#furry villagers was big brained

[rossoll]

minecraft....... again I normally use mizuno's it just adds lots of character to the mobs sorry for my japanese, I'm not fluent in the slightest

[quitealotofsodapop]

That would happen if... in Peach Soup, the Meng Po Soup did more than just erase the memory? After all, it is menat to help with the reincarnation process by reverting a soul back to its blank self... what it interacts weirdly with Wukong, and instead of finding a full-grown but still young enough to be a possible teen or early twenties monkey with no memory cradling a newborn... Pigsy found an actual toddler with a newborn?

Ooooo...

Wukong struggles and chirps as his memories flutter away to the Underworld (Scroll of Memory gotta store past life data somewhere), too focused on the crying infant before him to notice that his own hands are getting smaller and smaller...

Pigsy just slams on the breaks when he sees two tiny furry lumps on the side of the road. His brain tries to assure him; its just cats, maybe a dog, maybe just a fur coat.

He finds a terrified toddler monkey carrying a newborn barely smaller than itself.

Can wild macaques be ginger? He's pretty sure they can but - oh no wait, it's wearing ragged clothes too big for it. It's two lost demon babies. This has "trouble" written all over it.

Pigsy scoops up the two screeching/chirping cubs in their red blanket-thing and just books it home. He's not even thinking. He needs to call someone. Pick up infant formula (wait, do demon monkeys have that?) and diapers for babies with long tails.

The ginger toddler is combative at first, but quickly calms down when presented with some cut-up fruit - cautiously sniffing the contents before quickly consuming their weight in peach slices. There's odd marks on the cub's skin; not only a heart-shaped face mask, but also odd ring around their skull. Pigsy honestly can't tell if its a birthmark or a scar.

It takes a while for the toddler to trust Pigsy enough to relinquish the newborn so that the pig can feed them a bottle. But considering what they might have just went through, it's understandable.

The newborn is tiny. Covered in dark brown fuzz caked with clay mud.

After both cubs are fed, they get a lukewarm sink bath. The toddler panics when Pigsy tries to lower him into the water, so he's cleaned with a damp towel instead. Pigsy's heart breaks to think what must have happened to make the cub terrified of a little warm water.

Tang rushes over moments after Pigsy sends him a rambling, worried message. His "aww" at the pair of infants is only broken by the thought of "Wait, where did they come from?"

Pigsy and Tang hash out theories, each with a cub clinging to their chests.

Their leading theory is abandonment. Perhaps a poor demon family couldn't cope with the burden of two young children, and chose to dump them on the side of the road. A darker theory is that they lost their parent(s) very recently. Perhaps in a violent manner. This convinces the pair to contact the local authorities...

The cubs have no matches in the genetic database, not even amongst the colony of monkey demons outside the city limits. The village elders insist that there hasn't been any recent disappearances or transisients to explain the cubs existance.

The decision to keep both cubs was pretty easy. Peaches and MK (Tang: "Piggy! You can't name them that! How about Taozi and Xiaotian?") would literally scream if parted for too long. And they very quickly gained an attachment to the cook and scholar.

During the adoption process, a lawyer with fiery red hair and a celestial manner gives them their card in case of further legal help. What sort of name is Fire Star?

Peaches and MK have as normal a childhood as the two men can provide.

Peaches is a brilliant little boy who dreams of healing people with medicine. It's a passion sparked by listening to Dadsy explain all of his grandmother's home remedies and how just a bowl of the best noodle soup on earth can cure almost anything ailing little monkeys.

MK grows up idolizing his big brother. Very rarely do you see Peaches without a little brown fluff trailing behind him. He's an energetic and artful soul, drawing up an official logo for the restaurant when he was barely able to walk. And is absolutely as obsessed with the Monkey King as much as his dear Papa Tang.

Of course there are speed-bumps along the way. The older cub's strength increases dramatically as he gets older, necessitating help from an estranged friend to help him control it. MK has issues making friends as a child until he met a protective dragon pup as hyper as he was.

In the modern day, Pigsy and Tang are proud to have raised two fine young boys. Even if fate seemed to have dropped them in their lap, they wouldn't change a thing.

Peaches, bursting through the door holding a red-gold staff: "DADS I THINK I MESSED UP!!!"

Ok, maybe they'd change the fact that Peaches is apparently a de-aged Sun Wukong with no memory of his previous 2000 years of life.

+

This is a super cute idea for the peach soup au. I can imagine this change only makes the Noodle Family even more defensive of Peaches once Macaque is revived. 2000+ years old or not! He's their baby boy!

[lostsoulofdragon]

Fae!AU Drabble

hello there :) I just wanted to share a small Drabble about the @valrayne-faeu [by @antlered-knight and @owl-bones] because I have suffered great brain rot by their AU

story is under the cut, please let me know what you think :)

The gala

Soul turned away from the loud gala. To many faes, to loud, to fast. She didn’t look back as she passed Nightmare, instead kept her head down and wings courtly folded behind her to avoid touching others.

Dodging a swallowing tail fae with reindeer like antlers, Souls eyes went to the doors leading outside. 

An exit. A much needed exit. 

There would be less summer fae out there, and she’d have some space to herself rather than the crowded dining hall she was currently walking through.

The hall was lit by flame less lanterns which emitted both warm light, and warmth- something that Soul had ached for when she turned fae. She’d stuffed her room with at least seven of these AND a fireplace running on end until she’d developed her current resistance to cold.

The marble floor made her shoes click quietly when she took a step, and with everyone else in here, that made up a symphony of steps and clicks and taps. 

The high ceiling represented the night sky outside, and the many carpets on the walls made it seem as if said night sky hung down the walls. The carpets were grand, like- gigantic. Soul could probably fit her entire old village onto a single one of them. But they had to be big, and thick, to keep the warmth inside the ball room.

Cooling air rushed over Souls cheeks. Ah- that already felt better. She bowed her head at the peacock butterfly far that held the doors open for her, and folded her hands in her lap.

The woman wore her one of her best outfits for tonight- out of politeness, really. A furry scarf, white as snow, which matched her short hair. A black cloak hid her torso, a blue blouse, and various pockets filled with various trinkets. Of course, Soul wore her gloves, and rings above it. A simple black pair of trousers were tucked into her high boots.

Soul reached up her left hand as a ‘triii’ sounded through the cold air. The black and white falcon shed raised and trained darted over the heads of the few fae outside, safely landing on Souls arm, hoping over to her shoulder to nuzzle its head against her cheek.

Soul chuckled. “Hey there, Blizzard. Anything new?”

The bird trilled. Soul smiled. Of course she couldn’t understand the bird- but the falcon would bring her traces of magic in case anything happened. As the bird made no motion to fly off again, and instead began preening its wings, she resumed her walking. 

“… why do I have to attend this gala anyway? I am royal falconer and fancier, yes, but I barely manage any of the important stuff. Maybe it’s etiquette- on second though it probably is to have EVERYONE attend a gala BOTH kings can be found at. But won’t that raise the stakes of an assassination-“

A weight lifted from Souls shoulder as Blizzard darted off into the sky. Then, she felt how another body collided with hers, effectively knocking her down-

“Oh, I’m so sorry!”

… this wasn’t the snow beneath her. Soul blinked her eyes open. The fae she ran into held her up by her shoulders, giving her an apologetic smile.

Soul had never seen a fae like this.

Blond hair covered her eyes, and her skin was only a bit darker then Souls. She wore a cream Lolita winter dress with a shawl and a small black bow on its front. The shawls triangular shape covered the woman’s wing roots, that had yet to break open- a human. Well- half human. Their dress had a wide belt she’d tied into a bow, and fur on the inside to keep her warm.

A singular horn penetrated from her forehead, and her legs were those of a horse by what Soul could tell. She stepped back.

“Oh, it’s- it’s fine.”

Something about this fae struck Soul as… weirdly familiar. Maybe it was just that both were humans turning fae.

The summer fae shifted, reached up to rub at one of her ears. Soul recognized that tick and almost chuckled.

“… what may I call you?” Soul asked the other one, carefully choosing her words as to come off not threatening. 

“… Lei.” “That’s a nice name.”

Lei smiled. She had no fangs, so she couldn’t have been tricked too long ago. “How about you?”

“…” As always, Soul thought of the name she’d give the other one. What if she gave ‘Soul’ to too many of them? Would she get wrapped up in promises she couldn’t get out of- stop. She cleared her throat.

“Please call me Soul.” The other fae smiled.

"Of course I will."

Soul raised an eyebrow. Lei had turned recently, so she didn't know too much about wordplays yet. Well, Soul wouldn't hold it against her.

Something familiar hung over the two. Neither of them knew what it was, but something was there. Soul offered a smile, and soon enough, the two found themselves on a stroll through the garden, chatting loudly about their own experiences of turning.

"And when I found the first white hair, I just thought I was getting old. Can you believe it?" "Actually, I can."

Laughter. "I saw you carrying a... falcon, was it?- earlier. Before we ran into each other, I mean- what was that about?" Lei asked.

"Oh, I'm just-" She was cut short by a high, melodic voice.

"Lei- ah, there you are!"

Soul and Lei turned. Before them stood-

Oh. Before them stood a skeleton with a wide smile, although it seemed a bit strained. His bright wings were stiffly held upwards, unmoving- like Nightmares wings whenever he went into publicity. Only that he didn’t… display them like THAT.

Golden designs were painted on his bones, and he wore a golden and white robe that covered most his body. His wrists and hands were visible, and he wore high boots from what Soul could tell. Despite the positive aura surrounding him, Soul couldn't shake the feeling of unease.

Lei on the other hand was fast to step closer to the skeleton. Her eyes were bright, and her fingers twitched as if she wanted to reach out to the fae.

"Peiscos." She bowed.

Soul felt her ears flatten. Well that wasn't good. She glanced aside, back at the male fae, and then gave a small bow herself. This... wasn't HER king. She was not obligated to pay him the same respect as Nightmare- right? No. Yes. Maybe? She wanted to scream.

With a nervous smile, the falconer looked back up again. The king was first to speak, luckily.

"Lei, why don't you introduce me to your friend?" Ah, good. Soul wouldn't have to fear for her name.

"Oh, yes. Peiscos, this is Miss Soul. Soul, this is the Summer Monarch."

She wanted to say something, but when she considered these words, a small wave of nausea overcame her. Oh, how cruel it was to loose the ability to lie. "It's... an honor to meet you, your majesty."

Ha, take that, weird magic that bound her words. Sometimes, Soul wished she was mute.

His... eyes were unnerving. Why did they bore into her like this? Why did this fae observe her like she observed the distant clouds, scanning for storms-

"Brother."

Soul felt a cold, clawed hand on her shoulder, and she froze up. Oh dear. Why was he here?

She turned her head, and looked up to the one-eyed king behind her. Her stomach dropped at his gaze- that was not a good one. Sure, he might be smiling, but Soul knew better then to fall for that. She swallowed thickly.

"Ah. Nightmare. It has been a while, hasn't it?" Peiscos voice dropped.

That twitch of Nightmares wings was more than enough signal for Soul. With an awkward smile, she broke the silence. "Forgive me, gentlemen, for I need to check up on a few of my carrier birds."

She did. Just not right now- but that information was not be withheld from them.

And unnecessary anyways, as Nightmares grasp on her shoulder tightened. "I don't think so, fancier."

... that wasn't per se a command- "Soul, stay." Okay, that was.

But- she wasn't a dog! It's not like he could actually...

Soul looked up at Nightmare. His cold eye bore into hers, and she swallowed. Alright. If he wanted to play THAT game- sure. Why not. But it was not one Soul enjoyed.

Her own expression darkened.

Nightmare managed a more genuine smile and promptly started a tour through the garden, talking to his brother. In one of the ancient languages Soul had yet to master.

She had once surprised Nightmare by cursing in German—he hadn't expected her to know the language—but besides German, Soul only knew English, and a few bits of Swedish and Latin.

But that wasn’t important now. Important was, that Soul could chat with Lei, who she found quite charming. So, they did, making the best of the situation. Now and then, their quiet chatter was unceremoniously broken by Nightmare just plainly asking Soul a question without caring if Lei or she was talking, or by Peiscos softly laying his hand upon Leis shoulder and waiting for her to talk.

It was… a stark contrast. Soul felt cold at the thought of how this must come off to their guests… but at the same time she didn’t mind. It gave her an excuse to ignore the glances and subtle gestures Nightmare threw her way.

Soul noticed them since a few months now. How Nightmares lower wings would twitch occasionally, but the twitches were mostly visible on the wingtails. How he sat just a bit closer to her rather than in the last corner of his library. How she’d get more invitations to dinner.

Nothing eases her mind. She was constantly wondering just WHAT the winter king was plotting. What did she have that he wanted to coax her into? Was it a punishment for their recent outing after finding that dragon pup? Did he just like to mess with her?-

She was thrown of guard by a shadow sweeping over her. A weight settled on her shoulder, forcing her to stumble. She caught herself by fluttering her wings. When she looked up, the black feathers of Blizzard tickled her cheek.

King Peiscos looked at the bird, mostly, a soft smile on his face. Nightmare eyed Soul up and down as if to say; get that bird under control. Soul smiled apologetically.

She excused herself- Nightmare didn’t stop her that time- and hushed off to her tower, Blizzard trilling warningly at everyone who dared to approach her.

So, Soul reached the tower without interruptions. She went to work quickly. The gala might mean calm and free time for others, but for the royal fancier, this was just tiring sometimes. Sure, her pigeons were only used to communicate within the closer areas around the castle, but that was hard enough, considering the sheer MASSES of fae in the winter palace right now. The rest went through magic, really.

What she didn’t expect was Horror standing in the tower, feeding the pigeons. He grinned as one of them sat on the top of his horn, and another one tried to balance on his hand to pick up the seeds the second they left the bag he held.

Soul paused, looked at Blizzard, who cooed coyly, and fluttered off. That attracted Horrors attention, of course, and he turned to the door.

His one good eye widened as he spotted her. Soul couldn’t blame him- their breakup had been rather sudden. “… Horror. Shouldn’t you… be on the gala?”

“Erm… I thought I could use my break to… feed your birds.” Soul raised an eyebrow.

Horror was a good guy through and through. For a while, the two had just… clicked. But then, it hadn’t anymore. Horror and Soul eventually returned to friends, with the only difference of Soul now and then requesting further distance. It wasn’t to hurt him, she could promise that.

“… thank you. For feeding them. I was just about to do that myself.” Horrors crooked smile made Soul smile. “It’s no issue. You know that.”

“Yes.” Silence. Horror cleared her throat, and rubbed the back of his neck. When had this gotten so uncomfortable?

“… so, I saw the summer king.” “Oh! Oh, that… sounds exciting.” “It’s… well, clearly not Nightmare. He’s… louder.”

Horror nodded.

Silence.

“Well. I’ll, uh… go then. Have a nice festival.” Soul mustered a smile. “I will try.” Horrors crooked smile widened, and he waved her goodbye as he left.

Soul buried her face in her hands- if she could only stop making promises!

altight, there you have it folks. After days of writers block and a few dumb decisions, there’s my Drabble. I hope you enjoy this Drabble, because I put effort into it, and I hope you can forgive if sometimes I wrote Leni, not Lei- the first name I’d picked for the girl was Leni.

alrighty then, I hope you liked it :)

(and yes the dinning hall in the beginning is heavily based on the dining hall in Hogwarts from Harry Potter, and I’m not taking criticism against that thank you :))

[empressofthesunwriter]

To Belong

She was the weird foreign girl, he was the most useless Viking in the history of Berk. Together they were just Leandra and Hiccup. Two best friends who searched for their place in the world. Would their search for it unite or separate them?

I counted the votes on fanfiction.net and Quotev and we have a clear winner. Sides that allow pictures can already see Leandra’s dragon beside Toothless, the other one, well read the story. :D

Chapter 3

Leandra was glad that Gothi stepped out to watch the progress of the Dragon Training. She had stayed up late to make various ointments for the Night Furry and got so little sleep.

The black-haired girl was taking a cat nap on the mat where normal Gothi’s patients lay.

Was it wise?

Absolute not.

But the Spanish girl swore she would die if she didn’t catch some snooze. The whole morning had been hard on her and Gothi even more.

It was like the old Viking woman knew she hadn’t slept much and was making her work and learn more.

Her brain was not there today.

She really, really hoped that one of the ointments for the Night Furry would help him.

A sign left her mouth and she rolled herself to the side.

Leandra was asking herself how Hiccup was doing in Dragon Training. Being together with teens who didn’t like him and with his weird crush, was hard, she imagined. Well, besides the murders dragons who wanted to kill you.

