#no matter where I write him I will find ways to incorporate the dragon and knight aspects be it as literal or figurative as possible

[dragonofthestone]

I would die for you, Cross the sky for you

Sir Timaeus, Dragon Knight and Protector of Wonderland.

Bonus little details I like.

The cape itself is really just ceremonial - majority of the time he wouldn't be wearing it cause it'd get in the way.

Completely coincidental that his hair band matches with the sword- I honestly just chose purple cause I thought it'd would be a nice contrast to the Greens and Blues. I do however like the idea that either he intentionally chose it or was perhaps given it.

----

Originally it was going to just be a regular sword, idea that maybe it's the one he'd be given after to go in the empty scabbard he's wearing. But couldn't get it to look right from a side perspective.

Think it looks better this way.

Without the cape below

[animezing-fandoms]

Willow

Masterlist

Relationships: Nalu

Warnings: Blood, injury, stabbing (basically there’s a fight and injuries are sustained but it’s not graphic detail) Implied/referenced lemon. Abusive parents (Jude’s a real bad parent in this AU) 

Summary: During a job with team Natsu, Lucy gets hit in the head and wakes up in a dream where she's a princess who runs away from home to be with her lover, the half-dragon half-human Count Natsu Dragneel.

A/N: So I had this wild dream one night about nalu and decided to write it as a fic. I hope it isn’t too crazy! And yes I also incorporated some lyrics from Taylor Swift’s Willow. Enjoy! 

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

“I am seriously starting to regret taking this job with you guys!” Lucy wails.

She was currently on a job with Team Natsu. The job seemed simple enough on paper. They just needed to find a rare crystal in a forest. Sounds easy right? Well, the client forgot to mention that this forest has weird clearings that need to be crossed in order to get to the crystal, and giant killer eagles that attack you when you’re in the clearings! 

That’s why Lucy was currently running for her life, heading for the tree-line. She dares to look over her shoulder and instantly regrets it when she sees one of those eagles swooping down towards her. 

Before it can grab her, Natsu kicks it with his fire dragon’s claw and then scoops Lucy up in his arms bridal style and they leap into the tree-line as another eagle swoops by, just missing them. 

Natsu looks down and sees Lucy breathing heavily with her face buried in his scarf. 

“Lucy are you okay?” He asks her softly. 

At the sound of his voice Lucy turns to look at his face and blushes. 

“Y-yeah I’m fine.” She replies softly. 

As her fear began to fade a new feeling was arising. Well it wasn’t entirely new. She’d felt this before. A warm feeling in her chest and butterflies in her stomach. She felt like this whenever she was close to Natsu. And she knew what it meant, she had felt it before whenever a cute guy got close to her. But Natsu wasn’t a potential boyfriend? That ship had sailed after she got all dressed up to meet him in the park to dig for holes instead of a date.

He clearly doesn’t think about her in that way. And even if he did, she never would have known from the look on his face. 

So she shouldn’t think of him that way either. He could be really annoying sometimes. Breaking into her apartment, wrecking her plans. And yet, sometimes at night with her head on the pillow she could feel him sneaking in. 

He was like some mythical thing. And not because he was created as a demon, was taught dragon slayer magic and time traveled 400 years to be with her now. To be with her now...

As she looks at him she wishes she could know what he’s thinking. 

There’s one prize I’d cheat to win. 

“Oooo Lucy’s blushing!” Happy teases pulling Lucy from her thoughts. “I think she’s in lo-“ 

“Shut it cat!” Lucy retorts before Happy can finish. 

“I agree with Lucy. Now is not the time for jokes.” Erza says seriously as Natsu sets Lucy down. “We have one more clearing to cross before we can reach the willow tree that holds the crystal.” 

“Another one!?” Lucy exclaims. “We can’t find some other way around?” 

“Unfortunately we can’t.” Erza says. “Our only option is to run for it and fight too if need be.” 

Lucy looks past the tree-line to see the large willow tree on the other side. It would be a long, dangerous sprint. She takes in a shaky breath then exhales when she feels a warm hand slide into hers. 

She turns to see Natsu smiling at her. But not with that goofy grin he usually wore. This time, he was smiling at her softly with an endearing look on his face, as if he was looking at something precious. Her heart was pounding and she could feel a blush creeping up her cheeks.

“Don’t worry Lucy. I won’t let any of those birds hurt you.” He promises.

Lucy smiles back at him. 

“Thanks Natsu.” Lucy says. 

“Alright now let’s go fry up some chicken!” Natsu shouts and runs into the clearing.

“Natsu wait!” Wendy shouts after him.

“That idiot! We were supposed to come up with a plan together first!” Gray exclaims.

“Well it’s too late for that now!” Erza says with a frustrated sigh before drawing her sword and following him.

Lucy figures that Natsu’s plan was to draw all of the attention to himself, so that the rest of them could sneak past. And that would have been a good plan if they weren’t in an open clearing. There was nowhere to hide and now they were all spread out. And there were more birds this time too! 

What’s worse is that these birds were quicker. Lucy knows that if she slows down to summon a spirit, she’d surely get picked up and carried away! And she was definitely having a few close calls right now.

I thought Natsu said he would protect me? She thinks to herself as another bird swoops low.

Lucy was almost at the willow though. Just right through those branches and then she’d be safe! 

But she was so focused on getting there that she didn’t see the branch hanging down from one of the other trees in her path! And as soon as she made it there, she smacked her head on the branch and everything went black.

—————————

When Lucy awoke, she was laying under the willow tree all alone, her companions nowhere to be found. 

As she rose to sit up she found that her head was in no pain from getting hit, like she had never hit it in the first place. And the killer birds were nowhere to be found either.

She gently brushes the leaves off of the long purple skirts of her corseted dress as she tries to remember what she was doing out here in the woods. 

“Did you rest well Princess?” A familiar voice asks and Lucy smiles.

“Virgo!” She exclaims, happy to see her face. 

Suddenly her memories of how she wound up in this situation came flooding back to her. She, Princess Lucy Heartfilia of the kingdom of Fiore was betrothed to a man she did not love by her father who cared little for her happiness. So she ran away with the help of her most trusted maid Virgo, to a place where she knew she would be safe. The territory that was home to the man she truly loved. Thinking of him made her chest feel warm, yet she could not picture his face at the moment. Nor his name. 

“Wait for the signal and I’ll meet you after dark.” 

Those were the instructions he gave Virgo. She waited for the signal. A dragon flew over the castle, casting a dark shadow over it to give she and Virgo cover as they escaped. 

And now it was dark. She was in the place. But her man was nowhere to be found. 

“Have we made across the border to the Dragon’s Forest yet Virgo?” Lucy asks eagerly. 

“We should have, if that is the Dragon’s Roar River.” Virgo says, pointing at the rushing white-water river that was behind them. 

Lucy couldn’t begin to think of how they managed to cross it. But she wasn’t as interested in figuring that out as she was about another matter. 

“If we’re really in the forest then he should have known I’m here and come by now. Unless I was napping for a shorter time than I thought...” Lucy says.

“Hmm...well it could be the second river further up ahead?” Virgo says and looks ahead. “Perhaps we should continue to move inward onto his territory, just to be sure we’re in the right place.”

“I agree.” Lucy says and brings herself to stand, brushing the dirt off of her skirts.

Then fear grips her heart as she hears horses whinnying nearby, followed by men’s voices shouting. 

“No...” She mutters as she turns to see a carriage followed by a group of soldiers crossing a bridge over the river.

A few of the soldiers ahead of the carriage began to approach with their spears drawn. 

“There’s the princess! King Jude, we found her and the traitorous maid!” The soldiers shout as Lucy and Virgo turn to run away. 

As Lucy desperately hiked up her skirts to run away, she regrets not changing into a different outfit. These large skirts definitely weren’t made for running away from danger in the woods. But once she and Virgo had discovered what her father’s plans for her were, there was no time to change. They had to leave immediately to get to the one person Lucy knew could protect her. And as the soldiers surround her and Virgo, and her father approaches them, Lucy hopes that he’ll come soon.

“Daughter, have you gone mad!” Lucy’s father, King Jude exclaims. 

“I could ask you the same thing!” Lucy bravely retorts. 

She may be surrounded by soldiers and facing the man who had been controlling her life since she was a child. But if he was going to lock her away in the castle and force her to marry a man she didn’t love, then she won’t succumb to that fate without a fight. 

“You’re saying I’m the one at fault!” Jude exclaims. “You snuck out of the castle on the night of the ball being held to announce your engagement because you trust in the counsel of some lunatic maid over that of your own father! And now I find you here with that maid trespassing on dragon’s territory! And you think I’m the one who’s mad!” 

The anger behind his words made tears sting at the corners of Lucy’s eyes, but she wouldn’t back down from this fight. She couldn’t. There was too much at stake. 

“What kind of father would ignore the happiness of his own daughter and make such a huge decision for her without even asking her what she thinks!” Lucy exclaims. 

“Because a father knows what’s good for his daughter!” Jude replies. “And a good daughter would obey her father and do what’s best for her kingdom!”

“It’s not what’s best for the kingdom! It’s what’s best for you!” Lucy retorts. “The royal families you wish to make alliances with only care about their own wealth! They don’t care about the citizens of their own kingdoms much less ours! I could never marry someone like that!” Lucy shouts. 

“What the hell are you all doing in my forest!” A voice shouts from somewhere in the trees. 

Gasps of fear erupted amongst the soldiers while Jude’s face pales. Virgo cracks a small smile and a look of relief washes over Lucy’s features as the figure of a man drops down from the trees. 

This was no ordinary man though. Even though he wore the typical noble attire for a human man, he also had large maroon dragon wings sprouting from his back, and two matching horns pointing up from the spiky pink hair on his head. He even had matching maroon scales on the sides of his face and trailing down his neck. Most people were terrified when they looked into his bright reptilian green eyes. But Lucy felt something very different. She felt warmth, and love. 

“Natsu...” she sighs in joy and relief.

“Lucy.” Natsu replies with the same warmth in his voice.

The warmth in his voice makes warmth flood through her chest. No matter what world they were in, Natsu would always be her knight in shining armor. 

He holds out his arms for her and she moves to go to him but her father grabs her arm and yanks her back.

“Hey! Let me go!” Lucy protests and tries to yank her arm back but her father only pulls harder “Ouch!” She yelps.

Upon seeing his damsel in distress Natsu’s  soft demeanor immediately changes into something more reminiscent of the beast he resembles. 

“Get off of her!” Natsu roars.

He charges forward at an inhuman speed, right past the guards and yanks Jude’s hand off of Lucy’s arm, not caring to be gentle with him at all, causing him some pain as he takes Lucy into his arms and hugs her.

“Are you alright?” Natsu asks her softly. “Did he hurt your arm?” 

“Just a bit when he grabbed it. But I’ll be alright now that you’re here.” Lucy replies and rests her head under his chin, taking comfort in the warmth his body provided. 

Natsu holds her in his arms and gives her a light squeeze as he rests his cheek on top of her head. 

“You’re safe with me. I won’t let anyone hurt you. I promise.” Natsu swears and presses a light kiss to her forehead.

“And yet you dare hurt me, her father?” Jude asks Natsu angrily, making him frown. “The King that your father is loyal to!”

“The Dragon King Igneel doesn’t swear loyalty to humans. He’s only loyal to his friends, and mine. And you’re no friend of his.” Natsu growls back. 

“But I made a deal with him! I let the dragons live in this forest in peace without any humans trespassing on your land and give you the noble title of Count to represent the dragons in our kingdom and in return the dragons protect us from invaders. We have an agreement, your father is loyal to me, and therefore as his son you should show me some respect!” Jude declares.

Natsu can’t help but smirk and laugh. 

“What’s so funny?” Jude asks. 

“You clearly misunderstood the purpose of the deal.” Natsu says. “The only reason my father protects your kingdom instead of burning it to the ground is because your daughter lives in it.”

Lucy smiles as Natsu gently nuzzles his face against her head before continuing.

“I’m half-dragon half-human. Igneel fell in love with a human woman and through some source of magic they found he was able to have a child with her but she died giving birth to me. So I stayed with my father’s people, the dragons. They were the only ones that accepted me. The humans all thought of me as a monster and when I was a kid they would chase me away when I would go into their towns looking for desserts and other treats I could smell from the outskirts of town. And because of the death of my mother my father is very protective of me so he’d burn down any village that treated me poorly. Then one day we came to Fiore and it was the same story as the other kingdoms. I got chased out of the markets and somehow wound up in the palace gardens to hide. Then that’s when I met Lucy. The first human I’d ever met who wasn’t afraid of me. And to this day, the only human who’s treated me with kindness. That’s why Igneel agreed to protect Fiore. Because it’s where my new best friend Lucy lived.”

“So the only reason Fiore isn’t ashes right now is because King Igneel wanted you to be able to have play dates with my daughter?” Jude asks.

“Yep.” Natsu replies. “If we burned the place down then my Princess would cry. And I can’t have that.” Natsu says.

“Your princess?” Jude asks. “You think she belongs to you?”

“She doesn’t belong to anybody she’s a person not an object!” Natsu retorts. 

“That’s where you’re wrong! I’m her father so she belongs to me!” Jude replies. 

“Not anymore!” Lucy shouts back, finding her courage now that she was with Natsu. “Count Natsu Dragneel and I are in love and he won’t let you take me away from him to marry me off to someone else!” 

“He was going to do what?!” Natsu exclaims and growls at Jude.

“He was going to sell me off like a brood mare to some horrible prince so I came here to run away with you so we can be together!” Lucy explains.

“I’ll never let my daughter marry a monster!” Jude yells. 

“Natsu’s not a monster! But you are!” Lucy retorts. 

Jude smirks and nods his head. 

Then a loud smacking noise comes from behind them and Lucy and Natsu turn around to see that one of the guards slapped Virgo in the face. 

“Virgo! No!” Lucy exclaims and turns back to her father. “Why would you hurt her?”

“Because I can’t hurt you at the moment. So your dear little treasonous maid will bear the punishment for your disobedience instead.” Jude explains. 

“You’re disgusting!” Lucy replies reflexively but then regrets it when Virgo gets hit again. 

Natsu frowns as he notices Lucy starting to cry so he turns to the soldiers with a frown.

“Virgo duck!” Natsu shouts before breathing fire at the soldiers. 

They scream as the flames hit them and Virgo gets free of them. Lucy runs over to hug her. 

“Virgo I’m so sorry!” Lucy apologizes. 

“It’s alright princess! It wasn’t your fault!”Virgo says. 

Natsu smiles as Lucy embraces her friend. Happy that she wasn’t crying anymore. Then he grimaces as he feels a shooting pain in his side. 

He turns and sees Jude holding the sword that just stabbed him. 

Virgo gasps when she opens her eyes and sees what happens. Then Lucy turns and her heart shatters. 

“Natsu! No!” She wails. 

“Don’t worry Lucy I’m fine.” Natsu says and grabs the sword in his hand and pulls it out of the wound with no pain whatsoever. 

The look on Jude’s face was priceless. 

“I’m half-dragon. You should’ve aimed for my head if you wanted me dead you moron.” Natsu says. 

Lucy giggles at the fact that Natsu called her father a moron.

Jude brings the sword up to swing at his head and Natsu just plucks it from his hands and throws it away, hitting some poor soldier in the helmet and knocking them out. 

Virgo and Lucy get grabbed by soldiers again so Natsu breathes fire to get them free. But while he’s doing that a few more soldiers stab him in his back and stomach. 

“Shit will you guys just quit that it feels weird!” Natsu exclaims and fired up his fist to take them down and that’s when one soldier gets a lucky stab in Natsu’s chest too. 

“Princess you and Natsu need to get out of here!” Virgo urges. “He’s strong but he’s also outnumbered!” 

“I know but what about you?” Lucy asks. “My father will kill you for helping me, I can’t just leave you here!” 

“Don’t worry! I’ll be fine.” Virgo says as she picks up a sword and grins.

Lucy smiles, feeling reassured that Virgo would be able to handle herself and she runs over to Natsu. 

“Natsu!” Lucy says as she runs towards him and he takes her into his arms. “Let’s get out of here!” 

“I was thinking the same thing.” Natsu says. 

And the next thing Lucy knows she’s being lifted into the air with Natsu. 

————————

As they fly over the trees, away from the willow tree and deeper into dragon territory Natsu notices that Lucy is surprisingly unafraid.

 “I thought you were scared of heights?” Natsu asks. 

“I can’t see how high up I am if I’m only looking at you.” Lucy replies.

Natsu can’t help but kiss her. 

————————

When they finally land at the Dragon King’s den, Igneel is there to greet them. 

“Greetings great dragon.” Lucy says and curtseys for him. 

“Lucy! How lovely it is to see you again!” Igneel greets. “I had a hunch that you were the reason Natsu was out today but I had no idea he would be bringing you to our den.”

“Natsu why have you brought her he-Natsu?” Igneel asks. 

Lucy turns around and gasps. She hadn’t noticed before because it was dark but now that they were under the light of the moon…there were red stains on his clothing and he looked paler than usual. 

“Natsu your wounds! I thought you said they weren’t serious?” Lucy exclaims as she runs over to him to inspect his injuries closer.

“I lied so you wouldn’t worry over me until we were safe. If I had said something sooner then you would have panicked and it would’ve slowed us down and then we would’ve never gotten out of there.” Natsu admits and Lucy cups his cheek and Natsu leans into her touch. 

“Who did this to my son?” Igneel growls. 

“My father and his goons.” Lucy answers with gritted teeth, her rising anger matching that of the great fire dragon behind her. 

“And why would they dare do such a horrific thing to betray me?” Igneel demands. 

“Because I was protecting Lucy.” Natsu says hoarsely and groans as Lucy sets him down into a more comfortable position on the ground. “King Jude was being cruel to her, he was going to try to take her away from me and give her away to someone else so he could expand his fortune. So Lucy fled here to find me so we could be together, but the King and his soldiers caught up to us and we had to fight our way out.” 

Igneel watches with concern as Lucy tears off strips of her dress fabric to soak up the blood on Natsu’s wounds. But there were multiple wounds, and she only had two hands. 

“Then they will pay for this!” Igneel declares. “I’ll burn them all!” 

“No! Please spare Fiore!” Lucy urges. “The citizens have done nothing wrong. Please don’t let them suffer just because of their King’s wrongdoings!” Lucy begs. 

“I understand.” Igneel says. “And I agree with you. I apologize for being quick to jump to violence but after losing Natsu’s mother, all I’ve ever wanted is for my son to be safe. And when you have powers like mine that allow you to burn away anything that troubles you well, it’s easy for that to become the default response. But after Natsu met you I realized that there are other humans like his mother that don’t see dragons as monsters that need to be slain.” 

“I’ve never seen your son as a monster. I met him after my mother died from illness and he brought such joy into my life by being my friend. And now he’s grown into the man I love. When I’m with him, I know I’m home. Anywhere else is hollow. And so with your permission I’d like to take his hand, wreck my father’s plans, and make Natsu my man.” Lucy says and smiles at him and Natsu smiles back. 

A look of pure joy spread over the dragon’s features and he looks at the lovers before him. 

“Oh Lucy I know how much my son cares for you. He’s already told me of his intentions to make you his mate so yes of course I approve!” Igneel says. “But first we should really treat Natsu’s wounds.” 

Lucy gasps. She was so caught up in the euphoria of being able to marry the man of her dreams that she completely forgot he was bleeding internally. 

“Oh my goodness! I completely forgot! Natsu I’m so sorry you must be in so much pain right now!” Lucy rambles and Natsu can’t help but smile at how cute she looks when she was worried over him. 

“It’s not that bad actually. I’ve had worse.” Natsu says with a shrug. 

“In this tower over here is where Natsu lives.” Igneel says and gestures his head towards an old stone tower on the edge of the clearing. “You’ll find some medicine in there that the dragon Grandeeney made to heal any wounds that a dragon or half-dragon might sustain.”

“Thank you. I’ll take care of him right away.” Lucy says and puts his arm around her shoulder and leads him inside. 

————————— 

As Lucy and Natsu sat on his bed together, Lucy takes note of how amazing this healing dragon’s powers must be. This medicine was a miracle. His wounds had stopped bleeding the instant she put the bandage with the magic salve over them. 

But other thoughts were crossing her mind. As she dresses his wounds in the dark room lit only by candle light, Lucy can’t help but feel a bit aroused. He was shirtless and her hands were all over his muscular torso, and she couldn’t help but take note of the strength those muscles conveyed. She wonders if he feels anything either. 

The silence starts to feel deafening so Lucy decided to ask a question that’s been on her mind for awhile.

“Natsu, now that we’re betrothed I think I should ask you, how do dragons get married?” Lucy asks. 

“They don’t.” Natsu says simply. 

“Oh...” Lucy asks unsure of how to respond. “But I thought you told me once that dragons mate for life.” 

“They do. Just not in the way humans do. Dragons don’t really have an official ceremony or anything like humans do.” Natsu explains. “When two of them decide they want to become a couple they just…mate.” 

“I see.” Lucy says as she dresses the gash on his left pectoral. 

The tension that was already starting to build between them had now fully crept it’s way into Lucy’s mind as Natsu mentioned mating. She had been thinking about doing this with Natsu for a long time. She does want to marry him after all, so she already found him attractive. But now, she had run away from her home, and the rules that came with it. She and Natsu had already promised themselves to each other with words, why not follow through with actions as well? 

