky from another fall. Later he asks Tony why he didn't let him slip when he knows he killed his parents. He doesn't believe Tony forgave him and confesses that he sometimes hates Steve for not catching him limitations: no Steve/Bucky/Tony, preferably no Stony, no ABO, no mpreg, preferably no BDSM or dom/sub CLAIMED

18.  warnings: malnutrition, (minor) injuries, shackleslimitations: anything involving children and/or pregnancy CLAIMED

19. Warnings:none Prompt: Mage Tony and assassin/rogue Bucky. Limitatons: No major character death, no infidelity, no unhappy ending, Bucky did not kill Tony's parents, would be absolutely fine with graphic sex Additional notes: Art will have at least one more companion piece featuring Bucky/Winter in Assassin type garb and probably wielding daggers. CLAIMED

20. warnings: none? prompt: Dreadful pirate Bucky with a heart of gold! limitaions and any other notes relevant to the authors for claiming: I'd prefer it if Bucky wasn't actually a bad guy. Go easy on the gore, and please don't do any noncon or dubcon between the OTP. Angst or pain are good as long as there is at least a hopeful ending! CLAIMED

21. Prompt: After the death of King Howard Stark, his son Anthony had to step up to the throne as the rightful heir. James Buchanan Barnes, a knight and new member of the Royal Guard, is sworn to protect his king no matter what. Even if that means protecting Anthony from his own damn feelings. Warnings: N/A Limitations: major character death, terminal illness, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, racism, incest, ableism Notes: Their designs are fantasy-influenced more than historical, and even though I was using MCU as reference, I aged Tony down since canonically Howard died when he was younger anyway! Also the scribble of a background is supposed to be inside the castle, during a party/ball or something? CLAIMED

22. Artist Withdrew.

23. Warnings: None Prompt: The Addams Family AU Limitations/notes: None CLAIMED

24. warnings: none? prompt: Warlord Bucky gets a new conquest: Tony. (How? tribute? prisoner? Marriage contract?) Tony may expect the worst, but slowly discover Bucky isn't so bad... limitaions and any other notes relevant to the authors for claiming: please no evil Bucky. I like getting to know each other and slowly falling in love. No dubcon/noncon between tony/bucky. CLAIMED

25. Warnings: implied violence, kidnappingPrompt: I went with four comic panels sort of depicting a kidnapping scenario. Bucky (probably) wouldn’t be the kidnapper — i'm gonna try and make him look more surprised in the final draft. Limitations: Go wild. G ratings through Explicit is fine with me. Preferably no M-Preg though.  CLAIMED

26. Warnings: None CLAIMED

27. Warnings: None CLAIMED

28. Description/Prompt: fluff or comfort? Warnings: - Limitations:  DNWs include a/b/o, mpreg, noncon, dubcon between major protagonists, death of major protagonists, unhappy/ bad endings CLAIMED

29. Desired collaboration level(s): I would love to be included with the writing/brainstorming process, even just so much as being a cheerleader for it! Additional details/requests/ Prompt: Human!Tony/Werewolf!Bucky. Werewolf au. Do Wants: Hurt/Comfort, angst is fine too, must be happy ending please, I prefer canon-divergent, but total au is fine too. Do NOT Wants: Beastiality, Mpreg, A/B/O dynamics, BDSM, D/S verse, Hardcore kinks, Genderbends, Non-con, MCD, underage/age-changes/de-aging, Sad endings!(I would prefer no other/background ships, but can be discussed!) CLAIMED

[karmanticmoved]

1-85 uwu

j esus okay

1. describe yourself.

uh,, emotional ig, dumbass, quiet, exhausted all of the time, v queer, healthy mix of feminine and masculine, insecure, and not tha t great tbh. kinda a pussy ass b itch

2. if you could go anywhere for a week all expenses paid where would it be?

idrk. maybe somewhere like a hella nice beach in another country, maybe somewhere in europe. i like travelling but i hate the travel to get there and have no money so i havent put thought into it. maybe hawaii or somewhere like that.

3. do you have siblings?

the one thats still alive is my half brother

4. what is your favorite constellation, why?

orion maybe bc i don't know a lot but i can see that one from my bedroom window even in the city n idk. its comforting. or scorpius cause i'm a scorpio

5. favorite color.

yellow, pink, or blue.

6. what kind of music do you listen to?

almost anything. whatever catches my interest.

7. favorite flower. (you can name as many as you want cause flowers are awesome)

forgot what i said last time but those

yellow carnations i think?

8. if you could do magic, what is the first spell you would learn?

maybe smth to put myself to sleep immediately bc f uCk

9. favorite childhood memory.

my summer camp memories are pretty great. also memories of my dad and i going fishing are good.

