#mark lily

An Ugly Americans Prompt

Do not own Ugly Americans

Anyone can use it

AU Dragon Prince Mark

Mark x Callie

Dragons have crops

Dragons hibernate

Dragons swim in lava and sulfur lakes

Assault on dragons is worthy of torture or execution

Eggs can explode which is why dragons keep them in sulfuric spring for them to hatch

Crops are used to store food, or have their mates in them for it’s a sign of great love since the crops connects to all things in the body and is considered the love organ

After eighteen, dragons slowly stopped aging

Dragons have two sex organs

The only thing can murder a dragon is a God or another Dragon for their scale are indestructible until they shed off

They can live long lives but are not immortal

Mpreg

Male and Female can lay eggs, infertile or not

When in heat, it doesn’t matter if they have intimacy all it, all it takes is DNA by spit, blood, or others ingested

Dragons have not eaten a human, pillaged cities, stole gold, or steal away maidens or princesses for 2000 years

Though dragons still have to horde since it’s a natural need, for Mark its eggs, Fabergé eggs or the edible kind

Dragons’ diets consist of Fish, poultry, Eggs, Pork, or Beef, but mostly fish and eggs

Dragons are the most powerful and magical creatures in the realms and control the forces of good and evil, one side gets too powerful, they tip it to the other sides favor

When the Angels and Demons in their war almost destroyed the Earth, the dragons intervened and defeated both sides, thus the dragons ruled

Demons have tried to usurp the Dragons but can never defeat them, and they are kept on a tight leash

Dragons live in Dragon Country, past the enchanted forest, down an endless chasm but just above hell

From lesser to higher, dragons have their own ecosystem which ranges from Insecta Dragons, Drakelings, Fae, Draco, Gaasyenddietha, Vishap, then the dragons (Long, Hydra, Wyverns, and Druks) rulers of the dragons

Any dragon above Drakelings can transform and blend in with humans

There is rarely Dragons who are not born from a clan, they are known as the Clan-less and are often rich jerks without nobility

There are nine Founding clans which have the last names of flowers, the White Roses, the Ruby Orchid, the Amber Sunflower, the Golden Tulip, the Emerald Carnation, the Sapphire Freesia, the Violet Hyacinth, the Grey Gladiolus, and the Black Lily

There are forty-one lesser clans

The Lily’s or better known as the Black Lily Clan is the royal of royal dragon’s clans as Mark’s mother is the Dragon Queen, Higanbana

The dragons are ruled by the queen and the Nine Council

Mark’s mother had multiple consorts

Mark is one egg out of 26, Adam, Bethany, Cecil, Devon, Ellis, Fiona, Gael, Hannibal, Isa, Jason, Kill-mageddon IV, Luna, Nina, Oliver, Price, Quill, Ramona, Smoozy, Tatiana, Uni, Victoria, William, Xander, Yinu, and Zachariah

Mark left for a human college rather than stay in Dragon Country so he can be known for being him not his family

But he still holds his title and is the council member to the Black Lily’s of the Nine

No one would know he is the Head of the Black Lily’s until Randal and Callie and only them for two years

It was soon revealed that he is a dragon when Twayne joined in a prank after the episode Demon Baby, when he joined in a prank by having his seed poured in his coffee, unknown that Mark was in heat

Mark was soon sick, leading to Randal taking him to the hospital, revealing he has a fertilized egg

Mark was forced to tell his family and confess being a dragon to everyone else as it was revealed what happened, which shocked Mark and enraged a lot of people

Higanbana and the dragons took it as Twayne violating her son, which is considered since it’s in the lawbook of dragons, going as far to press charges for an execution

Callie is disgusted by Twayne and annoyed about Mark being so careless, but like that this can be an excuse to have her own baby, though it would be a demonic dragon

Mark was then assigned a bodyguard, Bob the Bold, a ghost in a dragon skin metal armor that served the Lily’s for six hundred years

The Black Lily Clan wanted to have Twayne murdered and burned for Mark, but Callie made a counter deal which was better and put her in goods with Mark’s family

Twayne’s family must pay for support of Mark and the baby, take twenty percent of their land, Twayne’s forbidden from being alone with Mark or the Baby, can never claim the child, must pay a hefty tribute to the family and must serve Mark for a year

