#ty for the ask it’s so sweet!! and i’m definitely going through the archive to add ‘dynamic trio 2.0’ in the tags 🥺 have a great week!! 🥺

[batbabydamian]

sorry for spam reblogging your art, you just have a wonderful style and i'm a dynamic duo 2.0 (and dynamic trio 2.0 ft. steph) enjoyer to the extreme and had to make sure everyone possible sees your art. thank you for sharing your art with the world! i hope you have a great day!!

sdfghh oouugh…thank you!! orz and always happy to find more dynamic trio 2.0 (CUTE!!) enjoyers!! 😭

i like to think patrols are lighter when Steph joins them (with Barbara in their ear)

[kmseokjins]

Waste It On Me (Chapter 7)

Fandom: BTS Pairing: BTS x Reader / Future OT7 x Reader Warnings: n/a in this chapter Genre: fluff Summary: [Name] gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Jungkook & Jimin are troublemakers, and just what does Yoongi mean?

Notes: I should be working on Chapter 8.....so have Chapter 7!  

Archive Of Our Own || Previous Chapter // Next Chapter

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“[Name], there you are! Quickly, quickly, we have to go!” You’ve barely stepped through the door into the studio when your boss is practically shoving you back out the way you came.

“Wha-,” You sputter, letting your boss drag you along back down the hallway to the elevators. “What’s going on? We have clients today!” You’re promptly ignored for the moment as your boss guides you into the elevator by your elbow.

“Jisoo and Doyoung have it under control until we get back,” Your elbow is finally released as your boss, Han Jae-wan, presses the lobby button. “You and I have a meeting to attend.”

“Oh, um...what’s the meeting about? Who is it with?” You had only set in on one meeting before with Jae-wan, and that was when you’d been promoted to work as his assistant over a year ago. “..It’s good, right?”

Jae-wan turns to look at you, “It’s a contract, and yes, it’s a good thing.” He looks you up and down a moment, evidently noticing you’re nervous look, “Relax, [Name].”

You nod absently, stiffening at the sound of multiple notifications from your phone in your bag. “I’m sorry,” You mumble to him, fishing out your phone and putting it on silent.

8 new text messages. You stare at the notifications before tapping on the group chat with the boys, scrolling through the missed messages ( “good morning even though you snuck out on me @[name]” “i hope you have a good day at work!” “aww that’s so sweet” “shhhh” “go back to sleep it’s too early” “i can’t i lost my snuggle buddy” “i’ll come snuggle” ). You shake your head at the messages, shooting a quick good morning in the group chat before you slip your phone back into your bag.

The elevator doors ding as they open and you jog quickly after Jae-wan’s long strides through the lobby and out the front door. You’re immediately coming to a halt at the sight of the black sedan waiting at the curb. Jae-wan is halfway into the back seat before you’re shuffling forwards to follow in after him.

“You never told me who the meeting is with,” You clutch your bag to your chest after you close the door, the sedan pulling away from the curb to merge with the morning traffic. Whoever it was had to be important, sending a vehicle to collect your boss. You were curious as to why he had brought you along, although you guessed perhaps he was hoping to give you some experience in dealing with bigger clients, especially if you ever managed to get out on your own in the photography business.

Jae-wan glances over at you for a moment, pausing in whatever he was typing on his phone, “It’s a meeting with BigHit Entertainment,” He answers, before promptly returning to his phone. “That should tell you how important this meeting is.”

Oh shit. Shit, shit, shit.

You chuckle nervously before clamping a hand over your mouth to stop any more noises from escaping.

They knew.

They were coming to sue you six ways from Sunday and make sure you never had a career ever again. Hell, they were probably preparing to kick you out of South Korea right now. Could they do that? With certainty, your brain confirmed.

When the sedan came to a stop, you were on the verge of bolting or fainting right there; your brain couldn't comprehend which was the best idea.

With a shaking hand, you grabbed the door handle and opened it, stepping out of the vehicle and out of the way for Jae-wan to exit the vehicle, shuffling after him with a sense of dread in your stomach.

It had been a month since you’d been here with the boys. Then, the building hadn’t seemed so daunting. Now? You felt like a pig being lead to slaughter.

Your routine with the boys hadn’t changed much in the past couple weeks. You definitely found yourself staying over more often, usually snuggled up with Taehyung in his bed (last week you’d even woken up to Jimin and Jungkook practically sprawled on the both of you). Despite the fact that part of you wanted to go on a real date with Taehyung, you honestly didn’t mind hanging out at the dorms with the seven of them. It felt natural, and besides, you couldn’t very well go out on the town with Taehyung. It would be nearly impossible with his Idol status, even with a disguise. That would be tempting a scandal.

“Are you alright, [Name]?” Jae-wan was looking down at you with concern, and you could only blink at him when you realized you were both in one of the elevators. “Not getting sick, are you?”

You shook your head in response, “N-no. Just...just nervous.” Your half smile was forced, busing yourself with adjusting your bag.

“Don’t be. It’s fine, nothing to worry about.” Jae-wan opens his mouth to say something else, but the elevator doors opening stop him from doing so. He pats you on the shoulder before leading the way out of the elevator. You groan and follow after him, keeping your head down and trying not to make eye contact with anyone. God forbid you see the boys.

++++++++++++++++

Jae-wan and yourself are directed to a boardroom, shown into the mostly windowed room by a woman that you don’t catch the name of before she’s gone, leaving you two alone. Jaw-wan had no problem taking a seat at the large table, but you pace back and forth (casually) in front of the windows. You can feel Jae-wan watching and judging you, but he leaves you be for the fifteen minutes you’re left alone before an older woman rushes into the room.

“My apologizes for making you wait Han Jae-wan-ssi, [Last] [First]-ssi,” She apologizes, giving a bow before she promptly sits down in a chair diagonally from Jae-wan and closest to the door. “I’m Park Seo-Yeon.”

You stand for a few moments before you quickly grab the chair across from her and sit down, nervously shifting your gaze from Jae-wan to her and back again. You try to pay attention to their conversation, but you can’t focus on anything other than the thoughts of how this is where your career ends and your boss is going to be humiliated to hear it first hand.

“[Name].” Jae-wan's hiss of your name has you straightening abruptly in your seat, whipping your head to look at him. “Are you comfortable with that?”

You blink rapidly at him for several moments before you manage to clear your throat, “Can...can you repeat that?” With how wide your eyes are, you hope he’ll be nice enough to explain what’s going on.

“I have prior engagements that conflict with the schedule they want me for,” He’s giving you an aspirated look now, “I want you to step in for me instead. Are you comfortable with that?” Something brushes your arm and you glance down at the paper that Jae-wan has slid over to you.

With a glance, you note the dates before hastily looking back up at your boss, “You want me to take your place as the photographer?” You ask in disbelief, glancing at Seo-yeon before back to Jae-wan, “For…three weeks?”

“There’s a reason you’re my assistant and why I brought you with me.” His lips twitch, like he’s trying not to laugh at your sputtering. “I trust you, and you need to spread your wings, so to say.”

“I..I would be honored.” You breathe, inwardly trying to calm yourself. BigHit wasn’t out to kill you...yet.

“Wonderful! I will be back shortly with the contracts and papers for you to sign and fill out.” Seo-yeon declares before she’s up and rushing out the glass doors, leaving you and Jae-wan alone again. Relaxing in your seat for the first time, you absently scan the paper in front of you again, curious as to who the contract involves.

2 words jump from the page that make you completely freeze in your seat.

“See? I told you there was nothing to worry about.” Jae-wan muses on your left, but you can’t quite acknowledge him, too busy processing who your contract is with.

Bangtan Sonyeondan.

++++++++++

After the contracts and papers were all signed, you had practically raced out of the BigHit building, a stark contrast to hours earlier when you’d been dragging your feet. Jae-wan and yourself had promptly returned to the studio, greeted by cheers when Jae-wan broke the news to your co-workers. Several of your co-workers expressed their envy of your recent contract throughout the rest of the day as work resumed.

By the end of the day, you were bursting at the seams to tell the boys about your news. They had invited you over for dinner and game night, the usual on a Friday night. It was still somewhat early, so you headed home to your apartment first. You wanted to change out of your work clothes, take a shower, and pack a few clothes before you headed to the dorms.

You’re drying yourself off when your phone pings on the counter. You unlock your phone and tap on the notification.

