#booka writing

[booksooks]

𝕭𝖗𝖊𝖆𝖐 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝕾𝖕𝖊𝖑𝖑

Author's Note: I've been writing this since 2022... and it's finally here. I hope y'all enjoy, I tried. I know there's not a TONNn of urgency in this fic but oh well.

Contents: Aphrodisiac spell, giving Alucard that gawkgawk slonky tonky 3000, public oral sex, a little bit of blood,

Word Count: 3390

Summary: When Alucard mistakenly reads an aphrodisiac spell and you stumble across him in need, who are you to deny him?

Although the Belmont estate had been destroyed, its hold was still intact and something to be marveled at. Sypha had opened the door using Enochian magic, and your merry band traipsed down the long staircase, poking fun at each other and only half-joking the entire way. 

“All the dark things moved into the east,” Trevor was explaining, leading the way. “I think it was a… Leon Belmont who entered the region first.”

You weren’t paying much attention, too focused on the basement’s awe-inspiring design and structure to really take in what he was saying about his family’s past. Sypha used her magic to send fire to all the torches in the library, lighting every corridor and hallway. When everyone reached the bottom of the stairs, you all split up to see what you could find in the library to help defeat Dracula. Trevor had wandered off to find some relics, and Sypha followed, teasing the brooding man relentlessly. Alucard had gone in the other direction by himself, leaving you standing in the middle of the underground library wondering what to do. Where to go.

You weren’t entirely sure of your place in the group. Everyone seemed to have at least one redeeming quality that proved useful in battle, aside from you. Trevor had learned his fighting skills from his family, Sypha was a Speaker magician, and of course there was Alucard, who was the son of Dracula. Then came you. You had an incredible touch for healing, and you were decent at protection spells and ways to ward off evil, but there wasn’t much else you could do. You weren’t good for really anything involving combat, only for the aftermath. So you did your best to stay out of the way and make yourself the least of anyone’s worries. 

Right now, you needed to make headway in finding out how to defeat Dracula. The vampire’s attempts at taking over all of Wallachia were growing ever more successful, and the monsters that came at night were becoming more vicious. You shuddered at the memory of the carnage that was your old hometown and decided to follow Alucard’s path, but more slowly and thoroughly than he did. Your old home was destroyed shortly before you met up with Sypha’s group of Speakers who offered to take you in as the remaining survivor of the entire town when they passed through. They were incredibly kind to you, despite your original hostility towards them. They were strangers after all. But Arn and Sypha were persistently kind in the way that only grumpy cats could be, and soon you warmed up to them. Trevor and Alucard you were still mildly wary of, but Sypha seemed to trust them and you trusted Sypha. So you kept yourself quiet, out of the way, alive, and did the best you could to clean up everyone else’s mess after every fight, which you didn’t mind. You’d rather be healing and protecting than on your own in these times. 

You turned your attention back to the rows and rows of books and odd keepsakes on every shelf in sight, running your fingers over the dusty tops of volumes and immediately regretting that decision. A thick layer of dirt and fuzz sat on the top of each page, and you shook your hand to get it off. Then you leaned in closer to inspect them, you were here to look for vampire related defense after all. The Proper Way To Restrain, Exorcize, And Kill (If Needed) Witches by Tiphaeus E. Hildebrand stared up at you from the bookshelf, and you backed away from it. You considered yourself somewhat of a baby witch, a witchling even, and you had no desire to be exorcized. This clearly wasn’t the right section, and Alucard had clearly come to the same conclusion because he was nowhere you could see. The shelves in the row you were in all seemed to carry the same theme of exterminating witches and the like. There were a few bones and relics on a ledge further down, all carved with runes and pentagrams. You checked to make sure no one was around before shoving a few small finger bones in your pockets, knowing they could come in handy (ha) as amplifiers of your power or just as keepsakes. You’d study the runes later, when you weren’t on a bit of a time crunch. 

Sighing, you decided to leave that aisle and move on to another section of the hold, seeing as the one you were in wouldn’t be helpful. You turned left, into another, secluded hallway of the library, hoping to find something more useful than how to get rid of witches. The ceiling was taller here, and the bookshelves extended even further too. Rolling ladders were attached to every shelf, for the convenience of any eager reader, though you suspected the wood had rotted away after all these years. You tested your weight against one curiously, and it surprisingly held your weight. Perhaps the wood was in better condition than you thought. 

