#source: wraith arc

[asidian]

DBDA Meta Commentary Roundup

Okay, I'm getting tired of scrolling back to find my own posts, so it's time for a roundup post for my DBDA meta commentary.

Meta Commentary:

Why you should watch Dead Boy Detectives

Charles is a people pleaser

A very large snake as a reference to hell

The same lantern

Edwin knows the Misery Wraiths a bit too well

Why Charles is upset by more than just jealousy re: Monty

The white kimono

How Crystal and Charles' character arcs intersect to make an absolute trash fire

You can talk to me about anything

Edwin's hidden kindness as Charles dies

Edwin's hangups re: emotion and how it ties into his time in hell

The silliest Clue edition

The Cat King's design changes when he starts a new life

Counting cats

Where is the Doll House

Edwin and Charles acting like they've known each other forever in tiny details

Esther has the cops in her pocket

The lantern scenes as an extension of the theme "The good you do comes back around"

Why Charles opens up to Crystal so quickly

Payneland endgame nods through leitmotifs in the soundtrack

Charles is super sensitive to criticism, even when it's not intended

The Season 2 in my heart

The hidden nod to history in the WWI ghost's makeup

Why Charles' death is so much worse than it seems

The brilliance of the first ten minutes

The ship of all time

The incredible women of Dead Boy Detectives

Edwin's bowtie

Crystal and Charles as mirrors and projections

Bi disaster Charles Rowland

Edwin can knit

Chekhov's snake-slaying sword

Murder night movie time

Why Charles was more of a hero than he knew

What the doll placement says about Edwin's many deaths

Charles smiles for other people

The absolute fridge horror of That One Gate in hell

The only good thing generative AI has ever done

The wood-burning stove as part of Charles' cold trauma

Charles is so very brave for walking into hell

Charles' bad decision face

Edwin complimenting Crystal as a kindness to Charles

Charles' something-is-going-to-be-difficult tell Charles Rowland appreciation hours

Crystal's two character arcs

Niko's fear of death and her own mortality

Mick is great

How Edwin speaks of hell as character growth A reminder of home The secret in Jenny and Maxine's wine label

Set Design:

Charles' room

The London office

The boys' detective license and its source

Tragic Mick's shop

Niko's room

Cameos:

The boys' early relationship and how they've influenced each other

What the boys do together in their downtime as leisure activities

A brief in-character skit of an ordinary day at the office

Tidbits about the characters that didn't make it into the show

Input in developing Edwin as a character and suggested changes Imagining a Valentine's ep and Charles' thoughts on the holiday

Imagining a Valentine's ep and Edwin's thought on The Holiday

Color Symbolism:

Red

Blue

Pink

Green

Green (alt)

Purple

Orange

Brown

Black

White

[diodellet]

try wishing for it: magical girl au ~author's note~

warning for: Puella Magi Madoka Magica spoilers and more yandere headcanoning

Read the fanfic first before you spoil yourself on my rambling 😇

I did not expect to be able to transition from draft to posting that quickly for a fic of this length (or maybe it just felt faster because the stars aligned for my motivation and brainworms to work together? who knows)

Will I ever continue this AU? Maybe if I get clubbed in the head by more Scarabia brainworms, I might write oneshots/short scenes, but I don’t see myself writing for any of the other twst charas.

Anyways onto the ramblings galore:

Inspirations:

The verse that the fic’s title is ripped from goes: “Saying, ‘it’s like magic!’ / immersed in this sensation, even if I try wishing for it, / I know it’s nothing but playing with dolls //” (tl credits to Releska).

Tbh, analyzing poetry/song lyrics isn’t my biggest strength, but I know that Mahou Shoujo, as a genre, tends to touch on themes of adolescence like innocence vs. jadedness in the face of the real world and its many issues, just stepping into and growing out of adolescence as one of those uncomfortable transitions in life.

Stepping into young adulthood is scary, and most people my age don’t even know what the hell they’re doing. So for Reader, I gave them that highschooler-trying-to-be-capable-and-mature persona, with a tinge of anxieties that a young person would have.

*I’ll elaborate more on the Puella Magi inspirations in a later section, but yes, that was also a major inspiration for this fic

Vagueness:

Compared to my usual long-winded writing style, this fic ended up a bit more short and ambiugous in its prose. Partially because I didn’t want to procrastinate on writing this by rewatching my favorite Mahou Shoujo franchises.

(but also mainly because partial aphantasia lets gooo, detailed visuals are not my strong suit, I’m leaving Reader’s outfit and weapon blank for people to insert anything they’d like)

I mainly wanted to emphasize the character moments between Reader and Kyubey!Scarabia, which ended up becoming more conflicting and interesting than I initially drafted.

(It helps that Jamil is a shady guy, he set up the foreshadowing on his own. Kalim on the other hand, my god, maybe it's just me but I had a harder time characterizing. Why is he so loud and friendly, it makes his manipulation so much more covert grr)

Gold (and Red, I guess):

I lied, there was one visual aspect I wanted to highlight throughout the story, which were Scarabia’s trademark colors of gold and red. Anything gold mentioned in the fic is traced back to them. So every moment of Kalim and Jamil using magic, Reader’s magic, the bangle that Jamil gifts them, the wraith in the beginning having a (formerly) gold collar. (I would've added a description of something gold on each wraith, but I didn't want to be too heavy-handed with the repetition.)

(yes i had thoughts of jamil just giving them a golden collar…but ooo…held off on that instead, it could be a standalone what-if scenario…a corruption arc premise…ooo…someone remind me about this, i might forget)

I also mention jamil++the color red in this fic because I had to put Snake Whisper in, I can’t not 🙈

(that bit of kalim’s healing magic was me trying to make a reference to Oasis Maker, it feels a bit scuffed to me, but i don't think he’d ever get the urge to drown the world. truly sunshine boy's such a covert yandere it almost made me tear my hair out)

Kyubey!Scarabia, Some Difficulties and Omissions:

In Puella Magi, the little satanspawn named Kyubey is actually short for “Incubator,” who hails from an alien civilization tasked with preventing the heat death of the universe. Turns out the emotions of teenage girls is a very potent energy source. So he turns girls into magical girls to fight Witches and when those magical girls succumb to despair, they become the very thing that they fight against, producing vast amounts of energy for them to use.

(Though I changed it from ‘Witches’ to ‘Wraiths’ for this fanfic. I also did away with the Witches’ Labyrinth to lessen the amount of exposition. I jus think Witches work better in a visual medium.)

Another standout characteristic of Kyubey is his eerie sense of apathy to the characters’ suffering, which was Difficult to incorporate into Kalim since that guy’s got buckets of empathy. Until I realized that i could spin this into a kind of “warped” love.

Kalim loved each and every magical girl that he’s worked with, and of course he gets sad that they eventually become a wraith. But as an Incubator, his grieving is more akin to a rich person feeling sad over the death of a pet. He’s very quick to turn his attention to the next shiny thing (that’s you/Reader! Ain’t that great!🥴)

Also @jessamine-rose gave me this hc of Kalim amassing little trinkets from every magical fighter, like a ribbon accessory or a piece of their wand, collecting these little charms. Just, the idea of him saying that he’ll cherish Reader’s own treasure, and the way that could go from reassuring to chilling. (now i’m spreading that hc to yall instead of pingponging it in my brain😇)

On the idea of Jamil and love, I think he just loves holding power over magical girls #MegalomaniacThingz (ignore that growing fondness in the fever scene, he was just playing the part of helpful familiar or sumn /shrug)

There's definitely room for some kind of intense fascination to reader, knowing that they surprised him with their resilience. Yeah sorta like Tokyo Mew Mew's Ichigo and Quiche...

(i was crying so hard at having to axe forehead kissies for the second time, but it was a necessary omission😔)

Misc. Extras:

As a palate cleanser, just imagine plush ball!jamil carrying a plastic bag twice his size… (i was struggling with the dialogue during that fever scene, this was how i kept myself from spiraling too far)

In line with the genie of the lamp story, Kyubey!Scarabia gets the three wishes for their magical girls, with the third wish eventually corrupting the magical girl into a wraith.

I guess the other dorms would have something unique for the magical girls that they create? (not having wi-fi for the past few days gave me some half-baked ideas)

Like Heartslabyul imposing a rigid set of rules on their magical girls, which are of course rigged against the inherently flawed nature of humans and their emotions.

Savanaclaw and Pomefiore are similar, you fight until you can’t. Or in Pome’s case, you fight until you become an unrecognizable monster.

I imagine that Octavinelle and Ignihyde are the most similar to the original Kyubey of Puella Magi. You make a wish, fight the wraiths, reap the consequences of a wish, and eventually succumb to the vicious system they have laid out. Only Octavinelle’s version is Sayaka Miki-core, while Ignihyde’s plays out like a video game-ified version of Hercules’ trials. (Also, Ignihyde deffo keeps a compendium of each magical girl and wraith).

For Diasomnia, it could kinda follow Sleeping Beauty's plot, where there's a curse that the magical girl has to work against, while being aided with blessings from the fairies/Malleus' retinue (tho in this case, i guess Malleus ends up being revealed as the one creating the wraiths?)

tl;dr: This fic was so fun to write, I can almost forgive the usual agonies that plague me. I'm a writer who heavily prefers soft worldbuilding. Scarabia makes me so ill.

tagging: @viperwhispered @twstgo

[tgammsideblog]

Ideas/concepts Tgamm crew had planned for a third season post:

-Robe Knows Best- An arc about Ollie was planned on becoming the new chairman of the Ghost World, because he has to turn into wraith to do his duty, he begins to forget who he is over time like Scratch did as wraith.- this seems to foreshadow how Scratch was a wraith even more

-She loves me, she loves me bot: An episode of Andrea and Alina (the girl she likes) meeting in a robot convetion and working out their feelings for each other.

-Dead and Breakfast: The Mcgees staying at Geoff and Jeff's B&B (kinda like an hotel).

-Forever Home: An episode about Patty's death

-The Writer of Knell- An episode about Libby having writer's block

-Saving Purim: An episode about Purim, a jewish celebration

-Taking a Band Stand: An episode about ¨a revolt against the recorder¨

-Teaching Mr.Pham: An episode about Molly helping teacher Pham to rekindle his love for teaching, Source: https://twitter.com/SammieCrowley/status/1746593483320914089 https://twitter.com/BrandonHoang_/status/1746588872870641831

[samble-moved]

reminder that homura is a middle schooler. she is 13 or 14 years old, depending on source. she is not old enough to drive or have a permit. she is not old enough to live on her own (it's implied her parents are out of the picture in some way — in the US she'd need to be in adoptive or foster care, or at least have a guardian or social worker, but this appears to be handwaved in the series and none are ever shown). she cannot vote. she is not old enough to get a job (earliest i've seen is 14 in the US, and that's usually in not great environments, in summer, and for low pay and short hours). she is only "independent" in the sense that it's forced upon her by lack of any adult support — nobody helps her fill out school transfer forms, she lives alone, she has no shown family or even mentions of relatives, nobody visits her in the hospital, etc.

i say this because a lot of "anti homura" arguments act as if this information doesn't exist, and that homura is "actually an adult" or at the same level as one due to looping. she canonically is not. her brain and physical body are not developing, she is only learning walpurgis tactics and memorizing test answers. her brain is not developing so she's not "mentally 26", like is often claimed by "homura is a predator" truthers. i'm not even going to touch on how weird and borderline creepy it is to say "she's a child but so mature for her age (from extreme, repeated, potentially pre-series trauma), so she must be an adult and can be treated like one".

there is a reason that children are typically tried differently in the US. unless "tried as an adult" for very serious crimes, it is widely accepted that children (and even young adults) are more impulsive, think less rationally, and are generally "less responsible" for their actions due to not having the experiences of a full grown adult. children are less mature, more prone to "overreaction" and panic, and are immature — because they are kids.