10. have you ever been cheated on?

i mean in theory i couldve been bc online relationships but no. n im polyam and have identified as such for a majority of my relationships so no.

11. if you could describe your perfect room, what would it be?

big but not too big, yknow? like big enough that it can be filled and have room to walk around and lay on the ground or whatever but not Empty. and a pretty big bed to stretch out on, n a closet in the room. multiple windows w blackout curtains so theres light but it can be blocked out. n fluffy rugs or carpeting but preferably rugs in case smth spills so we can get it out of at least Remove the rug. and probably a cat tree thing in corner for dipper. n a computer desk and actual lights that light up the whole room. but probably,, fairy lights too bc full lights too bright. and i kinda want a pink room but blue or yellow work also. a nd pride flags on the walls + posters and various other stuff bc plain walls are boring. and tons n tons of b ooks too.

12. favorite animal.

river otter

13. what was the last photo you took of?

cat

14. do you believe in soul mates?

i'm not sure. i do kinda think there are people who you will like. really really click with and who become so important in your life that they're like. apart of u yknow? but i don't think that anyone as an individual needs to keep those people in their life forever. they arent destined to stay with them, and they shouldnt force that relationship (platonic, familial, romantic, or whatever) even if they were close for years and years. screw destiny. youll have people you care about, and sometimes you have to break that bond to save yourself, and thats okay. there will be other people who can and will be just as important. that got kinda off topic skbsks. i don't think theres really like Destiny soulmates. but there could be like. soulmates in the sense of for however long we're together, we're soul bonded. even if its not forever. does that even make se nse skbsns

15. do you hang toilet paper over or under?

over is the one thats socially acceptable right

16. your go to place to eat & your favorite thing to get there.

idk theres a place near a movie theater closeish to my house and its a nice little cafe and i dont eat there bc i dont eat much in general but i get their bubble tea and i love. raspberry bubble tea w rose popping bubbles. its comfort drink.

17. do you believe everything happens for a reason?

no. sometimes shit happens for no reason, and its bullshit, but you can't reverse it, so you gotta figure out how to move on from it.

18. guilty pressures?

im assuming thats meant to be pleasures

umm,, idrk. i don't know what exactly i like that would count as a guilty pleasure so,,

19. favorite mythical creature, why?

merpeople are s o cool i fuckin. love funky aquatic pals hell yeah. maybe im just Water babey but. they're rad. dragons are also hella cool bc like dragons???? theyre scaly and prett y and can breathe fire or have wings and kill u?? also like selkies bc again. water. but i used to hear a lot of stories abt them and theyre so nea t

20. something most people don’t know about you.

i have the potential to be a huge asshole and also kinda Wish to fuckin murder someone sometimes but. i act nice most of the time anyway.

not murder murder but i can get angr y enough that i just wanna Stab smth

21. where did you grow up, what was it like?

grew up kinda near the edge of the city, still in it but not like the main city area. in western washington. it was kinda rly boring, i used to spend a lot more time outside or just by myself playing with leaves or toys or whatever. when i had friends i played make believe w them even when outside of school. so yeah. boring id say.

22. do you believe aliens exist?

sure.

23. what was your last google search?

other than names for some actors n stuff, i was looking up various star wars things

24. what did your last relationship teach you?

the one that like. ended? i guess thatd be. be careful with your own feelings and try to figure them out before jumping into anything, and also don't try to force smth that in reality isnt really working.

25. would you relocate for love?

honestly yeah

26. do you hold grudges or forgive easy?

both. it just depends on how badly i or someone i care about was hurt by it. more likely to hold a grudge if a friend was hurt by someone d eep enough to leave a lasting impact or if they don't get a genuine apology i will be 🔫🔫. or if the person keeps hurting them. even if that person is also my friend.

27. favorite book.

favorite graphic novel is bloom by kevin panetta

favorite books in general are autoboyography, more happy than not, and what if its us. all gay. i know. its okay. im a kinnie.

28. do you consider yourself an extrovert or introvert?

introvert by far

29. have you ever kept a journal, do you now?

i tried once. i probably will have to once i go see a therapist, or at least one for my Bad Thoughts

30. top 5 favorite movies.

in no particular order

little shop of horrors, love simon, coco, it (2017 and 1990), and shazam! ig? maybe others but i definitely Forgot all the shit ive watched

31. do you believe that everything happens for a reason?

no

32. what is your greatest fear?

definitely gotta be all of the people i love hating me and abandoning me or secretly hating me and then leaving me without saying anything. and the worst part is im always afraid its gonna happen babeyy

33. favorite alcoholic beverage.

im baby

34. most embarrassing thing you’ve done.

im embarrassed by my own existence. i don't remember the Most embarrassing thing

35. do you believe in ghosts?

not until i have proof that i can actually trust and believe in

36. what is the best and worst part of your personality?

idk ig im nice. but im also. very easily set off on certain emotions especially the bad ones which sucks like especially jealousy bc i dont wanna!! feel jealous!! tho i think that ties into my greatest fear bc my brain immediately tells me im useless to everyone and they hate me. but. sometimes i get jealous and then feel bad for that and then hate myself for all of it. bc my friends deserve to hang out w other people and care about other people im just fucking stupid babey !!