A noise came from your right. You froze and glanced towards the shelf where the noise came from. It was faint, a sort of whining, anguished groan, every few seconds. You drew the short knife that you kept in your belt for gathering herbs, holding it close to your face. It had been decades since the hold had been opened, you didn’t know what sort of creatures lurked down here. Coming around the corner of the bookcase slowly, you expected to see some sort of creature scrabbling around in the tomes. Instead, you saw Alucard, in the most vulnerable state you had seen him - or anyone else for that matter - in. 

His golden hair curled over his shoulders, which were hunched and shaking. His legs were spread out in front of him and were also twitching, and one of his hands was down his pants… oh- Oh.

Oh!  

Alucard was vigorously stroking his cock, one hand covering his mouth to try and stifle the noises that were trying to claw out of his throat. When he tilted his head back, you could see his face and neck were flushed, and his chest was heaving. A large book laid open next to him, flipped to a page covered in curled lines and large, pretty runes. The very words seductive, trying to lure you in to read the spell to its completion. Bad choice of words!

Alucard’s movements drew you back to him, and you saw his hips jerking into his palms as he spilled ropes of come into his hand. The hand over his mouth did nothing to muffle the groans of pleasure that he made, and as he finished he finally made eye contact with you. His eyes widened in surprise and humiliation, and he turned away quickly in pleasured agony. As he tried to shove his (surprisingly still hard) cock back into his pants. 

“Sh-shit,” he muttered, his blush almost worse than before. You fumbled to put your knife away and turned around, trying to pretend you hadn’t seen Alucard desperately jerking off. “Did-did you find anything? Where are the others?” Alucard’s voice sounded strained, as if he was still… afflicted. 

You huffed out a breath, trying to calm the heat sparking in your lower belly before answering shakily. “N-no, nothing’s been found. The others are still looking but I came looking for you. Or-or to see if you found anything. Or-” You cut yourself off, recognizing your rambling. “What happened?”

Alucard made several noises of either protest or pleasure, and then it sounded like he shifted positions. “I.. I accidentally picked up a book and read a spell without,” he paused to moan again, “without reading the description.” 

Nodding, you turned back around to face him, keeping your eyes on the book. “And it made you… like this?” 

Alucard whimpered, and then cut himself off midway. You focused on the volume once more. The spells’ curling script and fancy wording practically begged you to read more, to drink in every letter and let the magic flow through your veins, settling into your bones with an essence in the way that only magic could. You shook your head and rubbed your eyes to try and stop the spell from taking ahold of you. Covering the spell, you grabbed the book by its thick, heavy pages and dragged it towards you. Your eyes flickered over the description, quickly realizing what had happened. 

“Well, you read,” you paused and sighed. Of course something like this would happen when you were looking for something to save the world. “You read an aphrodisiac spell. And it says here the spell won’t be broken unless you- finish. By someone else’s hand.” 

You looked up at Alucard for the first time since you had walked in on him, and tried to will away the strong arousal building within you. His eyes were semi-glazed over, and now that you were focused on his face, his lower lip was bleeding, one of his fangs stuck into the plush skin. He moaned and squirmed, shuddering as he fought to not put his hand down his pants again. 

“That would explain why this feeling hasn’t gone away,” Alucard muttered, giving in to the desire flowing through his veins. It was an itchy, uncomfortably warm feeling that lessened with each time he came, but not by much. As soon as his digits made contact with his overly-sensitive cock, he moaned again, then he remembered you were staring at him still and stopped himself, barely. “I need your help.”

You coughed, startled by the request. You knew what Alucard meant by “help” but your mind refused to believe he actually wanted your help getting off. It was certainly just because you were the only one available at the moment, and you had already seen him in this vulnerable state. Definitely not because he thought you were attractive, or because he wanted you. Definitely not. But you could hope. 

You took a reinforcing breath, and moved yourself so that you were sitting between Alucard’s legs, his back pressed against the spines of countless books and his hair curling around his shoulders. You had always loved his hair, but now wasn’t the time to admire it. 

With more reverence than you would like to admit, you ever-so-slowly leaned in, and- 

You hesitated, lips right above Alucard’s. You could feel his breath, surprisingly cold, puffing out intermittently against your mouth, and he actually whined in frustration the longer you hesitated. You flicked your gaze up from his lips to his golden eyes, and you saw the frustration flashing within their depths. 

“Now is not the time for teasing,” he growled. His shaky hands moved from gripping his pants to your shoulders, still deathly tight. 