homura is a child. she also has extreme trauma, potentially from before the series even began (where are her parents? are they just neglectful? dead? why isn't there even a single adult helping her?) that is never helped or addressed. homura doesn't get help for any issues she has (obvious ptsd and depression, borderline delusions over the past being "just a dream" in wraith arc). she is not some spoiled, rich, mentally stable almost-adult who's never faced a consequence. she is a young and traumatized teenager, young enough to be a middle schooler, and has experienced:

neglectful, absent, missing, or dead family/parents

watching her friends die horrifically almost a hundred times

having zero adult support at all, no caseworker or help

bullying, half being because she's disabled

having her soul ripped from her body without consent and learning if she ever loses her soul gem (or god forbid accidentally drops it somewhere), her body will basically be "dead"

learning she and all her friends turn into eldritch horrors when they die, a process shown in rebellion to be something they are aware for (aka the horror that witches aren't "just" bodies being moved, they are actively and constantly suffering and aware to some degree the whole time)

learning that the witches they fight are girls around their age who fell into despair, and not purposeless monsters

learned of the prospect that witches can potentially "regrow" via familiars, thus if their consciousness transfers, this shows the possibility of literally eternal suffering as the witch is "reborn"

realization that, the more she tries to save madoka, the worse the situation gets

having a full on breakdown with delusions in wraith arc, thinking maybe madoka was all just a hallucination or a dream she had

finding out in rebellion it wasn't a dream, but then thinking she betrayed madoka by not stopping her from contracting

becoming a witch whose whole theme is based around suicide and wanting and waiting to die, but not being able to

being a witch whose familiars are malicious towards her and belittle her

trying to "fix" her believed betrayal of madoka by making a new world, ending up hated by sayaka and isolated from her friends

is still stuck as a witch while the last event happens!!! (her soul gem is never shown purified)

all of this while she is 13-14.

homura is not some cruel adult playing god because she is bored and likes the power trip and wants the world to burn. she is a deeply traumatized and mentally ill child who never got help. she is not a predator — and i honestly don't know if that is more of a "she's a predator because she's the most openly sapphic" or "she's a predator because she's traumatized and thus 'acts weird' due to trauma" belief nowadays in most anti-homura spaces, i've seen both. she is not a murderer or rapist or whatever else i've seen (yes, "homura is a sexual predator" claims exist, despite this never once even being implied). she is not an abuser — you can argue she's cold or rude, but she is not "an abuser".

if a child like homura existed irl (and they do exist), a professional's first thought would not be "this is an evil, irredeemable, abusive predator who can be treated like an adult", it'd likely be a reaction of horror and deep concern of "what happened to this child to make her act this way?". someone being "the perfect victim" — that is, being soft, demure, sweet, docile, flawless — in response to trauma is a harmful myth for a reason. some trauma victims will react with anger. some may be overly happy in an attempt to prevent further abuse. some, like homura, end up acting "cold" to try and avoid being further hurt. it doesn't mean homura doesn't experience emotion, hates her friends and wants them to suffer, is a predator, is "a bad person", etc.

think! when you write posts about how homura is actually an evil, awful, no good, very bad person with no positive traits, remember she is a middle schooler. of course, she's not a "real" child, and thus doesn't exist to have her feelings hurt over it, but consider this: would you say these things to/about a real child? are you aware that "real children" (often victims of trauma themselves) relate to homura due to this? i was one of them at 14ish, and while "homura is evil [for acting like a traumatized child often does]" discourse never left me particularly hurt, i know it does genuinely upset several people i know. and if you had, say, a real life child relative who acted "cold" after seeing their friends die horribly, would you call them an evil and irredeemable abuser as well?

[fieryskies]

Maybe the reason Ai - the 15th Clara Doll - "has yet to come" as the Rebellion production notes say, is because she is not solely Homura's familiar.

In the Wraith Arc, the presence inside her Soul Gem that guides Homura at her lowest moment is a being sprung from her and Madoka's mutual feelings. A sentiment so powerful it allowed a new miracle to emerge.

It is only when she is ready to hear the truth about this fact and when she decides to utilise her love as a positive force that defends Madoka that she can see this being.

The Clara Dolls are facets of Homura's "dirty", "lowly" self that she considers should bring punishment upon her. However, Ai is different, because she is not individualistic like the rest and is not inherently negative as her other "sins".

This is why it is Homura herself who seemingly adorns her garments by Rebellion's climax. The source of her strength and her ugliest, most undeserving side. A desire useful only for granting Madoka an escape from her fate, no matter how temporary. Certainly not meant for reciprocation.

And so, as long as Madoka can't remember these feelings and Homura refuses to perceive their existence, Ai can't properly manifest.

In conclusion, she is basically their love child-

[crazy-nerdy]

Arc 1: Fragments of Belonging

Chapter 1

author's note: I had this story in my head since September, I hope you like it.

In Norse mythology, a fylgja is a supernatural being or spirit which accompanies a person in connection to their fate or fortune.

pairing: Hiccup x Oc (Maer)

warnings: none that I could think of, but let me know if you believe I missed something. The warnings and themes of the hall story can be found in the series overview

word count: 9k

masterlist

Waves lapped against the shore, faint moonlight reflecting off the surface. The only source of light in the constant dark of the night. 

Maer floated on her back, taking in the sight of the tiny stars pinned on the black, clear sky above her. Her dragon swam lazily around her in circles, making sure she wasn’t swayed to the open sea. 

She closed her eyes, her heartbeat beating in her ears as she sank into the water, the moonlight fading more and more.

It should be terrifying. All those stories about the deep, endless, unforgiving sea. Full of the great unknowns, ready to drag you down, especially at night. And yet, no place felt safer, nothing hid her from the world better than this blanket of vast darkness. 

She was content to let the seawater lift her back to the surface slowly, let the sea make the weight in her chest feel as weightless as her body for a moment longer but when Riptide’s tail came under her back, gently pushing her up, expediting the process, she understood that the serene moment was shattered.

Someone was here. 

“There you are!” Gustav’s voice echoed through the quiet of the night as Maer broke through the surface of the water, breathing deeply through her nose. The noise of her resurfacing notified him of her general position.

“Gustav! You’ve found me. Again…” Maer said with a hint of exasperation, rubbing water drops out of her eyes in vain. “You are a little too good at this.”

“Helga is going to be back soon. You should go before she does.” He informed her, looking towards the area of her voice. “Fanghook, fire up,” He said to his dragon, asking his Monstrous Nightmare companion to light himself aflame in order to see clearer, “please.” He added for good measure, looking towards Maer—who squinted her eyes at the sudden vibrant lightsource—hoping he wouldn't have the ‘companions, not servants,’ talk again.

“I will go in a bit.” She replied blinking a few times, getting used to the light, treading in the water, placing her left hand on Riptide, who had also stopped her circles. 

Gustav looked at her, it was much easier to talk to her now that he could actually see her and Riptide. Especially Riptide, the Sand Wraith had a hobby of sneaking up on people and dragons alike.

He considered her words for a moment, “Nope.” He crossed his arms. “If I leave you here now, then you won’t go back until very late, and then Helga and Sveinn will corner you at the door and then—”

The familiar flapping of wings cut his next words as another dragon landed near Fanghook. 

Gustav didn’t even have to turn and look to know who it was.

Hiccup dismounted with practised ease, eyes swiping the beach, scanning the area looking for someone. His gaze landed on Maer, lingering briefly before flicking to Gustav.

“Maer. I had a feeling I’d find you here.” Hiccup said casually, but his attention was already focused on the scattered items around her usual resting place. 

Gustav rolled his eyes, mouthing the word ‘feeling ’ under his breath, folding his arms and watching Hiccup carefully, weight shifting slightly. The statement sounded dramatic, despite the usual accuracy. 

“Well, you know me. Every year before winter comes.” Maer said from her spot in the water, caressing Riptide’s snout.  

Hiccup opened his mouth to reply—

“You always do,” Gustav muttered, aiming at Hiccup's earlier comment—not loud, but not exactly under his breath either.

Hiccup glanced at him, raising a brow, but didn’t bite. “You’re both supposed to be back by now.” He ended up saying instead. His voice was calm and unbothered by the not-so-subtle comment.

“I want to head back. She doesn’t.” Gustav shrugged, voice stiff with effort. “Figured I’d stick around.” He paused. “Make sure she doesn’t go swimming until daylight or something.”

There was no humour in the comment, just the edge of someone trying too hard to sound indifferent mixed with the honesty of experience. 

Hiccup recalled the few times that had actually happened and the consequences that had followed. He stepped closer to Maer’s belongings, inspecting something briefly as Toothless approached Fanghook, engaging in a ‘conversation’ of their own. 

“You should go to sleep Gustav. I got this.” Hiccup ended up saying, turning to face the younger teenager fully.

Gustav huffed, glancing sideways but standing his ground. “I will go when she goes.” He said stubbornly. Chin lifted, looking at Hiccup defiantly, daring him to push him further.

With Fanghook’s fire illuminating behind him, Gustav looked rather impressive, almost imposing��or maybe he would have, if Hiccup didn’t remember that before him stood a fourteen-year-old kid trying too hard to look like a warrior. 

Hiccup wasn’t sure if he should be surprised or just laugh. Suppressing a smile, he softened his voice. “I got this Gustav, you can go.” He pressed gently. 

Gustav hesitated, his jaw working. He didn’t want to leave; he knew better than to leave those two alone. He didn’t argue, but his eyes darted to Maer—not with mistrust, exactly, but with unease. He was too familiar with their habits to believe that this was going to be resolved fast— which was the point of importance.

“Ffffffffff~ine.” He ended up saying, tone clipped. “But I am not leaving!” He added hurriedly, “I will be right there—” He pointed his finger towards the cliffs overlooking the beach—“Keeping watch!”

He reached into his satchel—“I will drag you back if I have to—” he pulled out the familiar-looking horn, holding it up meaningfully. “Don’t make me use this!”

“You have that? I have been looking for it!” Maer turned her full attention to the horn in Gustav’s hand; it was the one Hiccup and Fishlegs made so she could call on Riptide when they were separated, after realizing that her lungs weren't so strong as to create a call loud enough for her dragon to find her back when she first started training with them. 

“You don’t need it anymore, so I am taking it in case I need Riptide.” He argued, signalling to Fanghook that they are taking flight soon, making the dragon stop the fire engulfing his body, which Hiccup took as a signal to make a campfire. 

“Why would you need to call on Riptide? You have Fanghook.” Maer said back every word, dripping with disbelief, her hands moving wildly, causing the water to splash.

“In case I have to drag you out of the water!” He shot back, getting on Fanghook, who rumbled softly, the two took off toward the cliff with a quick rush of wings and air, almost like he wanted to run away while he still had the last word. 

“You too Haddock! I have my eyes on you !” He added, his voice fading the further Fanghook flew.

Hiccup turned to look at Maer mouth open, his eyes screaming ‘what the fuck’. With Fanghook gone, he could barely make out the exaggerated shrug of her shoulders, meaning ‘I don’t know’. 

She shook her head hearing Toothless's distinct laugh-like sounds and Riptide’s own version of a cackle— who had quite literally forced Maer on her back by diving under her and then flying out, taking her with her to the duo on land. 

“Don’t laugh at that.” Hiccup said as soon as her feet hit the sand. “We—” He emphasised, gesturing his hand to everyone present— “are above that.” He lectured, earning him a chuckle from Maer, which in turn earned her a playful glare.

Salt was sticking to her skin, and Maer was definitely feeling the chill of the night now that she was out of the water. She was glad she had jumped in with only her undershirt tunic and trousers and not her whole attire. She would have to wait a bit before she put anything else on, lest she risk getting those garments soaked as well. A chill ran down her spine, remembering Sigrid’s many, many lessons on textiles and the like.

“Here you go.” Hiccup draped her cloak over her shoulders at the first notice of a shiver.