“Well, weddings take a long time to plan.” Lucy begins to explain as she gently lets her fingers trail down his torso after setting the dressing. “And even if we were to have a wedding, it would probably be just your father’s clan anyway, since my father would sooner plot your murder than hand me over to you as a bride. He may even be plotting something to steal me away from you sooner rather than later. So instead of waiting for a wedding…” Lucy says, moving her gaze up to look into his eyes. “I think that we should just get married now. The dragon way.”

Natsu takes in a deep breath when he realizes what she’s asking. What she’s offering him. And Lucy could tell by the tent forming in his pants and his breaths becoming heavier that his primal instincts were starting to awaken. But Natsu kept himself in check. Sure he’s had these thoughts about Lucy before but only when he was alone, leaving him to deal with those urges on his own. But now she was right here and moving closer to him, with dilated pupils and his brain was screaming at him to just tear off her dress and claim her now. But he holds back. Because this wasn’t just some fantasy, this was real. This was Lucy, the love of his life and before he accepts her offer he has to be sure it’s what she wants. 

“Lucy are you sure that’s what you want?” He asks.

“Yes I’m sure.” Lucy says “We are in dragon’s land after all. And I’ll be living with your father and his clan. So I want to do things their way.” 

Natsu’s arousal builds even more as she takes his hand and places it at the top of the corset that was keeping her ample chest confined while her other hand slowly trails down his abdomen. 

“I love you Natsu. And I want you to claim me, if you want me too.” Lucy says. 

Natsu searches her face for any sign of unease or reluctance, but he only finds the same emotions he was feeling for her. Lust and love. And as she places her hand over the bulge in his pants, all doubt leaves his mind and he lets his primal urges take over as he cups her cheek to speak to her.

“Lucy my love you are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever known. Of course I want to claim you as my mate.” Natsu declares before tugging at the bow on her corset.

Lucy gasps as she feels the garment loosen before Natsu seals his mouth to hers in a passionate kiss as she unbuckles his belt and they proceed to undress each other, and make love not long after.

——————————

That morning when Lucy woke up she was still naked in bed. She follows the sunlight streaming in from the balcony, and sees her clothes scattered on the floor. 

Lucy felt goosebumps form on her skin as she remembered the warmth of Natsu’s touch from the night before. His hands hands were strong and felt rough against her soft skin, just like the parts of his body that had scales, and the contrast felt divine. He caressed every part of her body with his hands, and then re-traced his path with his mouth which had only aroused her more and encouraged her to explore his body as well, wanting to know him as intimately as he knew her as they consummated their love and became one. 

Her father couldn’t marry her off to anyone now. Natsu had claimed her for himself last night, and she loved every minute of it. She was his, and he was hers. Mates. And Count and Countess to the human kingdom, and prince and princess among the dragons. 

And right now her Prince was standing on the balcony, still naked as well. They were deep in the woods after all, it’s not like any passers by would see them. But then he turns around when he hears her stirring in bed. 

“Good morning my princess.” Natsu says and smiles. 

“Good morning my prince.” Lucy says and smiles warmly back at him. 

He comes over to her and leans down to place a gentle kiss to her lips. 

“Did you sleep well?” Natsu asks. 

“Yeah. I slept great.” Lucy says. “The bed was so warm with you in it.” 

“Well duh, fire dragon.” Natsu reminds her and Lucy giggles and kisses him again. 

Then Natsu’s expression turns serious. 

“Before you woke up, my father talked with me. He still wants revenge for what your father attempted to do to me, and what he attempted to do to you too.” Natsu says. 

“Oh…” Lucy says. 

She looks down at the blanket in-between them as she tries to think. On one hand she certainly agreed that something needed to be done about her father. But on the other hand, he was her father. 

“What does he want to do?” Lucy asks. 

“He wants to remove your dad from power.” Natsu starts. “And let you take his place.” 

Lucy perks up and looks at Natsu who was smiling with pride. 

“So I’d be Queen of Fiore?” Lucy asks. 

“Yep. And we don’t have to kill your dad. We can just lock him up in the dungeon or something.” Natsu explains. 

“Then you’d be my King?” Lucy asks. 

“King Consort, since you’re the one with the power but yeah.” Natsu says with a shrug. 

“That sounds great.” Lucy says. “Except…You and your father like to travel sometimes, go to other lands to train together…If I’m Queen then I won’t be able to come with you.” 

Lucy looks away sadly but then Natsu cups her chin in his fingers and tilts her head towards him. 

“You’ll never be alone again.” Natsu says and gently cups her cheek. “You’re the love of my life, and I promise we’ll always be together Lucy.” 

He leans forward and kisses her.

Lucy closes her eyes and melts into the kiss. 

——————————

When her eyes flutter open she sees Natsu’s face and smiles warmly. 

“Oh Natsu…” she sighs dreamily. 

Natsu frowns at her. 

“Uh, Luce you’re looking at me funny. Are you okay?” He asks her with a frown. 

“Hmm…” Lucy hums in confusion. “Of course I am! I’m with you my…” She explains until she notices his horns are missing, and that there are no scales on his body either. 

She reaches forward and feels the blankets and realizes she’s no longer naked in the expensive large bed she was in before, but wearing her pajamas while in a bed at the infirmary in Magnolia! 

“My…what?” Natsu asks, wanting her to finish her sentence. 

“My…idiot!” Lucy shouts and kicks him in the stomach with her foot. 

“Ouch!” Natsu yelps and doubles over in pain. 

“Yep! She’s fine!” Happy says cheerfully from the other side of Lucy’s bed. “You really had us going there for a second Lucy, I was worried that that bump on your head might have made you go crazy!” 

Lucy reaches up and feels that there are bandages wrapped around her forehead. And she winces slightly in pain as she touches the injured spot and remembers reality. She must have hit her head pretty hard in order to have envisioned Natsu as some sort of romantic Prince. 

“Honestly, I’m not too sure I’m entirely sane.” Lucy says. 

“That would explain why you kicked me.” Natsu grumbles. 

“Want me to do it again?” Lucy growls and Natsu yelps in fear. 

“Nope! I learned my lesson, please don’t hurt me again!” Natsu pleads. 

“Maybe I should still go get Porlyusica?” Happy suggests. “I mean, she’s mad at you now, but when she woke up she was looking at you like she was in love.” Happy teases. 

Lucy frowns at Happy but at the same time can’t help but blush as she remembers how she felt about the Natsu she met in her dream. I mean there were obviously some differences between the two of them. But now that she thought about it...there were a lot of similarities too. The Natsu from her dream may have been more obviously romantic but most of what he was saying to her and the way he was looking at her...the real Natsu did all of that too. And she loved him for it. 

And then it hit her...did she love Natsu?

“I’m sorry Lucy.” Natsu says softly and looks into his lap. “I said I’d protect you and you got hurt.”

“Well, you said you wouldn’t let the birds hurt me. And I got hit by a willow branch. So you didn’t break your promise. You’ve never broken any promise to me.” Lucy assures him.

Ever since they met in Hargeon, he had been the major catalyst for the events in her life. Both good and bad. And this job was no different.

Life was a willow and it bent right to your wind. 

“I know but still, you got hurt because I was so busy keeping those birds away from you that I didn’t notice that damn branch.” Natsu pouts. 

“It’s not your fault. I should have been watching where I was going.” Lucy says.

“If I was with you you wouldn’t have had to worry about that. I shouldn’t have left you alone. I know that ever since Tartaros you get upset when I do that.” Natsu says and Lucy’s heart skips a beat.

So he really did notice how his year long absence had affected her...Who would have known? Certainly not Lucy. He really paid attention to her feelings like that? 

“And I don’t like it when you’re sad. It makes me feel weird, like I want to fix it and make you happy again as soon as I can. It’s easy when I can just punch whatever’s bothering you until it goes away. But it’s different when I’m the one that hurt you. It makes me feel worse because I never want to be the cause of your pain. I want to be the one that takes it away, or even better prevents you from getting hurt in the first place. All I want is to keep you safe and make you happy. But I failed...” 

The more that you say, the less I know. 

She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Only the lovers in the books she reads say things like this. Maybe he wasn’t as dense as she thought? Did he know what love was? Did he love her?

“Instead of fighting for you I should have just been with you. I made a mistake and you got hurt. But I won’t make it again. I’ll be more mindful of you the next time we’re on a job.” Natsu says. “I swear I‘ll protect you next time.” 

“Natsu...we’ve been doing jobs together for years. Nothing ever goes the way it’s supposed to.” Lucy says and holds out her hand for Natsu. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.” 

Wherever you stray, I follow.

Natsu smiles and it warms Lucy’s heart as he takes her hand. 

“Promise that tomorrow you’ll wreck my plans again by taking me on some wild adventure?” Lucy asks.

“You bet!” Natsu says and flashes her his signature goofy grin.

That’s my man.

[abigailnussbaum]

The Watch 1x01 - 1x02

The first two episodes of BBC America’s The Watch aired this weekend, and I’ve seen basically zero discussion of them on my twitter and tumblr feeds. Which I assume is because most of the people I follow are Pratchett fans who have been horrified by the press releases and the trailer (or, for that matter, the lackluster reviews) and decided to write the show off before it even started airing. To be clear, this is an entirely reasonable approach, but there’s nothing else on right now and I was bored.

Quick verdict? It’s not dire, but also not so interesting that you’d feel compelled to keep going with it. In fact, my most powerful reaction after the first two episodes is puzzlement - I can’t understand who the intended audience for this show is. The thinking seems to have been “everyone will be interested in a brash, in your face, rudely comedic fantasy cop show!” And maybe that’s true, but The Watch isn’t particularly brash, in your face, or even that comedic, so what’s left are fans of the genre(s), who are reasonably spoiled for choice right now (the show The Watch most closely resembles is Carnival Row, which is not amazing but still has a greater depth of emotion and a more interesting world). Why anyone would go out of their way to watch a show that seems to be working so hard to stamp out anything original about itself is a question the creators don’t seem to have asked themselves.

More thoughts below the cut.

First, something positive: I quite like the look of the show. There was obviously a lot of pressure from previous adaptations, not to mention the famous illustrations associated with the books, to strike out in an original direction, and I think the show really found one. Instead of fantasized-medieval-through-Victorian, The Watch’s Ankh Morpork combines those period and genre elements with modern ones. So The Mended Drum is now a seedy nightclub with DJ lighting and an open mike stage, and the city’s walls are covered with graffiti tags. The more distinctive settings - the Patrician’s palace, the Unseen University library - are not as interesting, possibly because the budget wouldn’t stretch to make them look really spectacular. But the core approach of the series, that Ankh Morpork is an old but modern city where there are also a lot of fantasy elements, is a fun and refreshing one.

Second, despite all the prevarication and spin in the run-up to the show, this is a Pratchett adaptation. It isn’t merely “inspired by” Pratchett’s novels, as the show’s title screen insists. It isn’t taking Pratchett’s ideas and making its own things with them. I can only assume that these claims were made in response to the backlash against stuff like “Sybil Ramkin, young, hot vigilante”. But despite changes like that, this is actually a fairly straightforward adaptation of Guards! Guards!, which also incorporates elements from Night Watch, plus some rather deep cuts from the rest of the Discworld corpus (the second episode, for example, implies that the ultimate villains of the series are the Auditors of Reality). So yeah, The Watch doesn’t have the excuse of being its own thing. It is a Discworld adaptation, but a bad one, that fails to understand a lot of fundamental thing about the world and the characters.

Third, I think the thing that most strikes about the show is how low-energy it feels. Despite billing itself as something outrageous, and despite some work on the visual front (and in Richard Dormer’s Jack Sparrow-esque performance as Vimes), the show itself feels almost bland. You see this in particular when it comes to the humor. It’s not that The Watch isn’t trying to be funny. There are jokes, and a few of them - mostly the ones original to the series - are mildly amusing. But when it comes to Pratchett’s own humor, the show simply has the actors deliver the gags and references in the most low-key way, and unsurprisingly the result is that hardly any of it lands.

Now, to be fair, this has been a problem with Pratchett adaptations since the 90s. Most of Pratchett’s humor is based in what his third-person narrator tells us about the world, and is hard to convey in a dramatic presentation (Good Omens tried to solve this problem by putting a lot of Pratchett’s narration in its voiceover, with only limited success). But even the dialogue-based jokes are so arch and stagey, that to deliver them successfully would require committing to a lot of very specific, demanding choices from the actors and writers (off the top of my head, the only show that even comes close to that kind of humor is Brooklyn Nine-Nine). It would have to be a high-concept, meticulously executed sitcom, whereas most Pratchett adaptations have been fantasy dramas with jokes. 

So it’s not entirely The Watch’s fault that it isn’t managing to convey the zany energy of Pratchett’s novels, but at the same time, it also clearly isn’t trying to. Its attitude seems to be that simply the existence of things like troll cops or assassins’ guilds who leave a receipt are funny in their own right. And sure, even in a media landscape in which fantasy has been mainstreamed by Harry Potter, the Lord of the Rings movies, and Game of Thrones, not a lot of fantasy settings have an orangutan librarian who only says “ook”. But what makes The Librarian funny isn’t that he’s a librarian who is an orangutan. It’s that he’s a librarian who is an orangutan who still behaves exactly like a librarian (while also doing ape things like swinging from the bookshelves and eating bananas), and that “ook” can convey almost any concept in existence. The Watch doesn’t seem to realize this. It seems to be assuming that just putting that stuff on screen, or parroting Pratchett’s lines, will be hilarious in and of itself, while leaving out a lot of the specificity of setting, character, and tone that made the books sing.

You see this also in how it handles its characters. Everyone fixated on Lady Sybil when the promos came out, because that’s the most egregious misreading of the original (and rooted in the most boring assumptions about what audiences want and will respond to). But it’s everywhere. Take Carrot, for example. In the books, Carrot is fascinating because he’s never entirely what you take him for. He’s innocent, but not naive. Principled, but not a zealot. A goody-two-shoes, but not a prig. He’s always a lot smarter than you think he is, and most importantly, he genuinely likes and is interested in people. 

The Watch delivers none of this, and instead makes Carrot your basic hothead rookie who just wants to take down bad guys and sees the more seasoned, cynical officers who keep trying to slow him down as hopelessly corrupted. There’s none of Carrot’s openness, or his genuine love of the city, in this character. Instead he’s sullen and judgmental. And look, we could have a long conversation about which one of these characters is more useful to us and our ongoing conversation about policing (as well as a much shorter conversation about which one of them is truer to the ideas Pratchett was trying to convey about policing). But what feels more important to me, when coming to evaluate a new series that is trying to make an argument for why you should keep watching it, is the simple fact that there are a million places where you could find a character like The Watch’s Carrot, and hardly anywhere where you could find one like Pratchett’s. 

Again and again, it feels as if, in the pursuit of what it thinks of as outrageous, risk-taking storytelling, The Watch jettisons the unique characters from the books and replaces them with ones that we’ve seen a million times before. Angua in the books is kind of neurotic, and extremely thoughtful about the way her condition can incline her to see other people as objects to be used and consumed (which Pratchett later develops into an aspect of his theme of monsters-as-aristocrats). In the show, she’s obsessed with how her lycanthropy makes her “the real monster”. Oh boy, I’ve never seen a werewolf worry about being a monster before! I’ve never seen a scene where they send their friends away just as they’re about to transform! This is cutting edge stuff, I tell you. And while we’re on the subject, it gives me no pleasure to report that Anna Chancellor as Patrician Vetinari is thoroughly meh, because no effort has been taken to convey the character’s intelligence, near-omniscience, and constant scheming. Vimes is intimidated by her because she’s his boss and she’s posh, not because of anything specific to her. She feels almost identical to a million other posh rulers whose job it is to infodump to and threaten scrappy, working class heroes.

Which brings me back to my original observation: that I do not get who this show is for. It’s not for Pratchett fans, because it deliberately drops a great deal of what made his writing and characters special in favor of the most generic, predictable choices. But I can’t help but feel that anyone who is into this sort of extremely familiar cop story will be put off by the dragons and the wizards and the orangutan librarian, not to mention Dormer’s gurning performance. The whole thing is almost fascinating to watch - a work that clearly believes itself to be boundary-pushing and different, when really it’s just dull but with dragons.

[blackdragon-selfships]

I posted 499 times in 2021

232 posts created (46%)

267 posts reblogged (54%)

For every post I created, I reblogged 1.2 posts.

I added 867 tags in 2021

#me/g reblogs - 243 posts

#me/g answers - 109 posts

#about my danger star ✨ - 78 posts

#lol - 73 posts

#ask game - 67 posts

#about megavos - 66 posts

#✨ queued 🐾 - 62 posts

#xd - 61 posts

#from: her danger star ✨ - 57 posts

#megavos - 51 posts

Longest Tag: 129 characters

#(i...had to reblog with the actual filled out responses because i didn't know how else to fix it. the original has been deleted.)

My Top Posts in 2021

#5

See the full post

14 notes • Posted 2021-02-03 06:46:03 GMT

#4

1C with coda and hawk's👀

if this is ok with you

Here you go! I hope you like it. :)

Give me a pose and your selfship, get a drawing like this (limited slots)

15 notes • Posted 2021-08-01 05:00:48 GMT

#3

The “I’m running from a mutual friend for some reason and happened to run into you” how we met AU

I could come up with an actual story behind this though. lol And it is a “how we met” one.

Ft. @francis-norman-furter

17 notes • Posted 2021-07-24 05:10:21 GMT

#2

Written in the Stars

No Matter What, When, or Where We Are

No matter how we are born, and what we become...

...Our love is written in the stars

This was supposed to be for Valentine’s Day...but it didn’t work out that way. lol At first I was going to make a simple “dressed up nice and dancing” pose picture, but changed my mind. Deciding instead to do something more symbolic, which both shows the many AU ideas I’ve had with this relationship, and why I love AUs so much.

Under the read more is that explanation and some information on each AU:

I notice I make a LOT of AUs, and the reason is first that I just really enjoy exploring other story angles. From things where one or both are a different creature, where they are in different social classes, where occupation or how they met differs by the slightest decision change leading to it.

Yet they always find each other, and always find a connection. I guess that sort of goes into Soulmate theory too. lol

AUs listed left to right, top to bottom:

MLP:FiM: Made by my friend, @allykatsart, at first as a fun design AU since she got tired of drawing humans or dragons. We got to talking and included some lore on Aaravos in this universe; He is a Star Pony, which is an almost god-like race like in TDP, which are alicorns. He adopted Celestia and Luna after finding them alone in the middle of nowhere (or I think we jokingly said he woke up one morning and they were there. lol) and raised them (if Journal of Two Sisters contradicts the show’s canon, supposedly, so can I)

There was more to his backstory, but I won’t get into it. Meg (or whatever I call her here) was just a normal pegasus pony with an animal-based special talent. She met Aaravos while he was disguised as a different type of pony and they became friends, but were starting to like each other as more than that. Then he came clean about who he was and eventually they talk it out and work through it. (For the original images of their pony counterparts, check out my friend’s blog. She’s very talented!)

The Fallen Star: More of a teaser than anything, since this is still a project I want to share eventually. Of all the AUs on here, it’s the one I’ve worked on the longest and somehow is the most ambitious. It’ll be long, incorporate all the important TDP characters somehow, and have Aaravos as the main character (because I like writing about him way too much. lol) I can’t say much more, but Megavos is end-game there...and this project is special to me.

Chess Match: Not an AU really, just symbolism to an RP that is Post-The Fallen Star. Once again my friend, @allykatsart helped me a ton in developing The Fallen Star, and our (technically not canon I think) RP that takes place once it’s over is SO GOOD. Even if it isn’t canon, I hope we can finish it someday and maybe share it once the comic is done. 

As for the designs here, they were by Ally, and basically the section of the RP this is related to can be compared to a chess match. No spoilers, but Aaravos represents the White Queen (because he’s one of the good guys here) and Meg is the King of the same color. Why it isn’t the other way around is also symbolic. Aaravos is the most powerful piece on the “board” in TFS, and the leader of the group once it forms. Meg is not, but that doesn’t make her any less important. She’s the heart of the team, and Aaravos especially. Without her...things would have been very different. Plot-wise, and Aaravos’ role-wise.

Blood-Bound Oaths: This is a slow-developing story thanks to the “Send me two AUs mashed together, I’ll give a headcanon on it” Ask game message I got. The Ask mashed together the “arranged marriage” AU with I think it was “royalty” AU and came up with the idea of Aaravos being the Vampire King who marries princess or queen Meg of the humans to unite their kingdoms for some reason.

I really liked the idea, but I couldn’t think of a way to do it...then changed it to Meg being the princess, whose father struck this deal with Aaravos. So she is sent to his kingdom as his bride and it’s basically a story about her learning to value herself and her opinions more, as he respectfully keeps his distance before slowly forming first a friendship with her before they truly fall in love.

Meg learning that the way women were treated in her kingdom was disrespectful and demeaning, and finding her voice through the very opposite treatment from the Vampire King and her appointed were-cat attendant (Ally. lol)

Written in the Stars (TDP-verse): I included this one both because it was where I started before getting comfortable enough to step away from the world of TDP and explore a more mundane, modern life with him. It isn’t as action-packed and adventurous as the lands of Xadia, but not entirely calm all the time either.

In the world of TDP, though, it was just the events of the show but an s/i thrown in because I can. I have a couple of TDP-verse stories I have planned (maybe) but there isn’t only one angle for it.

Snake Charmer: Very much an adult audience only AU...because the oneshot (that may become a multi-chapter story) connected plays with a few kinks of mine not mentioned on this blog.

To sum it up, the AU is of Meg as a student on a school trip to a tropical island where there are stories from the locals about a monster that lives in the jungle. If you get lost while in there, the monster takes you and you are never heard from again.