Yeah, Leandra found Hiccup’s crush on Astrid freacking weird. The girl didn’t give him the time of day, never talked or interacted with him, and yet Hiccup crushed on her hard.

Just because she was the perfect Viking girl?

It was a weak reason.

On the other hand, the only other girl was Ruffnut and she was crazy.

No wonder Hiccup liked Astrid.

It’s not like he had many choices.

What about you?, whisper a voice in her head, that Leandra always ignored.

No, she wouldn’t think about this possibility.

She and Hiccup were fine the way they were.

Best friends forerver.

However, it still stung a bit that Hiccup didn’t seem to see her like a girl.

No one of their age rages did.

Not that Leandra wanted any of the Viking boys.

It just…would be nice to feel wanted sometime. Astrid didn’t need to do anything and anybody was armored with her.

Leandra was not vain, but she knew she was a pretty girl.

Her hair was strong, wavy, and black like the night, and she had big, pretty brown eyes and a healthy tan. She had a curvy body and probably the biggest breast size, for her age.

Her papi always told her she comes after her late mother, who had been the village beauty, with suitors left and right.

On the other hand here in Berk, they were other beauty standards.

And Astrid was all of them and she was the exact opposite of it.

Maybe that’s why no one found her attractive.

Again, not that she wanted any of the Viking boys, it just got on her nerves that even Hiccup, who know her like the back of his hand, never seemed to see her as a girl.

And no, that didn’t mean she wanted something from him.

No, no, no!

She didn’t want to lose his friendship, just for the tiny possibility of being more.

Friendship was more important than love.

Besides if she ever got the chance Leandra would return to Spain to her Abuela. Her dad could stay here on this miserable rock with his new Viking family, and she would get back home, where it was warm, colorful, and full of life.

She only would miss Hiccup and be in a relationship with him would be even worse if she would go back to Spain.

He could come with us, it’s not like he would be missed here, again this voice in her head whispered.

Angry she opened her eyes and sat up.

Leandra could never take a nap like this.

What was wrong with her brain today?

That’s what she gets if she doesn’t sleep her eight hours. This should be a lesson for her.

Grumbling she decides to make some more ointments.

This would keep her thoughts in check.

Today Gothi let her go home earlier.

This was good.

So she could join Hiccup and the Night Furry in the cove and her parents would think she was still with Gothi.

As she enters the cove, Leandra has to put a hand on her mouth to not let out the gasp she was about to make.

The scene before her.

She feels she can’t interrupt it.

It’s between Hiccup and the Night Furry.

They're face to face and Hiccup slowly extends his hand. The dragon growls at the hand, he isn’t ready to let Hiccup touch him.

That’s when her best friend turns his head away with closed eyes and again holds out his hand to the Night Furry.

Leandra’s heart beat fast in her chest.

Hiccup is showing the Night Furry a lot of trust. What had happened between the two that he risk getting his hand eaten by the dragon?

Yet, nothing like this happens.

The dragon bridges the gap and presses his muzzle against Hiccup's hand.

They stay for two heartbeats like this.

The black-haired girl has the feeling that the whole world turned upside down.

A dragon and a Human….touching each other in a nonviolent way.

Showing each other trust and understanding.

Leandra feels tears in her eyes.

It touches her heart in a yearning way. She wishes she would find a connection like this.

Then the Night Furry stops gives a little snort and flies to the other side of the cove, leaving an amazed Hiccup behind.

“Hiccup.”, she calls out softly to him. The moment is over, but she would feel bad talking louder. It wouldn’t fit now.

Thank god, Hiccup hears her.

“Leandra.”

“So you made friends with the Night Furry?”

Hiccup turns a moment in the direction of the dragon.

“Yeah, I made friends with Toothless.”

Toothless why Toothless?

She asks him this and he waves her over to him. Hiccup tells her what he experienced today with Toothless and wow, Leandra is just speechless.

Who would have thought that a dragon could be this sensitive and intelligent?

How she wished she could have seen it, but something in her tells her that it was good that it was only between Hiccup and Toothless.

They seem to share a connection with each other.

The two best friends sit on a log together and watch how the sun slowly goes down.

“I need to be home.”, signs Leandra sad.

“I need to meet up with the Gobber and the other recruits. We are eating together.”, he signs too.

The girl opens her pouch and shows Hiccup the ointments she made.

“Do you think you could get to Toothless and we can try out one of these for his wound?”, she wonders.

“We could try but I don’t know-“

The boy gets interrupted by a familiar screech.

But it can be!

The only Night Furry here is Toothless!

Who is suddenly staring at the sky and jumping up and down happily.

Hiccup and Leandra look in the direction where Toothless looks. Both want to pinch themselves when they see what got the dragon so excited.

It’s another Night Furry!

A Night Furry, who is fast closing in on the cove and lands gracefully before Toothless.

Both dragons cooed, snuggled their muzzles together, and lick each other.

Leandra and Hiccup’s chins meet the floor.

The Spanish girl grips Hiccup’s shoulder and shakes him.

“Hiccup! Hiccup! There is another Night Fury! Oh my lord, what?!”

“That Night Furry is a bit smaller than Toothless.”, analyzes the boy fascinated. “But the wings and the tailfin are bigger. I think it has brownish-golden eyes. It’s also a lot darker than Toothless, wow.”

Seeing how the two dragons do practically the equivalent of kisses for humans Leandra adds: “I think, that’s Toothless mate. He or she must have been worried sick for him. I’m glad they found each other.”

“He or she?”

“We don’t judge, Hiccup. Love is Love. End of story.”

It’s then that the other Night Furry sees the two human teenagers and stands protectively before Toothless. It growls at them threatening, but before anything happens Toothless purrs at his mate and it seems to calm it down.

Now it looks with big brownish-golden eyes curious at Leandra and Hiccup.

“Okay, I totally believe that these two are mates.”, agrees Hiccup.

They do act like a couple. That’s something new to learn about Night Furries too.

Meanwhile, Leandra’s eyes are transfixed, at the beautiful eyes of Toothless mate. They are like molted gold.

She never saw eyes like this.

The Night Furry stares at her in the same intense way.

Something deep and profound is exchanged.

Leandra can’t explain it.

It’s like she found a missing part of her soul.

A soul who reflects her own.

Like bewitched she walks closer to the Night Furries.

“Lee?”, calls Hiccup confused to her, but is ignored.

Toothless also grumbles questions to his mate, who is walking up to the human female and gets ignored too.

The girl and the dragon stop a meter from each other. Still looking into the other eyes. Leandra titles her head and the Night Furry copies her. Then she smiles and the dragon tries to mimic her.

“Hello.”, Leandra whispers to the dragon. “You are the most beautiful dragon I ever saw.”

It’s like the dragon understood her because it lets out a pleased purr.

For a moment Leandra checks the gender of the dragon.

Ah, it’s a she.

Of course, only a girl could be so beautiful!

Like Hiccup had done with Toothless, Leandra turns away and holds her hand out.

She waits for three heartbeats when she feels something scaly and warm touch her palm. Leandra opens an eye and sees that the female Night Furry closed the gap between them.

They stay like this for another two heartbeats before the girl Night Furry gives her hand a lick and returns to Toothless’s side.

Her hand is wet with dragon saliva, yet Leandra couldn’t care less, this was the most amazing thing she ever experienced.

“Lee?”

“Starchaser.”, she just says to her best friend. “I will call her Starchaser because her eyes are bright as stars.”

It’s night and Leandra can’t sleep.

In the end, they couldn’t try the ointments on Toothless since the sun was nearly down and she needed to be home, and Hiccup needed to meet Gobber and the others.

She stares in the darkness at the hand that Starchaser had licked. Somehow she manages to bond with the most beautiful creature on earth and for the first time in her life Leandra feels the hole in her heart dimmer.

The girl feels like she meet her soulmate. Who would have thought that it would be a dragon?

How she wishes to be in the cove and learn more about Starchaser.

They only had one big important moment together, but she knows nothing about her.

Leandra wants to know anything about her Night Furry friend.

Well, it’s not like she is alone.

Determined she stands up from her bed. Sleep is for the weak. In the darkness, she dresses in her dress and kirtle and, like always, uses her window to escape from home.

First, she checked if Hiccup was in his house, but not finding him there, she goes to the blacksmith stall.

Her best friend is really there and seems to work on something.

She makes the special knock they both agreed on she uses when he works so Hiccup knows it’s Leandra.

You don’t want to spook a blacksmith while working.

Could end in a bad accident.

“Come in.”, tells her Hiccup.

Couriers she watches him working on…something.

“What’s that going to be?”, she wants to know.

“Gobber told us a dragon who loses his wings and tail is a downed dragon. A death one.”, explain Hiccup. “So I’m making a tailfin for Toothless so he can fly again.”

“That’s awesome, Hiccup. I’m sure it will make him happy and Starchaser too.”

“Do you want to help me?”

“Just tell me what do to, partner.”

And so the best friends work together on the tailfin for Toothless. They get done with it before the sun rises. Both agree to meet up before Dragon Training and when Leandra needs to go to Gothi to visit the two Night Furries.

After they slept a bit, it was time again to wake up, but Leandra feels this time different. She is more excited than tired, even if she probably only slept two hours tops.

Hiccup and her meet up and take a chest full of fish for each Night Furry with them. Of course, he also has the tailfin for Toothless and Leandra her ointments.

They arrive at the cove where Toothless and Starchaser seem already to be waiting for them.

“Hello, Toothless.”

“Hi, Starchaser.”

“We brought breakfast for your guys.”, explains Hiccup to the two curious Night Furries.

The teenagers kick open their chests so that the fish spills out of the ground.

“Okay, that's disgusting.”, says Hiccup matter of fact.

“Yuck!”, adds Leandra with a wrinkled nose.

Toothless and Starchaser approach, settling in to devour the feast.

“Uh..we've got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel.”

Hiccup could say he wanted to poison them since both Night Furries reacted with horrific screeches as they see the smoked eel.

“Throw it away, throw it away!”, yells Leandra to her best friend.

“No, no, no! It's okay. Yeah, I don't like eel much either.”, reassures Hiccup the dragons, and the eel gets thrown in a random direction away from them.

Satisfied the two dragons begin again to eat.

Both best friends nod at each other.

They planned that Leandra should have the attention of the dragons on herself, while Hiccup tries to put the tailfin on Toothless.

“Eat up, you big cuties. Yes, that’s good. We only want the good stuff, right, right?”, Leandra cooes at them. “Yummy, yummy, fish for the two most beautiful dragons in the world. Yes, who is the best girl and best boy? It’s you two!”

Hiccup straps the prosthetic fin in place. The dragon tenses, slowly spreading his wings. The boy cinches the straps.

“There. Not too bad. It works.”, mumbles Hiccup pleased.

That’s when Toothless bolts!

Not only Hiccup is surprised and scarred a second later since he hangs for dear life on Toothless’s tail, but also Starchaser and Leandra watch the boys flying around the cave with big eyes.

“What the heck?”, shrieks Leandra.

This was so not the plan.

Starchaser grumbles, she seems to agree with her.

The little fly of the due stops as fast as it started and they land in the water.

While the females winces, Hiccup celebrates happily. Toothless shakes himself dry and wonders what had happen.

“Okay how about this one?”, asks Leandra and holding another ointment under Toothless and Starchaser’s nose.

It is a while later, still too earlier for Dragon Training and Leandra’s job. Hiccup is trying to dry himself in the morning sun, in the meantime, Leandra is trying with the Night Furries’ help to see which ointment could work for Toothless.

Till now, they reacted with disgust, growls, and hiccups at her ointments.

She hoped this one is a winner.

It isn’t since both let out big dragon sneezes.

Leandra signs sadly.

Only one ointment is left.

Starchaser sensing the distress from the girl she took a liking purrs at her and nuzzles her cheek. Even Toothless joins in.

“Aww, thank you two. You both are precious, you know that?”

Both Night Furries purr happily.

Hiccup can’t help but smile softly at the scene. It’s really adorable seeing Leandra interact with their dragon friends.

Also, her tanned skin and black hair seem to formally glow in the morning sun.

The boy frowns at his thoughts and shakes his head.

Why is he thinking about such things? That’s his best friend, it’s weird.

Besides, he likes Astrid. He always had.

“All right, last one.”, say’s Leandra and holds it out. “How about this?”

Again the dragons sniff at the ointment and this time…they only purr. They like the smell. It is really comforting and clean.

Leandra smiles.

“Then we have a winner! Okay, Toothless let’s try this out.”

And so Leandra smears the ointment on Toothless missing tail.

After waiting for a bit it seems to have no negativ effects on him.

Grinning Leandra turns to Hiccup and he gives her a thump up.

Together they are a step closer in helping Toothless to fly again.

The Night Furry won!

Give a warm welcome to our golden-eyed girl Starchaser, Toothless mate!

You know what that means ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Can you guess it? :D

Next

[bdbdhdjdhdh]

My Hero PSLE: S3E12 "To where and back again"

"Our dough's so fresh Will Smith gets jealous!"

-Some random pizza store

So now it was supposed to be time for the big battle! Yayyy!

Only Kiefer wants to use the Deadly Sins to play chess with the dragon thing! Noooo!

He summoned a table and two chairs, sat down, and then transformed the Deadly Sins into chess pieces.

"Oh look at that," Captain Obvious said. "We're missing one piece," The king. They're missing the most important piece, the king.

So Kiefer decided to summon one himself with his own blood. Eh whatever.

And then dragon thing manifested a human form, sat down and prepared his own magical chess pieces too to start playing.

And then Xiao Ming and entire squad was just sitting there watching Kiefer's and dragon things' passive-aggresive roasting be like:

K: "You should know that the reason I decided to wage war on you... pawn to E4.

D: "...btw, my name is Izanami, pawn to D5."

K: "So you do know why we're waging war on you. Pawn to C4."

I: "Pawn to C6. Can I say, why are you playing this game instead of just killing me? Hmm? Oh, I do wonder..."

K: "Oh? Isn't there meant to be some kind of hidden power in the Deadly Sins? Knight to F3."

I: "Well, yes, but...why play this game? Knight to F6."

K: "Because I need to win this in order to unlock the power, don't I? Knight to C3."

I: "...Pawn to E6."

K: "Oh? Why so quiet now? Well, if you're at a loss for words, let's talk about...why you destroyed the furry village then! Bishop to G5."

I: "I didn't destroy it, someone used the power of the Deadly Sins to force me to! Pawn to H6."

K: "Yes yes yes whatever, whatever helps you sleep at night. Bishop to H4."

I: "And what do you want me to say? Pawn to C4."

K: *with a creepy stalker smile on his face*: Pawn to E4."

And then Xiao Ming and squad fell asleep watching their boring chess game and passive aggresive roasting. Until-

I: "Knight to E6. CHECKMATE."

Oh fu-

HE'S GONNA UNLOCK THE HIDDEN POWER OF THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS NOW AND KILL US ALLLLLL! NOOOOO

"Those of noble and exalted Exuvian identity such as myself and the young gentleman over there should be the sole rulers of all land, not patethic filthy disgusting half-blood creations like you!"

But heng ah. When Kiefer realised he was being checkmated liao, he quickly take the Deadly Sins, transform them back into black diamonds, and then forced it into a visible portal (because clearly he doesn't have enough power to close the portal yet)

"HAHAHAHAHHA! Oh, it's cute that you think that CAN STOP ME!"

And then Izanami immediately rushed forward to where the portal was and tried to steal the seven Deadly Sins from him.

But of course Kiefer also try to run away. And also the others tried to slow or kill Izanami.

Freya rushed forward and directed her sword at him. Then he threw a magically charged shot at her. Then Xiao Hua tried to deflect it back to him, but it just ended up creating another portal to end up hitting him, Grandmaster, Xiao Kang, Zhi Hua, Aniya, and the furry pheonix and lion and fox. Wah it hit and took out a lot of people sia.

"FUCK U LAH! CHAO CIBAI!" Zhi Hua screamed at Xiao Hua.

"Sorry..."

Six charged up his lightning sword with dark energy and swirled it with water, wind and ice energy too. Wah never knew he could wield so many elements sia. I guess water is stormy weather, wind is tornados, and ice is blizzard? Idk

Anyway then he did manage to hit Izanami with his super-electro-charged lightning bolt but then all it did to him was just like: PEW! *has a mild 5 second seizure* "Oh I'm sorry you were saying?"

Whoops. Then Juqla and Tempest tried to be big brain and shoot him from afar with a bow and gun respectively I guess lmao.

But then of course it didn't work. He just like grabbed the arrow and bullet and just flung it back at them like PEW! *grabs the bullet mid-flight and then flings it back*

And then he went ahead and killed more people.

So basically everyone except Xiao Ming is half-dead. Well that's not good.