You sighed, apprehensive, and drew back. “I-I’m not trying to tease you, just… are you sure you want me to do this? I can go get Trevor or Sypha-”

“I don’t want Trevor or Sypha,” he growled again, giving your shoulders a firm jostle. “Just… Please, help me.” 

You had never heard Alucard beg before. Then again, you hadn’t known him for very long but he didn’t seem like the begging type. Hold on, what were you thinking ? Here was someone, very clearly in need of your help, and all you could think about was how you had never heard him beg before? You needed to work on your priorities, that was for sure. “Right, of course.” 

With those final words, you steeled yourself and closed the distance between the two of you, finally quelling some of the rising heat in Alucard. 

The kiss started off chaste, sweet and innocent despite the Dhampir’s obvious arousal. But the bolt of electricity that ran through you at the contact was anything but innocent, and, coupled with a low groan rumbling from deep within Alucard’s chest, made you want more. You drew back for a quick breath of air, the taste of his blood lingering on your lips. Alucard, now that he had gotten a taste of you, immediately disliked the space you had created between you two, and dug his nails into the soft flesh of your shoulders to pull you back in. 

This time, the kiss was hungrier, teeth clacking as you tilted your head and ran your tongue across the seam of his lips. The taste of blood was stronger now, and Alucard let out the most delicious moan when your tongue tentatively licked inside his mouth. In fact, the noises the both of you made were lewd and downright sinful , heavy breathing and the slick, clicking of spit being exchanged. 

It took everything in Alucard to not push you down and take you right then and there, with no preparation or any communication whatsoever. But he didn’t. Instead, Alucard dragged his hands down your torso, squeezing and eager to feel you against him as he tugged you to sit closer to him, almost directly in his lap. 

“ F-fuck… ” he gasped against your mouth, the sound muffled by the hungry clash of lips. His hands tightened their grip on your body, nails digging in just enough to make you wince. It wasn’t painful, exactly, but rather a reminder of his strength, of how badly he wanted this - wanted you.

He seemed to revel in the friction of your bodies pressed together. The feeling of your chest against his, legs spread over his and wrapped around his waist, warm tongue and teeth clashing with his… It was euphoric. You could tell with the way Alucard moaned and whined into your mouth that he was enjoying himself, and he positively squirmed beneath you, hips rocking up for any sort of pleasure. 

Your body seemed to have a mind of its own, grinding and writhing in kind and settling into a slow, easy rhythm. The sensation of his hard cock, already hot and heavy, pressing against your core sent shivers down your spine, making you ache for more. When you broke the kiss again, a long string of spit connected your mouths, and Alucard’s lips followed you briefly before he remembered himself. 

“I’m not going to last much longer if we keep,” Alucard started, and then trailed off at the sound of his own wrecked voice, “If we keep going.” 

You nodded, and reluctantly slid off of his lap to crouch in front of him. You pawed at the lacings of his trousers, still undone from his earlier attempts at relief. Alucard watched, transfixed, as your fingers worked at the lacing, the anticipation building to an unbearable level. When you finally managed to free his straining erection, it sprang up, thick and throbbing, the entire length slick with his previous orgasm. The tip was flushed an angry red, and when you tentatively wrapped a hand around the base, you felt him throb harder in your grasp as precome flowed freely from the slit. 

You felt drool gathering in your jaw, something primal inside you crying out to lick away all signs of life from him. To suck him silly, in other words. 

Alucard, to his credit, looked absolutely lost in pleasure, His head had dropped back onto the bookshelf behind him, and with every twitch of your hand or shaky exhale that brushed against his shaft, he whimpered. His hips jerked involuntarily, seeking more contact. A choked moan escaped his lips as your fingers wrapped more securely around the base, stroking lightly. The sensation of your warm skin against his sensitive flesh was exquisite, sending jolts of pleasure straight to his aching balls. 

You were content to just keep doing that, admiring his member kick and twitch in your hand as you slowly jerked him off. He was doing a surprisingly good job of restraining himself, you thought, right as one of his hands clamped down on the back of your neck and guided your head towards him. “Make me come,” he demanded, although it sounded more like a prayer than anything else, “please.” 

As your lips neared his throbbing erection, Alucard’s breath hitched, his chest heaving with anticipation. When your mouth finally enveloped the head of his cock, he let out a ragged groan, the sound echoing through the room. You shot a glare at him, still vaguely aware that Sypha and Trevor were somewhere in the library with you. 

