#would kill and die for ashes <3< /div> Explore tagged Tumblr posts

[lucy-frostblade]

ashes being a god

im so normal about them being a god crime boss crime boss god president

i love them

theyre so......

fat people being in power and like. gender and in power is so normal so me

FUCK YEAH

[tirfpikachu]

bruh i got to watch pokemon journeys tonight on stream with my server gyns and it was SO FREAKING DELIGHTFUL

they're both SOOOO LAYCORE <3333

[sky-scribbles]

I'm going to say something controversial. I think there's something Veilguard does better than any other Dragon Age game. Namely: incorporating the companions into the plot.

Look, I love Origins as much as everyone. But to be frank: you could cut every companion except Alistair, Morrigan and Loghain and the plot could still work. Once you've finished the mission where you recruit a companion, there aren't other main quests that involve them in any way.

Oghren and Wynne could have stayed home after their recruitment missions for all the difference it would make to the main plot. Sten, Leliana and Zevran could vanish and nothing would change, because once they're on your team, they don't interact with the main plot at all. (There's the Temple of Sacred Ashes, I suppose - but even then, you'd be going on that quest whether Leliana and Wynne were there or not, and it's very telling that they can both die here and next to nothing in the rest of the game is impacted.)

Again: I love Origins. This doesn't detract from any of these characters being great, or from the story being great. It just means there's a layer of separation between the two. They're involved in the story, but they're not driving it, and you seldom get to see them have strong feelings about it.

DA2 is a huge step up. Your companions' personal stories are integral parts of the main plot. You can't do the Deep Roads expedition without witnessing Karl's death and its impact on Anders. You can't enter Act 2 without seeing Varric's brother betray him, or watching your sibling either die or begin a new path in life. Act 2's climax happens because of choices Isabela and Aveline have made. Act 3's endgame is all about Anders making one enormous decision. Even Fenris and Merrill, who have the fewest ties to the plot, have strong reasons to be invested in the Mage/Templar conflict.

And then Inquisition just... backslides. There are multiple companions you don't need to recruit at all, or can send away with zero alteration to the main plot. Your companions don't like Corypheus because he's bad, but no one - except maybe Varric - has any strong personal feelings about him. They have no personal stake in defeating him, not like Alistair has a personal stake in opposing Loghain, or Anders in opposing Meredith.

We go to the Winter Palace, and Vivienne is not made a part of that story. We have a whole subplot about the Wardens, and Blackwall only gets a couple of extra lines, if you even bring him. Their personal arcs could have been somehow impacted by these missions, and they're just... not. Sera is packed with internalised self-hatred that manifests as trying to distance herself from elven culture, to the point of sometimes lashing out at other elves. And despite all the missions you do where elven history features... Sera's growth past that flaw happens entirely offscreen between the base game and Trespasser?????

IMO, this is one of the biggest reasons why Corypheus is such a bland villain. He doesn't make anyone grow, except by starting a plot for them to be part of. He doesn't challenge them emotionally. No one is invested in him. Because no one interacts with the darn plot.

Veilguard, though? Veilguard keeps your companions interacting with the story the whole way through. The Treviso/Minrathous choice affects both Lucanis and Neve heavily, and impacts who they become for the rest of the game. These cities are personal to you, even if you're not a Crow or Shadow Dragon, because your companions love them.

The Siege of Weisshaupt is beyond personal to Davrin and Lucanis, both of whom are entrusted with major parts of the quest: trying to kill the archdemon and Ghilan'nain. Lucanis is affected by his failure to kill Ghilan'nain for ages afterward. Davrin is haunted by survivor's guilt; he should have died when he struck down the archdemon. He's alive. How can he live with that?

Whenever killing the gods becomes a possibility, Rook hands the lyrium dagger to Lucanis. When the squad go to fight the gods' dragons with the Wardens, Taash is the one to flush the first dragon out. When you infiltrate the Venatori, Neve tricks your way in, and everything that happens is especially weighty to Bellara, whose people have been abducted. On Tearstone Island, because of how Lucanis and Spite have grown, they strikes true.

Did you not hate Elgar'nan before that mission? Because you probably will after you watch him capture Bellara or Neve, and see his fellow god kill Harding or Davrin.

You know what's a great piece of writing? There's no reason Emmrich shouldn't have been an option to deal with the wards on Tearstone Island; he's one of the ideal options to take out more wards with the Veil Jumpers in the final mission. But you can't select him to do it. Because Emmrich has far less personal investment in the Elgar'nan battle than the other two. This is Neve's city. This is the monster who tries to call himself Bellara's god. The game makes sure the characters who take control of the Blight at the end are the ones with the greatest stakes in doing so.

One of your companions, not you, wrests command of the Blight from Elgar'nan. The final mission depends on how well you've come to know each companion's skills. They're just... always involved.

And they're invested, too. The companions all have serious personal reasons to hate the antagonists by the end. Lucanis and Neve have either seen their city burn, or know it happened at the cost of their friend's (and potential partner's) hometown. Davrin has seen his order devastated. These are Bellara's and Davrin's supposed gods, and instead of helping the elves reclaim their history and culture, they're trying to enslave the world. Harding learns that the Evanuris maimed and destroyed her Titan ancestors.

Emmrich and Taash have perhaps the smallest emotional tie - and sadly I do think Emmrich especially gets underutilized in the plot. But heck, Taash is still hella motivated by the way the gods are abusing dragons. And Emmrich is tied thematically to the main conflict. He's facing the question of immortality, while nigh-immortal beings are right in front of him, proving how that gift can be abused. The final choice of his personal arc is whether he's willing to embrace his personal, mortal attachments, at the cost of consequences that terrify him... you know, the same question that Solas faces at the end.

And don't even get me started on how everyone is emotionally tied to Solas. Harding and Neve watched him kill Varric in front of them. Everyone not dead or captured has to watch him drag Rook into the Fade. Just about every companion faces some kind of huge regret or failure at some point, in constant foreshadowing for Solas's prison of regret: both the literal one he sticks Rook in, and the mental one of his own making.

Veilguard has its problems, but it absolutely shines at keeping its characters involved and invested in the main story. It gives them things to do, it gives them reasons to care. For all the flaws this game has, this part is good writing.

[xoxochb]

been far too long since I wrote a make-out blurb </3

——— ౨ৎ ⊹ ࣪ ˖

the taste of his lips is of the ocean. like the waves against the sand, the shoreline.

and no matter how many times your mouth was to be tangled with percy’s, it would always be as life-altering as the last time.

you’re not very surprised that his french kissing tactics are knee weakening because he was half god after all. and you thank the gods every day for that.

his oh-so calloused fingers trace over your waist just barely, yet enough to send shivers down your spine. your own hands dig into his biceps to steady yourself atop his lap.

your brain feels staticky and hazy— wiped of any memory, coherent thought, and anything as simple as knowing your abc’s. this is alongside your bones that feel utterly weak and unable to properly function as they are supposed to.

especially the moment percy’s tongue coaxes your lips apart to explore the warm cavern of your mouth, and tangling with your own.

you think, perhaps you’ll die right here and now.

the way his mouth molds against your own is like he had been born solely for this purpose. to kiss you and kiss you and kiss you.

and that’s just what he does!

your skin heats up with every movement, with each touch. and soon you will be turned into tiny ashes or maybe a puddle.

and your heart, racing so wildly you presume that at any moment it’ll burst out of your chest. then, you’d have no choice but to hand it to percy as he would keep it safe forever.

you pull away from the kiss with reluctance. you inhale the sweet oxygen and drop your head onto percy’s shoulder.

“you’re going to kill me.”

percy rubs your back soothingly. “I won’t let you die, sweet girl.”

you lift your head and take one of his hands, placing it over your heart so he can feel your rapid heartbeat. but he removes his hand and places his mouth over it instead, pulling down the edge of your bra for easier access.

you allow him to do so, too worn out and breathless for articulate words at the moment.

though as it turns out, his lips on your chest doesn’t help that very much.

[mina-org]

Girl you write yandere soooo well. Good job good job! Please requesting yandere Johnny who stalks and kidnaps. Reader dear is horrified but also relieved. Johnny is her whole world, and that’s all she needs to worry her little head about. He’s taking care of everything. It’s a blessing.

Is this Stockholm’s? 🤣

Hope you enjoy <3! Tw for implied depression and brief mention of wanting to die, and kidnapping

part two here

A rough cradle wakes you up, the tires hitting every manhole, crack and drain. A dull ache and sore wrists begin to throb as you get your bearings. Zip ties limit any movement but there’s no tape, no gag. The trees looming over you and the little glimpses you see into the sky reveal golden stars twinkling and occasionally the glowing, seemingly pearl moon.

You could scream, even if there’s no one around to hear it.

You think about it, your lips feel dry and almost cracked, sore. Everything feels so sore. Like a knife twisting endlessly. But just as you’re about to whoever’s behind the wheel senses it.

“Nearly home hen,” his head peeks past the head rest, his bright blue eyes with dark currents swirling within them. “nearly home, don’t start yelling now aye?”

That’s enough to make your voice die in your own throat. He seems strangely familiar.

Where from?

Blue eyes

Irish

No, no Scottish. Yeah Scottish. Mohawk, blue eyes, scottish.

The gym

The gym guy, you cringe inwardly remembering the interactions, he had asked you a few times while his friends lingered in the background, snickers and knowing looks.

It was awful. It felt like you were at secondary school again, where your biggest sin was thinking you were loveable. You hated the feeling, he was so cute and his friends were gawking at you, like some type of zoo animal, he gawked at you. You hated it, how the warmth rushed up and how you couldn’t talk to him and how you were too afraid to go back to the gym. No matter what time you went he was always there.

Soon enough the car stills, pulling up to the side of you feel the tire collided with the pavement. A sudden click, he’s locking the door? Or unlocking it?

You hear the door slam and he steps out.

He’s leaves.

He’s gonna leave you here? Why?

Your mind races with possibilities. What is he leave you here to freeze over night? Or to starve? Or what if he sets the car on fire? The smell of burnt tires already singes your nose and you wonder what will kill you first: the smoke slowly smothering you or the flames eating up your body, devouring you whole, turning you to ash.

What would it feel like? Hell. Only now do you notice how dry your throat is, how raspy your breathes are, it sounds as though you’ve been smoking a pack a day for 20 years.

You’re soon pulled from your firery day dream as the passenger is pulled open. It’s him. You can only look up at him, you’d only topple over if you tried to move so you can only shift your head to look at him. His smile was always there, though now it’s more of a ghost, paling in comparison to the one he normally wore which included teeth and was strangely more predatory than the one he put on to kidnap someone.

He mutters to himself as he fixes your position, sitting you up and checking over you.

“Alright hen? I gave ya’ enough to keep ya sleeping til’ we got tae our new place.” His hands are fixed on your chin as he stares into your eyes. “Yer goeing tae love it, bloody love it. I went on yer Pinterest and found even better.”

“Up in Orkney, five hours tae go hen, yer be alright.” Johnny didn’t know what he expected, but it wasn’t this. You looked like a doll, so still with perfect pouty lips.

Soon enough he’s taking a swig of water and pressing his lips against yours, a quick tug to your gets your mouth open and he’s transferring the water into your mouth, a little water escapes trickling down to your neck but johnny is quick to lick it up, his tongue dragging across your skin, up to the corner of your lip.

You can feel the warmth rush to your cheeks as his gaze beats down on you, it feels like the sun beaming down on you, you want so badly to look away but he’s still got a hold of your chin, and so, so close, like he’s blocking you from the rest of the world.

“Yer looking parched hen, can have my pretty wee thing dehydrated, im here to look after my girl.” His voice is gentle. “it’s goeing take a little bit, but yer love it, yer love me soon enough.”

“I was seeing how miserable you was, every morning you stared into that coffee mug like you was wanting it tae kill ya.”

“cannae watch it anymore, and you weren’t giving me the opportunity to help so I had to do it hen.” He shrugs, he’s glad your not shouting but the silence is a wee bit unnerving, what he gave you wasn’t laced or anything, it was quite literally military grade, he knew why you woke up so soon, he’d had given less there was a few ferrys on the way and it would’ve been shits creak if that’s when you had woken up and had a screaming fit.

But your perfect and deep down he knew that, knew that you felt the same pull he did. He was always there and you could probably sense it, that your very own guardian angel lingered just out the window or was always watching through cameras. He couldn’t wait until he got to spend a real morning with you, not watching from afar, even if you tried fight it just meant he could pull into his lap and feed you! Johnny loved taking care of you and watching you? You practically flooded the gym with a sense of broken bird and a sad face which just screamed helped me and he couldn’t ignore the vibe he just wanted to help a pretty bird out and you rejected whenever he was a very respectful man about it so kidnapper mode it is. He just felt this insurmountable ache radiating from you and he just couldn’t ignore it.