JK: Are you home, [Name]-ah?

You: Yes

Jiminie: Let us in!

JinJin: You said you were going out for MILK

You fumble for your robe, tying it quickly and tightly as you sprint through your apartment to the front door, unlocking the door and pulling it open to reveal Jungkook and Jimin nervously standing in the hallway. Neither need no prompting to rush inside your apartment. You abruptly shut the door, locking it back and rounding on the two, hands on your hips. They’re both dressed dark, sporting a face mask, and a baseball cap pulled low.

“What are you two doing!?” The three of you ignore the numerous notifications from your phones.

Jimin tugs down his face mask, offering a sheepish grin, “We went out to grab some banana milk and Kookie-ah got us turned around and I think some ARMY recognized us…”

“We realized where we were and we didn’t have a choice,” Jungkook added, nervously rubbing at the back of his head as he peers down at his phone. “Hyungs are upset..” He mutters, prompting you to lean forward to look at his screen.

Jin-Hyung: You weren’t supposed to go that far!

Tae-Hyung: You left? Without ME?

Joon-Hyung: They left? When?

Hobi-Hyung: When Jin chased you out of the kitchen, they snuck out

Jin-Hyung: You LET them leave?

Yoongi-Hyung: Hobi and I didn’t think they would wander that far

Leaning back, you sighed and rubbed a hand over your face. “Okay, okay. We can figure this out.” You gestured down at yourself quickly, “Let me go change into some clothes.” You point a finger at the two members, “Stay. Don’t move.” Satisfied you’d scared them into staying put, you marched back into your bedroom to change.

You’re half-dressed when Jungkook shuffles into the bathroom, phone pressed to his ear. “Noona, Hyung wants to talk to you,” His voice startles a shriek from you as you whirl to face him. Jungkook immediately turns red and whirls around to put his back to you, holding the phone away from his ear with a wince. (“What was that!?”) Jungkook promptly covers his eyes with his free hand and offers the phone out towards you blindly.

You take the phone from his hand, tugging your t-shirt that barely covers your thighs down as much as you can, “Sorry, he just startled me, that’s all.”

“Can you get them back here without drawing anymore attention?” Namjoon.

“I’ll try. Did any of them follow you here, Kookie-ah?” You direct your question to the maknae, who turns to face you, hand clamped firmly over his eyes still.

“Um, I don’t know? We kind of just ran, not sure if they were close enough to follow,” Jungkook answers with a shrug.

“I don’t think any of them saw where we ducked into,” Jimin voices as he pokes his head around the corner, furrowing his eyebrows in question at Jungkook before his attention lands on you. His eyebrows go up and he grins, “I hope there’s more to your outfit than just that, [Name]-ah. You’re going to give the poor maknae a heart attack.”

You shoot the dancer a glare, “I’ll figure it out, Joonie. We’ll see you soon.” You end the call before Namjoon or the others can protest. You place the phone back in Jungkook’s open palm and point towards the door, “Out, both of you.” Jungkook briefly bumps into the doorframe before Jimin guides him through the doorway. You shut the door once they’re out, moving to finish getting dressed before they decide to bust back in for whatever reason.

Finished getting dressed and ready, you grab your phone and order an Uber before you open your bathroom door to step into your bedroom. Jimin and Jungkook immediately straighten on your bed at your entrance, focusing on you instead of the phone they’d been hunched over. “I ordered an Uber. Should be here in 10 minutes. I have to finish packing a few things.” You mutter absently to them as you move around your room. Both of them watch you the whole time, silently.

By the time you had a bag packed and ushered the two boys from your room, you had two minutes left before the Uber showed up. Pulling your hair into a ponytail, you pulled a baseball cap over your head, digging around in your bag and pulling out a plain black face mask and slipping it on.

“Okay, troublemakers. Let’s go.” Jimin laughed as you ushered them out the door, locking your apartment behind you. “I’m not saving you from your Hyungs,” You lead the way down the hallway, taking the stairs two at a time with Jungkook and Jimin on your heels, hats pulled low.

The sun is almost set as you step out into the fresh air, glancing around in search of the Uber that should be here any second. You stop at the edge of the sidewalk, briefly noting Jimin and Jungkook pressing up against you on either side.

Jungkook looks a bit more nervous than Jimin, and you reach out to grab Jungkook’s hand, giving him a gentle squeeze, “Breathe,” You tell him, “I won’t let ARMY take you away.” Your eyebrows raise when he grips your hand back, just as you spot the Uber pulling up to the curb. You pull your hand from Jungkook’s at the sound of your phone ringing, reaching back to grab it. Taehyung’s face flashes across the screen and you smile as you answer it, “Hey, we’re just getting in the Uber now. We-,”

You’re cut off by a sudden shout from across the street, immediately looking for the source of the noise, which happens to be several young girls opposite. “What was that?” Taehyung asks in your ear, but you don’t answer him right away, taking note of their phones, and the fact that one of them seems to be brave enough to start to cross the street, encouraging the others as well.

“Go, go,” You’re practically unceremoniously man-handling Jimin and Jungkook into the back of the Uber as quick as you can, eyes on the girl who has apparently increased her speed walking. You ignore Jungkook’s protests as you promptly shut the door, stepping back from the vehicle as the driver doesn’t hesitate in pulling away from the curb.

“[Name]-ah! What’s going on!?” Taehyung is practically squawking against your ear before you pull the phone away to point with it, indicating down the street and away from yourself, “Ya! Is that J-Hope!?” Despite being rather silly, at least to you, the girl falters in her path as she twists to look along with the other girls. As soon as she does so, you’re hefting your bag over your shoulder and walking as fast as you can down the sidewalk in the direction the Uber went.

“Sorry, I got left behind. Troublemakers are on their way,” You speak into the phone as you round the corner down the street, “Might have man-handled Jiminie and Kookie more than I meant to.”

Laughter echoes over the phone in the background, and you briefly wonder if Taehyung has you on speakerphone, before you hear Yoongi chortle, “They probably rather enjoyed it.”

You laugh at the comment, turning to glance over your shoulder. None of the girls seemed to have followed you. You relax, but keep your quick pace walking.

“Hobi-Hyung is talking to Jimin right now. Apparently Jungkook wants to go back for you.”

“No, I’m fine. I can get another Uber. They don’t need to come back.”

“Maknae is worried. Is he thinking she got mobbed by ARMY?”

“Oh please, it’ll take more than a few teenage girls to take me down. I’m going to order a new ride. ARMY might not kill me tonight, but that walking distance just might.”

It takes you a few seconds to pull up the app and get a new Uber, sighing softly as you sit on a bench to wait, bringing the phone back to your ear. “Okay, Uber ordered. 5 minutes.”

“I’m sorry you had to deal with this,” Namjoon apologizes, “Seems like the younglings are restless.”

“Don’t worry about it, Joonie. It adds a bit of excitement to my otherwise boring life,” You shrug your shoulders, despite the fact that none of them can see you do so, “Just glad they didn’t get mobbed by ARMY. A lot of them are polite, but you know how some fans can be.” You knew the boys had heard first hand how crazy fans can get when it comes to Idols. It was bad enough reading about it in the news.

“There’s my Uber, I’ll see you guys in a bit, okay?”

“Okay, be careful.”

“She want to help man handle the two troublemakers when she gets here?”

“Hyung-”

You ended the call as you stood to reach the curb, shaking your head just as your Uber stopped to wait. You slid into the backseat and shut the door, glancing down at your phone screen at the notification of a missed call from Jungkook. Had you not been heading to the dorms, you might have called the maknae back, but you decided not to.

Jimin and Jungkook would make it to the dorms before you, and if traffic wasn’t bad, they should be there any minute now. You figured it was a good thing you wouldn’t be there until shortly after; you could only imagine what Yoongi had meant by man-handling.

For now, you decided you didn’t want to know.

[emperorsfoot]

Scorpia and Sea Hawk finally arrive on Beast Island and are met on the dock by Micah. 

From far away, it looked like a pile of colossal-sized animal skeletons rising up out of the ocean. Far larger than the skeleton Scorpia saw in the Crimson Wastes. Beast Island truly looked as… beastly as the stories portrayed it.

But as the Dragon’s Daughter Five drew closer, she could see that it was not several skeletons piled on top of each other. It was cliffs and ridges curving down to the water line. Covered by low-hanging and dropping vines from the jungle that gave the illusion of ribs and spine. It was not a pile of bones climbing out of the sea. It was just normal bedrock and earth.