That monster is Aaravos as a naga/lamia creature called a Star Serpent. He normally eats trespassers, but Meg just happens to be found at a specific time in his life where he needs her for...other reasons. If the story was continued, it was going to be a darker beauty and the beast sort of story. Maybe with a curse being lifted at the end. Who knows.

Hades and Persephone AU: I probably won’t actually make this one either, but it is kind of symbolic as well. Especially after watching this video, where it goes into the original telling of the myth and some background information. Like how Hades has been reduced to being seen as the bad guy or more horrible than several other gods in mythology (like Zeus and Apollo)

Because of that, I thought Aaravos fit the role of Hades quite well. He’s strongly disliked, but not actually bad. TDP doesn’t go into sex and couples at all (well, couples: yes. Sex: no) but digging through Scorpio information (which he is) they require a connection to even have sex with someone. Or rather, they prefer it that way. So Aaravos seems very unlikely to go out of his way to hook up randomly.

Meg as Persephone is because she is portrayed as more innocent and kind...but in reality not a lot is known about her. Persephone is that way too, where she is actually feared even more than Hades is. I wouldn’t say Meg is that way...but you never know. I’m told I can be pretty scary when I get angry. And I mean reaching my limit-angry.

(Poses from the first QnA/Concept art episode of a Lore Olympus on Webtoons. The flowers on Meg’s headpiece are a specific flower.)

Siren AU: The mer-person AU, basically. This time my friend, @the-purpleflower helped me with this one. At least the ending, anyway.

In this AU, Meg is an intern at a marine research lab. Her boss is Viren, the head scientist there, who is off-putting but not unbearable to work for. He was kind of rude at first, especially if you aren’t keeping up with his thought process, but still a good boss...except something was off about him.

There’s also a locked door off-limits to everyone but Viren. There have been many rumors circulating what could possibly be behind it (some more ludicrous than the last) but the truth turns out to be even more shocking. There is a mer-creature of some kind down there, and Viren has been studying him for months.

As the story goes on, Meg and Aaravos grow closer over time and of course fall in love eventually. Not sure when or if I’ll get around to this one. Let alone finishing it.

See the full post

18 notes • Posted 2021-02-25 16:30:56 GMT

#1

I’m curious…

Are there any people on here that selfship (or are ficto) that are past their 20’s? In their 30’s or older?

I’m wondering because my mom (who is patiently accepting and supportive of my ‘hobby’) seems to think you “grow out of it” once you’re past your 20’s (which I am in).

So Like and/or Reblog if you are a selfshipper in their 30’s or older? Or if you know anyone that is (you don’t have to give names)

112 notes • Posted 2021-07-19 19:01:07 GMT

Get your Tumblr 2021 Year in Review →

[mindmeltonabun-blog]

Tale of the Nine Tailed: More Analysis and Theories (Ep 9 & 10)

If you haven't done so already, I would suggest that you read all of my other TOTNT posts before continuing to read this post because otherwise you might find yourself lost or confused as to what I’m talking about. For the most part, the majority of the theories that I have proposed here have came true which is great! However, there were a few theories, most notably my zombie theory that didn’t quite come true. Although I wouldn’t be surprised that if in the end we found out that the Imoogi had a hand in creating those zombies. 

Now this post may leave you in a state of exhaustion upon reading it, but I can guarantee you that it will be well worth your time at the end of it ! Additionally, I would like to apologize in advance if I haven't posted my theories or analyses right away, but I’ve been preoccupied with school work as well as tirelessly watching the US election. Needless to say, it’s been a very long week for me! I do want to write well thought out posts for you all, but at the same time I hope you guys will understand that these theoretical and analytical posts do require a great deal of time and extensive research. Anyways with that being said, let’s get to theorizing and analyzing the clues of which we were given in Ep 9 and Ep 10!

What The Imoogi Wants 

Initially, I had strongly believed that the Imoogi was after Lee Yeon’s fox bead because it was a form of “Yeouiju” which could’ve helped it become a celestial dragon. There are of course other ways an Imoogi could be a celestial dragon: 

1) Fox Bead/Yeouiju

2) Sacrificial Virgin Bride

3) Living to be 1000 years old

It should be noted that I am still somewhat uncertain whether in the context of TOTNT, an Imoogi would need to fulfill all three requirements to become a celestial dragon. In Korean mythology, it is heavily implied that the Imoogi only needs one of the three. Furthermore, in most of the popular myths about the Imoogi, it mainly seeks to obtain the fox bead/yeouiju. Thus, this is why I had initially concluded that the Imoogi in TOTNT was solely after Lee Yeon’s fox bead/Yeouiju and not anything else. However since TOTNT is an adaption of many popular Korean folklore, I think the writer is trying to incorporate all three requirements in their own unique way. Meaning that they are trying to add their own dramatic flair or twist to it. Now I’ve already discussed in great detail about the first two ways so now I want to focus on how I think the writer is trying to incorporate the requirement of living to be 1000 years.

1000 Years + More on Bok Gil/Imoogi’s Background

First, it is implied that Mountain Spirits are “celestial” animals (i.e bears, foxes, snakes, and tigers). By “celestial” I mean that you have to be at least 1000 years old in order to even be considered for this prestigious position. Therefore, at the time when Ah Eum had met Lee Yeon, he had just been recently appointed to that position. In the meanwhile, we as the viewers aren’t given any additional information as to what Lee Yeon had been doing up to that point. One thing is for sure, Lee Yeon must have been a real arrogant and egotistical ass. There I said it ! I mean just look how he behaved when he first met Ah Eum and Lee Rang! However, I think that by meeting Ah Eum and Lee Rang, they brought out Lee Yeon’s more compassionate side.

So you’re probably wondering well what the hell does this have anything to do with the Bok Gil/Imoogi? Well I’m getting to that! If you had remembered, I had theorized that Lee Yeon may have been the reason why Bok Gil committed suicide. Given Lee Yeon’s arrogant pretentious nature, I could definitely see Lee Yeon being completely unaware that his words and actions could’ve deeply affected others. One of those people was Bok Gil/Imoogi. 

I believe that Bok Gil/Imoogi is around or exactly the same age as Lee Yeon.  Bok Gil had probably died some time during the Goryeo or Joseon dynasty. What makes me believe this? Well just look at the kind of shoes Taluipa was holding. Those shoes are “Kkotsin” which were typically worn by men during those dynasties. Coincidentally, around the same time Bok Gil had died, Lee Yeon was appointed to the Mountain Spirit position. It raises the question, did Bok Gil kill himself before he was able to reach the “celestial” age of 1000 years old? I think so. Thus, he was unable to meet one of the requirements to become a Mountain Spirit. 

Collectively, I think Bok Gil’s backstory will have a lot to do with our understanding of the Imoogi’s true motivations . For the Imoogi, it’s not purely about fulfilling the requirements of becoming celestial dragon, but it’s more about personally getting revenge on the person who took away his chance of ever becoming a Mountain Spirit in the first place. If you think about, you didn’t see him trying to go after Sato or any of the other Mountain Spirits or any other Gumiho for that matter. He specifically zeroed in on Lee Yeon.

Maybe the only wrongdoing that Lee Yeon may have committed towards the Imoogi was that he simply existed. Though, I wouldn’t be surprised that Bok Gil’s death and his hatred for Lee Yeon had all stemmed from a simple misunderstanding because let’s be real here, one of the central themes in TOTNT is misunderstandings. 

Imoogis are typically seen as auspicious creatures in Korean folklore. Meaning that they are typically viewed as a good omen. Therefore, I think the Imoogi/Bok Gil was a good person, but because of his jealousy of Lee Yeon, he was driven towards depression and suicide. Upon coming back to life, instead of sadness, he was filled with anger and the need for revenge. I mean it’s easier to be angry than sad right?

Additionally, other theories I have for Bok Gil is that maybe his mother had foreseen he would meet the love of his life (Ah Eum) once he became the Mountain Spirit. However, this all changed when whoever decided that position belonged to Lee Yeon instead. If you think about it, Taluipa’s visions of the future are purely subjective just like Alice’s visions from Twilight. Meaning that the future is subjective because it is based on a person’s decision which can readily change.

Imoogi Changes His Decision of What He Wants

In the past, the Imoogi had wanted Lee Yeon’s heart. You might ask well what did the Imoogi mean by Lee Yeon’s heart? Did he mean his literal or figurative heart? The Imoogi could have meant his literal heart, but I think he meant it in a figurative sense. I think the Imoogi probably meant Lee Yeon’s fox bead which in traditional Korean folklore is the main power source/life force of a Gumiho, but I cannot say this with 100% certainty because TOTNT is after an adaption of many Korean folklore. 

Now in the present, the Imoogi changed his mind of what he wanted from Lee Yeon. Why? Because he already knew that the fox bead has disappeared into the hands of the fortune teller. The Imoogi with his great powers could’ve easily gone after the fortune teller to retrieve it had this been his main objective. The Imoogi’s main objective isn’t to become a celestial dragon. Rather, it’s to get revenge on Lee Yeon whom he believed had stolen the life he was meant to have. The Imoogi had wanted Lee Yeon to suffer just as he had when he was alive as Bok Gil. He wanted Lee Yeon to feel the exact same pain of having to lose everything most precious to him. Man the Imoogi/Bok Gil is so immature! Taluipa, you need to discipline/talk with your son !

Is Taluipa a Snake/Dragon?

Other things I think would be interesting to know is what kind of species Bok Gil was. As mentioned earlier, Taluipa’s character is based off of Samsin Halmoni. In both Chinese and Korean folklore, Samsin Halmoni and Goddess Mago have been viewed as being the same. Mago was described as having long birdlike/clawlike finger nails. Furthermore, the Goddess Mago was associated with snakes, caves, and the “elixir of life”. See where I’m going yet?

Although it has not been revealed yet, I think that underneath Taluipa’s human skin, she is a snake/dragon. Therefore, this would also make Bok Gil a snake just like his mother. However, I am still unsure as to what kind of animal Taluipa’s husband is because as far as we know, he is just a regular human with immortality that was granted to him by Taluipa. If that is the case, would Bok Gil have been only half snake? 

Does Taluipa Realize The Imoogi is Her Son?

I don’t think Taluipa has realized that the Imoogi is her son yet. If you remembered, I had said Bok Gil’s soul was in limbo. Therefore, when his soul traveled back into the land of the living, it had probably randomly jumped into whoever’s dead body was in that cave, thus this would make him unrecognizable even to his own mother. 

Other things to note is that just as there is many foxes in the TOTNT, it should be assumed that there are also many snakes/Imoogis too. So Taluipa might not have realized that this one particular Imoogi was actually her son. 

I think also that the Imoogi has the ability to cloud Taluipa’s psychic powers of clairvoyance. The decisions we make determines the kind of future we will have. And where exactly are decisions made? In our minds. We obviously know that the Imoogi has the psychic power to read others’ minds, but I think he also has powers that can block others from reading his. Without being able to see the Imoogi’s decisions which are made mentally, Taluipa cannot foresee what he will do next, only what he is doing presently. It’s about to be mother and son psychic power showdown ! Ouch, my brain hurts just thinking about that !

Resolving the Entangled Mess

In some of my previous posts I had suggested that Lee Rang will be the one that tragically dies. At the same time, I did leave room for the possibility of him having a happy ending through means of reincarnation. In this week’s episode, we were given another possibility of how Lee Rang might achieve a happy ending for himself such as untangling the mess.

Well what is this mess? I’m so glad you asked! Below is a chart that I drew as a visual aid to help you all understand the mess that currently exists in the world of TOTNT. I must say the mess in TOTNT is almost as messy as the US elections right now! 

As you can see from my chart, the Imoogi has gotten Lee Yeon cornered in a sort of checkmate move. To win the Imoogi’s game, one must find a way to resolve the following two conflicts: 

1) Lee Rang’s deal with the CEO

2) Imoogi piece inside Ji Ah

In doing so, one will then be able to remove the Imoogi completely!

Lee Rang’s Deal w/ The CEO

I had mentioned in a previous post that another common theme in TOTNT is deals/contracts. In ep 10, Taluipa’s husband advised to Lee Rang that he should try to think of a way to get around his contract with the CEO aka find a loophole.

What does “Quid Pro Quo” mean? It means that an item or service has been traded in return for something of equal value. The CEO had saved Lee Rang’s life and in return Lee Rang must comply with returning the a favor of equal value when asked. The favor the CEO asked Lee Rang was to bring Lee Yeon which essentially is a favor of equal value (a life for a life). Remember that if you choose not to comply, the power of the contract will force you to complete the favor anyway. However like with any deal, there is always a loophole. This loophole exists in the definition of Quid Pro Quo...of equal value.

Let’s look back to that chart that I drew earlier. What is the most precious thing to the CEO and is basically considered his life? THE CHERRY TREE! Without this tree, the CEO cannot survive. The CEO knew Lee Rang was being swayed by his brother as well as Lee Rang having knowledge of what his greatest weakness was. So then the CEO took precautions to ensure his greatest weakness could never be used against him by having the cherry tree be wheeled away to a safer location.

In order to avoid bringing/killing Lee Yeon, Lee Rang must find something of equal value to give back to the CEO to repay his debt. And that something of equal value is that damn cherry tree! Go Go Lee Rang! Find that cherry tree, return it to the CEO, and afterwards when the contractual rings break....KILL THE CEO ! 

While this does ensure the death of the CEO and the end of the contract between the CEO and Lee Rang, it does not ensure Lee Rang will survive in the long term. Meaning, Lee Rang cannot survive without the cherry tree either unless there is another means of extending his life (maybe elixir of life?). I do wonder what the typical lifespan of a half fox is. Things are implied, but yet there is no definitive answer as exactly how long a half fox can live. It also raises another question, can a half fox live forever provided that it does not get fatally injured? 

Imoogi Piece Inside of Ji Ah

Now onto resolving the 2nd conflict which is how to remove the Imoogi piece inside of Ji Ah. Well I think it can go two ways:

1) Lee Yeon strikes up a deal with the Imoogi:

Lee Yeon will let the Imoogi take his body only if Imoogi would agree to removing the piece of himself that is inside Ji Ah. Now here’s the part where both Ji Ah and Lee Yeon could work together to stop the Imoogi once and for all. Remember that Lee Yeon is susceptible to the effects of evening primrose so when the Imoogi enters Lee Yeon’s body, it will also share the same vulnerability. Ji Ah could trap the Imoogi/Lee Yeon with evening primrose and then use her Shaman powers to remove the Imoogi. After all, one of the powers of a shaman is the ability to excise evil spirits!

2) Taluipa provides Lee Yeon with the elixir of life or turns him human

I will write out more of this theory later, but ngl guys I’m exhausted! Sorry!

Ji Ah = Supernatural Being=Shaman Goddess

In Ep 10, the writer is once again dropping clues like its freaking Christmas that Ji Ah is some sort of supernatural being. We got her female coworker asking if Ji Ah is even human. No she’s not human!! Then we saw how the Imoogi could read everyone else’s mind except for Ji Ah’s. Why? It’s the same reason why Lee Yeon couldn’t hypnotize Ji Ah. It’s because Ji Ah is a supernatural being (shaman goddess) that has hidden powers that makes her immune to powers of other supernatural creatures. 

If you don’t still get it by now, I’ll give you this example: Edward Cullen and Bella. If you remember from Twilight, Edward Cullen could read everyone else’s mind except for Bella’s. Why? Because Bella had that special shield power which was later revealed once she became a vampire. 

Therefore, just like Bella, I think Ji Ah has a bunch of special shaman powers that can be unlocked somehow. Don’t ask me how right now, my brain is struggling to write this sentence as we speak. 

Last Remarks

Okay peeps, I struggled hard to try and write this. I am literally exhausted after staying up super late and waking super early to watch the US election results all week as well as doing my school work. So now I want to relax and celebrate the win of my President Elected, Mr. Joe Biden! I may or not write a separate post on what I think will happen in Ep 11. So stay tune! 

P.S: If there are any other questions about TOTNT that I did not address, please feel free to leave a comment and I will do my best to try and provide you with an answer!

[harrylee94]

The Tournament - Chapter 14

You can find this on AO3!

Summary: Jo stared them, and then up at him for a few moments, before flinging herself into his arms. He winced from the sudden pressure on his bruised body but he held her tight as she thanked him over and over and over again, and he spun her around on the spot to elicit a laugh from her before setting her down again. He’d had no idea how much this would mean to her, but from the way he was still stunned over it himself, he probably should have guessed.

Notes: Not quite so exciting a chapter this time, but still a little emotional.

Chapter 13

——————————————————————

“Welcome to Clan Krayt Dragon.” - Cobb

“Arm out straight,” the tailor said, holding their measuring tape out as Cobb complied, muttering to themself as they held it from his shoulder to his wrist, then batted his arm back down to write something down quickly before returning to his side. “Stand to attention.”

Cobb made a face as it pulled some of his tender muscles, but smirked a little at the snicker he heard from the corner where Jo was sitting.

It felt like he was in a dream. He’d beaten Jaonar, won the Tournament and revealed his face, but then something that hadn’t even occurred in his wildest dreams had happened. He was a knight. He was Ser Cobb Vanth of Mos Pelgo. The head of his own Clan; Clan Krayt Dragon! And then Din, the Prince, had accepted him and offered him the honour of being his Protector.

He had to pinch himself to make sure it was real.

He’d been sent off to see the physician in quick order after that though, and they’d poked and prodded him all over, forcing him to have a quick wash before rubbing oils and salves into his bruised skin and the abrasions he’d suffered. They’d wrapped his shoulder and warned him not to strain it too much for the next few days to make sure the muscles recovered properly, and then they’d handed him over to the tailor.

And Jo.

Apparently she’d been sent there by the Armourer to get his measurements at the same time as the tailor, to make sure everything was done efficiently.

“Measurements for what?” he’d asked as the tailor positioned him in the centre of the room.

“For your armour, of course.”

“Armour? But I’ve already got armour.”

She’d snorted and looked at him like he was an idiot. “You’ve got second hand crap that doesn’t fit you and only works for jousting. You need better armour.”

And so he found himself here, with someone he barely knew and was afraid to ask the name of running their fingers down his back to measure him for who knew what. Almost every inch of him had been measured by this point (though thankfully they’d gone around the delicates); around his neck, chest, biceps, wrists, thighs, ankles, the length of his foot, floor to inner thigh, floor to hip, hips, waist… The list went on and seemed inexhaustible.

“I’ve got everything I need,” the tailor said at long last, and Cobb sighed in relief, ready to sit down, but then Jo pulled out her own measuring tape and he groaned.

“Can’t you just get the measurements off of them?” he asked, hoping for more than just a moment of rest.

“I need different measurements,” Jo said with a grin.

“Why does that sound like a lie?”

The Armourer’s apprentice shrugged, and that’s when he knew it was a lie.

“Now, I will be working on your wardrobe, Ser Cobb,” the tailor said as Jo got started on her own measurements, simply using nudges and prods to push Cobb into place rather than telling him to move.

“My-- my wardrobe?” Cobb spluttered. He’d never had more than a few changes of clothes before, enough to stuff into a bag at a moment’s notice if necessary, but they were expecting him to have multiple changes of clothes? “I really don’t think-”

“You’re the Protector of the Prince, soon to be Witch King of Mandalore,” Jo butted in with a light slap to his good shoulder. “You need to dress the part.”

“I…” he started, but found himself stuck on the thought that he was the next Protector. Again.

“As I was saying,” the tailor continued as they brought out a pad of paper and a pencil, quickly sketching something as they talked, “it’s my role to ensure that you have the appropriate clothes for your life as a knight and as the Protector. I’m aware you are more used to the practicality of what you wore in the stables, so for now I will keep from suggesting skirts or gowns, though I did design a few for Mand’alor the Beloved that she said were still quite practical when it came to unexpected combat…”

“Uh, yeah, no dresses, please,” Cobb said, not sure he’d be able to handle so much fabric all at once.

The tailor hummed and continued to scribble on their pad. “I can find a few things you could wear until we’ve managed to sew a few garments for you, but your outfit for the coronation has to be perfect!” They turned the pad around to show him. “Thoughts?”

“Uh…”

The sketch was quite simple, and yet deceptively detailed in the way some of the lines were drawn; it was of a figure in a form-fitting doublet with a high collar over a shirt with long sleeves, and a belt around the middle. High boots had also been drawn, and what must have been hose on the legs, because those did not look baggy enough to be trousers. There was also the scribble of a design on the doublet’s chest and collar that he couldn’t quite decipher, and lines that hinted at a cloak or cape of some sort.

“That means he likes it,” Jo said before he could formulate any real thoughts on the matter, and he glared at her.

“Wait, wait, I didn’t say that,” he said, pointing at her, then turning back to the tailor. “It’s… I like the… the shirt, and the boots.”

They smiled at him encouragingly. “Okay, that’s good. What about the doublet?”

He winced. “I’m sorry, but I’m not used to anything that… fancy. I don’t think I’d be comfortable wearing something like that.”

The tailor nodded thoughtfully, pulling the pad back and turning to a new page. “Why don’t you tell me what sort of thing you like to wear, and we can work from there.” They paused. “What did you wear to the funeral?”

Cobb looked away, frowning at the memory of standing at the pyre all day, of the smoke that still clung to what he’d worn. “I wore a red shirt, and a red scarf.”

The tailor was silent, probably waiting for some elaboration, but when he didn’t give them any more details they nodded and went back to their sketches.

“You are so helpful, Ser Cobb,” Jo said sarcastically, her tape wrapped around his middle and a pencil of her own stuck behind her ear.

