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horridporrid · 2 years ago

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A couple of months ago I did an intense rewatch of WoT. I'd previously engaged with the show as pure pleasure. This time I wanted to turn on my analytical brain. This was before I officially joined Tumblr so I posted my thoughts on Reddit. And since Tumblr is doing a rewatch in anticipation of season two, I thought I'd share my far too involved analysis here, episode by episode. I do spoil the entire first season but I only mention book stuff in a very general way.

So anyway... thoughts on episode one! :)

Leavetaking: (55 min)

There must have been so much pressure to keep this episode under an hour. They even truncated the opening credits to squeeze in as much story-action as they could. What I would've given for an extra... gosh, even 10 minutes would've done wonders, I think.

Prologue:

This opening scene is... clunky. If you were feeling generous I guess you could call it retro? An out and out stating of our hero's quest as she prepares for her journey is a bit '90's (or even '80's?) action-genre tv-show, I suppose. It helps that it's Rosmund Pike doing the voice-over (and the gearing up), and the lighting and sound design is suitably moody.

Two points for: (1) Foreshadowing with the sa'angreal for Rand to kill Dark One and the knife to kill Rand if he decides not to kill the Dark One each getting their own closeup. (2) Moiraine is wearing pants!!!!! (Split skirts is kind of a WoT book meme but let's get the women some practical clothing if they're roughing it across the continent for years and years and years.)

Aaaand the next scene is better (actual action, well directed with the excellent soundtrack kicking up the tension) but I still suspect this was a last minute add because Liandrin has nary a little braid in her hair. (Rafe has commented on his wig-woes and I can easily see filming a last minute, executive-ordered, scene and saving time/budget by not fiddling too much with the wig.)

The horse women look fierce, though. And Kate Fleetwood's delivery of, "you make it filthy," was delicious. A minute in and I'm already loving her as the season's villain.

Ruined ancient, modern/futuristic city!!

Truncated credits arrive and this was our prologue. It's a bit hand-holdy, imo. I think using the "Young!Moiraine and the prophetic announcement that the Dragon has been reborn!" opening would've been better (more creative and exciting). And it would've been helpful for the end of this episode as well (more on that when we get there). But it is what it is and the next bit...

Two Rivers (day one):

...is freaking gorgeous! The beauty of the setting and the laughter and supportive community of the Women's Circle is our introduction to the Two Rivers and I love it.

I also love that the initiation into the Women's Circle has an element of danger. (Just an element, mind. None of the women looked worried and you know kids in a village situated near a raging river like that are taught early how to swim and how to handle getting swept into rapids.) It hints towards a warrior society (foreshadowing!) and the visual illustration of how women are trained to channel was kind of brilliant.

I also love the cultural importance given the braided hair of the Two Rivers women. It gives a depth to their society that I'm not sure the books quite gave them. (Or at least -- it quickly gave their culture a depth that the books had the advantage of time to get across to readers.)

And! The warmth Nynaeve is expressing towards Egwene is kind of beautiful.

Soft-boy Rand! I adore his fuzzy blue sweater and that our opening scene with him is all about him being a sappy little romantic. Also, he and Tam are so comfortable with each other. (Light foreshadowing of lurking danger with the wolves keeps the story tension going.)

Intro to Mat and Perrin and first impression is Mat may have a gambling problem (he is palpably desperate to keep gaming and that worries both Rand and Perrin). Also, Perrin is the responsible and checked in one, keeping up with current events, trying to keep his friends looped in.

Egwene arrives! She survived (Dad is massively relieved so... maybe a bit more of a danger element to the initiation than I'd first thought? warrior society intensifies) and now, Party!!

Rand's big, unaffected smile! Perrin's sweet smile! Such good boys. (Did not pick up on Perrin's crush at all at first. This is where a tiny bit more time might have helped the episode a bit.)

And Rand almost immediately realizes Something is Up with Egwene. And a bit further into the evening Perrin realizes Something is Up with Rand. (They all know each other so well. Great subtle storytelling here.)

LAN IN THE CLUB! And only when all has fallen into an expectant hush and the tension has built to screaming: Slow-mo Moiraine entrance. (All eyes on us.) God, I love them. They are so wonderfully extra.

Of course, this is Detective!Moiraine at work, scoping out the 20somethings, looking for dragons.

Something interesting, Egwene looks intrigued when Moiraine is assumed a noblewoman. She gets just as guarded as Rand and Perrin when Moiraine does her ring flash to reveal it's actually, Moiraine Sedai. (Mat, bless him, is the only one who appears the least inviting, giving Moiraine a small smile.)

And then our extra!couple leave and Nynaeve sends Perrin home to Laila with enough of a loaded comment to tell us, Something is Up with Perrin and Laila's marriage.

My first impression was a miscarriage because of the belly hug. As we now know -- it's not that at all. I think the belly grab is meant to provide an echo for that shot where Perrin is covering Laila's belly wound towards the end of the episode (complete with the meaningful pinky grab) but when you're not given a reason for marital issues, you do go looking. I wish this scene had been a couple minutes longer. A bit more dialogue to let us know Laila is worried that Perrin either settled for her or is second-guessing marrying her... Something to give us a real sense of what the issue was as I don't think that was meant to be an ongoing mystery. That he carried a bit of a torch for Egwene was maybe the mystery to gradually unfold but that Laila was uncertain of his love for her... I don't think it was meant to be a secret kept from the viewers. (Or at least, I don't see any benefit in keeping it a secret.) I think Perrin's the character who is most screwed by the tight runtime of this episode. I actually quite like this new backstory for him. But I don't think it's shared as well as it could've (and should've) been.

On the other hand... Mat comes out of the sex barn (heh) to find his drunk mom watching his philandering dad and we realize he's got issues other than gambling and a really warm, caregiving, heart. He cares for his mother and is wonderful with his sisters and his mom drunkenly voices his deepest, darkest fear (he's a prick, just like his dad). So all is not right in the Cauthon home but Mat is successfully shielding his sisters from it -- which is a massive job for someone so young.

In the land of warm, supportive families, the al'Veres and al'Thors behave like they're already family and they're very comfortable leaving the kids alone at which point...

Rand goes all in on tackling the problem: "You've been avoiding me." Points for bravery!

But then when Egwene is about to tell him what the issue is he interrupts her with a kiss and it's all in for sexy times (with eventual fade to black because, classy, and I'll try not to pout because...classy?). So Rand's bravery points get taken right back.

And I have to take this moment to say: I adore that the kids have all been matured from the first book. It's more in line with who they are through the bulk of the series, anyway. And I am SO. FUCKING. GLAD we don't have to live through whole Two Rivers purity culture shenanigans that made everyone seem either 10 years old and worried about cooties or card carrying members of the Harper Valley PTA and looking for any excuse to clutch some pearls.

Meanwhile, Lan and Moiraine chilling in a hot tub, not-having-sex, 'cause that's not who they are. And we see that they are a team of equals as Lan feels very comfortable prodding Moiraine to use her powers to get the hot tub to the right temp.

And we get the, "Who is the Dragon?" mystery officially off the ground with Egwene as our first contender what with the leading smash cut to her immediately following the question.

A word on the lighting: I kind of love how the firelight glows off Rand's naked chest and belly. Also how it shows off the stenciling on the ceiling beams. Good lighting job, is my point.

And this is where we get Egwene choosing her calling over her boo and the super-packed line: "It's a lonely life, being a Wisdom." Also, Rand's voice break on "no kids." This is a boy who wants nothing more than to be a father. (With Tam as his role model, I can see why.)

And with all that character-work done we're back to the plot with the Fade's arrival.

Two Rivers (day two):

Adore that the whistling musical motif is picked up by Padan Fain's actual whistle as he arrives in town. And I adore what they've done with Padan Fain as well. The slyness of in his voice when he interacts with Mat... Johan Myers is killing it.

So we're into the early morning of a new day and Tam continues to be the best dad ever by letting Egwene know Rand's taken off. Clearly getting that there's trouble still brewing but not holding it against Egwene or trying to interfere.

Whatever trouble was brewing between Perrin and Laila, her snuggle + pinky grab suggests it's over but... what the hell was the issue in the first place?!? (Is what the audience is left wondering and I think that was a mistake. Oh, for that extra 5 min to their first scene!)

Anyone else notice that Mat's coat kind of echos Fain's coat? A cheaper, more ill-fitting version but similarly shaped, right? Just me? (If you watch Lezbi Nerdi's YouTube channel, her discussion with Pez regarding the costuming also points this out. So... vindication!)

We learn that this is an annual thing between Mat and Fain ("What do you have for me this year?") and that suggests Mat's desperate gambling the night before probably doesn't speak to an actual gambling problem. And it's all over a couple of lamps for his sisters for BelTine. The best of big brothers doing a job he's too young for... and this has been going on for a while. The heart clenches.

Moiraine and Lan are doing their detective thing and also their conversation short-hand thing. Moiraine is on Dragon search duty. Lan (who's aware of the lurking Fade) is on monster duty.

Time for Rand and Egwene to officially breakup. It's sad and sweet. They both still obviously love and care for each other, just -- they have different dreams that cannot work together. Really maturely handled but still a painful event. (And I kind of adore that they both lean on each other for comfort.)

Gorgeous spot for a break up, though!

Detective!Moiraine checks in on Nynaeve and I love how Moiraine leans into Nynaeve's hostility (her little power play when Nynaeve tries to get out of the pool) to push Nynaeve into a background revealing monologue. That's our Moiraine!

Mat is very warm with his mom as he gives her a lamp to put in the river and she looks kind of devastated and I strongly suspect Mat had three little sisters and one died. The death of a child can push parents apart. I can see his mom self-medicating with alcohol and his dad self-soothing with sex and Mat (who'd also be grieving) being the one to pick up the pieces for his surviving sisters' sake. His parents do still love each other (they're leaning on each other as Mat helps his sisters put lamps in the water) but they're also a mess. And it leaves Mat being the adult in the family which is not fair to him, obviously.

We do not see Perrin or Laila put a lamp in the water (which should've told me my miscarriage theory was wrong) but they're leaning lovingly into each other and there's another pinky-grab. Whatever the issue is/was with their marriage it seems well towards solved.

Nynaeve puts her lamp into the water somewhat apart from everyone and fiercely wipes away her tears before heading back out. The loneliness of the Wisdom underscored. (We'll also see her watch, but not participate in, the village dancing later.)