“The Horde’s prison is supposed to be on the other side.” Sea Hawk was saying. “We can either find a safe place to drop anchor and cross the jungle to the compound, or sail right up to the prison’s harbor. You used to be pretty high up in the Horde. What would you suggest?”

Scorpia looked back at the island. She didn’t know much about the jungles of Beast Island. Only that they were filled with man-eating beasts, and savage natives that hunted them. She did not know how to navigate the jungle and she wasn’t sure she could guide herself and Sea Hawk through it and still be in any sort of condition to actually stage a rescue. Shaking her head in resignation, she turned back to her companion.

“We’ll have to pull into the compound’s harbor.” She told him. “I don’t have my Force Captain badge anymore-“ because she cut it in half to pay Sea Hawk “-but we can do the thing that you did in the Fright Zone. We’ll say we’re inspectors. Here for an inspection. Inspector Pirate, and Inspector… uh… Lynda. I’ll be Inspector Lynda.”

He would have thought she’d pick a more dramatic name, but okay. Sea Hawk steered the ship around the island so that they would come up directly in front of the prison compound and pull into their harbor as if they belonged. “Adventure!”

…

As much as Micah just wanted to go the heck home already, he also had a responsibility to the prisoners he freed. He had to make sure they got off the island safely and were on their way to their own homelands and territories before he could leave and go to his own home and family. That was the burden of leadership. A leader had to take care of those he lead before he took care of himself.

He hadn’t seen Angella or Glimmer in ten years, he could wait another day while he sorted escapees onto the boats in the captured Horde harbor.

One prisoner shook his hand as he was about to climb onto the gangplank. “Listen, man…” Micah recognized his voice as the rude one from two cells over from his. “I’m sorry about mocking you for missing your family. I never expected to get out of there, and your irrational hope was just making things worse for me. But it looks like maybe you were right all along.”

Micah had no idea what to say to that. So he just shook the other man’s hand back and did not comment.

“I’m from the Fallen Star Mountains.” Said the prisoner. “It’s on the other side of Brightmoon. I have to pass through to get home. I’ll tell that Queen of yours that you’re not dead and you’re coming home to her.”

“Tell her I never stopped thinking about her.” Micah asked. “There’s just a few more things I have to do here. But we’ve taken over the Horde’s Beast Island base, and the native Jungle Tribe is willing to join the Alliance –assuming there even still is an Alliance anymore.”

“The Fallen Star Mountains are ruled by the Star Sisters.” The other man informed him. “I’ll see if I can’t urge them to join your Alliance too.”

Now Micah held his hand more firmly, shaking with more enthusiasm. “I would be thankful if you did! The Star Sisters would be powerful allies!”

“I’m Sirius, by the way.” He said.

“Serious by nature, and Sirius by name.” Micah smiled. He needed to get back on his pun-game if he planned on being a Dad to his daughter. Gosh! He hadn’t made a dad-joke in ten years!

“Sure. Let’s go with that.” Sirius pulled his hand out of the sorcerer’s grip and climbed the gangplank onto the ship.

Feeling irrationally optimistic –or, perhaps perfectly rational to be optimistic- Micah turned back to the rest of the freed prisoners, still waiting on the dock. There were only four ships in the harbor, but they were big ships and could carry all the prisoners. The difficult part was figuring out who needed to get on which one. Micah spent the majority of the night after the Great Beast had left pouring over a map of Etheria and trying to decide which were the four best ports to send the ships to, to get everyone home. Then trying to figure out where ‘home’ was for each prisoner and sort them onto the ships accordingly.

Other prisoners expressed similar sentiments as they bit their farewells to Micah and boarded the ships. Not promises to visit Brightmoon and speak to Queen Angella about him. But to speak to their own Princesses or Queens about joining the Alliance.

“I was captain of the guard for Queen Peekablue’s daughter.” One woman informed him. “I had the Queen’s trust and the Queen’s ear before I was captured. I’ll speak to her about the Princess Alliance. She didn’t want to join originally because she knew it would fail-“ Peekablue’s magic was the gift of foresight, when she knew something, she knew it “-perhaps she’ll See differently now.”

A man getting on the same ship as Peekablue’s former captain of the guard stopped to inform him, “I was a soldier of Sweet Bee’s hive.” He placed a fist to his chest and Micah assumed it was meant as a salute. “My Queen rarely does anything without seeking Peekablue’s council. She values the other Queen’s insight –among other reasons- but I will urge her to join the Alliance all the same.”

“Thank you.” Perhaps Micah was a little more passionate than he needed to be. But after spending ten years doing nothing but sitting in the cell, if felt amazing to finally be accomplishing things again. Within the space of a few days, he had escaped from prison, met new allies, gone back to the prison and freed the remaining prisoners, and now was being given promises of possible new allies for their Alliance and Rebellion. Micah was feeling just a little giddy. High off optimism.

He was still optimistic and –for lack of a better word- high, as he watched the four ships pull away from the docks. Waving goodbye as if parting ways after an extended vacation, and smiling like a fool.

Micah stood there until the boats were almost out of sight. Disappearing beyond the horizon.

He was about to turn and go back inside. See how Entrapta was doing inside the compound. But then something else caught his eye.

At first he was concerned that there was something wrong with one of the ships that caused them to turn around and come back. Engine trouble, or spoiled provisions, tainted water, sickness, or any other number of problems that could occur on a large vessel like the ones employed by the Horde.

But as he squinted at the tiny dot on the horizon, he realized that it wasn’t one of the commandeered and repurposed Horde ships coming towards them.

This vessel was smaller. An open deck design. Raised off the water like a hydrofoil. With white sails. Definitely, definitely not a Horde vessel. No Horde boat in all of Etheria would have white sails. Black, red, brown, violet, or gray; yes. But not white. As it came closer, the name on the side of the vessel became readable, identifying it as the Dragon’s Daughter Five, and ‘five’ was spelled out in letters, not abbreviated as V or with a numeral.

Micah was still gawking, confused, when the Dragon’s Daughter Five pulled right up to the dock he was standing on and a man wearing a jewel-tone blue jacket over a white shirt (also, not Horde colors or uniform) threw a rope over the side.

“Hey, tie that off for me, will ya?” He said.

Blinking, moving more on auto-pilot as opposed to making any conscious decision, Micah did as he was asked. Tying off the boat that was most definitely not a Horde boat to the dock. He tugged on the line a couple times just to make sure it was secure. He lived on land almost his whole life and knew very little about the appropriate knots for securing watercraft.

He must have done alright, because the sailor seemed satisfied enough to jump off the boat to the accompanying cry of, “Adventure!”

Up close, Micah could see that he was actually quite young. With a youthful face and demeanor that implied late teens, but a thick and well groomed mustache that implied early twenties. He offered a hand to someone else in the boat.

The man’s traveling companion definitely, definitely looked like she could have been Horde. Dressed all in red armor. A Horde color. But there was no insignia on the armor. No winged sigil of the Horde. No badges identifying her as a soldier of their army. She was just wearing red.

Micah stood there, staring.

Upon really taking note of him, the pair also paused. Staring at an equal loss as to what to do.

“You don’t look like a Horde soldier.” Said the woman.

“You don’t look like Horde soldiers either.” Micah shot back. Except, she kinda did look exactly like a Horde soldier, just without the trademark Horde insignia.

The man cleared his throat awkwardly, and in a voice that was noticeably deeper than when he asked if Micah could tie off the boat said, “That’s because we’re not Horde soldiers. We’re Inspectors. Yes. And we’re here for the inspection.”

“Inspection?” He echoed, not believing it for a second.

It would have to be one incredible coincidence that there was an inspection scheduled –literally- the day after a mass prison break in which the prison was taken over by the island’s natives. As a practitioner of magic, Micah knew such absurd coincidences did happen, but not very often. Besides, their vessel was not a Horde vessel, the man was not dressed like a member of the Horde at all, and the woman who was dressed like a Horde was missing all the important identifying insignia. These kids –and, yes, Micah was calling them kids now, they could not have been much older than his own daughter- these kids were not members of the Evil Horde.

“Yes.” Nodded the man. “The inspection. I am Inspector Pirate, and this here is my associate, Inspector Lynda.”