“Don’t call me that,” Cobb huffed. “It’s still Cobb. Just because I have a title now doesn’t mean I’m any different.”

“I know that,” she said, giving him another nudge to push him into another position, “but you’ve got to get used to hearing it. Ser Cobb Vanth, head of Clan Krayt Dragon.”

“It’s not much of a Clan without people in it,” he muttered, but then he caught her hand before she could write her latest measurement down. “Would you join my Clan?”

She blinked at him in surprise. “I’m… not sure that’s how it works.”

“Why not?” he asked. “You’re like a sister to me, so why not make it official?”

“You…” she started, but turned to the tailor, who had paused in their sketching. “Can he do that?”

The tailor frowned in thought and Cobb held his breath. “I haven’t heard of it happening recently, but I believe it’s the head of the Clan who decides who does and does not make up its members. So, yes, if you are both in agreement, then he can make you a part of his Clan.”

Jo stared them, and then up at him for a few moments, before flinging herself into his arms. He winced from the sudden pressure on his bruised body but he held her tight as she thanked him over and over and over again, and he spun her around on the spot to elicit a laugh from her before setting her down again. He’d had no idea how much this would mean to her, but from the way he was still stunned over it himself, he probably should have guessed.

“Is that a yes?”

“Yes. Yes! Cobb, oh stars, I want that!” she declined with a tearfilled smile. “For people to know that we’re family like that…”

He nodded. He understood completely. “Well then, Vod,” he said, holding out his hand and waiting for her to grasp it, “welcome to Clan Krayt Dragon.”

She beamed at him and quickly stepped in for another hug, this one a bit more careful but no less warm. It was a wonderful moment, one that Cobb wanted to bottle up and return to on rainy days, but they both had tasks to perform and he carefully pulled her away after what was probably a good few minutes.

“Alright now, let’s get these measurements done,” he said, and she nodded, quickly wiping at her cheeks and eyes.

“You’d better adopt Peli, too,” she said with a look of warning as she remeasured his middle. "She deserves it after everything you've put her through."

“I plan to,” he said, holding his arms out a little to give her room. “What’s a family without a terrifying matriarch? Not that you aren’t, Jo.”

The woman gave his good shoulder another whap with her palm and continued her work.

“I have a few more designs,” the tailor said, and Cobb nearly jumped out of his skin, having almost completely forgotten they were there. “Would you mind looking at them and telling me what bits you like and what bits you don’t like?”

“Sure,” he said with an embarrassed cough, ignoring Jo’s amused giggle in an attempt to retain some sort of dignity.

For the next half an hour he gave his opinions and feedback on the sketches the tailor made, eventually being able to sit down once Jo had finished with him, and they started to discuss in earnest what sort of things he’d be comfortable wearing, and what sort of things he’d be able to endure for the occasions where style was more important than comfort.

They ended up with paper scattered all over the table in the corner, Cobb’s shaky handwriting and heavy handed lines scribbled on several of the drawings (after making sure that it was okay for him to deface the sketches), others with Jo’s hand as she incorporated various pieces of armour into some of the designs, while some drawings were discarded altogether. There was a list of colours on each page as well, and there were some swatches of fabric that had been produced from a bag, but Cobb was starting to get a bit annoyed at how detailed everything had to be.

Luckily, a knock at the door interrupted them before he could let it go anywhere, and he almost sighed in relief when it opened to reveal the Prince.

“My Prince,” the three of them said as they rose to their feet to offer a bow, the man stepping into the room and nodding to each of them in turn but his eyes lingering on Cobb.

“I hope I’m not disturbing,” he said.

“Not at all, my Prince,” the tailor said with a smile. “I believe we’ve just about exhausted the options I can offer given the tight time schedule.”

Din nodded at them before turning his gaze back to Cobb. “Then I’m afraid I’m going to have to steal you away, Ser Cobb.”

Cobb smirked and bowed his head again. “I’m at your disposal, my Prince.”

Din said nothing, but his eyes seemed to sparkle with mischief as he turned and left the room. Cobb gave Jo a quick hug (carefully ignoring the way Jo whispered 'royally screwed' into his ear) and shook the tailor’s hand before following after him, giving Saruk a nod when they waved him to the spot at Din’s left as they walked down the hall.

“How are you finding being a knight so far, Ser Cobb?” the Prince asked as he led the way through the corridors to a place that Cobb couldn’t fathom.

“Well, it involves a lot more people poking and prodding you than I expected, my Prince,” he replied, and the man beside him chuckled. It rang against the stone, and it had to have been one of the best sounds in the world.

“Having a title tends to come with people wanting to take care of you, or at least bother you,” he said, “and please, we’re to be closer than brothers; call me Din.”

Cobb blinked at him in surprise. To be given permission to call the Prince -- the future Witch King -- by name was yet another honour he hadn't been expecting. “I… Then you can’t keep calling me ‘Ser’, Din.”

Their eyes met and held for several seconds before the small curve of Din’s lips grew into a full smile.

“Cobb,” he said with a nod as they pulled to a stop. “Well then, Cobb, I have a question for you.”

“Oh?”

The Prince hummed and pulled a key from his person, fitting it in the lock to the door beside them and pushing it open. Cobb’s mouth opened in silent shock for what had to have been the tenth time that day.

The room was filled with weapons -- swords, axes, spears, glaives and more -- racks of them across the walls, in the middle, barrels of arrows sitting near unstrung bows. There were several suits of armour -- both steel and leather -- set carefully on stands, side by side, and various signal flags and banners hanging limp on poles. This had to be the armoury.

“While the Armourer works on your sword,” Din said, drawing his attention, “which weapon would you like?”

——————————————————————

Mando'a Translations:

Vod -- brother/sister/sibling

Chapter 15

[markedmage]

Ten Truths

Title: Ten Truths

Pairing: Zuko/Katara, Minor Sokka/Suki

Summary:  Something pushes at the edges of Zuko’s consciousness. He remembers all those moments with Katara, the moments of shared silence where she waited, patiently, until he was ready to talk. He remembers how she pulled each little truth from his lips with just her gentle gaze and her willingness to listen without judgment. He remembers how they learned to trust again, in the simple breaths where truth became reality, where he talked and she listened. He looks at her again, sees the gentleness in her eyes, and knows it is time. He’s ready.

Rating: T

Notes: They say Rome wasn't built in a day, but you can bet your ass that this fic was. Partially because I am insane, and don't like to eat, drink or do anything else once the Zutara fix takes hold, but also partially because Zutara are also crazy and I love them and they were begging to be written. That being said, if the flow of this fic is weird, don't blame me. Blame Zutara and the lack of everything nutritious I gave up in order to write this. TBH, I don't even remember most of it, I think my hands and brain just took over and threw a bunch of word vomit onto a document.

I wrote this for the last day of ZutaraMonth, Day 29: Flowers. Uh, not sure how well this follows the prompt exactly. I DID have an idea in mind, but as I said above, this kinda got away from me. But I wanted to participate, and this was the last day, so here ya go.I'm planning on participating in ZutaraWeek as well. I'm so excited- I hope you guys are too. I already have a fic in mind (yes it's already being written) and I plan on incorporating the week's themes once they come out. I hope you guys will read and enjoy my ZutaraWeek submission, as much as you've loved my other stories as well. Thank you guys for all the support.

Posted on AO3 as well. Read it here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24449281

The walls Katara had so meticulously built up around herself slowly crumble. The anger and hatred that she had so callously thrown at Zuko to keep him away from her turn into something else- definitely not trust, not yet, Zuko knows he has a long way before he can reach that pivotal moment with her- but she no longer pierces him with a frozen stare every time they catch each other’s eye, she no longer crushes him with a biting malice every time he offers her his help with the chores. The dynamic between them has changed.

I'll never forgive him. But I am ready to forgive you.

They settle into an easy companionship in the days before the comet. Zuko rises with the sun and settles into his morning meditation. He brews the tea, leaving a small flame under the pot to keep it warm until Katara rises, a little later. She joins him sometimes, sitting in amicable silence, but more often sets about with the day, making breakfast and folding the laundry. By the time Zuko has finished his meditation, Katara has woken the rest of the gang (kids, Zuko thinks, We’ve adopted a family of kids), and has set out a bowl of jook for him. Then Zuko takes Aang for his firebending lessons, followed by lunch, Toph, and Katara later in the day. Zuko spars with Sokka, keeping his dao blades sharp, and trains with Suki in hand-to-hand combat. 

Sometimes, late at night, he sits at the overlook beyond his house, staring out over the calm ocean. He thinks about the last time he’d been here, back when his heart was still troubled and his soul was still split between doing what was right and what he thought he wanted. Sometimes Katara joins him, and it’s so different from the last time they spent a night under the moon (Maybe you can bring my mother back!). She sits with him, close enough he can almost taste the questions on her lips, but she never asks. He knows she’s desperate to speak, curiosity burning in those deep blue eyes of hers, but the thing he loves the most about Katara is that she always seems to know when he’s ready to talk, and so she waits until she knows. 

It’s something he’s always loved about her- the easy way she simply waits until he’s ready, unlike Sokka and Toph and Aang, who talk and talk and ask and badger him with questions until he feels like he may explode. He loves the gang, he really does- the loyalty, the love, the friendship- but so much exploration into his personal life can be too much for him to bear sometimes. 

But with Katara it’s different. Silence- which once held so much pain and fear in Zuko’s heart- becomes the thing he relishes the most with her. He finds peace in the calmness of quiet, tranquility settling in his soul in the heartbeat of Katara’s breaths. In the soothing serenity of Katara’s presence, Zuko feels his heart stitching itself back together, and every day that passes he feels himself falling a little bit back into the person he wants to be. He thinks he’s ready. 

Ready to let someone in.

________________________________________________________________

Zuko feels his peaceful world, the one he so desperately created around him, the one built on friendship and companionship, crumble around him at the weight of Aang’s words. “About Sozin's Comet... I was actually going to wait to fight the Fire Lord until after it came.  I'm not ready.”

It’s his worst nightmare really. Of course Aang needs more time to practice firebending, and he agrees with Toph- his earthbending really needs some work as well. But he remembers with dreadful clarity what his father planned before the invasion, the cruelty of the plan and the morbid fear in his heart of what was to come.

“Things can’t get any worse,” Katara says, and the pain in Zuko’s heart weighs heavier on his chest. 

“You’re wrong,” Zuko says, and even his voice sounds hollow with despair. “It's about to get worse than you can even imagine.”

He tells them about Ozai’s plan. The plan to crush the Earth Kingdom’s hope, to bury it’s very foundation under an inferno of ash and destruction. He watches the hope die in their eyes, replaced by a growing seed of fear. Sokka looks devastated, Suki looks terrified. Toph’s, for once, speechless, Aang looks hopeless, and Katara looks stricken, looking at him with eyes filled with terror and concern. She reaches out a hand, but one look from Zuko has her dropping it, stepping back with lowered eyes.

Zuko knows how much this hurts everyone, how much it hurts him. But as he looks at them, the brave Water tribe soldier, the Kyoshi Warrior, the Beifong Heiress, the Avatar, and the greatest Waterbender he’s ever met, he knows he’ll do anything to protect them. And right now, that’s making sure they defeat his father, no matter the cost. “I know you're scared,” He says, placing a hand on Aang’s shoulder. The boy looks up at him with scared eyes, and Zuko remembers when he looked at his father the same way. Only this time, Zuko is not his father, and he won’t hurt a young boy just for speaking his mind. He smiles encouragingly at Aang. “And I know that you're not ready to save the World. But if you don't defeat the Fire Lord before the comet comes, there won't be a World to save anymore.”

That seems to be the right thing to say, and he sees the fire once again burn in Aang’s eyes. Sokka once again shines with the energy of his people, and he raises a fist in the air. “Team Avatar is back!”

Zuko smiles, and lowers his head as Sokka continues to crow with excitement. But a little part of him can’t help but be afraid, be afraid for the people he’s come to love and cherish as his own family. And when he raises his eyes once more, he finds himself being stared down by Katara’s watchful gaze, and knows she feels it too.

________________________________________________________________

She finds him later that night, sitting under a sky full of stars. He makes no inclination that he’s heard her, but she comes over to him anyway, sitting down next to him. He blinks, then pulls his gaze from the heavens to look at her. She’s staring out over the water, hands folded neatly in her lap. Even under the pale moonlight, he can see the reds and golds of her silk robe standing out against the rich caramel of her skin, and he finds himself thinking that the rich colors of his nation suit her well.

(Red symbolizes passion and power, represents the Fire Nation. But Zuko wishes to tell the world that red symbolizes Katara, symbolizes the strength in her limbs and the power in her heart, the desire and will to do what is right and to never give up on people who need her. Katara may be of the Water Tribe, but her heart burns with the fire of a thousand suns.)

He turns his eyes back to the sky, and sees her do the same. They sit in silence for a moment, and Zuko finds himself unable to bear the silence (a silence that he’s always craved from her). “When I was younger, my mother used to tell me stories of the stars,” he begins, and raises a hand to trace out a constellation. Katara’s eyes trace his fingers, and he maps out the Azure Dragon of the Fire Nation. “The Azure Dragon is the guardian of all the stars,” he recites. “The dragon was created by Agni so that he could rest during the night. Under the watchful gaze of Tui and the Azure Dragon, Agni sleeps, and the dragon circles the night sky, ever watchful for danger against his master.”

Zuko looks back at Katara, then chuckles awkwardly and scratches the back of his head awkwardly. Katara’s gaze is too bright, too warm, too knowing, and he feels like she is taking him apart bit by bit. “Of course, that’s just a story my mother used to tell me.”

Her eyes soften, and she rests a gentle hand on his shoulder. “You must have loved your mother very much,” she says, and his shoulders sag.

“Yes,” he says, raising a hand to his face, touching the scar that mars the side of his face. “I loved her more than anything in the world.” Katara’s gaze follows his hand, landing on his scar. She raises her other hand and cups his cheek, resting her palm over his fingers. “Your father gave that to you, did he?” she breathes.

Zuko’s heart stutters to a stop in his chest, and gasps, long and low in his throat. He meets Katara’s gaze, half expecting disgust, anger, hatred, to be swimming in the blue depths of her eyes, but he’s only met with compassion. She smiles at him, and he knows that she won’t press him if he doesn’t want to, that she’ll give him space if he needs it, but Zuko knows this is a story he has to tell. She deserves to know.

“Truth,” he says, and meets her kind eyes. He tells her the story of a young boy, a young prince, who stood up for the soldiers who didn’t have a voice, how he expected to face the general he dishonored in the Agni Kai- how it was his own father who maimed him. Suffering shall be your teacher.

By the time he’s finished there are tears pooling in Katara’s sky blue gaze. “Oh, Zuko,” she whispers, and leans over, pulling her into his arms. She buries her head in his neck and holds him tight, her shoulders shaking. “You should have never had to go through that.”

He buries his face in her hair, inhales the sweet scent of wind and rain, and Katara. She didn’t say I’m sorry, but she didn’t need to. Zuko has had enough pity in his life, and once again, Katara knows exactly the right thing to say to put him at ease. So he holds onto her, he clings to her, and relishes in this moment- this one fragment of time where everything feels right, where he is home and the person he cherishes the most is here with him, under the watchful gaze of Tui and the Azure Dragon.

________________________________________________________________

They share another moment after June has led them to the outskirts of Ba Sing Se. They make camp for the night, and longer after Sokka and the others have turned in for the night, Zuko joins Katara to sit by the fire. He pokes at the embers and convinces the flames back to life, and Katara smiles at him, and places her hands closer for the warmth. They sit in the companionable silence Zuko knows all too well, until Toph appears in an explosion of earth, screaming, “Someone’s coming!”

It’s chaos, and suddenly their tiny camp is surrounded in a ring of flames. But just as quickly as the flames come roaring to life, they die down, and Zuko recognizes Jeong-Jeong, and Master Piandao, and suddenly they're surrounded by the order of the White Lotus. And his uncle is in the Lotus camp, waiting for him.

He finds himself standing outside the tent of the Grand Lotus. It makes sense that his uncle holds the title- he’s the most righteous individual the Fire Nation ever produced, and balance between the four nations was one of the things he stressed the most in life (that and tea). He sits in front of the tent, and he doesn’t know how to bring himself to enter. The last time he saw his uncle, he was sitting in a jail cell, left to rot. The last time he met his uncle’s gaze was at the crossroads of his destiny, of the avatar’s, of Katara’s, in the old city of Ba Sing Se. Shame courses his veins, shame from all those months ago, in the same place, rises up and threatens to overwhelm him. 

A hand on his shoulder brings him back to reality, and he blinks while Katara sits next to him. She’s dressed in the blues of her nation, but her eyes still burn with that fire that threatens to set the world alight. 

“Are you okay?” she asks quietly, the hand resting on his shoulder providing a quiet comfort that Zuko leans into. He turns his head away and sighs, eyes fixed on the lotus symbol painted across his uncle’s tent.

“No,” he says finally. “My Uncle hates me, I know it. He loved me and supported me in every way he could and I still turned against him. How can I even face him?

Katara sighs, and Zuko can feel her heartbeat pounding to the rhythm of his own. “You’re sorry for what happened?” she says, looking at him with her clear gaze. “In the catacombs?”

He’s more sorry than he’s ever been in his life. Of all the people in the world, uncle Iroh was the only one who saw him for who he was, who supported him no matter the cost, and followed him to the end of the world and back. He betrayed the only person who loved him, mistakes and all. Sorry can’t even begin to describe how Zuko feels.

(Shame, anger, frustration, disgust, guilt. Sorrow)

He looks at Katara. Another person who was willing to love him through the scars. Another person he’s hurt. Another person he’s betrayed. “More sorry than I've been about anything in my entire life.”

Another truth, about his uncle, about the Avatar, about her. Judging from the look in her eyes, she knows. She understands, knows how truthful he’s being (not just about his uncle). Katara smiles, and leans over, kissing him on the cheek, over his scar. He jolts, but she pulls back, and the fond look in her eyes is enough for Zuko (he thinks he can conquer the world on the sole basis of that look).

“Then he'll forgive you. He will.”

The strength she offers- the quiet, enduring support and kindness- is enough to send Zuko through the flaps in the tent. And later, when his uncle wakes and pulls him into a high, her strength is what brings him to tears, with how can you forgive me so easily? I thought you would be furious with me falling easily from his lips. Partially for his uncle, and partially for her.

________________________________________________________________

Katara’s not the person who shows weakness easily. If it’s anyone, Zuko thinks it’s Sokka. He’s a strong, brave soul, but he’s still a teenager, and the idea of taking on the Fire Lord without the possibility of Aang there frightens him-Zuko can see it in his soul. But Katara’s always been such a solid, reassuring presence to the gang, and Zuko doesn’t really know what to do when he finds her overlooking the city, and she looks so utterly broken.

“Wherever he is, I’m sure he’ll be alright,” Zuko says, placing a hand on her shoulder. She looks up at him and smiles at him, though her eyes are watery and she looks so small.

“I know,” she says, sniffling and wiping her eyes. “I’m just so scared though. The whole world is relying on us, and I just don’t know what I’d do if any of you got hurt. Especially you.”

He blinks, and she laughs at his expression. “Yes, even you. That’s the truth,” she says. “I know what facing Azula means to you, what it means to me, but I can’t help but feel terrified.” She leans in and rests her forehead against Zuko’s chest, taking a deep, shuddering breath. “I can’t lose you. Not again.”

Ba Sing Se.

He closes his eyes and pulls her tight, wrapping his arms around the small of her back and holding her close. “You won’t lose me,” he breathes, stroking her hair. “I know you’re scared, and I’ve never been more terrified in my life. I have to face Azula.”

She nods into his chest, and Zuko pulls away, but holds her by the shoulders and meets her gaze, gold boring into blue. “But this I know is true,” he says. “There is no one else I trust with my life than you, Katara. And you’re the one I want by my side when I bring my treacherous sister to her knees.”

_______________________________________________________________

Later, when they’re flying over the Fire Nation, Zuko turns to Katara with fear in his heart. He doesn’t know how to tell her that he wants her safe, that no matter what he’ll protect her, that he’ll die to make sure she survives, but he doesn’t know how. Katara makes eye contact with him and misreads his fear, saying, “Zuko, don’t worry, we can take Azula.”

He blinks, and shoves away the feelings simmering under his skin, looking up at the sky, Sozin’s Comet painting it bloodred. “I’m not worried about her,” he says, truthfully, after a moment. “I’m worried about Aang. What if he doesn’t have the guts to take out my father? What if he loses?” Katara looks away. “Aang won’t lose,” she says quietly. “He’s coming back. He has to.” She turns her fierce gaze back on him, and smiles grimly. “And so will you.”

He almost doesn’t believe her, especially when he’s lying on the ground at the palace, his tunic in tatters and his skin painted red with blood. Lightning courses through his veins, and he laments in the fact that he broke his promise to Katara, that there’s no way he can possible come back, that she’s going to lose him too, again, just like last time-

And she saves him, glowing water gloved on her hands and tears of joy and love in her eyes. He whispers, “Thank you, Katara,” and when she says “I think I’m the one who should be thanking you,” he thinks he’s fallen in love for the first time. 

When they stand over Azula, the broken princess, he almost doesn’t recognize her. He turns away, his heart turning to ash when he realizes that Ozai broke her as much as he broke him, Katara follows him. “I was so worried about you,” she breathes, cupping his face. “When you fell, I was so scared. I’ve never felt more scared for you in my life.”

He looks at her. “Me too,” he says, and takes her hand in his. “I was so scared for you. Katara, it wasn’t my life that I was worried about, but yours. I couldn’t let Azula hurt you.”