As soon as your lips enveloped the head of his cock, Alucard's grip on the back of your neck tightened, holding you in place. He rocked his hips slightly, thrusting shallowly into the warm cavern of your mouth, and the sensation of your tongue swirling around the sensitive underside of his cockhead made him shudder. 

Each second with his dick in your mouth was another second in heaven for Alucard, while the taste of him, salty and musky, filled your senses. You couldn't help but let out a soft hum of approval around his length. Creating a suction with hollowed cheeks, you began to bob your head, taking him deeper with each pass until your nose pressed against the wiry blond hairs at his pelvis, suppressing the need to gag around him with deep breaths through your nose. Alucard’s reaction was immediate – a sharp intake of breath, his hips jerking forward, and a loud, guttural moan that vibrated through you. 

You pulled back slightly, letting his cock slip from your lips with a wet pop. Your throat ached at the sight of his prick, still shiny and wet with your spit. Wincing when you swallowed, you changed tactics and started paying heavy attention to his tip, lapping at his slit with soft, almost loving kitten licks and kisses while your hand continued to stroke him off. Alucard’s noises were quieter now, heavy panting and the occasional strangled whine that slipped past his lips as he throbbed in your hand. You swore you could even feel the veins pulsating in your grip. 

Alucard nearly sobbed above you, hips still thrusting as he chased his orgasm. Your mouth just felt so good, each suckle and swirl of your talented tongue driving him closer to the edge. He was not above begging, as you had experienced by now, and while you didn’t want to be mean, the desire to simply pull your mouth away from him entirely and make him beg to come was enticing. Enticing, but not necessary, at least not in the moment. 

It didn’t take much longer for Alucard to finish, jerking his cockhead almost violently into the back of your throat and making you choke as he let out a sharp cry as his orgasm crashed down over him. You continued to swallow around him, even as the urge to spit up everything overwhelmed you. Alucard’s reaction was immediate and severe, a sharp inhale and the stuttering of hips as bliss quickly turned to overstimulation. The hand on the back of your neck moved to push gently at your head. You pulled back obediently, giving his softening cock one last, gentle lick before releasing it altogether. A string of saliva and cum connected your lips to the tip for a moment before breaking. 

You swallowed down the remnants of Alucard’s come, pulling a face at the tangy taste that lingered on your tongue. “All done?” you asked, figuring it was better to be safe than sorry. 

Alucard's chest heaved with ragged breaths as he gazed down at you, his golden eyes glazed with post-orgasmic bliss. A slow, satisfied smile spread across his lips, revealing a hint of fang. “Yes, thank you. I-” 

Whatever he was about to say was cut off by the sound of heavy footsteps rapidly approaching the pair of you, the voices of Sypha and Trevor calling out your names. You shot a panicked look towards Alucard, who suddenly looked a lot less blissed-out, with his pants still undone and dick still out. 

“Are you guys alright?” Came Sypha's voice, much clearer and much closer than the footsteps had indicated. “We heard noises and- Ohh. Trevor, don’t-” 

“Too late,” Trevor groaned, one hand over his eyes. “Why my childhood basement, you guys?” 

You sat back on your heels, face smoking hot, and prayed to whatever god was out there that the ground would swallow you up right then and there. Like you had with Alucard’s-

18+ Divider by: @cafekitsune

Golden Rose Divider by: @sweetmelodygraphics

AO3 || Masterlist

End Notes: thank u for reading! i hope you enjoyed, and if theres enough demand i might write a part 2 but who knows :p requests are OPEN!

ABSOLUTELY NO ONE HAS MY PERMISSION TO REPOST MY WORK TO ANY SITE.

[b33lz36u6z]

imagine if in rainbow rowell's "carry on" trilogy they just say fanfiction tags instead of nursery rhymes

[thewildwaffle]

I had a thought about bookas last night

They are afraid of the dark. Since their fur basically looks like and glows like fire, they are light sources (of various brightness depending on their moods and health) wherever they go and thus don't really know what true darkness is.

Humans fear the dark because of the unknowns that may be hidden in its shadows. Bookas fear the dark because it IS the unknown.

[abysscronica]

Hi! I've just finished to read "Small"!

There were only 3 chapters but they were quite intense: it's heartwarming to see here a Birdie that is an official member of the crew, doesn't hesitate anymore between her being prisoner and marine. She walks proudly as a Kid's pirate without mask (and as the captain's lover) and to make things cooler, she gave the herbs seller a big scare (i bet he was a scammer) and then procedeed to shot a talkative Maki and taught her a life lesson (damn, Birdie was so cool here)

Killer and Kid are so cute!!! In particular Kid!! (the creepes and ice-cream scenes...)