“Thank you.” Her fingers tightened around the cloak for a moment, the warmth sinking in as she exhaled more deeply than she realised. Breathing felt easier now—less tight, less forced. She let the warmth of the cloak settle over her like a second skin, running her hand along Riptide's spine as the dragon got comfortable before taking a seat in front of the campfire, leaning her back against her. 

There was a brief silence between the two of them. Toothless followed Riptide's example and laid down to rest. Hiccup moved to sit down as well, stretching his legs towards the fire, reaching to Maer’s crossed ones. He could feel the steady thrum of the flames against his chest, like a heartbeat he hadn’t noticed was uneven until now.

“He really doesn’t trust me.” Hiccup chuckled, looking in the direction Gustav said he would be waiting. 

“No, he doesn’t,” Maer breathed out, her voice light with amusement. 

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say you had a hand in it.” Hiccup remembered the days Gustav would run after him, asking for tips and lessons. It was distracting if a little overbearing. A type of burden he seemed to have been destined to carry by himself as the ‘dragon master’.

Maer’s interference had been a gift from the gods at the time. She had taken the term academy to heart and took Gustav’s training upon herself. Even if, more often than not, she had to ask for help since she was extremely new to the practice of dragon riding as well at the time.

Gustav’s dislike for him had started to show shortly after that. 

“Ha. I haven’t said or done anything to deteriorate his opinion of you.” Maer laughed, looking at him.

“Hmmm… You might have told him what your eyes see when you look at me.” He suggested playfully.

“I would never! That stuff is personal.” She replied in mock offence.

“You had no problem sharing Snotlout’s.”

“He had no problem sharing it. He was the only one I told.”

“And me.” Hiccup added in a smug way that was laced with the undertone of ‘I am right’

“Details. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to tell you at the time.” She waved her hand nonchalantly, with a chuckle.

“You still can’t see it?” Hiccup whispered, not looking up from the fire. 

She shot a quick glance at Hiccup and then his surroundings before focusing back on the fire. “No… But maybe that’s a good thing.” She answered softly.  

Hiccup asked that question often. He knew that. But he couldn’t help it, even though the answer never changed. And Maer never held it against him. Once she even suggested that it might be that her eyes were too weak. And had thrown herself into training to counter that. Until Gothi had informed her that her eyesight won't change just because she learned more things. 

Maer was rather dejected by that. Hiccup had a hard time making her feel better after that. In her mind, Maer had failed him in a way. 

“I am not sure, I would like to know what it is.” He ended up saying with a light tone.

“I think it’s a dragon. It would be weird if it were something else.” A commonly spoken phrase. That was her firm belief, and nothing anyone said would make her change her mind. To Maer, the kind of Fylgja one had was something she could tell instinctively. But there were occasions where she had been wrong, like with Gustav.

“Maybe it’s a bird.” He countered. A familiar ritual by now, she would remain firm on her belief, and he would suggest differently just to irk her.

“You don’t strike me as a bird.” She shot back with practised ease. This exact conversation was repeated many times between them since they met four years ago.

“No… I strike you as a spirit.” He accused in a teasing manner, jabbing her with his foot.

“Hey! My interpretation is poetic! And if one believes enough, plausible.” Maer laughed, moving her leg out of his reach.

“I will be sure to remember that the next time one of the younger kids asks me if I eat babies.” 

“That was not me, and you know it.” She huffed, crossing her arms.

“No… You told them something else, didn’t you?” He pretended to fish around for information Maer had no problem sharing openly with him.

“Only what I think is true. And I made sure to stress that it was my belief and not the obsolete truth.” She replied academically with a smartass kind of expression.

“Of course. Because kids can always tell the difference.” Hiccup rolled his eyes with a laugh. 

“Give them some credit. Children are more intuitive than you think. Maybe they reached this conclusion all on their own.” She smiled, her body shivering, water drops tickling down her neck.

The firelight caught in her eyes, turning them the colour of embers—bright, alive. His gaze drifted past her, to Riptide curled behind her, the flickering glow painting her sandy scales in shades of deep orange. Taking in the dragon’s slow, steady breathing.

“You took off her saddle,” Hiccup noted, changing the conversation, mostly intrigued rather than surprised as Maer squeezed water out of her hair.

“Yeah… Thoroughly soaked leather takes a long time to properly dry, as I learned very painfully. Not to mention the weight it adds to her.” She patted Riptide’s leg in acknowledgement. 

Hiccup chuckled; he knew that, and had warned her off it many times “So you do listen to me.” 

“You know I do. I just don’t always have time to properly act on your advice.” She countered in mock innocence. “But this was mostly because I was tired of Helga—” A beat, an inhale—“Mother’s constant complaining about the water stains on the wood and father’s lectures on proper maintenance didn’t help. ”

Hiccup pursed his lips together at the conscious correction. “You want a new saddle?”

“This one is good. It’s just getting it on and off many times a day that is a bit of a pain." She dismissed that idea with a shrug of her shoulders. 

"Aren't you supposed to be flying to Gustav by now?" Hiccup teased lightly, gesturing towards the cliffs with his head.

"Maybe." Maer’s voice was quieter, the bright glow diminishing slightly. Moving her legs, bringing her knees closer to her chest, "But it can wait."

Hiccup frowned slightly. He tilted his head, studying her, taking in the way her shoulders were just a little more slumped than usual, even with the cloak on, the way her fingers traced absently over the fabric of her tunic, eyes focused on that.

"You’ll regret this when you can’t wake up in the morning," he tried again, nudging her with his foot.

Maer finally looked up at him, the bright glow completely gone, expression unreadable. 

"Maybe." Maer’s voice was quieter, the bright glow diminishing slightly. Moving her legs, bringing her knees closer to her chest, "But it can wait."

Hiccup frowned slightly. He tilted his head, studying her, taking in the way her shoulders were just a little more slumped than usual, even with the cloak on, the way her fingers traced absently over the fabric of her tunic, eyes focused on that.

"You’ll regret this when you can’t wake up in the morning," he tried again, nudging her with his foot.

Maer finally looked up at him, the bright glow completely gone, expression unreadable. 

“Maybe it’s better that way. I don’t want it to come. I wish I could just sleep through tomorrow. The whole week, if possible.”

Hiccup looked at the night sky for a moment and then back at Maer. “It will be a nice day tomorrow.” He said with a type of certainty that could come only from hope rather than knowledge. 

"No, it won’t. Not this time." Maer said, voice distant. "Tomorrow will come to an end and bring another and another. And another fucking tomorrow. Until the end of the week reaches me.” She added the last part with a little more exhaustion. “I don’t want the end of the week to reach me.” 

“It will be fine, just like all the other times.” Hiccup said, trying to sound a bit encouraging. “You have done this many times already.

She exhaled sharply, like the air was too heavy to hold. Shaking her head, she leaned backwards against Riptide, looking up. "No. This is different. I’m scared." She breathed the last part.

Hiccup inhaled quietly, as if trying to breathe for her when she couldn’t; his throat felt tight. 

He wasn’t sure what to do with that confession other than to let out a barely audible, “Of what?”

It was a fair question for his part, Maer had been talking his ear off about the greatness and the possibilities that would open when this ceremony finally arrived for the last four years. And now that it was here, she seemed to be dreading it.

“I… I don’t know” 

Silence settled between them.

His first instinct was to respond—to say something to fill the quiet, to reason with her, to try to ease whatever had twisted inside her to make her sound so… tired .

But he didn’t.

Because he recognised this. The way her hands moved to curl slightly against her knees. The way her eyes looked at the sky with a lost gaze, like she was holding back something too heavy to say aloud. 

This wasn’t common, Maer was never scared of tomorrows or ceremonies. But this one was different, this one would be ‘special’ in a way that would define everything moving forward. And that was a terrifying thing to carry. Hiccup knew that.  

He looked at her a moment longer, taking in her expression. 

She wasn’t looking for reassurance. She wasn’t even looking for comfort.

His throat felt dry, words dying before they could form. He almost— almost —reached for her, his fingers twitching at his sides. His chest ached—not pain, but something hollow, like something was missing—he hesitated, something about the moment felt fragile, like touching it the wrong way might make it shatter.

So instead, he moved, scouched closer to sit beside her. Close enough that their shoulders brushed. Close enough that she knew he was there.

"Okay," he murmured.

And that was all.

And it was enough.

The fire crackled. The waves lapped quietly at the shore.

“Maer! Get over here already!” Gustav’s screams echoed through the silence.

They looked at each other, chuckling as Maer shook her head.

“Honestly, those two.” Gustav grumbled to Fanghook. “And then she asks what I need Riptide’s summoning horn for.” He added, rolling his eyes. 

Fanghook, in a rare moment of equal exasperation, let out an agreeing hum.

Tomorrow came, like it always did.

Hiccup was right, Gustav was right. Who would have thought? Waking up was hard, and her arrival the night before was met with a very anxious-looking Helga and a tired, almost solemn Sveinn, followed by a mini lecture on the importance of safety and a proper sleep schedule. 

Which she tried to counter with the excuse of the upcoming winter and therefore the lack of swimming she would have to endure. Her parents were not impressed or understanding with her reasoning, and was told to just go to bed before the sun started to rise. 

And so she did.  

Mornings were a terrible thing; she hated getting out of bed, hated getting dressed, hated the cold morning due. Even Riptide was wary of mornings. Her sensitivity to the sunlight is a constant, definitive factor in their flight schedule. The cold seeped into her bones before she even left the covers. The stiffness in her limbs reminded her she’d fallen asleep curled up again. Mornings weren’t just cruel—they were relentless.

Maer groaned as she turned onto her chest, huddling further in the warmth of her bed. She tugged harshly on her covers, pulling them over her head to muffle the sound of the morning horn. 

Every morning she understood Hiccup's question: why didn't their village have a rooster wake them up like other settlements and instead had a madman—that was almost deaf at this point—who loved to blow the damned huge, resonant horn by the Great Hall. Coincidentally, he also decided that at the first indication of the sun rising, it was time to wake up the village—Even if the sky was still so dark, one could easily assume that an eternal night was upon them.

The horn blew, and all at once, the house burst into life, doors slammed open and heavy steps were heard against the wood. Maer did her best to enjoy her last few moments of peace before her fate came for her. Riptide and Sveinn had an unspoken agreement about how they would prompt her out of bed. The word prompt was—of course—used lightly here, nothing about the process was encouraging, it was just and inevitable.

Sveinn would knock on her door– 

“Maer wake up! It’s morning!” Cue the knock and his enthusiastic voice, placed in—what she thought was—the most unusual parts of the day. 

Maer groaned loudly to let him know that she heard him but was choosing to stay in bed. Not that that would solve anything. Sveinn and Riptide would still force her out of bed. 

And right on schedule, Riptide, her beloved dragon and the biggest thorn in her side, moved with ease around her bed and with a nudge that was gentle only by the dragon’s standards, pushed her off the bed. Covers and everything.

“Oof”, she let out a breathy grunt as she went from snuggling on her bed to plummeting down to the floor. There was a time when the shock from the fall would have been enough to jolt her mind awake. 

“For fuck’s sake… Every time.” She grumbled, looking at the sharp eyes looming over her as she tried untangling herself from her covers and blankets.

Riptide rumbled excitedly, her claws clicking against the wooden floor as she bounded around Maer, poking her insistently with a paw. “I’m up, I’m up!” Maer laughed, swatting at the dragon’s paw. Riptide’s wings flared as she hopped in circles, the floor creaking –no doubt notifying her parents, and maybe the few people already out and about, that they were now up–, her tail swinging wildly and narrowly missing the chair.

Maer shook her head with a soft chuckle, the dragon’s infectious energy chasing away her morning broodiness. She moved to the chair where her clothes lay, stretching life into her heavy limbs.

