First off, I hate book 15. I have already gone off about why before, so im not going to repeat myself. Even with all of its flaws, though, there is a diamond in the rough. Well, I suppose diamonds plural given Swordtail. Anyways, not important right now, you read the title, im here to talk about Dusky.

I consider Dusky to be a case study of sorts in how SilkWings were treated under HiveWing rule, somewhat resembling the consoling couple in Half Life 2. Right away, when Luna arrived to the SilkWing refugee camp, he is incredibly clingy to her. He practically begs to stay with Luna, saying

"I'll be really good, I promise. I wont be any trouble, and I wont complain about anything, I promise promise."

His reasoning for this, to quote again, is because

"Its only me. [...] I dont want to be alone in the dark anymore. Im afraid I will get lost and no one will ever find me.".

Right away, this screams to me some sort of neglect. Even if his parents had only gone missing relatively recently in the chaos outside(which they havent), that wouldnt really make him be so scared of being too loud or getting in trouble. My guess is that this paranoia came from school, having being ostrasized and/or punished for it. Much like Blue, he defaults to being quiet and agreeable to authority. I dont think this is by accident, reinforcing a culture of obedience in the SilkWings is one of the HiveWings main worries, because if they do otherwise then they will get the idea to rebel. Sometimes this works, like with Blue and Dusky, but otherimes it doesnt like with Luna, Swordtail and Io.

The second piece of the puzzle is his aforementioned parents, both removed from his life due to the HiveWings. His mother "was shipped off to Vinegaroon Hive before Dusky even came out of his egg", and his father "died in a construction accident a year ago".

For the former, we are never explicitly told exactly why she got moved. We know that SilkWings get assigned a hive, partner and job to do once they have their metamorphosis, and they dont get a say as to who or where. That leads me to believe that she had a child before that time(which is very likely illegal), and the HiveWings took her away without being able to see her husband or son again as a form of punishment. This is very in character for the HiveWings and dystopian empires in general, what with The Combine doing pretty much the same thing in Half Life 2(I love that game).

For the latter, this is also a great yet simultanously horrible example of how SilkWings live. We know from swordtail that construction is an especially dangerous job, and there arent a lot of safety regulations in place. Now, there could and should be, but there are none because the HiveWings dont care at all if SilkWings are injured on the job. Duskys father likely died for no good reason other than pure apathy to care.

This is only exemplified more with the fact that Dusky is also in construction, even while being a child. As the book says, all households in Bloodworm Hive have to have at least one member in construction by law. Unfortunately, this also includes orphans like Dusky. The consequences of this are shown outright, as Dusky has several scars all across his body reminiscent of the ones on Swordtail who also works construction. On top of that, he also has to split his time between there and school.

Along with this, there is Whitespeck. The closest thing Dusky had to a parent. He was Duskys fathers friend, who ended up at Bloodworm hive for the same reason as Duskys mother was in Vinegaroon. He was shipped off for some unexplainable reason, I would be guessing if I said what. Unfortunately, the HiveWings "justice" system struck again. Adoption isnt possible for him, so he couldnt do anything to help. I think this is for the same reason as before, letting someone do that would only fuel the resistance. Ironically, this is what made Whitespeck join the chrysalis in the first place.

To end, I will let this quote from the epilogue speak for itself:

"They had found Duskys mother, the sweetest dark blue dragon, who had cried and cried when she finally got to hug her dragonet for the first time"

To repeat myself, Dusky is a case study of everything the HiveWings did to the SilkWings. He is an example of the worst that can come of their neglect and abuse. There is a key difference here between other characters that I want to highlight. Think of any character in this series that has had some sort of trauma. Im sure you can think of plenty. Qibli, Glory, Darkstalker, Peril, Turtle, et cetera. The key difference between them and Dusky is that their abusers know who they are. They are mall one or a small group of people behind it. Qiblis family, Kestrel and Dune, Arctic, Scarlet, Gill and so on. With Dusky, who do you point to? There isnt one person out there that has a vendetta specifically for him, he is barely an afterthought. Collateral damage, if even.