Battle scene!! (~34 min in):

Honestly, incredibly well paced and shot. There is shaky-cam but it's used well to denote character confusion and it's used sparingly. Shaky for Egwene initially. Very smooth for Padan Faid's dip and the Fade's watching eye. With Laila and Perrin the camera's not so much shaky as it is off kilter (having the focus action being out of center with unsettling push ins and cuts, etc.). Ditto the camera work with Mat until he enters that one room where a bunch of people are sheltering (including his parents but not including his sisters) when the camera goes smooth (safety). It goes off kilter again when he makes his hero run through the battle, though it's more his swerving in and out of view (too-long sleeves flailing) as he serpentines through the battle.

This holds true for the battle up at Rand and Tam's. (Rand no longer in his soft-boy sweater.) Steady until the Trolloc bursts in, going a bit shaky initially, steadying right back up when Tam unsheathes his sword. There are quick cuts but a very steady camera until Tam is injured and then steady again when Rand kills the Trolloc.

We also get smooth camera work when Lan and Moiraine enter the battle. This is the first time we actually see the weaves of her channeling (and I personally think they're beautifully done) and I think you could argue that the first time she channels (the bath) it's Lan's POV so we don't see the weaves -- but this time it's Egwene and Nynaeve's POV so we do see the weaves. (Which fits with the lore that only women who can channel can see the weaves of channeling women.)

The arrival of Moiraine and Lan is an upturn of the battle and it's at this point that we see the Women's Circle kill a Trolloc with their farming tools (warrior society!) and this is when the Trolloc bursts into the forge and Perrin picks up an axe and Laila picks up a hammer and we see them fighting it together in a sort of amateur echo of Lan and Moiraine.

Then it's a downturn of the battle when Nynaeve gets grabbed by a Trolloc and carried away. A second Trolloc comes into the forge and Laila and Perrin are both fighting their own Trolloc in separate corners of the forge. Perrin goes into some sort of berserker mode (sound design here is really well done), finishes off his Trolloc with extreme prejudice, spins with his axe and accidentally hits Laila who is poised to do a finishing move on her own downed Trolloc.

She dies very horribly and Perrin tries to hold in her belly wound and she grabs his pinky finger (echo of their first embrace) and dies. Rutherford does an amazing job showing Perrin's horror and grief and I'm sorry this scene got tangled up in, "is Laila a Dark Friend," questions (there were very definitely two Trollocs in that room and she was very much bringing her hammer down on the Trolloc she'd been fighting; but I don't think the director anticipated that question so there's no clear overhead shot of the body layout) and "what was up with their marriage?" questions. I think if it'd been clearly laid out that Laila was worried that Perrin loved someone other than (or more than) her, this moment would've been better served. But... as I said, Rutherford killed it and I don't think any viewer doubted the guilt and grief Perrin carries from this moment onward.

Yes, this is a Fridging, but! I think it works here. For one, WoT has enough Fridging to fill a Costcos with in-book Perrin given his very own aisle. So it's not unprecedented and it very much works to make Perrin's interior struggle with violence something exterior that a viewing audience can understand. Also, it takes Fridging in an interesting direction. Usually the trope motivates the male character to violence (and this is how it's generally used in WoT, including with Perrin) but in this case it turns the male character off of violence. So, for me, this Fridging gets a pass.

Moiraine is hit by a Trolloc knife but manages to win the battle by throwing the inn at the assembled Trolloc army. (We get a really good look at the Trollocs here, a slow, closeup shot, and my hat goes off to the Practical Effects and CGI crew. They look incredibly good.) Moiraine collapses as the inn collapses with Lan charging up to cover her body and... battle end. We're ~45min in, so that was a solid ten minutes of battling and I wasn't bored once and felt like I learned something important about each character we focused on. Gold stars all around. :)

Two Rivers (day three):

We fade into Rand leading his horse (Bela if you're in the know) into town with his injured dad and realizing crap happened everywhere last night (the lighting gives "early morning" vibes). His face is streaked with blood and filth.

Reunions happen, beginning with Egwene and Rand. She's obviously thrilled to see Rand and he her, though his injured dad has priority. Then Mat arrives with his sisters. His parents are, again, leaning on each other, and his dad seems a bit ashamed (which, he should be). Mat notices Perrin coming out of the forge with Laila's body (Perrin has obviously taken the time to clean her up a little bit). His calling out to Perrin gets Rand's attention but Rand is focused on Tam. So it's Mat who silently supports Perrin as Perrin lays Laila down with the other bodies.

Egwene was fetching Moraine for Tam. And I love how visibly exhausted Moiraine is. Because we saw how hard she fought last night, we recognize how much she's pushing herself here. Which makes Rand's accosting her all the more jarring. And a very strong contrast to the soft-boy Rand we've seen previously. (His sweater is long gone.) And of course, by season end we understand why he's on edge at this moment. (Stradowski gives good reaction when Moiraine retorts, "They're here for you." He looks like he's about to be sick.)

And then we're into Moiraine's monologue about the blind Aes Sedai's prophecy or vision and... yeah, this bit is clunky and rushed, imo. Oh, how I wish the opening scene had been that vision itself as Rafe had planned! That would have left space for more natural sounding dialogue -- less stuffed to the brim with exposition -- for Moiraine to gather our crew together and get them to leave with her. Pike is able to deliver it fairly well but... yeah. Still kind of clunky.

I do love Lan's line, "How did they get here so fast?" The frustrated confusion in Henney's voice, like he's almost speaking to himself. That's the natural I was looking for.

Anyway, it's everyone on their horses and off they go. A couple of things I noticed:

Everyone is still as filthy as they were prior to getting onto the horses. All that's changed is Rand and Egwene have on (admittedly really nice) coats. So there wasn't even a pause to wipe the blood and dirt off their faces.

Everyone has someone to say goodbye to except for Perrin. D: The heart clenches. The warmest goodbye is between Tam and Rand. Tam gets a close up for his gentle, best-dad, smile.

TL;DR This episode, out of the whole first season, is the one where I most felt the interference of sticky executive fingers. The very beginning is an unfortunate level of clunky, and the very ending is almost as bad. Thank God for Rosmund Pike and Kate Fleetwood is all I can say. Fortunately, the middle parts range from good to amazing. I do wish Perrin's backstory had been fleshed out more. (I don't see any benefit gained from not full on spelling out that Laila was worried Perrin loved another woman more than her. And I think there was some cost to not spelling it out.) But otherwise, I enjoyed the character work and the world building.

A solid B episode that easily carries me into watching the next one.

#wot on prime #wot on prime rewatch #wot rewatch #wheel of time rewatch #wot on prime season one

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peaky-malachai · 5 years ago

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﹒☼﹒

UPON RETURN ⎟ T. SHELBY

﹒♱﹒

✒︎requested: no i just loved the gif ✒︎warnings: swearing & narcotics + mentions of blood, bruises & violence && lots of tension ✒︎word count: 5000+ ✒︎season set: 1

[originally posted on my wattpad, bc idk how to post via tumblr but we tryin’. feedback majorly appreciated x]

﹒♱﹒

You took a deep breath as you lifted your bruised and dried bloody knuckle to the oh so familiar door. A thousand thoughts racing through your mind as you tapped your foot, both with impatience and disconcertment of what consequences would follow.

You had moved to Small Heath at the age of seven, give or take, your father had got a job promotion which meant moving up country. When you first arrived you were known as 'The Cockneys At The Bottom Of Watery Lane'. You weren't even from London. You just happened to live near the capital. Not that anyone cared.

When you started school it was the same, only worse. All the girls would pick on you for speaking funny and the boys would pick on you for being too 'brash'. It wasn't your fault your parents had raised you to not take any shit. With your fathers line of work, he wasn't around an awful lot which mean you and your mother had to do a lot of things yourself. Which you, of course, didn't mind but it did mean that a lot of people would be confused and usually straight up rude.

They'd say things along the lines of, 'Whys a women doing this' and, 'Are women even capable of doing that', and so on, when you and your mother were doing the simplest of things.

Anyway, when you joined the school in Small Heath you found that being a girl with her head held high and strong arms wasn't easy.

One day you were minding your own business under the oak tree in the corner of the playground, reading Oliver Twist, if you remember correctly. When out of nowhere a group of kids made their way over to you; three girls and about five boys, all looking irritated.

"Wot ya doing, girl?", a boy with a scarf on asked you.

You rolled your eyes, turning to look at him as you put your bookmark in your book, "I have a name, you know?".

The boy scowled, "I don't care".

'What do you want?', you asked again, looking at the rest of them, "I'm busy".

A girl took a step forward, her hands behind her back as her plaits fell in front of her shoulders, "Just wanted to know why you're such a freak?".

You laughed, "I'm not a freak", you stood up.

"Yeah you are", a little boy from the back spoke up, "Ya read all the time n wear trousers". Another girl nodded, "Yeah girls don't wear trousers, they're for boys, ya freak".

"Girls can wear trousers too, you know?", you crossed your arms, "They're actually really comfortable".

The first boy that spoke to you shook his head, "I bet you wear trousers coz your mum n dad can't afford dresses, ay?", he said as he turned to look at his friends.

You didn't think twice before you lunged forward and brought the boy to the ground, "Fuck did you just say?", you spat as his friends gasped. When the boy didn't answer you shook him by his collar a little, "Didn't hear you".

"I said", he spoke, "You're poor and a freak of a girl", he sniggered.

You narrowed your eyes and lifted your fist before hitting him in the nose. He yelled and pushed you, knocking you slightly but you didn't fall over.

The kids started shouting "Fight... Fight... Fight...", causing a crowd of other kids to come running.

Soon enough you had hit him about four times before you heard an older voice, "Wots going on 'ere then?". You turned around to see three boys in flat caps, the voice belonging to the tallest.

"Wot's it look like?", you said, "I'm beating him u-", you were cut off as the boy beneath you grabbed one of your braids, yanking you down to the floor with him.

You quickly kicked him in the stomach before the three boys grabbed you and held you back, the other boy groaning in pain.

Walking you away as you shouted the boys laughed.

"Wot's your name then?", the smallest one asked as they sat you on a bench. You kept your chin up as you studied them, "Y/N", you narrowed your eyes, " 'ho uh you's then?".

The other two boys looked at each-other and chuckled before turning back to you, "That", they motioned to the smallest boy, "Is John". You nodded. "I'm Arthur", the tallest said before turning to the boy in the middle, "And this is-".