She took a moment to look at her arms after taking off her nightshirt. She looked at her scars, tracing her fingers over the one specific bite-shaped one, remembering how she got it and even those she couldn’t remember, those she was more curious about rather than charmed by. 

She liked her scars, Helga’s influence, she referred to her own as medals from life, and there was usually something beautiful about scars, if eye-grasping. Maer recalled someone saying something about a lived life.

But the thing she liked the most about her scars was the point they proved.

Another knock on the door, a little louder this time. “Don’t tell me you fell asleep again?” Sveinn teased her through the door.

Maer scoffed loudly in mock-offence. “I am getting dressed.” She said pointedly. 

Sveinn told her to hurry up or she would be late, as he walked away. 

Her eyes landed on the clothing laid out on the ‘forbidden chest’—Maer’s name for the wooden chest placed at the foot of her bed. The one filled with all the things she was never allowed to touch unless it was for special occasions. Or a seasonal chance. Every fragile, expensive and rare thing she possessed was in that chest, closed off and far away from the chaos of every day. 

Maer glared at the clothing as she walked to the chair by her desk, positioned opposite her bed. Helga must have taken them out to air out and wash them before Maer had to wear them later this week. 

There was the bitter taste of anxiety in her mouth as she took in the appearance of the long beautiful light blue dress paired with a darker blue hangerock, a woven belt made with white and blue strings and a blue apron the same shade as the dress. All of which was accompanied and fasted with brooches strung with beads and necklaces for decoration. 

Most jewellery was stored away with Helga for safekeeping. Maer liked shiny things and would open the ‘forbidden’ chest whenever she remembered it contained anything that sparkled enough under light. Making Helga take them away and hiding them just in case Maer lost them. 

Maer grimaced, putting on her normal clothes, letting out a yawn and petting Ripride, who was rubbing her snout on her stomach as soon as she had put her undershirt on.  

Helga probably placed the clothes there yesterday night before she came back. She was in such a hurry to get to sleep that she never even saw them. 

She sighed, the image of the accursed set of clothing being an unmistakable reminder of her upcoming duties. 

Maybe ‘accursed’ wasn’t the right word; she liked the clothes, but currently, she hated what they symbolised. 

She swallowed back the nervousness that came with the ocean of possibilities that could go wrong during the ceremony and walked closer to the ‘forbidden’ chest to inspect the clothes.

She doubted she would be wearing the extra apron. She never did. Much to Helga’s general disdain. 

Maer finished getting dressed and fastening her belt, putting on the neck ring she had gotten as a gift during her first Snoggletog, apparently, Hiccup had noticed her attraction to shiny things. She still remembered how much Ruffnut and Snotlout had complained about it when they were all giving it to her. 

Taking a deep breath and shaking her head, she opened the door of her room and walked down to the main room, followed by her dragon.

She moved deliberately slowly. Helga mentioned -far too many times- that her steps were loud on the stairs. Maer took that personally and made it her goal not to cause an earthquake every time she walked. Her hand glided on the wall to balance her dragon, mimicking her exaggerated caution comically.

“Maer? What are you doing up there?” Helga asked from the bottom of the stairs, looking at her funny. 

“I am trying to come down quietly,” Maer answered, her focus remaining on her feet. 

Helga shook her head. “Can you two stop this nonsense and come down to eat? You will be late.” 

Surprised at the mention of “two”, Maer looked over her shoulder at Riptide, who was creeping along, now frozen in her overly dramatic stealth walk. Left front foot and right back foot tip-toeing while her two other legs were raised as far from the stairs as possible. She narrowed her eyes, sceptical brown meeting pale green as her dragon just feigned ignorance. 

“Maer!” Helga's sharp tone broke their little stare game.

“Coming!” She called back, leaping down the remaining stairs with a loud thump . A terrible decision in hindsight, as pain spread through her legs. But she was getting better.

Hurrying to scurry away from her landing spot as Riptide did the same, creating an even bigger sound and even rattling the mugs on the table. So much for not causing an earthquake.  

Helga just held on to one of the shaky mugs, her expression resigned.

Maer slid to her seat at the table, mimicking Helga's action with an innocent, sleepy look. She still wasn’t awake enough for this. The sun barely touched the sky, and yet here she was—dodging stairs, dodging dragons, dodging Helga’s disapproving stare.

“Why?” Helga flatly with a deadpan expression. 

“Because it's time efficient and fun?” Maer answered innocently, filling her mug with water. The tension from yesterday’s lecture lingered between them, unspoken, as if they’d silently agreed to pretend it hadn’t happened. She took a sip of water, her eyes flicking toward Riptide.

“Doesn't it hurt when you do that?” A voice that should be expected at this point made her choke on her water in surprise. 

“Gustav? You are here already? When did you even get up?” She coughed, wiping the water that had spilled from her mouth. 

"I didn’t wake up early. You and Riptide just take too long." He replied, taking a sip from his own mug.

“Early bird gets the worm Maer,” Sveinn said, entering the main room with Riptide following him, matching his pace. 

“How early of a bird? The horn was blown mere minutes ago.” She mumbled, taking another sip of water, focusing her eyes on Gustav as she drank.

“Clearly early enough to be on time for breakfast before the person who lives here.” Helga pointed out playfully, putting the food on the plates. 

“Oh, yeah.” Gustav looked rather proud at the distinction. 

“Now eat and go get ready. Or you will be late. The both of you.” She reminded her.

“I am ready,” Maer replied, looking up at her. “Besides, Gothi wakes up late.”  She had a love-hate relationship with Gothi’s hut most days. 

She had more reasons to hate it than to love it. 

She loved it for the wisdom it offered- all the healing techniques and knowledge Gothi had on medicine and botany. 

She hated it because of the parade of idiots who wanted treatment instead of needing it. Sveinn always said that describing people as stupid was wrong and a poison of the mind. He was right, probably. She just didn’t know how , exactly. She hated the visitors who would seek Gothi out and scare her for the fun of it. And she hated the feeling of dooming unease whenever she learned and practised any of the ritualistic parts of Gothi’s profession.

“Did you wash your face?” Sveinn asked knowingly just as Helga placed the breakfast he had cooked on the table, taking a seat.

“No….” Maer admitted sheepishly, her leg starting to shake intensely. 

“Then eat and wash your face so you can go to Gothi’s,” Sveinn said, caressing her hair with gentle but heavy movement. The kind that, if Maer wasn’t careful about, would move her head back with it. 

“Fine…” She agreed in an exasperated voice, picking up a piece of bread, finally deciding to eat. 

“Oh, Ms. Larson has some new threads she wants you to take a look at,” Helga remembered. She sounded like she wanted to gag with every word that left her mouth. She petted Riptide's snout, who circled around the table, sniffing at the food without much interest. 

Maer’s face cringed at the name, she swallowed a bite of food and the insult at the edge of her tongue “This early?” she asked, raising an eyebrow, eyes drifting to Gustav, who shrugged.

“Certainly not. You can go by her house after you are done with your tasks for the day, if you have time.” Sveinn said, dipping his bread in the stew without looking up. “And what about you Gustav? What’s on your schedule for the day?” 

“Oh, probably some flight practice, and I am not sure what else… I will probably get some fighting practice in the pits.” Poor Gustav realised what he had done far too late.

“The pits? There is a whole arena just for training purposes.” Helga said, frowning, turning to Maer.  

Maer sighed internally, and Gustav pushed the stew around with his spoon as they got ready for what was to follow. Pity, this could have been a nice, quiet, fast breakfast. Now they are both gonna get lectured. At least they will start their morning in a nice sceptical state with very clear objectives to accomplish.

“You are still not allowed to use the arena?” Sveinn asked in a flat voice, already knowing the answer. 

“Well, I tried to ask Hiccup and the other’s but he is usually busy or away flying, and most of the others are not… open to conversation,” Gustav explained, just as frustrated as he did the first time he complained about it. 

There was a time when he would happily ignore this and push to be seen, but he knew it was futile, and why try to make them like him anyway? He was pretty well-liked amongst his peers, and he already had a mentor. Still, it stung that they were so obvious about avoiding him, though.

“Maer?” Sveinn addressed her, asking for elaboration. As their friend and one of the original dragon riders, she was the best person to create a clearer picture. Not that there was much to clear up.

“I told the others about it.” She said, looking at Sveinn. 

“And?” Helga prompted.

“And the kids are still using the pits, so,” She added in an obvious tone, putting air quotations around the word pits. They weren’t pits exactly, so it wasn't the right term, mostly crudely shaped circles made with small rocks in the grass area in the lower part of the village. 

Sveinn frowned. "And you haven't done something about it?" He directed the question to Gustav

"Yeah," Gustav muttered, stabbing at his food. "Because someone —" he shot a look at Maer "—won't talk to the chief."

"Why would I go to the chief?" Maer scoffed, leaning back. "I told you guys to do it yourselves. But you didn’t seem interested"

Silence followed her words, not a sound was made besides Riptide's small groan as she laid down, taking note of the tense atmosphere. Maer sighed and leaned back on her chair, crossing her arms. 

"They think it’s snitching," Gustav sighed.

Helga set down her spoon a little too hard. "Then they’re children playing warrior instead of actually learning how to fight."

"Most are too busy to think about it. Astrid is training for the Berk guard, Hiccup is either out flying or working at the forge and Fishlegs is busy teaching. That leaves Snotlout who isn’t familiar with the term sharing—he complains even when the Berk guard uses the arena to train—and the twins who see the arrival of any ‘newcomer’ as a potential victim for their ‘pranks’.” She used a lot of quotations to pass off the right meanings.

“A lot of the younger kids avoid the arena when Gobber isn’t with them since they are scared of the pranks,” Gustav added. A just fear, most of those pranks did cause bodily harm in various degrees. 

“And instead of talking to the chief, they prefer to be left with no place to properly train without Gobber, whose method of teaching leaves much to be desired,” Helga grumbled, her own leg starting to shake. 

Maer turned her gaze to Gustav’s shoulder, where a deep scar was hiding behind his tunic sleeves, as her fingers traced the straight line etched onto her wrist. Both accidents occurred under Gobber’s watch. And although Helga liked the blacksmith, she had been less appreciative of his ‘learn on the job’ approach since then. 

“He probably already knows.” Gustav answered with displeasure as he swallowed his food. 

“Stoick is fair. If no one goes to him, then he probably doesn’t think there is a problem.” Helga explained kindly to him.

“Helga is right.” Sveinn spoke. “You should go to the chief and talk to him about this.” He looked at Gustav, “Today.” He added, his voice leaving no room for argument.

“Can’t you do it?” He turned to look around the table, hoping someone would volunteer. 

“View this as a lesson, Gustav. Sometimes you have to do things you don’t like. It might be easier to not involve the chief, but there is no point if you end up on the losing end constantly.” Sveinn tried to encourage him. 

Maer tapped her fingers against her mug, thinking. If it had to be something they couldn't ignore… She smiled in a way that made her look almost as sinister as her dragon. 

"Okay," she started, tilting her head, "so after you talk to the chief..."

Gustav frowned. "What now?"

"...tell the others we’ll be doing combat practice in the arena tomorrow."

His frown deepened. "The arena?"

Maer smirked. "The arena."

“Maer, you can’t force them to join.” Helga tried to argue without any real conviction.

“I won’t be forcing anyone to join.” She said back.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Gustav asked, looking at her.

“Who's gonna stop me?” She shrugged her shoulders. 

“Maer.”

“Father”

“You shouldn’t go behind their backs when things don’t go your way.”

“I’m not,” Maer justified. “I’m not trying to trick them, I am just trying to be fair.” She met Sveinn’s eyes. “You always tell me to be fair. So that’s what I’m doing.”

“I might not be as good of a teacher as Fishlegs and Hiccup or Astrid, but the arena is just sitting there! At this point the only ones with regular access are the Berk guard! So what if I use it? If the place is for dragon riders and I am a dragon rider, I am just exercising my rights. I’m also, coincidentally, inviting a couple of kids to come with me.”