“Lynda?” Micah echoed, the name sparking some long ago and half-buried memory. He took another look at the woman that was dressed as a Horde. Tall, easily the tallest one of the three of them. And thick-built too. With snow-white hair and dark eyes. Pincer claws in place of hands, and behind her a scorpion tail swayed nervously. The red armor wasn’t Horde armor, it was an exoskeleton. The exoskeleton of a scorpion. And she said her name was ‘Lynda’…? “You can’t be. You’re too young to be Lynda D’Ream!”

Her daughter maybe?

Micah was still a student in Mysticor when the Queendom of Scorpiones was taken over by the Horde and their Runestone given to Hordak in exchange for the life of the Queen and her daughter. Scorpiones fell under Horde control and became the Fright Zone, and Queen Lynda D’Ream became a political hostage to keep those loyal to her under control.

At least, that was what Micah heard. He was only just a child at the time and nobody ever really told him much about the terrible things that happened below their floating magical island. Nobody except Light Spinner, but that was a childhood trauma for another flashback.

Micah knew the Queen of Scorpiones had a daughter. She would have only been a year old when she lost her Queendom and was taken from her mother.

“How do you know- ?“ The scorpion woman began, then cut herself off abruptly.

Her companion looked at her, the slightest bit of concern seeping into his expression.

Then she straightened, regaining composure and clearing her throat. The scorpion woman, ‘Lynda’, fixed Micah with a critical glare. “That is not a standard issue uniform.” She informed the sorcerer. “Are you an officer? If not, we’ll have to dock points for a uniform violation.”

“I am an officer, actually.” Micah grinned at her. He had already come to a conclusion about this pair that had pulled into the harbor in a shit that was definitely not a Horde ship, dressed in clothes that were not Horde uniforms, with a flimsy story that did not hold up to scrutiny. “A pretty high ranking officer. In fact, I’m not just an officer. I’m a King, and Leader of the Rebellion.”

For half a second, the two stared at him, dumbfounded. But only for half of one second.

Then they both snorted. As if he were funny. As if he’d just made a joke. As if they didn’t believe him.

“No you’re not.” Said ‘Lynda’. “The leader of the Rebellion is Princess Glimmer of Brightmoon.”

At the mention of his daughter’s name, it felt like a current of lightning ripped through Micah. Glimmer, his Glimmer, was leader of the Rebellion? But she was so young! Sure she would have grown up a bit in the ten years he was trapped on Beast Island –in his mind, Micah was still imagining a toddler- but she still had to be in her mid-teens. Fifteen. Maybe sixteen if he was being generous. But certainly not old enough to be in charge of a massive military organization like the Princess Alliance.

“I’ve met Glimmer.” Added Inspector Pirate. “And she’s definitely not you.” A pause. “Although, you do look a little like her.”

Micah sputtered for a moment.

He stared at the pair. They met Glimmer. They knew his daughter. Where they friends? Were they also members of the Princess Alliance? If the scorpion woman really was the daughter of Lynda D’Ream then she was definitely a Princess. Had she joined the Alliance to avenge her mother and take back her Queendom? Did the Alliance send them? Was this a prison break? Were they here to rescue him? Did Glimmer send them?

“Are you with the Alliance?” He finally managed to ask.

There was another pause.

The two looked at each other, suddenly unsure.

“Of course not!” Insisted Inspector Pirate. “We’re Inspectors. We’re here for the inspection.”

“Yes.” Agreed ‘Lynda’. “Beast Island is overdue for an inspection.”

“Really?” Micah crossed his arms over his chest and giving these young people –these children- a Look. “You’re gonna stand here and try to convince me that you’re Horde. After I just told you I’m King Micah of the Rebellion.”

“Listen, guy, for all we know, you’re just some crazy dude who lives on the island.” Inspector Pirate informed him. “I’ve run into crazy island-dwelling hermits more often than you’d think.”

“Also, it’s a widely-believed fact that King Micah died ten years ago.” ‘Lynda’ added.

Okay, Micah was getting real tired of this back and forth real quick. Drawing a new sigil in the air, he cast a spell on both of them. His truth spells were some of the strongest in all of Etheria. No one could resist it. No one could lie while under it.

The pair blinked after the sigil passed through them. Unsure of what he just did. They had enough experience around magic to recognize it when they saw it, but not what kind of magic it was.

“Alright, let’s start again.” Micah announced. “What are your names?”

“I’m Scorpia.”

“Sea Hawk.”

Micah nodded. He never knew the name of Queen Lynda’s daughter, but ‘Scorpia’ seemed to fit. Sea Hawk was slightly less stupid than ‘Inspector Pirate’, but only slightly.

“And why are you here?” Was the obvious follow-up question.

“I’m just her ride.” Announced Sea Hawk. Then, without prompting, followed it up with, “I’m always just the ride. That’s all anyone ever wants from me. Nobody’ll ever love me and I’m gonna die alone.”

That was a lot to unpack right there, and Micah did not have the time for it. He turned his attention to Scorpia.

“I-“ She hesitated. Was she trying to fight the truth spell? Or was the hesitation for other reasons? “I need to rescue a friend. She- we were both betrayed by someone- by someone we both thought was our friend. I- I should have realized it sooner, but I was so smitten. You know when you look at someone through rose-colored glasses all the red flags just look like flags. I was naïve and Entrapta paid the price for it. I need to fix it.”

“Entrapta?” Echoed Micah. “You’re here to rescue Entrapta?”

“Yes.” Scorpia answered truthfully –not just because she was under a truth spell.

Micah’s expression softened. Who would have thought that Queen Ensnarea’s daughter would formed friendships that motivated them to storm Beast Island to rescue her. It was endearing. But more importantly, it was reassuring of the next generation of Princesses. “I’ll take you to her.”

Sea Hawk and Scorpia exchanged a look.

“We don’t actually know he is who he says he is.” Sea Hawk reminded her.

“And we just confessed to a bunch of stuff any member of the Horde should totally execute us for.” Scorpia agreed. “But I think if he was gonna attack us he would have done it by now.”

“Worse comes to worse we can get Entrapta’s robot to rescue us.” Sea Hawk decided. He turned back to the boat and shouted. “Hey, Emily! You up to pointing your weapons at someone other than me?”

Turning his head unnecessarily slowly, Micah looked back at the ship to see what looked like a Horde bot try and climb over the railing. Only to teeter unsteadily on one stuck leg, then move back, trying to regain its balance on the deck.

“Hang on, I’ll help you.” Scorpia went back to the boat. Pulling on the line, she scraped the side of the boat right up against the dock, then put one foot up on the railing, pressing that side down into the water. “Try and roll out.”

Tucking its legs under it, the Horde bot did as it was told. Rolling on the deck, bouncing a little bit as it passed over the boat’s railing and onto the dock. Regaining its footing, the bot gave a pleased little trill of appreciation.

Micah just blinked. “Sorry, did you say that’s Entrapta’s robot?”

“Yeah.” Scorpia smiled, as if there wasn’t anything wrong with a Princess having her own personal Horde robot as a pet. “She found her in the Fright Zone and reprogrammed her.”

Oh. Well, that was alright then. Micah relaxed. “I’ll take you to Entrapta.”

He led them inside. Sea Hawk and Scorpia falling into step behind him, still looking suspicious and unsure. The reprogrammed Horde bot, Emily, hobbling along behind them with one leg that seemed stuck and immobile. It made a loud THUNK, THUNK, THUNK sound with every step. But it seemed to reassure the other two.

Leading the pair through the uneven and twisting corridors of the compound, Micah did have to admit that Entrapta did have a point. The construction of this place really was counter intuitive and nothing at all like normal Horde construction.

There was a tense pause when they got to the lift and all of them looked at each other suspicious that the others would try and attack them in the enclosed space of the elevator cabin. But then the lift opened up again and they all stepped out onto the Command floor and both Scorpia and Sea Hawk paused for an entirely different reason.

Both of them froze, staring at the artistic depicting of the two planets flanking the door, with an infinity wrapped around them.

“That looks like-“ Gasped Sea Hawk.

“-First Ones writing.” Scorpia finished for him.

“Like from the Northern Reach.” The sea captain looked suddenly concerned. “You don’t think there are bug-like First Ones tech monsters here too, do you?”

Scorpia bit her bottom lip. “I mean… even if there are, we should be alright so long as Entrapta didn’t fix that First Ones virus disk. Right?”

“You two can read that?” Micah asked, impressed.