First he just wanted a smile from you, to see you laugh would have been been enough but no, you avoided him like he was a plague, he wouldn’t bite, unless that’s something you’re into?

So he starts thinking how can he make a sad girl smile, he tried to find you on social media but it was a bust, no insta or twitter, not even an old facebook account you can’t get into to delete. So he’s left with no choice

He’s got to get into your phone.

Now he could abuse his connections via laswell but her and her wife are busy doing a vowel renewal so he’s forced to grab the lock picking set he got as a joke pre-military (he’d be a brilliant thief, he just knows it.) and do the job himself.

He watches as your night routine or where a routine should be, you come home from work, do more work and skip dinner entirely because making dinner or warming something up means washing up and the pile of dishes is just too daunting for you to face right now.

So johnny does it for you, of course that means he had to slip you a little melatonin but it’s all good, you’ll understand. You’ll wake up rested and see the dishes down and make breakfast and go to work energised and then the gym and you’ll get home and make dinner and be happy!

He’d be happy to wash every dish for the rest of time if it helped you. He wished he could have seen your face, the sight of relief taking over your features, in the future he could imagine himself wrapping around you and sending you back to bed while he makes you a piece or a fry up or avocado on toast, anything to make you happy.

he failed to realise that you wrote it off this time, thought you did it and it just was swept away with other memories of mindless tasks. But you knew.

it haunted your psyche, now you worried what hide around every corner, you avoided going shopping, having to go after work and competing dwindling sunlight to walk to the shop and walk back with a phantom dish washer lingering in your unconscious, ready to pop out, hidden behind the stacked fruit or down an alley on the walk home. Anyway you were afraid and paranoid. What were you going to do? You had mentioned it and your dad had laughed in your face, claiming it had been the dish fairy.

Maybe if you had noticed how you were a few panties short,or that your phone had be combed through and passwords had been collected, or maybe even the cameras that were hidden around your flat.

maybe if you had noticed you wouldn’t be drinking water baby bird style, it’s best not to linger on what ifs, Johnnys sure to take your mind off of it.

You had been lost in your own mind but a pinch from johnny brings you back at him, his big hands planted on your thigh, he’s soon starts dragging his hands up and down, trying to comfort you and making sure the pinch wasn’t too hard. Johnny had always had trouble to control his strength, often putting glasses down too hard and seeing them shatter, you wouldn’t suffer the same way, he’d be gentle.

“Yer goeing to let me look after ya hen?” His voice is coaxing as he observes you slowing coming out your shell, you give him a little nod but it’s not enough, Johnny’s gentle but he’s no push over.

“Use yer words hen, been through your A03, so I know you can do it.” His humours have returned as he goads you, voice dripping with teasing, “tell me ya want it. You wanna come home with me.”

“I want to go with you.” Your voice quiet and unsure, that doesn’t bother johnny though, by the time you’re on the first ferry you’ll be as happy as a pig in shit by his side, he can’t wait until the timidness unravels in front of him, he’s taken some notes from the a03 account and is eager to try them but johnny assume that’s coming on a little too strong ( the kidnapping isn’t?)

He doesn’t fail to notice how you flinch as he pulls out the knife from his pocket, unsheathing it and cutting through the zip ties, and guiding you to the passenger seat and letting you play dj.

Now he’s just gotta decide whether you’d want one of those fancy proposals or just to slip his ring on ya while you’re sleeping.

[aventurineswife]

Hi! It's me again. Sorry if you haven't gotten to my requests and there is a limit to how many a person can request at once, pls just lmk <3 I just need to get this off my system because I have been cooking on this for days and haven't found many accounts who take requests

Platonic Boothill, Ratio, Aventurine and Gallagher with a young reader who is a former slave (like Aventurine though they escaped by sheer force) and the characters get the news that they got snatched up by the previous captors.

Stars Don’t Belong in Cages

Tags: Aventurine x Reader, Boothill x Reader, Ratio x Reader, Gallagher x Reader, Teen!Reader, Platonic, Found Family, Hurt/Comfort, Rescue Mission, Angst, Protective, Trauma, Emotional Bonds.

Warnings: Mentions of Slavery, Past Abuse, Violence (Rescue Scene), Emotional Distress, PTSD/Trauma Responses.

Tagslist: @themiddletenmasibling

Boothill had never been a sentimental man. He had no patience for crying, no love for the helpless. But you—kid, you were different. You had grit, fight in your bones, the kind that reminded him of himself.

And now you were gone.

Word had reached him that your former captors had dragged you back into their grasp, and something inside him snapped like the cocking of a revolver.

The saloon quieted as he stood, chair scraping across the wooden floor. He adjusted his hat, the shadow hiding the wild fury in his eyes. The Galaxy Rangers knew what that meant—someone was gonna die tonight.

"Who told me this?" His voice was eerily calm.

A nervous recruit, still wet behind the ears, swallowed hard. "Got intercepted by a merchant ship. They saw ‘em take the kid near Malbura Ridge—"

Boothill was already moving, his cybernetic fingers tightening into fists. His teeth, razor-sharp, flashed in a snarl. "Then what the fudge are we waitin’ for?"

His mechanical legs carried him to his ship in record time. He didn’t wait for backup, didn’t bother with strategy. He knew one thing—he was going to kill every last one of the bastards who laid a hand on you.

And he wouldn’t stop until you were safe.

Ratio rarely lost his composure. Even in the face of ignorance, in the presence of fools, he could maintain his air of superiority. But this—this was unacceptable.

He had raised you to think, to question, to defy those who sought to shackle your mind. And now those wretches had dared to take you? Again?

He had no patience for incompetence. He was above emotion. But for the first time in years, he felt it. Anger. Cold, precise, and all-consuming.

He adjusted his vest, then turned to his fellow Intelligentsia members. "We will be leaving immediately. I expect cooperation."

One of them hesitated. "Dr. Ratio, is this—"

His glare silenced them. "I will not repeat myself."

Within hours, he had tracked your captors’ coordinates. The plan was simple: a precise strike. A devastating lesson. He would dismantle their entire operation, leave nothing behind but ash and regret.

They had dared to take his pupil? They would soon understand—ignorance was curable, but stupidity had consequences.

Aventurine had always believed life was a game. A roll of the dice, a well-played hand. But when he heard the news—when he learned that you had been taken—he felt something he hadn’t felt in years.

Fear.

Not for himself. No, never for himself. But for you? His little wildcard? The one person who could match his wit, keep up with his tricks?

That wasn’t something he was willing to lose.

He exhaled slowly, adjusting his rose-tinted glasses, his fingers tapping a precise rhythm against his sleeve. "Well, well… Seems I have a debt to collect."

His informants were already at work, tracing your location, your captors' weaknesses. He didn’t act impulsively—no, this was a game of patience. Of strategy.

And when the time was right?

He’d make sure your captors paid.

They thought they could outplay him? Please.

This was his game.

And Aventurine never lost.

Gallagher didn’t speak when he heard the news. Didn’t rage, didn’t curse. He simply set down the glass he had been polishing and exhaled.

He should have seen this coming. Should have done more to protect you.

The familiar ache in his chest—the one he had tried to drown in whiskey—burned anew. Another person, another innocent, taken by the world’s cruelty.

His hand clenched around the flask at his waist.

He had promised himself he wouldn’t get attached again. Wouldn’t let his heart break for someone he couldn’t save. But this wasn’t about him. This was about you.

He grabbed his coat, fastening the police badge at his chest.

"Gallagher?" One of his men hesitated. "Are you sure you wanna—"

He met their gaze, his eyes dull with exhaustion but steeled with resolve.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I’m sure."

He had failed once before.

He wouldn’t fail again.

[howi99]

From the Nest 21

- nightfall -

Yang: *sitting awkwardly in front of Jaune* So... My mother was your teacher...

Jaune: *sigh, looking at how awkward Yang was acting like* Can you stop acting like a schoolgirl asking her crush for a date? *Taking a beer from Raven's stash, tossing it to Yang* Take that and relax a bit.

Yang: *Sigh, opening the bottle and taking a sip, wincing from the taste* Urgh, i can't believe my uncle like that!

Jaune: *lighting up a smoke, taking a drag* I personally don't like it either, i'm more of a girly drink lover myself.

Yang: ... *Taking a deep breath* I want to know where my mom is.

Jaune: *shrug* No idea.

Yang: *frown* Bullshit!

Jaune: *chuckle* Yang, even if i tell you where she is at this moment, the tribe would have moved before you can get there anyway. *Sigh, looking at the birds flying nearby* Beside, i said i would answer your questions, not sell out where my family lives.

Yang: Then what can you tell me!?

Jaune: *taking another drag* She's a broken mess, Yang.

Yang: *blink in confusion* ... What?

Jaune: *looking back at Yang with fatigued eyes* Raven's a good person who didn't have a single easy choice in life-

Yang: *sarcastically* Oh yeah, because leaving me for being weak must have been such a hard choice!

Jaune: *Point at her* Do you honestly think she left because you were "too weak"? *Scoff* Of course not; she left because the rest of her family was being massacred by both the Mistralean and Atlesian government.

Yang: *roll her eyes* They were criminals. Even you said so yourself.

Jaune: The adults? Oh yeah, they deserved to die. *Point at himself* But me? Or my oldest sister who almost got executed for just being part of a tribe she never wanted to be a part of in the first place, did we deserve to die too?

Yang: *shocked* W-wait, they were going to kill everyone!?

Jaune: *scoff* Of course not; half would have been sent to work in the mines or sold to the highest bidders. Heck, kids fetch a high price on the black market.

Yang: *feeling sick* O-oh God, i-i didn't know-

Jaune: *roll his eyes* Well duh, it's not like the government will scream on every roof that they are abusing and killing kids, Yang. And when she saved the tribe, or what was left of it anyway, she was branded a criminal... *Sigh* Can't really be part of a family when half of the world wants you dead, can you?

Yang: So you are telling me-

Jaune: *Flicking the ashes away, looking away* Her biggest regret was saving us, which meant she could never be a mother to you... or Ruby. *Humorless chuckle* She's so worried about you, becoming a huntress, and yet she can't do shit. *Grits his teeth* Honestly, do you know how sad it is? To hear her cry every single year, on the same 3 fucking days!?

Yang: *confused* What-

Jaune: Your birthdays, Ruby's birthdays and... *Look at his hands, remembering far too clearly the blood pouring out of Raven's wounds, the day Summer died* ... something she keeps feeling guilty of, even if it wasn't her fault.

Yang: *silently looking at Jaune* ... And you? What are you really like?

Jaune: *Put out the cigarette* Well, i'm nothing but a greedy bastard. *Smirk* I want everyone i care for to be happy, even if it would mean burning the entire world. *Shrug* And i care for a lot of people, including you and both of our teams.

Yang: *blink* That's... Not something i thought you'd say.

Jaune: What, that i'd do unspeakable things for my friends? Do you think i'm that weak willed?

Yang: N-no, just... I thought that maybe you became friend with me and Ruby just because of... Well...

Jaune: ... *Scratch his head* You do know Qrow still updates her about you two, right? *Shrug* I didn't have to become friends with y'all; i could have ignored you and Ruby and it wouldn't have changed a thing.

Yang: ... Qrow did WHAT!? HE SAID HE LOST CONTACT WITH HER YEARS AGO!?!

Jaune: (Oops...) I mean, had he told you, you probably would have run in Mistral by yourself and got yourself killed which i doubt he'd want.

Yang: Still! He could have sent her all the letters i wrote her-

Jaune: Oh he did, just without telling you.

Yang: ... MOTHERF-

- Meanwhile -

Qrow: ... Why do i feel like someone just threw me under the bus?

Raven: *drinking a beer with him* Oh yeah, forgot to tell you that Yang found out about Jaune.

Qrow: ... Oh i'm so royally fucked.

[carmelves]

snippets of fics I'll never finish: 3/?

Sylus finally looks at you and you at last recognize the emotion in his eyes: rage.

“Does your life truly mean so little to you?” His voice is cold and low. 

“What?”

“It must, seeing how you throw yourself into danger time and time again.”

“Sylus, there were civilians outside, I couldn't let the wanderers get out.”

