I FINISHED THE BOOKS! I cannot get over Bob talking about knowing Julius for so long. I can't imagine how he must have felt when Julius finally came along- so here have something soft, fluffy, and adorable. It's appreciate a dragon day, and I appreciate that dragon :3
Downloaded #dfz #1 by Rachel Aaron because it is a combination of urban fantasy, a mystery and magic set in a sentient city which is a genre I want to read more of.
After the dust settles and the DFZ starts to rebuild, thereâs still--a lot to figure out. Julius is taking over a city. The entire population of the DFZ, recently uprooted, is adjusting to the idea. Marci accidentally promoted herself to Boss Of All Magic and she has exactly one subordinate, who she only barely trusts not to crack open the Heart of the World in the spirit of investigation. They have sparkly new alliances with half the draconic world, and Julius has to teach literally even one of his Heartstriker-loyal siblings to play nice enough to maintain them. They have to get married, also, because Marci is going to put a ring on it, thanks.
(Marciâs original suggestion was a 24-hour chapel with literally anyone off the street plus, probably, Fredrick for witnesses, because Fredrick has all but fused himself to Juliusâ side and is displaying what Marci assumes is hereditary political brilliance in his position as Juliusâ self-appointed assistant. However, Fredrick shut her down. Marci tried to steal Julius literally the morning after the dragon summit, and Fredrick gave her a long, flat look that looks alarmingly like his mother and then says, âWell, have fun telling Chelsie about that.â Marciâs not afraid of Chelsie--okay, well, Marci is afraid of Chelsie, everyone should be a little afraid of Chelsie, itâs just good sense, but Marci isnât afraid Chelsie is going to hurt her or anything! But she starts thinking about it, and sheâs surprised to realize that a good number of people would probably like to see Julius happy. So she agrees to postpone the wedding until, at least, Chelsie is back. Itâs still a courthouse gig, though, because the DFZ wouldnât hear of anything else.)
Anyway! Anyway. Point is, thereâs a fucking LOT going on that first week! Marci is still working on getting herself legally alive again, for godâs sake!  âThere was an extremely morally dubious ritual performed with a lot of dragon blood and also this is my death godâ is, somehow, kind of a lot for a bunch of bureaucrats to swallow. And sheâs, like, ethically opposed to letting the DFZ terrorize one of the only surviving functional government offices.
So itâs a good solid six weeks after the End Of The World That Wasnât, what everyoneâs taken to calling the Second Crash, that Marci calls up Myron and wrings a phone number for one General Emily Jackson out of him.
It takes a good three more months for Emily to have...enough of a body to go anywhere, but once she does, she trundles on over to the DFZ and gets coffee with the woman she murdered for the greater good.
Julius has what he personally considers a very understandable and frankly restrained response to this plan. It is to stare incredulously at his wife as she gathers things into her bag and demand, in a growl his past self would have been shocked to hear, âAre you out of your fucking mind???? Absolutely not!â
âYouâre not my boss,â Marci informs him.  âWeâre going to need to play nice with the UN, and itâs not like sheâs allowed to do anything here, no dragon hunting in your city, remember?â
âYeah, a law I imposed, like, at least eighty percent for her, personally. Do you remember that time she killed you?â
âShe was perfectly nice before she killed me, and afterward she did admit it was a mistake. And Iâm fine now! I got better!â
âMARCI.â
It takes her a full hour to argue Julius into submission, which is actually twice as long as she expected, so she ends up being a little late to coffee and also she ends up with Justin, whoâs at least obvious about following her. He gives General Jackson his best Knight of the Heartstriker stare--itâs very good, actually, Marci would be terrified under other circumstances--and sits two tables away, pretending to play on his phone and drinking a truly terrifying amount of coffee.
âAnd he is?â General Jackson asks, cocking her head. Her voice isnât quite right yet, and it buzzes electronically in her throat.
âMy bodyguard,â Marci sighs, getting out her notebook.  âI made him promise not to talk. The only alternative was bringing Julius with me, and with all due respect, General, I think that would be worse. He, uh. Doesnât like you very much.â
âUnderstandable,â Emily says with a decisive nod.  âIs that your cat in your bag?â
âYeah, he said that if I didnât let him come he wouldnât let me leave.â
Emily pauses for a moment, watching as Marci flips to a clean page in her notebook and takes a fortifying gulp of her coffee.  âShould I be worried that a death god seems to have something of a personal grudge?â
âOnly if youâre planning on dying!â Marci says cheerfully.  âDonât worry, Ghost is a professional. Letâs get started.â
Marci and Emily continue to get coffee whenever Emily is the DFZ, and after a few years theyâre something like friends, even. Julius holds a grudge that Marci privately thinks is every draconic instinct heâs ever had, boiled down and directed against one woman. Marci makes a point to meet Emily at really excellent coffee shops, though, and brings her husband peace offerings in the form of really excellent lattes and baked goods.
My memes about the Heartstrikers and DFZ series always get a few notes in quick succession which just goes to show that there are people who are really into these books just starved for fan content and it is a SHAME they aren't more popular (and frankly I think they could be if they had like ANY marketing)