"I'm Tommy", he said as he held his hand out for you to shake, "These are my brothers".

You shook his hand and sat up straighter, "So Wot?", you began, "Yous the topdogs 'ere or sumin?", you asked.

They laughed as John spoke, "Yeah! We're the best here". Tommy gently shoved his brother, "Shut up, John", he said and looked back to you, "We're not yet, but no one messes with us if that's what you mean".

You nodded again, "So can I join your little gang?".

Arthur laughed, "Well you're not a Shel-", his brother Tommy cut him off.

"That's what I wanted to speak to you about actually, Y/N".

You smiled, "So that's a yes?".

John looked over to his older brothers, "Oh please, she's funny!".

Arthur looked back to you, "Where'd you live?", he asked you.

"Wa'ery Lane", you told him, "'bout a month now".

"Oh you're that girl", he said, "She's the cockney down the bottom of the Lane", he nudged Tommy.

"Alright we'll come and see you after school and you can join us", Tommy smiled.

You jumped to your feet and stood on your tippy-toes to be at the same height as Tommy, "Nah", you simply said as you watched his eyebrows furrow, "I'll meet yous, by the bridge at 'alf three", alright?".

Tommy sighed, "Deal". The two of you spat on your hand and shook on it.

The rest was history. You and the three brother became best friends. Wherever you went, they followed and whoever they met up with, so did you.

You and John were the same age, you two were practically the same, it was hilarious. As you grew up you and John would always be playing pranks on the others and messing around with baby Micheal. No one left the two of you alone because they knew something would end up alight.

As for Arthur and Tommy, you all got on well. Whenever anyone messes with you, a seldom occurrence, they wouldn't mind paying them a quick visit. You helped Arthur with his maths and various other things as often as you could, although you didn't tell everyone about that, he wasn't proud.

As for Tommy, you two always loved to talk about the bigger picture and such. Often you two would walk down to the Canal or Charlie's Yard and spend a good few hours just talking about life and theories and your life aspirations.

By the time you and John were 18 your life had changed a lot, along with his. Of course you were still close friends but what with work and relationships you didn't see him as much as you would've liked. The same with Arthur, he always seemed to be busy, doing what you weren't sure exactly but when you did see him you'd always stop for a chat.

You saw Tommy most, he always made a point of stopping into the Newsagents you worked at, just to say good morning. You appreciated the gesture but couldn't help but feel as if you were wasting his time, you were always so busy trying to set up for the day you never got a minute to sit and chat with him.

As you had grown older, yours and Tommy's relationship had shifted slightly. Not that either of you dared to acknowledge, but you knew. You were both guilty of finding excuses to be around each-other and touch one another. Purposely bickering to clear a room of Shelby's out so that you were alone. Stealing glances whilst the other weren't paying attention. Just silly little things that you would try and pass off as platonic intimacy as you laid in bed at night overthinking every single word you said to the man that day... and every other day you'd ever known him.

Of course you wondered if he felt the same. It felt like he did but you could just be imagining that. And you weren't prepared to ruin what you had just because of some silly crush.

However come the end of 1913 your father was now too old to do the job he had moved here to do. And your mother missed her home town and family and as one thing led to another and they decided it was time to move back.

Of course you were devastated, you loved your job even though it was more than trouble then it was worth and you loved your friends. But you were also excited to go back, of course you had been back, Christmas and Easter and what not. But you missed living there, the bustle, the accents, the opportunities and fast changing trends.

So that's what happened, you spent your last few weeks making the most of it with the Shelby's and your job before the day you left came around. You promised you'd visit, and of course you would. You promised to write, and of course you went out and brought new writing pens and paper.

By the time you were settled back into your hometown war had broken out and it seemed almost every man you knew here was off to war. The brothers back in Birmingham as well. You couldn't bare to think about the consequences of that. You still kept in touch with all three of them though.

Until you didn't.

Around a month after the boys were back from the war the letters stopped coming. You weren't sure why or how but they did. So you stopped writing. Your pride was to big to just simply write to Aunt Pol and ask if everyone was ok incase they were and they just didn't like you.

So how did you get to knocking on their betting shop front doors at 11 o'clock at night?

The door opened after you had began knocking constantly after a minute of waiting.

"The fock do ya wan-", a deep voice began before releasing who they were speaking to.

You looked up, almost shocked, "Fuckin' 'ell, Arthur, you ain't 'alf grown since a last saw ya", you let out a strained chuckle as you looked at the man who seemed to be stunned.

"You gunna let me in or should I just bleed out over your shop front?", you joked dryly, "Don't think it'd be good for business".

"Uh yeah", he said as he shook his head, "No come in, yeah, just watch your step, it's busy". You furrowed your eyebrows as you stepped past him, it was 11 at night why would it be busy?

It was though. The entire room was full of people racing back and forward, counting money, writing numbers, sneaking an extra line now that Arthur had his back turned.

"There's a race tomorrow", Arthur told you as he placed a hand around your shoulder, "Now come on, let's get you fixed up, and then you can tell me what the fock happened to ya hands".

You nodded and followed him through the busy shop, keeping your head. Avoiding catching anyone's eye. Someone's eye.

"Polly!", Arthur shouted as he closed the green doors behind you, "Ay! Polly! Ada! Get down 'ere!".

"Sorry, am I causing you trouble, I didn't mean to end up here I just sort of- did?", you mumbled to Arthur, nervously.

"Wot you on about? You're always welcome here Y/N, you know that", he smiled before shouting for Polly once more. "And besides, this is a great time coz Tommy needs a fucking cheering up", he said as he pulled out a chair at the table for you to sit at.

You looked down at the table as you carefully held your hands above it, trying not to ruin it, "Is that so", you began, "dunno if I can help with that mate".

Arthur reached forwards and tilted your chin up to face him, "I hope for both our sakes that ain't true, you're the only hope left, Y/N", he said honestly.

"Wot do'ya mean?", you asked quietly.

Before he could reply you heard two squeals from behind Arthur. Looking up you saw Polly and Ada, and a little boy following behind.

"Y/N!", Polly said as she lifted her hands in the air, "You're here! You're well", she smiled as she walked over to you, wrapping her arms around your side.

"Oh my god", Ada said as she walked over to the other side of you.

"Wot the fuck happened to ya-" Polly asked as she grabbed an old tea towel and placed it carefully under your hands.

"To make a long story short", you forced a smile, "I thought it would be a good idea to find the man that burgled my parents", you cut yourself off with a 'fuck' as Ada began tending to your bruises, "And let's just say.. it wasn't".

Arthur sat up straight, "Can't be that bad", he laughed, "What'd'ya kill him or something", he joked, making light of the situation.

You licked your bottom lip, not saying anything for a moment before looking up from your hands to Arthur's face with a gulp.

"Wait you-", he began.

"You fucking killed someone!", Ada raised her voice in shock.

"Who's killed who then?", A chirpy voice asked as they walked in the room. You knew that voice from a mile off.

"John?", you called out, "John is that you, come 'ere", you said as you tried your best to turn towards the direction of the voice but Ada and Polly were blocking your view.

"Oh fuck off", John said as he pulled out a chair next to Arthur and next to you, "You didn't come and see me first! I'm offended" he joked, "When did you get back?", he beamed as he leant onto the table, hands clasped, "How are you? Any crazy stories to tell me coz I've got loads and- The fock happened to your hand?", John besieged you with questions.

You laughed, "Yeah, missed you too, mate", you said simply as you looked back down at your hands which were stinging now as Polly cleaned them with neat alcohol.

"So do you wanna go down the Garrison after this then?", John simply asked you, ignoring the fact you were being patched up and hadn't seen him since 1913. It was as if you hadn't even spend half an hour apart let alone five or so years.

You looked up with a beaming smile across your red lips, "Fuck kind of a question is that .. of course I do, John".

Arthur cheered as he got up and reached up on top of the kitchen cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whisky. Finding a few small glasses he poured out some drinks, passing them around. John holding yours as both your hands were currently being worked on.

"To this one", Arthur said as he ruffled your hair slightly, just like he had to when you were kids (which you hated, but now it seemed comforting), before everyone cheered slightly and downed their drink.

"Who we toasting to this time then, ay?", a quite deep voice spoke from across the room. Arthur turned around in shock, spilling the bottle of whiskey over that he had brought over and left on the table. "Oh fuck sake Tommy, look what you made me do!", he shouted.

"You fucking idiot", Polly complained as she looked up, "I brought that whiskey to drink, not wash the floor with!".

John burst out laughing as he watched Arthur scuttle around trying to find something to soak it up with. As Ada left your side to help her brother, you looked up back to where the voice had come from.

Thomas.

You gulped softly, running your eyes over the man across the room. He seemed colder, more mature but rather in a sense that he had lost any grip on hope or joy. A contrast to how John seemed. As you looked back up to his face you blushed as you realised he was already staring back at you.

He walked over as he took his cap off, shoving it into his pocket and pulling out a cigarette.

He sat down at the table, stealing Arthur's seat, who was still trying to apologise to Polly for spilling her drink.

"Bet you're glad to be back", Tommy joked dryly as he placed his cigarette in his mouth and nodded in your direction as he pulled out out a light.

You smiled, "Yeah, I definitely missed this", you said sincerely, looking over at everyone, "Whatever 'this' is", you laughed, looking back over at Tommy.

Everyone pretended to still be busy as they all secretly listened in on the exchange between the two of you - amazed that Tommy had even cracked a smile.

"Right, well that should be fine now", Polly tapped your shoulder, "Just don't get into any fights for about a week, at least", she smiled before walking off, taking Ada and Arthur with her. Leaving John who was playing with his thumbs.

"So the Garrison yeah?", you looked over at your best mate, "tonight?".

"Yeah", he smiled, "I'll buy the first round".

You tilted your head with narrowed eyes, "Don't you practically own the pub", you asked as the smell of Tommy's cigarette filled your nose, in a weird sense it was comforting to you.

John nodded with a shrug, "So you won't be buying it then, will you?", you laughed, "And I will".

"Yeah something like that", he laugh as he stood up, "That's what you get for leavin' us".

"Yeah, coz it's not like you went away to war or anything anyway", you shouted after him as he walked off, acting offended. You let out a quiet snort as you watched.

"Why didn't ya visit?", Tommy spoke after a moment, "Y'know, when we got back".