So of course it's up to Xiao Ming to save the day. Ya'll pussies can't do one simple thing without needing Xiao Ming to co-

So anyway he swooped in, drew his sword, and...got hit by a volt of magic before he can even start properly fighting yet.

And then Izanami took his sword and continously stabbed him (per se New York man who gets stabbed every 52 seconds)

And then after he was done having fun stabbing Xiao Ming he used Xiao Ming's blood and paralysed Kiefer and stopped him however far he had run.

"Finally," Izanami said as he slowly walked over to Kiefer, sneering at him as he passed him by, "All that trouble just for seven black stones. Haiya, ya'll all so mafan one leh,"

Then he reached forward to the portal and used his divine elemental power, and forced the Deadly Sins out of the portal.

But wait-why the hell did that hurt for him?

"Oh and by the way, I should tell you one last thing before you ascend to godhood and all or idk," said Xiao Ming half-dead at some random corner.

"WHAT THE HELL IS IT?" Izanami was getting impatient now.

"All that you've seen, is but an illusion."

WAIT-

XIAO MING! HIS BASE POWER AS A TURBIDUS! DREAMWALKING AND CREATING ILLUSIONS IN OTHER PEOPLE'S MINDS AND DREAMS! HOLY SHIT-

"Wait huh-" Izanami questioned, then almost immediately his entire surroundings began to melt away and reveal his real surroundings.

And it also revealed what he really pulled out and why it had hurt-his Exuvian Anodyne.

Well, what Xiao Ming had read from Izanami's memories was that that was the core strength of every Exuvia, and grants them divine power far stronger than their already powerful selves. But the only way to take it was if the Exuvia gave it up themselves or another stronger more powerful Exuvia were to take it with their powers (which Xiao Ming clearly isn't).

So essentially Xiao Ming and gang just tricked him into forcing it out himself. The source of all his power, man. The source of all his power. The source of all an Exuvia's power. Man.

And then before Izanami had time to react, he felt his stomach get pierced by something extremely sharp from behind. Must have been a sword of some kind-it's always the swords.

*camera pans to the right* Reveals Izanami's shocked face accompanied by-while holding his sword used to stab Izanami in place, Xiao Ming's smug as fuck face.

[handy-dandy-monster-candy]

Magnolio, part Two

Rating: SFW Length: 1840 Pairing: Cursed Male Werewolf x GN Reader

The second half of my commission for my dearest Ana.

xxx

When you wake up the next morning, it’s with a headache borne of too little sleep. You groan and drag yourself out of bed, shambling to the bathroom and going through your morning routines. You’re halfway through brushing your teeth when you hear singing coming from inside your house, and you nearly have a heart attack before you remember your strange experiences the night before. Was that not just a dream?

You peer out of your bathroom with your toothbrush in hand, then creep out into the hallway and decide to investigate in the direction the sounds are coming from. As you get closer, you hear what sounds like someone cooking breakfast, though they’re nowhere near your kitchen. Instead, they’re coming from the sofa in front of the tv, where you’d placed the mirror the night before and set the tv onto the Discovery channel. When you come around the sofa to stand in front of it, you see Magnolio cooking over a rustic wood stove in his mirror world, shimmying a cast iron pan over the fire and singing in what you can only assume is Italian as he works.

“Good morning,” you say after a moment, sitting on the coffee table in front of the tv.

Magnolio startles but recovers quickly, beaming at you from his kitchen and carefully plating up what looks like a hefty serving of thick-cut bacon. “Buongiorno!” he calls back, bringing his plate of food over to where his mirror rests—his dining table, from the looks of it. “Did you sleep well?”

“Not really,” you reply, putting your toothbrush in your mouth and getting up to take his mirror to the kitchen. “I was awake pretty late last night talking to you. I thought it was a dream, but I guess you’re as real as it gets.”

“I’m afraid so,” Magnolio replies with a sigh, sitting down with a roll of crusty bread and breaking it open. He watches you curiously as you brush your teeth at the kitchen sink, then follows you with his eyes as you bustle around getting food together to eat. “What’s that?” “Cereal,” you say, pouring milk into your bowl and sitting at the counter to eat.

“Is that all you’re eating?” Magnolio asks, frowning at you over his plate of meat and eggs. You wave your spoon at him as though gesturing grandly with a royal sceptre. “Depression fare, my glassy friend.”

Magnolio looks stricken. “There’s a recession?”

“What? No. I’m depressed,” you say, crossing your legs beneath yourself on the counter. “My brain doesn’t produce the right chemicals to keep me happy and capable of things like, y’know, cooking and shit. The most I do is use the microwave to heat up burritos.”

“That won’t do,” Magnolio murmurs, frown returning in full before his face clears into a smile. “Once I’m free, I will cook for you. My ancestors would come back to haunt me if I left someone hungry.”

“You don’t have to,” you reply, feeling distinctly uncomfortable. “I know how to cook, I just… don’t.”

“All the more reason for me to do it for you. It costs me nothing at all. I would be happy to do it for the rest of my life, if it made your life better.”

“Well, thanks, I guess,” you mutter, keeping your eyes on your cereal so you don’t have to look up into Magnolio’s sunny brown eyes. This is so weird.

You leave Magnolio in front of the tv again when you head off to work, but you find it hard to focus once you’re there. Even coffee doesn’t seem to help you as much as it usually does, and as you do inventory, you can’t help but wonder if the man is doing alright with nothing but re-runs of Deadliest Catch for company. You have to admit that it’s nice to have something to look forward to at the end of the day, and catching up with Magnolio becomes that for you. You begin putting together playlists of documentaries after he decides he prefers the History channel, and you listen to him babble about what he learned that day as you go about your chores at home, smiling to yourself as you play video games with him beside you. He tells you stories from Sicily and Austria and France, and he even begins to teach you Italian when you ask him to—a request which delights him.

You look into therapists and consider medication after Magnolio initiates a long talk over your dinner of cold nachos and root beer for the second night in a row. You know you haven’t been taking care of yourself, and you tell yourself that you don’t care, until Magnolio looks at you with tears in his eyes and a plea on his lips. You sit together and create a grocery list of healthy foods for you to buy on your next shopping trip, and you hesitantly begin to try new recipes with Magnolio’s enthusiastic support—nothing too wild, but good enough that you start to feel better about what you’re putting into your body.

The days and nights go by in a blur of constant chatter between the two of you, from early in the morning until late into the night. You never thought yourself much of a talker, but you never seem to run out of things to talk about with Magnolio, and he’s always happy to speak with you even when you both would be better off getting rest. Eventually, the day of the full moon rolls around, and when you put your keys on the hook by the door after a stressful day at work, you find that you want nothing more than to see Magnolio’s face. You can hear the tv droning on in the living room, but you don’t hear Magnolio’s usual cheerful greeting when you close the door behind you.

The mirror is empty.

“Magnolio?” you call, confusion giving way to concern when there’s no response. “Maggie? Where are you? Answer me, please.”

You hear what sounds like the whine of a dog, and you’re confused all over again until a dark shape appears in the mirror. Staring back at you is the face of a wolf, but stranger—more angular in places and rounder in others. It’s also huge, taking up a good portion of the bottom of the mirror from where it’s peering at you as if you might slap it right on the snout at any moment.

You blink. Rub your eyes. Blink again, then plop down on the coffee table in front of the mirror with a rattle of the glass on wood beneath you. “You’re a fucking werewolf?”

“I didn’t want to tell you,” Magnolio moans, his voice laced with that canine whine that tugs at your heartstrings. “I thought you would get rid of me if you knew.”

“You trusted me with ‘man in the mirror’ but not ‘werewolf’?” you waspishly reply, struggling to keep your temper out of your tone.

“You never asked why the villagers wanted me dead,” Magnolio points out, ears drooping down and back. “I was going to tell you tonight, but you came home later than usual.”

“There was overtime at work—fuck, who cares about that, you’re a werewolf. How am I supposed to get you out of the mirror now?”

Magnolio’s ears flicker back up. “You still want to free me from the mirror?”

“Well, yeah, unless you plan on eating me.”

Down again, this time flat against his head as his amber eyes narrowed. “I would never! Humans taste ghastly, let alone the weight on my conscience.”

You snort. “Oh, the weight on your conscience. Nice to know I don’t look like a pork chop.”

“Oh! Did you know? I learned today, humans are referred to as ‘long pork’ among cannibals, because they allegedly taste like—“

“Don’t finish that sentence. I’m still supposed to kiss that mouth.”

Magnolio fidgets in place, clawed hands coming up to groom the dense fur at his neck in a way that you can only assume is self-soothing. “You would still have to do it under the light of the moon.”

You purse your lips at this predicament, getting up to take him with you into the kitchen. You ponder as you pull a container of leftovers out of your freezer, tossing it into the microwave and pacing in your kitchen. “There’s the window in the living room, but I don’t trust that someone won’t just straight up walk in on me making out with a werewolf and call the cops.”

“What is ‘making out’?”

“Not important. The only other window that can get good moonlight is upstairs in my bedroom. We’ll have to do it there.”

“I’ve never been in your bedroom,” Magnolio comments thoughtfully, finding his pendant in the ruff of his neck and toying with it between two fingertips. “Yeah, well, prepare to be underwhelmed,” you mutter, shrugging out of your uniform jacket and tossing it over the back of the nearest chair. Once the microwave beeps, you try to take your time eating, prolonging the inevitable as your nerves fray. It all seems so sudden, now, though you know you’ve had weeks to prepare. Once you’re done, you do the dishes and then haul Magnolio upstairs into your bedroom, where you prop him up against your dresser.

Magnolio looks around curiously, taking in the rumpled sheets on your bed, the clothing on your “floordrobe”, the cups on your nightstand. “It’s bigger than I thought it would be,” is all that he murmurs, and for that, you’re grateful.

“Second only to the living room,” you say, sighing softly and frowning when you catch a whiff of your breath. You stand up and hurry out of your bedroom, barely hearing Magnolio call out behind you.

“Where are you going?”

“To brush my teeth!” you shout back, turning on your bathroom faucet. “My breath smells like calamari!”

Magnolio’s laughter brings a smile to your face. You brush your teeth twice and dig out some mouthwash for good measure, and only then do you return to your bedroom to kneel in front of Magnolio’s mirror. Moonlight makes the silver decorations gleam as you look into each others’ eyes, and when you lean in, Magnolio moves to meet your lips. You feel a tingle and a snap as though zapped by a static shock, and in the next moment, you have your arms full of a very big werewolf.

“I’m out!” gasps Magnolio, touching the floor of your bedroom with something approaching reverence as his tail wiggles behind him.

“You’re out!” you laugh, helplessly cupping his big, furry face in your hands. “Welcome back, Mags.”

Magnolio beams, baring all of his sharp teeth before he presses his lips to yours again. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry,” he says when he draws away, tail stilling. “You probably don’t feel the same way. I shouldn’t have—”

“Don’t finish that sentence,” you tell him, and kiss him until his tail beats against the floor.

[falcor-thee-luck-dragon]

Rough Night

Bucky Barnes x (f)werewolf reader

Summary: Your life is already so weird, thankfully Bucky loves you through it all.

Warning: fluff, reader being a sass master w/ no filter

side note: couldn’t think of any cool avenger powers and then brain went werewolf so here we are

Masterlist

If you had a dollar for every time you’d ended up in the woods with ripped clothes and no shoes, well, let’s just say you could probably afford a real nice two bedroom apartment in some real pleasantly fancy building with a great view and all. Too bad green doesn’t just rain down from the sky every time the full moon comes round to knock you back into another world of blurry confusion.

You won’t lie to yourself, being what you are is strange and not very common in the slightest, obviously. It’s even weirder that you weren’t bitten one night and turned just like that, oh no, all passed down through the bloodline of other strange relatives. So you’re gifted with the curse, forced to inevitably change into a furry beast every single full moon, so what you’re still a mostly pleasant individual.

Well luckily for you, being born with the gift does happen to have its perks which do come in handy. For instance, you’re incredibly strong, quick on your feet, and have heightened senses, plus the ability to shift on command. It’s not all bad, well......most of the time.

Honestly you truly thought life couldn’t get much stranger for you and your whole hidden secretive situation, until low and behold some random red head found your little hideaway in a remote mountain side village far off in the Himalayas.

Everything was completely fine and under control and then BAM, she showed up with some important documents and something called an Avengers initiative and well shit, guess some time spent with the real world couldn’t hurt. I mean come on, some more friends seemed like a nice idea and uh, somehow they knew who you were so too late to run and hide.

Also at the time, considering you lived like a recluse on the edge of the village and of course for good reason, but damn if the red head didn’t just hand you an open invitation for some real adventure. Who were you to say no?

Fortunately for you, all seemed to go in your favor and fantastically enough, they had a nice big strong cell for you on nights when the wolf was inevitably bound to come out. A fridge full of plentiful snacks, a training room to lay off some steam, and a big safe and secure room all your own. It was perfect. Only problem was, there happened to be a very attractive and very wary of you super soldier who undoubtedly caught your attention.

How could you not, he smelled divine, muscles for days, thick thighs that could make a girl swoon, and he just seemed like the best goddamn hugger alive. Okay listen, maybe you were touch starved and deprived of human affection but dammit if your little monster heart didn’t skip a beat every time he was near you.

And yes, the few months it took to get him to crack was just down right torturous. But with some coaxing from Steve and encouragement from Sam, the winter soldier at long last did talk to you. Turned out he thought you were scared of him all along, how hilariously ironic you thought when he told you that.

But as time progressed and you both opened up more and more, a blossoming relationship sprouted forth, eventually evolving and manifesting into a big beautiful flower called love. Cheesy yes, but you couldn’t have dreamed of anything better.

And seriously, he wasn’t freaked out about your whole hidden hush hush secretive gift that usually either goes in your favor or ends up causing you major legal trouble. The man himself, Bucky Barnes, thought you were a marvel to behold, so odd and fantastic that he couldn’t stay away even if he tried.

And for that you could love him forever, especially now after a full moon while you’re out in the middle of nowhere. Hoping that the team will send your hundred year old boyfriend out to find you in the brisk dark morning after a grand unrememberable adventure. Which would be very nice of course, considering you have not a damn clue what you’ve done.....or where you are.

Cracking your back, you stretch your hands up to the dawning sky as a tired yawn escapes you. It’s been a long night and you look like a wild woman with your hear a fluffy nest and your clothes ripped in various unrevealing places thankfully.

Your surroundings are simply trees and small scraggly bushes, green grass underneath your bare feet and a small stream flowing in the near distance. With a second to listen, you can hear a highway a couple miles away to the east, guess that’s a start.

Rubbing your eyes you set out in that direction for about twenty minutes before a blue and gold Mercedes comes into view from the side of a country back road, it stops when you guess the driver spotted you from the tree line. Keeping a wary eye on the fancy sports car, you keep walking towards it until a figure gets out and leans against the passengers side door all cool and casual, then on further inspection you realize the driver is Bucky.

Yes! My knight in shining armor is here!

Trudging through the grassy field in the dewy morning light, he watches your every move, eyes crinkling in amusement as you come to stand a couple feet in front of him. Undoubtedly looking a bit wild, and very tired as you fold your arms underneath each other, giving your dark haired lover a shy almost fangy smile.

“I know I look like a hot mess.” You mutter with a shrug, biting your lip as you dart your eyes to the fields behind him, slightly embarrassed of the current disheveled state you’re in.

Bucky smirks before pushing himself off the car and engulfing you into a big Bucky bear hug to your pleasant surprise, “Y/N I’m just glad you’re okay and nothing bad happened to you.” He mumbles into your shoulder as you press yourself closer to him, letting yourself have this wonderful moment to relax and feel at ease.

Slowly pulling back to look up at him, you smile, “Aww Buck you were worried about me?”

He returns the grin, leaning down to press his head flush against yours, “We all were, me more then anyone else of course...and maybe for the general civilians nearby.”

You laugh nervously, “Oh right, yeah. Well hey, I didn’t destroy anyone's car this time. I think I’ve made progress.”

He pauses for a brief moment indicating he’s not sure if he should tell you something and this does make you nervous before Bucky finally lets out a little laugh, “You ate a whole cow Y/N.”

Snorting in surprise you quickly pull your head from Bucky’s, “What? Did I? Please tell me you’re joking.”

“Yeah, uh I wish.” He admits with a casual reassuring squeeze to your arm, “We tracked you with Sam’s suit tech, yunno Red Wing, and uh....you seemed to be having fun.”

Mentally and just about physically cringing at yourself, you purse your lips together in slight embarrassment, “Shit. Was it gross?” You ask, making a face that causes him to chuckle.

“A little.” Adds Bucky with another casual shrug to make you feel less terrible.