37. should you split the dinner bill?

i rly don't get why you wouldnt tbh like if u both wanna be there u should both pay. but if one person gonna pay it should be the person that asked.

38. are you a good liar?

most of the time. when it comes to my mental health i can either lie great or im literally breaking down in front of the person so

39. what keeps you up at night?

depressing thoughts. anxiety about everything. wishing i could cuddle and fall asleep w jay. sometimes i just cant sleep bc im too restless.

40. would you rather go without your phone or music?

music. i need my phone to text my friends and i Need my friends

41. do you believe in god?

what god would let the world get to the point its at. what god would allow people to do such fucked up shit.

no. i don't.

42. how do you relax when frustrated?

cry, take a nap, take a shower, listen to music, cuddle dipper

43. what’s something that offends you?

when people go "oh yeah i support gay rights but im still gonna eat at chick fil a bc its good" like i get so fucking. pissed off by that. youre not gonna fucking s ta rv e without their goddamn chicken. i know a bi person who goes there and says its okay bc they dont Directly Give Their money to Specifically anti gay organisations but im just. ugh. fucking pissed bc there are other places to get food just avoid the one place for fucks sake. their food is good it doesnt matter. its like saying yeah pewdiepie is a bad person and nazi and a racist asshole but his videos r funni haha so im gonna watch him anyway

44. favorite food

i hate myself whenever i eat food

45. if you were on a 10 hour flight and could sit and talk to any person the entire time, who would it be?

@destinedformuchmore or @pinaplelee

46. when do you feel the most confident?

never? but ig i feel confident when working on tech construction during theater tech. as long as i know what im doing.

47. what do you do in your free time?

sleep. draw. cry. play video games. talk to my friends.

48. is there anyone who has completely lost your respect

matpat did for being a dick abt neopronouns and making a transphobic joke and only apologizing when a cis person told him to. not when hundreds of trans people did. and also other jokes that are inherently offensive to various groups. a n d for making extremely not Child friendly jokes in his videos which are very much targeted towards kids. say what you will about the target audience, there are a lot of children who watch them. please stop making creepy nsfw jokes if you won't even swear, sir.

49. have you ever broken someone’s heart?

i guess so yeah. but she also broke mine first.

50. did/do you play sports in school?

i did. i don't anymore bc highschool sports are bullshit but. basketball, ultimate, and soccer.

51. when are you happiest?

talkin 2 jay prolly

52. coffee or tea?

tea

53. what is one possession you own you wouldn’t want to live without?

my binder. or my stuffed cat puppet thing ive had since i was 7

54. what is the first thing you notice about a person?

their general emotions, mostly. like if theyre in a good mood or if theyre bored or distracted or whatever. or if they seem interested in actually talking to me

55. what is your favorite season, why?

fall. my birthday, the atmosphere is nice, it's pretty, its hoodie weather.

56. what makes you laugh?

stupid little comments or jokes my friends make tend to make me laugh a lot harder than i should but jabdn

57. are you a clean or messy person?

a mix. i Cannot have some things messy or i will ksjqkd. Die but i don't make my bed too often bc its ha rd when its against 3 walls.

58. what is important for a successful relationship?

communication communication communicati

talk about ur goddamn problems n keep talking to each other.

59. what was your upcoming like?

if thats supposed to be upbringing

idk, very relaxed. pretty easygoing and kinda boring.

60. favorite holiday?

any holiday in december rly. i don't celebrate a Lot but the atmosphere and others celebrating is nice to see. i kinda wish my parents did more to embrace the jewish part in our family blike. whatever. christmas is fun.

61. what is the first thing you’d do if you won the lottery?

give half of it to my parents. and then probably use it for plane ticket

62. what’s the best pizza topping combination?

hawaiian pizza. pinapple n canadian bacon ty

63. favorite outdoor activity.

frisbee

64. how are you? honestly.

not great. i want highschool to end.

65. would you rather go camping in the woods or stay at a beach resort?

idk. camping is fun but if i get to stay at the resort for free i would rly love 2 stay at a resort tbh ive never done that

66. what is the most beautiful thing in nature?

waterfalls. or rivers or just. water in nature. and very green forests. aNd snow.

