#evonnagale

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Azula doesn't have a driver's license and Uncle doesn't keep a driver on standby which means she's been reduced to this. "Take me to the mall."

Zuko blinks awake slowly, the sun filtering through the curtains she's just thrown open. He's usually up at dawn, but this is approximately when he'd gotten home last night. "Wah?"

"The mall," she says slowly. "You have twenty minutes."

"I don't want to go to the mall," he says, reaching for his pillow.

She yanks it off the bed and tosses it behind her. "Uncle's car. Nineteen minutes."

"Uncle has plans today, he took the car," he says crankily.

Uhg. Today is trying her. "Fine, the bike then." It'll make getting everything home more difficult, but she'll manage.

"Azula," he says. He's trying to sound stern, but it comes out more like a whine.

Her lips twitch. "I'll make coffee."

Fifteen minutes later she's watching him chug a truly concerning amount of steaming black liquid.

I shall recommend you Some Desperate Glory and The Incandescent, both by Emily Tesh. The former is a futuristic sci-fi space opera that starts out seemingly as the stereotypical "last surviving remnant of Earth must avenge its destruction" but then plot twists HARD and in a way I am still thinking about, especially in The Year of Our Lord 2026. Her writing is fantastic and her characters invitingly complex, flawed, and relatable.

"Do you two need a moment alone, or can we focus on the reason there's a sword at my throat?"

Alex scowls, his attention pulled away from his bickering with Nora by the sardonic complaint of the man she's currently holding in place with the tip of her cutlass, and then he stops short. The man is all sandy tousled hair that somehow looks artfully arranged instead of windswept, and high cheekbones that scream aristocratic breeding, and pale skin that probably burns under the midday sun in three seconds flat.

He is, in short, the very last person Alex would expect to see aboard the Siren's Call.

"Don't be jealous, sweetheart," he drawls, and watches as the man flushes before he swallows hard. "If you want a moment alone, all you have to do is ask."

Tonks doesn't have any desire to date her soulmate, but she does still like him quite a lot. His mark on her skin and hers on his isn't at all a mystery to her. He's a good friend and they've always gotten along easily and if he doesn't get himself killed in the Triwizard Tournament, she knows that he'll make a good auror and, eventually, her partner. If she doesn't fail out of the advanced trainee track.

They've just spent an hour at the Three Broomsticks going over battle strategies for the dragons and he's frowning down at their list with a frown. She sips at her butterbeer, debates keeping her mouth shut since last time she told someone hadn't gone great, but past failure has never stopped her before. "You know Percy?"

Cedric makes a face. "Brooks?"

"Weasley," she says.

His expression clears. "Yeah, of course. He's working at the ministry too, right? I know he wanted a position there as long as it wasn't in his dad's department."

She doesn't say anything, not quite sure how to word it.

Cedric's eyebrows raise and then he smirks. "Oh, wow, sure you're up for the challenge? He won't let you get away with anything."

Relief surges through her. Finally, someone gets it. "He lets me get away with quite a lot, actually."

He rolls his eyes and grumbles every time she calls herself his girlfriend, but he doesn't stop her from sitting on his desk and he always goes straight to her if he notices an error in her reports instead of Kingsley and she's made him blush at least twice.

a continuation of 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24

Sokka is convinced that at any moment they're going to get caught and killed.

"You should have brought an earth bender," Kiho complains.

"Oh, you mean the half trained children the adults managed to hide? Or the ones currently being held prisoner in the middle of the ocean?" Lee asks.

"Those are next," Suki says. "Who's bright idea was it to try and take the island anyway?"

Okay, what? "The Fire Nation has held a lot more than an island before."

"The Fire Nation does pretty well against one element," Lee says, lips pulled up on the side. "Less well against two. They have numbers and weapons and fire on their side."

"And what do we have?" Sokka demands even as he's turning her words over. Kiho is a water bender. They possibly have more. And there are plenty of earth benders. "Stupidity?"

"Daring," Suki corrects. "And three elements, not two. Right, Lee?"

He hesitates, appearing uncomfortable for the first time. "I'll help, you know I will, but if I'm seen - really seen-"

"You won't be," Kiho says firmly. "Same rules as last time, I know. I promise. Besides, don't worry. We won't leave anyone behind to tattle."

Part of Sokka wants to know what the hell they're talking about, what Lee means about being really seen when he'd strolled into the Fire Nation's base of operations without batting an eye, what exactly it is that he's hiding. One fire bender deserter can't be that much of a concern to the fire nation.

The rest of him is focused on the fact that Kiho isn't talking about a rescue mission, or a raid, or anything close to that.

They're talking about going to war for their island. This isn't what Sokka signed up for, it can't be what Lee's father had in mind when he sent the two of them off in a boat.

But it's not like he can leave them behind either.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/codexcuriosities/codex-curiosities-medieval-themed-hard-enamel-pins

I'll get out of your ask box now. Have a great [timezone when you get to it].

RIGHT?

All Souls is a fun fantasy romp written by a historian who wondered what all these creatures did for day jobs, and FWtBT is a fun romp through the afterlife as the protagonist sets up Hell's Customer Service Desk.

I have indeed read the All Souls trilogy! I even wrote a crossover fanfic with it a while back, which was very fun. I appreciate a well-regarded academic historian just going "fuck it" and making her Twilight-for-Adults vampire/witch OCs go meet all her favorite historical figures and run around her period of specialty in great detail. It is entirely valid of her, lbr. I might do a re-read at some point. I wasn't as impressed with whichever one recently-ish came out, but I did enjoy the trilogy itself.