"Yous stopped writing", you said plainly, "So I thought yuh didn't wanna see me", you shrugged as you looked down at your bruised hands.

"We didn't stop.. you stopped", Tommy leant back in his chair.

"Um, No", you furrowed your eyebrows, "I didn't stop writing first, why would I've done that", you argued.

Tommy shook his head slightly, blowing smoke out as he rubbed his temples, "I know what happened". You looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to explain. "Someone stopped delivering our letters and stealing yours when they got here", he leant forward, looking down at your hands, clenching his jaw, "Wot happened?".

"But- But why would someone do that?", you asked, ignoring his question.

"Dunno", he said and thought for a moment, "I'll ask Finn, he used to collect our post and such".

"Finn?", you raised your eyebrows, "Oh my god, is Finn the boy that- oh my god he's so grown up now!", you gasped.

Tommy smiled, "Shot up when we all went away, didn't he?". You nodded, shifting in your seat, turning towards Tommy slightly as you leant back.

"What happened?", Tommy asked again, in reference to your hands. You watched as he brushed away any dirt on the table, not wanting anything to get lodged in your cuts even if they were now covered and treated. You studied his hands now, all the small marks left from old cuts and gashes.

"Um", you didn't know where to start, "Just after the war ended, y'know, everyone settling back in best they could, everyone still disorientated", you absentmindedly began tapping your foot under the table as you continued. Tommy noticed but kept quite. "Well this man, I knew him actually — right cock'ead, worked at the butchers and spied on all the school girls when they walked 'ome", you grimaced, "So yeah anyway, it was a Wednesday evening, I'd popped round to me parents 'ouse, just two roads away from mine, and um", you licked your bottom lip, lightly biting the skin on the inside.

"When I got- when I got there they were both knocked out cold, only just fuckin' breathin'", you shook your head as you remembered, your tapping growing louder, "That's when I realised someone was in thee 'ouse". Tommy held his chin high as he tried to contain his displeasure, not only had this mysterious man caused you pain but also your parents - who he knew well and respected.

"So I goes up stairs and the pig is filing though my mothers jewellery box ain't he?", you laughed dryly to yourself, "Only to realise everything is sentimental and barely worth a fuckin' thing", you cursed.

Tommy opened his mouth to speak, unsure of what to say but he wanted to comfort you, even if he was a little late. He didn't get the chance as you began speaking again, the anger in your voice more present.

"I mean what the fuck did he think was gonna be there? Fucking Faberge Eggs? We're livin' on the outskirts of London for fucks sake", you wanted to clench your fists but it would ruin everything Polly had just achieved, instead you decided to throw your head back and angrily shout 'fuck'.

Tommy stifled a laugh as he watched you so desperately want to lash out, "So what did you do?".

You lifted your head back up slowly and looked over at Tommy, dead in the eyes, "I told him to fuck off and never come back", you simply said, adding, "With a butchers knife in my hand, and a pistol in the other".

Tommy took a long drag of his cigarette as he looked at you, "And people say I'm threatening", he joked.

Shrugging with a small smirk you leant forward, crossing your legs in hopes of stopping yourself from tapping them. "Anyway, he left with his hands up and then I never saw him again".

Tommy butted his cigarette in the ashtray and folded his arms, ready to hear the gruesome end to your story.

"That was until I obviously tracked him down, I wasn't going to let him get away with hurting my parents".

"Did it take long?".

"No", you looked down at your hands once more, "I found him in a day or two, moved up to Coventry .. I went up to visit him once a month— secretly of course, just to make sure he was still there and what no", you raised your eyebrows before you spoke, "And then today I decided he was finally comfortable, my threats of finding him finally at the back of his mind".

Tommy looked you over as you sat, one leg still bouncing as your thumbs rolled over one another, your bottom lip a piece of meat to your top teeth as little bits of your lipstick began to wear off.

"I'll spare you the gore but let's just say he got more then I intended to give him and now he's resting in his own fire pit", you smiled sinisterly as you looked up to Tommy. "I feel bad of course, I guess", your smile faded, "But he deserved it, and it wasn't as if he had any family that cared about him".

Tommy took a short breath, straightening his back and smoothing his waistcoat down before looking at you with a concerned look.

"Wot?", you asked as you saw the look in his eye, "Look, if you're going to ask any questions about my well being- don't .. I'm clearly fine, aren't I?".

"What about the stuff that's not obvious", Tommy said lowly, "Why are you really here? Hmm?", he leant forward, adjusting your bloodied shirt cuffs, "I'm sure you could find many people to patch you up, and better then Pol too", he joked.

"Ay don't discredit Pol, she did a great job", you changed the subject. "And anyway", you carefully stood up, standing behind your hair as you pushed it under the table with your hip, "It's easy to hide in plain sight here".

Tommy watched you as you walked over to their sink, turning on the tap and bending to drink the water. The prospect of filling and holding a cup in your bandages wasn't looking fun right now. Tommy held back a giggle as he raised a brow at your behaviour, "How so?".

You turned around, leaning on the kitchen surface, "Well not only do I just have to put some coal on me and call it day, my best mate is the leader of arguably one of the most powerful organised gangs in the country, no one would dare give me up", you smirked.

"You reckon John's in charge?", Tommy stood up, leaving his chair untucked as he walked over to you, placing his hands either side of your waist, "Is is that what he's told you".

You gulped with a playful expression still on your face, "Well Arthur's too hot-headed and you're too collected, Johns a mix of both", you half lied, just to test Tommy's patience. He narrowed his eyes with a sly smirk upon his lip.

"You don't think that", he said simply.

"Says who?".

"You".

"Well I literally just said the opposite so I don't exactly understan-".

Tommy cut you off as he leant closer, his hands subconsciously moving closer to your body as they glided across the surface edge, "Your body language", he said as if it was obvious, "Your heart".

You let out a loud dry laugh, trying to outwit him as you held your chin high, feigning confidence, "What do they say then? Because my brain is saying that you're embarrassed by my opinions".

"Well for starters you've ended up in my old house, pinned to a surface by me", Tommy took a shallow breath as he stood up straight, now his chest was practically touching yours, "Not John", he looked down into your eyes, holding your gaze, "Not Arthur, and not Jack from down the lane who used to flirt with you every fockin' chance he got".

You bit your lip, praying that no one would interrupt this, wanting to see how far it could go.

Of course you had thought about this before. You and Tommy. The way you both bounced off of eachother so well, the way you never felt awkward around eachother, the way you just understood eachother. Tommy and You. Of course you had thought about his lips on yours before, his hands on your waist- around your neck. The two of you cuddled up after a long day of running the betting shop. It had occupied the small space at the back of your mind since you were fourteen. You ignored it best you could though.

But over time that small space had become bigger, migrating to the front of your brain. And after all of your hard work getting it to shut up whilst you were back home, you had to come back to Birmingham and run into him. He had to ruin it and make you fall for his rubbish all over again.

Or maybe you came to Birmingham for that exact reason. Shit. He was right.

"No, you're in front of me", He said as you looked back into his eyes, "And I think we both know why".

"Do we?".

Tommy narrowed his eyes a playful smirk grew upon his lips, he chuckled to himself quietly, just above a whisper, "You know what your problem is?", he asked.

You shook your head a little, not trusting yourself to speak, afraid you would give in to him first.

"You're too stubborn, your ego is the size of a circus".

You furrow you're eyebrows with a gasp, "Am not!", you childishly defended yourself, "What makes me stubborn then, huh?".

"The fact you won't admit you've come here to see me".

"Well in actual fact, if I had come to see anyone, it would be John", you raised an eyebrow, "But as I said, I just ended up here and I'm glad I did because Polly is the only other person besides from my mum that I'd trust to patch me up".

Tommy returned back to his infamous imperturbable expression as he looked at you, "Why aren't you with John Boy now then? Ay?", he pressed, "Why aren't you terrorising Harry with him down at the Garrison?".

You shrugged, "Maybe", you smirked, "Maybe because you've trapped me in this godforsaken little kitchen because you're to scared to admit that you fancy me", you flushed a little as you finished your sentence, your heart racing as you wondered if this was the end of you and Tommy. Whatever you and Tommy was.

Tommy clenched his jaw, his eyes darting from your eyes, to your chest, to your hands, to your lips. "Well go on then", he stepped back, leaving you just enough space to walk away, "Go off and play with John then".

You frowned, eyes narrowed as you wondered if he was being serious, it was hard to tell with him.

You pushed yourself off of the counter, closing the gap between you both again as you stood as tall as you could. Your nose practically touching his chin as you looked up to him. "Fine", you said coldly, "I'll see you later then, after I'm done catching up with John", you quickly turned and headed for the front door before you could fall victim to Tommy's eyes again.

"And my Gin", you shouted before the door slammed shut behind you.

Damn both of your conceit.

﹒♱﹒

✒︎author note: part two? + plus plz comment any spelling mistakes etc ✒︎requests: open 09/2019

~ published: 29.10.2019 ~

﹒☼﹒

#tommy shelby imagine #peaky blinders imagine #thomas shelby #imagines #peaky #fanfic #peaky blinders fanfic

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ivanaskye · 5 years ago

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WoT book 3 reactions!

So you may remember how I recently finished book 2. Now I’m done with book 3! It’s titled The Dragon Reborn, despite barely having a handful of Rand POV scenes.

Thematically, it serves as a reminder that there are two ta’veren—people who get shoved around by fate but also have a good chance of changing the world—OTHER than Rand here. Moiraine had almost forgotten how important they might become, distracted instead by Rand’s literal-chosen-one-ness, and so probably had the readers.

BUT NO LONGER!

Once again, I’m going character-by-character here under the cut (if tumblr can remember how to cut.)

[[MORE]]

Perrin

The largest chuck of the book’s POV is him (though Egwene’s a close second), so we get to know him pretty well

He still Doesn’t Want To Be A Furry, though we finally get evidence that he might be right to be wary—he encounters someone else with his ability who has completely lost his connection to humanity in favor to being a wolf.

Although I’m pretty sure actively trying to walk that line is much safer than pushing it away only to be overwhelmed by it later, but Perrin only makes so many good decisions

See also: yelling in mixed company, RAND’S THE BLOODY DRAGON

despite this, he is typically the smartest of the three ta’veren boys.

