#...let's just pretend

[muffinlance]

Consider: Post-canon Zuko wakes up in the body of his childhood self, the morning of That War Meeting. Would he still speak against the plans, knowing his fate? What do you think he would do differently the second time around?

"Turned away at the doors, Zuzu?"

"Shut up, Azula," her brother sulked. But sulked weirdly, after staring at her too long and too wide-eyed, not like she'd surprised him but--

But like he hadn't expected her to be there. At all.

He turned away. ...He turned back. "Hey, Lala? Do you think you could help me practice that one set?"

He didn't meet her eyes.

She narrowed hers. "Which set?"

"The one I'm bad at."

She scoffed. Pushed away from the wall she'd been leaning against. "That's all of them, Dum-Dum."

He didn't shout or stomp or yell about the nickname. His lips twitched.

"It's okay," he said. "If you're afraid you won't be a better teacher that my instructor..."

It was the most obvious manipulation ever.

Perhaps if he proved an adequate firebending student, she'd work on his courtly survival skills next. Honestly, it was good that not even Uncle Gets-Cousins-Killed had been fool enough to take Zuko into that war meeting. She could only imagine how terribly that could have gone.

"Keep up," she said, and turned her steps towards the training grounds.

He did. There, and during the katas she ran him through.

Azula kept her eyes narrowed.

"Hey," he asked, "do you know how to bend lightning yet?"

As if he could have missed it, if she'd been able to get more than sparks. "I will soon," she said.

"You will," he agreed, and flowed through his next set. The one she'd only just mastered.

Father didn't notice how weird Zuzu was being. Uncle never noticed anything. Zuko ate dinner and asked a servant for seconds and didn't stutter or flinch or lose his appetite when father asked, coolly, what he'd done with his day. Azula's shoulders tensed, because one mention of how she'd squandered her own training time teaching him--

"Azula hogged the training grounds. For hours," Zuzu scowled, exactly like a petulant thirteen year old.

Exactly like he hadn't been acting all day.

By the time Father was looking her way, Azula had her usual smirk in place. "I'm sure there would be room for both of us," she said, "you're not afraid of a little friendly fire, are you, brother?"

Zuko sulked. And ate his seconds, like he was enjoying each bite. There was something in his eyes, like a joke no one else was getting.

---

Father died that night. A heart attack. There were the faintest of burns to either side of the treacherous organ; the royal physician hypothesized that he'd grabbed at his chest, fingers burning hot in his final moments; so hot they'd only exacerbated the problem.

The royal physician would never have been brought any victims of lighting strikes. Those that occurred in the capital did not generally require a doctor in the aftermath.

Zuzu ate a hearty breakfast.

He didn't order seconds. Azula gave him points, at least, for not being tacky.

---

The sages named Iroh as regent.

They named Zuko as Fire Lord.

"No," the tiny Fire Lord in his perfectly miniaturized Fire Lord robes said, sitting at the head of his war council. "We're not doing that. And I'll be reviewing all recent battle plans, as well. What's this I hear about a division of new recruits being deployed to the front?"

He did not mention how he'd heard of the 41st Division. No one asked.

"Prince Iroh, surely--" one of the generals tried to appeal.

The young Fire Lord's regent was looking as startled as the rest of them, for a moment. Then he sipped his tea, and smiled.

"Your Fire Lord is correct, of course. A change in our leadership--a change the other nations may mistakenly view as weakness--will necessitate a change in our strategy."

"Now," said their lord, "what, exactly, is our overall objective in this war?"

War, the new Fire Lord decreed, was not an end unto itself.

---

The new Fire Lord continued to have time, to pretend to be trained by her. Azula watched him. Adjusted her footwork. Did not tolerate, and was not offered, any commentary on who was teaching who.

"What did you do with my brother?" she asked, as they flowed from one set to the next. As her hands, poised to throw fire, just so happened to be pointed his way.

He missed a step. It didn't look like an act.

"I'm, uh. Right here?"

She didn't bother to dignify that.

He didn't bother to look worried about her hands, one movement off from a true attack.

He looked around, then grabbed her sleeve, and tugged her further from any walls that may hide ears. The royal family's private training grounds were wonderfully large, and wonderfully open.

"It's me," he said. "It's still me. Just. More of me? Longer of me?"

She narrowed her eyes. A familiar expression, by this point. "Explain."

"...I found the Avatar," he said. "And this is definitely his fault, but--but I guess it started at a war meeting, when I was thirteen."

Azula listened. It was a very Dum-Dum story.

[mossmittens]

the judge every time someone presents evidence or asks a question or considers a possibility or has an objection

[soapbbox]

In regards to the cog-less megs comic: im sure op would be sooo normal and well adjusted if he found out abt that happening/saw him without his cog

I was actually working on another (angst) version of this but you get the funny haha version first :3 Bee and Elita are giving Optimus a 10 minute window before they intervene (they’ve seen OP moping around and are hoping this will help him get some it out of his system. They’ll have to step in at some point or else he probably won’t let go).

Why he’s small here and here

[homkamiro]

Those stupid. Buckteeth.

Original by @ the_angler_mann on twt

[mattmonss]

Father and daughter bonding <3

[lettuccine]

pov: you play poker game with marcille

[humming-fly]

The 2D vs 3D contrast of the sonic and shadow generation hubworlds cracks me up the more I think about it

Bonus:

[zondearts]

au au mizuena

[flipflopmasterr]

Oh those kids were BORED ALRIGHT.

The fact that their bedframe looked intact before getting grounded is so funny to me

(And no kids you can't practice your knife skills on the bedframe, put it down)

[hajima-7]

Zevran doodle cause of this tweet

[hinamie]

yuuji smiling and sukuna making a face like That did u really think i wouldn't do a panel redraw

[dulciechi]

"Promise me."

"I promise..."

•••••

drew this right after reading the latest update to Lamb and the Siren's Curse by @three-eyes-fox 💜🩷 all while literally kicking my feet and giggling in bed over them.

too bad my art style's so cutesy for such a serious scene TuT

[thebrainrotsreal]

Honestly a bit disappointed with the new episode, so recovering with single, stepped up Dad of the year: Mark Grayson my love. Why they denied me the beauty of throwing a child at this guilt magnet will forever elude me </3

[neytui]

Been reading a fic where Hiccup is the prince of a kingdom and I wanted to give it a try to portrait him like one

Lol so I didn't know you can't reblog with a video so I'll just edit it, here u have a quick speedpaint of it

[crescentbutton]

What are your headcanons for older Okarun?

here he isss

[raw-detergent]

Dean Winchester is saved.