“So you use yourself as a shield? With a broken ankle, no backup, nothing but a pair of handguns?” You open your mouth to argue, but he cuts you off, voice growing louder with each word. “five broken ribs, a punctured lung, severe blood loss… your heart stopped, MC. If I hadn't gotten there in time-” he cuts himself off and turns away, jaw clenched.

“This is my job. I knew the risks when I applied to the academy. I wanted to save lives, and that's what I'm doing. If I get hurt along the way, that's something I can accept.”

“You didn't just ‘get hurt’, you nearly died.”

You just shrug, feeling exhausted and disoriented. You know you should say more, defend your choices, promise to be more careful in the future, but resignation is all you can manage. The response only angers him further. 

“A shrug? That's all you can give me?”

You can't bear to look at him anymore, to see the anger and hurt in his eyes, so you turn your face away, closing your eyes. “I'm going to die sooner or later. Might as well help someone else while I'm at it.”

He growls, then his hand is on your chin, forcing your face back to him. “Look at me. Open your fucking eyes and look at me.”

You're unable to disobey, looking up to find him looming over you, eyes burning into yours. His voice goes deadly calm. “Since you don't seem to care about your own life, here's an incentive: if you die in the line of duty, I will raze the association to the ground.” Your eyes widen and his grip on your chin tightens, forcing you to keep looking at him as he continues. “if you die, I will personally kill every last hunter, one by one, then stand back and watch as the wanderers destroy Linkon City.”

Your breath catches in your throat, sending a painful jolt through your healing ribs. “You wouldn't.”

He laughs, low and despairing. “Beloved, you have no idea what I would do for you, what I have done for you.” His grip on your chin loosens, becoming a caress as his voice softens. “I have burned cities to ash just for a chance to see you. Don't presume to tell me what I wouldn't do.”

[wild-fern21]

Turns out I'm living a horror film

Charles Leclerc x male!voiceactor!reader

Synopsis: You had always loved playing horror games, it was one of your favorite things to do if you were being honest so when you started voice acting in those games you couldn’t have been more happy, your boyfriend on the other hand while supportive didn’t enjoy horror. So when Charles's boyfriend starts to act in these games he doesn't have a choice (In his head) not to play the games. Or Two times Charles kills his boyfriend in a horror game.

-1 

Resident evil 3

You had gotten the role of Carlos Oliveira in the remake of Resident evil three, you were so excited as you had played the original games since they came out so getting a role in one of the games was exciting.

Charles was doing well in the game, he had only died 3 times, but that didn't matter now he got to play as your character. He was surprisingly careful when playing your character not taking chances, he didn’t walk into random rooms without having the gun drawn and he didn’t walk into a room without bullets. Yes he had done that before and yes he died. 

He had made it into the police station without dying you were sat next to him your presence giving him some comfort. He walked through the police station in Racoon city, he was unaware of what was to come. He walked though the hallway to where your personal favorite creature was. The Licker a version of the T-virus which turned the zombie who were once human to a creature, who’s skin was see through showing the muscles and the brain. 

You couldn’t help but smile as you watched him walk into the hallway, he looked to you about to ask before he got interrupted as the licker fell on top of you character. Charles let out a loud yell at the surprises reaching over to grab you hand. You both watched as the creatures claws were wrapped around Carlos’s throat as its claws swung down cutting his neck open. Charles eye’s are wide as he hears your character yell out in pain. He turns to you as the death screen shows before he wraps you in a small hug.

“I didn’t like that game” he whispers into you ear.

-2 until dawn remake Josh.

The next game of yours Charles played was Until dawn, it was a choice game in which you picked from two options, the options you picked gave a different result in the end. Charles believed that this was the least scary and gory game out of them all. From what he had seen it was more of a jump scare game then a blood guts and gore game.

This time the two of you were sat in the lounge room, you sat in your boyfriends lap and Charles hands around your waist, holding you to his chest. “This time I will not kill you” Charles whispers to you “My boyfriend shall live” He added pressing a gently kiss under your ear. You nodded along gently acting like you believed him.

He progressed through the chapters well asking you questions about what was going on to which you just told him to pay attention to the game instead of asking you. He had final got up to the chapter you knew would freak him. He walked as Chris to the small cage area. 

Charles's eyes widened as he saw what the game revealed. It was your character Josh hung up next to Ashely the game cut to a cutscene showing off the room your character was trapped in. In front of the two was a bloody saw. With a track which ran straight then split, one path went to Ashley and another went to Josh. You watch as his eyes turned to you a triumphant smile on his face.

“See I shall not let you die” He told you before looking back at the screen listening to the voice explaining what was going on. You both watched as the saw started spinning at a rapid pace. He shook his head as Chris departed on what to do as the cut scene finished you watch as Charles picked to save you.

“See I’m saving-” Before he could finish his sentence the voice interrupted.

“You have chosen to kill Joshua” Charles started at the game in disbelief as he argued with the game.

He watched as the saw creeped forward towards your character as he brought you to his chest. The saw started slicing through your character body at the waist. As the cut scene cut to the part being cutoff Charles hid his head in your neck as he heard your screams in the game.

“I hate this game” He spoke as he turned the game off.

[bxnnywrites]

hiya!! im the anon that told you abt requests being closed, im glad i could help you out!!

i saw you headcanon danny as demiromantic and im very curious, what would it be like if danny had romantic feelings for a survivor reader? how would those feelings develop? i’m not demi myself so i’m rlly curious about the process of it!!

oh anon you have no idea how excited i am to answer this

*clears throat*

🫀 𝐃𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐨𝐫!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 🫀

TW :: Obsessive behavior, stalking, violence, general Danny Warnings

Authors Notes :: This uh...kinda turned into a ficlet. Oops!!! I've just thought of this scenario a LOT so I had a lot to say-

Anyways!! Hope you enjoy <3 (also this isn't proof read, we die like men)

It took a really long time for him to realize it, or maybe just for the emotions to develop. He wasn't sure.

You had appeared months ago, or whatever the equivalent was in the realms. Time wasn't exactly an easy concept to pin down here.

For a long time you were just another survivor, someone his knife sliced through with delicate ease. Someone to hunt and kill, that was his job, and entity if he didn't love every fucking second of it.

He liked to stalk his victims, both in and out of trials. Especially the new ones, he loved to see what made them tick. What really fucking scared them.

So he was keeping an eye on you, taking his usual notes, keeping an ear out for anything to use against you later.

But it started to develop into something a bit...more than that.

Suddenly he noticed his notes becoming less about what you feared and more about what you liked.

The way you smiled, how you laughed at Ash's jokes, the way you bit your knuckles when you were worried. The way your eyes lit up when seeing your friends and fuck he wanted to see your eyes light up for him like that.

He shook it off, had to shake it off. It got in the way of what he did. What even was this feeling?

Sure he had flings before he was taken, but he never really had feelings for them. It was part of the game, part of his job. Something to keep him low on the radar. That's all.

Was that what this was then? What it felt like to properly fall in love?

He hated it.

He hated every feeling, he hated the way your smile made his chest light up. He hated how distracted he was, so fucking distracted.

He hated you.

He couldn't stop thinking of you.

Quit laughing at Ash's stupid fucking jokes they aren't even that fucking funny.

More scribbling, more anger, why did you have to appear here? Was it some sort of taunt by the entity? Some kind of damn punishment? Fuck you and fuck whatever feelings you gave him.

For a long time it was like that, if you were in a trial with him you were the first hooked. You were too much of a distraction to his work.

And maybe he loved the feeling of holding you like this but fuck he wouldn't admit that.

------

Eventually you got fucking tired of it.

Every damn trial he would tunnel in on you and only you. Wouldn't focus on anyone else while you were around.

You realized quickly killers couldn't truly kill you. You felt it, every last agonizing slice into your flesh, every bruise, every broken bone, but you would just wake up at the fire at the end.

And you needed to figure out what the fuck his issue was.

Your fellow survivors tried very hard to convince you out of it, but they understood being pissed about it. So in the end, no one stopped you.

So there you were, in front of Autohaven Wreckers. A few survivors tipped you off that Ghostface liked to hang out around this area. Beats you as to why, the place stank of burning rubber and old oil. It made your stomach turn, but you entered nonetheless.

As you walked through the old junkyard, it dawned on you, you didn't really have a plan. You had done this mainly on a whim, annoyed at constantly being targeted and harassed by the white faced freak. Where were you even supposed to look? What if the Wraith saw you? This was fucking stup-

Before you could react a leather gloved hand covered your mouth, pulling you back as the cold steel of a sharp blade touched your throat.

"You scream and this is going into your fucking back, got it?" The voice was husky in your ear, unfamiliar. It made you realize you had never heard Ghostface speak before. So you nod, and he make an approving noise before releasing you. You run a hand over your throat where his knife had bit into it, leaving a light red line against it.

"So," He spoke again, letting you turn to him finally to confirm your suspicions. There he was, the Ghostface in the flesh, mask and all. "What do I owe the pleasure, Doll?"

"Well," You started, feeling your anger bubble up in you again. "For fucking starters, I have some damn questions for you, asshole."

Oh he loved when you spoke like that, some real final girl trope shit.

"Ooo, questions for the killer?" He cooed, leaning against a nearby car and watching you intently. "Brave of ya, Doll. I like it."

"Oh fucking can it, you damned halloween drop out!" You spat, and though you couldn't see it under his mask, your words had him grinning ear to ear. He loved when you were angry like this. "Why the fuck do you keep tunneling me, huh?! Every fucking trial we have you steamroll me and kill me as quick as possible. It's fucking bullshit, dude!"

He laughs a bit, removing his leather glove and using his knife to pick the dirt from under his nails.

"I dunno what you're talkin bout, babe." He says nonchalantly. "You're mad because what, I'm killing you during trials? Come on, that's my job-"

"Bullshit, this is more than that and you know it!" You seethe, god if you knew you wouldn't die you'd punch him. "What's your fucking damage? Hell, I've heard stories about other trials, you're even fucking friendly with some of the survivors sometimes! What the fuck did I ever do to you?!"

His eye twitches.

"Like I said, I'm just doing my fucking job. Now if you would just-"

"NO YOU AREN'T!" You shout at him and he's on you in an instant, hand over your mouth and you can see his eyes through his mask. A deep red brown and angry.

"Listen here you stupid bitch, one more outburst like that and I'm gutting you like a fucking fish, understand?" He snaps, his grip on your face almost bruising. Fear grips you again and you nod. He sighs, letting you go again with an unspoken warning that he would follow through if you got loud like that again.

"Look, it's fucking...it's complicated." He mumbled, looking almost shy as he played with one of the ghostly strips of fabric attached to his outfit. "You're just...you're a fucking distraction. Every trial I'm in with you it's hard to fucking focus, and I have a fucking job to do god damn it." He grumbles. You almost feel bad for him, almost.

"What, and that's my problem?" You snap in return.

"Yeah, it fucking is." He snaps in return, starting to pace back and forth. "I have work to do, people to kill, fear to harvest, the whole nine fucking yards. But you," He points, "You get in the fucking way, you make me lose track, you make me...you...fuck, you make me feel something, OK?"

You blink dumbly at him, finally speechless, and he continues.

"I get this stupid fucking feeling in my stomach and it makes me fucking twitchy. It makes my damn mind race and I can't tell if it's because I want to fucking dissect you or..." He trails off.

"...Or?" You question.

"I don't know!" He snaps, growling a bit as he continues pacing. "I haven't fucking felt like this before, I didn't think I fucking could. I just..." He takes a breath, looking back at you. "I need you to stop."

Your mouth hangs open, shocked by his...confession? If you could call it that.

"What?" You question again.

"Stop! Stop making me feel...whatever the fuck this is!" He snaps again, and even though you can't see his eyes anymore, you can feel the frustration wafting off him.

"How the fuck am I supposed to do that?!" You snap in return, annoyance rising in you as well. "It's not my fault you have a...a fucking crush on me or something!"

"Yes it is, it's absolutely your fault!" He throws his arms up, almost like an annoyed toddler. "It's your fault because you have this soft fucking face and this pretty laugh and that stupid fucking smile! You have these fucking eyes that light up whenever you get to talking about what you love, and fuck I just wish for once that was ME and-" He cuts himself off with a growl, kicking a nearby stack of tired and knocking them down. "It's bullshit, you're bullshit, it's all fucking bullshit!"

You're left speechless until he finally looks at you again.

"There, you happy? Now could you fucking make it stop?!" He breathes out, his eyes just barely visible through the black mesh of his mask.

"I...Well...fuck uh..." You mumble, shifting your weight from foot to foot. "I...don't think I can do that? I mean..."