He’s real cute when he gets into blacksmithing, I’m glad he has something that makes him happy

Also he just has a Dead Wolf Friend That Always Wanted To Fly But Can Now Fly In The Afterlife as his partner in prophetic, can-totally-kill-you, dreams?? Adorable.

He also absolutely has a girlfriend-to-be now, which was so obviously set up that it feels forced, but also I really like her and also they’re cute together and I ship it. I’m conflicted. Anyway, more about her later.

Egwene

The other MC for this book

I still love her?? How much more is there to say than that.

She’s ACTUALLY UNCOMFORTABLE HIDING THINGS, which is really big mood and also she’s a @sortinghatchats gryffindor secondary.

She’s showing more and more signs of actually being a Dreamer, maybe. Also she gets more vengeful and terrifying each book. IS she going to torture someone to death later in the series. (Don’t answer that, I wanna find out for myself.)

Mat

Oh my gods he’s so stupid

SO STUPID

Almost the first thing he does once he gets healed from the evil dagger, about 1/3 into the book, is think about how he can win a lot of money with His Dice

So I think, “oh, he has loaded dice”

Spoiler: he DOESNT

THEYRE JUST NORMAL DICE

HIS ENTIRE PLAN HINGES ON WINNING A LOT OF GAMBLING WITH COMPLETELY NORMAL DICE

Good thing that he suddenly came about magical good luck.... which he didn’t know about before he made this plan of course

The magical good luck might also have something to do with him being possessed by an ancient general of the country that used to exist in the same place as his hometown??? Though that could just be him in a past life—if people have multiple lives within the same Age, which I’m unclear about.

I think the one smart thing he does all book is think to himself “but when have I ever been sensible?” Self awareness is the first step!

Perrin yelling out to him in a dream “YOURE DICING WIITH BA’ALZAMON!!” has really big “oh god he has AirPods In HE CANT HEAR US” energy. Which is pretty much just the mood with Mat.

When he’s not denegrading all his supposed friends and annoyed that people aren’t grateful to him, anyway :x

Moiraine

It’s actually hitting me how Weird it is that I like her, because Characters Who Hide Things From Everyone are usually my least fav

But I think her POVs early in the series really, really helped—I know she’s doing her best

It’s just that her best does not include the skill of summary

“I can’t tell you because how could I ever condense a lifetime of information into one conversation???” its called cliffnotes Moiraine

Also she has balefire. Which she apparently only learned the last YEAR. When. Inquiring minds want to know!!

Nynaeve

Speaking of balefire, she can do that too

But, like all other channeling, only when she’s angry. Which means that in order to heal people from near-death, she has to rile herself up. “HOW DARE PEOPLE.... PUNCTURE FLESH!”

She’s also like, getting weirdly upset at Egwene for Everything, which, Hm. Don’t Like That

Elayne

IM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE.... A NEW CONFIRMED BRAINCELL!!!

The braincell was confirmed when she looked at the list of the Black Ajah who escaped and determined that its sheer patternlessness was unlikely to be random, and instead was probably *designed* to make it hard to discern any clues just by looking at who left

Mostly in this book she’s just playing the Friend Of Egwene role though

Faile

NEW FRIEND NEW FRIEND

What a legend. She just sees this really weird group of travelers and is like “ah... I treasure hunt (a particular treasure)... they are weird... I must join them to see what happens”

(Chased by literal demon dogs) “oh yeah I’m still sticking around, where will I find a better story than THIS”

“Also my name means falcon, I picked it myself”

Fills a role that was conspicuously empty before: non-channeling combat-oriented woman

Also totally Perrin’s gf now

I guess that’s what happens when you follow someone around on purpose and then he plunges himself into wakeless dreams just to rescue you!!! You kinda get invested!!!

Lan

He’s playing with the concept of having facial expressions now! I’m proud of him

Literally wants nothing more than to die before Moiraine

Again, why is Nynaeve so thirsty for him...?

Loial

Is still just There

Min

Where the heck did she go. I want her back.

Rand

I saved the best (and in this book, most mysterious) for last

Main POV character whom??? “What if... instead I totally lose it from the stress of being the chosen one and having too much magical power to control and basically being filled with everything at all times”

“And leave my friends to just attempt to chase after me for a whole book”

Honestly the early Perrin POV chapters about Rand made me ABSOLUTELY invested in him. The filled-with-power-ness. It’s so good.

His entire motivation this book is to either prove he’s actually the Dragon by getting The Magic Sword, or prove he’s not by dying, and he honestly looks like he might prefer the second option

He does not get the second option

Speaking of that, I had Callandor (the magic sword) pegged as totally-not-Excalibur, but I’m pretty sure Excalibur doesn’t glow like a supernova or warp the fabric of reality, so,

He keeps getting so convinced that he’s killed Satan THIS time, even though there’s 11 more books to go

And yes he doesn’t know how many books he’s in.... BUT he knows some of the prophecies, all of which say that what he just did is only the beginning

Chill on the wishful thinking Rand

You’re in for the long haul

#wot #wheel of time

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singminibang · 7 years ago

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3 against 25

Author: Yeahjusttrash (tumblr: @cartoonloverstuff)

Artist: stevetwisp (tumblr: @stevetwisp)

Summary: Just a sweet one shot of Johnny, Ash, and Meena trying to watch Rosita’s kids together for a night. Johnny is natural great with the kids. Ash has some difficulty adjusting, but managed. Meena is used to babysitting, just not so many kids at once. Not much in the way of plot. Mostly just fun fluff.

"There's plenty of snacks in the fridge, help yourselves. First aid kit is in the upstairs bathroom cupboard. Bedtime is at 8pm for the kids.-" Rosita spoke quickly as she went over information Johnny already knew. He had been staying with Rosita and her family for the past few weeks and figured the she was saying all this for the other two teenagers present.

On Johnny's right was Ash looking completely out of place in the family house and on his left was Meena in her signature nervous stance. "We'll be back by 11:00 at the latest. Call if you need anything." Rosita said right before she disappeared out the door with her husband, leaving the three teens in a house with 25 children.

"3 to 25. We got this!" Johnny said with more confidence than he actually had.

Half an hour later, no less than three of the kids had picked themselves on Ash's quills and cried. Ash was currents sat on the kitchen counter glaring at the ground in frustration next to Meena who was tending to Micky, the latest victim of her quills. The porcupine was about to banish herself to clean up duty when something large and soft suddenly flopped on her. She struggled with a heavy, soft entrapment for a few moments before it settled more comfortably around her shoulders and a hood fitted on her head. Ash's vision was blocked by baby blue fabric and knew the entrapment was Meena's hoodie. Like magic, the elephant was suddenly in front of her tying the sleeve of the hoodie so it was secure around Ash and the sleeve would only drag on the ground a minimal amount.

"There. I-is that okay?" Meena stuttered slightly as she shuffled back a little to look at her handy work. The tiny piglet with a fresh bandage on his finger looked around Meena as Ash was still fixing the hood so she could see. Once adjusted, the large garment fit perfectly over the quills on her head and effectively covered the quills running down her back.

"Woooow, you have cape! You look like a super hero!" The Micky piped up from behind Meena. Ash smiled at that, even though she was sure she looked more like a pastel grim reaper than any caped hero. Still, she was just relieved she won't be spending the rest of the evening worrying about accidentally impaling someone.

"Heh, thanks Meens." Ash smiled as she hopped off her perch and followed the other two out to meet Johnny where they left him in the playroom with the rest of the kids.

The three walked into a scene of pure chaos. Art supplies had been scattered everywhere, toys littered the room, and the remaining piglets had occupied themselves by any activity they could find that was either loud or made a mess. Micky immediately took off to join his siblings in running around and screaming. Meena and Ash were both kind of struck dump by the sheer havoc and stood frozen taking it all in.

Johnny was in the midst of everything, completely unfazed by the disarray surrounding him. In fact, he was just adding to chaos by chasing the piglets around the room, seeming to be having just as much fun as they were. A few moments after the girls entered, Johnny looked up and realized they were back. He gave them a cheery smile from where he was a few feet away carrying three piglets he had 'captured'. "'Ey, ya back!" He chirped as he released the piglets and made his way closer to them. "Wot's with the new looks?" He cocked an eyebrow as he got closer and sized them up, seeing Ash looking very cozy in her new hoodie cover and and Meena looking slightly uncomfortable now that she was sans-hoodie, revealing a loose grey t-shirt with red sleeves.

"Uh, we found a way to cover Ash's quills!"

"I'm a superhero!"

The two answers overlapped and just amused Johnny. Shouting came from behind him as four piglets charged his legs, trying to bring him down. The gorilla stumbled slightly, threatening to fall on the girls, but manage to keep his balance and turned on the piglets. With a playful roar, the youngsters took off screaming with Johnny chasing behind them. Ash was quickly swept away by a majority of the piglets once Micky had spread the word that she was now a superhero. (She had a cape now, she had to be a super hero!) Meena entered the fray much more cautiously, going over to the building block area where she could keep an eye on the rest of the piglets.

Not long after Ash was deemed a superhero, Johnny declared himself a super villain and dove into their expansive costume chest for a villain costume. The best he could come up with was a pirate hat, which he proudly dawned. The room essentially became a play war zone of pirates versus heroes with Meena off to the side supervising the last subset of piglets as they built an impressively large fort.

The elephant marveled at the little ones' craftsmanship and thought they must have inherited some of their mother's engineering talent. She also found herself surprised by just how much she liked Rosita's children. Sure, they were loud, energetic, and even mischievous, but they weren't mean or cruel like the kids Meena had remembered growing up. Granted, not all children Meena knew as a child were mean, but enough were to make her lose hope on making friends with any of them. Seeing so many children playing and cooperating together, and siblings no less, without the mean spiritedness she had been somewhat expecting made Meena feel a warm happiness bloom inside her chest. She hoped the piglets stayed like this and didn't let schoolyard taunts and bullies sour them. She reasoned they had a good chance of staying kind and unharmed by the years to come. After all, they would have each other. The last thought calmed Meena and widen the soft smile on her face.

She was suddenly pulled from thoughts when she felt someone grab her arm and yanked her away from her post by the play fort. Confused and almost panicked, she turn to see Johnny dragging her behind him quickly. He turned suddenly with Meena behind him, putting himself between her and everyone else. Triumphantly, he raised the hand that was clasped around her wrist and proclaimed. "Ha! Na' I've kidnap ya babysitter! And you'll haf to go through me ta get 'er back!" Johnny grinned menacingly and crotched in a ready stance with a plastic sword in one hand in preparation to face off against Ash and her army of piglets. Johnny glanced behind him quickly and saw Meena's concerned and puzzled expression. Before she could ask anything, he shot her a crooked smile. "Just play along, yeah?" He whispered with a wink and turned back to face the others.