“Is the farmer going to see everything, I mean shit they’re gonna be so pissed.” You worry, biting your lip anxiously as you break eye contact from him. “Why am I like this.”

“Uh, that’s not going to be a problem.” Inquires Bucky causing you to find his blue eyes once again.

Eying him up suspiciously you raise a brow, “And why’s that.....Bucky what did I do?”

Taking a breath he gives you a small apprehensive smile, “Y/N...you uh, kind of ate......everything.”

“I what?” I did not! No way, right?

Giving you a quick kiss on the cheek he smiles affectionately, “I’m going to be honest with you here it looked like a kid with a piece of cake who has no impulse control, and loves cake....like a lot.....Rodney almost puked.”

Rolling your eyes you fake glare at him, “Oh god who all watched my little horror show?”

“Mostly everyone.”

“Jesus.”

“It’s like a car crash Y/N, we don’t want to watch but we can’t look away. Sorry doll.” He confesses apprehensively, though honest and sincere knowing you do feel bad for what you do when out of it.

“No.” You say honestly, pausing for a moment, “It’s fine. Seriously Buck, I’m just relieved you guys keep taps on me while I’m out, god knows I can’t help what I do and where I go. It’s nice to have people making sure I don’t injure any innocent bystander.”

“Yeah I guess so huh...alright Y/N/N,” Chirps Bucky with a beaming grin as he attempts to shift the mood to a less dull one, “let’s get out of here, I mean unless you want to sniff around the place for awhile...it is a nice forest over there and all but I guess we can stay and I’ll let you...”

“Alright Barnes, can-it or maybe I’ll bite you.” You tease with a playful squeeze of his bicep before breaking out of his strong grasp.

“Depends on the context maybe I’d enjoy it.” Adds Bucky sarcastically, side eying you with a half smile as you move to open the car door.

Shaking your head in playful disapproval you lightly shove him aside, “Believe me you wouldn’t.”

——

The ride back to the Avengers base or headquarters or facility, who the hell knows at this point, was actually quite smooth and peaceful. Then again you fell asleep as soon as Bucky made it onto the highway, and continued to catch a much needed nap for the next hour ride home.

No one ever said you were easy alright, but let’s be real, Bucky would let you put him through anything and he’d be happy about it.

After parking and walking down the sidewalk past some early morning trainees catching a run, the two of you made it into the Avengers official HQ where all your rooms and other luxury’s are located. But of course not before walking past the facilities giant living space and huge kitchen.

Just keep looking forward, keep walking, walk faster you idiot!

“Y/N!” Shouts Sam in that stupidly peppy obnoxious early morning voice of his, no doubt gaining the attentions of Steve and Natasha who are seated at the kitchens bar talking about some mission report.

Pausing in the large doorway that’s not giving you or Bucky a whole lot of hiding space, you take a deep breath before turning to acknowledge him, “You’d think people would be sleeping considering it’s only six in the morning.”

Chuckling, Sam raises his protein shake, “Weird,” He says while giving you a knowing smirk, “we missed you during training this morning.”

Nat and Steve conceal their amusement as you simply roll your eyes, “Yeah well it was a long night.” You mutter unenthusiastically, earning the tiniest laugh from Bucky which causes you to throw him a glare. Knocking that smile right off of his handsome stubbly face.

“Well we got all these shakes here if you two love birds want one. Hate to have em go to waste.” Adds the smiling man with a nod, if he doesn’t just love seeing you looking like shit. No Sam I do not accept this invitation for you to tell me how crazy I look.

Sam means well of course, but damn he loves teasing you in front of Bucky for a fun reaction out of him. And it’s kind of working, but not on Bucky.

“It’s fine Y/N, you don’t have to have one if you don’t want to.” Calls Natasha before taking a sip from her mug. “Just ignore Sam, he’s been annoying since the gym.”

Before Sam’s even able to speak you quickly narrow your eyes at him, holding up a finger before making hasty steps across the room. Stopping right in front of him, “Give it.” You deadpan.

Brows raised in surprise he glances from a confused Bucky, then back to you again, “Listen I only made so much, Y/N this is my breakfast okay you can’t just...”

Ignoring his rushed rambling you pull out the whole glass blender full of protein shake before taking a step back as the whole room goes quiet, then never breaking eye contact you heartily drink up the whole entirety of its cold contents without missing a beat. Yeah, definitely needed that.

After you’re finished you lick your lips in satisfaction, taking a step closer towards a speechless Sam as you set the blender back in its place. Giving him a satisfied smirk before walking back over to Bucky where you tug on his jacket to follow you down the hall and away from everyone else.

Sometimes you can’t help but be a little dramatic.

——

Laying sprawled out on yours and Bucky’s giant mattress, you stare up at the ceiling as he folds your clean and freshly scented laundry, your mind swirling with thoughts of what duties you have to be apart of today. Blah, work.

Sighing gently you glance at Bucky to see if he heard you, not getting anything from him you sigh again with more grandeur this time. Nothing. Rolling your eyes you suck in a deep breath before practically soft yelling out your exhale like the dramatic little beast you are.

Glancing over to Bucky, you watch as he turns around to put some of your pants away in a drawer. Okay then, that’s how it’s gonna be. Quickly sitting up, you smirk a devilish grin before silently reaching over to pick up a small pillow, once in hand you don’t think twice before launching it at full speed directly headed for the back of his head.

But before your decently soft projectile can smack his precious flowing locks does a metal arm swiftly reach up to catch it mid flight. Oh, shit. Bucky’s head turns to you, brow raised at you before tucking the pillow underneath his arm, and going back to his usual domestic duties for the day.

Okay, killer of fun Mr. James Buchanan Barnes.

Frustrated from lack of a reaction out of him, you stand up on the bed like a warrior about to give a great battle cry. Eyeing his cute butt up for a moment, you smirk once again before launching a sneak attack pillow right for his head. It sails magnificently across the room before a metal hand stops it in its place. 

Well, shit.

This time he gives you a proper look, full of mischief and a new profound playfulness that sends an excited thrill throughout your entire being. As fast as one of Thor’s lightening bolts does the pillow soar in your direction, but conveniently for you he’s forgotten just how quick you can really be. This is just what you wanted.

Dodging to the left you watch in almost slow motion as the fluffy cloth just misses your face, instead opting to smack against the back wall with a loud thud. Snapping your attention back to Bucky he narrows his blue eyes at you suspiciously while you let out an admittedly scary villainous chuckle.

Let’s party my love.

He hands you a smirk right before shifting his body to the right, arm cocked back and thrust forward just as quickly, launching his second pillow attack without an ounce of mercy. You see it coming a mile away and as graceful as a dancer do you flip off the bed, landing perfectly on the carpeted floor just as the pillow smacks hard against the door. Thwack!

Slowly standing, eyeing him up like a lioness to her prey, you give him a satisfied smile, “Missed.” You tease.

Letting out a breathy laugh, Bucky takes a cautious step in your direction as he tests the waters, “Y/N what are you doing?”

“Getting your attention you ass.”

Chuckling he takes another step forward, “Was I ignoring you?” Duh, that’s why I, oh wait he’s playing you.

“Well you certainly weren’t doing anything interesting.” You sass as he steps again closer, this time about an arms length away.

The corners of his eyes crinkle in amusement, “Okay that’s fair, but was the pillow really necessary?” He asks, though his tone is still humorous.

Not falling for his alluring charm you tilt your head to the side, a knowing smile breaking out across your face as he tries to register what your true intentions are. “Yes, and so is this.” You quip before dropping to the floor for a side sweep of his legs, in an instant he’s on the ground and looking wide eyed up at you.

God he looks beautiful. No, focus.

“Y/N!” He whines breathlessly, brows furrowed as he holds himself up by his elbows, “Now you’re gonna get it!”

Taking a quick step back you snort, “Oh really now?”

And he’s fallen for the plan.

“Yes, and when I get you, you won’t be laughing anymore.” He grumbles, trying to keep himself from laughing as well.

“Alright then hot stuff try and bring me down.” You snap back playfully as he rises to his feet, “First one pinned has to run with Sam later, and we both know how much fun he is to run with.”

Bringing his arms up into a defensive position he readies himself for an attack, “Yeah, I’d rather not be his jogging buddy today. I mean it is raining outside, but I know you’d look real nice after a wet run.” Teases Bucky with a smirk.

“Touché you smartass.” His lips twitch into a grin as you ready your own stance. “Now let’s dance.”

[sokkascroptop]

traitor. (sokka x f!reader) pt 14

part 1 | part 13 | part 15

A/N: Just a warning, if you all hop in my asks saying Y/N x Katara Rights!! i’ll cut you :) so this chapter is kind of a filler and was so hard to write?? but it’s needed because of literally one part and you’ll know what it is when you read it. Also, Katara and Y/N separately have One Brain Cell that serves as impulse control but when they’re together they cancel out and they would rather die than think.

Y/N couldn’t sleep that night. They had all decided to turn in early since Sokka wanted them up at the crack of dawn, but Y/N couldn’t stop tossing and turning, thinking about the little village on the water down below them that was suffering so much. Suffering because of her nation. Their nation. Katara was right, she felt cold and heartless doing nothing, but Y/N wasn’t sure of what she even could do for them.

Seeing the rundown fishing village was the worst part of their journey so far. Y/N had never imagined in her wildest dreams that there were Fire Nation citizens living in such poverty. At home, in Capital City, a pretty picture was painted of all the towns in their nation, even towns like this one, where steel mills were built to provide their armies with weapons; actually, especially these towns.

“Look at this place. We have to do something!” Katara said as soon as they stepped onto one of the docks. 

Sokka stopped in his tracks. “Uh no, we can’t waste our time here. We have a bigger mission we need to focus on. These people are on their own.” He waved his hands, signifying the end of the discussion. 

However, Katara was just getting started. Aang and Y/N shared an uncomfy look as the two Water Tribe siblings began arguing. “These people are starving, but you’d turn your back on them? How could you be so cold and heartless?”

“I’m not turning my back!” Sokka said defensively. “I’m just being realistic. We can’t go around helping every rinky-dink town we wander into. We’ll be helping them all by taking out the Fire Lord.”

“Hey, Loudmouth!” Toph smacked a hand over Sokka’s lips. “Maybe we should be a little quieter when we talk about ‘taking out the Fire Lord’.” 

“Katara, be reasonable about this,” Sokka said quietly. “Y/N gets it.”

At the sound of her name, Y/N looked up from where she was dragging her sandal between the slats of wood, trying to become invisible. Katara and Sokka both looked at her expectantly. “Katara, I’m sorry but I think Sokka is right.” She frowned at her own words. “The mission needs to come first. It will help everyone in the long run.”

“Let’s just get what we need and go.” Aang tried to sound upbeat but everyone knew he was just trying to defuse any more arguments. 

Sokka laid out his schedule across their campsite right over Y/N’s lap. As Toph, Aang and Katara bent mud out of the river’s water and boiled it to drink, Sokka and Y/N peered over the paper. She couldn’t read any of Sokka’s messy handwriting but she was able to get the gist of things with the copious color coding. Sokka was crouching over her shoulder mumbling to himself. 

She turned to him. “Does it ever stop?” She asked.

Sokka grunted, “Huh?” he continued to look over the schedule, tracing the lines with a finger. 

“That little hamster-weasel running on the wheel that powers that brain of yours. Does he ever stop?”

Sokka narrowed his eyes and stood up, completely ignoring her which made her giggle. “Because we spent the whole day here, we’re going to have to wake up every morning forty-three minutes earlier to make it to the Fire Lord in time for the invasion.”

“Forty-three minutes,” Katara deadpanned. 

“Well I’m not waking up early,” Toph said, lying back on the dirt.  

Y/N reached up and yanked on the hem of Sokka’s tunic until he paid her attention. “Yeah, me either, bud. I don’t get up before that sun rises.”

“Then we’re just going to have to take potty breaks with food breaks.” 

There was a chorus of, “ewww” from the rest of the group but Sokka looked unperturbed. “It’s efficient!! It doesn’t matter, we have to leave first thing in the morning.” Sokka rolled up his schedule and stomped off to his sleeping bag leaving the four of them to wonder how he became the one in charge.

---

Y/N couldn’t sleep that night. They had all decided to turn in early since Sokka wanted them up at the crack of dawn, but Y/N couldn’t stop tossing and turning, thinking about the little village on the water down below them that was suffering so much. Suffering because of her nation. Their nation. Katara was right, she felt cold and heartless doing nothing, but Y/N wasn’t sure of what she even could do for them.

Y/N sighed and turned over for what seemed like the fiftieth time that night. She grimaced as her shoulder rolled right onto her hair, yanking it painfully from her scalp. She sat up pulling her hair around to the front. She’d never thought much about it before, always putting it in a braid to keep it out of her face while sparring. Now that she was walking around the Fire Nation with it down all the time to hide her identity, she was much more aware of it. She couldn’t remember the last time it was cut, it was as long as Katara’s and the humidity had made it wavy. It was heavy and thick and always made her hot when the sun was shining. 

She ran her fingers through it a couple times, pulling at some tangles (that was another downside to it being down all the time) then slid out of her sleeping bag. She padded quietly barefooted past Toph, who was next to her and walked in the direction of the village. She climbed a little hill and sat with her knees pulled up in the grass overlooking the small water town. Thick black smoke billowed from the towers, even though it was well into the night. 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Y/N jumped at the sudden voice but settled as Katara sat next to her, pressing their arms together. “Sorry.”

“I see that you couldn’t either.”

“Every time I close my eyes I see those villagers,” Katara mused. 

“Me too.”

“Oh?” She raised her eyebrows. “I thought you agreed with Sokka on leaving them to deal with everything on their own.”

“I was wrong,” Y/N admitted. “I think I wanted to ignore what was happening because I didn’t want to believe that my nation would let this happen, but it’s right in front of my eyes. They let these people down. I want to help in some way.” 

“Do you have a plan?” Katara was smiling now. 

Y/N smirked. She hadn’t known the girl for long, but it was like their minds had already melded. “Kind of. But I think I need the help of a really powerful waterbender.”

---

“My mom used to tell me stories about the spirits,” Y/N used her thumb to wipe a line of red paint down Katara’s chin. They were sitting on the edge of the bank near the muddy water. The tiny village was across from them, quiet for the night. “There was one that was my favorite and she was called The Painted Lady. Close your eyes–” Y/N wiped the red paint over Katara’s eyelids and made curling lines over cheekbones. “–she was a river spirit. It’s the best persona you could have for where we are. If anyone sees you they’re going to think that’s who you are.” She wiped the leftover paint on her skirt. 

Katara donned the wide brimmed hat they had found and Y/N helped her position the lace netting around her face. Y/N pulled the hood of her black cloak up and she hopped in one of the canoes. She crouched down on the bench as Katara created a mist to hide the boat and began to bend the water around them and push them towards the factory. 

It took most of the night to distribute the food they had stolen. The boat was only so big and two trips had to be made to get enough which made it all more risky but both of the girls knew that it would all be worth it in the end. When they reached the shore Y/N collapsed with fatigue on the sand while Katara washed the paint off with clean water. 

Katara sat down heavily next to her. She sighed but she was clearly pleased with what they had done. 

“Katara… I need your help with something.”

---

“Are you sure you want to cut it all off?”

Katara hovered over Y/N’s shoulder holding the blade Y/N had stolen from Sokka’s bag when she stole his cloak. Slowly, she reached out and touched a few strands of hair at Y/N’s back.

Y/N nodded. “Right here.” She pointed to her shoulder. She stared straight ahead into the water as she spoke, not trusting herself to look back at her friend. “Hair is our honor. I know it’s silly, it feels so stupid to be so attached to something so insignificant like hair, but I just couldn’t do it before. I think I still believed in the back of my mind that I could go back; that I could be accepted back. But, not anymore. And I don’t think I want to. Not until it’s some place I can be proud of again. I cannot have honor in a nation I don’t even find honorable. I need redemption for myself. I need to prove to myself that I am not like them anymore. And step one is cutting all ties,”–Y/N took a deep breath–”so get to cutting.”

---

The next morning, Y/N woke to shouting. Before she was able to even see clearly she had jumped to her feet and grabbed her sword. Only then did she realize it was Sokka yelling. 

“What’s going on you guys?” Y/N rubbed her sleep bleary eyes. Katara and her had walked back with the sun on the horizon. Neither one of them could have gotten more than an hour of sleep. 

“Appa’s sick! It’s awful!” Sokka wailed.

Y/N reached over and patted the sky bison on the snout. He gave a large groan as if to emphasize he wasn’t feeling well. “Aw, poor guy.”

“I didn’t know you cared so much, Sokka,” Toph said as she scratched under Appa’s chin.