“No.” Both of them informed him in perfect unison.

“The only people on Etheria who can read First Ones writing are scholars who’ve spent their whole lives studying it –and they’re not even very good.” Sea Hawk explained. “And She-Ra.”

“She-Ra!” Micah almost tripped over his own feet.

He fell against the wall, landing on the door release for the Command room. The door slid open and a mass of lavender hair shifted at the sound. Twin-tails twisting, lifting out of the wait to reveal a familiar welding mask. There was the heartbeat of a pause, then one thin tendril of hair moved to lift the mask, revealing the familiar but confused face of Princess Entrapta.

“Scorpia?” She asked. “What are you doing here?”

Before she knew what she was doing, the other woman rushed into the room. Scooping Entrapta up into her arms, she wrapped Entrapta up in a crushing hug.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Scorpia sobbed into that mass of thick lavender locks. “I’m so sorry I just stood there and did nothing when you needed me. But I’m here now. I came to rescue you!”

Pulling away, as much as she could still held by the larger woman’s iron grip, Entrapta blinked at her. “You came to rescue me?”

No one had ever come to rescue her before. Not even the Princess Alliance, the self-proclaimed champions of ‘Good’. Not Glimmer and Bow who claimed to be her friends. Not Adora who lead the charge into the Fright Zone to rescue Glimmer. But Scorpia came to rescue her from Beast Island. Tears welled up in her eyes and for once, Entrpata did not lower her welding mask down to cover them.

“You’re my best friend!” And she hugged back. With her arms. Not her hair.

[surreal-honeypot]

Parkner Week Day Two Title: A Perfect Night Prompt: Prom

Character Tags: Peter Parker, Harley Keener, Michelle Jones, Ned Leeds, Betty Brant, Shuri, Abby Keener, Harley’s little sister, mentioned Tony Stark

Relationship Tags: Peter Parker/Harley Keener, Michelle Jones/Shuri, Ned Leeds/Betty Brant

Additional Tags: Day Two of Parkner Week, Parkner Week 2019, Prom, Getting Together, Not Endgame Compliant, Not Infinity War Compliant, Tony doesn’t sell the tower, Idk why, Fluff, This was meant to be cute but I think I did a bad job

Summary: “You need some help with that?”

Peter looked slightly embarrassed, but he nodded, looking up at Harley through his eyelashes.

Cute.

Harley stepped into Peter’s personal space, suddenly realizing that this was either a really bad idea, or his best idea yet. Upon seeing Peter’s face pink, Harley decided that it was easily his best idea yet. Harley reached up and paused.

“What did you do to this poor tie?”

“Peter. Nothing is going to happen. Homecoming was a fluke! School dances are not out to get you,” Ned tried reasoning.

“See, you say that, but you’re wrong.” MJ raised an unimpressed eyebrow, while Ned, who was standing next to her, crossed his arms with a deadpan look.

“Uhuh. And your reasoning here, Parker?”

“MJ, we all know what happened on homecoming night sophomore year, and then on prom, do you remember what happened?”

“You rushed away to go be Spider-Man.”

“Exactly! And at homecoming this year, what happened?”

Ned sighed.

“You rushed away to go be Spider-Man.” Neds repeated, voice flat. “Man, I still don’t see the problem here. You think school dances are out to get you, but to me it seems like Spider-Man is out to get your social life. Just come out, have fun for a night... Maybe invite Harley?” Ned’s voice turned teasing.

Peter felt his face go red.

“What?! No, I-”

“To me, it seems like you were just trying to get out of homecoming because you don’t want to ask anyone, and Ned and I won’t be around to hold your hand this year.” MJ’s words were blunt, but not malicious. They were also, unfortunately, true.

MJ had asked out Shuri months ago, and upon hearing about prom, Shuri jumped at the chance to go. Peter had the distinct feeling that she would be disappointed, Midtown wasn’t exactly known for their wonderful school dances, but he wasn’t going to tell her that. Ned, was once again, dating Betty. They had a rather consistent on-again off-again relationship. Peter, on the other hand, was as single as a pringle.

This didn’t stop MJ and Ned from teasing him about Harley, however, who had moved in with Mr. Stark nearly a year before and who Peter had been hardcore crushing on ever since. It seemed like the more he got to know the other boy, the more he liked him.

Harley was gorgeous and funny, Harley was super smart while also being adept at socializing, he was chaotic and very capable of wielding his tongue like a weapon, but he could also be so sweet, and Peter was absolutely smitten.

“Even if I thought that Harley would say yes, I can’t. Abby is coming up the same day as prom, and I don’t want to take away from their time together. Based on that alone, Harley would probably say no.”

MJ and Ned exchanged looks.

“We obviously can’t convince you, and maybe you’re right, you know Harley better than we do. But what if you’re wrong? Don’t you want the chance, at least?”

Peter frowned and shrugged a bit helplessly. It didn’t matter whether he did or not, he wouldn’t be selfish and take away from Harley’s time with Abby. They only got to see each other every couple of months or so, even though Peter knew that they texted each other often and video called once a week.

Harley very obviously missed her and his mom, even though he was too stubborn to admit it. He had moved in with Tony for his senior year because the internship would look good on his college applications, and--although Harley had only admitted this to him in the dead of the night, while they were binging bad horror movies and eating junk food--he thought that it would lower the financial burden so his mom didn’t have to work so much.

Knowing all of that, how could Peter ask Harley to homecoming without feeling guilty? It would be putting Harley in a tough spot. He would either say yes, and then feel guilty about ditching Abby, or he would say no and that would make things awkward between them and Harley would probably feel guilty about that too and-

Peter cut off his inner ramblings. All these what if’s were pointless, because he wasn’t going to ask Harley in the first place.

I--II--II--III--II--II--I

Peter had decided that if he was going to skip homecoming, then he might as well do something else fun. It was because of this thought that Peter was currently entering the penthouse to put his stuff down before heading down to Mr. Stark’s lab.

“Hey Pete!” Harley called.

“What’s up? Where’s Abby? I thought she was coming today?”

“Oh. Yeah. That got rescheduled for next week. It turns out her best friend is throwing her birthday party tomorrow, and Abby doesn’t want to miss it. What about you? MJ told me that your homecoming was tonight.”

Peter froze. Of course she did.

“Eh, I was going to be wallflowering the entire night. MJ and Ned both have dates, and I didn’t want to go stag.”

It wasn’t the whole truth, but it certainly wasn’t a lie.

“Why didn’t you ask someone then? You could have asked someone to go with you as a friend, if nothing else.”

Peter stared flatly.

“Harley, I have four and a half friends. Four of which are going together.”

“A half?”

“I’m not super close with Betty.”

“Alright, but that still leaves one more friend.”

Peter stared some more. Was Harley really going to make him spell this out?

“Harley, you’re the last friend.”

“Yeah, and your point is?”

“You were busy.”

“And now I’m not. Do they sell tickets at the door?”

“Yeah, but-”

“Cool, go get dressed. I really doubt Tony’s known you this long and let you get away with not owning a suit. We’ll meet back here in 20. I expect your hair to look presentable.” With that, Harley marched off to his room, leaving Peter behind reeling. What just happened? I--II--II--III--II--II--I Harley’s lips quirked up when he saw Peter come out of his room. His suit was a bit rumpled, and his hair was still a bit messy, even if it was obvious that Peter had tried to tame it. He was fiddling with his tie, and failing at tying it. Harley’s smile widened when he noticed that it was the same shade of red as his.

“You need some help with that?”

Peter looked slightly embarrassed, but he nodded, looking up at Harley through his eyelashes.

Cute.

Harley stepped into Peter’s personal space, suddenly realizing that this was either a really bad idea, or his best idea yet. Upon seeing Peter’s face pink, Harley decided that it was easily his best idea yet. Harley reached up and paused.

“What did you do to this poor tie?”

The tie was knotted and tangled, and just slightly too tight around Peter’s neck. That had to be uncomfortable.

Peter’s face was completely red now, a sheepish smile pulling at his lips.

“I only ever had YouTube videos to go off when tying a tie, and to be honest that confused me even more. My aunt probably knows how, its just that it never occurred to her to teach me.”

“Then how did you wear ties in the past? I know I’ve seen you wearing them in photos, and such.”

“They were clip-on. Don’t tell Mr. Stark!”