Ash successfully rounded all the piglets up in a huddle for a game plan, as even the ones in the fort had decided to join forces to save their damsel-in-distress babysitter. Meena just blinked and felt out of place, unsure as to how she should 'play along.' "Uh, help. Help meee." Meena croaked out awkwardly. "I'm being held hostage by a pirate. (Whose only like half my size.)" Meena couldn't help but chuckle as she said the last bit.

Johnny turned back to pout at her. "I am not!" He all but whined, which made Meena giggle out more. The gorilla smirked at her. "'Nd 'sides, hostages aren't suppose ta giggle. Ya not very good at thi-"

His teasing was cut short when an inflatable ball sailed through the air hit the side of his head. His attention swiftly switched back to the piglets just in time to see the onslaught of rubber balls, stuffies, and soft toys being hurled their way. Johnny quickly got in his stance and deflected a majority of the toys that came his way with the toy sword. Behind him, Meena held up her arms in defense of the soft objects, squealing with laughter.

Once the kids ran out of ammo, Johnny laughed triumphantly. "Hah hah! That the best ya got?" His question was answered when a wave of piglets all charge him at the same time. His face fell and he had just enough time to realize his mistake before being trampled by a sea of children.

Over the children's screaming and giggles, he heard Meena descend into a laughing fit and Ash give out mighty commands. "Yes, my adorable, pink army! Show him no mercy!"

Johnny tried to raise from the mountain of children on top of him, but quickly learned was out matched and should tap out. "Ok-oof- okay, I surrender! Ow! Guys, ya won!" Johnny squeaked out in good humor. He was no longer being trampled, but a majority of the piglets were still amassed on top of him, playfully keeping him pinned. "Meena? Meena, I can't get up. Help?" His pleads were met with more uncomfortable giggle as Meena was trying (and failing) to regain her composure. Eventually, her breathing evened out enough for her to shoo the piglets off Johnny and help him to his feet. It was close to the kids' bedtime anyway.

"Attention!" Ash barked out in military famous. All eyes were immediately on her. "Company, line up!" She point to the door as she ordered the piglets. The mass of giggling children ran towards the door, forming a shape that was more line like than not. Ash took her spot at the lead and began marching to the children's bedroom with them in tow.

She was faced away from everyone, so no one saw the huge, giddy grin bloom across her face. She had never been good with kids before. Normally, she avoided them and found them annoying. And in turn, they would find her scary or boring. The porcupine glanced back to see a long line of little piglets goofily imitating her marching. Her smile grew impossibly wider. With how the evening had started, she assumed she would be spending it avoiding the kids like she often did, not be playing right along side them like Johnny did.

With a happy sigh, Ash schooled her face in mock sternness and turned around once they reached the bedroom. "Alright troops, you've got five minutes to change into uniforms. Go, go, go!" She ushered them in and the bedroom became a pandemonium of pajamas and screaming.

Twenty minutes later, the piglets teeth were brushed and they were settle in bed, intently listening to Johnny's dramatic reading of one of the picture books he found. Ash and Meena dismissed themselves to clean up detail and spend another twenty minutes picking up the playroom and trying to figure out where things went. Once the playroom room look relatively decent, the girls headed down stairs and plopped down on the living room furniture. Ash climbed into a comfy looking chair and Meena all but collapsed on the couch.

After a moment of peace, Meena turned her head to look at Ash. "Think we can consider tonight a success?" She chuckled a little. When the porcupine didn't make any response, Meena sat up and looked over at her. "Ash?" Ash was curled up in Meena's hoodie with back to the room. Soft snores escape from her baby blue wrapped form. Preoccupied with peering over her sleeping company, Meena didn't notice the approaching footsteps behind her.

"I don't think ya getting that back any time soon." Johnny spoke softly, but still made Meena jump. She squeaked and turned to just in time to see him vault himself over the back of the couch with one hand and land next to her. "Sorry, didn't mean t' scare ya." He said in a hushed voice as he gave an apologetic smile and leaned over to grab the TV remote. "Anyway, the rugrats are asleep so now all we've got to do is keep quiet enough not t' wake 'em." With that, he leaned back with one arm hanging on the back of the couch and his other hand operating the remote.

After going through what was available, Johnny settled on watching some game show while keeping the volume low. He cracked a yawn as the TV droned on and glanced at the clock. It was just past 8:45. Why was he so tired? Had the piglets really drained so much energy out of him? He had been staying with them for weeks and interacted with them daily and it hadn't fazed him. Then again, he had never been left in charge of the piglets before. It was different not having their always-on-top-of-things mother around. Johnny had been really nervous about being around the kids when he first started staying with Rosita and her family, scare that he might accidentally hurt one of them or that they won't like him. He learned quickly that kids were more durable than they seemed, and all it took was the promise of piggyback rides and funny story telling and he was suddenly their new best friend. In other words, Johnny took to the lot of children quickly, and they had taken to him immediately. The first time the gorilla had ever set foot in the house, he had children climbing on him and hanging off his arms asking him to come play with them within minutes.

Johnny smiled dreamily at the memory. He wondered if this was what it was like to have siblings, since had never had anything like this before. His family had pretty much always been his dad, a couple of 'uncles', and occasionally a woman would enter Big Daddy's life long enough to bother meeting Johnny. His family was far from nuclear.

His thoughts began to turn towards his father and that whole situation when they were interrupted by another yawn. He shook the thoughts from his head, he didn't really want to dwell on that right now anyway.

Shifting around in his seat, he tried to sit a little more up right to stay awake and glanced at his company. Ash was soundly sleeping and Meena's head was drooping dangerous low. "Oi," Johnny voice was hushed and he nudged Meena's side. "You falling asleep on me too?" He jabbed lightly.

Meena's head lulled up and words was barely audible. "'M awake." She murmured drowsily.

Johnny smirked fondly. "Yeah, that was convincing." He checked the clock again. "Listen, I figure at least one of us should be awake 'til Rosita gets back. Why don't I take the first shift 'n I'll wake ya in a bit?" Despite his tired body's protests, Johnny was too much of a gentleman to not offer to go first. Meena only gave a little nod in response, her eyes already sliding shut. Johnny turned back to the TV, determined to stay awake.

Half an hour later, all three were peaceful sleeping. The living room still and quiet save the low noise from the TV and soft snoring coming the three teens. It was a blissfully calm scene.

That is, until Ash's restless, sleeping form turned over and right off the chair she was curled up in. The other two were jolted awake by the porcupine yelp as she fell, hitting the floor with a soft thud. Meena groaned as rubbed at her eyes while Johnny sleepily sat up and looked around for what woke him. His gaze landed on Ash face down on the floor and his mind piece together the rest. He tried not to chuckle at her. "Not exactly a graceful way to wake up." He quipped, his voice still heavy with sleep. The porcupine sat up (eventually, after a bit of struggle with the hoodie still wrapped about her) and tried to glare at Johnny. This just made him snicker more. He couldn't take her stink eye seriously while swaddled in the baby blue pullover, looking more like a grumpy, little kid than a snarky teen. Johnny looked away, covering his mouth to try and conceal his chuckling, and checked the clock again. 9:24. He sighed tiredly as his body was already leaning back into its comfortable sleeping position. Unfortunately, he didn't realize the elephant he had been using as support wasn't there until it was too late. Johnny let out a small sound of surprise as he fell against the couch cushions, quickly propping himself back up and looking around in confusion.

"Yeah, she got up and left." Ash answered his unspoken question and nodding towards the stairs.

Upstairs, Meena walked softly through the hall. She was sure she had heard something, her ears didn't play tricks with her. Quietly, she strained her hearing and waited.

*sniff*

There it was. Meena hear soft sniffling and whimpering and followed it to its source. Her ears lead her to a linens closet near the kids' bedroom. Gently, she opened it and peered inside. Meena felt her heart ache at the sight of a little, frighten piglet curled up towards the back of the closet. The elephant crotched down and reached out.

"Hey there, can't sleep?" She spoke in a soft comforting tone. The piglet looked up at her with teary eyes and took Meena's hand, letting the elephant bring her out and pick her up. Kelly, the piglet currently being carried back to the bedroom, clung to her babysitter's shirt. Meena's brow furrowed in worry. "Did you have a bad dream?" Kelly nodded. "W-well, there's nothing to worry about! We're all downstairs keeping watch." Meena ignored the part her brain that reminded her they had fallen asleep. She briefly fretted over how long Kelly had been hidden away in there before forcing herself to refocus. "You've got a superhero and a pirate keeping guard! Remember?" She tried to get the piglet to smile, but Kelly just clung tighter.

"B-but... w-what if s-something is up h-here? They're d-down there." The piglet's voice was shaky and tired.

"Oh, well, I'll stay up here. With you!" Meena smiled down and this time Kelly smiled back.

Once in the bedroom, the piglet still had a death grip on Meena's shirt and the elephant wasn't really sure what to do. She sat down with the child cradled in her arms when an idea stuck her. Softly, she began to hum a gentle tone. Soon words followed, and Meena found herself singing Amazing Grace. That song always put her to sleep, or at least that was her excuse to her mother when she was caught sleeping at church.

Meena felt the grip on her shirt loosen and glanced down to see Kelly's eyes drooping. The elephant smiled triumphed, but kept singing. She continued without stop even when she was startled by shifting beside her and turned to see a sleepy Casper trudge over with a blanket in tow until he was just within reach of the elephant and fall against her leg, curling up next to her. More piglets migrated towards Meena's serenade, her smooth voice calming whatever restlessness that had be inside them. After singing thought the song twice, the elephant let her voice fade out, and the room drifting into a sleepy quiet.

"Dawwwww." Her peaceful moment was interrupted by the low drawl of a cockney accent. Her gaze flickered up and she saw Johnny in the doorway with his phone out, clearly taking some digital records of the scene. Meena's face heated slight and she tried to shoot him a stern look, but it morphed into a halfhearted pout.

"Whatever, at least it worked and got the kids to sleep." Meena rolled her eye and tried not the smile at her friend's antics.

