Picture of Darkstalker from the shoulders up, smirking with his head cocked to the side. He says: "To tell you the truth, I'm not so sure myself. I would consider the vision more worthy of attention than the exact minutiae through which it is achieved." Picture of Darkstalker's face from the front. Only one half of it is visible and it is cast in deep shadow, with only his glowing eye showing ominously. Imposed behind him is another shot of him, holding a glowing orb in his hands. He says: "But I can see myself doing all these things in the future. So me possessing these abilities is an immutable, absolute truth. Nothing more is required."

Picture of Albatross with an island behind him. The picture is framed in a way where Albatross appears giant and is looking down on the island from above. He says: "Animus magic is the weave that binds reality together. As the wielder of Animus magic, I therefore stand above reality." Picture of Albatross' hand above a grassy hill with trees growing on it. Strings of light extend from Albatross' fingers and wrap around two of the trees below, which are being yanked out of the ground. Albatross says: "From my vantage point, I pluck on the strings and the land dances to my whim like a wretched puppet. It is only through my mercy that the sun keeps rising every morning. And all of you should pray that this mercy will never run dry."

Picture of Stonemover lying petrified on the floor of his cave. He looks miserable and says: "Youth and arrogance. I saw the building blocks of life... and thought it was my right to shape them. But there is no right, and there is no Animus magic. Only the natural order, and fools who try to pervert it." Picture of only Stonemover's eye, staring at the viewer. Tears are welling up at its corner. He continues: "Wielding this power... it is a sin. And soon the day will come when we all must pay. For our own mistakes, and the ones of those whom we committed atrocities for."

Picture of Stonemover lying on the floor, being approached by Sunny. Sunny smiles and says "Hello, father! It's time for your weekly de-mossing! I brought the red sponge that you like!" We never see the red sponge because the picture is in sepia colors, and the artist is a lazy hack.

Apologies for having to cut these together awkwardly. Otherwise this would have taken 4 posts.

Part 2: Darkstalker, Albatross, Stonemover (with Sunny cameo)
#WingsOfFire #wof #wofDarkstalker #wofAlbatross #wofStonemover #wofSunny #wofAnimus #dragon

Picture of Orca in front of a half-finished bust and holding a mallet. She is sweating, as if she had just physically exerted herself, and is dabbing her forehead with a rag or towel that she is holding with her wing. She says: "I don't know who told you I'm an animus. I'm very busy, so if you're just going to waste my time with unsubstantiated gossip, please remove yourself from my workshop." Picture of Orca in front of a coordinate system. It shows a figure of a dragon, two points in 3D space, a curve between them, and a hammer travelling along the curve. Orca explains: "Speaking hypothetically, I imagine it's a matter of precision. I would picture the object spatially and visualize its exact flight path. The point where it is, the point where it's going to be, and the vector in between. Then, as I see it moving through 3D space, reality mimics my design. And that is, in theory, how I would move an object with my mind. Now leave me to my work."

Picture of Turtle, looking sheepishly to the side while clasping his hands together in front of him. He says: "Well, I don't know what the CORRECT way to do it is. For me, I like to think of the thing I'm doing magic on as another being. And the magic is sort of like a language that allows me to talk to it." Picture of Turtle, holding his hand out as if explaining something. He says: "I don't know why it just does whatever I tell it to do. Maybe living like that is really lonely, so it is grateful whenever someone talks to it at all? Or maybe it really is just an inanimate object." He continues: "My way is probably a really stupid way to look at this. Like, 'Look, there goes Turtle who talks to rocks and spoons and all that. But if we can't know for certain, I think it makes sense to be polite, you know?"

Picture of Anemone with her arms stretched into the air and her mouth open as if yelling. She says: "I'm the Animus, so the magic has to do what I say! It's like a servant who can't keep tabs on me for mother's sake!" Picture of Anemone looking teasingly at Pike who is off to the side behind her. She is sticking her tongue out and says: "Kind of like Pikey! But more powerful and it doesn't screw up as often." Pike, who looks absolutely shocked, replies "Y-your highness! Please forgive my inadequacy!!"

Part of a concept for diversifying Animus magic, by giving the various magic users in the story different methods of accessing it.

It helps making magic feel more unique and personal to each dragon.

Part 1: Orca, Turtle, Anemone
#WingsOfFire #wof #wofOrca #wofTurtle #wofAnemone #dragon #wofAnimus