It's fun to see the interaction between them and Birdie.

Birdie had her own small revenge throwing Killer in the sea (i wonder how will he get revenge hahahaha) and also gave a bath to little Kid (obviously Kid made her pay for her insolence hehehe).

Pity to see John Dockyards being sank by the marines, i wonder if Ross managed to escape, just like the other prostitutes. It's a pity that we didn't get to see a scene of Birdie being jealous towards Ross while Ross is heartbroken seeing Kid in a serious love relationship (i feel evil).

It's funny to see that whenever Kid pirates goes to John Dockyards, they always end up running away from there ahhaahah.

Will you ever make a little story with Birdie becoming a child? I bet Heat would be happy to be a big brother, Wire would think "oh no, trouble incoming", Booka and Mohican would mock her, Killer would be amused to see Birdie pouting and Kid would probably bully her.

ps- now i need to eat some ice cream with stracciatella and nocciola.

❤️❤️❤️😭😭😭

Thank you so much, Anon!!

"Small." was soooo much fun to write. As fascinating as it is to write birdie torn in her sense of belonging, it's also quite liberating to make a scenario in which she fully accepted who she is for a change. As for scaring off the seller and shooting Maki, welp... that's just regular birdie. 😂

The idea of having Kid & Killer turned into children by Bonney has always been super cute. Small angry Kid and awkward shy Killer for life. ♡

I imagine that a few locals managed to escape the Buster Call, maybe Ross was one of them? I do hope so for her, she might have been a somewhat rival of birdie in the past, but she was never a bad person and she already had her heart broken. In "Emperors" it's mentioned that birdie "almost shot Ross at John's Dockyard", so they had an encounter at some point, although I didn't go into detail. I picture Ross starting the confrontation on that occasion, possibly in an intoxicated state, driven by hurt - birdie would not have actively sought her out. Either way, she survived then and I hope she's still alive.

I'd love to make a parallel story where birdie is turned into a kid instead. Several readers have asked for it. ❣️ I think Heat and Killer would probably be the best at handling her in that form, Heat being the protective one, and Killer the sensible one. Kid would try his best, but I see him making an awful job.

Wire will go MIA the moment he hears birdie is a child now, not to be seen until the end of the story.

I hope you enjoyed your stracciatella ice cream. ❤️🍦

Here's the link to the story if anyone is interested: Small. [child Kid & Killer + reader]

[nottheweirdest]

Wait..... there is a tag where is says trilogy.... will there be another book after Fractured Reflections? Idk, I am just hyperfixating on you works rn, they are so good!!

There is!! Clean Slate is meant to be 1/3 and always has been. There are breadcrumbs that build to the third booka already in the first 😁

I am over the moon you're enjoying my stories!! This ask gives me so much joy 💖💖💖 if work would actually let me use my PTO I request maybe I could get some writing down for it 😅

[piotrtymcio]

No future

[EN] A long time ago, I had a blog. On that blog, I shared various texts. At one point, I dabbled in writing short stories and similar things. Back in 2012, I wrote a story that, today, I turned into an audiobook. A short one—just three minutes. 😉

[PL] Dawno temu miałem bloga. Na tym blogu pojawiały się różne teksty. Kiedyś bawiłem się w pisanie takich krótkich opowiadań itp. W 2012 roku popełniłem takie opowiadanie, które dziś zmieniłem w audio-booka. Takiego na trzy minuty. ;)

[strrykais]

hiii kai, how are you? i know the other day (or a while ago) you said that you were having a bit of a writing or mental block (i might be hallucinating but i think you said that). but i just wanted to let you know that any breaks that you need/ make are perfectly fine and we’re so proud of everything you post and what your creativity brings! but hope youre doing well!

thank you booka!! im doing okay rn ig idk lol

[viasdreams]

oh they definitely will lose

how are you doing today??🪼

ahhh soz for the late response >_<

im pretty good tho!!! i got an A on my ecology exam so now i dont have to take the final!! but i am sicker than a mf dog rn so thats not great 😞

great for yall tho because if im in bed all day, all i can do is write 😬

how r u booka!

[streetlamped]

IM SO SORRY BUT WE CANNOT LET LUMITY BEAT THE LITERAL LITERATURE CHANGING BEST SHIP IN THE WHOLE OF LITERAL GREEK MYTHOLOGY?