“Hmmm. I think I just might, After all, he would want to know that his protege doesn’t know how to tie a tie, don’t you think?” Tony would definitely be scandalized. Maybe Harley would put this in his repertoire of black mail.

The knot finally came undone. Harley smiled triumphantly.

“Now, you cross this end over this one, see how this side is thicker? And then you wrap it around like this, pull this end through here, and then you pull.” As Harley pushed the knot up to Peter’s neck, he couldn’t help but feel like one of the little old ladies who always tied their husbands tie in the movies.

Harley looked up at Peter’s face, and abruptly remembered just how close they were standing. He swiftly took a step back, and blinked. Peter looked… disappointed?

Harley cleared his throat.

“Right then. You ready?”

“Ready.”

I--II--II--III--II--II--I

Peter’s prom wasn’t as fancy as Harley was expecting. For a somewhat high class school, the decorations were rather cheesy. Judging by the look on Peter’s face, he thought so too. Most of the decoration consisted of fairy lights, a few blue and yellow colored gobo’s, and swaths of transparent fabric hung artistically. Upon further inspection, there were also a few fake tree’s.

“The decorations are like this every year. Not horrible, but a bit lackluster, and most of the time you can’t even tell what the theme is.”

Before Harley could respond, Ned materialized beside them, with Betty on his arm.

“I thought you weren’t going to come? What happened with Harley’s little sister?”

Harleys eyebrows shot up. There was seemingly no correlation between the two comments unless… Had Peter been going to ask him?

Harley was once again interrupted before he got the chance to speak.

“Yes, what happened with Harley’s little sister?” MJ was smirking, like she knew something that they didn’t. Shuri, who was standing next to her, looked amused, as if she was in on a secret the rest of them weren’t allowed to know.

“Her trip was rescheduled for next week. It was really sudden actually. You’d think she’d be more careful planning her trip around the time of her best friend’s birthday. Actually, come to think of it, didn’t Julie already have her birthday this year?” Harley frowned, slightly confused.

MJ’s smirk widened.

“Well, have fun! Lets go raid the food table,” Shuri directed the last part to MJ.

“Ooh! I love this song! Let’s go dance!” Betty quickly pulled Ned over to the dance floor, leaving Harley and Peter alone together again.

“Did that seem a bit off to you?”

“Yeah, but with MJ, it's better not to question.”

Harley thought that that was a fair assessment, and decided to put the incident out of his mind. For now. For now, Harley would go dance with Peter and drink watered down punch and eat cupcakes that were just a tad too sweet. For now, Harley would listen as the playlist slowly progressed to slower and slower songs. And for now, Harley would get to hold Peter in his arms as they slowly drifted from side to side.

I--II--II--III--II--II--I

“Thank you. For coming with me, that is. It was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.”

Harley resisted the urge to let out a smart ass comment, like isn’t everything fun when I’m involved? and instead just took a step closer. They were back where it all began, in the tower. The night had gone by quickly, and Harley was tired. But not too tired for this.

Harley took another small step, invading Peter’s personal bubble once more.

“Not a problem, darling.” Harley drawled quietly, not wanting to ruin the atmosphere between them. “Your prom may have sucked, but it was fun.”

Peter didn’t respond, instead moving closer to Harley and gently slotting his lips against Harley’s. The kiss was slow, lazy. It was fairly obvious to both that neither one knew quite what they were doing, with Harley having come from a small town in Tennessee and Peter being awkward and well, Peter. Despite that though, it was nice.

A perfect ending to a good night.

I--II--II--III--II--II--I

Harley was sliding into his bed when his phone rang on his bedside table.

“Hello?”

“Hey Harley! How did your date with Peter go?”

“How did you know about that?”

“Did you kiss? I have a bet with MJ.”

“MJ? How do you know MJ?”

“Bye Harley, see you next week!”

“Abby? Don’t you dare hang-”

Click.

[caelum-in-the-avatarverse]

It Takes A Village

AO3 | FFdotnet

Four moments featuring Aang with his family - especially his Water Tribe in-laws.

Written for Aang Week 2017. Prompt - Family.

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Aang & Kanna, Aang & Bato, Aang & Hakoda, Aang & the Gaang Characters: Aang, Kanna, Bato, Hakoda, The Gaang Additional Tags: Aang/Katara - Freeform, Family

Fanfictiondotnet is still being its spectacular self. -_-

“Gran-Gran, I think you’re the only person in this entire tribe who hasn’t tried to shove sea prunes down my throat,” Aang said, happily chowing down on Kanna’s five-flavor soup. “Everyone else is always Oh come on Avatar, you’re a vegetarian and the Southern Water Tribe doesn’t have many vegetarian dishes, you should like this! And I have to be like, look, just because I’m a vegetarian, it doesn’t mean I’ll eat every plant I meet!”

Kanna laughed and poured him a cup of labrador tea. “To be honest, Aang,” she said, “I wasn’t at all fond of southern sea prunes when I first moved down here. They’re different enough from the northern kind that I just couldn’t like the taste. Both tribes prepare them differently, too. It was just strange.”

“I don’t like the northern kind much, either,” Aang said cheerily. “Or the Fire Nation’s ocean kumquats.”

“Katara brought me some of those,” Kanna said. “I didn’t like them much, either.”

“Next time we go to the Northern Water Tribe, we’ll bring you some northern sea prunes,” Aang said. “I can promise I won’t eat a single one on the way back.”

“Cheeky,” Kanna smiled. “Bring them to me for your wedding. I’ll prepare them in the Southern style. It’ll completely scandalize Pakku.”

Aang laughed and sipped his tea. “You really like scandalizing him, don’t you?”

“It’s a lifelong habit,” she said. “One that you and Katara are carrying on, too. You know he’s still miffed that you haven’t carved her a betrothal necklace? He wanted to give you tips.”

“Uh, yeah, because his first betrothal necklace worked out so well,” Aang snorted. “Besides, that’s a Northern tradition, and Katara loves her mom’s necklace. Your necklace. Her necklace.” He had some more tea. “But, uh...you’re not miffed, are you? That I’m not courting Katara in the proper Southern way?”

Kanna gave him a dull look. “Aang, you’re talking to a woman who, when presented with a proper courtship, took a hike across the Earth Kingdom to the other side of the world.”

“Good point.”

“Besides, Hakoda and I understand you wouldn’t want to go on a traditional hunting trip.”

Aang’s eyes lit up. “Maybe we could change it to a non-traditional animal-riding trip!”

Kanna laughed. “Oh, I would love to see my son handle that.”

“So what have we learned from this experience?” Bato asked, wrapping the splint around Aang’s arm.

“That I should never, ever, ever, under any circumstances, attempt to ride a polar bear-dog.”

“That’s right,” Bato sighed. On the other side of the sitting room, Hakoda and Sokka were regaling Kanna with an unfortunately-not-embellished tale of the entire ridiculous event. Kanna looked mostly amused, though the way she was eyeing her son and grandson’s bandages meant she was at least a little worried about their apparent lack of self-preservation.

“Sorry Bato,” Aang said. “I didn’t think it’d get that out of hand! But at least we all had fun?”

“I’ll definitely be talking about this one until I’m old and gray,” Hakoda said.

“Yeah!” Sokka shouted. “Best hunting trip ever! Even if we didn’t get anything to eat out of it!”

Bato gave them a flat stare. “Sometimes I think I’m the only person in this entire tribe with any sense.”

“I hate to break it to you, Bato,” Sokka said, “but you don’t have a sense. Of adventure.”

Bato closed his eyes. “Definitely your father’s son.”

“Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing?” Hakoda asked.

Bato waved him off. “Alright,” he said to Aang, finishing with the splint. “I think you’ll live.”

“Great!” Aang grinned. “Though bending is going to be really awkward for a while. How do you guys manage to go hunting without bending? That was wild!”

“Very carefully,” Bato said. “And not always without casualties.”

Aang grimaced. “I’m just glad I managed to get you guys out in one piece.”

“I do appreciate not being dead,” Bato said. He glanced around the room and paused when his gaze fell on the writing supplies Pakku kept on a nearby table. He must have written a letter recently - the inkstone was still wet. Bato dipped a finger into the bit of remaining ink and, before Aang could react, swiped it right over the Airbender’s arrow tattoo.

Aang blinked twice and reached up, his fingers pausing just shy of the ink on his forehead. “The...Mark of the Trusted?”