"Fuck, yeah, course you can't." He grumbles, fidgeting with the fabric strips of his costume again. "I just...this is a stupid, distracting fucking feeling and I hate it."

"Well...I mean..." You take a breath, not really sure how to approach the situation. "Maybe we could like...I dunno...start over?"

He looks at you, and you swear he thinks you're insane.

"Start over?" He questions, "The fuck you mean start over?"

"Like, I dunno. Figure shit out from the beginning, like...get to know each other or something?" You say awkwardly, rubbing the back of your neck.

"...Are you fucking crazy?" He questions, and yeah, you expected that. "Like, hello, earth to Dollface, I've killed you dozens of times now. I have murdered your friends in front of you." He snaps his fingers, impressive considering he's still wearing his gloves. "Like sure, sounds nice and all, but how the fuck do you expect to just start over? Hi, what's up, the names Ghostface. Wanna get stabbed?"

"Don't be a fucking dickhead." You snap in response and huff, "Look, I don't know what you want me to do about...whatever this shit is," You motion to him vaguely. "Like I dunno dude, you need a good therapist or something?"

"Fuck you." He growls.

"Yeah, whatever." You breath out. "Look, I don't care what you do, but I'm sick of you pulling bullshit during trials because of...whatever your feelings are. So you either talk to me about it and we get it sorted, or I start making offerings to the entity to make your job even harder than I apparently already am." You cross your arms and look him up and down before sighing. "I'm heading back to camp, if you want to fucking talk-"

"Wait," He grabs your arm and you stop, looking back at him before he sighs. "OK maybe...maybe you're right. Maybe we can like, try that? I dunno."

You smile at him, sighing in relief.

"Good, I prefer that." You turn to him, extending a hand and telling him your name proper, even though he already knows it. "Nice to meet you, Ghostface."

He stares at your hand for a second, but slowly, he takes it.

"...Ghostface is fine for now." He mumbles, shaking it awkwardly. "So...uh...how do we do this?"

"Well...what kinds of movies did you like? Before you got taken."

His eyes light up, and suddenly he's on a kick. Rambling happily about his favorite horror movies while you listen.

Things get better after that.

Rather than being targeted, you're more often than not spared during trials.

Of course people get suspicious though, so you have to cut a small deal with him to either spare all of you during trials or kill everyone including you.

He's not personally a fan of the second option, so he ends up sparing your little party whenever you're involved.

You two get closer and you start to have your own feelings for him in return.

Eventually he tells you his real name. Danny, it rolls off your tongue nicely.

He's nervous at first, but eventually his smooth charm comes back and it's rare for him to not leave you flustered and blushing when you two talk.

When you finally get the courage to tell him your feelings, you swear he's on cloud nine. immediately talking about how happy he's going to make you and how he'll make sure no one in this fucking realm ever touches you.

You have to talk him down from that, knowing that your other survivors would hate you if you were the only exception during trials. And while he says "fuck em" you know you can't have him as your only friend in the realm, as much as part of him would love that.

But it's nice, he treats you like royalty. Like you're his entire world.

It might not be a real happy ending, but it's probably the closest you'll get in this hellhole.

And that's good enough for the both of you.

[moody-alcoholic]

Death in the family

I wrote the outline for a Simon x reader fic but it devolved into another Ghoap fic so I shelved it...

Why make them so shippable if they are not to be shipped?

Summary: Ghoap x Reader, throuple. Slow burn (sorry but not sorry). 4.2k words. Reader is female (she/her), army nurse, non descript physical features, names used: Ashe.

CW: talks of loss, grieving, funeral, nightmares, PTSD, assault, hurt/comfort.

Previous parts - masterlist - next part

Enjoy <3

You’re tied to a chair again, you can’t move blood drips down your face. You’re stripped to your underwear, sweat dripping down the back of your neck making you shiver. The room is cold goosebumps rise on your body as you rub your legs together for any kind of warmth. The sound of a door opening forces you to look up, you see Jack walk in. You let your head fall again, no point in looking at him, it does not matter what you say he’ll never believe you. His laugh fills your ears you try to ignore him. 

“Your boyfriends were killed today.” He says, it’s like a stab to the heart, you don’t want to believe him. He clearly is not happy with your silent response rushing over to you and pulling your hair so you’re forced to look at him. He’s smiling at you. 

“They tried to come and rescue you, and look what you did. You got them killed.” He spits in your face, letting your head fall again. Tears rush out you can’t stop them but you won’t give him the satisfaction of seeing you cry. 

“I’ll never understand why you let love take over, they would still be alive if they just let  you die.” You hear him walk over to you. You see his feet standing in front of you. He pulls your hair up again so he can look in your eyes. 

“You’re no use to me now.” You feel the indescribable pain as a knife is thrust into your chest. 

You wake screaming, hands grab your body. You try to fight as lights flick on in the room. You feel your arms pressed into your chest as arms wrap round you. You hear Simon’s voice then Johnny. You feel hands stroking your back, stroking your hair as Johnny rocks you in his arms. It was just a dream, just a stupid dream. 

“Sorry,” you say catching your breath.

“It’s okay love, you’re okay.” Johnny says not letting you go. You hear Simon get out the bed. You feel bad for waking them up now it just makes you sad.

“You were dead. In my dream.” You sniff into Johnny’s chest.

“Yeah? Well I’m still here ain’t I?” Johnny says as he loosens his grip on you. You hear the toilet flush as Simon comes back in the room. You put off sleeping for as long as you could, you didn’t want to slip back into the nightmares you’d been having, especially once you were home. You were kind of hoping and praying that the bad dreams would stay in Syria, but when you nodded off on the flight home you could already see the flashes of memories coming back to haunt you. It’s just temporary, you’ll be fine in a few weeks. You try to convince yourself it’s not PTSD. This is just a normal reaction to what happened to you it’s like a knee-jerk trauma response, you had a bad time with Jack and now your best friend is dead. You let out a sigh watching Simon move back into the bed as Johnny lets you go. You lean back on the pillows wiping your eyes, Simon reaches over pulling you down on his chest. You hear his heartbeat as Johnny turns the light off snuggling up behind you. 

“You need to talk to someone.” Simon says quietly, kissing your head. 

“After the funeral, I promise.” You say, you know it’s a lie, you won’t see a shrink until you’re ordered to see one. No point in risking a medical discharge over a few stupid nightmares. You close your eyes taking a deep breath in. You just have to get through tomorrow, as soon as that is over things can start to get back to normal. Besides what's the worst that can happen, it’s a funeral after all.     

——————————  

It’s raining of course it is, typical British weather, typical funeral weather. This feels wrong, you’re going back to Chloe’s house but there is no Chloe. The invites had been sent via e-mail, no use in wasting the good invites on her. The ‘burial’ was held privately, Chloe’s mum would not want to be embarrassed at the fact it was not a military funeral. I’m sure she was shocked at her daughters request to be cremated instead of buried, not that she would have been given the privilege to be buried in the family plot. That was for soldiers. There were no butlers on the door this time, you let go of Johnny’s arm to reach up and ring the doorbell. A few seconds later someone opens the door, you look through to see Chloe’s mum and dad stood in the foyer. You walk in wiping your feet on the mat before going over to them.

“Oh sergeant we’re so glad you could make it.” Chloe’s mum comes over giving you a hug. There are tears drying on her cheeks as she holds a handkerchief in her hand. 

“She had so few friends we’re glad there is someone she would know.” You hold your tongue, the reason so few of them are here is because Chloe would rather tell people she had no family then introduce people to her real one. You break away from the hug and force a small smile.

“I’m so sorry for your loss.” You say. It’s the standard response, you don’t have anything to say to her family, you’re here for Chloe. Her mother turns her attention to Johnny. 

“Oh I remember you, SAS, MacTavish?” She says dabbing her dry cheeks. Johnny nods. Of course she remembers Johnny but couldn’t tell you which hospital her daughter worked at. 

“There are drinks in the drawing room, help yourself.” She points over to the open door in the foyer. You walk with Johnny hearing classical music spilling out the room. As you enter a butler offers you a drink you take one off the tray thanking him. You look around the room, some people you recognise some you don’t it’s mostly family, you can pick out her brothers from a mile away, they have the same blonde hair. They’re the only ones in the room who look like they don’t want to be here, almost like their sisters death is an inconvenience. You finish your drink going over to the open guest book on the table putting the empty glass down.

“We can leave if you want?” Johnny whispers as you pick up a pen. You shake your head, you have to be here. You look at the page not knowing what to write, it’s already filled with messages of condolences, all the same generic few phrases. Notes of sympathy from people who didn’t even know her personally, who are just here to support her family. You want to write something that matters but you don’t know what to say. Your hand hovers over the page as you think about her. Her smile, the way she was always so bubbly, how she got you through nursing exams, you would stay up late together studying. How she was so headstrong, so sure in what she was doing, stubborn as all hell. You remember the look on her face when you said you were joining the army, how she shouted at you and didn’t talk to you for a week. 

‘Yeah well I hope you die on the front lines!’ She snapped.

‘Clo, don’t be like this, the pay and the benefits that’s all it is. I don’t want to be stuck in a hospital all my life.’ You said from the other side of the door. 

‘Why’d you become a nurse then?’ She says quieter, you hear her sniffles.

‘I want to help people.’ You reply. 

That was the night she came clean about her family, told you all about her ‘other life’ as she called it sometimes. She stayed over at your flat for the whole week, until you had to leave for basic. You feel Johnny’s hand on yours, you look down you haven’t written anything but you feel horrible. You put the pen back, maybe you can’t put it into words yet. Johnny takes your hand and leads you away from the table. You squeeze it looking up at him.

“What’s your favourite memory?” He asks. 

“When we used to work night shifts together, she would always find a way to make them fun.” You say leaning up against him. He wraps his arm round your waist as you see Chloe’s mother come into the room. She’s still dabbing her face as she makes her way to the centre of the room accepting a drink off the tray when it is bought to her. People gather around her as she nods, thanking them for coming, she then takes a sip of her drink and clears her throat as Chloe’s dad comes to stand next to her. She starts giving a speech but you’re only partially listening, she talks about how well Chloe did in med school, finishing almost top of her class and landing a job at the Royal. You can hear her trying her hardest to seem impressed with it, she looks round the room and her eyes meet yours. 

“She always had such a zest for life, in the people she knew and the way she chose to live. Some would say a troubled child, she especially since showed no interest in the military.” There it was the sly comments as the room chuckles. You sigh taking another drink off the tray as the butler walks by. You look round the room, You don’t want to be here anymore. You wonder if you could find her old room? Maybe she would have some memories tucked up in there, would definitely be better then this shit. 

“C’mon.” You say gently pulling Johnny and slipping out the room. You put your drink down on a table and head for the stairs.

“Where are we going?” Johnny asks as you lead him.

“I want to find her room, I just need, closure.” You say, he nods. You can’t remember where her room was exactly, you start peaking through doors down the long corridor.

“Do you know where it is?” Johnny asks following you. 

“I think so it’s been years since I’ve been up here.” You look through another door into a lush office, you’re about to close the door when something catches your eye. You go in the room without even thinking heading over to the desk with papers strewn all over it. 

“Chloe had interesting taste.” Johnny says looking round the room. You ignore him picking up a folder and opening it. 

“Johnny come look at this.” You say as you flick through it, it’s pages of information, with pictures of Johnny, Price, Gaz even some of you. It was a photo of Johnny that caught your eye. 

“What the fuck.” He says taking the folder out your hands. You look back over at the desk there are more papers, some in Arabic, pictures of weapons and artillery, medical supplies and closed crates of God knows what. You pick up one of the photos. 

“This is from the base I was at in Syria, this is the store room.” You say as you turn the photo over there is a date and a time written on it. 

“This was 3 days ago.” You say showing Johnny, he comes over and starts thumbing through the papers.

“Watch the door.” He says taking the photo out your hand. You nod and move to the door cracking it open slightly so you can see down the hall. Johnny takes his phone out and starts snapping photos. You look back every now and then as Johnny is moving with careful efficiency, making sure to move everything back to the place it was. You look back down the hallway, you can hear voices on the stairs.

“Johnny!” You call trying not to shout. He nods putting his phone away as you slip out the door just before you hear the voices turn the corner. Johnny pulls you into a room closing the door behind him. 

“Do you think they saw us?” You whisper. He puts his hand up to shush you as he listens.

