Updates 45 (couldn't think of anything witty)

[Mamorien]

Before I begin, I'd like to thank Norgarth for linking last week's A Thing of Vikings, and for having better sense, taste, or both than to imitate my usual too-cute-for-the-room summary.

One of the interesting points to consider when analyzing warfare is to remember that the individuals who decide the course of it make decisions within their own biases and perspectives. While this may seem to be an obvious point—Emperor Romanos III, an inexperienced commander, thought that war was decided by large battalions and thus it was on these large, ponderous formations he depended and lost at Azaz, to name a memorable such defeat—this fact also plays off in more subtle ways.

Consider the case of Kagan Drago Bludvist. The man reportedly spent several years hunting and poaching dragons, and resented the anti-poaching laws put into place and enforced by the Song Dynasty protecting those same dragons. This attitude managed to embed itself deep in his psyche by all accounts, informing his strategy when he advised his predecessor, Kagan Berk, on the conquest of the Song Dynasty as a first step prior to taking their dragon nests.

But from an objective viewpoint considering objectives and strategy—gaining dragons and using them in conquest—such a strategy was foolish and pointless! What could the Song have hoped to do to prevent Drago's dragon riders from flying past them, and forcibly enthralling the nests deeper in their territory? The few token guardsmen working to prevent poachers from accessing the nests that the Song held as sacred would have been easily dealt with and the dragons forced into subjugation. Once that was done, the Pechenegs could have then used their augmented force to conquer not only the Song, but all of the empires and kingdoms in the region and beyond in short order.

But Drago, by his own admission later on, saw the Song and their laws as a barrier that prevented him from accessing those self-same dragons, and thus, to his mind, they had to be dealt with first before the dragons could be accessible. To him, the dragons were owned by the humans who claimed the land their nests sat upon, and thus those humans would have to be conquered before the dragons could be taken as spoils of war.

For another example, consider Emperor Henry the Black and his actions…

On the eastern shore of the Black Sea, Sigurd leads the Hypsikrates into Saqartvelos Samefo, trying not to think about the dangers back in Constantinople; Hookfang reflects on the incomprehensible whims of walkers, but has to admit that the benefits they bring to flyers outweigh the problems they bring; and the two of them travel into a live dragon-nest for the first time as a team. In the Jorgenson hut on Berk, Astrid talks with Spitelout about the Hooligans' possible need for a standing army, or at least Hiccup's need for a proper bodyguard. In his palace in Almatu, Kagan Drago is still getting used to his title when Elder Khurşӑ points out one of its responsibilities. In Bianjing, Mulan fails to convince her fellow councilors to open negotiations with the Hooligans, but manages to convince Li Shang that someone should. In the mead hall on Berk, Cami discusses Eret's possibilities with Merida, and also with Thuggory. Over in the Ingerman house, Heather considers possibilities for Mildew's master, and thinks about Toiréasa and Alvin. In Algeciras, Viggo and Ryker are also thinking, and indeed talking, about Alvin and Delilah. In his office in Inbhir Niss, Mac Bethad makes a desperate decision, and reflects on how far in he's stepped. And we close out by returning to Bianjing, where one of the Pecheneg casualties turns out not as badly off as his fellows thought...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/71448276

[Shepherd]

https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-33342-58...Family.htm
Adventures of a Super Family (DC AU).

[classicdrogn]

Looks like daily updates on Beware of Chicken, that generic-xanxia/sane-MC/comedy fic. Today's just dropped.

[Shepherd]

https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-33141-63...nament.htm
Hermione Granger and the Swiss Tournament (Teraverse).

[Matrix Dragon]

By Mutual Consent (Worm/CoH) Chapter six.

https://forums.sufficientvelocity.com/th...t-19045609

[classicdrogn]

How often does a xianxia character's breakthrough of understanding actually feel like they gained new insight and grew as a character? This time in Beware of Chicken for sure.

(I don't plan to note its updates every day, but when something especially significant happens, sure.)

[Jinx999]

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12327848/17...to-Banking

A Wizard's Guide to Banking.

A muggleborn wizard has an audacious plan to reshape the wizarding world.