Her eyes fall to the burn scored across his chest. “You didn’t have to take lightning for me, Zuko.”

He breathes, and takes their hands, placing their entwined fingers on his burn. “I’d take the heat of a thousand suns for you, Katara,” he whispers, the truth of his words burning deep into his skin, deeper than his scars. “You must know that.”

Her eyes lower, and he leans forward, pressing his forehead into hers. “But you brought me back. You didn’t have to. Why?”

She smiles, tears pouring out of her eyes, and leans forward. “You know why,” she breathes, and kisses him.

(With sudden clarity he knows she’s telling the truth.)

________________________________________________________________

And suddenly, just like that, peace is the new normal. Aang comes back, bringing Ozai in his custody, and tells everyone how a giant lion-turtle taught him how to spiritbend (“Only you,” Toph says, and punches him).

Zuko is crowned Firelord. On the eve of his coronation, he finds Katara in his mother’s garden, feeding bits of bread to the turtleducks (he’s hit with such a wave of nostalgia that he stumbles under the weight of his mother’s love, of the memories of a young boy sitting with his mother feeding the turtleducks). 

Katara looks over to him and smiles, beckoning him to join her. He sits by the water’s edge, taking the bread she offers and tossing it into the water. Lulled by the quacking of the turtleducks and the peace of Katara’s presence, Zuko feels his shoulders lift from under the burden of ruling a broken kingdom. There’s so much he needs to do, to restore the Fire Nation to its former glory.

Katara nudges him, making him meet her gaze. “What’s up?” she asks, piercing him with her blue eyes. “You look troubled.

(He wants to tell her he loves her. He wants to tell her that she is his Azure Dragon, that she’s the one person in the world he wants by his side.)

But what comes out of his mouth is: “I don’t love Mai.”

She blinks. “What?” she says, after a moment.

He sighs. “It’s the truth,” he whispers. “Mai, earlier, she came to me, right before the coronation. She told me she loved me, and wanted to be with me.” Katara’s eyes are on him, but they’re not judging him, and he finds solace in the gentleness of her gaze. She rests her hand on his arm, and he wordlessly takes her hand, lacing his fingers through hers and marveling at the contrast of their skin color overlapping, brown and white. She smiles, encouragingly.

“It’s just, Mai was in love with someone who I used to be,” he confesses. “Someone I once was, back when I let anger and hatred fuel me. She was in love with a boy who was scared of his sister and weak against his father, who turned on his friends and the family who actually loved him. I’m not that person, not anymore. I can’t be with her- I don’t love her anymore. Not that way.”

Katara’s eyes soften. “I think that was very brave of you,” she whispers. He turns and blinks at her, and she smiles, looking back down at the pond. “Think of it this way. When you disturb the water-” she dips a hand in the pond and ripples spread out from where her fingers danced across the tranquil surface “-it creates chaos, and imbalances the real support that lies under the surface. But once the ripples fade, then the pond can go back to being what it always has been, peaceful, still, and sure.” She waves a hand and the water stills, turning back into a clear, shimmering pond that reflects the moon, Katara, and Zuko. She smiles and leans forward, pointing at Zuko’s mirror image reflected on the water. “This is who you are, Zuko.” She says. “This is what you’ve always been.”

He stares at the quiet reflection of himself. “You wouldn’t have been happy with her,” Katara continues. “And that doesn’t mean you don’t love her, because you do. But there’s a difference between loving someone for what they were and loving someone for who they are. And you’re not the person you used to be, Zuko. I know that to be true.”

He turns and pulls her close, placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Oh, Katara,” he breathes. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

It’s not what he wants to say, but he doesn’t know how to tell her his true feelings, at least not yet. And luckily, she is Katara, and he knows she’ll wait until he’s ready. Just like she always has been.

She smiles. “For the record,” she says, squeezing his hand. “I’m glad you’re not in love with her either.”

That pulls a laugh from him, and he pulls her close, feeling his soul stitch together under her healing gaze.

________________________________________________________________

They’re walking through the marketplace when Aang spots a flower vendor. He drags Katara over, and Zuko and Sokka, followed by Toph, creep over as well. Zuko stands passively while Sokka oogles over the variety, finally settling on a bouquet of sun roses to bring to Suki. Toph sulks next to him, and when the vendor tries to woo her over with some flowers, she silences him with an “I’m blind,” and a smack in the face with a pebble. He shuts up quickly after that, and Zuko stifles a chuckle (the last time he didn’t, he too got wacked with a rock, and he’s not rushing to repeat that again).

He ends up hovering near where Aang is gushing over the panda lily display. “Look, Katara,” he says. “They’re beautiful, just like you!”

Zuko bristles, because Katara isn’t Aang’s, she doesn’t belong to him, she can’t. But Katara is her own person, and she looks at the lilies with distaste. “They’re fine, Aang,” she says in her most dismissive tone (and Zuko cannot be any more prouder). She turns away from Aang, not seeing his shoulders slump, and continues to browse the flowers.

On a whim, Zuko turns to the display and picks out his favorite, a small fire lily, the rich ruby a reminder of Katara’s fierce passion. He drops the vendor a few coins and turns, walking over to where Katara stands. She looks up, eyes widening up Zuko’s arrival. “Here,” he says, reaching forward and placing it in her hair, right behind her ear. “This suits you.”

Her eyes widen, and she reaches up, touching the flower reverently. “Zuko,” she breathes, leaning up and hugging him. “I love it.” She leans in. “These are my favorite.”

He smiles, and nuzzles her hair softly, before stepping back. He catches a glimpse of Aang’s sad eyes in his periphery, but then Katara’s smooth hand slips into his, and the Avatar is forgotten.

________________________________________________________________

The moment Katara comes to him, tears falling from her eyes, Zuko is ready to drown whoever hurt her in an inferno of his rage. He’s in his mother’s garden (hiding from his advisors- they would never bother him here), when she comes storming in like a tsunami and throws herself into him, tears cascading down her rich brown cheeks like a waterfall. Zuko drops what he’s doing immediately- composing a letter to King Kuei, that can wait- and wraps his arms around her, rubbing her back while she lets out choking sobs.

He lets her cry, holding her close while she buries herself in his chest and releases her misery to the world. He’s got half a mind to find whoever hurt her and have them tried for war crimes, but then she pulls away, and he finds that he can’t rip himself away from her sad gaze. There’s a fire lily in her hair and the words they’re my favorite float around in his mind, but he focuses on the tears falling from her eyes and tries to figure out who in their right mind would do this to her-

“Aang,” she whispers, and in choking, heaving breaths, she tells him that Aang kissed her, that he told her he loved her, and wanted her to travel the world with him. Zuko grows cold, feels his heart come stuttering to a halt, and thinks his world is about to be destroyed.

She can’t go with him, he thinks, heart tearing into pieces. Agni, she can’t go with him.

“Katara-”

“I can’t go with him,” she wails, interrupting Zuko. “I can’t go with him and I’ve hurt him and it hurts so much, and I don’t know what to do!”

He cups her cheek and holds her close. “You don’t have to go with him,” he whispers (he begs). “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

“But I broke his heart! I told him I didn’t love him!”

A part of Zuko rejoices at that, but he pushes that wave down and concentrates on soothing Katara. “Katara,” he says firmly, and she hiccups, looking at him with wide eyes. “You don’t have to do anything that you don’t want to do,” he repeats slowly. “It’s your life, your love to give out. Never let anyone take it from you. Only you have the power to give it. Even Aang, as young as he is, does not have the right to take your love. He’s twelve years old, Katara, he doesn’t even really know what love is. He’ll be fine.”

Katara’s eyes lower, and a single tear runs down her cheek. “I wanted to love him,” she confesses. “I wanted to be his, I really did. But I just...don’t.” Zuko runs his finger over her cheek. “And that’s okay,” he whispers. “But it’s okay to know exactly what you want, and if you know you don’t want to be with him, then don’t. You’re your own person, Katara. Aang will respect that.” She shudders, and closes her eyes. “I don’t love him,” she whispers, and the truth of it seems to sink in. She opens her eyes, and although there’s still sadness, Zuko also sees resolution and tact in her gaze. “I don’t love him.”

Something pushes at the edges of Zuko’s consciousness. He remembers all those moments with Katara, the moments of shared silence where she waited, patiently, until he was ready to talk. He remembers how she pulled each little truth from his lips with just her gentle gaze and her willingness to listen without judgment. He remembers how they learned to trust again, in the simple breaths where truth became reality, where he talked and she listened. He looks at her again, sees the gentleness in her eyes, and knows it is time. He’s ready.

“I don’t want you to be with him,” he blurts out, and her eyes widen. He takes her by the hand and pulls her close, drowning in the blue depths of her eyes-eyes which had never held him in contempt (once sadness and anger, but never contempt)- and has never felt more sure in his entire life. “I don’t want you to be with him, Katara, because I want you to be with me.”

Her mouth opens. “Are you serious?” she breathes, and Zuko nods, clarity in his heart and serenity in his soul.

“I’ve never been more sure in my entire life,” he says. “Katara, there is no one else I want by my side. Please, say you’ll stay with me. Please.”

She looks at him, really looks at him. She’s quiet for a moment. “I don’t love Aang,” she says. She rests a hand on Zuko’s cheek, caressing his scar lovingly. “Because I love you. I’ve always loved you, Zuko,” she whispers, and it feels like coming home.

It's always been you.

________________________________________________________________

There are fire lilies at the ceremony. They adorn the throne room, sit in bouquets in Suki’s, Toph’s, and Ty Lee’s laps, fill the vases at the dinner tables. Sokka has a fire lily pinned to his tunic, and Aang has a necklace of them ringing his neck. Zuko has one pinned to his robes, and there are fire lilies in her hair.

They are joined as one under the eyes of Agni, and Zuko pins the crown of the Firelady to her topknot. She’s wearing the reds of his-their-people, but the blue of her homeland hugs her throat. She kisses him, hands clasped tightly to his, and the nation cheers at their joining. 

During the celebration ball, he spins her around in the courtroom, her dress billowing out around her, her joyful laugh tinkling like bells. Zuko is the happiest he’s ever been, surrounded by family and friends, in the arms of a woman who loves him. 

And later, when they’re out by the turtleduck pond and he’s tucking a loose fire lily behind her ear, she looks up at him, love burning in her blue eyes. This is all he's ever wanted- peace in the world and love in his arms. This is what he needs, his beautiful Azure Dragon, and nothing else. She leans close and cups his cheek.

“You love me,” she whispers.

He leans in, kisses her softly, tasting their future on her tongue. 

“Truth.”

Notes: Ok, so I know Zuko was lowkey cheesy throughout this fic, but lets be honest. Boy literally used his firebending to light up a fountain to impress a girl- this kid's cheesy as heck and you cannot change my mind. 

I tried to keep the truths mostly to Zuko, but Katara is my girl and she couldn't help but bleed through in a couple places.Anyway, thank you so much for reading, please let me know what you thought. Also, please don't hesitate to talk to me so that we may revel in the beauty that is Zutara. 

See you for ZutaraWeek (UNLESS I find inspiration for another story, which, let's be honest, I most likely will).

[aion-rsa]

Anime For Beginners: Best Genres and Series to Watch

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The past decade has seen anime’s popularity increase in dramatic ways, whether through a much broader spectrum of series receiving dubs, the growing success of anime feature films in theaters, or the sudden prominence of streaming services. There’s never been a better time to be an anime fan and the medium has become more accessible than ever. There’s a lot of anime out there, but the wealth of new series can often blend together or not be given a fair chance. Additionally, there are definitely certain types of anime that are more prominently showcased outside of Japan. 

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For the uninitiated it’s easy to assume that anime consists of giant robots, monsters that battle, and strong fighters and magical girls that transform, but that’s really just a fraction of what the medium has to offer. Words like shonen, shojo, isekai, and even reverse harem are used in reference to anime, which can sometimes feel overwhelming when someone just wants to watch a silly romantic comedy or superhero clone. Here’s a helpful breakdown of all of the major anime genres and where to get started with them all.

Shonen

The shonen genre is by far the most popular brand of anime and the majority of breakout hits and major successes like Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, and One Piece all fit into the shonen brand. What’s interesting about anime genres is that they’re treated more like demographics and shonen is content that caters to boys with a young male protagonist. Shonen is so accessible because beyond this basic disclaimer, it’s able to cover a wide berth of content and a show like My Hero Academia can be completely different from Yu Yu Hakusho, yet they can still fall back on the same values. 

Shonen anime has largely been generalized to be series that feature lots of fighting and battles, which isn’t always the case, but has become quite representative of the genre. Shonen series are ideal for people that want lots of action and are hungry for a show that has hundreds of episodes to consume.

Notable Series To Watch: Yu Yu Hakusho, Hunter x Hunter, My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Attack On Titan

Shojo

Shojo is the female counterpart to the shonen genre that caters towards an audience of girls rather than boys. The shojo genre isn’t entirely bereft of battles, but it’s a style of anime where relationships and emotional drama is the priority or the source of power. There are many eclectic kinds of shojo series that are content to explore awkward relationship drama where there’s typically some kind of atypical supernatural element afoot. 

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However, the most popular style of shojo that’s largely become emblematic of the genre are “magical girl” series where regular girls transform into powerful warriors. There’s also typically a bright and pastoral aesthetic to shojo series and characters, both female and male, are beautified. Shojo anime is absolutely the place where the power of love will triumph over evil.

Notable Series To Watch: Sailor Moon, Cardcaptor Sakura, Fruits Basket, Vampire Knight, My Love Story!!

Seinen

Seinen is the R-rated evolution of the shonen genre that’s geared towards a more adult male audience that can handle mature storytelling. That’s not to say that shonen series can’t be violent or deal with adult situations, but seinen series often center around antiheroes and adult characters who are disenfranchised as opposed to optimistic youth that want to save the future. 

Some of the most sophisticated and challenging anime series come out of the seinen genre and it’s a great place for people to jump in that are looking for a story that’s not overly drawn out and achieves the same dramatic peaks as prestige television. Seinen once more comes down to the viewers’ preferences and there are science fiction, horror, and fantasy seinen shows that all deconstruct their material in different ways. As a point of comparison, major anime movies like Akira or Ghost in the Shell both fit into the seinen genre.

Notable Series To Watch: Kill La Kill, Berserk, Ping Pong The Animation, Vinland Saga, Dorohedoro

Josei

Josei is the more mature version of shojo content and it’s full of series that are designed for women as opposed to girls. Romance is a big component of josei series, but it’s more concerned about the harsh realities behind relationships than the flirtatious courtship that kicks things off. Josei love stories are messy and full of heartbreak and they’re less romanticized than shojo’s interpretation of love. 

A trashy way of putting it would be to say that Twilight is shojo, but Fifty Shades of Grey is seinen. Matters of the heart don’t always have to fuel josei series and there are also plenty of shows that center around adult women as they negotiate through professional and creative endeavors. It’s a place to find less flowery female-driven stories.

Notable Series To Watch: Chihayafuru, The Gokusen, Honey And Clover, Nana, Princess Jellyfish

Isekai

The isekai genre is perfect for fans of fantasy and this style of anime has become wildly popular over the course of the past decade. Isekai anime is any show where a character gets transported away to a fantastical new world. It’s a classic storytelling idea, but anime has been able to run with it in some creative new ways. There’s an abundance of isekai series that incorporate video game aesthetics and there are now just as many series where characters are trapped in a video game world than some alternate fantasy dimension. 

Isekai can focus on the protagonist’s mission to return home, act as a savior in their new world, or simply kill time and enjoy the vacation. There are even reverse isekai anime where a supernatural character gets stuck on Earth and must acclimate. Arguably the biggest most mainstream example of isekai content is Spirited Away, but even something as foundational as Alice in Wonderland would qualify.

Notable Series To Watch: Overlord, Re: Zero – Starting Life In Another World, That Time I Got Reincarnated Into A Slime, KonoSuba, No Game No Life

Ecchi

Ecchi is that brand of anime that’s generalized to be the oversexed content that’s likely to make someone blush if they were watching it in public. Ecchi is any sort of anime series that prioritizes a certain sexiness and isn’t afraid to showcase its assets and indulge in “fan service.” Ecchi anime usually has a lot of skin on display, but it’s far from empty content and there’s an important distinction between something like this and actual pornography. 

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Ecchi series titillate, but they still are concerned about their story and characters. There’s inevitably going to be some overlap between ecchi and seinen content (Kill La Kill is a series that really tows the line between both), but there’s often more of a gratuitous playfulness that drives ecchi content. Sexualized characters may bring in the audience, but the series are still deep enough to maintain their interests.

Notable Series To Watch: High School DxD, High School Of The Dead, Rosario To Vampire, Strike The Blood, Prison School

Mecha

Mecha anime are widely prominent and the visual of gigantic robots locked in combat as they fly through outer space feels like a tentpole of the anime industry. There’s a large awareness towards mecha series and it’s even entered mainstream live-action content through works like Pacific Rim. However, this visibility also makes mecha content easy to generalize and some may write it off without understanding the versatility of the genre. Mecha anime can be broken down further into real robot and super robot series, each of which apply a different level of realism to these unrealistic creations. 

Real robot series might focus more on the humans that pilot the machines and the politics that surround mecha, whereas super robot content can feature robots that destroy planets with giant lasers. There can be a lot of gratuitous action in mecha series, but the human element in shows like Appleseed and Neon Genesis Evangelion, or how various Mobile Suit Gundam properties are dedicated to the casualties of war, is proof that mecha anime can be a lot more than just giant robot battles.

Notable Series To Watch: Mobile Suit Gundam, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, Appleseed, Mobile Police Patlabor, Neon Genesis Evangelion

Harem

Romance is popular in any medium and there’s often exceptional tension that’s created from out of a love triangle. One genre of anime takes that idea and seriously exaggerates it in a way that can sometimes be problematic, but has spawned a popular style of anime all the same. Harem series center around a hapless male protagonist who stumbles into some incredible situation where a large group of girls–all of contrasting personalities–fall head-over-heels in love with him. 

Harem anime can come across as baseless wish fulfillment fantasy, but the broad structure allows many other genres to mix together with it in a productive way. A lot of the time these series will center on the actual characters and the complex relationship dynamics involved and try to say something that may not be explored in a josei or ecchi series. There are also reverse harem series, which take the same idea, but flip the genders where multiple men fawn over a woman.

Notable Series To Watch: Tenchi Muyo!, The World Only God Knows, Nisekoi, To LOVE-Ru, Ouran High School Host Club

Gag

Anime series are able to achieve a lot of things that just can’t be accomplished in other forms of animation or programming. Comedy is something that’s able to connect extremely hard in anime and operate at an absurdist level that uses visuals, timing, and premises that are rare to find elsewhere. Many anime series have a sense of humor or are even specifically designed as comedies, but gag anime are a different breed that operate at an overwhelmingly relentless pace. 

Reality and the fourth wall are just things to break in gag series, which often engage in wild parodies and lampshade anime as a whole. Some gag anime have extended storylines, but they often operate in shorter vignette style sequences that allow the comedy to really pop. Gag anime thrive in pop culture references and some of the hardest times I’ve laughed in my entire life have been at gag series like Mr. Osomatsu and Gintama where comedy is king.

Notable Series To Watch: Gintama, The Disastrous Life Of Saiki K, Pop Team Epic!, Mr. Osomatsu, Excel Saga 

Slice Of Life

Slice of life anime are those endlessly soothing series that don’t try to create major spectacles where the planet is at risk, but instead celebrate the mundanity of life. Slice of life series may center around the staff at a job, a group of friends in a high school club, or just a loner that’s moved to a new community. These are series that elegantly display the tiny moments that make life important and the bonds that create eternal friendships.

The stakes are often more muted in slice of life anime, but that doesn’t mean that they’re without tension or can’t dabble in fantastical material. There are still slice of life anime series that involve magical creatures or are set in unbelievable worlds. It’s sometimes even more humbling to learn that some planet in a far away solar system has a struggling chess club or that a dinosaur can be obsessed with different brands of candy.

Notable Series To Watch: The Melancholy Of Haruhi Suzumiya, Toradora!, K-On!, Dagashi Kashi, Clannad

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[amairauthor]

Storytelling for Sales Engineers

In 2020, I did something I have been dreaming about for some time.  I published my first book.

It is a goal that I have been keeping to myself for many years.  I knew I had talent as a storyteller but lacked the technical writing skills to complete the task. I told myself a story, a story that I believed.  The story told me I would never be a writer.

In June of 2019, I sat across the table from a colleague who had a different story to tell. It was based on the same character arc as the story I told myself, but his story had a different outcome.  His story was all about the journey of setting a goal, obtaining the skills, and completing that goal.  His story told me that I was not a writer yet, but there was a path in which I could be. Fortunately, I also believed in his story. A little over a year later, I published my first book.

Storytelling is the process of using words and actions to communicate basic facts and context to another person to relate to those facts.

Everything is a story, and everyone is a storyteller. The history of storytelling is the history of how humans learn and communicate. Whether we use oral, written, or visual storytelling, we have been telling each other stories since before the beginning of our recorded history.  The mediums change, but the process of storytelling remains.

There are many reasons why stories are such an effective method to transfer information. Stories give an audience the basic facts; they help give context to a problem; they help the listener identify with a problem.

For engineers, these features of storytelling are critical. Your audiences may not be engineers, and they may have a wide range of responsibilities; they may only be interested in the bottom line or have some other problem they need to be solved by technology.  An engineer, especially a Sales Engineer, would do well to incorporate effective and compelling storytelling into their communication.

