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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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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 · 8 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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