[Shepherd]

https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-32792-12...oses+2.htm
Cross Purposes 2 (A Brane of Extraordinary Women, Bionicverse).

[Norgarth]

Relic of the Future
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12863738/14...the-Future

Oh, and Mamorien? I couldn't give a summary of Thing of Vikings because I hadn't read the chapter yet 8)

[Shepherd]

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12302907/30...ara-Bellum
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum (Potter).

[classicdrogn]

Beware of Chicken appears to have wrapped up the latest story arc with Ch35, if you prefer reading "complete episodes."

[Mamorien]

Oh, and Mamorien? I couldn't give a summary of Thing of Vikings because I hadn't read the chapter yet 8)

Good reason. And, in matters A Thing of Vikings...

Furthermore, while Haddock was indeed responsible for a large number of scientific and technical advances in the aftermath of his taming of dragons, it is inaccurate in the extreme to assign all of these advances to him. Other individuals, spurred on by the new capabilities that now existed, began to develop their own innovations and insights.

Haddock invented many things, that is without question, with a lengthy list ranging from the famous wingsuit that allowed a person to glide through the air and land safely, to the more prosaic infrastructural and production tools such as the elevator, drop-forge, and spinning wheel, but within his own lifetime, as a direct result of exposure to dragons and the possibilities and necessities they opened up, others also showed that they were capable of innovation in the right environment. The list of inventions from this period as a direct result of interactions with dragons includes such things as the barometer, the canal pound lock, buttons, eyeglasses, and stern-mounted rudders, while still others worked on refining and isolating chemical compounds and elements extracted from dragons.

More people also aided in developing the area of cartography, with leaps of innovation in surveying and mapmaking—the first "dragon's eye" maps, showing the layouts of cities and regions from above, were made within two years of Haddock's taming of dragons. And, despite the efforts of those who wish to assign him the credit, he had nothing to do with any of these beyond preparing the ground for others.

We open on Berk, where Hiccup submits a commission to the glassworks, then tests out a refinement or two of his wingsuit. Meanwhile, at Inbhir Aora, Toiréasa discovers that she's working to a deadline, and realizes it's not the only complication in her mission. Back on Berk, William of Normandy and his peer group talk about dragons, girls they like, the Matrix... In the mead hall, Eret plays King's Fist against Hiccup, then learns from Wulfhild that he himself is in play. At Bianjing's north gate, Mulan and crew set forth. And we close on Berk, where Wulfhild continues to balance her duties as High Almoner with her family life...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/71855073

[Norgarth]

A 12 step program to omnipotence (MCU SI)
https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/...t-73926646

[Shepherd]

https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-33342-59...Family.htm
Adventures of a Super Family (DC AU).

[Ebony]

Summus Proelium

Interlude 15A (Peyton Favors): https://ceruleanscrawling.wordpress.com/...-proelium/

There's a new hero in Detroit, and she just had an origin.

Interlude 15B (Dani and Amber): https://ceruleanscrawling.wordpress.com/...-proelium/

First day at a new school and all that entails.

Building Connections 16-01: https://ceruleanscrawling.wordpress.com/...-proelium/

Paintball and his minions.

Non-Canon 5: https://www.patreon.com/posts/46871842

What If... Wren and Izzy were Magical Girls? (Kinda)


Heretical Edge

Promise and Peril 11-05: https://ceruleanscrawling.wordpress.com/...al-edge-2/

Promise and Peril 11-06: https://ceruleanscrawling.wordpress.com/...al-edge-2/

Formorians. Just Formorians everywhere....

Non-Canon 5: https://www.patreon.com/posts/46856136

What If... Aylen went to Thanksgiving at Koren's house instead of Flick?

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Also, D.D. Webb, author of The Gods Are Bastards, has started a new story. (TGAB went on hiatus around the time that American politics got really heated last year, and Webb needed a change of focus for a bit.) Only Villains Do That is their take on an isekai tale. The author's own synopsis:

        While waiting on an Akihabara train platform one day, ordinary high schooler Yoshi Shinonome was suddenly plucked from his normal life in Japan
        and whisked away by a beautiful goddess to Ephemera, a world of magic and adventure, to serve as her Hero and drive back the evil Dark Lord.