Does Lumity have multiple real booka dedicated to them? Have they changed literally the way how writers write love? No.

#votepatrochillies

[leatahleigh]

Devil's Peak: Book Review

About The BookA  crime fiction novel, Devil’s Peak, is about a drunkard of a cop who just got handed over a massive case – will he not mess up? A father who just lost his son and is out for revenge – vigilante or murderer? A prostitute who gets messed up with a drug cartel – will she live to tell the story? In the end, all these stories turn out to be intertwined. Writing styleThe book is told…

[booksooks]

𝑩𝒂𝒃𝒚 𝑭𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓

Author's Note: i have raging baby fever. help me.

Content: hitting it from the back, creampie (?)/pregnancy talk/general baby fever

Word Count: 467

Summary: Hawks wants a baby. Obviously he's gotta fuck it into you first.

Keigo has baby fever so bad he can't stop pointing out any baby-related items whenever you go to any store together. He'll scoop up a pair of shoes and come bounding over to you with that boyish grin of his (because, let's face it, the chin scruff really didn't do much to dissuade the babyface allegations for the poor hero), and dangle them in front of your face like they were a treat.

"C'mon, aren't they cute? At least admit they're cute - so small I can hold them in one hand, look!"

And then he would almost reverently put the shoes into one of his palms, and look up at you like an excited puppy. It really is the pleading look on his face that does you in. Plus maybe the way he always looks so very briefly hurt when you roll your eyes playfully and tell him to put the baby shoes back because: you're not even pregnant!

Which is how you found yourself on all fours in your shared bed, face pressed into the pillows, hands scrabbling for purchase on the rumpled sheets as Keigo slams his cock into you as hard as he possibly can.

The sound of your muffled whimpers echo in the empty room, Keigo's grip on your hips tightening as he continues to thrust into you with reckless abandon. The bed creaks beneath your combined weight, the headboard slamming against the wall in rhythm with his movements.

"Just like that, take it just like that," he growls, one hand sliding up your spine to grip a fistful of your hair, tugging your head back roughly. "You're mine, all mine, and I'm gonna fill this tight little cunt with my cum until you're swollen with it."

His words are punctuated by the lewd slap of skin on skin, the obscene squelch of your dripping pussy as he drives into it again and again. His balls are drawn up tight against his body, and his stomach flexes with each powerful snap of his hips.

"Gonna breed you, knock you up good and proper," he pants, grinding his pelvis against your ass as he bottoms out inside you. "Get you all round and ripe with my kid, maybe two if i'm lucky. You'd like that, wouldn't you? Being stuffed full of my kids?"

All you can manage is a weak moan, and maybe a nod. You're not really sure - your head is foggy with pleasure and sparks of electricity keep running up your body from your cunt.

His hand leaves your hip to roughly palm your stomach, already imagining you round and heavy, dependent on him and the perfect mother. His thrusts become erratic, his breath coming in harsh gasps as he feels you clenching around his cock.

"You ready to be a mommy?"

End Notes: Hope you enjoyed! god i have babyfever so bad someone help me

ABSOLUTELY NO ONE HAS MY PERMISSION TO REPOST MY WORK TO ANY SITE.

[nr1chaedickrider]

i love your writing booka🫶 the tzuyu angst was so good but ouch??

thank u so much!!!

hoped you enjoyed reading it even tho its sad!!! <3

[vickyvicarious]

I happened to read an MCU daemon fic the other day, and it gave me an idea:

Part of the torture by the Ten Rings involves severing or killing Tony's daemon - probably the final straw before he 'agrees to do what they want' and sets his escape/revenge plan in motion. However, when he builds the Iron Man armor it (perhaps increasingly with each new upgrade) takes on the role of the armored bears' armor - he is forging himself a new soul. Rebuilding himself in more ways than just the arc reactor.

It just seems like the perfect fit with all the "I am Iron Man" emphasis, especially if there is no panserbjørne equivalent on Earth in this AU, so no one else really understands how much he means that (hence Natasha's assessment split between Iron Man/Tony Stark, or Pepper trying to get him to give the armor up). They simply think he has lost his daemon and is maybe less trustworthy/stable as a result (and he probably does too, for a good while at least).

This could also be a good lead-in to a FrostIron or IronThunder fic, if maybe dwarves (or any other space race) take the armored bears' role, so Asgardians understand what's going on. Maybe not initially, but definitely after getting to know Tony.