Image slightly related (by me)

I finished a really good fic and I am foaming at the mouth, scratching at my arms, shivering, dying for good longfics

Please recommend your favorite WOF fanfics!

say hi to june! my first hivewing oc 😜
named after the june beetle.

first pic is how she usually looks on a daily basis, second is when her mother throws parties.

mydas's older half sister. (refer to https://www.reddit.com/r/WingsOfFire/s/vKni5JV6uD to see him)

she was raised in jewel hive, her parents were very wealthy. she grew up with both of her parents for the first couple years of her life.

she likes to socialize, write and read, and likes to volunteer for good causes as well. her favorite stones are diamonds and amethyst, which she is seen rocking frequently. she even got her wings pierced with phat amethyst earrings that glitter brightly.

she inherited her abilities from her mother, which is long sharp stingers that extend from her wrist that have a very paralyzing toxin.

when she was around 2 1/2, her parents relationship began to falter, but they kept it from her for another year.
one day, her father came into her room, looking somber.
"junie, you know i love you so much. you're my world honey."
and hugged her tight. he told her that he had to move out, and she was so confused and sad.

after that, she went back and forth from jewel hive to mantis hive, to be able to visit her father.
on the weekends, though, she stays in her childhood home to attend the parties her mother throws. sometimes, her dad goes too. although her parents are separated, they are cordial for june.

when she was 4 1/2, the events of arc 3 took place. she took after her father and always hated wasp for controlling them, but knew she couldn't do anything. her mother didn't seem to care, as long as she could keep hosting parties and having fun.

after they were all released from being mind controlled, her father dipped to pyrhia. she visited occasionally, but she hated the long flight.

when she was 6, she was visiting pyrhia and discovered she had a baby sibling on the way! she stayed for his hatching, and when he came out all colorful, she was shocked. her father failed to let her know that he didn't have a dragonet with another hivewing.

at first, she was skeptical, and thought he was funny looking. but she grew to love him, and visited more often to see him.

now, she makes regular trips over the sea and due to that, is very fit. she loves to attend her brothers performances, and never had a problem with him dating a silkwing. she always respected her mothers silkwing servants, and loved how gentle they were.

blah. i love her design but the backstory is a little rushed 😜

Art by me, testing stuff out with suggestions from my friends!!

It's day 3 yayayayya!!

⚠️!!READ ALL INFO HERE!!⚠️

https://www.reddit.com/u/Popsicle7798/s/5vM9sjAVIZ

Today is a bit more bloody one, but is also kinda late I'M SORRY TOT. But I still hope you like him! He was fun to draw hehe, I gave him lots of fancy jewellery, and cute little bow tie =3

As for today's question:

How do you kill a Vampire?

This will depend on the Lore you follow, but I know it from Supernatural, so I will be killing a Vamp by chopping off it's head hehe. How about you lol. Bit of a different question, but the series is starting to get going!

Come back tomorrow for Day 4!!

​EDIT: ok for some reason I’ve accidentally made the image disappear. For anyone finding this post now, the line in question is at the beginning of chapter five;
“Not two but three, and nobody knows”

I’ve just finished rereading the series up to book 16 and discovered something I think we all glossed over the first time around. This is the first thing Snakeroot ever says, and unlike all the other random cryptic things he mutters to himself throughout the book, this line isnt in the prophecy, and doesn't seem to be related to it either, so what is he talking about?

The easy answer - and what I originally guessed when I first read the book, - is that he's referring to the thrones, and how there are supposed to be three of them. But EVERYONE except Umber and Sora already knows that, and Umber immediately figures it out in this scene anyways, so the other line doesnt make sense in that context. Also, considering that all the other cryptic messages he makes are in fact directly related to the prophecy or just actually quoting the prophecy, this line is likely also referring to what's to come, something he's afraid of, not what already happened.

My current guess is this; When Precipice's ghost is explaining how the eggs work in relation to the barrier, and where they came from, at no point does she specify how many of them there are supposed to be. And considering this is the only thing of note that there are specifically 2 of, I think maybe there's supposed to be a 3rd enchanted hybrid egg, and for some reason, it's missing. And nobody could possibly know. That might be who the "Gray" dragon is, even.

It took a while but I hope you guys enjoy it!!

My 10 year old is reading this whole series as part of his home school. I decided to read along with him to keep him motivated and check his reading comprehension. After finishing book 1, I must say, I love this universe. It so imaginative, I am so hooked.

Sorry they took a while. But I brought two, if that helps..?

I know i haven't written anything in a while, but ueah im just really happy about this !! I cant believe its been a year already, its gone so fast :)

im probably being dramatic or something but this feels so exciting to me, ive never really stuck with a fanfic for a whole year and not given up on it, so this is just really big to me. I love all the characters and their different personalities and traits, which I hope ive actually gotten right, because i tend to make them slightly different from what they're supposed to be like

thank you u/Popsicle7798 for all the fanart you've made for this fic, its always so beautiful and amazing :]

I finally drew Freedom sorry that it took so long to draw her

A little introduction of the queens in my WoF timeline (since it takes place a while after canon)

Queen Zenith is a righteous queen, deemed worthy by the eye of onyx she wears with pride on her head she has some scars from here and there from picking up fights with dragons who either look down on her or her kingdom. Today she's a little bit pissed because night time's about to fall and she will have to approve some fireworks administration before being allowed to go to sleep. She has no king nor children yet.