67. favorite type of candy?

none

68. if your life was a book, what would be the title?

i can and will do arson, an autobiography

69. what movie quotes do you use of a regular bases?

i quote john mulaney and whatever my obsessions are pretty regularly

70. what was cool when you were young but not cool now?

silly bandz. pokemon cards. these weird unicorn figures i collected

71. what’s the craziest conversation you have ever eves dropped on?

im mostly the one having the weird conversations

72. what’s the most interesting documentary you’ve ever watched?

i watched one about dogs and cats and their evolution which was lit

73. what’s the worst hairstyle you’ve had?

when i let the lady just go fuckin ham on my hair bc i was watching spirit that horse movie and didnt wanna stop so it was. rly bad bangs and hella short in back but not the sides

74. what do you like to cook?

whatever im hungry for. i don't have the energy to cook a lot

75. what’s the coolest animal you’ve seen in the wild?

really pretty tropical fish

76. what’s the funniest tv show you’ve ever seen?

idk. i rly like schitts creek its pretty amusing

77. do you usually follow your heart or your head?

heart at first but my head if things get bad

78. what is your favorite quote?

"i have a splitting headache and i think i'm dying. how are you?"

or a character just saying "try harder" when another failed to do smth.

this is supposed to be deep or whatever but im in a Mood

79. what’s the weirdest crush you have ever had?

once had a crush on a character in a minecraft parody lmao

80. what’s your love language?

sending shit that makes me think of them. n just. making tons of stuff for them both online and irl like bracelets.

81. do you ever feel alone?

oh yeah. all the time. im not but it feels like i am which sucks

82. ever been bullied?

yeah

83. are you usually early or late?

late bc of my parents rip

84. what kind of art do you enjoy most?

drawing, or writing. also theater.

85. what do you wish you knew more about?

i just wish i could remember everything ive learned more about. i know a lot i just forget all.

id like to know more about forensics tho

[smolpocketmonstercoffee]

HoA 08

H E A R T _ O F _ A R S O N

Ulfric has faced many years since the Great War but there is a face that has hung in silence in his mind since then. All those years later, finding that face again would draw new memories to be made in the wake of the war he waged against the claws of the Empire. And the matter of other claws that would sink into the very flesh of Skyrim itself brought its own problems, along with a mysterious stranger. The path of the future was not certain. But the fresh return of that face in his mind brought questions. Ones he felt needed to be answered.

START, PREVIOUS, NEXT

TW: Loriel’s general sassiness.

               Ulfric had thought that the hangover Loriel was sure to have would be enough to keep the flighty Altmer grounded to Windhelm for a while but obviously it wasn’t enough of an ass-kicker to keep him from wandering right out the city gates in his traveling cloak again not two days after.

               He wondered where Loriel had run off to this time.

               That had been six days ago and he sighed as he gazed over the mess of paperwork that was his responsibility, the familiar discomfort of the war efforts.

               Tullius was getting impatient.

               A skirmish, a direct assault more specifically, had been staged on Morthal upon the Stormcloak camp there, and because Ulfric had the foresight to prepare his men well, they had been able to hold their ground and drive the Imperials back. Only a small handful of men were killed but if Arson knew of the losses he would still think it was too many lost.

               Where was Arson?

               The couriers usually took only a couple days to reach their target but Arson was an endless issue to find.

               It made Ulfric anxious.

               He wanted Arson’s advice.

               And he also wanted to tell him to hurry up with his efforts because there was a certain bard he wanted to hear singing a new tune for him.

               Three weeks and no sign of the Dragonborn at all.

               He had only heard of one sighting of the man in the last month, taking down two dragons in a two day span,

               One had been downed near the Ritual Stone in Whiterun Hold, and the other had been killed near Lost Knife Hideout in Eastmarch.

               Like the Dragonborn had been heading to Windhelm itself.

               But obviously that didn’t happen.

               Arson didn’t feel the need to visit.

               And Ulfric bit his knuckle thoughtfully.

               Where in Oblivion was that man?

               His thoughts were distracted when he heard approaching armored footsteps and he looked up.

               He heard Galmar’s gruff voice and the sound of a soldier’s, and then silence.

               And then there was the unnatural sound of Galmar, laughing.

               And laughing very hard.

               The Jarl wondered what had brought that along, and he stood to see just what.

               The housecarl’s was breathless with laughter, a letter clutched to his chest and his grin was broad when he saw his Jarl and flapped the note at him. “Read it. Read it,” he insisted.

               And Ulfric did.

               And he covered his mouth, hiding pleasant surprise on his face.

               In the months that had passed since the coming of that black bastard of a dragon, Alduin Arson had called it, Ulfric had assumed things were in general going to continue to be rather dull and over-all absently problematic for the Stormcloaks when it came to the beasts, but it appeared that dragons could be useful.