[whosafraidofvirginiawoolf]

By the mid-1890s, Henry James's supernatural tales grew increasingly complex. In full command of his medium, he engaged in larger mystification—gave his readers so few "facts" that the tale seems suspended in a kind of glass jar: nothing can be added to it, nothing subtracted. Is the woman who tells the story a hysterical, jealousy-crazed creature? Or has she really seen a ghost and had some kind of supernatural experience? We will never know. The tale seems to be written in the tradition of Defoe: the facts seem right; in the end the reader isn't sure whether he has been with a ghost or a living person.

— Leon Edel in Henry James: Stories of the Supernatural; for an introduction to "The Friends of the Friends"

[abysscronica]

At first, I didn't like Booka that much because he's so burlesque. But his role as the "I do and say what others do not have guts to" really grew on me! Especially in the last few chapters. I love his relationship with Birdie so much. If Heat is the supportive oniichan, Wire is that friend in the group you didn't talk to much but still got your back, Mohican (he has a name!) is assclown you fool around with, Booka is that loud crude pervert friend that annoyed you at first but you couldn't help but love him in the end.

The main reason I come here though is that Booka love big women.... and *eye Black Maria* his dream is about to come true.

That's right!! I didn't even think about that, now I gotta put in a scene where Booka sees Black Maria at least! 😂

And yess, you're right about all of them. ❤️ I'm so grateful that Booka conquered the heart of readers, he's such a fun silly brute to write!

[thewildwaffle]

Speckled

“Mabruk, have you seen the new human yet?” The silvery tools clinked delicately on the tray as they were put down. The slumped figure that had been holding them straightened up from their work and sighed. “Which human? The new ones from half a partec ago, or the new new one from last solar cycle?” “The newest one!” The speaker, an easily over-excited booka sprang excitedly into the room, eager to share the latest news that had been spreading across the ship. His bushy fur had a strange effect of both muffling his footsteps and creating a rippling ‘whooshing’ noise as he moved. “They were supposed to arrive with Human Marius, but they apparently got held up with some last-minute medical testing. They got here about ninety moortiks ago, you need to come see!” Mabruk brushed back a flowering sprig from their face and stood slowly to carry their tray from the table they were working at and moved it next to the washbasin. They turned on the mixture of cleaning solution and water and began washing their hands, scrubbing at the speckled, woody skin. They took a moment to admire the light and dark patterns made by their bark. Mabruk didn’t consider themself to be overly vain, but, well… when you’re this pretty, it’s kind of hard. The cleaning solution felt nice, but they focused on making sure they didn’t absorb any. It wouldn’t have been that bad if they had, but still, it wasn’t pure water and absorbing too many chemicals was bad for the bark. Satisfied that they were clean, they turned to grab the tray to wash it as well, but the booka had jumped up on the counter and had shut off the faucet.