“We might as well just throw out the whole schedule!” One look at the others, who were glaring in his direction, sent him stumbling forward to hug Appa’s huge neck. “And I’m concerned because my big furry friend doesn’t feel well.”

“Uh-huh, sure.” Y/N rolled her eyes in Katara’s direction.

Sokka did a double take. “Your hair.”

Y/N reached up to touch the ends self-consciously. “Yeah.”

“Who’s hair?” Toph asked.

“Y/N cut her hair!” Aang exclaimed. 

Toph’s glassy eyes widened. “How short!?” 

“It’s at my shoulders,” Y/N replied. 

“When did you cut it?” Sokka furrowed his brow.

Y/N shrugged. “Last night.”

Before Sokka could ask more questions, Katara broke in. “I think we should head into town for some medicine for Appa.” 

---

Y/N walked in the back of the group next to Katara. “How did you… you know?” She cocked her head back in the direction of their camp.

Katara smiled mischievously. “I found these purple berries and fed Appa a ton of them. He just has a stomach ache.” Both of them began giggling which earned them a suspicious look from Sokka. 

“What are you laughing about?” 

“Nothing!” Y/N waved a hand around her. “We’re talking about how much the village has changed.”

Indeed the village was much livelier due to the food Katara and Y/N had delivered. And like Y/N suspected, they all thought it was because of The Painted Lady. Shoe had commended her for bringing them food in the night. When they found out that there was no medicine in the town, Y/N knew what Katara had planned for the extra night they were going to have to stay. 

---

Sokka had ignored Y/N the whole day. If he had done so a few weeks ago, she wouldn’t have thought for a second about it. But now, they were friends, they sparred every evening but even when they weren’t sparring they still talked. She watched him plan for the invasion or he watched her and Katara make dinner. 

Silence had never been so deafening. 

And finally the silence was broken during dinner. 

“You said that you went and cut your hair in the middle of the night.” 

The spoon that was halfway between her bowl and her lips almost slipped through her fingers. “Yeah, so?” Y/N asked. 

“Well, Shoe said that The Painted Lady was delivering food to the village in the middle of the night but you didn’t say anything about seeing her.”

“I didn’t see her,” Y/N said defensively. “I’m not sure why you’re interrogating me.” 

“I’m not interrogating, just wondering.”

Y/N watched as Sokka went back to eating his dinner like nothing happened. She narrowed her eyes at him. There was only one reason why he would be asking such weird questions...

“I just think it’s a little weird that you cut your hair in the middle of the night.”

A shot of anger coursed through Y/N’s body. She couldn’t stop herself from leaning forward. “Sokka, go ahead and ask it because I know you’re dying to.”

“Are you The Painted Lady?”

“No,” Y/N dropped her bowl next to the fire. “I’m going for a walk.” 

“I’m coming too!” Toph chirped.

Y/N turned back to look at the girl. “No, you’re not.”

“Too late, Not Painted Lady.” She was already pushing Y/N’s back, guiding them away from the campsite. 

---

“You know I’m really not The Painted Lady,” Y/N said. She began to balance herself on a pointy rock but thought better of it when she felt it begin to shift underneath her. She sent a dirty look in Toph’s direction.

“I know, but Katara is. And there’s no way she knew about an obscure Fire Nation spirit.”

“Um...”

“You guys weren’t necessarily quiet when you came back this morning.”

“Riiight.” Y/N bit her lip. “You’re not going to tell Sokka are you?”

“What Sokka doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”

Y/N sighed, relieved. “Thank you, Toph.”

“You’ll owe me of course.” Toph began to balance herself on the same rock, Y/N had just been on. 

Y/N laughed. “Owe you?”

“Yeah. Like, sometime, someday I’ll come to you and you owe me for keeping your secret.” Toph grinned. 

“I’m going to come to regret this, I think.”

“Probably.”

---

Y/N stayed behind that night. Sokka had been too suspicious of her and besides there wasn’t much she could do while Katara healed all of the sick villagers. The next night, however, Katara shook her awake after only a few hours of sleep. She held a finger to her lips and led her away from the campsite, far enough so they could talk without being heard. 

“I need your help tonight,” she whispered.

Y/N didn’t need to be told twice. “What are you thinking of doing?”

Katara’s eyes were wide. “Sokka was right. These villagers need to be able to help themselves but they can’t while that factory is still polluting their water.”

“Oh, you’re gonna–”

“Yeah, we’re going to blow it up.”

“I’ll get my sword.”

---

Y/N sure wasn’t expecting Aang to be so open to the idea of ecoterrorism considering his usual passive nature, but he was a big help with destroying the factory. They were lucky that he had woken up and caught them when they were leaving. 

The sun was shining when the three of them got back and it was already starting to warm up. Y/N had her black cloak thrown over her shoulder and she was laughing at something Aang had said. 

“–and when you unscrewed those screws with your sword and water came bursting out and flooded the whole floor.” Aang made an explosion noise and started giggling all over again. 

Katara shushed them both. “Quiet, we don’t want to wake Sokka up–oh hey… Sokka.”

Y/N tucked her cloak behind her back but the damage was already done. “We were just out on a morning swi–”

“Walk,” Katara corrected. Y/N bit her tongue. How had she almost said swim? Swim?! The river was literally polluted with probably dangerous levels of chemicals and she had almost said they went swimming in it. 

“I know you’re The Painted Lady, Y/N! I know you’ve been sneaking out at night and helping the villagers but I didn’t think that you would recruit my sister to help you!”

Y/N was taken aback at the anger that was radiating off of him. It was so different than just a few days earlier when they were sitting in Appa’s saddle joking with one another. As a matter of fact, Y/N wasn’t sure he’d ever shown this much outward fury to her when he hated her. 

“Sokka, leave her alone!” Katara stepped in. 

Y/N grabbed her arm and pulled her back. It was better for him to be mad at her than his sister. “No, it’s fine. He’s right. I shouldn’t have done it.”

Sokka was fuming. “You put this whole mission at risk while you were off being reckless. We’re leaving right now.”

Normally she might have said something to defend herself but instead Y/N just bumped their shoulders together as she walked past him. She packed her bags silently and rolled her sleeping bag before tossing it all into Appa’s saddle. 

Her feelings were hurt that Sokka would think that she would intentionally put them in harm’s way or mess up their mission. But something about his anger seemed misplaced; like there was more to it all. She could have expected that reaction if she had gotten caught, but she hadn’t been. As Y/N tried to rack her brain to figure out what made him tick she heard a buzzing out on the river. Even from where she was standing she could see the Fire Nation soldiers from the factory riding jet skis towards the village. 

“Oh no. No, no, no.” Y/N ran to the cliff overlooking the village and fell to her belly. Katara dropped down next to her and Sokka and Aang on her other side. 

Toph came up last. “What’s going on?”

Y/N watched in horror as the Fire Nation soldiers rode up alongside the dock and jumped off their jet skis. They began to approach the large group of villagers who had come outside to see what the noise was about. 

“What did you do?!” Sokka accused Y/N. She shook her head, unable to speak.

“We destroyed their factory,” Katara muttered.

“You what?!” Sokka yelled.

“It was your idea!” Katara yelled back at him.

“It doesn’t matter whose idea!” Y/N shot to her feet. “I’ve got to help them.”

“You can’t!” Sokka grabbed her wrist to keep her from running away. He was holding on a little too tightly and Y/N desperately wanted to yank out of his grip. She looked at his wild eyes and it finally clicked what the other emotion was. He was scared. Afraid that they were going to get hurt. Afraid that she was going to get hurt. “Those soldiers are out for blood. They want revenge.”

“Well, she’s not going alone!” Katara ripped Sokka’s hand off of Y/N. “We can’t turn our back on people who need us.”

---

Katara and Y/N ran side by side down the trail that led to the water. “I’ll go buy some time. You go put on The Painted Lady costume. If the soldiers think that this village is protected by her they’re less likely to come back.” 

“Got it,” Katara ran off in the direction she had stashed her cloak and hat. 

“I’m coming with you,” Sokka panted as he ran down the hill followed by Toph and Aang. 

“I thought you wanted to leave them,” she retorted. Y/N was done being nice if he wasn’t going to be.  

“I’m not going to leave you.” Sokka held her gaze. “Or Katara,” he added quickly. 

Y/N blinked. “Oh. Okay, come on.” She pushed one of the canoes into the water. “Aang, can you push us over to that dock there?” She pointed to a deserted dock on the back side of the village. The soldiers wouldn’t see them there. “And then go help Katara.”

“You got it!” He said brightly.

“What do I do?” Toph asked, clearly feeling a bit left out. 

“Go make scary spirit noises for Katara,” Sokka instructed.

“Ugh, okay.” Toph ran off among the rocks and cliffs. 

---

Aang used water bending to push their canoe. They each grabbed the wooden dock and hauled themselves up it, their boat floating under the dock and off with the current. No going back now. Sokka and Y/N snuck up to the back of the group of villagers and caught the tail end of whatever the soldier had been telling them. 

“–destroyed our factory! We’re going to cure the world of this wretched village.”

Y/N pushed her way to the front of the group. “No you’re not.” She held her hands in loose fists by her side. She was itching for her sword but she had left it at camp in her rush to get here. 

“And who’s going to stop me?” the large soldier taunted. 

Y/N didn’t spare a second thought. She leapt forward and punched him in the chest twice. The armor made her knuckles ache and sent reverberations up her arms. She ducked under a flaming punch from him and kicked his kneecap. He grunted and fell to his knee. He reached forward and before she could jump away, grabbed one of her ankles, pulling her feet out from under her. She shrieked and twisted midair, landing on her shoulder. 

That’s when a boomerang came from behind her, looping around to hit the soldier in the back of head, only to be caught again by it’s master. It only gave Sokka enough time to pull Y/N to her feet, because the soldier barely flinched. Agni, his head must be thick, Y/N thought. 

The soldier pulled back his fist ready to throw fire at them when it was quickly stifled by a stiff breeze that whipped Y/N’s hair around her face. 

He tried again, only for his fire to be blown out again. He growled and went to try a third time. He was interrupted by another soldier. “Uh, boss? What’s that?” He pointed in the direction that the wind came from. A large wall of fog was moving their way. In the distance, there was a rhythmic thumping that could only be a large boulder being lifted and dropped over and over again on the ground; and Y/N was sure she could hear Appa growling as well. 

The fog parted and Y/N could see Katara standing between two rolling, white clouds. Then, she was moving towards the dock at frightening speed, gliding over the water like she was flying. She landed gracefully and stood there staring at two soldiers in front of her. 

“Come on, let’s move the people further back.” Y/N patted Sokka’s shoulder and the two of them guided the villagers further back onto the platform to keep them out of harm’s way. 

Behind her, Y/N heard a yelp and two of the soldiers ran back to their jet skis and drove off without another thought. Only after they left did their swords hit the deck with a clang, evidently bent out of their hands by Aang and thrown to the sky.

“Stand your ground!” Their leader shouted. Katara bent the water around two more of their jet skis and lifted them high in the air. Y/N watched in complete awe as she threw them sideways into the face of the cliff where they exploded on impact. The rest of the soldiers sprinted back to their jet skis leaving their leader alone. 

“I’ll take care of this myself,” he growled. It was like it all happened in slow motion. He created a whip of fire and bent it at Katara. Y/N was sure it was going to hit her, she didn’t even move to block it. Y/N gripped Sokka’s arm and then Katara was gone. 

From below the deck, Aang had bent the air around Katara and lifted her high above them. Another gust of wind knocked the soldier into the muddy water. Katara floated on mist above him. 

“Leave this place and never come back,” The Painted Lady commanded. 

Y/N had never seen someone swim so fast. That was when she realized she was still holding her breath. She sighed in relief as Katara landed back on the platform. Aang crawled out from under the dock and Sokka and Y/N ran to join them. 

Behind her, the villagers were cheering but the sound was muted because Y/N didn’t care about that, all she cared about was that her and her friends had made it in one piece. 

A loud bang sounded from the shore and everyone went silent, their eyes searching for where the noise came from. 

“HELLLOOOO!” Someone shouted angrily from the bank. 

Sokka and Y/N shared a confused look before she burst out laughing. “Oh my spirits, it’s Toph. She can’t get over here.” Y/N grabbed Sokka’s hand and pulled him to one of the canoes to paddle over and pick up their friend.

---

A/N: So i just wanted to say that I’ve had the hair cutting scene planned from the beginning, I just was waiting for the right time to place it. her hair is cut now. and the fire nation is dropped. and now all i have to say is: IT’S IN THE NEXT CHAPTER. IT. IS. IN. THE. NEXT. CHAPTER

taglist: @myexgirlfriendisthemoon @reclusive-chicken-nugget @astroninaaa @aangsupremacy @beifongsss @crownofcryptids @welovediaaxx @littlefluu @lozzybowe @thebluelcdy @ohjustlookalive @sugarmoongey @fanficdepot @teenbiology @13-09-01 @riespage @davnwillcome @naanlianid @creation-magician @lunariasilver @vintagerose1014516 @bcifcng @rockinearthbending-marauders @francesciak @thia-aep @aphrcditeee @milk-n-cheese @solarsuki @sendnuwudes @humbleseame @my--shitty--art @lovingcupcake51002 @loganrwebb @celia-not-cecilia @treestarrrrrrrr @p--e--a--c--h--e--s @velveteencurls @izzieserra @oddment-nitwit-blubber-tweak @salsasadd @nataliahaslosthershit @awkwardnesshabitat @lanie103 @emogril @im-the-galactic-starfish​ @charlotteisabella​ @alienmotel​

[winterpower98]

A few people seemed interested in my little AU (which makes me quite happy not gonna lie).

So here what I have so far on it (buckle up this is long):

This AU doesn't have a name yet, it's just in a folder named Twin/Magic AU. So off to a great start!

Everything takes place in a modern setting, it's not in a big city but it's not a small village either.

Snatcher and Moonjumper are not dead and are (as the name of the folder suggests) twins! MJ is the oldest of the two while Luka is the most spirited.

They both went to law school, where Luka met Vanessa Queenzel (I have great creativity when it comes to names). While Luka fell head over heels for Vanessa, MJ did not like one bit!

Because they are identical twins, Vanessa often mistook MJ for Luka which made MJ very uncomfortable. Until he decided to cut his hairs and dye it blue. 

The boys lost their parents in a car accident way after finishing school and after Luka proposed to Vanessa. So the family company fell on their shoulder but Only MJ took care of it since his brother was busy with getting ready for the wedding.

But a month before that happen MJ lost all contacts with Luka. He even went to his and Vanessa's house but she always brushed him off, telling him that Luka was just tired to talk with everyone.

Until one night Luka came running to MJ's house, bruised, starved, and looking almost dead begging his brother to hide him from Vanessa.

MJ asked Cokie, a woman with a cooking show that took care of the twins when they were younger, for help and she suggested moving in the city she works in. That way, if they needed her help, she would be just a call away.

After a restraining order (unfortunately, Vanessa is royalty which means that sending her to jail is borderline impossible) the two brothers went to another city and this is where the AU starts!

Also, Luka has now a therapy cat named Bush! (remember her, she'll come back later on).

In the same studio where Cookie has her set, there is also a radio show directed by DJ Grooves and a tv show presented by the crows. The building is just across from another studio where Conrad (Conductor) works.

Hat and Bow are of course in this AU too! They are Harriet and Bluebell, two orphan sisters that often get in trouble for running away from the orphanage.

Bow likes to sneak into Cookie's set. She did it so many times that the chef doesn't even try to send her away.

Hat is more of a trouble maker and will 100% mess with the local Mafia.

One day Hat accidentally founds Bush and starts to play with her ... for several hours. Luka starts to get a bit worried about his furry companion and starts looking for her. When he finds her he meats Harriet.

Magic does exist in this world but it is very rare (like 3% of the population has it). Everyone knows it exists but no one talks about it, it's like a taboo.

Obviously enough, Vanessa, Luka, and MJ have it. Cookie doesn't have magic but knows about the twins (she had to deal with their magic when they were kids)

There is more that I have written down on my computer but this post is already long XD

Hopefully, my brain will finally decide to draw something for this AU.

[britonell]

For @inukag-week​ 2020!

A short and sweet follow-up to Hermit’s Haven, and this time Inuyasha encounters a different kind of visitor...

Rated T for Inuyasha’s swearing.

Hermit’s Dilemma

Inuyasha stared at the cub, trying to ignore the distinct sense of déjà vu.

The Ezo brown bears were pretty common around these parts, at least enough to be a minor nuisance during deer hunting season, but they were almost always adult males. The only time he had come this close to a cub was when he had followed the village fishermen to the waterfalls and a female and her cubs had joined their group, apparently using the men’s presence to shake off a hostile male bear. This time there was no mama bear, just a lone cub.