The offer earned Higanbana’s respect for Callie and welcomes her to the family

Violet offered to have Twayne marry Mark at first so that the egg can be a member of their family, but Higanbana almost strangled her at the suggestion and claim she would slit her own throat before she would ever allow the beast to be near her son

Sea creatures fear dragons since they are afraid of getting eaten

The egg hatches after Treegasm and Mark names him ‘Ethan’

Ethan is adored by the dragons

Grime’s daughter and her vampire boyfriend becomes babysitters to Ethan, not realizing that Grimes is her daughter

Ethan sees Callie as his mother as Callie adores him, demanding that Mark brings him, adding a kid’s center

Twayne wants to see Ethan, but the Black Lily’s keep a close eye and threatened to kill him

Ethan loves to steal limbs from Randal as Leonard knows how to distract Dragon children, with cat toys

Because of Mark’s status it is forbidden for demons to execute him or risk a war with the dragons, leaving Twayne to be alone for his trial sentencing

Callie becomes friends Bethany the General and Adam the Director-General of Police

During the death match, Mark eats Twayne and when the battle was declared victory, he spits him back out

When Lilith stay with them, Ethan and Lilith try to kill each other but Mark sees it as sibling rivalry combined with the terrible twos from his son

Dragon blood is the rarest substance in the universe since dragons don't give it up so easily

Dragon blood is the source of life and created many magical creatures

The first wizards were humans who made a deal with the dragons to become magical

For a year an unquestioned service, the dragon they serve gives them blood to drink

It is known as the hymn of Blood

The contract is visible as a tattoo of the dragon

Wizards can be even more powerful if they drink the blood they earn via contract

You can't get the blood without making the contract

Fool's blood and flesh are used and made by dragons to wear as a disguise and are a delicacy for zombies

Fool's blood is made by the liquified version of Dragon pallets while fool's flesh is the solid

Their human bodies are connected to their real bodies through tendrils which makes them feel, including pain

Dragons are born to be completely fluent in Dracony and twenty-nine Serpent Tongues (separate lizard languages) require a dragon tongue, (forked and rainbow)

Dracony often sounds like a wheezing smoking tiger and has the speak puff out smoke with a bit of sparks on the tongue

They learn English within a year

Dragons can't curse in English

I love this show and I miss it so much

I have two theories about Mark Lily’s characterization. It’s not necessarily intentional on the writer’s part, but this is what I have come to after seeing most of the episodes from seasons one and two: 

1) Mark Lily does not fit within the “ bland everyman” stereotype no matter how bad the writers want him to.

2) Mark’s character works better if Randall was his love interest, not Callie. 

Mark Lily is the protagonist of a two season animated series that ran on Comedy Central. It follows his day to day life as a “normal” person surrounded by an alternate universe New York City where humans, demons, and creatures of varying sentience exist. He runs a class in the Department of Integration helping citizens cope with city life. 

It was pretty good show. It definitely filled me with nostalgia when I found it on Amazon, so I took a few hours to run through a couple of episodes. After being reacquainted with some episodes, I’m sad to know that it didn’t run for longer, because if it had some leg room for development, it could’ve been a true keeper on Comedy Central. Still, I can understand why it never really took off. There was something very much missing in the grand scheme of the show. And I think that the problem lies in it’s main characters: 

Mark Lily a Dynamic Character 

This is Mark Lily. Mark Lily, no matter what the writers try to do, is not bland. There is something so out of sync with his characterization and his life that I can’t really put my finger on it. It might have to do with his disturbing obsession with eggs. 

Mark Lily’s Hidden Darkness

Here is a picture of Mark forcing his ex girlfriend to eat eggs a few years prior to the beginning of the show. She’s allergic to eggs. By the way, he knew she was allergic but emotionally manipulated her into eating them by saying that their future life together depended on it. And he dumped her after she went to the hospital. Mark is shown to have an unhealthy fixation on the food, to the point where he reads magazines about it. It gets dark really freaking fast.