“We are more than a couple” Gustav butt in.

“Semantics. I can fight them if it comes down to it.” She lifted her chin. "Not literally—well, maybe literally—but you know what I mean.”

“Maer, don’t get in a fight. Keep it for next week.” Helga said, taking a drink from her mug.

Maer swallowed back the groan and complaints she had about Helga’s concern for this entire week.

“I will try to keep it as an intellectual fight.” She reasoned. “And considering who I will be ‘fighting’, it won’t be that much of a task.” She added smugly.

“Maer,” Sveinn said with clear scolding in his voice. 

Now it was Maer’s turn to rethink her words and prepare herself for a lecture that was only meant for her. 

Helga laughed along with Gustav while Sveinn sighed, and the tension at the table dispersed.

“Alright then! Everyone ready?” Sveinn asked, full of energy, as he got up and pulled on his cloak. Behind him, Riptide trotted eagerly, excited at the idea of getting out, letting out happy, whiny warbles as she did so.

Maer blinked several times, trying to banish the numbness that came with lecuring out of her head. She shot up off her chair, cracking her neck and stretching her back as she did so. 

Maer and Gustav hurried to the door, putting on their own cloaks, preparing for the rough late autumn morning. 

“Don’t run!” Helga shouted, still sitting at the table. Unlike everyone else, her day started a little earlier. 

“Sorry mom!”

“Sorry Helga!”

Both of them said at the same time. Using the same unapologetic tone. 

Maer handed Gustav his saddle before taking her own from the hanger as well, turning it left to right, making sure everything she needed was on it. After Gustav had become a regular part of their morning—and sometimes night—routine, he started leaving his saddle at their house as a precaution. Mrs Larsson had a habit of trading anything and everything in order to get something she wanted, and more often than not, that included Fankhook’s saddle. 

Maer had to then help Gustav find something else to exchange it for, since Mrs Larsson never agreed on giving anything else in place of the saddle. That always irked Maer. Gustav’s relationship with the Larssons was one of the reasons she had agreed to help him two winters ago. 

“Also! No water!” Helga continued getting out of her seat and gathering the leftover plates and mugs. 

“What! Mum!” Maer whined at the ban, wasn’t it enough that she would have to spend an entire winter out of the sea? 

“I mean it, Maer. I better not hear that you went to the beach.”

“What about Riptide? She needs to eat!” Maer tried to plead her case, glaring at Gustav, who was snickering.

“Can’t she have fish just for this week?” Helga suggested.

“She never does!”

“Well, the ceremony is this week, and I can’t leave the kitchens to make sure you don’t catch a cold now that it’s getting colder.” 

“It will be fine, Helga.” Sveinn reassured his wife. “She hasn’t gotten sick as of yet.”

“Exactly!” Maer agreed.

Helga took a moment to think about what everyone was saying, “Gustav! You are on Maer duty today!” she announced. “Make sure she is kept out of the water!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Gustav tried saluting in response, keeping one arm wrapped around his saddle. Terrible choice really, as the fall of the item that followed was inevitable. The saddle was still too big for him to hold in one arm. 

“What? Don’t say yes to that!” Maer said in mock offence, attempting to lift Gustav’s fallen saddle upright with her foot as he scooped to hold it again.

“I have to listen to my elders.” He replied innocently. 

“Now you want to listen to your elders?” She said, moving her leg to try and kick him half heartedly while Gustav, with equally little effort, avoided her kicks.

“Maer, stop bothering Gustav.” Sveinn said, gently pushing them both out of the door. 

“Can I get your bow?” He asked, eyeing the completely unstrung bow, shaped like perfectly curved yak horns, safely tied in its place on the saddle. 

Maer had made a habit of taking her bow with her after Gustav had taken it with him a couple of times in order to get in some practice. A harmless action, in hindsight. She didn’t always need the weapon with her. It became far less harmless when some of the other kids decided to take it away. 

“No.”

“Why not?” He whined as he walked outside, tuning to look at Maer, his voice pitching a little higher as the cold morning air hit him.

“Because last time, you got jumped, beaten and had the bow taken from you.” Maer shivered, stretching her hands over her head, trying to keep the saddle as far from him as possible. 

Maer was angry with what happened and did little to hide it, from the kids, from her friends, from Gustav, from her parents. Other than the obvious dislike that came with people taking her things, she didn’t like the possible negative impacts that could befall those involved. She had half a mind to tell Gothi just to scare them a little. But she apparently didn't need to, the wind it for her. 

“It happened one time!” 

“How many more times does it need to happen, then?”

“Come ooooonnnn! I will be careful!”

“No Gustav! Even Gothi said so.” Maer said again.

Gothi ended up stepping in anyway, clearly more displeased with everyone involved—including Maer and Gustav. She demanded a mass meeting between all the concerned parties with Gobber—ever the gossip—enthusiastically translating Gothi’s scribbles, Maer was benched for that one, considering she was also getting lectured. 

An unusual event, besides the petty acts of violence and theft, this wasn’t important enough for the village elder to bother herself with this kind of dispute. But perhaps like Maer, she decided it was better to be safe than sorry. Even though the old woman had claimed it was just a bow after all. 

After that, Gustav could still use the bow but not borrow it; Maer had to be present from that moment on. 

“Time to go, the sun is almost up. Gustav, you and Fanghook want to help me at the workshop today?” Sveinn redirected the conversation. 

“Sure!” Since Gustav’s only clear objective was to talk to the chief, and his training got postponed to whenever Gothi deemed Maer finished with her lessons, he had a good chunk of time to spare.

Sveinn was a carpenter, and a picky one at that. As far as Maer knew, he had never taken in an apprentice, but he would teach Gustav whenever he was doing something that he considered easy. Of course, what was easy would vary per person.

He, Sveinn, was in charge of building most houses when the dragon raids were still a thing, and was now focusing more on building the new facilities that were needed with the dragons joining them. Which meant he had to interact with Hiccup very often. Not at first though, in the beginning he was happy to get the plans delivered to him and the rest of the carpenters—usually by Gobber—and get to work but after there was a disagreement about materials and placement of the facility, he decided that working directly with the person designing most of the things they need to build is the wisest choice. 

“Great, then go to the stables and get Fanghook and come find me.” 

“Okay!”

“Wait, did you say bye to Helga?”

“No…” Gustav said slowly.

“You pushed us out.” Maer added.

“Then go back in and say bye first.” 

The flight to Gothi’s hut was a simple affair, she would forever be thankful to Riptide for making the trip no matter the weather. 

She and Gustav bid goodbye to Helga and went back outside. The sky was barely a few shades brighter than the usual night sky. And the cold air bit on her skin, making her grimace. But even though it was a terrible thing to wake up at the crack of dawn to help a stubborn old… person with the sick and wounded, she still felt a little bad for Gustav. Dealing with so many carpenters all in one place wasn’t ideal, even with Sveinn there; like most of the village, they liked to gossip. And their favourite topic was usually the absence of Mr Larsson.

She helped Riptide to get the saddle on, double checked the buckle and put the sweet bread that Helga had given her—something she remembered about when Maer and Gustav went back in—in the bag hanging to the side of the saddle before getting on and saying goodbye, leaping into the air. 

She always wondered why Gothi built her hut at the highest point of Berk, looking down over the village. Every impractical location, especially considering Gothi’s function as a healer. At first, Maer thought to prevent those faking being sick from going through all the trouble of climbing at the very top. Before the dragons, they even had to pass by Mildew's house, a great displeasure. But that couldn’t have been it since Maer had witnessed a vast amount of people in no need of medical attention. Then she considered it was to avoid the noise of the village, but that couldn’t have been either, if the pack of Terrible Terrors she has adopted are any indication.

Weird old hag. Maer always thought so, ever since she met the woman, many of the things she did made no sense, but who was she to judge that?

The wood thumped and creaked as they landed on the platform in front of the hut, scaring the sleeping pack of Terrible Terrors awake, sending them flying a small circle around the hut before they settled back down, some in Riptide's spot on the platform, and others on the roof. 

“Sorry guys,” Maer whispered as she got off Riptide, her boots hitting the wood.

Those tiny menaces had taken an immense liking to her dragon’s makeshift shade spot. They had built it as soon as Fishlegs mentioned the Sand Wraith’s sensitivity to the sunlight. It was covered with an old ship sail. Not the prettiest by far, but it got the job done, and it did fit the hut’s aesthetic, considering that every part of it was made in the likeness of ship parts—like the rest of the village. 

At first, Fishlegs was worried that the Terrible Terrors' habit of ‘borrowing’ Riptide's space would create hostility between them, but there was no such thing. It took a while before either species got used to the other, but there was no real aggressiveness. They would even cuddle with Riptide now.

Much like their human—or maybe because of—these Terrible Terrors loved to sleep, and so every morning when Maer would unfortunately wake them up, they would huddle together again as a way of preserving heat and fall asleep again.

A useless endeavour for the next ten minutes.

She dove her hand into the bag looking for something other than the sweet bread she had stuffed in there. “Ah–Ha!” She whispered the exclamation triumphantly, dramatically taking out the shoulder strap she was looking for.  

Riptide rolled her eyes at her human’s antics, softly beating her with her tail to make her hurry up.

“Yeah, yeah. I am getting to it.” Maer whispered with her own eye-roll, taking the bag off the saddle and hooking the shoulder strap on, wearing it as a satchel. Sveinn’s idea, so that she didn’t have to carry a lot of things every time she had to go out. She undid the buckles of the saddle and took it off of Riptide, holding it above her head with both hands. 

“Have fun hunting.” She whispered, pressing her forehead against her dragon’s snout in goodbye. “Try to be back soon.” She added. 

The dragon shook her body and stretched her wings open, and flew off towards the beach to get started on her own breakfast.

Maer looked at the horizon, following the increasingly smaller frame of her dragon, her eyes squinting at the increasing light. 

She moved her gaze to the door and took a deep breath, feeling perhaps a little too happy about what she had to do next. She bit her lip —trying and failing— to keep back a grin from forming. The area around them was so serene. Soft air blowing despite the height, the sun steadily rising, the villagers going about their daily lives, creating a kind of lived-in noise. 

Really… She shouldn’t be this excited.

“GOOD MORNING!” She kicked in the door, startling every creature in or on the hut. She felt too smug seeing Gothi jolt awake. This single moment made all the wacks she was about to receive absolutely worthy. Maer supposed she was to Gothi what Sveinn was to her in the mornings. 

Riptide glided smoothly through the sky, following the familiar route to the beach at the back of the island. She was about to make her descent when a black blur passed by her, moving upwards. 

The Sand Wraith let out a small sound of surprise, stilling and hovering in the air, already too familiar with this routine thanks to her human and her companions. This pair in particular liked to make their presence known by disrupting her flight course.  

The black blur made a wide curve in the sky, and Riptide took it as her signal to keep moving forward. The Night Fury and his human would have no problem reaching her, and the sun was rising. 

The absence of Maer was obvious to Hiccup from the moment he and Toothless started to follow the arched trajectory, which had him sitting upside down.  

“Good morning!” Hiccup said as Toothless’s larger body reached Riptide’s side, gliding with her. He could now easily detect the absence of the dragon’s saddle. “Ah, it seems we have interrupted you on your way to breakfast.” He added with a light, almost playful tone.

Riptide’s general refrain for eating fish showed soon after she—and the other dragons—passed her first winter in the village, rather than in the beach. She left her meal untouched and frequently disappeared during mornings and late evenings. No one had noticed it at first because the Sand Wraith would take Maer with her, and other dragons would eat her fish. 

The disappearances were attributed to the duo needing to get used to each other, and the lack of knowledge was attributed to their own absence of communication. Maer didn’t think she had to let anyone know, after all, they were the ones teaching her. And as for themselves, no one ever considered that a dragon would eat anything other than fish and meat. They knew what Sand Wraiths were, their ancestors had observed their hunting habits—just not their eating ones. 