Storytelling consists of at least the following concepts. First, to prepare a narrative, you must identify and understand your audience. Second, determine what story you are telling. And finally, tell the story with context.

If you don’t know who your audience is or what they may care about, you may end up talking to the metaphorical wall.  As engineers, we spend a lot of time understanding all the many aspects of the devices we sell or utilize.  Our technical curiosity and knowledge may overwhelm someone if one feature after another is described, demonstrated, or presented to them. And if that someone is a customer, your impressive knowledge may only intimidate and confuse them instead of them purchasing your solution.

 “Engineers love features; everyone else loves benefits.” – Andy Callan

 But if you allow your engineer mind to kick in, you can understand how to help someone see the prescribing solution's benefit.  Like when you are assessing any problem, you need to understand all the variables.  

You do this by asking questions. It would help if you asked about their role and their business, and the desired outcome. You need to ask about the budget and bottom line.  You should find out what the state was before they identified the problem and any known causes.  Ask yourself the question, why do they care?

Understanding what may or may not be important is critical to crafting an effective and compelling story. Knowing the product's speeds and feeds is only crucial if the customer can relate to and understand its benefits—the what and how may not be as crucial until your audience understands the why.

Asking detailed questions is essential but listening to those answers is far more critical. Listening is not only hearing the words someone says but understanding the entire story they are telling.  People do not only use words to talk; much of what they say is non-verbal.  

This type of listening is called Active Listening. Instead of just hearing what someone says to respond immediately, the active listener engages and endeavors to understand the complete story behind what they are hearing.  This type of listening takes practice.

Once you have gathered information by asking questions and doing whatever you can to understand your audience, you begin to craft your narrative. Crafting the narrative may be prescribing a solution, or it might mean making some other recommendation.

Ask yourself who your characters are they may be end-users, technical teams, power users, customers, guests, etc.  Decide what products, services, technology, or other recommendations you believe will solve their problem.  The last thing to remember is to keep it simple.

Once you have the solution designed, you will want to present that solution to your audience. Now is the time to tell your story, making sure to include appropriate context.  

When writing fiction, an author describes the setting and background for the story.  They place their characters into that setting and help the readers immerse themselves by describing the story's sights, sounds, smells, and emotions. You want your audience to imagine themselves in your story.  

One way to do this is to understand some essential storytelling elements.  Let’s use Bilbo Baggins's story, The Hobbit, from the famous tale by JRR Tolkien. The tale begins, “In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit.” But I am going to use a universal opening, “Once upon a time…”

 Once upon a time, Bilbo Baggins lived in the shire. And every day, Bilbo would drink ale, smoke his pipe, and enjoy good food and the beauty of his surroundings. Until one day Gandalf, the wizard, recruited him for an adventure. And because of this, he joined a company of dwarves. And because of this, he journeyed to the lonely mountain where a dragon guarded a vast treasure. And because of this, he found a ring that made him turn invisible. Until finally, he was able to help the dwarves defeat the dragon and retake their home, and the treasure then returned home. And ever since that day, he knew there was more to him than just a regular old Hobbit who enjoyed good food, good drink, and pipe-weed.

 There, the basic elements of a story using Mr. Bilbo as an example.  I will admit, it does not do Tolkien’s masterpiece justice but lays out the essential story pieces. The idea is to tell the story with context.

 Once upon a time… Or in other words, provide context.  Of course, you do not need to use these words; that may be strange. This is a reminder to provide a setting or other context for your story.

And every day… Describe the desired outcome, the ideal state. This is a state where everything is working fine.  Or it can be a state where everything could work better.  If a business was working one way in 2019 and felt good about their growth and processes, chances are they had that state affected by the global pandemic of 2020, leading us to our next step.

Until one day… Describe the problem(s).  “We built our unified communications systems around Skype for Business, and everything was working well until Microsoft forced us to migrate to Teams.” This is when the state is altered from the perfect or ideal, for whatever reason.

And because of this… Describe the results and what has been done to solve the problem.  Repeat this for each problem.  Problems may exist one after another (we solved problem X, which led to problem Y) or, problems may exist concurrently.  Describe these problems and what has already been done to solve them.

Until finally… Present the solution. Here is where you present a full solution to the problems identified.  Whether through your products, services, or other means, discuss how the prescribed solution will solve each of the identified problems. Describe the benefits and set appropriate expectations.  

Now is a good time to mention, if your solution does not solve their problem, tell them honestly, and if possible, refer them to someone you know who may solve their problem.  Good storytelling techniques only work with a good story. Make sure you only tell good stories.

And ever since that day…  Don’t forget to describe the results. What was the outcome? Or what will likely be the outcome if the prescribed solution is implemented. “Our meetings are simpler to join,” “We have a much better user experience” Help them understand that your solutions will either return them to an ideal state or, if possible, enhance their ideal state.  

You should also describe any unsolved problems or new problems identified. “The far side of our calls receive a much better experience, but now that more people are using our systems, the in-room experience could be better.” This is the perfect opportunity to continue your partnership.  This is why it is so important only to tell good stories.  Provide only solutions that solve their problems and not shoehorn in something less than ideal.

 Now here is something to consider; storytelling does not need to be this formal.  Storytelling techniques can be used in simple text messages or emails, or any form of communication.

To help those you communicate with imagine themselves in your story, remember the basic concepts:

1.       Identify and understand your audience

2.       Determine what story you are telling

3.       Tell the story with context.  

 Why storytelling and why does it matter? Because everything is a story, and everyone is a storyteller. Stories give an audience the basic facts, help give context to a problem, and help them identify with that problem. Paul J. Zak, the director for Neuroeconomics Studies at Claremont Graduate University, said,

 “Stories result in better understanding of key points, increased voluntary compliance, and improved memory.” -Paul J. Zak

 If you want your audience to understand, remember and act on your solution, tell a story.

 Sources:

•       https://medium.com/@Brian_G_Peters/6-rules-of-great-storytelling-as-told-by-pixar-fcc6ae225f50

•       https://www.aerogrammestudio.com/2013/06/05/back-to-the-story-spine/

•       https://www.watershedlrs.com/blog/business-and-data-alignment/data-storytelling-knowing-your-audience/

•       https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319396522_Storytelling_as_a_Key_Enabler_for_Systems_Engineering

https://www.meetcortex.com/blog/the-history-of-storytelling-in-10-minutes

[bocceclub]

Ariahd backstory part 1

First we need a lexicon because hooo boy I did not realize how many made up words there are in this thing. Also before that I should probably explain that Ariahd is a character from my Mediterranean-analog high fantasy setting. He’s one of my oldest ocs (and probably the one I’m most attached to), having come into being when I was going through my Earthsea/Dragonriders of Pern/Inkheart Trilogy phase in middle school. Wow I just dated myself. Anyway here’s the lexicon.

Issadai: The planet where all this shit takes place. Its name means “everything that is”

Mysska: Largest continent on Issadai, has a large sea in the middle of it called the Mysskaean Sea.

Mysskaean: Region of Mysska surrounding the Mysskaean Sea. Roughly equivalent to earth’s Mediterranean region in regards to climate and cultures that inhabit it.

Dymaexei: A large, mountainous peninsula that juts out into the Mysskaean Sea. Home to a dozen or more city-states, split into east and west by the Razka Mountains.

Dymae: The people of Dymaexei, also used as an adjective to describe anything originating in Dymaexei

Yianlai Empire: A vast empire that encompasses most of the Mysskaean. It was founded by the Yianlai, a culture of horsemen from the deserts of southeastern Mysska.

Eshtar-Neph: A loose alliance of maritime cities along the eastern coast of the Mysskaean Sea, all that remains of the late Eshtari Empire. Made up of three distinct cultural groups: the Eshtari, the Nephiri, and the Ossuans

Mages: Magic-users who draw power only from their own life-force. Most people of Issadai can work magecraft to some degree.

Sorcerers: Magic-users who draw power from their surroundings. It takes training and dedication to become an accomplished sorcerer. The Yianlai consider sorcery blasphemous, as it is believed to invite possession by evil spirits.

Warlocks: A culturally specific type of sorcerer; they served as priests and mystics in the ancient religion of the north, which incorporated dragon-worship.

Walking One: A chimera produced by the fusion of a human and dragon soul--essentially a dragon in a human body. Revered as living gods in the ancient northern cultures.

Okay now that you’re up to speed here’s Ariahd’s backstory

The Yianlai believe dragons are the offspring of the god of choas, their goddess Valena's greatest enemy. When the Yianlai Empire invaded and conquered the north, their dragon-hunters began killing off the high dragons, until there was only one small population left in the Razka Mountains of Dymaexei. A warlock from the city-state of Leknos stumbled upon an orphaned clutch of high dragon eggs in the high mountains. The mother had been killed by dragon-hunters while defending her nest. Although luckily the eggs had remained hidden from the hunters, they had gone without being warmed by the mother for so long that, despite the warlocks’ attempts to save them, all but one of the developing dragonets died in their eggs. Ariahd, the only one of his broodmates to survive, was carefully nurtured to hatching by the warlocks. He formed a fast connection with Enos, the young daughter of the head warlock, who helped her father care for him after he hatched. As he grew they became close friends, communicating by writing, since as a dragon Ariahd had no ability to form human-like speech. He and Enos altered the Dymae alphabet into cruder forms that would be easier for him to scratch into the dirt with his claws, and even invented pictograms, creating their own shorthand script.

The imperial occupation of Dymaexei meant that Ariahd’s existence had to be kept a secret. Because of this, he grew up very sheltered, unable to venture beyond the high walls of the monastery, his only knowledge of the outside world coming from stories told by the warlocks, and the travelers’ accounts that Enos found in the library and read aloud to him. The two would occasionally sneak out to fly in the mountains surrounding the city, careful to stay under cover of darkness.

While his earlier years were happy enough, as he grew older he began to become aware of the fact that he was likely one of the last of his kind, which effected him deeply. Over the years, as Enos joined the order’s ranks as a novitiate and then as a fully fledged warlock, Ariahd also came to envy her freedom and the ease with which her human form allowed her to move through the world. The warlocks began teaching her how to create the intricate murals they used as meditation guides, and she often practiced drawing the forms when she and Ariahd were together. Whenever she wasn’t around he would try over and over to draw like she did, but no matter how much he practiced, with his beast’s forelegs he could only manage crude scratches. As she grew older and learned magic of increasing difficulty and complexity, her formidable skill with sorcery was also a source of jealousy for him. He knew he had it in him to be just as powerful, but his dragon’s form was ill-suited to working the complex rituals of human sorcery.

Years passed, and as Ariahd neared thirty years old--still a child in dragon years--he became increasingly restless; as Enos’ duties within the order kept her occupied, he took to wandering the mountains alone, straying further and further from the monastery each time. On one such flight, unbeknownst to him he was spotted by imperial troops. Soon imperial inquisitors were dispatched to Leknos, with orders to dispose of Ariahd and execute the warlocks both for practicing sorcery, a heresy, and for sheltering a dragon. The monastery was attacked, and in an act of rash bravery Ariahd flew out to try to confront the attackers directly. He managed to kill a number of imperial troops but was mortally wounded himself; the distraction he provided allowed a large number of the order, including Enos, to escape into the mountains with the preserved dragon souls. 

The remaining warlocks dragged the dying Ariahd back behind the safety of the monastery walls. Desperate, in agony, and afraid, he begged them to preserve his soul in a vessel to keep him from truly dying. The warlocks agreed. After performing the ritual, they hid Ariahd’s soul vessel in the relic vault, which was located deep in the maze of catacombs carved into the massive rock bluff the monastery sat on. They resealed the relic vault, then committed ritual suicide rather than be tortured and executed by the inquisitors.

Ariahd's soul laid dormant, trapped in its vessel in the vault as the years went by. Fifty years later, it was discovered by a Nephiri sorcerer, Yupal. On the run from inquisitors, she had fled across the Mysskaean Sea to Dymaexei and settled in Leknos thirteen years before, where she took up a new identity, married a Leknosian man, and had a daughter, Lys. When Lys was thirteen, the Great Plague struck the Mysskaean. After ravaging coastal Dymaexei, it reached Leknos, carried by those fleeing the ports, whose streets were littered with the dead and dying. In no time it began running its way through the city; Yupal and her family fell ill, and her husband succumbed to the Plague, leaving her and their daughter alone and close to death. Desperate to save Lys’ life, she broke into the relic vault in the monastery, hoping she'd be able to find something there to heal her. She sensed the strong magic emanating from Ariahd's soul vessel, and stole it. By the time she had returned home, Lys had died. In desperation she attempted to use necromancy to channel Ariahd's life force to resurrect her child, but accidentally opened a conduit that allowed his soul to enter the girl’s body and fuse with her soul, creating the last Walking One.

 Ariahd was taken to the monastery’s infirmary, where the monks were doing their best to heal the gravely ill. For days he lay in a deep sleep, as the two souls within his body fused into one, and the monks caring for him feared he would die. Finally, he awoke. Unable to speak or write with his new hands, he had no way of telling the monks who he was or what had happened. At a loss, the monks asked Phare, a senior monk and accomplished healer, to attend to him. She had been a novitiate before the inquisitors’ attack on the monastery and the warlocks’ extermination, and when she used magic to examine Ariahd’s soul she realized immediately what he was. Phare informed the monks, and they made the decision to take him in (along with countless other children orphaned by the Plague), and began teaching him to be human.

[jacscorner]

The Shiitake Hills and Drake Lands - D&D Super Mario: Races and Setting Notes

So after the Mario and Luigi posts I did before, I wanted to sort of expand on this loose concept of ‘Super Mario as a D&D Setting’ that I’ve had kicking around while I was suffering from chronic online college. :P

Now, this isn’t a coherent post, this is just a bunch of notes of how I’d convert the general concept of Super Mario games and some races. This would probably need full on World Anvil in order to turn these loose ideas and concepts into a proper campaign setting. And this is under the premise that my would-be players would be outsiders coming into this setting either by plane walking or by travel.

But, hey, if this can be used as a springboard for others to use for their own campaign, then be my guest! I wouldn’t put it here if I so badly wanted to keep this private! But this’ll be a long post, so continue at your own risk.

The Shiitake Hills are the stand in for the mushroom kingdom. These long rows of Hills are home to various farm lands and small villages. There’s very few cities. Mushrooms are mostly cultivated for the consumption and export-you’d be surprised how many recipes there are for cooked toadstools. But rest assured, mushrooms aren’t the only foodstuff you’ll find, but their cultivation for food and magical components is so common that even the most ignorant of school child or even someone who’s never even seen a mushroom would know how to cultivate enough edible fungus to never miss lunch.

The capital of this kingdom is Toadstool City, a glorious city. It’s not perfect, but magic is practiced in the open-it’s regulated, but not too restrictive and controlling. So long as your not raising the dead or raising a stink, you can practice most forms of magic in relative peace.

The Shiitake Hills were founded originally by Elven Druids, who had left their original home in order to escape prosecution from another clan of Druids. On their sailing across oceans, they’d come across a community of Halflings, whom were under the rule of a tyrannical wizard. The Head of these Elven Druids would take on these Halflings as fellow refugees.

This trip lasted 1000 years, with 800 of them spent with the Halfling survivors. Their culture would meld together, to the point where there was no way of knowing what custom originated from which group, but it mattered not. Both sides had developed a mutual relationship.

When The Shiitake Hills were founded the family of the Head Druid would lead colonization of the land. They would also introduce the various Elven Gods that the Druids worshiped.

Avus, God of Fatherhood, Life, and Light. A father should be a guiding light for the family. To be strong and nurturing. A father who is not in their child’s life is often struck by Avus.

Mater Goddess of Fertility, Birth, and Motherhood. Avus’s wife and the reason he gained the ‘Fatherhood’ title. Preying to her is often done when an Elf is about to give birth.

Natus God of Knowledge, Teaching, and Fire. His legends speak of him being the original cultivator of fire, and gifting his spark of knowledge down to the Elves who worship him and spread it. Knowledge is never to be hoarded, it’s to be spread and shared.

Frater God of Strength, War, and Courage. When thunder booms, it means he’s fighting and he wants his followers to also be prepared for the heat of battle. Never fear death, for only glory waits for those who races into battle! 

Soror Goddess of Sisterhood, Art, and Battle. The sister to Frater, she gives strength to her female followers to follow their dreams and passions, but to always have a knife at the ready to defend what’s yours.

Puer God of Tricksters, Brotherhood, and Nature. He teaches his followers to use nature to their advantage, to use ingenuity and wits to defeat larger foes, but to never use your trickery to back stab your brothers-in-arms.

Avanculus God of Wisdom, Harvest, and Water. Knowledge is knowing the best way to farm with new techniques. Wisdom is understand the old ways still work when they fail.

And the Matriarch of their Pantheon, Astrum, Goddess of the Sun, Moon, and Stars. 

But over the boarder of the hills is The Drake Lands. The land was originally a beautiful Dwarven Kingdom of glorious mountains. But then, two dragons razed the lands, a Red Dragon and a Green Dragon, who used the mountains as a battle field! Fire and Poisonous gas drove out the Dwarves underneath. The mountains burned and the poison killed almost all other life that didn’t escape. Nobody knows quite who won this fight, but whatever the result was, the two dragons eventually mated and had a child that would make the ruined lands their domain.

This Dragon is known as Oghoid, A Lawful Evil God of Conquest, Battle, and Gold. His descendants would be known as the Royal Clan who would turn these barren lands into a somewhat liveable place.

The Dwarves would’ve raced to the Shiitake Lands as refugees. The Elves and Halflings welcomed the Dwarves. They integrated into society, but their culture is still regularly practiced. Dwarves keep many Gods, but they had no trouble also incorporating the Elf’s-what’s 1 or 8 more to the pile? The Dwarves also brought expert stone cutting and construction. Many constructions are built mostly or even entirely by Dwarven hands.

Boy, that was a lot, but time to get into the Races. And please not that I’ll label them as ‘Good, Neutral, and Evil’ races for the sake of convenience. You can take a Good Race and play them evil and vice versa.

Good Races - The typical Good Guys and regular residents of the Shiitake Hills.

The Humans of the Super Mario series are split into 3 Types for the setting: Normal-Types, Mario-Types, and Princess-Types.

Normal-Types are the New Donk City citizens we see in Super Mario Odyssey. These are Humans, no doubt having come from various traders from outside of the kingdom and might’ve stayed and become full citizens.

Mario-Types are Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi-oddly proportioned humanoids. For this setting, they’re Dwarves-yes, even Waluigi. He’s just an oddly tall Dwarf. It happens. Meanwhile, Mario and Luigi are plumbers and have no trouble going underground and fixing things. 

And finally, Princess-Types. Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, and Pauline-oddly tall, and still have odd proportions, but look less like Mickey Mouse and more like Jessica Rabbit. They’re represented by Elves. Elves are usually in the upper class of Shiitake society.

Yes, they could all just be variant humans of some kind, but shush. :P This is suppose to be a big mass of races living on one continent and want to mix them all together.

Toads, if you couldn’t guess, are represented as Halflings. Why? Well, not only are they short, but what do we usually see Toads doing? We see them mostly in domestic roles, with only a few outliers. Halflings are mostly homely folk who want to be left in their homes and just enjoy their quaint lives.

Neutral Race - Not inherently Good Nor Bad, Just Folk

Yoshis in this setting will be played by Lizardfolk. I know that this is a pretty big stretch-Yoshis are cute and colorful and Lizardfolk are written as cold, calculating ‘survival of the fittest’ types. But I take the official text of WoTC as more like suggestions.

Evil Race - Typical Bad Guys and residents of The Drake Lands

So naturally, this sections will have Koopas, but how do we divide them? Well, I think there are 2 Types of Koopas. Regular Koopas and Koopa Rexes.

I percieve ‘Koopa Rex’ as essentially Bowser, his son, and the Koopalings-and maybe Boom-Boom and Pom-Pom, depending on how you see it. They would be Dragonborn.

Regular Koopas are essentially the rest. Koopa Troopas, Hammer Bros, Magikoopas, so on and so forth. They’re Tortles.

Okay, this is where I start to REALLY stretch the limits of what can be what...

Goombas will be classified as Kobolds. Why Kobolds? Well, honestly, I guess no real reason, but I think it makes sense for Bowser’s army to have the ‘Minion Races’ in the ranks.

Speaking of , Shy Guys are Kenkus in this setting.

And Boos, Goblins. Okay, this one, a bit of a stretch, but what do Boos do? They sneak up on you, right? Well, Goblins can use that tactic too!

Well, yeah, they could just be Ghosts. But, like, I hate using Ghosts in D&D. They’re too much of a pain in the ass to deal with. And, if you can’t tell, this isn’t meant to be a 1-to-1 thing. 

And finally, the Bob-Ombs are Warforged-possibly one that you could give the ability to ‘selfdestruct’ upon defeat or something.

And that’s about the end of my notes. This took, like, two hours to write but I wanted to put this all down somewhere and here it is. Nothing here is final and if you wanna use any of it for any reason, go right ahead~

[darkpoisonouslove]

Valtor and Griffin parents headcanon. I love your works. The way you write is sublime😍

Oh, wow, thank you so much for the kind words and this sweet request!

Let's set this in an AU in which Valtor ran away from the Ancestral Witches with Griffin and the two are left to live in peace after they helped end the war. Now my personal headcanon is that Darcy is their daughter so I'll go with that but most of these can probably be applied in general as well:

- Valtor is worried when Griffin doesn't feel well and when he uses his magic to check up on her, he finds out she's pregnant. Griffin suspected as much but didn't really want to entertain the possibility before she could be more certain what's happening to her because she didn't want to disappoint them both.