“I don’t think so.” He says moving away from the door. You look round the room, this is Chloe’s room. You go over to sit on her bed, it looks like most of the furniture has been moved out and the room has been stripped of all its personality. You run your fingers over the bedding. It’s just a guest room now, you suspect it has been for a few years. 

“You okay?” Johnny asks stepping over to you. You sniff the tears away, all you can do is nod. You look up at him his fingers stroke your cheek. 

“Mind if I have a few minutes?” You ask, he nods. 

“I’ll meet you back downstairs?” He asks, you nod in reply. He reaches down and plants a kiss on your forehead then walks out the room closing the door behind him. You get up going to the dresser and pulling on the small lopsided drawer, you smile at yourself when you can’t open it. Most people would think it was jammed, her parent’s and sisters defiantly did. You reach into your pocket taking a card out your purse. You shimmy it between the drawer in the spot you remember Chloe showing you years ago. The drawer clicks open and you can pull it out just a few centimeters you reach in and pull out a letter, a half pack of cigarettes and a lighter. You smile, you close the drawer as it clicks back into it’s broken state. You put the items in your pocket and go to leave the room. Now you just want to go home. 

You’re walking down the hallway as you hear a door open, before you can do anything you’re shoved up against a wall. 

“What the fuck!” You shout sick of people pushing you up against things. Your chest is pressed up against the wall your arm twisted behind your back, your broken rib sending shooting pains up your body you have to squeeze your eyes shut. You can’t see who it is behind you but they’re strong. 

“What the hell are you doing up here?” He spits. “Have you been snooping in places you shouldn’t?” It’s Mark one of Chloe’s brothers.

“Let me go, for fucks sake!” You reply fear rising in your chest, you don’t like this, you don’t like being held down. You’re not even paying attention to what he’s saying, your breathing gets quicker you’re starting to panic. Your eyes dart around looking for a way out or Johnny, anything to get out of this situation, you’re not even listening to him talk. You’re starting to loose track of reality his hands pinning your shoulders down you’re back in that room being tied to the chair Jack up in your face-. 

“The fuck do you think you’re doing!” The arms leave your body you see Johnny, you let out a breath, blinking to make sure he’s real. You start walking over to him as you pat yourself down. 

“I was saying good-bye to Chloe, not that you really care Mark.” You manage to say as you reach Johnny. He wraps his arms around your waist and you pull him to the stairs, you don’t stop walking you just want to get out of here. Mark doesn't follow you, he doesn’t say anything. You see Chloe’s mother on the way out, luckily you can play the tears off as grieving, not the fact that now every step is like a knife driving into your rib-cage. Thank God you never have to come back to this place. 

——————————   

When you make it to the flat you ignore Simon and Johnny making your way straight out to the balcony. You feel like shit physically and mentally, there is a cool breeze now as the rain has stopped and the sun is peaking through the clouds for the last few hours of daylight. You reach into your pocket pulling out the packet of cigarettes and the lighter. It’s old almost empty with stickers all over it. You’re not even sure it’s going to work but when you try it the flame springs to life. You take a cigarette out lighting it between your fingers. You don’t smoke, so this is the best Chloe is going to get from you. You open the letter next, you look at the date on the top. 14th of June, the day of the party, you can’t help but scoff. 

‘To whoever finds this but most likely Ashe. 

Remember that night we had the 3 car RTC come in to A&E? It was one of our first shifts as qualified nurses. We had no idea what we were doing and were just going with the flow which meant a lot of stitches and hand holding. I remember everyone who died that night and they all died without getting to say goodbye. I remember when you told me about how it’s common for people in the army to write letters for their loved ones if they die.

I was never worried about you dying, you’re too much of a pussy for that. Okay that was rude I’m drunk. I thought when you joined the army you would become a massive bitch, like everyone else in my life who sold their soul for queen and country.

Anyway, I wanted to write a letter for you in-case I get the bright idea of joining the army and forget about it. Or I don’t know my crazy family finally get the bright idea that their life would be easier without the black sheep (that’s me by the way not David… cos David’s black…oh you’ll understand.)

OOOO don’t let my family bury me in that depressing family plot it’s stupid I don’t want it, make them throw my ashes in a forest or something. Isn’t that what people do right they want their ashes spread in the sea or in a forest? The sea is scary full of sharks and shit. 

I’m very drunk. My mum is driving me crazy I counted how long before she made one of her comments. 3 MINUTES, SHE COULDN’T EVEN WAIT. ‘Hello sweety, I can’t wait for the day I see you in dress uniform.’ WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN!!!!

The next party I’m coming in scrubs!!

I hope you miss me when I’m gone, what would you do without all this juicy drama? 

And you’re not allowed to die okay, if you’re reading this and I’ve kicked the bucket you’re not allowed to die leave the army and spend all your time fucking Johnny. He is fit if you don’t want him I’ll take him. 

I can’t even remember what I was going to say now. Just don’t die!!. 

Chloe 

PS: I had the biggest crush on you in uni.'

“Hey, you want some space?” You look up at the door through tear filled eyes, you can’t tell if it’s because of the letter or the cigarette smoke. Simon’s standing there. You shake your head looking back down at the letter. He walks over to sit next to you picking the packet of cigarettes up. 

“Smoking?” He says taking one out putting it between his lips. 

“They were Chloe’s, the same packet she hid from her parent’s when she still lived with them. She was convinced they were lucky or something, since she never got caught with them.” You explain folding the letter up watching the ash fall off the end of the cigarette. You let the butt fall out your hand onto the floor. You hear Simon light the cigarette as he coughs. 

“Fucking hell.” He says looking at you, you can’t help but smile as he looks at the cigarette in disgust. 

“They are over 10 years old.” You say. He shakes his head. You turn the letter over in your hands. 

“What did it say?” He asks, you shrug. 

“She told me not to die.” You wipe the tears away as Simon’s arm comes round your shoulder pulling you up against him. You rest your arm across his stomach as he takes another puff of the cigarette. You just sit there in silence until he’s finished, flicking the end on the floor. 

“Come on, lets go in, Johnny insisted on cooking.” You move as Simon goes to stand up he holds out his hand for you and you take it picking up the packet of cigarettes on the way. When you get inside it already smells good. Johnny is in the kitchen chopping something with his back to you but turns when hears the door close, he smiles then turns back to his chopping. 

“She seemed like a good person.” Simon says after a while. You nod, she was. 

“What you cooking?” You ask.

“Shepherds pie!” Johnny calls back. 

“Need a hand?” You ask heading to the kitchen.

“Sure, you can fry the meat.” Johnny says looking at you smiling. 

“In a second.” Simon says grabbing your arm and pulling you away from the kitchen. He takes you to the bedroom turning the light on and going to the dresser kneeling down and pulling the bottom drawer out completely. You can’t see inside very well, you move to look but he’s already up on his feet. Simon hands you a pistol, you look up at him confused. It’s heavy in your hands, you pull the barrel back checking if it’s loaded, it’s not. He passes you a mag you take it in your other hand. 

“Know how to use it?” He asks, watching you load the mag. 

“I haven’t shot a weapon since basic.” You say chuckling nervously, and even then it was in a controlled environment. 

“Quick refresher then, basics, never…” Simon looks at you to continue.

“Put your finger on the trigger until you’re ready to fire.”

“Always..”

“Be sure of your target and look beyond it.”

“Never..” 

“Leave a weapon unattended.”

“Always..” 

“Unload the weapon when not in use.” You say as you unload it. It feels wrong holding it in your hand. Where did they even get it from? This is very illegal. ‘With what happened, you’re under our protection.’ You remember what Price said, what did you need protecting from? Something felt wrong you think back to the office today, to all the paperwork and files on you, 141, the base. You hand it back to Simon.

“We’ll take you to the range tomorrow get you some practice in.” He says bending down to put it back and sliping the drawer back in. He stands up brushing a strand of hair out your face as you just gawk at him. 

“Should I be worried?” You ask. He shakes his head. 

“It’ll make us feel better, knowing you have something if we’re not here.” He’s being cryptic, and he didn’t answer your question. You shake it off, you’ve been through too much today, you just want to relax. 

“Got any other surprises under there?” You ask as his hands find your waist and he leads you out the room chuckling. 

“We keep the C4 in the bathroom, Johnny makes such a mess when he’s playing around with it.” Simon says as you walk back to the kitchen. You can’t tell if he’s joking or not. He has to be joking right? You go stand next to Johnny watching him scrape chopped onions and carrots in a pan. You kiss him on the cheek, he didn’t have to come to the funeral today, but honestly you’re glad he did. 

“Feeling better?” He asks.

“Feeling hungry.” You reply as the smell of the onions frying hits your nose. 

“Good because I’m making a big portion. How ‘bout you get started on those spuds.” He smiles you nod. Simon opens the fridge taking out a beer. 

“Yes please!” Johnny calls as soon as Simon cracks it open, he sighs handing the beer to Johnny and going back in the fridge. You smile picking up a potato. Maybe you were just overthinking everything. You remind yourself you just had to get through today, the worse was over now you can try and heal, if that’s even possible.

Next Part

I really didn't know how to end this one I was hungry when I finished writing it and honestly I could have kept going for ages...

[shurisneakers]

“i know we almost died just now, but… am i the only one who’s hungry?” is so harmless reader core… but what if it was Bucky saying this?

Also hi i love u

hi <3 hey <3 i love u too <3 harmless turns 4 years old next year she's like in school now

Catch up with the rest of the series here!

"Great job, team," you pant, raising your hand for a high five. "I think that was very well handled."

Bucky, still trying to process what exactly the fuck just went down, does not even respond when you match his indifference, dropping your hand to slap it against his.

"Is that how it always goes?" you ask him, looking around the empty lot. "I figured there'd be a lot more zing, y'know? Some oomph. That was like, fine."

The mission was going fine, calm even, until you managed to piss them off, leading to them calling in backup, leading to you both being severely outnumbered, leading to you deciding you'd gotten bored which finally lead to you ending it with a timeout-inator.

Things had exploded, Bucky had to pull down a door to shield you both-- it was a whole thing that he definitely did not mentally prepare for. This was just supposed to be a simple data extraction. He doesn't know at which point nuclear guns got involved.

"How--" Bucky stops mid-sentence, brain scrambling to put together things, "--how did you get assigned on this mission again?"

It wasn't like he claimed to be the expert on all things SHIELD, but he figured that a non-Avenger, non-agent needed a lot of clearance to be allowed on a mission, no matter how mundane the initial objective was. The fact that it devolved into madness was more on you than SHIELD.

"I wrote my name on the sign-up sheet," you explain, smoothing out your singed clothes.

"The what?"

"Fine, you caught me," you give in without even trying, dusting some ash off his shoulder. "I forged my name on some documents, used some white paint. Did an ol' switcharoo. You know how it goes."

"You faked your way here?" he shouts, dropping the damn door he was still holding. "What the hell was your plan?"

"Why does everything need a plan? Why can't I just tag along to see what you do for a living?"

"We nearly got killed. You--"

"But we didn't."

"That is not the point. You said it was a special mission, you said you had clearance from Nick to--"

"I said Nick would give me clearance for anything. And it is a special mission. I'm here, isn't that the specialest gift of all?"

"You didn't ask?" he screeches instead. "How did you get here? Who the fuck was supposed to be here in your place?"

"Clint," you say with a sheepish smile. "He told me he'd wash my garage so we swapped."

That fucking moron. "He'd wash your garage in exchange for you risking your life--"

"I didn't risk anything." You scoff. "I knew we would handle that like champs."

"We nearly got annihilated by a nuclear gun." He drags a hand down his face. "If he didn't trip over your stupid jacket in the last second, we would be dust."

"Well yeah, only if you put it like that," you relent. Bucky glares at you.

You look out at the empty room, one hand on your hip. Lot of rubble and shrapnel in places they had no reason being.

"Huh," you say after a while. "Guess we did just almost die."

"That's it?" he raves, still incredulous. "That's all you have to say?"

"That's crazy-sauce, man," you add, throwing your hands up when he glares at you. "What? What else should I be saying?"

"Where the fuck did you send them?" Bucky finally makes a move, wiping the dirt off his metal fingers onto his cargo pants.

"I put them in timeout," you reply, tapping the gun you'd put back into he pocket of your pants.

"Where is timeout?"

"Like, somewhere outside of time," you dismiss. "Time-out. You get it."

His eyes clench shut, taking a deep inhale in before exhaling, lest he pop a blood vessel.

"We almost died," he tells you again.

"If you say so," you nod.

He stares at you.

You stare right back at him.

The world keeps spinning.

"I'm hungry," he grumbles. "You want lunch?"