Fishlegs was so enthusiastic with this discovery that he had to literally be pried away from Maer and Riptide, both of whom looked equally awkward and unable to provide him with answers, even though one of them didn’t have a speech barrier. 

Hiccup would smile and let out a tiny laugh every time he found Riptide flying saddleless, remembering the occurrence as well as Fishlegs's many pleadings to Maer to allow him to study her dragon. 

“Don’t let us keep you.” Hiccup said pleasantly, gently tagging the metal handles of his saddle backwards to let Toothless know they should go up. “Have fun hunting.” He added as Toothless uttered his own version of a goodbye.

Riptide returned the sentiment and continued her descent to the beach. 

The beating of her wings moved, unsettling the sand underneath her as she landed, the soft ground swallowing the sound of the dragon’s footsteps. Riptide moved around sniffing and padding the ground, looking for the right spot. 

She folded her wings and aimed them towards the sand, having found the perfect spot. The smaller spikes adorned on the metacarpus of her wings, as well as the wing claws, were of great assistance when she had to burrow in the sand. 

Riptide carefully dug herself in the sand, her wings helping her cover her entire body with it. Humans called it hunting, but really it was ambushing, waiting for an unsuspecting creature to come too close.

She let out a satisfied hum. 

Now she just had to lie in wait. 

Next Chapter →

[atamascolily]

We don't really get much information about the wraiths in the original PMMM series--just a few quick shots, enough to see they are seemingly identical giants wearing Buddhist-like robes with pixelated faces. They don't appear at all in Rebellion, and are only mentioned in passing there. So how did we get from that to this?

If the trailer hadn't made it explicitly clear these were wraiths--the word appears briefly in English, as well as Japanese and German--I never would have guessed. This looks... well, I don't want to say nothing like we've seen before, but all individuality or sense of separate personhood (such as it is) is has utterly vanished. It's as if all the wraiths that previously hunted in packs have been jammed together into one amorphous, distorted being... almost like a witch.

Oh, and they have color now! Is that supposed to mean anything?

Indeed, wraiths becoming magical girls and (essentially) witches is a major plot point of the 2015 Wraith Arc spin-off manga, which is technically considered canon even though a lot of people, myself included, prefer to ignore it. It's not clear to me at this point what the relationship is between the manga and Walpurgis no Kaiten, the script for which was written in late 2014-early 2015ish, but it's possible the movie might briefly touch on similar themes--though I doubt the wraiths will be major players in the narrative (kinda like the Nightmares in Rebellion).

So what's going on here? I can think of two possibilities:

1) There was an art shift (maybe Inu Curry wanted to try their hand at designing wraiths or something) and this is just what wraiths look like now, ho hum, nothing to see here 2) The art shift is a visual cue that the wraiths have fundamentally changed from what they were before.

As you can probably imagine, I think 2) is far more likely given how this show treats visual designs, but we'll have to see how it plays out.

My guess is that this scene from the trailer represents Homura's system breaking down, likely due to interference from her doppelganger, although the source of this disorder will likely not be immediately apparent. In order for witches to return--and given that the movie is named for the greatest witch of them all, herself a conglomerate of multiple entities--it seems likely that the wraiths will have to either disappear or transform, and this "mutation" that we see here may well be an indicator of this process.

Furthermore, the wraiths' condition are tied to that of the Law of Cycles, as they are, essentially, a stand-in for the witches erased by the Law of Cycles. So any problems with the wraiths are most likely a symptom of a larger problem rather than the cause, but it's the one that people with boots on the ground (i.e., magical girls) are most likely to notice first.

On a more speculative note, between Walpurgisnacht and whatever is going on with the wraiths (not to mention the Madoka-Homura-Mami hybrid), it seems like joining together in this fashion may be a major theme in Walpurgis no Kaiten. Or, as the Latin expression goes, E pluribus unum--"Out of many, one". Gives a new meaning to the phrase, "With all our powers combined!"

[lavenderr-starrs]

I’m sorry to my mutuals who are watching me like disappear for a week or a month and then reappear reblog stuff and post stuff from fandoms you’ve probably don’t even know about (A lot shit on my plate that’s been burning me out lmao! I’m fine though just been busy dw!! It’s nothing bad I promise even though it probably sounds like smth bad XD)

but I’m gonna make this post before I literally lose my marbles

It’s about twisted wonderland and Madoka magica so strap in fellas this is gonna be hella targeted to probably me and me alone and maybe like one other person

Anyways HEAVY AND I MEAN HEAVY SPOILERS FOR BOTH FRANCHISES and A REALLY LONG RAMBLE UNDER THE CUT LMAO

So don’t click keep reading if you havent finished or started either (ESPECIALLY MADOKA MAGICA, Trust me the show and movies are so good walking into blind I’d kill a man to watch it blindly again) also warning for potentially shit grammar incoming lol

First things first-

HOW HAVE I NOT SEEN SOMEONE NOTICE THE SIMILARITY BETWEEN OVERBLOTS AND WITCHES?

The similarities is the over-use of magic and negative energy polluting the energy source they use to performing these magical abilities turning them into abominations that go on a rampage and effecting the lives of those around them.

The difference though is that for witches, it’s specifically middle school girls who become witches and them becoming witches have the chances of causing world ending atrocities- and in the world of puella magi most Natural disasters are due to the fact a witch is the cause of those disasters and only incubators and other unsuspecting naive magical girl know of

Whereas in twisted wonderland *So far* we’ve only seen Teen high school boys overblot and that didn’t(Besides chapter 6 and 7) have any world ending consequences in my opinion

Says alot huh? XD

Anyways that’s a point I wanna get to another time

You know what I’d love to see? a reader-insert or just a yuu from puella magi in the world of twisted wonderland!

Now this is when I start getting real self-indulgent with this XD but I wanna see like a Homura!Yuu! :)

basically a reader-insert who takes the role of Homura Akemi, right?

And the entirety of the first anime happens and Madoka goes from a 14 year old girl who made a wish to save a cat from dying by unknowingly trading her soul to become a magical girl as an energy source to a higher being

to end up becoming an omnipotent concept that saves magical girls when their gems over pollute and are about to become witches

But instead of the Rebellion Arc happening and Homura!Yuu becoming a witch and demon and all that pizazz! let’s say they “try” to keep going and just Bans themselves from going back in time again and trying to go forward for Madokamis sake and deals with those weird wraith things in the new universe

and maybe a little cherry on top they try to learn and expand the magic abilities Yuus other magical girl friends had.

Later on we move to let’s say, 17 Year old Homura!Yuu, and guess what? You’ve been isekaid bestie have fun!

During the prologue introduction, when Homura!Yuu wakes up into the coffin grim doesn’t get a moment to even open the coffin as you just kick it open ready to transform believing this is some form of a witches labyrinth and are ready to jump into a bunch of conclusions

Now, in comes a poor unsuspecting Grimm

And the first thing Homura!Yuu does upon notice of him? The same thing Homura did to Bebe in rebellion-

just one Quick grasp onto his neck and just instantly slamming him into the nearest wall before he could even say a word. Questions being shot left and right over this potential Witch-like being or a being that seems to be similar combination of a witches Familiar+ Kyubey. A thought you do not like the sound of.

Grim is quite fairly, terrified out of his mind (I’m sorry my son) But! Lucky for him in comes the headmaster to witness this display of aggression! And school hasn’t even begun yet! The nerve!

Now this can go from here in Multiple ways, but for now, how id see it going is Crowley using his whip to tie up Homura!Yuu and just yoinks up a scared grim similar to what Mami did in rebellion

you’re only reaction to this is “Ah shit, here we go again.”

Now I can see Crowley ends up kicking Grim away still since you’ll obviously deny any association with him and just questions Crowley like there’s no tomorrow and just like in canon those questions fall on deaf ears! Lol

Crowley believes that coming to night raven college has frazzled your young hormonal teenage mind into acting so aggressive and since he’s such a kind and generous headmaster does not hold you accountable for it, isn’t he so wonderful c:

Homura!Yuu ends up quietly playing along to whatever the hell is going on to get a better and proper assessment on the situation you’ve been put in. So everything continues on as normal while the students of NRC give you a strange look until it’s finally your turn to approach the mirror.

How I’d see the mirror react to a Homura!Yuu is once you give it your name, I feel like he’d go “their soul is..Missing?..” Because as you know your soul has been turned into your soul gem and the mirror has no knowledge of this so you’re not gonna be assigned any dorm, sorry not sorry c:

This, understandable, freaks everybody out.

This is when Canon plays out a usual in the story for the prologue with the headmaster taking you to Ramshackle and you’re Re-encounter with Grim.

When you do encounter grim again you transform again and start to chase after him to continue where you left off back in the mirror chamber. This leads to Homura!Yuu discovering grim to be innocent in your arrival here and just simply… wants to be able to grow stronger.. hmm why do you feel like you’ve heard that before

Upon Grim proving his innocence and quite frankly become official scared of Homura!Yuu in comes the ghosts to scare him some more! They watch you chase him down and wanted to join in on the fun.

Mind you, you aka Homura!Yuu are still on guard and still transformed so you obviously attack the ghost with grim ending believing you attacked them for his protection! You didn’t, but if it makes up for scaring the piss outta him sure 👍 well go with that.

Now we continue with canon from here with Crowley calling you a beast tamer and hiring you as a janitor yadda yadda, but Grim ends up referring to you as his Bodyguard instead of henchman in this one! Which if Homura!Yuu was going to be honest, Grim was 1,000 percent a bigger improvement then kyubey.

I totally wanna make a side writing blog and make more stuff like this if it gathers the attention of others lol, I already have it made I just need to edit it along with my other side account where I used to post art until I took them down due to tumblrs Ai update lol

Once I’m done fixing up those two I’ll make a master post with the users of all three of my blogs and my ao3 too lol

Anyways thanks for reading my weird ass ramble :) I have so many ideas I wanna talk about for this and so many story scenarios that probably no one’s gonna be interested in XDD

[whatdoestheducksay4]

I feel like the new girl could be a wraith? Seeing as she has seemed to have taken multiple aspects from different magical girls.