- What is more, Griffin is worried about what kind of parent she'll be. Her mom was a very warm person and even despite that, the way the world treated her brought out the worst in her and she turned more and more to darkness, evil and mayhem until she joined the Ancestral Coven and almost helped destroy the universe. She's scared she'll make a terrible mother and that was a part of the reason why she didn't really want to confirm that she was pregnant.

- Valtor has his own doubts about being a parent. His own upbringing was a total disaster and there was nothing healthy about it. He didn't know what love is before Griffin and he has a lot of demons to battle and a lot of ingrained habits that he needs to shake off. He has to be more open and in touch with his emotions and not push upon his child any unhealthy ideas that were forced on him. He and Griffin have a conversation in which they promise each other that they'll be there for one another and keep each other in check.

- Despite having a ton of doubts about himself, Valtor is very enthusiastic about being a father and helps Griffin with everything he can during the pregnancy and after she gives birth. He's changing diapers and dressing the baby (Griffin and he agreed to use as little magic when it comes to caring about the baby as possible because they want Darcy to feel that they're there for her). He even gets up in the middle of the night instead of Griffin to let her rest when he can get the job done although Griffin is the early bird and he is usually the one who has a hard time waking up in the morning. But he’s happy to be there for both of his girls.

- Darcy has her room decorated with Dragons Lights - little sparks of dragon fire that are enchanted to light up when she’s awake so that she’s never left scared in the dark and the room always looks warm and comforting to her. The Dragon Lights stay even after she’s outgrown her fear of the dark because without them it won’t feel like home.

- Darcy displays strong magical abilities from an early age and Griffin and Valtor make it a point to include magic in their activities to help her control her powers. That also hides its risks though. Griffin and Valtor are forced to put an inhibiting spell on Darcy that keeps her from teleporting so that she doesn’t end up in the middle of a busy street or squashed in a machine. They do manage to teach her responsibility and safety when using magic in time, though, and soon she’s not teleporting away from them but uses her powers to help around the household.

- Shapeshifting is mastered from early in her childhood for it was successfully incorporated in games of tag. They start with an animal of Darcy’s choice and every time someone else becomes it, they all shift into another animal. It helps her get used to the feeling of shifting, learn to stay in control, master many different forms, and improve her speed and duration of the shapeshifting process. It’s also a lot of fun running around in a wolf or bunny form or flying as a raven or an owl.

- Hide-and-seek becomes much more intense and challenging when everyone has the power of illusions. Darcy’s illusions can’t compare to those of her parents at first and they dampen their magic to allow her to participate on an equal level and find them after all. But she soon develops her powers and it is her who needs to hit the brakes on her magic for her parents to be able to catch up. She becomes so good at illusions that it’s a good thing that they taught her to be responsible with her magic and not use it for whatnot or to hurt others and make her parents’ job harder.

- For one of Griffin’s birthdays Darcy makes an illusion that has all the known stars that have existed incorporated in it for her mom to be able to enjoy them all because she knows how much Griffin loves astronomy and the cosmos. She spent months memorizing star maps in order to be able to create the illusion and both Griffin and Valtor are left speechless by the complexity of it.

- Darcy and Valtor train with the Dragon Fire powers which she inherited from him. Griffin is a bit worried that they might hurt each other since Darcy is inexperienced and Valtor’s ego sometimes makes him forget he needs to hold back (he’s hurt her a few times when they used to spar or argue in the past) but Darcy surprises with precise control from early on and Valtor shows amazing restraint (so much so that she can see his muscles tensing with memories of him being hurt by his mothers while he’s trying to never subject his daughter to the same). Darcy becomes super good with using her Dragon Fire powers to the point where Valtor doesn’t have anything to teach her anymore and any further knowledge she needs to acquire herself.

- Darcy knows about her father’s demon form but hasn’t seen it. She wonders if she has one since she shares his DNA but Valtor assures her she doesn’t which might have been more of a disappointment in the edgy phase of her teen years but seeing how closed off he is about it convinces her that it is not something to wish for. She asks him to show it to her, though, because she wants to know all parts of her father and that includes his demon form. After a long discussion with both of her parents, Valtor finally agrees. Darcy is a bit shocked by the difference that is in him but she says she loves him nonetheless because even when he appears to be a demon, he isn’t one in his heart. He will always be the caring and present father that raised her and helped her become who she is. The one thing she does like from the demon form are the big demon wings, though.

- Darcy had a fascination with wings from an early age and would study all insects with wings she could get her hands on. Unfortunately, she was literally getting her hands on them and not all that carefully, too, so that resulted in a lot of torn off wings and dead insects in her hands which always made her cry. It did provide a good opportunity for Griffin to teach her a lot of healing spells that can be applied even to insects if you have enough control of your magic to use it on such small scale. Darcy was determined to not cause more destruction and death to the creatures that fascinated her so she learned to exercise enough control over her magic to be able to fix the smallest of injuries in the tiniest of species. That allowed her to study them without killing them.

- She also loved to study birds (especially in flight) but they were harder to come by and catch for detailed explorations (but at least that kept her from killing any of them). When she grew up a bit and learned to fly and control her magic, she befriended a crow that would always come near her and flap its wings around as if inviting her to join it in flight. She did once and the two flew around the sky like old friends with the crow even showing her some bird maneuvers that Darcy could copy when she shapeshifted into a crow herself. That later became a regular occurrence.

- The wing fascination might have started from Faragonda’s fairy wings on one of her numerous visits. She was pretty much Darcy’s fairy godmother (even if Valtor did not allow for that to become an official term) and Darcy loved to grab at her sparkly wings while she was a baby and Faragonda held her. Luckily for the fairy, her wings were much stronger than those of the insects so Darcy couldn’t rip them off or damage them. They always drew the girl’s attention, though, and she made herself “witchy wings” with her powers of illusion when she was nine or ten. They were dark purple and shimmered like starts on the night sky. Later, when she became older, she switched to flying around with dragon wings sprouting from her back. They were just an illusion, of course, but she was proud to be the bearer of the Dark Dragon Fire and her father’s daughter.

- Darcy loved all the animals and constantly dragged some stray kitten or dog home. Sometimes a squirrel, a hedgehog on occurrence, once even a snake. Neither one of her parents were very happy about it. Especially when one of the cats got three times the size of a regular cat and destroyed half of the furniture. None of them tried to inhibit Darcy’s connection with nature, though. It was a thing to be expected since she had Dragon Fire burning inside her and it was the substance of all life so all life was drawn to her (and Darcy might have helped her father reconnect a bit with nature himself since he was never allowed to explore that part of his powers and who he is). The establishment of some ground rules was necessary, though, to keep any and all incidents with wild animals to a bare minimum.

- Griffin would bake cookies or other sweets quite often when Darcy was little but she only used natural sweeteners to make sure her dabbling in the kitchen wouldn’t have negative effects on Darcy’s health. Cooking soon turned into a family exercise since Darcy was curious to learn how to make her own cookies and Valtor didn’t mind spending more time with his wife and daughter no matter what activity occupied them during that time. Griffin deemed it a great opportunity to teach them both some cooking skills so that they wouldn’t have to starve to death without her.

- Griffin and Valtor used to read and tell Darcy legends about the magical dimension and fill in some gaps with their own personal stories when they were in pursuit of some of the most powerful artifacts. That taught Darcy a great love for words and adventures and she spent quite a lot of time with her nose in a book when she learned to read.

- That happened at an early age and later on she built on that knowledge by studying magical languages that would allow her greater resources for spells. She knew a lot of languages (some of which didn’t even exist anymore) before she even turned fifteen. And all of that of her own volition. Neither Griffin, nor Valtor forced her to do anything.

- When she became a teenager, Darcy inevitably started using some teen slang that Griffin just shook her head at while Valtor was the one to find it rather distasteful and express his dislike of it. Darcy told him he was being old-fashioned which resulted in Valtor starting to use slang as well, much to Darcy and Griffin’s annoyance. They had to beg him to stop and become the old old-fashioned Valtor again.

- Darcy has a very open relationship with both of her parents that includes a lot of communication and trust. She knows she can tell them everything without being judged. Her parents are flawed people as well and know what it is to make mistakes which is something Darcy takes comfort in because she knows they're not perfect and they understand that she isn't either. She knows they will listen to her and try to help her avoid making mistakes she will regret later just as she knows that they will let her make her own decisions and allow her to find herself and be her own person.

I have to go to a lecture so I’ll have to leave it off here. Besides, I wrote down all I can think of right now. Hope this makes you smile. I sure had a lot of fun with these.

[blackdragon-selfships]

Written in the Stars

No Matter What, When, or Where We Are

No matter how we are born, and what we become...

...Our love is written in the stars

This was supposed to be for Valentine’s Day...but it didn’t work out that way. lol At first I was going to make a simple “dressed up nice and dancing” pose picture, but changed my mind. Deciding instead to do something more symbolic, which both shows the many AU ideas I’ve had with this relationship, and why I love AUs so much.

Under the read more is that explanation and some information on each AU:

I notice I make a LOT of AUs, and the reason is first that I just really enjoy exploring other story angles. From things where one or both are a different creature, where they are in different social classes, where occupation or how they met differs by the slightest decision change leading to it.

Yet they always find each other, and always find a connection. I guess that sort of goes into Soulmate theory too. lol

AUs listed left to right, top to bottom:

MLP:FiM: Made by my friend, @allykatsart, at first as a fun design AU since she got tired of drawing humans or dragons. We got to talking and included some lore on Aaravos in this universe; He is a Star Pony, which is an almost god-like race like in TDP, which are alicorns. He adopted Celestia and Luna after finding them alone in the middle of nowhere (or I think we jokingly said he woke up one morning and they were there. lol) and raised them (if Journal of Two Sisters contradicts the show’s canon, supposedly, so can I)

There was more to his backstory, but I won’t get into it. Meg (or whatever I call her here) was just a normal pegasus pony with an animal-based special talent. She met Aaravos while he was disguised as a different type of pony and they became friends, but were starting to like each other as more than that. Then he came clean about who he was and eventually they talk it out and work through it. (For the original images of their pony counterparts, check out my friend’s blog. She’s very talented!)

The Fallen Star: More of a teaser than anything, since this is still a project I want to share eventually. Of all the AUs on here, it’s the one I’ve worked on the longest and somehow is the most ambitious. It’ll be long, incorporate all the important TDP characters somehow, and have Aaravos as the main character (because I like writing about him way too much. lol) I can’t say much more, but Megavos is end-game there...and this project is special to me.

Chess Match: Not an AU really, just symbolism to an RP that is Post-The Fallen Star. Once again my friend, @allykatsart helped me a ton in developing The Fallen Star, and our (technically not canon I think) RP that takes place once it’s over is SO GOOD. Even if it isn’t canon, I hope we can finish it someday and maybe share it once the comic is done. 

As for the designs here, they were by Ally, and basically the section of the RP this is related to can be compared to a chess match. No spoilers, but Aaravos represents the White Queen (because he’s one of the good guys here) and Meg is the King of the same color. Why it isn’t the other way around is also symbolic. Aaravos is the most powerful piece on the “board” in TFS, and the leader of the group once it forms. Meg is not, but that doesn’t make her any less important. She’s the heart of the team, and Aaravos especially. Without her...things would have been very different. Plot-wise, and Aaravos’ role-wise.

Blood-Bound Oaths: This is a slow-developing story thanks to the “Send me two AUs mashed together, I’ll give a headcanon on it” Ask game message I got. The Ask mashed together the “arranged marriage” AU with I think it was “royalty” AU and came up with the idea of Aaravos being the Vampire King who marries princess or queen Meg of the humans to unite their kingdoms for some reason.

I really liked the idea, but I couldn’t think of a way to do it...then changed it to Meg being the princess, whose father struck this deal with Aaravos. So she is sent to his kingdom as his bride and it’s basically a story about her learning to value herself and her opinions more, as he respectfully keeps his distance before slowly forming first a friendship with her before they truly fall in love.

Meg learning that the way women were treated in her kingdom was disrespectful and demeaning, and finding her voice through the very opposite treatment from the Vampire King and her appointed were-cat attendant (Ally. lol)

Written in the Stars (TDP-verse): I included this one both because it was where I started before getting comfortable enough to step away from the world of TDP and explore a more mundane, modern life with him. It isn’t as action-packed and adventurous as the lands of Xadia, but not entirely calm all the time either.

In the world of TDP, though, it was just the events of the show but an s/i thrown in because I can. I have a couple of TDP-verse stories I have planned (maybe) but there isn’t only one angle for it.

Snake Charmer: Very much an adult audience only AU...because the oneshot (that may become a multi-chapter story) connected plays with a few kinks of mine not mentioned on this blog.

To sum it up, the AU is of Meg as a student on a school trip to a tropical island where there are stories from the locals about a monster that lives in the jungle. If you get lost while in there, the monster takes you and you are never heard from again.

That monster is Aaravos as a naga/lamia creature called a Star Serpent. He normally eats trespassers, but Meg just happens to be found at a specific time in his life where he needs her for...other reasons. If the story was continued, it was going to be a darker beauty and the beast sort of story. Maybe with a curse being lifted at the end. Who knows.

Hades and Persephone AU: I probably won’t actually make this one either, but it is kind of symbolic as well. Especially after watching this video, where it goes into the original telling of the myth and some background information. Like how Hades has been reduced to being seen as the bad guy or more horrible than several other gods in mythology (like Zeus and Apollo)

Because of that, I thought Aaravos fit the role of Hades quite well. He’s strongly disliked, but not actually bad. TDP doesn’t go into sex and couples at all (well, couples: yes. Sex: no) but digging through Scorpio information (which he is) they require a connection to even have sex with someone. Or rather, they prefer it that way. So Aaravos seems very unlikely to go out of his way to hook up randomly.

Meg as Persephone is because she is portrayed as more innocent and kind...but in reality not a lot is known about her. Persephone is that way too, where she is actually feared even more than Hades is. I wouldn’t say Meg is that way...but you never know. I’m told I can be pretty scary when I get angry. And I mean reaching my limit-angry.

(Poses from the first QnA/Concept art episode of a Lore Olympus on Webtoons. The flowers on Meg’s headpiece are a specific flower.)

Siren AU: The mer-person AU, basically. This time my friend, @the-purpleflower helped me with this one. At least the ending, anyway.

In this AU, Meg is an intern at a marine research lab. Her boss is Viren, the head scientist there, who is off-putting but not unbearable to work for. He was kind of rude at first, especially if you aren’t keeping up with his thought process, but still a good boss...except something was off about him.

There’s also a locked door off-limits to everyone but Viren. There have been many rumors circulating what could possibly be behind it (some more ludicrous than the last) but the truth turns out to be even more shocking. There is a mer-creature of some kind down there, and Viren has been studying him for months.

As the story goes on, Meg and Aaravos grow closer over time and of course fall in love eventually. Not sure when or if I’ll get around to this one. Let alone finishing it.

(As for Aaravos’ design, I wanted to try a smooth-skulled look for this one to make him more distinct from the other AUs. I might change my mind about that.)

Ghost Hunter AU: I think this was thanks to the results of an AU quiz or generator. Meg is a paranormal investigator (or assistant to one: That being Viren) and Aaravos is the playful, but not entirely sinister entity they were told about. Of those in the group, he seems most drawn to Meg...but why? Is she just more fun to taunt and play with?

I don’t actually know. lol But I might be making a story for this too. How to make it have a happy ending...I don’t know yet. This is a tricky one.

A King and his Royal Guard AU: Another Ask Game one. This was the Royalty and Royal Guard AU, which I also thought quite a bit on. Meg is the guard, Aaravos is an elven king. The only one in Xadia with human and elf subjects. By day they stick to their roles, but at night...they are equals eventually.

The picture I used here is to show that. Aaravos wants to stop hiding, but Meg is afraid of what will happen to him if he does. He isn’t exactly popular for his ruling style among the other kingdoms of Xadia. Human or elf-lead.

Disney’s Tangled AU: A parody AU like Hades and Persephone, but one I might actually do something with. Aaravos is Flynn Rider/Eugene, of course (his fake name is Polaris Strider, after an elven adventurer he read about as a kid) and Meg is Rapunzel. But where it gets more fun: Ethari as Pasquale and Runaan as Maximus, except they’re still elves.

Ethari meets the duo on their journey and Meg convinces Aaravos to let him travel with them. Runaan has been hired to track Aaravos down and bring him back dead or alive. Meg and Ethari convince him to wait to take Aaravos in after the Festival of Lights. (And as Megavos is happening, on the side Ruthari kicks off swimmingly. lol)

I don’t know who to have as Mother Gothel...and I feel like putting Viren in that role is both unnecessarily mean and doesn’t make sense. The other four do if you think about each TDP character’s attitude with one another. But Viren...doesn’t fit. I guess using the magic flower-to-hair to fix himself after using Dark Magic...but that’s about it.

* * *

So there they are. I think I love AUs because of how many angles there are to explore. With different creatures, roles, and circumstances. But in the end we are the same people deep down. No matter the world, we end up together.

As for Aaravos’ skin colors, I was trying for variety of the shades his skin turns with the time of day. Dull greys for broad daylight, deep purples for dusk and early night hours, and blues for late night hours and dawn.

[rainharaposavermelha]

Achtober #1 (Dragon & Treasure)

So, some good news and some bad news. 

Good News: I have my first Achtober post, and it incorporates not one, but TWO prompts (it just worked out that way) both from Inktober.

Bad News: It is unfinished.  It kills me to post  unfinished work, but I need to hold myself to what I said I was going to do, and I’ve already given myself a few extra days trying to finish it. Time to move on* to the next prompt.

It is in what I call a “vomit draft” stage.  I write non-linear, working on scenes as they come to me or as they catch my emotions and attention. So IF you opt to read this unfinished version, on top of the expected proofreading errors,  you will see placeholders for some scenes or dialogue like [Character X fights with Character Y over revealing the secret] or [Wedding scene].  You will also see a lot of places where I’ve tried out different wordings one right after the other (or sometimes in the middle of each other which can make them real fun for anyone who isn’t me to try to parse), and places where I’ve made notes to myself of things to consider or questions I have.

So, if you choose to click beyond, be prepared.

*This doesn’t mean I’m never going to finish this piece.  I am ABSOLUTELY going to finish it. If you want to wait to read the finished version, PLEASE DO. I will go back to working on it when this month is over.

She has made herself small today, a size that can move among the smaller hallways and corridors of her castle. Human.  She sweeps into the infirmary, still regal in this form, iridescent white hair an echo and reminder of her true nature. 

“How fares he, doctor?”

“He is…” the doctor hesitates, knowing how she will feel about the answer.  “Old, my lady. Your presence has granted him extended life, but even in the presence of timelessness, the human frame can only take so much.  

She frowns.  She does NOT like the answer.  She can hear what he is not saying. The shade of remonstrance in his tone.  It says “You know this.  We’ve talked about it before.”  And she does.  Long before the doctor ever came to live on her staff even, she had known this, had been through this/she’s been through this before.  She knows. But something in her rejects it.

“My lady,” the patient wheezes and she moves to his side/stands by his bed (and) clasps his hand.  “I am here, Hadrigan.”

“Please my lady...remember me.”

She stiffens, then strokes his hand.  “However small, you still have time left, think on that.”

“No, please…” he coughs and she waits through it.  

“Please…” he begs when he has breath again. “I want you to remember me. Please mistress…”

She squeezes his hand.  “I will.  I promise.”  He settles then, and soon slips into a fragile sleep.

She turns to the doctor, “Is he coherent enough to understand what he is asking?” 

“I believe so, yes.  Nothing in his condition includes delirium/dementia.”

She frowned. “How soon?”

“If you plan to/want to hold the ceremony, you will need to do it soon. (The ceremony would have to be soon)  I doubt he will last another week.”

She nodded, accepting this. “Keep him comfortable.” she said as she sweeps from the room.

She paced the length of the human halls.  “Remember me he asks”/ so he knew what he asked of her.  Pondering to herself, (as soon as she reaches the regular halls one of the grand corridors, She stretched out into true form (strode into her true form) with relief, shakes her wings, flexing her legs, setting prisms bouncing (prisms tht sent rainbows bouncing)

[She heads to her hoard]

The room is more neatly kept than any (other) dragon’s hoard (has a right to be), but she finds it makes it easier, but she likes being able to see all her treasures at once.  The room is filled to the brim with her treasure.  Shelves along the walls, counters, every conceivable space is filled, but not with gold, or anything humans would normally find valuable.  There is a book of poetry, a doll with no legs.  a large kitchen spoon a gold pendant, and so on.  Mundane mixed with m(?) a menagerie of the mundane and...meaningful (trivial/ miscellany/ profound)

Memories are such precious things to humans.  Her kind has no use for them. When you live for millennia, there is no way to store it all.  It sludges up the mind if left alone, clouds emotion, clouds judgment, sends one mad.  It must be shed.  Her kind shed their memories like they shed their skins.

But she does value her memories.   She gently taps a battered trophy/horn with her claw.  An image flickers to mind. Sandy brown hair, a laugh, a dimpled smile, but the memory is tattered and that is all that is left of it.  There was no name associated with the face. It had been lost to the ravages of time, and too many memory purgings.  No matter how careful she was, she couldn’t save them all (memory sheddings)  It hurt.  And every one added to it added to her pain and regret and her burden/the burden she carried. The humans must have tainted her in this way, living so long among them.  No, not the humans, HER humans.  Though she would never tell them so, her family.