"I could go for a sandwich, yeah."

[hearts4violett]

dead man

tw: r4pe (not done by/to fez or ash), abusive bf, murder, and the rest is just sweet

(i was r4ped 3 days ago so this is kinda my way of coping, also this is my first time writing on here so im sorry if it sucks lol)

why did this have to happen to me? thats all that you could think as you stumbled your way to the house you always go to in times like these, fezcos house. this time was different. usually you would go there after you and your boyfriend had an argument which would result in him hitting you. fez and ash had always told you to leave the guy. they hated him more than anything in this world. you had feelings for fez and he had feelings for you, but your boyfriend was in issue. ash had seen you as a mother. he loved you to death and would do anything for you, both of them would.

this time though was worse than you couldve imagined. your boyfriend came home drunk as he usually does and was in the mood. you said no and he didnt like that, he took it as a challenge. he had forced himself in you and left you when he was finished. hes probably out drinking again. you finally make your way to fezcos house and knock on the door softly, having no energy from walking and what your boyfriend had done to you. Ash opens the door and sees you, blood running down your legs, mascara and tears smeared down your face, and your hair going every which way. ashs face drops and its then that you see fezco come from out of his room.

they took you in instantly. fez sat you on the couch as ash went and got a blanket. "Did he do this to you?" Fez wasnt stupid, he knew what he had done and so do ash even though you hadnt told them. As i stare off blankly, i slowly nod, the words not coming out. Ash wrapped a blanket around my shoulders and walked to the other room. I knew what he was going to do.

Ash walked back in and tossed a gun into fezcos lap, ash having one of his own. "Lets go fucking kill him." I turn to look at ash and then to fezco who was shaking with rage. How could someone do this to someone like you? you were kind and gentle and you didnt deserve any of this. Fez turned to you "You want me to kill him for you? I'll do it, ill kill that motherfucker, just say the word." He said as he reached out and held my hand. Again, all i could do was nod. He was a dead man.

Me nodding my head was all fez and ash needed before getting up and walking to the door. Fez looked back at me and mouthed the words I love you before leaving. i sighed, as if i knew the one thing in my life that made me want to die, was going to be gone soon. I got up and made my way to the bathroom to shower. I could feel his hands still lingering on me and i couldnt stand how dirty i felt.

While stripping off my clothes, i noticed the marks he had left on me. He had left hand prints on my neck and bruises littered my body. I wanted to cry at the sight of them, but at this moment, i couldnt. my body couldnt produce a single tear. I wish it would though.

After getting out, i felt better in a way. less dirty. i went to fezcos room and stole a tshirt and some boxers. Fez always told me i was more than welcome to wear his clothes when i stayed here. As i had finished putting on my clothes and brushing my hair and teeth, i heard the door open. I peeked out and there stood ash and fez, covered in blood. He was finally gone.

Now my tears started to work. I let out a small sob and ran over to them, hugging them tightly. "Thank you" i whispered out. They hugged me tightly, as if i would disappear if they let me go. Fez rubbed circles on my back and caressed my hair. Ash had walked away to clean up. "Hes gone, baby, its ok" fez says quietly. I was finally free.

I took my head away from the side of his neck to look at him, i wanted nothing more than to be with fez forever. I finally could and i knew he would take care of me and do anything for me.

[chvoswxtch]

I still haven’t emotionally processed episode four and I probably never will but if you’re interested in my chaotic ramblings pls step into my office below

first of all frank waited ten fucking years to get his lick back he is the pettiest bitch alive and I am here for it 

he said bitch I didn’t forget when you said “boo hoo who’d you lose” reverse uno altar boy 

“how bout old foggy, he get life?”

FRANCIS DAVID CASTIGLIONE HOW DARE YOU 

also the fucking hand clapping while saying I don’t have time for your candy ass hero shit he’s so fucking sassy pls 

the juxtaposition between wanting to cream seeing our boys back together onscreen but also wanting to scream bc that whole interaction was so raw and brutal and wrecked me and not in the slutty way like I wanted

I wanna talk about how matt either knew where frank was this entire time or he knows frank’s heartbeat and scent and tracked him there which is stupid romantic 

I don’t wanna talk about how frank didn’t even raise his hands to defend himself and would’ve let matt keep hitting him 

I don’t want to talk about matt’s whole monologue about foggy bc I will never emotionally recover from that

I do want to talk about how 3 different people kept emphasizing to matt that the system is broken and does not work that was definitely not a coincidence 

I do want to talk about matt being a slut and flirting to reduce a prison sentence 

also the end?? adam screaming “let me out” while matt is on the roof with his billy club after trying to not let the devil out for 4 episodes??? the fucking parallels my GOD

each fucking episode just keeps getting better and better 

honorable mention fisk nearly crashing out having to sit though 2 choir performances had me HOLLERING

I also want to do a lil check in since we only have five episodes left of this half of this season-

I have seen a lot of people say this matt feels “out of character” and I think that’s the point. it’s supposed to be uncomfortable. there’s a lot of underlying tension in this season, it feels like something is building and we’re all waiting for the eruption. this is not the matt we saw in the original series. we will probably never get that matt back. this is season 3 matt but like times ten. he said he would rather die as the devil than live as matt murdock and he definitely “died” the night foggy was killed, in his daredevil suit on that roof. he also pushed dex off the roof, and although dex didn’t die so it wasn’t murder, matt still attempted to kill him, which still counts as crossing a line in his own head

matt is not living, he’s existing. he is a hollow shell of who he used to be. he lost everything that made him who he was

foggy, his best friend and moral compass. karen, his other best friend and voice of reason. he lost the two people who were essentially the only family he had left in the world. he lost his home, he told fisk he doesn’t go back to hell’s kitchen and doesn’t live there anymore. he lost his faith, he’s not going to church anymore. and he lost daredevil, his outlet to let his darker half out that made him feel like he was making a difference. this man is lost

the term “born again” is usually used to describe a religious transformation. I don’t think calling the show born again was just about matt returning as daredevil. I think it’s us seeing matt at his absolute lowest, hitting rock bottom, losing every sense of who he is, and then watching him rise from the ashes

I truly thought hector being murdered was gonna make matt lose his shit but now I’m very curious what’s going to make him actually snap and put the suit back on. I think the main reason he's fighting it so hard is to honor foggy's memory. foggy's last words to him were "I didn't want to give you a reason". foggy always wanted matt to put his faith in the system and do things the "right" way and matt is trying to do that but he's clearly struggling, because he has no faith in anything anymore

I have a lot of ideas about what I think is going to happen this season but I’d love to hear what y’all think so feel free to ramble with me or just scream or cry we can do that too

[defjux]

Here's a 12x12 of some of my favorite albums that aren't rap albums. I did one of those recently as well, which you can find here. I think some years back I also made a similar list of the albums that were most influential for me, but this is more of an inclusive list of the stuff I generally just enjoy listening to the most these days. One album per artist, and only the first two rows are in order. I might do another one these in the future with all of the albums I love that didn't make the cut this time around, but for now i'm happy with how this turned out Chart with album titles included Maybe I could add as many of these albums as possible to a spotify playlist - is that something any of you would be interested in? What albums are your favorite, do we have any in common? If you've got any kind of list of your own i’d love to see it. Peace.

 1. At the Drive-In - Relationship of Command  2. Björk - Vespertine 3. Portishead - Third 4. Gospel - The Moon Is a Dead World 5. Stereolab - Dots and Loops 6. Glassjaw - Worship and Tribute 7. Cocteau Twins - Treasure 8. Sade - Love Deluxe 9. The Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works 10. Sun Ra - Lanquidity 11. J Dilla - Donuts 12. Grouper - Dragging a Dead Deer Up a Hill 13. John Coltrane - Sun Ship 14. Converge - You Fail Me 15. The Mars Volta - De-Loused in the Comatorium 16. Slowdive - Souvlaki 17. Jeromes Dream - Seeing Means More Than Safety 18. Max Roach - Members, Don't Git Weary 19. Boards of Canada - Geogaddi 20. Joni Mitchell - Hejira 21. Isis - Wavering Radiant 22. Broadcast - Tender Buttons 23. Interpol - Turn on the Bright Lights 24. Charles Mingus - Let My Children Hear Music

25. Q and Not U - No Kill No Beep Beep 26. Fugazi - Red Medicine 27. Orchid - Orchid 28. My Bloody Valentine - Loveless 29. Tim Hecker - Harmony In Ultraviolet 30. Candy Claws - Ceres & Calypso in the Deep Time 31. Natural Snow Buildings - The Dance of the Moon and the Sun 32. toe - For Long Tomorrow 33. maudlin of the Well - Leaving Your Body Map 34. Ichiko Aoba - マホロボシヤ (Mahoroboshiya) 35. United Nations - The Next Four Years 36. Miles Davis - In A Silent Way 37. Nujabes - Modal Soul 38. Unwound - Repetition 39. Aphex Twin - Drukqs 40. Ornette Coleman - Science Fiction 41. Agalloch - Ashes Against the Grain 42. Siouxsie and the Banshees - Tinderbo 43. Yves Tumor - Heaven to a Tortured Mind 44. Boris - Flood 45. Massive Attack - Mezzanine 46. Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun 47. Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill 2 48. Paddy McAloon - I Trawl The Megahertz 49. Panopticon - Autumn Eternal 50. Kate Bush - Hounds of Love 51. Krallice - Years Past Matter 52. Every Time I Die - The Big Dirty 53. Kayo Dot - Choirs of the Eye 54. The Blood Brothers - ...Burn, Piano Island, Burn 55. Pavement - Brighten the Corners 56. slauson malone - A Quiet Farwell, 2016-2018 57. Sonny Sharrock - Ask The Ages 58. Drive Like Jehu - Yank Crime 59. Flying Lotus - Cosmogramma 60. Sonic Youth - EVOL 61. The Field - From Here We Go Sublime 62. The Cure - Disintegration 63. Madlib - Beat Konducta Vol. 5-6 A Tribute To... 64. Autechre - LP5 65. Marvin Gaye - What's Going On 66. Yusef Lateef - Eastern Sounds 67. The Chariot - Long Live 68. tricot - T H E 69. Funkadelic - Maggot Brain 70. Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers - Moanin' 71. Prince - Sign "☮︎" the Times 72. Godspeed You! Black Emperor - F♯A♯∞ [1995–1997] 73. The Avalanches - Since I Left You 74. Sunny Day Real Estate - How It Feels to Be Something On 75. NoMeansNo - Wrong 76. David Bowie - The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust 77. Oh No - Oh No Vs. Now-Again 78. Alcest - Écailles de lune 79. Electric Masada - At the Mountains of Madness 80. Grant Green - Idle Moments 81. Julia Holter - Loud City Song 82. Frank Zappa - Hot Rats 83. Alice Coltrane - Journey in Satchidananda 84. Protomartyr - Relatives In Descent 85. Hüsker Dü - Zen Arcade 86. Chelsea Wolfe - Abyss 87. Tatsuro Yamashita - For You 88. Bruno Pernadas - Those Who Throw Objects at the Crocodiles... 89. Rahsaan Roland Kirk - The Inflated Tear 90. Discordance Axis - The Inalienable Dreamless 91. The Fall of Troy - Doppelgänger 92. Talking Heads - Speaking in Tongues 93. Death - Symbolic 94. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica 95. King Crimson - Red 96. Junko Yagami - Communication 97. Ne Obliviscaris - Portal Of I 98. Wayne Shorter - Speak No Evil 99. Wolves in the Throne Room - Two Hunters 100. Refused - The Shape of Punk to Come 101. Fishmans - Uchu Nippon Setagaya 102. DJ Shadow - Endtroducing..... 103. Hiatus Kaiyote - Mood Valiant 104. Pharoah Sanders - Karma 105. Brutus - Nest 106. fleshwater - We're Not Here to Be Loved 107. Lightning Bolt - Hypermagic Mountain 108. Burial - Untrue 109. NEPTUNIAN MAXIMALISM - Éons 110. Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising 111. Standing On The Corner - Red Burns 112. Taeko Onuki - SUNSHOWER 113. Pg.99 - Document #8 114. Alvvays - Blue Rev 115. Genesis Owusu - Smiling with No Teeth 116. Cibo Matto - Stereotype A 117. D'Angelo - Voodoo 118. Gouge Away - Burnt Sugar 119. Opeth - Ghost Reveries 120. The Number Twelve Looks Like You - Worse Than Alone