“Sarni, what are you doing? I’m not done.” The Booka stepped towards them and pushed them toward the door. “No time, you can finish washing up later. You neeeeeeeed to see the new human!” Mabruk took a step to the side and away from the counter, causing Sarni to lose his balance and fall back to the floor. Mabruk might have felt bad about that, but the Booka had no problem landing on his feet, leaving Mabruk to return to cleaning up. “We’re on a ship set for a two partec exploratory mission. There’ll be plenty of time to meet the newest human. This tray on the other branch,” they held it up and twisted it for emphasis, “Needs to be taken care of now before the old clay samples dry up.” Mabruk’s movements were slow, or well, they may have felt slow to Sarni, but for a dappled toanaktree, they moved at quite a reasonable speed. Finally finished, Mabruk set the tray onto the drying rack. “Yes! Let’s go, let’s go!” Sarni all but bounced impatiently. Mabruk sighed. They’d have to go along eventually, Sarni was never one to give up on things like this, but it was always just a little bit funny to see how worked up they could get him by being “slow”. Though Mabruk would never admit that that’s what they were doing. Instead of turning to the door, they stepped toward their food storage box. “Mabruk!” Sarni whined, fur ruffling and turning two shades darker. Mabruk smiled coyly as they pulled out a nutrition orb and squeezed it, allowing the nutrient-rich juices to seep down their arm. It didn’t even get to their elbow joint before it was completely absorbed. Stars. They were more dehydrated than they thought. They rubbed at their arm, tracing the lighter brown stripes and speckles that patterned their bark. It must have been longer since their last break than they thought. With that done, there were no more reasonable excuses to delay. After a bit of insistent tugging from Sarni, they were off down the main corridor. Mabruk’s mind wandered as they watched their booka companion nearly bouncing off the corridors. What’s so important about the newest human anyway. They’d met plenty of humans in the past few standard solar cycles. They seemed to Mabruk to be a friendly enough species. Strong, sturdy, very handy to have around. They had a lot of strange quirks about them, granted. New ones of which were being discovered and recorded every quarter. But there was no denying that they as a race had become nearly essential components of every crew in the Galactic Confederation. Still, Mabruk thought as they tucked a few stray vines back from their face, it wasn’t nearly as big a deal as it used to be to get a new human on the crew. As it was, they already had had seven. Three of which were still stationed here, not including this newest human. They turned the corner and Sarni paused and looked around. “What is it,” Mabruk asked after a moment. The booka’s tail twitched. “Uh, hold on. I thought they’d still be here.” “Where, here in the middle of the hall?” “Well, everyone was talking to them here earlier. They must have moved on.” “Evidently.” Sarni’s tail flicked and a few faux flames rolled off the tip. “Well, we probably would have made it if you hadn’t been so slow, you overgrown scratching post.” Mabruk chuckled. “I’m not slow, I had work to do.” “You were being slow on purpose. You always do that.” “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Mabruk smiled, but seeing Sarni’s fur darken to a deep orange, they headed for the adjacent hall. “Come on, I’m sure they’ve probably moved on to the cafeteria.” As it turned out, that’s exactly where they had gone. Mabruk and Sarni approached a small group at a table. They could see Human Fatima standing near the middle. She’d been on the crew the longest out of all the humans as head security officer. Mabruk, as well as everyone on the crew had a deep respect for her. She’d saved everyone’s life at least two times since she’d been stationed here. Of course she’d be here to help make the new recruit feel welcome and make introductions. “Mabruk, you’re here!” Fatima looked over and her face broke into a dazzling smile the way only humans can do. “Did Sarni find you after all? Where is he?” As if to answer, Sarni jumped up on the table with a smug smile on his face. “I did,” he stated proudly as if this was some grand feat he had achieved. Mabruk shook their head gently as they approached. Krend, a grib who was part of the engineering team shuffled aside to make room. “Human Elise,” Sarni started before Fatima began introductions, “this is who I was talking about earlier. This is Toanaktree Mabruk. Mabruk, this is Elise. Look, she looks like you!” Mabruk thought he saw Fatima frown, but quickly forgot when they were able to actually get a better look at the new human named Elise. They were stunned. Sarni was right. They did look alike. Well, apart from the fact that she was a human, not a toanaktree. But her skin- they knew humans came in a range of shades and tones, but they’d only ever seen, only ever heard of humans coming in solid colors. They didn’t know humans came in spots! Which is exactly what Sarni exclaimed immediately after. “Sarni, that’s… uh, you can’t just… that’s not…” Fatima stammered and looked apologetically between Elise and Mabruk. The new human smiled shyly and nodded. “That’s alright. I, uh, not all humans do, well,” she glanced briefly at Fatima and back again, “well, obviously not. It’s not super common. I do because I have… it’s called vitiligo. It’s where some of the cells in my skin that produce melanin don’t work. That’s why I was late. The Medical Administration Board wanted to run a few extra tests and double-check that I was going to be okay. They didn’t know about it before.” She took a small breath and shrugged. “I am. Okay that is. It’s not life-threatening and it’s not contagious, it’s just how I am.” Mabruk continued staring. Elise looked down and stroked her hand. “I… back on Earth I would sometimes wear makeup to cover up, especially on my hands or face, but…” she looked up suddenly, her shoulders back and a soft smile on her face. “I decided not to anymore. I’m in space, for crying out loud. This is who I am. This is how I look.” “You’re beautiful!” Mabruk blurted out. Everyone looked at them and so they continued. “You are. On my planet, many toanaktree and nidabu grow bark with one color, or two but it usually only manifests as a gradient up into the new growth,” Mabruk motioned to their own younger branches and sprigs, “but there are some, like me, I’m what’s known as a dappled toanaktree, I mean, there are others and different varieties with many different patterns and colorations, but among my people, they are considered extremely handsome.” Mabruk ignored Sarni who sniggered something about vanity under his breath. “I have never seen a human with such coloration before, but… well, you’re absolutely beautiful!” The smile Elise gave could have melted the ice caps of Kiribi. “Thank you. Your name is Mabruk, right? You look great too.” Mabruk smiled. So did Sarni, but his grin was near-on giddy.