“You denied it last time I tried to give it to you,” Bato said. “But you just saved Hakoda, Sokka, and I from a ravenous polar bear-dog, so I’d say you’ve definitely re-earned it.”

Aang smiled. “Okay,” he said. “Thank you. I won’t wipe it off this time.” Pause. “But...is there a chance we can not tell Katara that we almost got eaten by a polar bear-dog?”

“She’d find out anyway,” Bato said somberly. “We’ll just have to face our doom like men.”

“Oh my moon you’re married,” Sokka slurred. “I can’t believe it.”

“I can’t believe it either,” Aang giggled.

Most of the other wedding guests had already stumbled away to sleep off the alcohol, but Team Avatar had retreated to a private room, drinking to Aang and Katara’s happiness and enjoying their increasingly-rare time together. They were as deep into the night as they were into the bottles of fine Fire Nation wine Zuko and Mai had brought as a wedding gift.

“We’re brothers,” Sokka said.

“Thought we were always brothers.”

“In law,” Sokka elaborated, thumping a hand against the table. “It’s official! The law says it’s so!” He faceplanted on the table.

“Snoozles needs to hold his alcohol better,” Toph hiccupped.

“Snoozles’s had more’n you,��� Sokka mumbled into the tabletop.

Katara was giggling helplessly. “You all - need to drink - more water,” she managed, and then she attempted to bend the water out of their table’s pitcher and into their empty glasses. She only succeeded in soaking everyone’s faces, which made the others sputter indignantly while she broke down into more giggles.

“You see that?” Sokka asked the table at large, turning his head a bit so his face wasn’t mashed against the table. “Every time she plays with magic water I get wet. Every. Time.”

“I dunno,” Toph drawled. “Saves you the trouble of washing your face.”

Sokka raised a finger. “That...is a good point. You can keep it.”

“You’re too generous.”

“Oh!” Sokka said. “Aang’s my brother-in-law!”

“We know, Snoozles - ”

“But do you know what that means?” Sokka asked.

“Means Suki’s my sister-in-law?” Aang mumbled.

“That too. But Zuko!” Sokka slung an arm around the Firebender’s shoulders before Zuko could contemplate escaping. “Zuko! You’re my sister’s...great-grandson...in-law, through...marriage. And reincarnation.”

“Huh,” said Zuko.

“Huh,” said Katara.

“I don’t know if Roku’s laughing or if I’m just drunk,” said Aang.

“Which makes me your…” Sokka stared at his fingers. “Great-great...uncle-in-law?”

Suki snorted into her cup. “You’re all ridiculous.”

Katara peered at her. “How’re you still so sober?”

“M’not,” Suki admitted. “Just less drunk than you. I haven’t had people toasting to my good fortune all evening long and expecting me to drink with them.” She patted Katara’s shoulder.

“How’s Sparky still sober?” Toph asked. “You drank as much as Sokka.”

“Firebender,” Zuko said from where he was cuddled against Mai, Sokka still leaning on his other side. “Higher metabolism. It’s super useful.”

“I wonder if any of my past lives have any tips for hangovers,” Aang mused.

“If you find out, share,” Katara said, leaning into his side and kissing his cheek.

“Do you two need privacy?” Zuko asked.

“Yeah,” Toph said. “Should we clear out so Sweetness and Twinkletoes can get horizontal and do the do?”

“I am too drunk to do the do,” Katara said sadly.

“We can do the do on the honeymoon,” Aang said. “Right now I just wanna hang out with all you guys.”

“Adorable,” Mai deadpanned. “Frankly, all of you are precious when you’re drunk.”

Suki peered at her. “You actually are sober, aren’t you?”

Mai smiled into her cup. “We have a saying in the Fire Nation. Fear the one who drinks water, for they will remember this night.”

“Ooooooooh,” said Sokka.

At some point they all finally drooped off to sleep where they sat, only to be violently woken up ten seconds later by the sun shining through the windows and Ty Lee slamming the door open to announce “Rise and shine, sleepyheads! I brought Kohimori-blend coffee to perk you all up!”

Aang stumbled into Hakoda’s office with an armful of squirming, wailing baby. “Help.”

“Is that my grandson?” Hakoda asked, getting up from his desk. “He’s gotten bigger.”

“He won’t stop crying!” Aang said, bouncing Bumi up and down. “He was like this the entire bison ride here. I think Katara’s gone deaf. He’s not hungry, his diaper’s fine, he’s had his nap, he just won’t stop crying!”

Hakoda laughed. “You’re not used to babies, are you?”

“No! I mean, I like babies, I’ve seen babies, but - agh! I was raised by monks! I was twelve! I wasn’t responsible for babies! I don’t know how to dad!”

“No one ever does, when they start,” Hakoda reassured him. He waved his fingers in front of Bumi’s face, and the baby paused his wailing to stare at them.

Aang blinked. “Did you just - ”

Bumi started crying again.

“ - nevermind,” Aang sighed. “I don’t know what to do.”

“Here,” Hakoda said, “gimme.”

Aang handed his son over, and Hakoda started rocking the baby back and forth to an old tempo that came back to him as easily as though he’d last done it yesterday. “Sokka and Katara had their own crying phases. I’m sure he’ll be over it in a month.”

“A month?”

Hakoda smirked. “It’ll feel like longer.”

Aang groaned. “And it’s normal?”

Hakoda shrugged. “I hate to break it to you, but babies are not convenient things.” He patted Bumi’s back in a gentle rhythm. The baby’s wails were coming down in volume.

“I know they’re not convenient,” Aang said, running his hands over his arrow. “I just - if I can’t get it right now, what am I going to do when he’s older?”

“The best you can,” Hakoda shrugged.

“I don’t know what I’m doing!”

“No one ever does,” Hakoda said. “You just have to keep trying.”

Aang took a few deep breaths. In Hakoda’s arms, Bumi was slowly quieting, staring up at his grandfather sleepily. All the crying had apparently tired him out. “It’s just - there’s one of him and two of me and Katara, and it still feels like we’re outnumbered.”

Hakoda gave him a reassuring smile. “That’s why we say it takes a village.”

[ryryanfunko-blog]

“I GOTS DA GIFT!”: Marty McFly & DeLorean Funko Pop!

Obtained: Christmas 2014 Photos Posted On: Dec. 1, 2015

So this is the only Pop that I’ve got that came with another object, and I really liked it. I’d seen it on Hot Topic’s website and quickly noticed it cost somewhere like $23? or $25? Something like that. And again, at this time, I still wasn’t crazy about Funko Pops. But, I am a big Back to the Future fan. It’s definitely one of my favorite movies of all time. And I know, I know, there’s three of them. But I’ll group ‘em in all together as “a movie,” just for the sake of ranking favorite movies. Because frankly, my top favorite movies seem to be a line of movies with sequels. And I can’t really choose one over the other, because they all really stand well together (except, admittedly, I think Back to the Future III was meh). So, Inception’s my favorite movie of all time at this point, but some movies following that in no particular order are the Back to the Future movies, The Matrix movies, the Ocean’s trilogy, and more. 

Tangent again, but whatevs. So, I saw it on Hot Topic’s site, and I wasn’t that crazy for Funko Pops yet. So seeing a price tag of $23-25 for a toy? Didn’t make sense to me. So I passed. But anytime I’d be on a computer, I’d often find myself going back to HotTopic.com just to look at it, LMAO. And by now, I’ve come to realize, if I find myself re-checking some sort of product, it’s a sure sign I do want it, and if I can, I should probs get it. But I didn’t think like that at the time, so I’d online-window-shop it and then get back to my regular routine. But Christmas was nearing, and from my last funko blog post, you’d know I just bought a Frieza Pop to gift to my brother. Well, so, for Christmas, or any gift-giving occasion, my brother’s straight to the point and doesn’t like to play guessing games, and this is one of the things I like about him: he asks you straight up what you want. LMAO. I love it because for Christmas, my brother and sister are both like Santa Claus in a way. My sister really plays into it though. She literally comes over with SACKS of gifts. Multiple gifts. Not cheap little stocking stuffers. She buys multiple nice gifts and puts them in a sack, for each person. Thing is though, if I’m being honest, she often does get things she thinks may be cool or useful, but actually might not be. Again, it’s the thought that counts… But in that way, she’s like Santa Claus. My brother though, although he doesn’t gift with multiple items or huge sacks, he’ll accept lists from me, LOL. I’ll give him a list of things I want and he might get me one or two of them. But at least it’s a guarantee of what I actually want! So that’s always been cool. Oh, and when I said he doesn’t sack his gifts, I forgot to clarify that he doesn’t do anything to wrap or conceal them either. He just gives it to you straight in the store bag he bought it from, LOL. But whatevs, I gots da gift! Oh, and another thing; my sister, although it’s nice she sacks up a bunch of gifts, for a few years I’d send my Christmas list to my closest family members, to sort of make it easy for them like my brother; you know, take the guess work out of it. I’d try to be as polite as possible though, because it does feel strange to ASK for gifts, but I mean, if we’re being real, if we know the gifts are coming, wouldn’t we not want our money to go to waste and get something the other person may not even like? I’m all for playing it safe and being sure they’ll want and like the gift. But my sister made it clear she doesn’t like that I send out a list, and that it’s not my Birthday (ie: I shouldn’t get to choose). I get it. So she blatantly ignores my lists and gets me what she thinks I’ll like. And well, let’s just say that my closet can only fit so much… 

;-)

Another tangent. Weeeee! LOL. My bad. It ties in though. Read on, reader.