               Because it looked like a dragon had targeted the Thalmor Embassy two days ago.

               And evidently, the timing could not have been any worse for the Thalmor because Elenwen had decided to throw a party with all sorts of important people present. Maven Black-Briar had been one such person present on the list.

               Ulfric was looking forward to hear the full rendition of what happened but for now, the message that told not only of the dragon attack killing every guard patrolling the property but also lounging in the courtyard afterwards, keeping every occupant of the party stuck inside until it decided to leave with the afternoon sun, that was what made a bark of laughter climb up Ulfric’s throat. Without a doubt those milk-drinkers would not want to bother with the Thalmor and their entertainments until they could prove that they could handle one measly dragon.

               It worked out in Ulfric’s favor.

               Stir up the Imperial’s contacts and make them shrink back in fear.

               They were not the hearty people that made up the Stormcloak forces.

               The Thalmor were manipulative bastards, but in the face of dragons, they could not wield fear.

               The Jarl and housecarl had a bottle of Black-Briar Reserve to quietly celebrate the occasion.

               And that night when Ulfric dreamed, he dreamed of the Aldmeri Dominion’s flag burning.

               It was burning and as the ashes fell, he woke to sunlight on his face.

               And he took a deep, peaceful breath.

               It was a simple dream but it gave him relief.

               And he got up for the day.

               Today, Ulfric was going to be going with the replacement for the soldiers at Fort Amol, check in and make sure everything was safe and secure and that the past shipments of food wasn’t getting over handled. It was for emergencies, not to gorge themselves on.

               Not that he didn’t trust the captain but he wanted to make sure the troops knew he was keeping an eye on things.

               They had a tendency to not pilfer things when they knew that the Stormcloak leader was watching.

               As he climbed his horse, Galmar held the beast steady and they confirmed with each other that the plan was for Ulfric to be back before sundown, and if he was not back by sundown the following day, it meant that something happened.

               And aside from taking down a giant at CradleCrush Rock, the entire trip was incredibly uneventful.

               The captain was surprised at Ulfric’s presence among the guard, as were most of the guards to be replaced, and they warmly welcomed the company with perhaps more respect than what they would have without the Jarl’s presence.

               Formalities were nothing more than a pleasantry and Ulfric could certainly do without.

               The Jarl got down to business right away as the arriving guards helped the ones that were returning to the city to pack up, making their exchanges while the captain and Ulfric checked on weapon-count, food, fortification of weak points in the walls, and Ulfric was pleased that everything appeared to be in order.

               The wind whistled sharply for a moment as the two stepped outside and the Jarl went to his horse to adjust the saddle.

               “You take care of our men, captain,” Ulfric told him.

               “Of cour-”

               The sharp whistle of wind happened again and that time Ulfric didn’t mistake it for the wind.

               It was the shriek of a dragon.

               Far too close for comfort.

               Far, far too close for comfort.

               And then he saw the stretch of wings past the east entrance.

               Fuck.

               “Everyone inside! Get the horses under cover! Get them inside if you have to!” Ulfric immediately barked out orders.

               There were supplies that otherwise couldn’t be brought back to Windhelm if they lost those beasts under dragonfire.

               The soldiers hurried to do as instructed and a lookout on the wall cupped his hands around his mouth and Ulfric heard one distinct word.

               “ELF!”

               And Ulfric’s attention ripped itself away from the rest of the soldiers and he immediately raced up the stairs to where the lookout was.

               His heart thundered in his chest.

               Golden hair and golden skin was wrapped in a traveling cloak as the figure ran as fast as it could towards the river, the dragon flying after and breathing fire that the figure barely dodged by rolling in an opposing direction before making it back to his feet and running.

               The cloak was an oddly familiar hue to Ulfric, and the way his white sleeves and gold hands poked out from slits made in just the right spots…

               It was Loriel!

               What was he doing out here?!

               The dragon’s jaws gaped as it flew low, right at the bard’s heels and much faster than the Mer was running.

               And then Loriel disappeared.

               “Loriel!” Ulfric shouted.

               And then he saw that cloak rise from the ground where it had fallen and the bard scrambled to his feet to keep running, wading through the river as fast as he could while the dragon redirected its flight pattern to get back on track.

               Why was the dragon only going after him?

               “Come on!” He shouted in encouragement as the bard sprinted up the slope towards the fort and he and the lookout headed towards the safety of the fort’s entrance.

               Those long legs carried the elf across the courtyard, half his face bloodied from turf burn and the dragon’s wings flapped to lift it above the wall of the fort.

