In a World Without Dragons (Cows Are Happier and Less Roasty) | Quirk #6

shhh it's still Saturday somewhere

in the middle of the Pacific maybe?

Please ignore the title. I have given up on Serious Titling and will, from now on, throw whatever comes into my head at my Quirks.

 In a World Without Dragons (Cows Are Happier And Less Roasty)

“Okay, so, I lied.”

I paused, phone half-way to my ear. “…Is this an important thing for me to know, like ‘yes, Lachlan, it was I who ate your sandwich after all,’ or can it wait until after the plan where you get rid of the literal fire-breathing dragons?”

Mathilda spun Soul-Cleaver, the tip making a dimple in the gravel of the road. “An important thing. Probably. I think.”

Choose your own fairy tale adventure! | February Fantasy Month

 

Apparently February is Fantasy Month! which is Exciting! my Quirk will almost definitely fit the theme, seeing as there are dragons, but my Quirks are often fantasy-adjacent anyway. I believe Feburary Fantasy Month is an invention by Jenelle Schmidt? so all the confetti for her! 

Today, I shall be doing a link-up from Fairy Tale Central, called The "Choose-Your-Own-Adventure" Fairy Tale Tag. It looks both fun and comprehensive?? There has definitely been some thought put into these questions. 

Hopefully I've put some thought into the answers...

THE QUESTIONS

– Your father the king has declared a contest for your hand in marriage. But he’s allowing you to decide what kind of competition it will be. What do you choose? Is there a penalty for losing, or do the losers just go home while the winner remains to marry you?

I... really have no idea what kind of competition it would be. I guess something involving common sense, because that seems an important feature for a fairy tale world. 

...but, y'know, common sense applied to fairy tale logic. Not regular common sense.

There's no penalty for losing. But the competition is set up in such a way that anyone who makes a bad decision (by which I mean a decision which proves they're a Bad Person) gets Consequences. Booby traps or stray curses providing a face full of pus-filled blisters or something.

– You’ve just been told that you’re the Chosen One – the heir to your kingdom’s throne. Of course you demanded proof, but you didn’t expect quite so much of it to be brought forward. You grudgingly ask the state of the land. Your kingdom is at war with two neighboring kingdoms, a third kingdom is expecting your kingdom to ally with theirs and help them fight in agreement with an old treaty, there is famine in two counties in the north, and the barons of the kingdom are fighting over who will supply the palace with food for the next year. What do you do first?

1. Find out who was ruling before I got there. Are they flat-out evil? If not, they're now my right-hand person. I also need some other experienced people for advisors.
   
2. Reach out to Third Kingdom. Explain that we are not in a position at the moment to be able to help fight, but we do wish to renew our friendship and will help in the future.
3. See if negotiation can be made with Two Neighbouring Kingdoms. I'm actually really interested in the psychology of human interaction and negotiation and mediation and all that kind of thing. It's possible – considering how characters in fairy tales act – that the whole thing could have been blown out of proportion, and an apology for a perceived insult or something would go a long way? (Just. Seeing if we really need to be at war. If we really do, I'm all out of ideas, oops.)
   
4. Meet with the barons. They'll all be supplying food, relative to how much they've produced, but the palace shall be diverting a lot of it to the Two Hungry Counties. If the barons complain, well, if their county gets in trouble in the future, they'll also receive support. Also it's an opportunity for the barons to look good, why are they complaining. I'm just going to... assume... the kingdom has enough money to pay these barons for all this food.
   
5. What caused the famine in the north? Drought? maybe look into infrastructure, dams or wells or something. Attacks by raiders? secure the border. Poor management? check for corruption, replace with more experienced leaders. 

The first step being politics and not, say, food production, is probably further evidence of my Slytherin-ness. Also I didn't realise I had such an involved plan for running a kingdom, if anyone's looking for a queen I am currently open to offers–

One Quirk Later #6 (plus a Christmas tag, because of course)

Ollo ollo ollo. 

Did I ever say when in January I would return, no, I didn't think so-

I maaay however have said "January" and not "February". Possibly. Oops.

You are all amazing for having got involved in my Quirks last year, whether you wrote or read or both, and I do hope you'll bear with me as I get settled back in with blogging!

 

One Quirk Later: Prompt #6

Individual images can be found on my Pinterest boards. At this point I have no memory of which ones, but I do know I spent a long time curating them, so go and have a look.