I wanted to bring this up because usually, shows with a protagonist who is seemingly normal like Mark are written to be the “straight man,” or the one that the audience relates with and gives down to Earth advice to other more zany characters. They are written as totally boring to contrast them with the world they live in. But Mark’s deeper character hints that he’s not that kind of a protagonist. 

Unlike Fry from Futurama who blends into his new life in the future, Mark is constantly trying to prove that he is competent and responsible in a world where hedonism and obsession is commonplace. His ex girlfriend becomes obsessed with him after he dumps her, he becomes the object of obsession for a TV show host, and is almost murdered by a tenant who was enamored with his roommate, Randall. Mark’s clone is much more aggressive, threatening and even commits murder. 

The writers were very clever bringing in these points, and their brought up from time to time, but at times they make his character seem very bland to contrast the rest of the city that I think they ultimately put him in a box. At their worst, they didn’t know what to do with him. And at their best, they had a very emotionally complex, controlling egomaniac with an obsession with self preservation (and eggs). 

(pictured: Mark’s blond clone threatening coworker) 

Mark’s Relationships (The Hidden Love Interest) 

Other than Mark, Randall his roommate is another interesting character. He’s easily one of the most compelling characters in the show. And from a narrative standpoint, everything about Randall seems to be pointing to him being Mark’s love interest, not Callie. 

Callie’s Lack of Characterization

Even when the show takes great pains to show that Callie, the daughter of Satan, is in a relationship with Mark, they barely interact with one another outside of work and the bedroom. At least, they don’t interact meangfully. If it’s not some sort of exposition about her life as a demon, then it’s just them having sex. 

While there are plenty of episodes that shed a light on Callie’s backstory, they don’t actually give any information on her personality. She’s sexy, demonic, with a type A personality and likes BDSM. But the show only goes that far. It seems to be more concentrated on what she is rather than who she is. Her entire character from even her walking animation shows her as a sexual object. There a moments of vulnerability, but they are immediately swept under the rug or not delved into very deeply. 

The lengths Mark goes to to help her could more or less just be his personality. He cares about Callie as a person, and their relationship is more her taking and him giving. But how is that any different than his other relationships? Especially with Randall. In fact, the dynamic is almost identical, except without the sexual aspect (on Mark’s part. Randall is shown to be sexually attracted to Mark). 

Mark and Randall’s Romantic Relationship 

 We’ve all seen this before. When a show is “confident” that it’s main couple is strictly heterosexual, they play off the main character’s relationship with his guy friend as almost romantic. They argue, have not so subtle moments of homo eroticism, and have thinly veiled arguments that make them seem like a couple.

 But the fact is that this show is not confident in Callie and Mark’s status as the official couple. Callie is emotionally distant and constantly requires sex at the expense of their interacting like a couple. To fill in these missing gaps, they give most of this emotional development to Randall and Mark. There are more episodes dedicated to Randall and Mark getting to know each other, spending more time together, and discussing their living arrangements like they are a couple co-habitating together. It seems like hes in a sexual relationship with Callie, but an emotional relationship with with Randall. 

They have a backstory of how they met and how their dynamic has changed and progressed over the course of the series. Mark is sometimes disappointed by how deep Randall has fallen into his hedonism but he greatly admires him and his loyalty. Randall pays attention to Mark’s likes and dislikes, values their relationship, and is shown to really enjoy his company. You could even say their more down to earth moments are more emotionally romantic than anything between Callie and Mark. At the end of the episode “Mummy Dearest,” Mark takes time out of work to spend more time with Randall. 

Their characters mesh really well together both romantically and platonically. While they don’t necessarily bring out the best in each other they make great foils. Mark with his sense of responsibility and untapped dark side, and Randall’s hedonism and spontaneous neediness. When they work off each others personalities, they have great scenes that are downright hilarious. 

It’s not something that the writers want though.

 They were very adamant about keeping Mark “normal” when everything about him pointed to something much darker.

 They wanted him to be straight when he had more chemistry with his roommate than his girlfriend. 

The thought of making him bisexual, pansexual, or gay was not what they intended, but the expansion of his character outside of the “everyman” (i.e straight, stagnant in characterization) archtype was showing through. I wonder what would have progressed for this character if he was allowed to develop more organically as a character instead of placed in a box.