There have been so many of them. Each with the life expectancy of a gnat to her.  What is even 100 years to someone who has lived a millenia, and would likely live several more.  IT hurts, losing them.  Dragons do not carry their past with them.  They do not need it, but she carries parts of hers.  She has no choice.

And her children, for really that’s what they were, knew that if they became a part of her, she would not forget them.  She could not.  They could ask. But she accepted offerings.  IT was part of a long standing tradition between dragons and humans, and even when roots are lost to time, there is a value in such traditions.  Many men, women (and even some children had been brought to her, in exchange for her protection or assistance or forgiveness.  So long as the sacrifice gave themselves willingly, she would accept the offer of their flesh and grant her grace.  She didn’t eat children (Many of her handmaids were from a time before those days, girls offered as sacrifices. 

So when one of her people offered their own flesh , she had no choice but to accept their flesh in exchange for a permanent place in her memories.

“Adona!”  She called her oldest handmaiden.  Humans should make arrangements for human needs.  Her part was predetermined.  Her children must take care of the rest.

The ceremony is held in the greater castle, where she can remain in her true form. In the center of one wing there is a skylight that lets in the sun and there is a little space beneath it, surrounded by plants.  IT is a peaceful, lovely place.  Life and stone in one setting.

He is barely conscious for the ceremony.  Neither she nor the doctor are certain he will last through it. They have made him as comfortable as they can on a cushioned litter.

[They each share a memory and lay a flower or fragrant plant on him, it’s important he hears, they say what they will remember about him.] 

When everyone that has a desire to speak has done so, the Lady bows her head, turns, and slinks through a pair of large, heavy set doors, leaving them to say their goodbyes.It is not her place to observe what humans say to each other then they say goodbye.

[humans bring him in to hoard room on litter, then leave him alone with The Lady]

“Hadrigan.”  

It is an old fashioned name for an old man.

(so old)

He doesn’t answer her (to it)

She watches his chest rise and fall.

“I will remember you.”  She raises a claw she’d sharpened to needle like thinness/ a fine point for this very purpose, she/and pierces his heart.  Even with his eyes closed she can she it, the shape of life, leaving his body.

When it is gone, she cuts/ loosens the bonds/ gets rid of/discards the already loose bonds with a swipe of her claw [she finds his token, what is it. she remembers something associated with it.  Book of poetry maybe? Maybe he’d come to her unable to read and discovered she liked poetry, or missed his home and it was from there?  What function did he serve? Does it matter? Maybe it’s poetry he wrote]

That done she bent down and took his body between her jaws (and bit down)

[doesn’t bother her to eat people/ humans are food. They are made of flesh and bone like every other animal and makes them food. She chews thoughtfully.  She loved him (hated to admit) he mattered to her, that didn’t make him any less food. Chews thogughtfully Taking in his flavor, playing through her memories of him as she makes his flavor her flesh. She swallows, and it is her final goodbye.  The goodbye she couldn’t say earlier.

She’s tired now. She looks around at her treasures, feels hadrigan’s warm weight in her belly. It’s time for sleep.  She curls up among her treasures (lay down among, curled nose to tail tip

Hadrigan had been a good man and a good meal. She would remember him./ would not forget him [need better ending]

[natsubeatsrock]

The Rewrite of Fairy Tail: Bonus (Editions #1)

Is there anything I have to correct so far?

With the latest post on special events, I have reached twenty-one main entries in this series, including the Introduction. After this post, I would like to take a break from this series for a few months. Not to worry, I will have more posts in this series planned for next year. Before then, I'd like to take some time to consider the mistakes I have made in this series so far and clarify some points.

To start, I want to make something clear about Natsu and Lucy's relationship in the rewrite. I can't stress enough the fact that I'm not trying to write Nalu out of Fairy Tail, in that Natsu and Lucy have no relationship resembling the one they have in canon. They'll still do much of what they did together in canon, including most of their shared work on missions. The difference is that that I'm not basing their relationship on a formal partnership or making their relationship romantic in any sense. For what it's worth to people who might think this has to do with ships, I don't see myself making many ships canon that didn't become explicitly canon before the end of the series clearly sail, if I even make any other ships explicitly canon before the end. 

In talking about the overall theme behind the series. I said that the main theme should be the value of life, as opposed to the idea of friendship. While I stand by that, I do think a similar theme can be used to supplement that theme. Rather than focusing on simple friendship, I want to play with the importance of the bonds between people. I said that this is a better way to incorporate the "importance of friendship" theme in the series and I believe this is an important theme to have given the arcs of many characters in the series.

First, is a point I made regarding the ban on guilds fighting each other. In my post on the history behind Eastern magic, I said that the ban was something that happened immediately after magic became allowed on the continent. However, we learned during chapter 449 that this was actually explained as a result of the damages caused by the Second Trade War in x690. I don't want to lose the canon explanation. So, I will have that be a debated topic up to the point where the war ends.

Speaking of which, I have been working on changes for Irene and Acnologia. One universal change I want to make about their dragon forms is that both are able to switch between forms so long as they train to do it. This change comes from the dragons we've been seeing in the sequel. I feel like they have enough time to work that out on their own. While this isn't a big deal for Acnologia, this will be something that changes a few things about Irene's backstory.

Now comes one of the biggest places where a post like this is necessary: series timeline. For the sake of this post, I'll cover the timeline from the start of the series to the end of the Phantom Lord arc. While the events of the first chapter are still on July 2nd and the Macao arc ends on July 4th, Natsu and Lucy will arrive at the guild on July 3rd. The Daybreak arc will take place on the 5th of July and Erza arrives three days later for the Lullaby arc. Two days later, on July 10th, Natsu and Erza fight, kicking off the Galuna Island arc. That arc should last about three more days until the Galuna Island team sees what Gajeel did to the guild, on July 13th. July 16th marks the day of all the major fights between the guild. July 20th marks the technical end of the arc when Lucy rejects her father. However, the events of Next Generation, what I consider the epilogue of the arc, will be a month after the battle ends on August 16th.

A few of the dates are changed from my initial post, the big thing is that I've put dates on a lot of stuff I was ambiguous about. The big reason is that I have a better idea of what I can and want to fit in this part of the series and still have the timeline seem similar to canon. If it seems like I'm adding a bit more time to the series, I am trying to make time for at least three events from outside the main manga events of the series to happen.

I don't really have much to say about Natsu other than address a potential concern that can be had with my changes to him. I feel as though my decision to have Natsu grow into thinking of the guild as a family can be seen to make him more generic. While I understand this theme has been overdone in shonen as a demographic, the way Natsu's arc plays out somewhat justifies its inclusion. If I want Natsu to care more about someone who is his family, I should show a shift in Natsu's thinking about family. The upshot to doing this during the events of the series is that we can see how this shift happens in real-time, as opposed to what happened during the series.

In a similar vein, I feel the need to address an issue that my discussion of Lucy may have brought up. In that topic, I mentioned a significant detail relevant to the ending of my rewrite. I don't want to talk too liberally about my plans for the end. I want as much of it to be new for even followers of this series as possible. However, I can only care so deeply about this when I have this series and am dealing with a series that will have already been completed by the time I start publishing chapters.

In talking about Gray, I made a remark about his connection to Deliora in the final arcs implying that he doesn't have a moment that involves it. However, there is the fight with the Historia of Ur he shares with Lyon. During the fight, he's the one who gets Lyon to have the right mindset in fighting her. At this moment, it becomes clear that Gray has gotten past the events of Deliora.

I also questioned if there was a similar situation regarding the connection to him and facing E.N.D. The answer, loathe as I am to admit it, is Lost Iced Shell. It is a decision that I can only somewhat understand the logic behind. I can see Gray wanting to defeat Zeref in a way that will allow him to make up for almost killing Natsu and not have his friends miss him. However, the logic behind the actual magic is near nonexistent. 

That being said, Natsu and Gray's reconciliation after the fact is amazing, in canon. I'm not sure how I want to go about bringing Gray and Natsu to that without that. What's more, given a number of other changes, their relationship will look different than it does in canon. This is one of the toughest changes to account for in rewriting the series.

In talking about Wendy, I suggested that she might be motivated to grow because Natsu leaves to find Igneel. Later on, I all but confirmed this as my plan. To be clear, I do plan on having a major reason for Wendy's growth post-Tenrou to be Natsu wanting to protect her. I don't want this to be read as a matter of Natsu belittling Wendy, nor do I want Wendy to interpret it as such. The issue is that Natsu doesn't want something bad to happen to her that he can't prevent. Wendy grows so that she can be able to protect herself. The bad news is that this means she won't be in a number of the extra events from the series. The good news is that I'm not sure I want her in some of them, to begin with.

Regarding Lisanna, some may see a conflict between wanting her to be more important than the original and not trying to make her replace Lucy in the narrative. As I've mentioned a few times before, I don't think the potential narrative purposes Lucy and Lisanna serve are either contradictory or identical. Lucy's thing is that she finds guild as a type of family because she isn't as connected to her biological one. Lisanna sees the guild as an extension of the family she has. About the only reason they shouldn't be seen to get along is fan politics. I don't see why they both can't exist and both have relationships with Natsu that draw him closer to the guild for different but complementary reasons.

One thing long-time followers of me may have noticed missing in all of my posts about Juvia is a specific shot at the logic behind Juvia's death in the last arc. While I don't love the moment, I have found some logic behind it that is, at least somewhat acceptable. I plan to talk about it in the post I feel expected to make August 31st of next year.

As for Gruvia, I know that my position on the ship is definitely controversial. I don't know that it's impossible for me to justify Gruvia given what I'm trying to do. But I can't say that I need Gruvia to happen at all. I can't say that Gray ending up with Juvia is the only sign that he has let people grow closer to him and gotten past the trauma in his life. I also don't think Juvia needs to end up with Gray as a sign that she is able to love others better than before joining Fairy Tail, provided I handle it well.

I wasn’t expecting to do this, but I do want to talk about my handling of Acnologia’s backstory, as there were comments about it on my last post. I recognize that Mashima was involved with both handlings of his past, considering he didn’t have much time to get to it in the manga. I haven’t seen what the anime does with his backstory, but I definitely want to have the trigger for his transformation to stay seeing the girl be killed by dragons, as it was in the movie. If I want to change anything else, I will talk about it when I talk about him later on.

Finally, I want to address the question I started this series with: how bad is Fairy Tail? To be honest, I can't say that it's bad. By no means is it the best series ever written. But, through the process of rereading and reworking Fairy Tail, I'm constantly shocked by how little needs to be seriously changed. Of all the changes I've made, two are major fundamental changes to canon. A lot of the changes I've made and plan to make are either incidental changes due to those big changes or slight changes that may have been hinted at as possible within the original canon. 

Part of why I'm doing this rewrite the way I am is because I firmly believe that Fairy Tail isn't fundamentally flawed. I don't need to change the nature of most things in the series to make the whole thing work better. Of course, I think Fairy Tail has issues and I’m extremely wary of the people who don’t think so. However, I believe Fairy Tail is good enough to be the place I look to change Fairy Tail the most. Or rather, I want the series itself to dictate what changes I do and can make because it’s not terribly impossible for me to do it this way. I love that I have an outlet like this to explain my thought process in doing so.

But if you’ll excuse me, I have to actually work on the rewriting part of the deal. A common joke among writers is that they’ll talk more about the writing they want to do than actually doing it. It will be a while before I’m ready to share the fruits of my labor in this endeavor, but I hope my work shows and that you’ll be looking for it to come.

Based on the Introduction, Part 2, Part 3, Part 8, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 19, and Part 20

[ashrelfury]

Equivalent Exchange Part 2

(Hey guys...so...I did a thing. Enjoy.)

Equivalent Exchange Part 1: Human Transmutation 

Chapter One: We Meet Again

Alchemy.

The science of understanding, deconstructing, and reconstructing matter. However, it is not an all-powerful art. It is impossible to create something out of nothing, if one wishes to obtain something, something of equal value must be given. This is the law of equivalent exchange, the basis of all Alchemy.

In accordance to this law, this is a taboo among Alchemists. Human Transmutation is strictly forbidden.

For what could equal the value of a human soul?

Neil was getting so damn sick of reading about alchemical rules and finding nothing.

There was always a limit to information, always a barrier he couldn’t break through in the end, because the military controlled it. Even his five or so months in Xing didn’t leave him with much to show for it, though he had a very complex understanding of Chi, or better known as ‘The Dragon’s Pulse’.

Alkahestry was interesting, and for a few moments, he actually believed it would hold some sort of key to getting Andrew’s soul from beyond the Gate.

False hope.

Despite Alkahestrists being capable of higher levels of medical transmutation than Amestrian Alchemy, there was no method of seeking out souls who have already passed beyond the Gate. He’d hit a brick wall in Xingese Alkahestry, and found himself back in Amestris.

Learning about the Philosopher Stone was merely coincidental.

He’d been in Liore for a few months, following rumors of a man who could bring the dead back to life, and he’d been there when Edward and Alphonse Elric had torn the holy man from his pedestal and disproved all of the religious faith.

Another brick wall. It was time to move on.

He wasn’t fast enough though.

He came face to face with the Elric brother’s again at the train station.

“Oh hey! I know you!”

“Brother, wait!”

Neil heard their voices, but he didn’t stop.

“Wait! Hang on! You’re the kid with the cool arrays right! N-Neil? Neil!”

Ed’s voice came again, and Neil faltered. That little hitch in his step was enough for the short blond Alchemist to catch up.

“That’s right! Neil!”

Neil turned, only to see the Fullmetal Alchemist barreling towards him at full speed.

“Brother!”

Neil opened his mouth to yell, and stopped, closing it again just as Ed ran passed him. He watched the blond go by, confusion on his face as Ed skid to a stop and made his way back at a slower jog. The clunking sound of a large suit of armor came from Neil’s left and he looked over to see Alphonse.

“Neil! Hey! I wanted to talk to you, it’s been nearly a full two years since the last time we’ve seen you. Where’s Andrew? I wanted to ask about that array on his… Neil?”

He couldn’t answer. Couldn’t speak, couldn’t communicate unless…

Neill took a breath, and lifted his hands.

‘Hello, Ed’ Neil signed.

Ed’s face twisted in confusion, and just as fast, suspicion.

“Brother.” Al spoke, having finally caught up and sidled beside Ed, looking at Neil. “I think he is mute.” With careful metal hands, Alphonse pulled out a small notebook and pencil from Ed’s coat pocket, handing the two to Neil without another word.

Neil smiled tightly, opening to a clear page without trying to go through any of the pages already filled with coded writing. He didn’t have enough time to crack the codes there anyways, despite the fact that he was sure they would have more information on the Philosopher Stone than he did.

‘I am mute. Andrew is gone. I’m afraid I committed the same mistakes you two have in the past.’ Neil didn’t really have a reason to lie at this point. His words would make it clear that, though Ed and Al could detain him for committing the ultimate taboo, Neil had knowledge of their sins too. Equivalent exchange. Neil inwardly smiled at his ironic thought.

When he passed the notebook back and waited for the brothers to read, he thought about the Andrew’s Knuckles in his pocket. He thought about the mass of… something that had been left when Neil had attempted to bring him back. The thought about the vial of Andrew’s blood he still had tucked against his chest on a string for when he would try it again. He was so lost in his thoughts, he didn’t notice the brother’s reactions until Edward had an automail fist around his collar, and his back was pressed against a brick wall.

“How do you know?! What did you do?! Neil!” Ed raged, voice low but harsh.

“Brother, don’t.” Alphonse tried, his own hands holding onto the arm that Ed had cocked back to punch Neil in the face.

Neil’s hands rose again, and he started signing rapidly.

‘Andrew. I would give anything. I would do anything. He is all I have left, you should know that feeling, you should understand that pain. I would do it again, I would do it a million times. There is no price too high.’ Neil was kind of glad that neither of the brother’s understood sign language, because he was sure all of the things he was attempting to say wouldn’t get very good reactions from either of them.

Ed growled low in his throat and finally released Neil, shoving the notebook and pencil back into his hands.

“Explain.”

Neil sighed, and made the decision to try.

Ed had more knowledge than he did. They’d both seen the Gate, they both have the knowledge, but Ed has had years of this search, and Neil was only just starting out. It didn’t matter what it took, Neil would pay the price, and if that price was telling these two brothers the truth, so be it.

So Neil wrote.

‘My father killed Andrew. I sacrificed my father in return and tried to bring Andrew back. It didn’t work. I lost my voice. I’ve been looking for a way to-‘ Neil paused. He knew, almost instinctively, that if he were to tell Edward and Alphonse that he was going to try again, they wouldn’t help him. They would tell him it was a hopeless endeavor, a fool’s wish. So what to say instead? ‘I’ve been looking for a way to get my voice back.’

He wasn’t expecting anything from his admission.

He didn’t ever expect anything from anyone.

And he definitely wasn’t expecting Edward Elric to say what he had said right after reading Neil’s stilted explanation.

With hard, determined gold eyes, Edward looked at Neil and took a deep breath. “Come with us. I’ll sponsor your examination. Become a State Alchemist.”

Well…

Why not?

--

The Bare-Knuckle Alchemist.

Andrew would laugh if he’d seen the codename Neil had garnered.

Without his voice, Neil knew that the chances of him actually becoming a State Alchemist were low at best. Soldiers had to be able to communicate, had to be able to take orders and give them should the situation dictate it. So he’d known going in that his exam had to be spectacular if he wanted to pass the practical part at all.

With that in mind, he’d spent the whole train ride with the Elric brothers deep in thought and contemplating what would be best to present and what would be better off hidden.

He had, much like Edward, mastered the art of Alchemy without an array. But it wasn’t his favorite way to fight, unlike the eldest Elric brother who had a habit of transmuting mid-battle in a bid for weapons, and in the end that was what mattered.

While in Xing, he had picked up on their martial arts as a way of feeling closer to Andrew, who enjoyed hand-to-hand fighting more than anyone Neil had ever met before. He’d been the one to teach Neil most of what he knew, and in Xing, Neil had picked up the style change quickly, beating his teacher every 2 out of 5 fights.

He’d taken to using Andrew’s Knuckles, and so that was what he decided to use.

Presented with nothing but an open space and surrounded by military personnel, Neil stood there and waited for a signal to begin. He didn’t get one.

“Do you need a bit of chalk, or paint or something?” One of the uniforms asked kindly, though he was the only one who looked kindly. Everyone else in the pit was giving him bored and disdainful expressions, and Neil couldn’t really see the other personnel up in the balconies. Still, he shook his head to the kind man and turned his back on them, deciding to start without a signal.

Neil had clapped his hands, and used a mix of Amestrian Alchemy and Xingese Alkakestry to create eight stone pillars at random points throughout the room. His little display had garnered whispers, but he ignored it and focused. The whispers were mainly coming from the surprised soldiers behind him anyways.

Pulling the Knuckles from his pocket, he slipped them on and took a deep breath.

It would be the first time he tried this little experiment. It would be the first time he activated any of the array’s since Andrew’s death and he wasn’t sure how it would interact with his knew knowledge. With more understanding of the mathematical elements and physics to each array, would they be more powerful, or would it ultimately fail since he was not Andrew with his eidetic memory.

With the Knuckles in place, he reached for every array, each of them feeling more and more like Andrew’s distinctive Alchemy and Neil wanted to cry.

Alkahestry, unlike Amestrian Alchemy, had the potential to strike at a distance from the body, mainly because of Alkahestry’s innate connection to the earth and its natural forces. The projection of such arrays had been the hardest part of learning the art. It would have taken anyone else years to learn, but Neil had been desperate and had nothing else to do, and he also had the knowledge ‘gifted’ to him by the Gate. Endless days of training and studying and fighting for some mild chance of seeing Andrew again had resulted in a proficiency with a completely different discipline of Alchemy that Neil had gotten into the habit of incorporating in nearly everything he did.

This would be no exception.

When he moved, he moved fast.

The first two stone pillars were taken down at a distance, with the wind array that had been of Andrew’s own making, both fists shot out at an angle, and as he activated the array, the sharp sound of breaking rocks echoed in the exam area making the whispers grow in volume as well. The next two had been with a shock of lighting so strong it broke the rock in seconds, especially since Neil had only activated the array upon contact with the obstacle in question, now it wasn’t just whispers. Some people were yelling out words Neil couldn’t understand, but it didn’t matter. He continued.

The next two were taken out with the kinetic blasts that made Neil’s punches seem far more powerful than they really were, something akin to the Armstrong’s level of strength, and Neil could hear the man exclaim loudly in delight. Neil hoped never to meet the man again, he hadn’t liked being bear-hugged as soon as Edward had introduced them. The last two wouldn’t work as they should. There was no blood to reverse, no liquid to work with which the array on the weapon’s third knuckle be activated, so Neil improvised.

A clap and then a touch and the pillars crumbled in seconds, not like breaking… but like disintegrating. Something never before seen by alchemists. It caused a hush to fall over the crowd that had once been so loud before.

It was only afterwards that Edward had come up to him and asked what he’d done to the last two pillars, but Neil wasn’t willing to tell the blond.

Alchemy worked in three stages. From construction, to deconstruction, and then to reconstruction. Every alchemist knows that to create, something must first be destroyed, but they are all always so focused on the ‘reconstruction’ part of the equation that they forget what the first two really mean. Andrew had been the one to figure out that you could stop the alchemical reaction in the middle.

Neil would hold that little secret close for now.

Collecting his uniform and his new rank as Major along with the infamous silver pocket watch, Neil made his way to the office of his new Commanding Officer.

General Wymack worked in Central, which was lucky because it was were the best libraries in Amestris were located, and with enough wiggle room, he’d be able to do all the research he wanted to. Too bad for him, that wasn’t how things worked out.