121. Ahmad Jamal Trio - The Awakening 122. Bill Evans - Symbiosis 123. Deftones - Koi No Yokan 124. The Chameleons - Script of the Bridge 125. Newfound Interest In Connecticut - Tell Me About the... 126. City of Caterpillar - City of Caterpillar 127. Minnie Riperton - Come To My Garden 128. Lil Ugly Mane - THIRD SIDE OF THE TAPE 129. mewithoutYou - Catch For Us The Foxes 130. Love Spirals Downwards - Flux 131. Ohbliv - Retrospective 132. Liv.e - Couldn't Wait To tell You... 133. Shinsei Kamattechan - tsumanne 134. Herbie Hancock - Sextant 135. Beach House - Bloom 136. Wormrot - Hiss 137. Fiona Apple - Fetch the Bolt Cutters 138. Anri - Timely!! 139. Cloud Rat - Threshold 140. Polaris - Home 141. Yes - Close to the Edge 142. Bloc Party - Silent Alarm  143. Coaltar of the Deepers - Submerge 144. Deafheaven - Lonely People With Power

[bluemoonsunrise]

Demons and Savages

pairing: tsu’tey and human!avatar driver (fem presenting)

content warnings: graphic language, violence, alien vs human differences, unconventional grief, the RDA sucks, enemies to lovers. (also, i don’t like to capitalize sentences on tumbler :3)

word count: …idk :P

pov: 2nd person so you can add yourself in. for writing/plot purposes, your character is named eris ramsey. i’ll use the name sparingly but i can’t take myself seriously writing y/n— so please just work with me here. i promise it’ll be worth it. (i hope)

———🌌———

SUMMARY: earth was dying and your sister was, too, but cancer killed her faster than humans were killing earth. when she passed, she not only left behind an empty apartment full of memories but a billion dollar avatar without a driver. in a desperate attempt to not waste that money, the program she had spent the last five years preparing to join recruited you— her twin. of course, you agreed. there was nothing left on earth for you. there was nothing left on earth for anyone— that’s why people like your sister were sent off to pandora.

when your sister had spoken of pandora, it seemed like a dream.

the RDA promised it would be like a safari adventure.

truth was that pandora is beautiful. beautiful and unlike anything else across the whole of the universe. it is breathtaking— and that’s because what chases you through the forest hunts with the intent to kill; so you best run like hell even if your lungs are on fire. beasts and monsters of all kinds lurk out of sight waiting for the right moment to kill you dead— but none are as dangerous as him.

the blue shadow with the bow.

chapter one

— assholes and arrows —

it was hard to imagine that you were 4.37 light years away from earth.

what the hell even was 4.37 light years? obviously, you knew you couldn’t throw a rock and hit earth, but it was still mind boggling that it took long enough that they had frozen you whole so that you wouldn’t die in the amount of time it took you to get to where you were going. had your sister known just how far away she would’ve been had it been her in that cryo-capsule?

of course, she did.

she was the scientist who knew how far a light year was.

she was the scientist that had devoted the last years of her life to the avatar program without knowing it.

god was cruel— but people were even crueler.

at your sisters funeral, you had not expected two men-in-black characters to approach you. you had expected to leave the service with your sisters ashes in an urn but not that and a brochure of pandora and the program on it.

the program that now needed you to pick up where she left off.

were you supposed to say no? it was too late for that now. you were 4.37 light years from home. the only thing you could do was get off the aircraft and try your best to be even a teaspoon as smart as your sister.

as soon as you stepped out of the aircraft, you were a fish out of water. soldiers in massive metal suits walked the runways carrying giant guns. AMP suits, as they were called. machines the size of buildings were shot with arrows and needed repairs. the RDA extraction facility — lovingly nicknamed hell’s gate — was brutalist. the massive colony was an eyesore, churning out dark gray smoke into the pretty blue sky.

surely, the men in charge would happily rot this place into nothing, too.

it took three days to figure out your way around. around the colony. around the avatar labs. around the social hierarchy that the people living here had factioned themselves into.

it took three days to feel comfortable. to feel comfortable in your link-pod. in your avatar body. in your crew consisting of one grumpy, cigarette-dependent scientist, a goody-two shoes scholar, and an paralyzed man with a big mouth.

once grace augustine stopped bitching about how she got stuck with two dead scientist’s twins, things started to seem alright— because if there was any relief in hell’s gate, it was jake sully.

jake was the universes way of apologizing to you for all the shit you had to go through to get where you were. native language exposure, protocol training, avatar study, and a program explanation all in one month before they stuck you in a box and express shipped you to the blue moon.

it had wrecked your brain. all the studying and the work and the cramming wrecked your brain entirely. you felt like mush after they had unfroze you because you felt like mush when they had frozen you.

at least you got training, though. poor jake was picked up a week before the ship left.

the only training jake had was military. he was a marine. despite being wheelchair bound now, you his tactical skill was of value when in his avatar. he was the happiest out of the whole crew to have been gifted one of those big blue bodies. his legs worked again.

jake opened up briefly about how he got injured during his deployment years back and hadn’t done much since. in his avatar, jake could never stay still. in his real body, it was still hard to keep still. while jake could do poppa-wheelies and drift around hallway corners in his wheelchair, fire a gun with alarming accuracy, and had the mental fortitude of a nuclear war bunker— he was going into this thing virtually blind and deaf.

because poor jake had lost his twin, too.

tommy had been shot.

bang.

gone just like that. days before his big trip, too. wrong place at the wrong time is what jake had said. all tommy’s life’s work was gone just as fast as your sisters was— even though cancer killed her slowly.

in the end, it didn’t matter.

all it takes is one second to die.

all it takes is one second to make the biggest damn mistake of your life and almost get eaten alive by a leathery, nightmare-inducing, panther-looking thing on your first ground excursion.

grace had prepared you for taking samples. she taught you how to use the log device and the tablets. she went over how to input data and file in her research. what she hadn’t prepared you for was the off chance that a monster larger than a car leapt out from the bushes and chose you as it’s afternoon snack.

and that off chance chose you today like god had chosen mary.

“oh shit! oh fuck!” you gasped as you ran as fast as your feet could carry you.

it was not very fast.

avatar bodies were a work of scientific genius— but no one cared to think about how much training the body would need to be able to perform well.

a shrieking roar told you that the monster was still behind you.

that and it’s thundering paws hitting the ground as it chased after you.

this was karma.

it was karma for enjoying animal planet reruns on the shit-box tv in your apartment. you would sit on your couch with a bowl of over-done popcorn drenched in salty butter in your lap while you watched lions chase gazelles.

at least the gazelles were fast.

why the fuck weren’t you fast!

your throat burned alongside your lungs. you couldn’t breathe. your vision tunneled. your legs ached. you could hear your heart in your ears. sweat poured out of you like bullets.

“run!” grace had shouted.

jake had unloaded a whole clip firing at the panther-like beast— but the damn thing had dodged and ducked behind trees.

that’s why it chased you.

because it had seen you cowering behind a tree.

one stupid mistake.

one stupid second.

claws swiped at your backpack and it sent you toppling over. teeth dug into the pack and with one violent shake, you flew up into the air.

you hit the ground hard. all the air gasped out of you. your ears rang. but you had time. the beast tore your pack to shred and you didn’t stick around to see it realize that backpack à la carte wasn’t tasty.

“oh jesus!”

swinging your arms like a mad man, you steadied yourself at the cliffside. a raging, rushing waterfall hammered into a river below. far below.

a feral snarl sent you whipping around.

backpack was not tasty, it seemed.

the pandoran-panther leapt into a sprint.

and you leapt off the cliff.

the water below felt like a wall. croosh! bubbling, swirling rapids rushed around you. it clogged your nose and burned. you struggled to kick your feet in the current.

swimming was a luxury on earth. what water was clean enough and who had money to go to a pool? only the ultra-rich liked pools. poor people liked old tv specials like animal planet.

instinct and the sway of the current helped you surface. you gasped like a baby taking their first breath. coughing out the water in your mouth, you fought hard to stay above the water. with your arms extended, you caught hold of rocks. you used all the strength your avatar body had and you hauled yourself up onto the rock.

all you could do was breathe.

in and out. fast and deep. over and over again. in and out. in and out. all that mattered was air even when the beast above snarled and screeched at you from the cliffside.

“fuck…you…” you panted.

while you could’ve passed out from exhaustion there, you couldn’t. you forced yourself onto your feet and leapt from the rock to the riverbed. you fell face-first into the mud. it didn’t matter.

nothing mattered but staying alive.

if the avatar died, you’d be shipped to an RDA labor prison to pay back the billion dollars it costed as best you could before you died.

keep moving, you told yourself. if you moved, you lived. movement is life. an actor named brad pitt had said that in an old zombie movie your dad had once showed you.

movement is life.

that became your mantra.

it was funny. running through the forest for you life, it was just funny that with all the money the RDA pumped into mining and space travel, no one could equip the avatar drivers with GPSs?

irony.

irony and karma.

the fear didn’t kick back into you and rattle your bones until the sun began to set. you tried to find shelter as fast as you could. all you had on you was a knife and a flashlight at your hip. the panther had taken your backpack and tore through it like it was clocked into their shift working for the TSA.

the TSA used to at least give your bag back to you.

you’d be getting no such treatment because you had no such luck in a place like this.

a place like pandora.

it was gorgeous. during the day, pandora was utterly jaw-dropping. at night— you didn’t want to know.

whether it was beautiful or not, it wouldn’t matter. it was horrifying. it nearly brought tears to your eyes as you stumbled through the forest with only your flashlight to guide you.

twigs snapped in every direction. a pack of cackling creatures ran through midnight brush. insects whirred and buzzed. massive leafs rustled in the breeze.

every noise made you jump.

every noise made you grip your knife tighter.

hurrying through the dark, you made more noise than you realized. ragged breaths. rustling clothes. loud footsteps. you may as well have been calling out for any dangerous creature to come and eat you whole.

when you exhausted yourself, you finally stopped.

in a clearing between massive trees, you fought to catch your breath. while standing in the open may have been stupid, at least you could see what sprung out at you first. whether or not you could fight it off was something you would deal with if it happened. for now, you breathed.

you clicked off your flashlight and you breathed.

lowering to a crouch to rest, you kept quiet and you kept vigilant. your breath soon returned. you knew to keep calm. while the anxiety you felt now was primal, it was still just anxiety. with each breath, you focused your mind.

you needed a plan.

you couldn’t keep running in the dark. you had to find somewhere to hide until morning. a cave. up in the trees. somewhere. somewhere away from danger.

the forest was glowing.

it was only once your heart had calmed and air actually got the chance to reach your brain that you realized the forest around you was glowing.

you felt your tail flick as amazement bubbled up inside you. you turned to look at it. you forgot you that the spindly blue thing. it fascinated you almost as much as your braid did.

at its core, this whole thing amazed you.

standing in an avatar body of a navi in the bioluminescent forest of pandora was amazing. while part of you had felt guilt leaving earth— pandora was a wonder you would choose again and again.

you got to your feet and admired the way the grass lit up as you took small steps. you smiled as glowing bugs buzzed by. the more you looked around, the more their was to see. truly. with your flashlight off, the forest lit itself. wonders of all kinds became visible.

a soft laugh escaped you as something white floated around your head. it reminded you of a jellyfish. a small, luminescent jellyfish. you spun as it circled you. your tail flicked and your ears perked as the fascinating little thing seemed to interact with you.

all the fear you felt was gone— but unbeknownst to you, you were in the most danger of your life.

in the tree above you, an arrow was begging to fly free from his bow and strike you through the chest.

as the small jellyfish creature landed in your hand, the sun would’ve felt ashamed to not be as bright as your smile if it were up.

the moment lasted only a few seconds. the floating creature hovered over your hand only for a fleeting moment before it moved up and up and up into the air.

you followed it with your eyes.

your little jellyfish friend was not the only thing you saw.

you could see his gleaming, glaring yellow eyes.

you could see the massive silhouette of his body.

you could see his bow that he held half-drawn.

all the shock you felt seeing his blue shadow in the night was nothing compared to the pack of wolf-like monsters that sprang from the dark and attacked.

teeth and claws ripped at your legs. taking out your ankles first, the pack of monsters knew how to hunt. when you fell, one of the large ones leapt at you. your hands shot out to catch the ugly mutt and protect yourself anyway that you could.

an arrow shot through its head and blood splattered across your face.

a gasp escaped you as the blue shadow jumped from the tree above and sprang into action. arrows flew as fast as bullets. one. two. three dead before you could even fumble for your knife.

a knife was nothing compared to him.

he alone with his teeth bared scared off the pack of horrifying wolves.

you could hardly breathe.

in utter silence, you watched as the Navi male retrieved his arrows. he was mumbling to himself. soft hisses escaped him as he pulled each arrow free from the kills he had made.