[Image ID: a magical girl who seems to have multiple aspects of madoka, Mami and Homuras design, including Homuras skirt, a combination of Madoka and Mamis hairstyle and Mamis shirt. /End ID]

[Image ID: A wikia article which reads: “Wraiths feature prominently in the manga spin-off Puella Magi Madoka Magica: Wraith Arc, where they serve as the main antagonistic forces and sources of conflict in the plot, outside of the characters' interactions with one another. Wraith Arc also gives more information on the nature, behavior, and types of wraiths. Wraiths are shown to be able to affect soul gems (as performed on Sayaka Miki), steal away magic powers (as performed on Homura Akemi), take objects (stealing Homura's ribbons from Madoka), and even take on the forms (including memories and intelligence) of magical girls and possibly other human beings.” /End ID]

[madwhimsical]

i meant to ponder the potential severance au for tgamm tomorrow at work, but the neurons are already firing so, spitballing here. spoilers for the ghost and molly mgcee and also severance, clearly:

it makes the most sense for Todd/Scratch to be the severed protagonist, right. there's something in Todd already emotionally distancing himself from reality. he can't muster the energy and courage to break out of his inertia and anxieties. maybe the idea is that, through severance, he can offload the burden of the workplace, and spend all his home-time trying to like, be better. be more. but of course severance doesnt actually fix problems.

and i'm situating Scratch as the innie bc, well. Todd + wraith dissociation - memories = Scratch, which maps pretty nicely onto outie/inne experience. and it gives us the interesting opportunity to transmute some of the ghost characters into severed roles. i feel like this can hearken back to the original Chairman's agenda, where the scare quota is paramount. the scares are mysterious and important. there's also his mandate that ghosts need to be (at least emotionally) separate from the human (read: outside) world. DOES THIS make the Chairman the Kier/Jame Eagan of the situation??

would love to see Jinx as like. the manager of the severed floor. does this mean she herself is not severed? i guess ghost doesnt automatically mean severed in this scenario. alternatively, she could be the Grainer, and the Ghost Council could be floor managers? or maybe she's the Milchick to one of the Ghost Council's Cobel?

idk who else I'd want to put in Scratch's department (aside from Geoff, obviously), and im trying to think of a way to put Molly on the floor so she can interface w Scratch, and oh god is she a Wintertide Fellow.... oh that makes me worry for her.... if so, there's something we can dig into here abt Molly's dedication to serving community, and maybe Lumon has her sufficiently fooled into thinking that the company is benevolent. ofc she would have to come around on innies' humanity, and she will, bc she percieves ghosts' humanity from jump in the source material. Maybe Ollie is also a Wintertide Fellow who gets brought on later, to kind of echo his ghost-hunter-turned-ghost-friend arc.

and obviously this is not a 1-to-1, but. could Ollie kind of fill a Helena role..? his ghost hunter family could be mapped over to being involved in furthering the harm of innies... but at the same time, i dont want to smear the Chens through the Eagan mud.... idk maybe the Chens are like, overseeing/involved in the testing floor. like, thats still complicit, but not Eagen Complicit, yknow? and the Chairman seems more in line with the Eagan family role, anyway. but there's something in the family-tension dynamic that feels fruitful to me.

idk the last thought i have on this is the avenues of exploring how a lot of the characters (especially the ghosts) interface with their situations. i say especially the ghosts bc i feel like the only ghost tgamm really gets into the emotional fray with is Scratch, and i'd love to tool around with how, for example, ghost!Geoff can inform interpreting/extrapolating on alive!Geoff, or in our case, outie!Geoff. i think both ghosts and severance, as concepts, circle regret and grief, and what "living a good life" means for an indivdual, and what that looks like.

i also like to mash my interests together, so! there is that

[magicalgirlagency]

Why the Wraith arc? I thought you hated the PMMM series?

Firstly, I actually don't really hate PMMM in itself; it's good for a source of artistic inspiration, but its narrative has aged like milk and I hate its legacy and its stans!

And secondly, I think some consistency is in order here, so yeah, the Wraith arc should have been animated to properly set the tone for Rebellion. If you're gonna milk the cow, bloody commit to it, don't half-ass it.

[pitgritted]

How do u see Sylas and sett relationship? Do you have any headcanons with them? Au they could share.

i’m  gonna  preface  that  i’m  mostly  led  on  with  their  classic  variants  being  issued  as  it  was  something  i  was  more  invested  /  experienced  in  when  i  had  role-played  with  a  sylas  .  i  could  also  see  spirit  blossom  sett  /  lunar  wraith  sylas  be  a  thing  as  well  ,  but  it  all  boils  down  to  how  this  interaction  can  ever  possibly  be  made,  right  ?  in  terms  of�� head  -  canons  ,  myself  &  my  former  partner  …

had  mutually  agreed  sylas  was  the  type  to  travel  as  a  hardened  former  revolutionary  fighter  ,  seeking  purpose  after  the  events  of  the  whole  mageseeker  arc  .  some  of  his  followers  even  joined  him  on  his  adventures  beyond  the  barriers  of  demacian  control  &  influence  across  valoran  .  ionia  is  a  lone  archipelago  -  a  continent  -  ,  with  no  concept  of  a  government  .  it  is  usually  dictated  by  elderly  council  leaders  depending  on  the  village  ,  clan  ,  tribe  ,  or  what  have  you  .  granted  ,  a  community  can  also  be  ruled  a  chieftain  .  but  ultimately  ,  ionia  has  no  designated  ruler  &  i  would  like  to  think  sylas  sought  refuge  beyond  the  control  of  oppressive  civilizations  .  he  had  lived  years  oppressed  for  his  abilities  ,  dreading  days  behind  bars  &  magic  oppressive  walls  &  chains  .  you  cannot  blame  him  if  he  wants  to  entirely  leave  the  main  region  of  valoran  to  find  his  purpose  again  .  

since  there  is  a  canon  boat  route  &  docking  point  in  ionia’s  placidium  ,  it  wouldn’t  be  out  of  the  possibility  he  would  happen  to  venture  into  navori  ,  right?  &  guess  what  else  is  in  navori  ?  sett’s  pit  ,  right  there  in  the  city  of  qayanvi  .  with  a  boating  port  just  below  it  .  it  wouldn’t  be  beyond  the  possibility  either  to  see  what  all  the  fuss  is  over  this  specific  arena  ;  given  people  all  across  runeterra  come  to  see  shows  or  participate  in  it  .  it’s  among  the  main  sources  of  entertainment  in  navori  .

noxian  inspired  /  invented  &  ionian  cultivated  .  sylas  having  fuel  for  fighting  himself  ,  i  would  imagine  he’d  enjoy  the  concept  of  fighting  in  the  pit  .  even  for  just  a  bit  .  sett  ,  naturally  gaining  interest  in  this  demacian  fighter  ,  since  it’s  mostly  noxians  that  come  into  ionia  .  

(  also  just  the  fact  sett  has  noxian  blood  in  his  system  ,  you  can  just  spot  the  fact  he  is  born  from  a  former  soldier  because  of  purely  his  dark  pigmented  eyes  &  strong  jawline  )  .  

as  for  my  views  on  their  relationship  in  regards  to  their  characters  ,  i  don’t  mind  them  being  rivaled  acquaintances  or  whatnot  .  but  with  good  plotting  &  interaction  ,  romance  is  not  out  of  the  realm  of  possibilities  for  me  .  as  i’ve  stated  in  the  past  ,  i  had  once  role-played  with  a  sylas  writer  &  we  delved  deep  into  their  relations  to  the  point  they  became  lovers  within  classic  constraints  .

[kingsknights]

so, what would i be without starting at the flagship oc of mine- ronin. he’s arguably my most fleshed out oc, and is like “king if he was cool , but also missing an arm” (someone ate it)

he’s a titanfall pilot that is picked up by a phys gun and thrown into the multiverse , to distill a bunch of story beats into one hyperbolic sentence. warning - very long read coming up. take this reading in bits , and come back as you can <3 also - trigger warning for topics like mental illness and violence . the warning will appear again closer to when its going to show up .

of course since i actively write this character he’s still being added to, and his story is going to be kind of “what he’s doing in this verse” rather than “here’s an arc”.

im gonna make a few introductory posts about my characters , then just whenever something hits me that is specific character coded , ill be like “this is ronin” on this blog

all of these first posts will be a stat sheet (height, build, age, name) then some important pre-multiverse stuff.

ronin bueller

age: 28

height: 7’3”

build: athletic, not crazy hyper muscular - but strong enough to do his jobs .

TW: mental illness , violence

(titanfall recap: humans discover space travel, colonize planets- a big corpo rises called the imc and starts taking over planets, the people form a militia called the frontier militia and they fight)

ronin’s story starts with his parents, of course- but not in the way you expect . ronin’s mom served in the first titan war, coming out of it early for the frontier militia’s early experiments with void energy. specifically, human-void energy usage.

in simulacrums, (a robot that a human’s uploaded into) void energy allows them to temporarily enter a different reality to avoid damage or just teleport seemingly. however , its gone mostly untested* in humans until ronin’s mom , morgan .

*wraith from apex legends, but that was imc testing

so, between the events of titanfall one and two , morgan and the project lead on this whole void-human experiment- tomo, get together as they are nearing the apex of the project - actually injecting void energy into morgan . upon injection, near unspeakable things occur. equipment is broken, and people are left barely breathing. when the dust settles, its tomo who is able to quell whatever happened to morgan .

the people sponsoring the project , seeing what happened- quickly pulled funding and covered up what happened . several bribes later , the research station was decommissioned and laid dormant. but morgan and tomo stuck together.

one night , tomo just admitted he wanted a kid. it was entirely out of nowhere for morgan, but.. she was ready.

when morgan and tomo go to the doctor for their (very privately documented) checkups , gene projections show that their baby would either end up having some crazy and unknown super power , or end up with some genetic mutation because of the effects of the void serum injection.

i have intentionally neglected explaining what happened to morgan , because it doesnt become a problem until ronin is born- but ill explain it.

ronin is born, and as it turns out- he is just growing rapidly. like, 6” by age fifteen, and topping out at 7’3” at 22 .

so , a few months after ronin is born , tomo and ronin are out going on an evening walk when upon returning , find the house trashed . and , morgan huffing and writhing on the floor . not in pain , but in an other-wordly anger . tomo steps back outside holding ronin close and calls someone to help . hours later , baby ronin lay in a crib next to tomo in a hospital room . with morgan laying motionless .

a group of three doctors approach , and explain to tomo that morgan has what they are calling “ARS” , or “Always Ready Syndrome”. this means nothing, and is more an attempt to put a name on something even they dont understand because they need to document it .

what is later learned as ronin grows up and is main source of ronin’s troubles coming up is that when morgan is injected with this void energy , she is connected with an alternate reality where she is still alive, but.. the imc had arrived at the main frontier militia planet , harmony . where morgan and tomo moved to to conduct the void experiments .

however , the morgan in that alt reality is connected with the reality that our story is in .

basically- morgan and alt morgan know each other exist . and at first, thats all it was . but , seemingly at random times, the morgan’s will swap . alt morgan exists in ronin’s reality, and morgan goes to the alt reality . eventually , alt morgan realizes that tomo and ronin are alive in this universe .

medicine is very slowly developed, and morgan is able to keep alt morgan out . at the cost of losing more control of herself if alt morgan breaks through .

alt morgan watches as ronin grows up- and even wants to be a pilot through morgan’s eyes . and she grows angry . incredibly angry .

one night , when ronin was 15 , he was up late doing homework when who he thought was his mother shuffling down the stairs . of course , ronin was never told about any of this . not until recently . all he was told that if mom didnt seem right , to call a number and leave the house .

ronin calls out to his mom , but .. nothing is returned . she shuffles towards the knives and ronin notices . he taps his shorts to find his phone , but its across the island where morgan was .

his footsteps were careful . intentional . adrenaline coursing through him as he attempted to reach over the island and take his phone . he reached out and got his hand on it , but his mom was too fast . ( violence ahead, you’ve been warned)

morgan brought the cleaver down into ronin ‘s arm , letting go as ronin pulled away . because of her strength- she nearly cut it clean off . ronin bursted out the side door - screaming as the cleaver slides out and onto the now crimson sidewalk he rushed out through . everyone in the neighborhood was woken by the loud sirens , and ronin collapsing on the concrete .

ronin can barely remember what happens between arriving at the hospital and the news being broken that his arm would be better off amputated than being treated . militia insurance wouldn’t cover ronin , and especially wouldn’t cover any prothesis .

he does remember tomo crying above him . head hung low with stress weighing on him .

ronin couldn’t return to school for a while- so had to learn and catch up while recovering from the amputation while missing his left arm from the elbow down . tomo was there every day , talking with doctors , family friends and trying to find something for ronin .

when ronin was finally able to return to class , he was gifted a.. very custom-made wooden arm that - if nothing else let him at least have something to fill his sleeve so outfits didn’t look odd .

his classmates all banded together to make it for him , in a rare case of kindness . when ronin came home , tomo started crying again . holding ronin , and feeling both arms again was amazing .

morgan was sent to 24/7 care center , personally overseen by one of the old void experiment sponsors . they felt responsible for it, in some way- however , it was either morgan or ronin . tomo didn’t get a say , just .. saw morgan leave .

as ronin grew up - he felt even more of a drive to be a pilot . so , he spent a lot of his free time training as best as he could , until he was 19 . when , a recruiter noticed this same drive , and ronin’s last name .