        This is not his story.

       Standing nearby at the moment Yoshi was isekai'd was a man named Seiji - a rude, cranky, misanthropic musician who was not at all pleased to find
       himself also snatched up and transported to Ephemera by the goddess's wicked sister, Virya.  According to this self-proclaimed Goddess of Evil, the
       whole fantasy adventure thing was a game she and her sister played to stave off the boredom of immortality, and since the good goddess, Sanora,
       had picked her Hero...well, Virya needed a Dark Lord.

Three chapters in, and it's interesting.

[Shepherd]

https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-33141-64...nament.htm
Hermione Granger and the Swiss Tournament (Teraverse).

[Mamorien]

Flowers by the Wayside (Snape/PeggySue!Petunia)
https://archiveofourown.org/works/230900...s/72020616

[Shepherd]

https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-32792-12...oses+2.htm
Cross Purposes 2 (A Brane of Extraordinary Women, Bionicverse).

[RMH999]

Several updates to Miraculous Escalation
(Worm/Miraculous Ladybug)

Link goes to most recent.

[ECSNorway]

Confrontation II (Worm) by Ack - chapters 8, 9, and Epilogue

[Bad Moon]

Latest update for 
Magical Girl Escalation Taylor (Worm/Nanoha)

Taylor gets a Nanaho device and things escalate from there by the guy who writes Spells in Silence.

[Shepherd]

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/11874143/41...nary-Times
Extraordinary Times (X-Men OC).

[Norgarth]

Relic Of the Future
https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12863738/14...the-Future

[Mamorien]

CW: Implied Reference To Past Non-Con

The Saami are a Finno-Ugric ethnic group indigenous to the Sápmi District of the North Sea Empire. Archaeological evidence indicates that the Saami's ethnic roots originated from the Uralic peoples to the southeast in the Volga Region between five and four thousand years ago. Migratory tribes of these people eventually pushed towards the Finnish Lakeland region approximately three and a half thousand years before present, and eventually spread through the highlands of the Scandinavian and Kola Peninsulas, mixing with the isolated groups already present and integrating them, creating the predecessors to the Saami people…

As one of the Sovereign Peoples of the North Sea Empire, the Saami, as a political unit, have the legal right to organize their own Things for internal self-government in their District, full representation in the Grand Thing, and to determine Saami tribal identification according to their own criteria…

Many Saami who live in the Sápmi District continue to maintain their traditional lifestyles, with herding reindeer, fishing, hunting, and forestry being dominant activities, while Saami who live outside of the District are noted as being disproportionately employed by House Haddock as Dragon Tenders for the Imperial Brooderies and Rookeries, a tendency that goes back to the founding of the Empire.

At the brothers Eretson's new home on Berk, Eret talks to Heike about their respective love lives and where those lives could go. In the Imperial Palace in Constantinople, Sigurd wraps up one of his duties and finally has to deal with a long-pressing problem. At Inbhir Aora, Toiréasa watches the Berserkers prepare for Thawfest, only to see those preparations interrupted by a Royal command. Back on Berk, in the Bog Burglar guest hut, Cami and Merida have a hoped-for but unexpected visitor. Jonna returns to Jomsborg, managing not to gloat, as that would get in the way of the offer she has for the Jomsvikings. At Good-Cold's nest, Valka learns that arrived a Spiketail has from Screaming White's nest. In the chief's hut on Berk, Hiccup watches an egg he thinks is completely orphaned, and he and Toothless finally converse (in a way) about Fearless. In his palace in Almatu, Kagan Drago makes his plans, adjusting them when he needs to. In Bianjing, Kurya continues to recover and to cooperate with the Song. And we close in the Chief's Hut again, where Stoick accedes to a rather unusual request from Esther...

https://archiveofourown.org/works/104089...s/72104184

[Shepherd]

https://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-33342-60...Family.htm
Adventures of a Super Family (DC AU).

https://forums.spacebattles.com/threads/...t-74133645
Goddess of Wisdom (Stargate SG-1).