"Not just them." Johnny added as he pushed the bedroom door open the rest of the way, revealing a sleeping Ash sat on the floor and leaning heavily on the doorframe.

Meena smile fondly, touched that Ash had also felt the need to come up and check on her, and that her song had lulled the teenager to sleep as well. Immediately, she felt the need to pickup her friend and carry her back, but that was also the moment Meena realized she had a half dozen or so piglets sleeping on her. Looking about herself, she knew she was trapped.

"Uh... Johnny?" Meena whispered with her eyes still in the piglets. "I, uh, I can't get up. ...help?" She giggled out faintly. Johnny cocked an eyebrow at the scene and took one more picture, in which Meena in hidden behind her eyes and glowering at him, before entering the room. After a few minutes of careful tucking piglets into bed, they crept out of the room and headed back downstairs. Meena stopped briefly to scoop up a still hoodie-wrapped Ash before following Johnny down the hall.

Johnny checked the clock again before sitting down, this time in a more alert posture. "Kay, this time, we should actually stay awake." He thought out loud as Meena gently placed Ash back in her chair.

"Right!" Meena straighten up where she was standing next to the chair, her blue eyes bright with determination. "They'll be back in a little over an hour. We can last til then!" Her encouraging words were more to convince her sleep-craving body than Johnny. Still, she felt confident in her ability to stay up as she returned to her seat on the couch. Within ten minutes, both Meena and Johnny were soundly dead to the world along with Ash.

Meena was the first awake, her sensitive hearing catching the sound of keys jiggling and the front door opening. Her eyes peeked opened just in time to see Rosita enter the room. Meena's eyes snapped open the rest on the way and she shot up from the couch. This caused Johnny, who had once again slouched against the elephant, to fall back against the couch cushions with a small oof. "Rosita! W-welcome back!" Meena's words jolted Johnny semi-conscious brain. His eyes popped open and he scrambled off the couch to a standing position next to Meena. Rosita watched the whole display with her hand in front of her mouth, trying to hide a very amused smile.

Both teens began to apologize for drifting off, their word overlapping each other's, but Rosita waved it off and offered them a grateful, beaming smile. "Were they any trouble?" She asked with such sincerity that both teens froze for a moment.

Johnny was the first to respond. "The kids? Naw, they were great!" He relaxed a bit while going over the evening events with Rosita as Meena shuffled back to wake up Ash. A few moments later, Norman walked in counting out some bills and started handing off payments to the three teens.

Johnny was preoccupied talking with Rosita and automatically accepted what was being handed to him. A moment later glanced down and gave the currency in his hand a puzzled look. Meena had an equally confused expression when payment was pushed into her hands. Ash was barely awake enough to process what was going on and didn't question the money that had somehow appeared in her grip.

Johnny tried to give his back as politely as possible. "Uh... Rosita, ya know ya don't have t'-"

"Don't be silly. You were all a big help tonight and definitely earned!" Rosita cut off the cockney teen, quickly brushing off his offer before he could even finish saying it.

"But-"

"It's getting late. Johnny, why don't you drive the girls home."

"But I-"

"No but's!"

Rosita gave the gorilla a silencing stern look and ushered all three teens out the front door before any of them had the chance to reject their payment. The door shut leaving the guilty looking gorilla, a slightly flustered elephant, and a semi-conscious porcupine on the front porch. They stood in the quiet night air for a few moments, each in their own thoughts. Johnny tried to wrap his head around how he was suppose to not feel bad about getting paid. Paying Meena and Ash made sense, but he had staying with the family ever since Rosita had learned of his situation. Watching the kids for her seemed like the least he could do.

"Johnny!" He was yanked from his thoughts when he heard his name called. He turned and saw Ash and Meena had already started towards the car. Meena stopped to get his attention and waited for him to catch up, while Ash continued her heavy-eyed trudge.

Johnny hurried over to walk with them down to his car. "Sorry, just thinkin'." He offered a quick explanation then looked down guiltily. "I'm already stayin' with 'me rent free. What they go 'n pay me for?" The gorilla scuffed his shoe as he thought out loud.

Meena made a hum of agreement. She hadn't been expecting any kind of payment either and had intended to just chalk up the favor as payback for all the stuff Rosita did for them. Giving the mother pig a night off seemed like a reasonable task. Meena's thoughtful gaze shifted from Johnny to Ash, who had shown the least amount of resistance when receiving compensation. Meena wondered now if it was because her friend actually needed it. While she and Johnny were both living with families, Ash was living by herself, paying rent and everything.

As they reached the end of the walkway to the street, Meena quietly spoke up. "Um, Ash? Do... do you want my share? I mean you could probably use it more and-"

"Nope." The porcupine answered confidently as she walked by the pig family's mailbox. Once underneath it, she hopped up and grabbed the handle with one hand, her weight pulling it open. Dangling for a moment, she chucked her payment in with the other hand, then plopped down and went to wait by the car for Johnny to unlock it.

Her friends watched with interest. An amused grin spread on Johnny's face and he chuckled. "Works for me." He tossed his share in as well with Meena happily following suit and flicking the mailbox closed with her trunk.

As Johnny went around the car to unlock it, Meena spoke up hesitantly. "Sooooo... can I maybe have my hoodie back?"

Ash felt her grip on the fabric tighten. She found herself reluctant to give up her warm, sleep-provoking, cloth cocoon. "Nope. Still need it." She stated blankly, trying to fight off a yawn as she leaned heavily on the closed car door.

This took Meena surprise. "For what?" She puzzled. "Isn't it way too big to be useful to you?"

"Imma superhero..." The small mammal mumbled drowsily and lost her battle with a yawn that nearly cracked her jaw.

"She's got a point," Johnny chimed in once he got the car doors unlocked. "Can't go bein' a superhero without a cape. It's just unprofessional." He reasoned in a mock serious tone. This earned his an exasperated glare from Meena.

"You stay out of this." She pouted, her words lacking any harshness and only caused the gorilla to put his hands up in a halfhearted mock surrender.

With a bit of struggle (and maybe some assistance from Meena), Ash managed open the car door and heave herself up on the seat. "Besides," she huffed out. "I look cuter with this." The porcupine pulled the hoodie tighter around her and cocked an eyebrow at Meena. "And you look cuter without it."

Meena froze halfway in the car, her face turning pink. "Th-that's not true!" The elephant sat rigidly in her seat, sudden made aware how exposed she felt without her shapeless hoodie to hide in. Her arms gently wrapped around herself as if to conceal her bulky body.

"Sure it is! Right, Johnny?" Ash was unfazed by Meena's flustered behavior and casually turned to Johnny for support.

The gorilla looked up wide-eyed from the ignition, clearly confused as to why he was being called upon for this. He looked between an expectant Ash and shy Meena before giving them both a sheepish smile. "I thought I was suppose t' stay out of this."

"Wuss." Ash rolled her eyes and looked through the windshield.

"Okay, fine. Ya' both pretty always. Bette'?" Johnny smiled as he gunned the engine to life. "Cop out." Ash smirk as she watched the elephant out of the corner of her eye and saw her large friend's face grow deeper and deeper with color. She heard Johnny give a tired sigh and Meena cut in before he could continue his back and forth with Ash.

"You can hang on to the hoodie for a bit if you promise to stop talking and go to sleep!" Meena was too easily flustered to let this continue. She just wasn't use to or knew how to handle being called cute. And Ash knew it.

Ash's smirk grew. Score. She was happily curled up in warm, blue cloth and snoring within minutes.

"Toldja ya' wouldn't be gettin' it back anytime soon." Johnny gave a tired, knowing smile. Meena just shrugged and returned the smile, too sleepy to think of anything to say back.

#sing 2016 #sing movie #sing fanfiction #sing fanart #sing mini bang 2017 #cartoonloverstuff #stevetwisp

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lumiereswig · 7 years ago

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A dragon comes to try and eat Plumette (because she's clearly a princess and thats wot dragons do) except he's not the only golden, firemaking thing in the room. (And Plumette is also a badA). ~NiceAnon (still needs tumblr account.)

you always get your fics right away because you are Nice Anon, so even though this fic is so amazing it should probably get like 20 chapters and full commissioned illustrations, I will give you just a little fic just to show you my fondness. also i am a bit tired so APOLOGIES if it just devolves into not making sense. but here we go let’s get some DRAGONS

The dragon looked over the Dragon Classifieds, dipping toast into his egg. He needed a princess—a good, proper princess; not any of these new-fangled breed, who hit things with saucepans or shot them with arrows or blasted ice out of their fingertips. No, that sort would not do at all. This dragon was getting old, and bitter, and a little fat around the tum, and he couldn’t remember the last time he had stolen a good princess. A good princess, now: dressed all in white, and near-divine with grace, and with deep dark eyes and a heart-shaped face. Elegant, beautiful, infused with love and femininity. That was the type of princess an old dragon wanted.

He scanned the Classifieds. Princesses in Germany, Austria, Italy—here was one all the way over in America, but the listing specified that she came with “raccoon and hummingbird sidekicks,” and that was just too much trouble to counter. No sidekicks. No princes, hanging around with slashing swords. Just a princess, all in white.

Ah! The hidden heart of France. Just normal France would do, but the listing was worded well. (dragons appreciate that little bit of style. many dragons have been known to go into careers as professional editors, when they are not eating people’s faces off). The princess of villeneuve had no sidekicks, no princely lover, not even a fairy godmother at hand. This princess would be perfect.

The dragon flapped his cranky old wings—oh, they ached, nowadays—and took off from his cave. To Villeneuve he would go. And soon he would come back, pretty princess in hand.

Lumiere and Plumette were in the back gardens, which were heavy with the scent of peonies. Autumn was coming on, quick, and gold leaves blazed above the round white blossoms. Radiant in white herself, Plumette was a vision among the flowers.

That’s what Lumiere thought, anyway. But he always thought that. Look at her! The sun had almost set, and yet she glowed like the moon. Why, she was growing brighter by the second. You would think she had compelled the sun to rise again.

Mon dieu. The sun was rising again. The gold of the trees ripped into red.

“Lumiere—what—?” Plumette hasn’t looked behind her yet, but she sees his eyes widen just above her head and his hands start to reach for her out of pure instinct. The sun (funny, she had thought it had just set) is very warm on her back. “Mon amour? Is there a bee?”

“A little bit bigger than a bee,” chokes Lumiere, twirling her around and pulling her to his chest in one swift movement.