               The moment the bard shot past him into the fort, he heard “YOL” and he slammed the door before the breath of fire could reach inside, the door feeling hot under his hands and shoulder and he prayed to Talos that the heavy wood would withstand. It was almost hot enough that he felt like his hands were actually getting burned.

               After a long, heated moment, the sensation started to dissipate.

               Ulfric took a breath and then looked back over his shoulder at everyone who made it into the Fort.

               Not a single person was missing.

               Loriel was collapsed on the ground on his back, breathing heavily and a battlemaiden was hurrying to his side to see if he was seriously injured.

               “Just winded, go away,” the bard wheezed, his face screwed up in pain beneath the rough skid that marred his skin as he tried to catch his breath where he laid, hands clamped down over one side of his abdomen possibly from runner’s cramp.

               “Trying your hand at dragon hunting, elf?” the captain commented.

               “Don’t be a fuck-wit,” the Altmer responded crassly and a few of the soldiers snickered.

               At the sharp rumble, the horses that had been brought inside the fort panicked and the soldiers fell silent, Ulfric gazing up to the ceiling and he breathed out. “Better settle in, everyone. This is going to take a while. Let’s get those horses calm,” he instructed.

               He heard the battlemaiden tell Loriel “Let’s get those injuries checked out,” as she helped him go from laying to sitting to standing until the two of them went to walk out of the main area where there was too much clutter of people.

               Ulfric frowned.

               Loriel was in safe hands and so the Jarl made an effort with the men to try to pacify the steeds, although their efforts seemed to be in vain because every time the dragon made the fort shake from its assault on the building though, the horses would corner and shriek and back up and rear and it was all they could do just to keep all the horses on all four feet.

               It was when the fort shook for the Nth time that Ulfric ended up getting his face smashed into by his horse’s skull, knocking him to the ground as blood poured down his face from his shattered nose. For a long moment, while the men tried to reign his horse in in more of a hurry, making the creature only more anxious, Ulfric clutched his nose, staving off the sheer dizziness from the impact.

               He had heard of men getting killed because of getting headbutted by a horse so Ulfric knew for certain that he could have been struck a lot harder. Now that would be a poor story to tell in Sovngarde…

               One of the younger soldiers stepped over to the beasts and his hand glowed briefly before casting a spell.

               And suddenly, all the horses fell calm despite the ongoing assaults on the fort.

               And the other soldiers blinked in surprise.

               The young soldier looked a bit sheepish. “I’m from Winterhold… It’s a useful spell…” he muttered.

               “Very,” Ulfric agreed with a groan as he sat up. “Keep casting it.”

               The young Winterhold-Stormcloak nervously nodded at the order and the moment the spell wore off, he casted it again before the beasts could start to panic.

               One of the soldiers offered a hand to help Ulfric to his feet and another a bit of cloth for Ulfric to press to his gushing nose. One offered to escort him to the battlemaiden and he waved off the offer. He could get there just fine on his own. And as he walked through the fort, he steadied himself with a hand against the wall.

               He heard the voice of the battlemaiden, talking calmly, and Loriel’s brief responses, and as Ulfric rounded the corner, he took a moment to just… stop.

               Stop and observe.

               The battlemaiden was sitting on the other side of a table from Loriel, the Mer’s cloak, shirt, and pack hung over the back of his chair, his arm extended and twisted at the shoulder to expose the underside to the woman so she could clean the wound with a cloth and bowl of water, a healing potion sitting nearby. The injury went all the way from wrist to above his elbow, and Ulfric could see the turf burn on his face had already been tended to.

               Every so often, Loriel winced as she picked a bit of turf out of his arm and continued to wipe the raw scuff down with the cloth, and finally, she settled her hands over the skin and her hands glowed brightly with healing magics, the Altmer sighing as his burning nerve endings were soothed as a result.

               “There. Is that better?” the battlemaiden asked and Loriel nodded.

               “Yes, very. Thank you, Heidi.”

               Ulfric cleared his throat and both looked up.

               Loriel’s expression turned to shock and panic, and the battlemaiden only looked surprised as she stood to go over to him. “Come, sit down, sir,” she told him firmly.

               He sat down in an offered chair, glad to have some place to park himself before the disorientation got to him, and she took a new cloth to clean away the blood with careful strokes around the sensitive area.

               Over her head, Loriel still looked like he was in a state of anxiety at the sight.

               “Loriel, I’m fine,” the Jarl told him before hissing from a touch that felt harder than it probably was in reality.

               “So which of the boys did this?” the battlemaiden asked.

               “My horse.”

               “Ah.”

               Sounded like this wasn’t the first broken nose she had healed from a horse.

               Good, it meant she had skill with it.

               Loriel turned away, and as the muscles under his skin shifted, Ulfric allowed his eyes to travel lower.