Said bear cub sat on his furry little haunches, peering up at the dog-eared man.

Wasn’t this the same place where he first spotted Hachi?

More importantly, what the hell was a bear cub doing all on his own, and so damn close to his house? Shouldn’t this scrawny little guy be in a cozy den with his mother, dozing off until spring? 

Inuyasha looked around once more, ears flicking back. Nope, no other bears nearby. Perhaps the mother had gone out to scavenge for acorns one last time and had been struck by a vehicle, or wandered into some other residential area and met the business end of a rifle.

Well fuck-a-doodle-doo.

That was how Inuyasha found himself crossing the icy bridge with a bear cub in his arms, making his way to—

Wait a minute, there’s no way the dogs would stay calm if he showed up with a squirming bear cub. Maybe he could hand him off to Miroku, that guy probably knew more about bears. Crap, was it even legal to bring a bear cub indoors? His residence was technically a shelter, would his non-profit get in trouble? It’s not like he was going to keep the cub. He should head to the agricultural school ASAP, there had to be staff members with experience in handling wild animals.

He froze mid-step and the curious cub glanced up at him.

Shit, shit, shit, he couldn’t go to the school now, Kagome was picking up her mother and grandfather from the airport and she had made him promise, multiple times, that he would be in the village to greet them when they arrived.

He would stay put, he had assured her. He knew how important this was for her, considering she hadn’t gone back to Tokyo for Christmas. He wasn’t gonna disappear like a coward. Not like he cared if city folks visited his village. It’s not like they were the same people that drove him and his mother out of their old apartment. It wasn’t a problem.

Really.

The bear cub let loose a shrill squeal and Inuyasha nearly flung the cub up into the air before stopping himself. Instead, he held the cub in front of him like a ticking bomb.

Did he need milk? Could bears drink cow milk? Maybe he was cold. Did he need to put him in his jacket? Maybe the cub was scared. Should he swaddle him? Kagome did say he had a knack for swaddling the dogs. The chihuahuas usually liked it. And once the bear quieted down he could hide him in a spare room until morning. Right, this would work. Absolutely. Totally.

Mind made up, he went up to Miroku’s house and slid the kitchen window open.

“Yo, keep an eye on the dogs, will ya?” Inuyasha shouted, making sure to keep the bear out of sight. If what he was doing was against the law, he wasn’t going to drag anyone else into legal trouble.

Miroku poked his head into the hallway. “Gotcha! And for goodness’s sake, use the front door.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Inuyasha grumbled. They both knew that wasn’t going to happen. Miroku could just as easily install a lock on the old window, but Inuyasha had a feeling he never would. Miroku had been insistent on not altering the original design of the house.

That was...nice.

“Hi Inuyasha!” Sango called from somewhere down the hall. “We made yakidango earlier. Do you want some?”

“Uh...maybe later. Thanks.” Inuyasha gingerly closed the window and stepped back.

Yeah. That was nice too. The elderly villagers used to offer him food. They were being neighborly, or so they claimed.

Not that Sango was a neighbor. Yet. He knew she was looking at a couple of houses. That fox demon from the agricultural school, Shippo, was probably going to move in soon.

The bear squealed again, prompting Inuyasha to quicken his pace.

Kagome’s front door was unlocked, as usual. He had told her to start locking the door but no one here really worried about security, what with him and all the dogs running around. She had at least promised to lock the door...after making a key for him.

Fuck, he was not blushing at the thought.

He stomped into the living room and rummaged through her dresser until he pulled out a fluffy pink blanket.

Wrap the blanket around like this, tuck the paws in here, rub his head like so, pat his tummy to soothe him, and voila. Inuyasha examined his handiwork with a satisfied grin, which wilted a little at the realization that he was too adept at this.

The bear peeked up over the edge of the blanket and eyed him, as if waiting for something. Inuyasha hoped he wasn’t expecting a lullaby. Then again, Kagome did say music can calm down dogs in stressful situations.

He reached for Kagome’s iPad and scrolled for a while. Hmm, this would do.

Kuma Sanbiki

He sat down cross-legged on the floor and held the bear burrito close to his chest, mumbling the same lyrics that he used to sing with his mother.

Kuma sanbiki issho ni sunde,

Papa kuma, mama kuma, akachan kuma—

“Eep!”

Inuyasha froze and slowly looked up. Kagome was doubled over, shoulders trembling, hands covering her face. He would’ve thought she was in pain if he didn’t catch a delighted giggle. A woman who was clearly her mother stood by the entrance, one hand resting on a suitcase and the other over her heart, watching the bundle in his arms with dewy eyes.

“What’s all this then?” An elderly man walked in, kicking his shoes off in a huff. “Don’t just stand there, we need to—young man, you’re holding the baby wrong.”

Inuyasha could do nothing but sit still and watch the elderly man saunter up to him.

“Now see here, if you want to calm a young one—that’s a bear.”

“What?” the woman, henceforth known as Mama Higurashi in his head, said.

“A bear?” Kagome chortled, her face still red.

Busted.

“Err…” Three sets of eyes were on him. “I found a bear cub,” he finally confessed.

Word got out pretty quickly, mainly because Kagome ran out to get Miroku’s expensive camera equipment “for that money shot,” and both Miroku and Sango came over to greet the guests as well as take a look at the bear cub.

“I can’t believe you swaddled a bear!” Kagome giggled, hours after the fact.

“Bear cub,” Inuyasha corrected, his forehead firmly planted on his kotatsu. It had been decided that Sango would watch the cub for the night and bring the bear to the school in the morning, because apparently the school’s resident bear expert was her uncle.

Stupid, Inuyasha thought. Stupid, stupid, stupid, he should’ve just brought the cub to Sango in the first place. Stupid.

“I can’t wait to get those pictures on my laptop.”

He lifted his head to glare at her. “So you can laugh at me some more?”

“I wasn’t laughing at you!”

“Uh-huh.”

She scooted over to snuggle up to him, ignoring his sputtering protests and unflattering comparisons to Pen-Pen. “I was losing it because it was too adorable for my little ol’ heart. You’re gonna make a girl faint with your paternal instincts.”

He tried really, really hard not to let her words, or the way she was twirling his forelock, affect him. “Yeah, sure. OK.”

“But you know,” she said with a coy smile. “I do have a confession.”

Inuyasha glanced at her suspiciously.

“I would’ve preferred seeing you holding a baby. My baby.”

He didn’t remember much after that because his brain short-circuited and he went on autopilot.

(Kagome inwardly cursed. Asking Miroku on how to confess like a wrecking ball had not been one of her best ideas.)

The bombshells didn’t end there, though. The next morning, after joining the Higurashi family for breakfast, he was helping Mama Higurashi wash the dishes when she nonchalantly proved just how much her daughter took after her.

“You should’ve joined us for dinner last night. Grandpa and I had a question and Kagome had no idea what the answer was.”

“Oh,” was Inuyasha’s reply.

“I’m sure it’s something my daughter has been wondering about for a while.”

“Ah.” Not freaking out, Inuyasha mentally repeated over and over again. 

“And, I must admit, I would like to know as well. This is a good time to ask, don’t you think? No need to be modest when you answer.”

“Umm…” Sirens blared in his head.

“Which do you prefer,” she said airily, “small weddings or big weddings?”

~*~

AN: The Higurashi women sure love to drop bombshells. Inuyasha’s soul temporarily left the mortal plane of existence. He’ll be fine.

For the children’s song I had to decide between what Inuyasha ultimately chose or this one: Mori no Kuma-san. I’m more familiar with the latter but I figured the song about the bear family was more appropriate for the situation.

Also, Inuyasha waiting for Kagome is essentially the Patrick waiting for SpongeBob scene. Oh Inuyasha, you poor, hopeless puppy.

[rustic-space-fiddle]

Things on TUA that made me snort into my coffee:

“You know I’m good at this.” “I know you give me AGITA—“

“Where have you been?” “The future. It’s sh*t by the way.” “CALLED IT”

Luther looking the bowling alley manager directly in the eye and then chucking a bowling ball over his shoulder—AND GETTING A STRIKE LIKE FOUR LANES AWAY from

“Hiya, Five. How you doing?” “I MUST HAVE UTTER SILENCE TO COMPLETE THIS TASK”

Klaus’s cover story skills ranging from A) Oscar-worthy impromptu method acting to the point of inflicting literal injuries on himself, to B) picking a bagel out the garbage and stuffing it into his mouth

“I’m taking the car.” “Do you even know how to drive?”

“I feel like we should stop him, but I also just wanna see what happens.”

“Assuming it’s okay with your two dads.” + The look on Klaus’s face + “if I was gonna date a man, you’d be the last man I would date” “you’d be lucky to get me”

“I WOULD RATHER CHEW OFF MY OWN FOOT”

“If you throw another one of the g*DD*MN KNIVES AT ME, IM PRESSING CHARGES” insinuating that Diego has almost killed this man like 12 times in the past

Five opening his closet and realizing he was gonna be stuck in kiddie shorts and knee-high socks for the rest of the season

“What a disturbing glimpse into that thing you call a brain.” “DONT MAKE ME PUT YOU IN TIME-OUT”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “Italian for dinner?”

The entire scene in which Hazel and Cha-Cha burn down the lab whilst high as kites

“Peace on Earth? That’s so sweet!” *SMASHES GLOBE INTO FACE*

Five’s many facial expressions during Klaus’s epic improv scene

Little Klaus literally rolling a joint at the dinner table and no one trying to stop him????

*beat* “Nice dress.” “Ooh... danke :)”

Little Diego carving into the arm of his chair like a mad-child

“I want my family to survive!” *looks at the insanity around her* “all of them?” “YES ALL OF THEM”

“Looks like it’s frozen waffles again” *Ben looks like he wants to die again*

*klaus dies* *folk music*

*vanya is lost* *mom is dead* *pogo is dead* *diego is in tears* *klaus is panicking* *allison is still mute* *the academy is literally collapsed and it’s ruins burning* “gUyS thE aPOcOLypSE iS sTiLL oN”

Moon: *explodes* Me: of course

Baby Vanya seeing Mom walk toward her with her head on backwards like “I FRICKED UP I FRICKED UP”

Five, slurring drunkenly: iM THE fOUr fRIKIN’ hORSEMEN

“I am sorry.... that yOU........ have deprived some villaGE of thEIR IDIOT”

*flight of valkeryrie plays in the distance*

“WHEEEEEEEEEEEE”

“I’m here to help stop the apocalypse.” “.......before I answer that—“

Diego resorting to biting Hazel’s ear like a rabid toddler

Five blinking onto the coffee table in the middle of the apocalypse conversation, prompting screams from every single person in the room, then rolling off it, grabbing the nearest coffee, and chugging it like there’s no tomorrow (is that a bad figure of speech in this instance)

Klaus, after literally being waterboarded: I needed that

“WHAT HAPPENED THE FIRST TIME, LUTHER?” “YEAH, WHAT ARE YOU NOT TELLING US?” “Uh........... um.............” hides behind coffee, refusing to make eye contact “.......... ʷᵉ ᵈᶦᵉᵈ”

Five channeling his deeply buried inner obnoxious middle schooler “hEY A**HOLES”

The running gag of Luther being 1) too big to fit in doors and cars, and 2) a furry

[mshermia]

No. 03 - Nothing Left To Lose - Part I

Whumptober Prompt No 3. MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY

Manhandled | Forced to their Knees | Held at Gunpoint

The reversal of the Snap added 3.5 billion people back to Earth’s population. 3.5 billion more people to house somewhere, 3.5 billion mouths to be fed, 3.5 billion people who return to a world that was not expecting them to ever come back.

In the aftermath of the victory over Thanos, Peter Parker finds himself in a bit of a situation. Instead of helping the "little guy", what is he supposed to do when the "little guys" start helping themselves to the property of others. Tony finds out that his billionaire status doesn't really help that particular situation.

###

I'm using my own Fix-it to Endgame "Like You'd Know How It Works" as a basis for the timeline, though the prompt will work fine without having read that story. The important part is, that Tony's not dead.

Baseline: 2 weeks after Tony is brought back from the multiverse.

###

AO3 Link

###

People never did tell you what it would feel like to come back from the dead. Possibly because people had very little experience with things like that. The odd person being found after they had gone missing for a long time, maybe even been presumed dead, that was one thing. Something like that might happen from time to time. But full-on coming-back-from-the-dead? Well, Tony had always been a pioneer when it came to living through the weirdest shit.

To be fair, to him it wasn't a resurrection per se. He hadn't been dead after all, just his other-dimensional self. Well, just... And the other version of him remained quite dead still, thank you very much, and in all honesty, he wasn't anywhere close to being cool with all that yet. Possibly ever. So there was no way he'd let that big brain of his even start to muse over what was basically his corpse that lay buried not too far off their house. Chances were, he'd never be cool with thinking about that part. So, he didn't. Didn't think about it. Didn't talk about it. Just waiting for it to go away. Which it would. In a few years. 50, give or take.

He rubbed both hands across his face, an active effort for his brain to change the channel. He was supposed to be paying attention to the furry beasts in front of him.

"Seriously, Gerald, you're acting as if it wasn't in your best interest to keep your neck un-wrung. Fluffy, Tiny, let's go."

Gerald didn't like the barn. He was used to grazing wherever and whenever he wanted, nobody's schedule to follow. A free spirit after Tony's own taste. But there was a reason why their stock had grown from one fairly independent alpaca to a flock of three. Damn poachers. Or rogue hunters. Something along those lines, he hadn't inquired in that much detail. They had decimated the two herds in the near-by village, only Gerald's new barn-mates had been able to flee.

And apparently, the Stark's had expanded their life-saving services to the community's life stock now. Well, Pepper had decided they would and Tony wasn't going to question whatever it was that made Pepper happy, not any time soon. His family was the only thing that mattered now. Not the village's life-stock-politics, not any kind of politics. He had retired from everything that didn't directly involve making the people he loved forget about that little death-mishap.

Tony grimaced to himself. Semi-officially retired at least. Yes, in the long run, he was likely to consult for the team and there was always Peter's neighborhood-avenging to support. He'd never leave the Spiderling hanging, no pun intended. But right now, there was some healing he had to supervise. Emotional healing that could only be done with lots of hugs and kisses. With hot chocolate by the fire and glasses of cold wine by the lake. With breakfast in bed and comfy afternoon board game sessions. With nights spent sitting next to his kids' beds, for their benefit of course, not just his own. That was why he had come back with his little protegee after all. For them. And Tony would do whatever it would take, even if it involved wangling three alpacas at once.

Those very alpacas who were very reluctant to move into the barn. Even with how remote the cabin lay, they weren't safe outside anymore, not with the sun slowly setting in the west. But all the pulling on Gerald's head-collar just didn't get him moving, not until Pepper took pity on her dear husband and lent a hand. While she was pulling on the leash, Tony was pushing against the stubborn buck's backside. Alpacas didn't usually tend to kick with their hind legs. That was horses... right?

He groaned, rolling his stiff neck from one side to the other as the gate clicked shut behind Pepper. "Remind me again... Why did we agree to this?"

Pepper didn't bother to send him a scolding look as she wrapped the security seal around the gate's locking mechanism. "Because we're good neighbors?"

"We are?" He smelled like damp fur. When did wet fur and barn animals become his life? "Since when exactly? Was there a house meeting? Did I miss it?"

"Mh... do you need a reminder of the process of negotiation?" She took a step towards him, one hand in his shirt pulling him close against her, their lips almost close enough to touch. "You smell like wet alpaca."

He pulled in an affronted gasp. The hand that was still holding his shirt pushed him away from her, her lips stretched wide in amusement. "Come on, Cesar. Maybe I'll remind you after a hot shower."

"Hey!" He followed after her. "Cesar? Really? First of all, Gerald is not a dog, second... how about during the hot shower?" He had caught up with her, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively. "I could think of a couple of other things that—"

"Boss." Tony froze as FRIDAY's voice rang in his earpiece. "Captain Rogers is on the line."

"Oh, but whyyy?" He cringed, not just because it was evident from Pepper's face that whatever road that moment had been leading them down on, was gone. Replaced by the kind of dread he was supposed to shield her from.

"He is asking to speak to you. Immediately."

As Tony groaned again, Pepper blew out a shaky breath. "Everything okay?"

He only pulled a frown as he told FRIDAY to put the man through and didn't bother with any niceties. "What's going on?"

"We need you." Rogers' voice was low and solemn.

"Excuse me? I'm retired." The nonchalant quip was second nature to him but he couldn't deny that the Captain's voice gave him the creeps.

Pepper stepped a little closer and whispered a pained "No!", worry radiating off her like someone had flipped a switch.