the marauder corps pilots personally oversaw the development of a grappling hook arm to replace ronin’s cobbled-together wood arm that he had to reinforce with metal to be able to lift weights . tomo was with him the whole way , and watched him graduate basic training with that rickety wood and metal arm .

when ronin joins the marauder corps- he was gifted the arm and a titan specially fit to his seven-foot stature . ronin was beyond excited , and the moment he was free , sent pictures and tried to call tomo to no avail .

tomo was probably busy , which is what ronin believed as he went on to greet his titan .

pilots are really units that consist of two elements , the pilot , (ronin in this case) and the titan , who is DE-3492 , or delta . pilot’s link to their titan via a brain chip that allows the titan to connect with the pilot and do complex actions when a pilot is piloting a titan .

but , this linking also creates a special bond that is solely unique to a specific pilot and titan unit .

the role titan-pilot units fulfill is to not only battle other titans , but give the side using it an overwhelming amount of firepower .

ronin and delta become practically inseparable . always training , or doing something together . that is , until he is offered to join the ACES , Angel City’s Elite. a group of pilots lead by titan war veteran robert “barker” taube .

ronin joins , and really finds a place he belongs in . of course- there’s a titanfall one and two, so where is ronin during that? he is mostly not fighting typhon , the main planet - but is called in for a big assault on an IMC base where the power to a planet destroying gun is being held . ronin is part of the initial assault force , and is left at the entrance to cover the flank at the entrance .

ronin and delta fight tooth and nail to hold their position , with the two finally being evac’d before the planet explodes . as ronin is being treated for his wounds, and delta is repaired - the two rejoice in their victory .

okay - thats everything . pre-phys gun into the multiverse . thank you for reading! expect longer stories like these between other posts <3

[tgammsideblog]

Scratch and Leadership

The season 2 episode premiere ¨The New Paranormal¨ explores the consequences of Season 1 finale ¨The Jig is Up / Molly vs The Ghost World¨. With the original Chairman getting destroyed, the Ghost World needs a new leader to fill the space that got left. Since Scratch is the ghost that ¨defeated¨ the previous ruler, he has to become the new Chairman.

In ¨The New Paranormal¨ Scratch gets tricked by the Ghost Council into becoming the new leader by having to use the chairman robes to scare the frightmares that were in the Mcgees house away. He gives the order to not cause any chaos to the ghost population, since ¨it brings trouble to him and he hates it¨. Scratch makes a deal to work with the Ghost Council considering they know how things work.

In general Scratch doesn't want anything to do with taking charge of his responsibilities in the Ghost World. He would rather do his best to avoid them or quickly be done with them and teleport back to what he was doing previously. He doesn't make much of an effort to learn how the system works nor tries to change it for the better. He feels like it is a role that was unjustly dropped into him without being able to make a choice in it.

A lot of this seems to come from Scratch feeling like he was stuck in a very repetitive job that made him miserable as human (Todd). Once he became a wraith/ghost he lost his morals of taking responsibility since it unconsciously reminded him of his depressive state when he was human. This could explain in part why Scratch avoids most of his chairman duties and responsibilities.

As the creators put it in an interview, Scratch's arc as chairman during season 2 is about this:

One of it was [that] a lot of people want to grow up and be in leadership, and something like want[ing] to be president. But then, to be president is really hard, and it takes a lot of responsibility, and you have to care about what you’re doing. So, it was sort of a little metaphor about [how] leadership is tricky, and it takes a lot of attention and care and thought. Again, he’s the leader now, right? He’s the guy in charge, and that comes with a whole raft of responsibilities. And we’re going to see, like Bill just said, being a leader is hard, and you got to be intentional about it. And Scratch is not. And that’ll lead to disasters coming down the pike. Many of them.

Source: https://www.nerdsandbeyond.com/2023/04/01/interview-the-ghost-and-molly-mcgee-creators-bill-motz-and-bob-roth-on-what-to-expect-from-season-2/

In multiple episodes we see Scratch making questionable decisions as chairman, like avoiding his duties, making others do the work for him, causing a mess in the workplace and misusing his power.

In ¨Dance Dad Revolution¨ he tricks ghosts into cleaning the Haunty Haunts club by making it look like a fun dance instead of doing it himself. He abuses his power as chairman, ordering others to do his duties as it was a game while he goes to sleep. At the end of the episode a mess is caused that leaves the room all dirty again and he is forced to clean it up himself.

In Season 1 there has been a few episodes that show how Scratch would be pretty authoritative, if not abusive, if he decided to take his role as leader more seriously. These episodes being ¨Goat Your Own Way¨ and ¨The Internship¨. During both occasions he was giving orders because he enjoyed the power that came with it and it was a responsibility.

¨The Ghost IS Molly Mcgee¨ also shows that he could be an effective leader if he put his mind into it when he decided to take Molly's place to be charge of a play. He threatened kids with using a hammer if they didn't follow his orders, making obey him quite quickly. In this example he was doing this to help Molly and for the sake of having fun, demostrating again that he cares about leadership if he sees it as a game.

As much of a disaster Scratch is as chairman, he does make some positive changes to the Ghost World: He doesn't use the Flow of Failed Phantoms as a punishment for ghosts, instead chosing to trap them in things like dolls and canisters if they are causing trouble for others.

He does give Lord Doom, one of the most dangerous ghosts, a second chance after he got cursed to be trapped into a doll. In Necro-comicon episode he is happy that Lord Doom is doing well with his new family. In ¨Unhaunting of Brighton Video¨ he is seen helping the team dealing with Blair and her unfinished business. He brings down the whole system of forcing ghosts to scare off humans and keep the Ghost World miserable since he doesn't feed off from misery like the original Chairman did. Ghosts now scare for fun like seen in the episode ¨Frightmares On Main Street¨. This allows them to be able to be more friendly with humans. In general he lets ghosts to have fun and be more free under his reign as long as they don't disturb other ghosts or humans.

He seems to have a lot of fans seeing in ¨The Afterlife of The Party¨ and ¨Jinx!¨. Not surprising considering he isn't as authoritative as the past Chairman and he is a lot more approachable. There is a crowd following him in ¨Jinx!¨ asking for his autograph and he gets invited to a popular ghost party in ¨The Afterlife of The Party¨. In contrast, when the original Chairman showed up in ¨A Very Hungry Ghost¨ in the Mcgees's backyard, all ghosts disappeared, being terrified of the Chairman.

The way ghosts act around Scratch in Season 2 resembles someone meeting a celebrity rather than a leader. Makes sense because Scratch doesn't take his job seriously and uses is for the status and fame that gives him. Still, most seem to like it regardless of that.

In ¨The Afterlife of The Party¨ he lies about being sick to Geoff so he is able to go to an elite ghost party, something he wanted to do all his time as ghost. Before becoming the new chairman he was always pushed around by most of the ghosts. He was happy when he got invited to one of these popular parties for once. Near the end of the episode he learns that the party was Geoff and Jeff's 100th anniversary of being partners. He apologizes to Geoff for lying to him and Geoff forgives him.

Scratch constanly misuses his chairman powers to throw random curses as a way to fix his problems. He uses curses to help Molly with her fears in ¨FONAA!¨ and to get a perfect day in ¨Perfect Day¨, only for the curse to end up backfiring. In ¨Alaka-Sham¨ it is shown that he used so many curses that the curse cabinet was as its fullest and, because Scratch refuses to do something about it, the cabinet ends up exploding on him and the Ghost Council and has to clean up all the mess. There is one occasion he used this in a way that was useful: In ¨All In The Mind¨ to find why his spectral body was having bubbles all around. He and Molly went inside his own mind and found a memory that was a childhood friend that Scratch had named Adia.

In ¨All Shark No Bite¨ he learns that he can create ghost creatures using his chairman powers and they obey his commands. He accidentally created a ghost shark that he later adopts as his pet and names him ¨Sharkie¨. Sharkie appears in some episodes after that, either in his small or big form.

In spite of having many followers, there is someone that doesn't see him fit of being a chairman. That is Jinx, who was a huge fan of the previous chairman and wants things to go back the way they used to be before Scratch became the new leader.

Jinx represents someone who doesn't like the idea of losing the power she previously had in the past status quo. She enjoyed being a joy hunter and feels like Scratch stripped that away from her. She doesn't consider Scratch worthy of being the new chairman, thinking that she would be better at it instead.

As petty as Jinx is, she does has a point of Scratch being lazy and irresponsible as leader. Jinx had to explain to him how jinxes worked, something she pointed out it is a thing the chairman should know about. She acts as a constant reminder for Scratch that he isn't a good leader for the Ghost World.

All Scratch's irresponsible behaviour culminates in ¨Jinx VS The Human World¨. This episode starts with Scratch leaving the chairman robe unprotected and unguarded, which Jinx takes advantage of and steals it, using to take over the Ghost World and almost the Human World. Scratch also makes the mistakes of accidentally getting Molly captured by Jinx when they look for her in the Ghost World.

Near the end of the episode Scratch comes up with a plan to stop Jinx. He suggest others to ¨spread out joy¨ and extra feeding the sobgoblins, making them explode as result. Sharkie gets summoned by Scratch and grabs the chairman robes from Jinx. The Chens trap Jinx inside the phantom canister so she can't cause any more trouble.

The ghost celebrate Scratch as their true chairman. This leads to Scratch to reconsider things and to finally admit that he isn't a good example of a leader. He uses his powers one last time to make the chairman robe select the person they consider the ¨most worthy¨ to be the new chairman. The robe fly away, looking for a new leader.

In the end, Scratch's arc as chairman this season gives the lesson that not every person is fit to be a leader and it would be better to step down and give that role for those who would be more responsible. While Scratch did bring some good things to the Ghost World, he was incredibly lazy and didn't take the job seriously, which end up putting both worlds at risk. He gives up his status, knowing someone should be in the position instead of him.

[feathersnek]

I heard you're interested in Iris Lovefeather!

I would love to tell you more about her!

She's a newer character in the Tales of Series crossover JP mobile game: Tales of the Rays! This new story arc, Recollection, has only been out for a few months now and is largely still a mystery! There's still a lot it has to tell us about the new characters and the plot, but what we have so far is already really interesting!

Let's talk about what we know about Iris so far! On the surface you have a colorful, popular idol that loves to sing and raise people's spirits! She genuinely cares about others and will leap before she thinks when someone is hurting or in danger. And she's no pushover in battle either!

Now let's get into some deeper aspects of her character and why she's in this situation under the cut!

Iris lost her grandfather and her voice to the attack of an enemy known as a wraith. These creatures are known for maiming and disabling people, and have driven humanity to near extinction.

Thus, Iris's voice is artificial, and she must keep up maintenance on it to get the sound she wants. She despises wraiths for killing her grandfather and seeks to eradicate them. She also personally doesn't particularly like her artificial voice and struggles to accept it.

Nonetheless, her grandfather loved beautiful things while he was alive, and once told Iris her voice was beautiful and he loved it. Such a compliment from someone who appreciated beauty left a strong impression on Iris and made her very happy.

This is why she continues to sing despite the state of her voice and the dire situation humanity is in. For her grandfather, and for the people who find some measure of happiness from her music.

Though she finds herself thinking: If only they could go back in time to the past and destroy the wraiths at their source...

And perhaps. Her idea isn't so impossible after all.

[cnsnape]

Falling In Love With A Tiny Bat #bookreview #CamillaEvergreen #fallinginlovewithatinybat

Author: Camilla Evergreen Publisher: Independent Publisher Published: September 30th 2024 Genres: Paranormal Rom-Com Date read: 25th September 2024 Number of times read: 1 Format: Ebook Source: ARC direct from Author Summary “Snowflake?” My stomach drops into my toes as I turn to find Alexios wandering through the evening like a wraith. The instant my eyes are on him, he stops. Takes a…