               And they settled on a wound on the small of his back.

               Stretching from one side of his waist to the other was the raw marks of the wrong end of a whip. It looked like it had been around for months, but he had no memory of that injury being there the last time he had seen Loriel bare from the waist up. There had been no sign of pain the entire time Loriel had been back at Windhelm, no sign of pain when Loriel had fought Rolff, had leaned on Ulfric as they walked back to Candlehearth Hall, no sign of pain as he flopped down on the bed.

               No, that scar was new. Very new.

               Made within the last week.

               The shirt dropped down over the scar.

               He had all kinds of questions and he stilled them on his tongue as the battlemaiden finished cleaning his face before lifting her hands and utilizing her good quality healing magic on him.

               With the restoration spell, he felt the sharp throbbing and dizziness in his head subside and the sensitivity in his nose diminished. It didn’t take long before he felt as though he had never been hit by the horse at all.

               It wasn’t as excellent quality work as Loriel’s Thalmor brother could do, but it was still good work.

               He thanked the woman as she finished and she, Heidi, gave a pleased smile. “It is my pleasure to be of service to the Jarl,” she told him before she moved to clean up her things and go check to see if any other idiots had been injured by the horses.

               Once she was well enough away, Ulfric turned his attention back to Loriel, the man sifting through his pack anxiously.

               “Who did that to you?”

               The Altmer flinched with a start before he looked over his shoulder at Ulfric.

               “What?”

               He still seemed anxious.

               “Your back. Who did that to you?”

               The bard looked back to his pack, lips pressed thin.

               “Loriel.”

               He sucked in a breath and his voice was very quiet as he answered.

               “Thalmor.”

               Ulfric’s jaw clenched.

               Bastards!

               And Loriel went back to looking through his pack before he found whatever it was he was searching for. And he turned back to Ulfric, those amber eyes not meeting his and he extended a package to the Jarl, wrapped in waxed paper and tied with twine.

               “The Dragonborn stopped them. He gave me a healing potion. He told me to give you this,” he said quietly, his lips pressed thin in nervousness with his brows pinched.

               Hearing the title, Ulfric breathed in surprise before reaching out to take the package.

               The nervousness in Loriel was concerning though and he kept his eyes on him.

               “Thank you.”

               Loriel only nodded and Ulfric undid the twine, the pressed paper folding under his hands as he revealed the contents: a book, maybe a journal, and a scrap of paper on top. The handwriting on the page was scratchy and unfamiliar, but his mouth twitched as he read it.

               Got your note. Soon as I can.

               -A

               He sighed in relief.

               It wasn’t a date but it gave him some assurance that Arson would be on his way.

               Ulfric’s heart stilled in his chest as he lifted the paper and read the lettering on the cover of the journal.

               It wasn’t a journal though.

               It was a dossier.

               A Thalmor Dossier.

               On him.

               He looked up to Loriel, wondering if he was aware of what the Dragonborn had made him deliver.

               “Did… He say anything else?”

               Loriel swallowed, anxious almost, and nodded.

               He hesitated before taking a breath to compose himself.

               “He won’t let Elenwen hurt you again.”

               Anger flared in his chest, so sudden that it hurt.

               He had told Loriel that. That incredibly personal fact. How had Arson found out?!

               Why did he tell Loriel?!

               And he breathed in, slow and shuddered, controlling his anger from misdirecting it at the elf in front of him. And he swallowed.

               Su’um ahrk morah.

               Breathe and focus.

               Calm down.

               Calm down.

               And he took a deep breath.

               “Thank you, Loriel. For bringing this to me.”

               Loriel nodded, his smile small and tight and Ulfric reached out after tucking the Dossier into his cloak to read later. And lightly touched the Altmer’s elbow.

               “What’s wrong?”

               Loriel looked down to the contact.

               Anxious.

               “Elenwen,” he breathed out, “She’s… She’s…” and he swallowed hard, taking a couple deep breaths, eyes flickering back and forth in front of him before he let his eyes rise and meet Ulfric’s. “She’s the one assigned to my case.”

               So that was the cause of the nervousness.

               The fact that Loriel knew, to a degree at least, what Elenwen was capable of, knowing that she had been assigned to Ulfric’s case, and the fact that Arson, who likely didn’t know Loriel was a fugitive running from the Thalmor, had asked him to pass on that message and that package had likely made him anxious that the woman would not only come after Ulfric again, but come after Loriel again.

               Ulfric relaxed his shoulders and he gave Loriel’s arm a gentle squeeze.

               “She’s a damn fool if she thinks she can touch either of us in Eastmarch.”

               He still seemed a bit tense but smiled a little. And nodded.

               “Yeah,” he agreed, very quietly.

               Still anxious, but relaxing.