So anyway, Christmas was nearing and my brother asked for a list from me. I forget exactly what was on that list now… I vaguely recall some weight-lifting related item… maybe that was at the top of my list. I think it was some weight lifting gloves. Not sure though. There were some other stuff too, but I know the Marty McFly Funko Pop was included. And well, voila! My brother gifted me the Marty McFly Funko Pop!! From…??

(This is where you guess)

(Keep guessing)

(This isn’t where I do one of those annoying things people do in conversations and go, “Guess what? *they answer it without actually allowing you a chance to guess*)

(I’m actually gonna allow you a chance to guess)

(Okay, time’s up, over… blaow! snap back to… the future… – see what I did there? ;-)

(Major brownie points to whoever got those references)

(Yes, there were two references in that one line)

(BTW, screw brownie points. Like sorry brownies, imma let you finish, but Krispy Kreme donuts are the best sweets in the world)

(Cinnabons are close behind though, without a doubt)

HOT TOPIC! DOT COM! Yep, he ordered it from their site (I told him where he could get each gift, should he get them). But I knew he got it from HotTopic.com because, as usual, he did nothing to conceal it. He gave it to me inside the shipping box with invoice slip and all, LMAO. Oh!!! It’s coming back to me. He got me this pop, but also did get me weight lifting gloves! Sports Chalet!! But, he got the wrong size, and they didn’t have my size in stock, so he ended up just returning them, but that was totally fine. So yep, Christmas of 2014, we ended up exchanging Funko Pops, basically. LOL. I got him a Frieza and he got me a Marty McFly with his DeLorean. I ended up placing this awesome little dude and his whip on my TV counter with the other pops I had, right on top of the cable box. Soon, I’d move it over to the corner of my desk. It’s currently on the top of my Funko shelf case that I’ll most likely post online at some point. I’ve posted pics of it online at various moments, but the line-up always changes. :-)

So yeah, I was super stoked to get this Pop. Although I wasn’t crazy over Funko Pops quite yet, I’d been kinda side-eyeing them. In a curious way. One of the things that helped was that my co-worker Kasey displayed some out-of-box Funko Pops on his desk, one of which was his Deadpool Pop. Just seeing it at his desk every day kinda had me intrigued to their cute little designs. And so, any time I’d walk past a Hot Topic, I’d just look at the Pops, but not necessarily feel a desire to buy one. But every time I’d see the Marty McFly Pop on Hot Topic’s site, I always thought about how cool of an out-of-box Funko Pop it would be to have, since it was with the freaking DeLorean!! 

I just love the Back to the Future movies. The 2nd one is my favorite because of its futuristic elements. I loved the futuristic ideas they had; the self-lacing shoes, the hoverboard, the self-drying jacket, their fashion. I dunno, I dug it. It’s also pretty cool how some of those things are being attempted to be produced today. I’m kinda iffy on it because of how its being done. I mean first off, the self-tying shoes, Nike came out with some a few years ago. Except I heard they weren’t even self-lacing, they were just replicas. Meaning, they were just designed/modeled after the movie’s shoes. But it was still cool; they looked fresh. But, they were super limited and were only being sold on eBay, I think. But they sold for super insane amounts of money. So that wasn’t realistic to get. Then they made another attempt at it like last year in 2016, but I didn’t follow through with the news on it. Also like super limited/unattainable/crazy-expensive, so I didn’t care for it again. But then they were making another actual self-lacing shoe that was more affordable, but this thing looked ugly. Looked like a Skecher shoe with a nike swoosh on it. No offense to Skecher wearers. :-) And secondly, like seriously, hoverboards. We’ve got “hoverboards” today. I’m not sure why we call it that when they’re just segways without handlebars, which may or may not explode. *shrugs*

But anyway, yeah, I love the Back to the Future films, 3rd was meh, and 2nd was my fav. I forgot how I ever got introduced to the films. I think my dad introduced me to the movies… maybe he rented them on VHS? or perhaps we caught them on TV? I’m leaning towards VHS though. But anyway, I loved them so much that in my late high school years, or maybe even early college years, I’m not quite sure… but around that time, when I had some money of my own, I bought the trilogy on DVD. This is big for me, because I don’t like buying movies on DVD. I don’t like rewatching movies. It’s too much time to dedicate to watch something I’ve already seen and already know what’s gonna happen. And to pay to re-do something? Not my ideal spend of money. But, when it's a film I really enjoy? I’ll shell out some cash for it :-) So I got myself the trilogy and rewatched it in all of its glory. I remember back in the day too that my best friend at the time, Jason, would catch one of the movies on TV. We’d be on the phone together, and I’d put on my DVD and ask him where he’s at in the film, and I’d fast forward to that part and it’d be like we were watching together. Fun times. But now, I can’t actually find my trilogy of DVDs :’( (nor can I find Jason, LMAO, but that’s a whole other topic). If only this Funko Pop DeLorean could bring me back in time………. LOL, I was gonna make some cheesy joke about going back in time to find that DVD trilogy… But how much of a waste would that be? Imagine? Using some time travel machine just to find an old DVD set I had, when things like Biff as President and stupidvisors exist? Yeah, real smart use of time travel, Ry. :p

So as for the Funko photos themselves… The first photo with the newspaper was a photo I was stoked to take a pic of. Just archiving the fact I have these two things, is enough to encapsulate my fandom for the movie. I love the fact that USA Today came out with their own Back to the Future themed paper on the date that Marty travelled to the future. For one thing, that was massively creative, and perhaps took a lot of patience on USA Today’s part. Like, I wonder when they thought up to do this, and how long the company’s been waiting to publish it, LOL. And also, it finally put an end (?) to all those ridiculous memes that would pretend “oh, this is the day and year that Marty travelled into the future!” Like nope, nice try, clickbait. No really, nice try. A bunch of “fans” fell for it. But it was easy to tell when they were fake memes. The original Back to the Future setting takes place in 1985. That’s the starting point. Marty basically travels 30 years in either direction. Don’t @ me about the 3rd movie when he goes into the ol’ west, because I don’t care about that, and I’m like 95% certain 1985 is still a good reference point, because he probably ended up going back to 1885. So back to the meme. If he is only going 30 years in either direction, that means 2015 was the year of his travel into the future. BOOM. Case Closed. (Love that anime.) So the newspaper though, I wasn’t able to snag it the morning it came out for like a number of cents… or whatever newspapers cost these days. I had to order it online from USA Today’s website for like $4 D,: LOL. 

The second photo was just a standard pic to take in Marty and his whip, LOL. I love Funko’s mold of the DeLorean. It’s done perfectly, IMO. Just the right percentage of a used and dated look to it, but not overly raggy, which captures the essence the ride always had in the movies :’). Also, I love the irony of the car itself. It looks like a cheap hunk of metal. Like not high-class or sophisticated looking. But its function is quite the opposite and performs an action of only the highest of class and sophistication! The third pic, well, I was hoping to just snap a shot of Marty and the DeLorean in front of the DVD box I had… But alas, it was lost somewhere… in the past… so instead I grabbed some Calvin Klein tag laying around and just snuck it in as an Easter egg treat for any of those who really dig Back to the Future :-) And if you don’t know the reference, you’re not finding it here. Go watch the movie(s)!

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