"Yeah, we don't really have time for that right now, Tony." Rogers seemed even less inclined to take Tony's demeanor in stride than he usually was. "It's your pet project."

Deep down, Tony had suspected something like this. They knew not to call him for anything but this. "What happened?"

"He's in the middle of a bit of a situation. You need to get here. Now."

"Tony, what's going on?" The way Pepper's hand curled painfully tight around his wrist, she seemed to instinctively know what was up.

There should be a process, how he made those decisions. There should be but in all honestly, it was likely redundant since there was no question as to what he would do if the kid was in trouble. Whenever the kid was in trouble. He didn't hesitate, not even for a second thought. "I'm sorry, honey." He pressed a kiss on Pepper's cheek - any light-hearted banter about alpaca-smell forgotten - as he tapped the nano housing unit hidden underneath his shirt.

"Gotta make sure the kid's safe." He pried Pepper's fingers off his arm. "I'm sorry, honey."

The thrusters engaged before Pepper could draw a breath to argue. He was so retired. He was so retired and they all knew that. It could only mean one thing: the kid was in deep shit.

His heart was racing. This shouldn't even be happening. The kid... he had given the kid the best protection anyone could imagine. The Iron Spider had held up against the ugly purple Grape. Nothing on Earth could... he swallowed hard. He had just been back for a couple of weeks. He was just getting some normalcy back. His family.

Time seemed to crawl by as he shot across the New York sky. The route took him straight to the coordinates that FRIDAY had extracted from Peter's suit. Tony had sent out a call to the kid. When Peter didn't answer he sent out another. This one Peter rejected outright. Still too far out to access the team's comms, Tony and his thoughts had another couple of minutes to imagine the worst until they finally arrived in Queens.

The location was a rather unremarkable looking warehouse, some windows smashed, a couple of doors off its hinges. A little more prominent was the number of police cars parked around the property. There were at least 12 of them, more sirens approaching from the distance. None of them attempted to intervene or even talk to him after the suit had touched ground within the police's perimeter and he made to walk into the building. The picture that presented itself in front of him didn't match what Tony had been expecting. Not in a good way. In fact, it came very close to giving him a heart attack that was going to get in the way of all the supervised healing he still had to do.

Rogers and Barnes in full Super-Soldier outfits stood opposite his boy. His boy had his back turned toward his teammates and stood smack in the middle between them and a whole group of people, their faces mostly covered with scarfs or other contraptions. Some of them were frozen, eyes wide as they were staring at the Avengers in front of them. Others behind them were quietly emptying the shelves of the warehouse. Boxes upon boxes were ripped open and their content vanished in backpacks and large carrier bags. One of the looters however had a very tight grip on a middle-aged dude, a handgun pressed against the man's temple.

Tony froze where he stood, still hidden in the shadows of the entryway.

"...and I get that." Peter's arms were stretched wide. One in front of him at the crowd of people, the other towards Rogers and Barnes like he was urging them to stay back. "This is just not the way to do it, okay?"

With a pressing need for more information, Tony's eyes roamed across the warehouse. Besides the guy on his knees with the gun to his head, a few more people - he counted 10 of them - had been cuffed to three of the large storage shelves. Only a couple of people were standing guard over them. Most of the other intruders were busy stuffing their bags with everything they could— Food. It had just dawned on Tony what was stored within this facility. Canned goods and boxes of what looked like pasta, beans, or rice. These people were stealing food.

"You get it? You don't get anything!" It wasn't the guy screaming those words, just someone else in the crowd, a young woman. "When's the last time you had a warm meal, huh? We came back to nothing!"

"You have every right to be angry." The kid had turned a little away from the hostage, his arm still signaling for calmness. "Coming back to this was a shock. For me too, okay? But this... you don't want to do this. Just... just take the food and you can let him go, okay? This isn't you!" Tony's eyes shot back towards his Spiderling, frowning. "This is— hey... stop! Don't!"

The guy with the gun was pulling on the hostage's shirt, forcing him to balance himself a little more upright on his knees, squirming in his hold.

Rogers had shuffled a little closer. "You don't want to do anything rash now, son."

"Fuck off, traitor," the man spat back at the Captain.

"Stop, just..." Peter's eyes were still on the hostage and his abductor. "I told you to leave, Captain! You're not helping!"

"Spider-Man—" Rogers was interrupted, Peter's voice echoing off the warehouse walls.

"I said, leave!" The boy almost seemed to be panting.

"FRI," Tony whispered inaudible to anyone else because of his suit. "Vitals on the kid."

His heart rate was high, unnaturally high for Peter even during a mission. A close-up provided by FRIDAY confirmed that the boy's hands were positively shaking.

"I can help you, okay?" The kid swallowed hard. "I know that you wouldn't do this if you didn't have to. I can help you and I will, but you have to let this man go. Please."

The group's leader turned from Rogers back to the boy. "You don't know shit about what we want! People are dying because of this jackass! Because of people like him!"

The guy's eyes had found Tony and that seemed to be his cue to advance out of the shadows.

"What the fuck is this, Robin Hood?" Eyes still studying the scene in front of him, a murmur went through the crowd.

Peter spun around, his spider-eyes wide as he looked straight at Tony. "No, no, no, no, no!" He mumbled, his voice echoing in Tony's earpiece.

"You know I can still hear you on the comms, right?" Tony shook his head, sticking to the team-only communication himself now. "Kid... what the fuck is going on?"

"It's... it's fine." Peter's head spun back and forth between Tony and the looters. "Just go home. I got it all under control!"

Tony kept his eyes on the kid, fighting the urge to step any closer. "The dude over there has a gun pointed at this other dude's head. Nothing about this looks like anything's under control. Can we just..." Tony dipped his head to the corner of the room.

"How about I drop, erm..." Peter swallowed hard, still looking back and forth between Tony and the ongoing hostage situation. "I can just drop by when I'm done with all this, okay?"

"How about no?" Tony made a face even though behind the face-plate, it was only for his own benefit. "How about you web this dude up and get some actual control of the situation instead?"

"I got this!" Peter's voice walked a tight rope between urgency and badly suppressed panic. "Just go home, Tony! Please, please just leave!"

There wasn't much that could stun Tony Stark at this point, but an outright dismissal by his intern slash mentee would do it. "Excuse me, did you just—"

"Get the fuck away from us!" Tony's eyes shifted to the looters behind the kid, the guy with the gun was getting antsy. "This is none of your business!"

To Tony's right still a little ahead of him, Rogers inched a step closer to the scene. "Let's just stay calm and figure this thing out, hm?"

"S-stay back!" Another guy from the crowd of looters stepped a little closer toward the main action. He, too, was holding a gun though his arm was dangling loosely next to his body. At a closer look, Tony could spot quite a few weapons, shotguns, knives, and bats in the hands of everyone not currently ransacking those shelves. The group was made up out of a variety of different people, young and old, he could even see some children stuffing tote bags in the back. It was starting to dawn on him, why neither Peter nor the two Super-Soldier's to Tony's right had jumped in guns blazing, not yet.

A whole group of seemingly normal people brought their children to loot this warehouse for all the food they could carry. All of a sudden, the decimated numbers of his neighbor’s alpaca flock left him with a different kind of headache. There seemed to be more to this than he was presently privy to.

Tony cleared his throat, speaking to the whole room. "Unless you want to eat this dude, too, how about we talk about some of your demands, hm? Find a compromise everyone is happy with and nobody gets hurt over?"

For a second, the man's gun twitched towards Tony before he pressed it back against the temple of the man kneeling in front of him. "Shut the fuck up, you murderer."

Ouch. Tony pursed his lips. He hadn't heard that one in a long time.

"Hey!" Peter stepped closer to the crowd, clearly an attempt to shield Tony from their view. "Watch your fucking mouth, asshole."

His jaw popped open and Tony was quick to make an abortive motion towards Rogers and Barnes to stop them from advancing like the kid had done. This was escalating quickly.

"Of course, you're protecting your sugar daddy, you insect. You stopped being a hero when you started wearing this guy's fancy suits. You don't give a shit about us! You haven't in a long time!"

The Spiderling flinched back from the open hatred spewed at him. "I... that's not..." He shook his head, pulling in deep breaths. "I don't want to hurt you, okay? I want to help. We can still all walk away from this."

"Hurt us?" The young woman's voice from before was shaking but still rang harshly through the otherwise quiet building. "We haven't eaten in 2 weeks! We have no place to stay, nowhere safe to sleep!" She pointed a hand at the man on his knees in front of her accomplice. "People like him are selling the little food that is left in the city for 10 times the regular price. We have no money! Nobody helps us!"

"We're here to help now, young lady." Rogers' deep voice always rang with such sincerity, they could only hope it would convince at least some of them. "What you're doing right now is not going to help you!"

"You're not helping us, you want to help him." She pointed at the man on his knees in front of them. "You care more about his property than about the fact that we're starving!"

"Right now," Barnes' low growl surprised Tony more than most of the things happening around them. "We care more about the gun that your buddy there is pointing at the man's head, darling."

"I'm not your darling, jackass!" She spat at Barnes.

"Stop. Stop this." Peter sounded almost scared. "Please."

"He doesn't deserve this kind of money." She barked out before her eyes landed on Tony. "Nobody does."

Tony's eyes stuck with the young woman, his mind racing. Money... was that what they wanted the guy for? His money or plain revenge... maybe a little bit of both. Time to find out what their priorities were.

"You want to take all this out on someone, huh? Alright, Let's do that. How about you let the civilian go and take this up with a bigger fish, hm?"

"No." Peter spun around. "What are you doing? Don’t!"

Tony got a step closer, his focus shifting back to the man that was the group's apparent leader.

To Tony's undeniable satisfaction, the guy's feet shuffled back a couple of inches though his eyes never strayed from Tony. "While you're hiding behind your tin can?"

He had expected as much and his hand was ready to fly up and tap the nano-housing unit. Jaw set, his PR mask in place, the nanites retract just enough for Tony to exit the suit, leaving his armor behind him but still perfectly ready to engage if necessary.

"Stop!" Peter's voice was far from strong now, only a panicky high-pitched squeak. "Mr. Stark, don't!"

Rogers was next to Tony with a couple of long strides, his voice low. "What do you think you're doing?"

Tony cleared his throat before he dragged his gaze away from the looters towards the Captain. "Hostage negotiations?"

"Put that suit back on!" Rogers growled next to him. "That's not why I asked you here."

"You asked me to help." Tony was holding his hands up just below his shoulders, fingers spread wide. "So, I'm helping."

Roger's chest was heaving with deep long breaths. "Getting yourself killed is not helping, Tony."

"I'm not getting myself killed." He had his eyes still steeled on the group leader, careful not to be caught off guard by a trigger-happy hippie. "I'm taking a calculated risk."

"No, you're not." The Captain's hand shot out, holding Tony back with a strong grasp on his arm. "If anyone will be offered up to trade places it—"

"I don't think your bank account will be as attractive to them as mine," Tony hissed. "No offense, Capsicle." He pulled his arm free from Rogers' hold and advanced a few more steps before the kid could get a hold of him. "So, here I am. Let this dude go."

### 

Thank you guys for reading!

Hope you enjoyed the first chapter! I'm always happy to hear everyone's predictions and theories, so let me know how you think Peter and Tony might get out of this one in the comments. Likes and Reblogs are really appreciated!

Hope you liked it! More whump and more for this timeline will come soon! You can find more from this timeline on my WIP Page.

The Fix-it this is based on: Like You'd Know How This Works

[somethingusefulfromflorida]

Santa Claus is always depicted wearing a big fur coat.

What animal do you suppose it’s made out of?

In monarchical heraldry, similar frocks and hems are made of ermine

That’s stoat fur.

Weasel!

Look at this adorable little guy!

Is Santa’s coat made out of weasel fur?  There aren’t a lot of big furry white animals up in the Arctic, and I can’t imagine it’s made of Polar Bear fur.  Besides Mrs. Claus, there are no other humans in the Santa Claus Mythos, so it’s not like he can just go down to the village tannery for new boot leather or barter with some Scandinavian fur trappers over their fresh hides.  Where did his coat come from?  Did the elves make it?  Are the elves adept at bleaching and dying furs?  Most old red dyes were derived from insects or plant roots that are not endemic to the Arctic.  Does the north pole have a fur farm, do they catch them wild, or do they import?

Why has my brain chosen to focus on this?  I feel like the villain in a Christmas movie, picking apart the logic of Santa Claus.

[katoregama]

Horror Game Idea:

- Lost in a Forest Walking Simulator, but with Giant Spiders –

Prologue

- Start off at a vague “hands selection” screen where you can customize the skintone on the protagonists’s hands. You can also select a voice from a short list.

- Game starts at a gas station where you learn the basic “Pickup, interact, open inventory” controls through buying and paying for gas.

- Phone rings and its your shitty boyfriend. You can ignore this call if you want, doing so will change the story a little.

- If you answer the phone you get some backstory. You just moved, and your dog ran away.

- You used to take walks with the dog on a trail in the forest, so you’re going to look for him there.

- Shitty boyfriend tries to tell you that no dog is worth running into a forest for, but he can shut the hell up.

- Start driving down the road as opening credits play.

- If you ignored the call earlier, shitty boyfriend will call again. Ignoring his calls 3 times will change the story a little.

- If you answered his call at the gas station you turn on the radio which talks about lots of pets going missing.

Chapter 1: Into the Woods

Ver A – If you answered shitty boyfriend phone call at the gas station, you make it to the woods safely, and begin walking a trail.

- You call for your dog with no response.

- First “puzzle” is a barbed wire fence. Your character is not going to try to jump it, so you gotta push a tree over to make a path.

- Lots of scenery, but little action. Screen fades to black after a while. Move to Ver B Point X.

Ver B- If you answered shitty boyfriend phone call in the car, you crash the car in the woods.

- When you wake up its night. You’re unharmed, but the car is toast.

- However, phone message from shitty boyfriend says he’s coming to find you. He’s a dick about it tho.

- Shitty boyfriend also leaves the message if you ignored him 3 times in the car.

- Boyfriend won’t bother looking for you if your car is intact. (It’s a gameplay/narrative thing)

POINT X – Introductions converge walking through the dark woods looking for a dog.

- Spooky events happen. An owl vanishes, and so does a deer.

- You find a ranger cabin, but its covered in spiderwebs. You get a map, and an industrial flashlight inside.

- Taking the flashlight agitates a nest of spiders, and you flee in terror.

Chapter 2: Placid Lake

- Map leads you to a lake, which shows that the park you used to take the dog to is on the other side.

- You explore a boat house and get glimpses of being stalked by a dog-sized creature.

- You solve puzzles to get a boat ready to cross the lake, when you hear barking.

- You follow the barking to a grove that grows increasingly thick with cobwebs.

- There is no dog there, but you get attacked by a furry spider the size of one.

- The spider chases you to the boat, and you cast off leaving the spider on the dock.

- Protagonist is all like “Fuck yeah!” at first. Then the spider jumps into the water and begins swimming after you.

- You beat the spider out of the boat with an oar and it drowns.

Chapter 3: Nightmare from Elm Trees

- Now your protagonist is all like “uh fuck no” but dog is worth it, so you pick up the pace.

- You encounter the same spider from the lake again, but you baseball slam its ass and start running.

- You find a tourist attraction from the map which is a big tree house village for photo spots.

- Spider can’t climb well because you’ve kicked it around so much so you’re safe.

- You find a way back down, but you gotta kill the dumb hairy bastard below.

- Solve puzzles to set a trap, meanwhile some smaller spiders show up but they’re killable.

- You catch the big guy in a trap, and start beating it to death with your oar. It bites the end off making it pointy.

- You stab the spider, and it lets out a death rattle that attracts potentially thousands of unseen spiders.

- You leave the broken oar behind, and haul ass.

Chapter 4: A Cabin in the Woods

- You stumble upon a cabin which is spider-free, and barricade yourself inside.

- This cabin is a spider-survivalist shack who’s been trying to warn the sherriff’s department for months.

- You basically play tower defense for a few minutes until the spiders stop coming.

- Lots of notes and videos are here and you learn the survivalist is still alive but he’s moving because fuck spiders.

- He’s spent the daytime dropping stashes of an anti-spider spray all over the woods.

- You call shitty boyfriend, its his girlfriend on the side who picks up.

- If you talked to him earlier, you can tell him the relationship is off, but he’s no help.

- If you crashed your car or ignored him, you still talk to his on-the-side lady but find out he’s looking for you.

- You can actually invite shitty mistress to come to the woods but she declines. Either way shitty BF is shitty.

- You find out where the nest is, and think it’s the most likely place to find your dog.