               Ulfric gave him a small, reassuring smile, and he motioned with his head. “Go on ahead back to the rest of the group. I’m going to read this. You know the drill with hiding from dragons,” he said with humor.

               It managed to make the Altmer laugh a little.

               One final squeeze of his hand on that arm and he let Loriel go.

               And Ulfric watched him go out of view before he turned his attention back to the Dossier, reading the contents.

               His breath caught in his throat.

               The Imperial City.

               It…

               It had fallen before…

               It wasn’t his fault.

               It hadn’t been his fault and they made him believe that it was.

               Allowed to escape though…

               Ulfric closed his eyes and tried to remember.

               He remembered the way the screw in one of the shackles had been wobbly.

               And remembered the way that by standing up fully and then dropping his weight, it had wretched the half of the shackle-board away from the wall and with it had loosened one of the cuffs. He only had to put a bit of effort into wretching his wrist free before he was able to undo the other one and he was able to get out of there.

               They had done it on purpose?

               Or was that just a lie?

               Everything else though, about being a useful asset, about contact, about-

               About everything else on there.

               He would have never agreed to any of it.

               He hated the Thalmor for what they had done to him.

               He wanted Elenwen to burn and suffer for everything she had done to him.

               As he turned the page, he noticed notes made all over the page with a heavy hand and uncoordinated ink spills, ones that never would have happened to the dossier under the careful hands of the Thalmor. The footnote made at that bottom in that same scratchy handwriting as had been on the note said five very simple words that made Ulfric smile.

               What a load of bullshit.

               That sounded like Arson.

               His other notes sounded like commentary as he read them, hearing the Dragonborn’s voice in his head as he read over little bits. And then, he noticed one curious bit.

               Thalmor ->?Dragons?<- Blades

               Blame? Responsible?

               Why?

               Beneath that, one word was circled multiple times.

               One name.

               Esbern?

               And then, one little bit at the very bottom.

               Need more time

               Only the Thalmor will benefit

               Need to stop the war

               Redirect

               How?

               He pressed his lips tight and rubbed his mouth.

               Were there other dossiers that Arson had found? More notes?

               He needed to discuss in depth with Arson, find the best method to help him.

               Arson was thinking of the war almost as much as he was thinking of the war.

               Of how to save people.

               Of how to take care of the real problem.

               The Thalmor.

               And Ulfric worried his lower lip between his teeth for a moment before he heard someone call out for him.

               Ulfric looked up and tucked away the dossier, stepping back to the main area where everyone was gathered. It had been unusually quiet, with no tremors lately, and the soldier who had pulled the short straw in going to check grinned as he told him that the dragon was gone. It had flown back the way it came.

               And Ulfric let out a breath of relief.

               It looked like they would be able to make it back to Windhelm well before sunset.

               And the company rode out, the battlemaiden giving her horse to Loriel in favor of riding with another soldier and Loriel was actively making a face the entire ride, evidently not caring for being on horseback.

               But it would be much faster than Loriel going by foot with the rest of them riding.

               And just like the ride to Fort Amol, the ride from was even more uneventful.

               The men did get to enjoy a few songs that Loriel sang to pass the time, and Ulfric enjoyed the sound of Loriel’s voice on the breeze. Not too loud but certainly loud enough for the entire company of guards going home to enjoy.

               The last note crept upon the wind as they neared the stables and as they dismounted, Ulfric looked back to Loriel.

               And found the Mer already looking at him.

               And a small smile made itself at home on his lips.

               The soldiers returning to Windhelm were glad to head to the barracks and it was in that moment where he took the opportunity to approach the Mer.

               “You know you are still welcome to visit the Palace of the Kings,” he said with a slight quirk of his brows.

               And Loriel smiled a little, giving his horse a small, hesitant pat.

               “I know. I just… Your time is valuable. I can’t just come into the Palace and want to sit down for a nice chat with you.”

               But he could.

               “It’s slow for the first few hours after dawn. I usually wake with the morning light.”

               And Loriel nodded.

               “I’ll keep that in mind.”

               And then Ulfric had an idea.

               “Care to have a drink with me?”

               “That would be nice,” Loriel agreed, voice content.

               The two of them walked side by side along the bridge and Loriel’s hand stretched out to push open the gate for Ulfric when they both heard a loud and deep voice call out.

               “Lovari!”

               And Loriel stilled in surprise, looking back and Ulfric followed his gaze.

               And found a bearded Redguard man wearing a set of Dawnguard armor standing a few yards back. His eyes were the most intense shade of sky blue he had ever seen, and he had a box strapped to his back like a weapon.

               “Isran,” Loriel breathed, his voice sounding in awe.

               Looks like that drink was going to be delayed…