The trees are on fire. The peonies are turning black. A giant winged thing soars through the inferno, giving them just a glimpse of scales and great big teeth, and then dips back into it again.

“A dragon,” says Plumette.

“Mon dieu,” squeaks Lumiere. He is holding her as close as he can.

“GIVE ME UP YOUR PRINCESS,” roars the dragon, landing on the bonfire of the trees with a crash. The dragon has great, winking green eyes, and wings that could knock off half the castle’s towers in one movement.

“She’s at a convention of librarians!” yells Lumiere. Oh my god, I wish the truth didn’t sound like such a lie, he thinks.

“NOT THAT ONE,” roars the dragon. “NOT THE BELLE-CREATURE. SHE’D BE DIFFICULT. I WANT THAT ONE.” He points at Plumette. “FLUFFY! FEMININE! EASY! AND CRUNCHY WITH SCRAMBLED EGGS.”

Inside his arms, Lumiere can feel Plumette ruffle. (how she ruffles without feathers anymore he isn’t certain.) Something hisses in the back of her beautiful throat.

“Ma cherie,” whispers Lumiere, “do you remember what I told you?”

“That you’ve always had a fantasy of directing a production of Guys and Dolls entirely made up of Bollywood super stars?”

“No, not that. The other thing.”

“Oh! Oui, mon amour.”

“Then do that.—though I do still want to direct Guys—”

The dragon roars and blasts fire at Lumiere. Plumette bursts from his arms and escapes just in time. Turning back, she sees her lover burning in flame.

And, to the dragon’s surprise, not minding at all.

“Do you think this astonishes me?” yells Lumiere, and he takes the stance of a fencing master. The fire doesn’t even touch his face; it waltzes to his command into his fingers and out again, in a dazzling arc of fire back toward the dragon. With one flick of his wrist the fire bends and burns away from him in golden ropes.

“Hold on,” says the dragon, but his tum is too fat and his wings too cranky to get him away. The fire doesn’t stop; even when the dragon’s fire should have ended, this strange man—dressed all in gold, like he belongs in a dragon’s hoard—continues finding fire in his fingers that leaps and sparks at his command. The dragon finds himself tied down in fire.

“How do you like that?!” says Plumette. She has run up, the fire never touching her for a second (the golden man, the dragon notes, seems to be taking special care of that). Plumette leaps onto the dragon’s nose, and starts to tickle him with her skirt.

“No! No! Stop—” giggles the dragon. He hasn’t laughed since—golly, he can’t remember when. Tears of laughter spring to his green eyes. “Stop, please!”

“Shan’t,” says Plumette, continuing to tickle him. Lumiere stops shooting fire and comes over, laughing.

“Do you want to join us in laughing?” asks Lumiere. “Or do you want to fight us with fire?“

“Laughter, please,” wheezes the dragon. “My goodness, I haven’t laughed so hard since I was turned into a dragon.”

“….pardonez-moi?”

“I was turned into a dragon.” He rolls over onto his back, to better tell the story, and Plumette rubs his tummy. “I was a wicked young man who was greedy, or never laughed, or always spilled breadcrumbs on the table…I don’t remember which one. So I was turned into a dragon, about, oh, 500 years ago….and honestly I’ve liked it so much I never went looking for salvation.”

Lumiere starts rubbing his tummy, too. The dragon purrs through his story.

“And it’s been great, really; honest wages, simple living, get to have a nice hoard of things I like—empty journals, trading cards, you know—though the carnivorous appetite is troublesome. And the lack of company—ooh, right there, that’s itched for ages. Dragon-ing is nice, y’know, but sometimes you need a break—it’s so tiring, being the only living flamethrower in the kingdom. You just want somebody to cover for you, sometimes; the whole breathing-fire, running-off-with-the-princess gig.”

“And you still think you need to do all that yourself?” Lumiere massages a knot in one of the scales “…..Dragon?”

The dragon has fallen asleep, belly still up. He snores and snuffles a little bit, smoke puffing from his nose. With a touch of egg still on his snout and his feet dangling, he looks rather like a very large, very scaley cat. Cute. Feral. An adorable force of destruction.

“Well, it looks like we are now the home of a dragon,” says Lumiere, standing back to regard the creature currently hastening the demise of the entire eastern section of the garden. “However will Europe survive without its toothsome majesty?”

Plumette curls herself into his embrace. “You heard what Dragon said. He needs someone to cover for him while he rests.”

“Mm. The whole fire-making, running-off-with-the-princess affair? I think I could do that,” and Lumiere’s smile glows at Plumette. “Care to run off with me, princess?”

“Only if we can do it on the back of a dragon,” says Plumette, and the two lean against their new pet’s giant, scaley stomach to share a secret kiss.

#DRAGONS #batb fanfic #lumiere #plumette #plumiere #utter nonsense #batb 2017 #asks #anon #the Nice Anon

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ashesofeternity · 8 years ago

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1-60 have fun

A Y Y

1. selfie2. what would you name your future kids?Did that once when I was 14 and edgy. Shut me up if I ever try it again before actually having kids.3. do you miss anyone?Yeah4. what are you looking forward to?Ehhhhhhhhhhhh, nothing in particular right now5. is there anyone who can always make you smile?Ehhhhhhh, relatively not6. is it hard for you to get over someone?Wait, literally or figuratively? Yeah. I could if I tried to... If I wanted to.7. what was your life like last year?Pretty nice. 2016 was a very good year. The best since 2013.8. have you ever cried because you were so annoyed?No, not annoyed.9. who did you last see in person?Mom.10. are you good at hiding your feelings?No lmao I suck at that.11. are you listening to music right now?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AP6i7584qHkhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doJSO9bQkngthese two been on loop for a few days when I’m in the computer12. what is something you want right now?For the temperature to drop to non-melting temperatures13. how do you feel right now?Ambiguous. Like, I feel terrible, of course, why should I not, but I’m alright.14. when was the last time someone of the opposite sex hugged you?Mom just did.15. personality descriptionUhhhh... I’m bad at describing things... Read my philosophy meme to see that I am a pretentious asshole. I’m pretty cool though. Also I’m an INTP. Or INTJ. I’ll never find that one out.16. have you ever wanted to tell someone something but you didn’t?Yeah, like, always17. opinion on insecurities.

18. do you miss how things were a year ago?Kinda tbh. I wouldn’t change it back if I could, but I do miss it.19. have you ever been to New York?Just the airport.20. what is your favourite song at the moment?SO LONG, I’LL WAIT FOR YOUAND IT TEARS MY SOUL IN TWO(So Long ~ Solar Fragment)21. age and birthday?17, August 11th22. description of crush.she’s... how do I do descriptions???? she’s good civilisation???? she’s kind and forgiving, she’s good, she’s cute, she’s a great friend (except when she disappears for a few weeks, but it’s understandable), uhhhhhh I’m not in a descriptive vibe right now am I?23. fear(s)Failure, I guess.24. height176 the last I measured25. role modelDon’t really have one. Thinking right now the names that come to mind are Plato, d. Pedro II and Søren?????26. idol(s)Uhhh IDK, Nero lmao27. things i hateA few people, Utilitarianism, John Stuart Mill28. i’ll love you if…You play with my hair. I remember how I played myself in the last meme that had this one so I’m not doing that again.29. favourite film(s)Uhhh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯30. favourite tv show(s)Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh ¯\_(ツ)_/¯31. 3 random facts- I have anime characters with 3 out of my 4 names. I can’t name one for the japanese given name but I’m sure there is one. And there might even be one for my western surname too.- I once wrote 3 pages of an unorganised poem about Mesopotamia- wait this doesn’t say facts about myself... DID I JUST PLAY MYSELF AGAIN?32. are your friends mainly girls or guys?IDK I think it’s fairly well balanced33. something you want to learnAt least three languages. (German, finnish, japanese)34. most embarrassing momentEvery single one35. favourite subjectLike... school subjects? Man, it was probably math or biology because of the teachers. Otherwise I’d say philosophy or history.36. 3 dreams you want to fulfill?As predicted by an infallible seer, I shall marry the woman I love at 21 (or was it 27, fuck, I think it was 27), have 10 kids and move to Vienna37. favourite actor/actressUhhhhhhhh IDK38. favourite comedian(s)I don’t think I have one39. favourite sport(s)Eh, IDK, Tennis is pretty cool40. favourite memory??????How do I pick on e?41. relationship statusFlirting with absurdism42. favourite book(s)The Silm, The WoT series43. favourite song everWell now you’ve fucked meI’m going with The Soulforged ~ Blind Guardian, but it cycles between that, half of NiME, Bright Eyes, and pretty much 2/3 of the Blind Guardian discography tbh44. age you get mistaken forIDK no one tries to guess45. how you found out about your idolWait who was my idol again? OH RIGHT. I uh played Fate/EXTRA.46. what my last text message says“Yes, but I didn’t catch any”47. turn onsPower metal, coffee, maps and Paradox Interactive games48. turn offsUtilitarianism, GEOGRAPHIC AND HISTORIC MISTAKES49. where i want to be right nowIn a glacier. In it. Frozen. Or just somewhere cold or somewhere with seasons.50. favourite picture of your idolI’m not going through 195 pictures of Nero right now, friendo.51. starsignLeo52. something i’m talented atMaking memes53. 5 things that make me happy- y’all at the chat- cold beverages or ice cream- Crusader Kings 2- coffee- being right- IDK this is hard... my waifusas I’m bolding this I realised that that’s not five, it’s sixI am an expert at playing myself54. something thats worrying me at the momentI need more time and energy to do things, instead of less time and energy to do things. I should work on that. Somehow.55. tumblr friendsy’all mutuals56. favourite food(s)Right now nothing tops ice cream. Seriously, it’s too fucking hot for anything else.57. favourite animal(s)The Naked Mole Rat, or as I like to call it, THE EPITOME OF EVOLUTION, DEVOID OF FEELING AND THOUGHT, A HEARTLESS MACHINE OF CRUELTY, FORCED LABOUR AND EFFICIENCY58. description of my best friendhe lives in an even hotter place than I do I’d ask him how he’s still alive if he wasn’t dead59. why i joined tumblrI almost did something dumb right now I should sleepAnyways uh someone said I shouldHell I joined a shady russian social network for her lmao60. ask me anything you want yes good question, it is honestly refreshing after all of that lmao

#ayy thanks #I probably sound miserable but I'll never not enjoy doing these #justanothersaberface

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