- Tower defense resumes, but gets increasingly unmanageable. You grab anti-spider gear and book it.

Chapter 5: Spider Army of Darkness

- Pretty simple chapter, walking through woods but occasionally attacked by spiders.

- They die in one spray but sprays are limited so sometimes its best to run.

- Towards the end, you end up running across a rope bridge  which breaks. Many spiders fall to their deaths.

Chapter 6: The Human-Sized Centipede

- You find a tunnel, and being some kind of big brain think spiders won’t follow you inside when they crowd at the entrance and screech.

- Caves have a giant centipede in them that eats spiders and also you if you let it.

- You have to stealth your way through, and at the end cause a cave in that forces the centipede to retreat.

Chapter 7: Can’t Think of a Clever Chapter Title, but You’re In A Cave

- You find the centipede tunnel feeds into a mine/cave network which is 100% the spider lair.

- Light stealth with killable spiders, and new “Trapdoor Spider” enemies you gotta avoid.

- At the end of it, you find the dog still alive, and very excited to see you.

- You rescue the dog, but a spider-queen attacks, and you tell the dog to run to the car.

- You are separated from the dog and webbed up

Chapter 8: Spider Queen of the Damned

- A protracted boss-battle level that includes all gameplay elements to current. Stealth, killable mini spiders, tower defense, etc.

- You eventually escape from the Queen’s lair, but damn is she pissed.

- You run back to the park (Ver A of the beginning) and find either your car or shitty BF’s car.

- Shitty BF’s car has a blood streak leading away and the keys are beside it implying shitty BF died.

- You drive away and spider queen follows you all the way back to the gas station.

- You set a trap and blow up the gas station. Queen gets burned, and falls over.

Endings:

- There’s kind of a “threshold” for endings. Collect enough notes/kill enough weak spiders for the good ending.

Dog: Dog will survive no matter what, assuming you made it to the ending.

Shitty BF: If you gave him reason to visit the woods he’ll be seen cocooned in the Queen’s lair, wiggling to get out.

Queen Spider: She can actually survive. If you have a low notes/kills threshold, her minions drag her back home, burned, but alive. If shitty BF is cocooned she will eat him.

Bonus Ending: 100% of notes/kills threshold gives you a special post-credits video where the govt. finally believes the spider survivalist and he ends up on a talk show. The show host brings on stage a captured spider which the survivalist, in a panic, reveals is a queen. The new queen breaks loose on live TV.

[reginaldqueribundus]

still watching Cats (2019). this is what the quarantine has done to me

PREVIOUSLY ON SAM WATCHES CATS

Sir Ian McKellen plays Gus the Theatre Cat and it is now time for his big musical number

Honestly god bless Sir Ian. He’s singing like Gus’s pain medication is starting to give out but he just seems to genuinely happy to be here

Gus and Grizabella are the only two characters to make me feel something resembling a human emotion in the past 63 minutes

several lines of his song are him ranting about these damn millennial cats and their lack of manners

Mr. Mistoffelees used his dark sorcery to make lightning appear in the background as Gus finished his song

Mr. M, Gus sounds like he is about to keel over from 16 heart attacks so you probably shouldn’t have done that, but that was very sweet. Perhaps you can use the lightning as a defibrillator later

Gus gets thunderous applause from the Jellicles but the actors clearly weren’t given any direction on how to do so, so some of them are clacking their fingernails on the hardwood, some of them are awkwardly slapping the floor and some are just clapping like normal human beings. They’re also meowing a lot. 

They asked the sound designer of this movie “should we get actual sound recordings of cats meowing or get the actors to say ‘meow’ with their human mouths?” and the sound designer replied, “Yes.”

I’ll say it again: god bless Sir Ian McKellen and god bless Gus. Thanks to him I finally experienced a feeling other than confused unease 

uh oh Idris Elba is back to be a dick

YOU GIVE IAN MCKELLEN BACK RIGHT NOW IDRIS ELBA

every scene change in this movie could be replaced with the Monty Python “and now for something completely different” joke

now it’s time for us to meet “Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat, the Cat of the Railway Train” which, frankly, seems a bit redundant

holy crap, that’s Skimbleshanks? The frickin overalls guy? This mofo looks like a male stripper. This dude looks like Mario quit being a plumber and started delivering erotic candygrams instead. This guy looks like he belongs in an all-furry remake of Street Fighter. This fucker looks like he just failed his audition to join the Village People in an alternate dimension where Earth is populated by anthropomorphic animals.

let’s do a thought exercise. Look at the image on the left. Now look at the two atrocities on the right. On the left is Munkustrap from the original Broadway production of CATS. On the left are his “live action” counterpart and Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat (the Cat of the Railway Train). Do they look better than the image on the left? Are they more aesthetically pleasing in any way, or do they remind you of a horrific video game texture mapping accident involving that painting of a cat by a medieval artist who has clearly never seen a real cat in his life? In fact, what precisely has to go so wrong in human brain chemistry to make anyone believe the images on the right are somehow better? Write a 5000-word essay on why this happened and make sure to discuss precisely how we failed as a society that allowed this to happen. My working theory is all Hollywood executives have consumed so many hallucinogens they can’t look at another mammal without seeing that creepy Sega Dreamcast game about the fish with a human face

— Cats (2019)

Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat (the Cat of the Railway Train) does a snazzy little tap number but I���m still deeply disturbed by the fact he’s wearing shoes. Something about the way this movie drilled so deep into the Uncanny Valley has caused my mind to violently reject all things normally associated with funny cartoon animals. Donald Duck doesn’t wear any goddamn pants. Mickey Mouse walks around naked except for a pair of gloves and some booty shorts and we never think about how weird that is, but for some reason seeing the cats of Cats (2019) put on any articles of human clothing deeply upsets me. I suppose it’d be like if I was walking through the arctic tundra and saw a polar bear eating a freshly slaughtered seal with a knife and fork. Or if one of my colleagues at work began crawling around on all fours and aggressively scent-marking the furniture. The lines between man and beast have been blurred, and there is no returning to normalcy now.

Anyways, Skimbleshanks the Railway Cat (the Cat of the Railway Train) spins around so fast he flies 50 feet in the air, so I guess he doesn’t really need Old Deuteronomy’s help to get to Heaven. But then he also gets Thanos-poofed. Munkustrap clearly knows Macavity is responsible, which begs the question: how is this even a valid strategy? If they know Idris Elba is offing all the other contestants for the golden ticket to Cat Nirvana (Furvana?) then why don’t they just… tell him he can’t go to Heaven?

Maybe there is no Heaven. Maybe there is only Dante’s Hell, where you turn into an endless stream of sexy cockroaches dancing into Jennyanydots’s mouth while Jason Derulo pours rotten milk all over you.

[more]

[wetalkinboutbooks]

Girls of Paper and Fire by Natasha Ngan

Summary: Each year, eight beautiful girls are chosen as Paper Girls to serve the king. It's the highest honour they could hope for...and the most demeaning. This year, there's a ninth. And instead of paper, she's made of fire.

In this richly developed fantasy, Lei is a member of the Paper caste, the lowest and most persecuted class of people in Ikhara. She lives in a remote village with her father, where the decade-old trauma of watching her mother snatched by royal guards for an unknown fate still haunts her. Now, the guards are back and this time it's Lei they're after -- the girl with the golden eyes whose rumoured beauty has piqued the king's interest.

Over weeks of training in the opulent but oppressive palace, Lei and eight other girls learns the skills and charm that befit a king's consort. There, she does the unthinkable -- she falls in love. Her forbidden romance becomes enmeshed with an explosive plot that threatens her world's entire way of life. Lei, still the wide-eyed country girl at heart, must decide how far she's willing to go for justice and revenge. (Taken from Goodreads).

Our Ratings: 

 → Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 → Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: We really enjoyed this book!! It was well-written, had both engaging characters and an interesting plot. The world building is well done, the plot twists are WILD, and the romance is wholesome. TW: Assault, but Natasha handles that well. The spoiler-full discussion is below the cut.

The Good:

Lei and Wren

Kae: Okay. So we have Lei, the main character with these ~wonderful~ golden eyes. She is taken from her home on account of her golden eyes and delivered to the King as a gift. This all happens because a guard wants to get back on the Kings good side. Now, our girl is a concubine

Geena: We also meet Wren and we know almost nothing about her other than she’s hot (according to Lei) and cold. In addition, a group of other concubines, one of which... Blue... has it out for Lei.

Kae: Wren! I liked Wren from the start. She captured my attention the way she captured Lei’s. She’s always watching. Always calculating. Always alert. We soon learn that Wren’s cold demeanor is just a facade and she’s secretly a bad bitch. 

Geena: I agree, I also liked that Wren was written aloof, but not like an asshole like Blue was shown to be. Both Blue and Wren were from powerful families, but Wren knew how to act. Also! The development we see from Lei seeing Wren and just thinking she’s hot like every other girl and slowly falling for her was *chefs kiss*. 

Kae: Watching Lei slowly fall in love with Wren was so nice to see. In a lot of YA books, the character meets the love interest in one chapter, then they’re declaring their love two chapters later. So it was refreshing to see them fall for each other the way they did. I liked how the audience knew Lei liked Wren, but LEI DIDN’T KNOW SHE LIKED WREN. Silly girl! Wren also takes her time with Lei and allows Lei to take the lead most of the time. They’re going at Lei’s speed and whenever she isn’t ready for something, Wren backs off like the suave lady she is. 

Geena: Oh my god, you’re so right, I didn’t even notice. Wren is probably the most respectable love interests I’ve seen written in a long time, she didn’t force Lei into doing anything she didn’t want to. And like Kae said, it wasn’t INSTA-LOVE, also I don’t know if I’d classify this as YA? More like New Adult, since it does deal with mature subjects like assault. Also god, every time Lei was like “Wren looked ravishing, and it made me feel a type of way… I wonder why…” I wanted to throw my book, she was clearly infatuated but refused to acknowledge her feelings.

Kae: “NA.” That should be a genre. New Adult. That’d work really well. YA shouldn’t even be “YA”. It should be like, not “YA”. ANYWAY. UNRELATED. Yes. Lei had a BIG OL CRUSH. Like, GIRL. YOU LIKE HER. MAKE A MOOOVE. And then… Wren made the move. UGH POETIC CINEMA. Or... Poetic literature. 

Geena: Overall, Natasha wrote a really sweet wlw pairing, and it was refreshing to read… Especially the fact that it was well written AND the main pairing, and not just a jab at “diversity” a lot of books tend to do. 10/10 Romance.

Worldbuilding

Geena: Time to dive into that furry shit. First off, the author takes inspiration from her Malaysian roots, which is cool and all but GODDAMN there was some furry shit going on. She did explain the class separations and overall history really well, right?

Kae: I 100% agree with you on the furry shit and how well everything is explained and written. So basically, we have the Moon Caste (the full on furries/demons) which are the ruling/upper caste. The Steele caste (humans who have partial animal/demons qualities) aka the middle class. Then last but not least (well, absolutely the least in their case), the paper caste who are humans with no special qualities. Except Lei, who has literal golden eyes. 

Geena: Natasha did a really good job on simplifying the differences between the castes and the history that led to their current states. BUT I wasn’t sure of how her magic system worked? Like can only furries be shaman, how do people become shamans? Are they born with it, or is it Maybelline. ANOTHER THING, it was kind of hard to visualize the demons she described, only because my lizard brain always thought of the animals from Kung Fu Panda. Though one thing that threw me for a loop was the fact that Natasha chose to have a Bull-Form demon as the king, because 99% of the time Lions are used to represent rulers (It was cool ngl). What wasn’t cool was when Lei called the king handsome. 

Kae: GEENA I CACKLED. But yes! Kind of freaked me out that she thought he was a cutie. Also was super interesting to not have the king be a lion. But I guess she was going for something different? It definitely works! Natasha also elaborated on the uh- *ahem* way that they’re all built the same when it comes to certain parts which made me think and I didn’t like my thoughts! First thought: HOW? Second thought: OUCH! Third thought: Size LMAO! But give it up to Natasha for explaining that in the simplest way possible without making me have any more than those three thoughts. Either way, moving on, did we explain that Wren, Lei, and these other girls are his concubines? I think we missed that. Surprise…? The Bull King also goes on to explain how he doesn’t have his own name. I also got a hint of him being a little… off. Off as in kind of crazy. Eh? 

Geena: RIGHT I FORGOT that by the end the so-called ‘handsome’ Bull King goes batshit crazy, and I’m wondering if this was the product of the Sickness (which isn’t really discussed) or him being mad that he’s shooting dust and has no kids. Also, thank you for Natasha for constantly reminding us that he was jacked. BUT ANYWAYS. 

The Bad:

Characters that DIED for NOTHING

Geena: Kenzo and Zelle were two different characters that provided both Wren and Lei with support as they all conspired to be free from the King. Kenzo (Wolf demon) being the King’s advisor and Wren’s training partner, and Zelle lowkey Lei’s confidant (who was also a prostitute). BOTH were passionate and the part of the same cause: Get rid of the King and liberate themselves. But then THEY DIE… FOR WHAT? For that BITCH to still be ALIVE? 

Kae: Kenzo and Zelle. Both very likeable characters and both a little sketchy at the start. Just a little. But yes, as Geena stated, they totes died for nothing and it was such a huge let down to see them fall. Especially Kenzo (at least for me), because I thought he had a chance. In the end, he didn’t make it. You know who SHOULD’VE got murked in the end? Blue’s little annoying ass. 

Geena: I LOVED KENZO. I have this bad habit of getting attached to side characters the inevitably don’t play a big role. It would’ve been cool to see his motivations behind getting rid of the King. Zelle, who was paper caste, had made her motivations clear. But Kenzo? Also, Lei and Wren essentially lost, as Natasha described it, a ‘brotherly’ figure. FOR WHA?. 0/10 character deaths that made sense. Blue should’ve eaten shit for ratting out Lei/Wren.

Kae: EAT SHIT BLUE. 

The Ugly:  

The Demon King 

Kae: Alrighty. The Demon King aka little BITCH.  The Demon King presents himself as somewhat of a decent bull-man at first. He is described as handsome and like Geena said earlier, freakin’ ripped. Suspicion of him not being too good of a dude came to me after he had finished with one of the girls. She came back bruised and beaten and shooketh. Didn’t like that. I assume these girls are a lot smaller than him so I expected him to be… gentler? At least considerate. But, that was just a glimpse. When Lei is finally summoned, she decides that she absolutely does NOT want the Bull-King D and fights the guy off of her. He doesn’t like that… at all. He’s up in arms and ready to fight because he has been denied something he wants. Lei is sent to what’s basically solitary confinement for a week with no food. But she does get a special visitor who brings her food and potential cuddles. The King doesn’t summon Lei for quite some time after that and when he finally does, he takes what he was denied from the start. The scene, thank goodness, is not described. But the after-thats what sucks. Lei is beaten and battered and bruised and has to be carried to her rooms. It’s horrible and I couldn’t imagine how that must’ve been. Especially since he’s a literal animal humanoid. Blegh. 

Geena: KAE SUMMED IT UP SO WELL. The king, who has no name and honestly he doesn’t deserve one, is the embodiment of an entitled piece of shit that deserves to be made into ROCKY MOUNTAIN OYSTERS. The scenes that we get a glimpse of including him and the girls is scarring, he does NOT know the meaning of consent and it’s obvious the way he wrecks Lei that he doesn’t care. That made me unbelievably uncomfortable and like you said, I’m so glad that we weren’t subjected to a description of that. In addition, the King was also manipulative as fuck? The way he made Aoki (another concubine, and Lei’s friend) fall in love with him *cough* Stockholm syndrome *cough*.  We hate his guts, and he should’ve choked on his blood but :/ I guess the fact that we hate him with such a passion is a good indication that he’s a well-written villain. How the hell he only have like 4 scenes but those 4 scenes just emitted the WORST VIBES. The moment lei said he was handsome and jacked I knew this bitch was going to fuck shit up (a handsome bull demon…. Like really,,, if we’re leaning into that furry shit the only handsome demons are tiger and wolf demons). 

Conclusion

Kae: ALRIGHTY Y’ALL. So this concludes our thoughts of Girls of Paper and Fire. I give it a 9/10. I really enjoyed it and it was a good read. The story was very well written as were the characters. I hope we get to see a little more of the magic of this world in the next book. I look forward to what more Natasha has to tell. 

Geena: I’d give it an 8.5/10, the 0.5 less comes from the fact that the bitchass king survived at the end. Personally, he could’ve died and there could’ve still been another book BUT I DIGRESS. AND I AGREE, it’s a well-written story with likeable characters, and I’m curious to see how Natasha tackles the mystery behind Lei’s golden eyes in the upcoming books.