“thank you…” you whispered. tried to. you could hardly hear your own voice.

the beads in his hair clicked as he moved. he did not look at you. he didn’t have to. the scowl on his face sent a shiver of fear racing down your spine.

like a newborn deer, you tried to stand. the pain in your legs made you wince. again, you tried to get up but the pain only worsened.

a hiss sent you rigid.

you didn’t have to look up at him. he was crouched beside you with no taste for personal space. he grabbed your legs and tore the fabric around your knees off. you opened your mouth to shout at him but his scowl shut you up.

if he was going to kill you, he would’ve.

if he was going to hurt you, he would’ve.

he was checking your injuries.

“it’s bad, huh?” you asked in a whisper, “it’s really bad, isn’t it?”

he said noting.

all he did was prod at the wounds with his large, calloused finger.

“hey!” you kicked him lightly. “that hurts!”

he grabbed you by the bend of your knee and shoved. your head hit the ground hard as you fell back. tears wet your eyes on reflex. a soft groan escaped you. anger boiled in your blood. you pushed yourself up on your elbows intent on cursing him out.

you stopped as he wrapped your wounds in the fabric he ripped off your pants.

you grit your teeth and kept quiet. it hurt like a bitch. the rough, gritty fabric was unkind to your wounds. despite his never-ending scowl, he was gentle.

“thank you…” you whispered for the second time. this time he heard you.

“do not thank.” he hissed, his voice a deep, sharp slash in the space between you. “you should not thank for this. this is not good. this is sad.”

“i— i’m sorry?” you offered, just wanting him to know that you appreciated his kindness.

he only scowled at you.

when he stood, panic rushed through you. before your mind to race to any awful thoughts about how he may abandon you now, he extended his hands.

you hesitated.

he huffed out of his nose and curled his lip.

you reached for him instantly.

“ah— fuck…” you muttered as you stood. it was an awful stinging pain. it shot up your legs as you put your weight on them.

“very painful?”

you looked up at him as he placed his hand on your waist to support some of your weight.

tall.

so, so tall. a head and a half taller than you. it almost had you tongue tied. all you could do was nod. for a stupid, dumbfounded moment, you nodded like a idiot.

by the look in his eyes, he seemed to think you were exactly that.

the male grumbled. under his breath, he seemed to curse. your brows drew together as he turned around and crouched down. you stood still. your ears pinned back and you tilted your head. his tail began to flick. sharp and fast.

you had a cat once.

cats flicked their tails like that when they grew angry.

he reached back, grabbed your arm, and gave it a harsh tug. a gasp escaped you as you bumped into his back. the realization dawned on you when he brought your hand over his shoulder to his chest.

he would carry you.

carefully, you hooked your arms around him. with a fluidity that stunned you, he rose to his feet. you weighed nothing to him. even as a massive navi avatar yourself, you weighed nothing. his hands curled around your thighs and he hoisted you up higher on his back. you clung close and kept your head tucked toward his shoulder to try and keep his arrows from smacking you in the face.

“thank you— sorry.” you cringed. “sorry. not thank you. im sorry.”

for a moment it was silent as he walked.

“you are welcome.”

something tickled your belly at his response.

your heart was sprinting without you having to run from his acknowledgment alone. your head spun as it tried to keep up with all that had happened. he had leapt from the trees and saved you with no hesitation. he had tended to your wounds. he carried you to safety.

you couldn’t pull your eyes off his face.

his features were sharp. he had a sharp jaw. he had sharp ears. his flat nose was pointed down at the end, still making it sharp. his eyes were sharp. his lips. his teeth. his voice.

everything.

he was like a dagger.

heat rose to your face as he turned his head to meet your gaze. for the first time, he did not scowl. not at first. for a moment too fleeting, he was cat-like. he seemed to look at you just as closely as you looked at him. his pupils dilated and his ears perked— but his face soon became a disgruntled scowl as you stared at him too long and he jostled you as a warning.

you looked away. “what is your name?”

“tsu’tey,” he said after a moment of debating whether or not to answer.

“tsu’tey.” you repeated. it was fun to say. it made you smile. “my name is eris.”

“okay.”

his blunt, simple reply made you laugh. his ears pinned at the sound and he turned his head to look at you. he seemed bewildered by the fact that you laughed. embarrassment made your ears ring.

“uh…so…how old are you?” you asked, trying to keep the awkward tension at bay.

“cannot answer. don’t know how to say it like you.” he said with a small shake of his head.

you bit your lip. you were going to humiliate yourself but you may as well try.

“age?” you asked in navi.

tsu’tey looked back at you. a smile curled across his lips that disarmed you entirely. “i am twenty-five.”

“twenty-five? that’s cool. i— i’m also that. twenty-five, too. we’re the same age. that’s so…cool.” you stammered, at a loss for coherent words.

his smile dropped entirely and he shifted you on his back.

you had never wanted to die more.

“you must be getting ill from their claws. fever is common. we must get to the tsahik quickly.” tsu’tey said with a single nod of his head.

of course, yes.

your state of bumbling idiocy came from wounds— not that fact that a giant blue man had saved you and now carried you to safety on his back. it was a fever that made you hot, not the way his fingers felt around your thighs or the way his skin felt like velvet under your fingertips.

maybe you were having a stroke, too.

burning toast?

no, that was just the earthy, spicy scent of him that made your mouth water.

it wasn’t until he put you down that you had any idea of where you were. there was only one place you could be. you had read about it in the prep books that had once belonged to your sister.

the tree was larger than life.

hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of feet in the air, home tree towered the way colossus of rhodes could’ve only dreamed to.

you hissed under your breath as the weight on your wounds sent sharp pain through your legs. as you looked up at him, you realized there had been softness to his sharp features this whole time.

that softness was gone.

a startled yelp escaped you as he grabbed you by the end of your braid and pushed you forward.

“ow! hey!”

his voice was lethal. “walk, demon.”

with him guiding your every move, you walked. your face burned as you entered home tree. hundreds of navi turned and gasped. they chirped, calling out to inform others there was an intruder in their home. soon, the inhabitants were all too close trying to catch a glimpse of you.

tsu’tey hissed as hands stuck out to touch you. he barked orders in navi that were lost to your ears. so much was. hundreds of voices spoke at once. the chattering was deafening— and so was the sound of your racing heart as tsu’tey brought you in front of the chief.

your mind blanked on the navi title he held — as it had blanked on every word — but you knew who the male decorated in feathers and beads was. his large bow was hooked around his back. his old, sunken face was a masterpiece of stoicism.

beside him with her tail flicking was none other than the tsahik you were here to see.

tsu’tey let you go but he did not go far. not far at all. his hand curled around the hilt of his knife. if the order was given to kill you— it would be him who snuffed the life from your lungs.

you felt like you had been dropped into the middle of the ocean. you were fighting to stay steady. the pain in your legs had you wobbling. the conversation you found yourself in the middle of was lost to you ears. you could only pick out a few words.

kill her?

a question from the chief.

no.

an answer from tsu’tey.

eywa has given a sign.

your head snapped as those words left his lips. you looked up at him, your ears perking. as he met your eyes, his ears pinned back.

you understood. how much he didn’t know, but you understood. you knew more than he imagined you could’ve.

“you are injured.”

you turned your head as the tsahik approached you.

with a slow nod, you signed ‘i see you.’

a collective gasp was one that even tsu’tey shared in.

the tsahik’s tail swayed and she looked back at the chief. he had an expression you found hard to read. without another word, the tsahik grabbed your arm and guided you along. you swallowed your whimpers as you kept up with her long stride.

these people and their grabbing…

you glanced back over your shoulder to see tsu’tey let go of his knife and kneel before his chief.

“sit.” the tsahik demanded as you entered her hut.

slowly, you sat down on one of the mats. the hut was full of herbs, oils, and hanging flowers. a small fire burned in the center of the room. around it, mats lay in a circle. a small wooden table is where she stopped. she gathered medicines and supplies.

“what attacked you?” the tsahik asked.

“uh…i— i’m not sure.” you said with a shake of your head.

“describe.”

you swallowed thickly. closing your eyes, you tried to conjure any glimpse you could remember. “they…they were like dogs. six legs. black teeth. growling and cackling like hyenas. there was a pack of them.”

how the hell would she know what a dog was let alone a hyena?

idiot.

“nantang,” the tsahik said as she turned. she kneeled in front of you and seemed to smile with her ears, as if she found this amusing. “sky people like you named them viperwolves.”

“nantang…” you repeated softly. you’d surely remember that word.

“how did tsu’tey find you?” the tsahik asked as she unwrapped the makeshift bandages from your legs.

you grit your teeth as the air stung your wounds. you tried to sit still. “i was with my group. the other avatar drivers? we were out in the forest doing research with dr. augustine. grace. do you know her?”

the tsahik nodded once. she stuck her fingers into a jar of greasy ointment and began to lather it on your wounds. a soft grunt escaped you at the sting.

“i got separated,” you said through your teeth. you focused on telling your story. it distracted you from the pain. “there was this huge fucking thing that attacked. massive. all black. had these face-flap things that look like this.”

you tried your best to mimic what it had looked like with your hands and the tsahik stared at you with wide eyes.

you dropped your hands and fought the urge to strangle yourself as embarrassment churned in your gut.

“palulukan.” the tsahik said. she wrapped your legs in leafs and tied them with long grass-line twine. “i do not know what your people have called it, but it is very dangerous.”

“yeah,” you said with a small nod. “palulu…yeah, it was that thing. it chased me. i had to jump off a waterfall and i got lost. he found me in the forest playing with um…”

“it was small,” you raised your hands to show the size of the tiny thing. you traced your palm. “it could fit here. so small. it was white. it looked…like a jellyfish.”

the tsahik stopped.

she looked at you.

with blown pupils, she looked at you.

“atokirina…” she murmured.

your brows furrowed. “ato-what-now?”

the tsahik stood suddenly. she placed her hand on your head before she left her hut. you sat in silence. your ears pinned back and your tail swayed across the woven mat.

had she just patted your head?

maybe you weren’t as doomed as you thought you were.

alone in the warm hunt, staying awake began to get hard. it smelled like heavenly incense. the stinging in your wounds disappeared into a cool clam. the fire warmed what the icy river and night air had chilled.

if it weren’t for the urgency to know this body would be safe and the hunger that rumbled in your belly, you had every intention of falling asleep. not only was the body tired but you were tired.

how you could you not be with all that had happened?

not just today.

with everything.

her face was like a bruise on your soul that you hated to see even in your mind. looking at your own face in the mirror was just as hard because it looked like hers.

would your sister have been able to survive the palulukan? would she have had the guts to jump off the cliff? how the hell had you even had the guts to do that? on earth, you worked a shit job servicing food at a drive-and-dine and spent your nights watching old tv cartoons. where the hell had all your courage come from?

looking back; though, you’d always had some courage.

your sister had none.

and she would’ve been eaten alive.

guilt burned in your stomach as that thought resonated in your mind. you pushed it away as best you could. you pushed it all away. none of it mattered now. nothing about earth and your old life mattered. there was only here and now.

just as your eyes drooped shut, the beaded curtain pulled apart. you turned your head to find not only the tsahik but tsu’tey. him and his awful scowl.

“get up, demon. you come with me. it is decided.” tsu’tey said gruffly. he reached for your arm.

“what?” you asked, shaking your head.

“eywa has given us a sign, dreamwalker.” the tsahik said as she crouched to your level. she pulled a thorn from her chest piece and stuck your arm with it. she licked off the blood and smiled. “you are to stay here where we can keep our eyes on you.”

you rubbed at the small hurt on your arm. looking between the two of them, all you could do was nod. you wouldn’t pass up their hospitality. especially not if you knew the body would be safe here.

“tsu’tey himself saw the atokirina bless you. you are his student now. he shall teach you our ways.” the tsahik said. “it is decided.”

you looked up at him.

he scowled at the fire.

how fun…

“alright,” you said as you tried to heave yourself up. your body weighed a thousand pounds and your legs ached still, but you could move a bit easier. “it is decided then…”

tsu’tey shot the tsahik an annoyed expression but she only waved her hand. he huffed under his breath and grabbed you by the arm. he tugged you out of the hut.

“hey, man, c’mon!” you said, pulling your arm from his grasp. you glared up at him. “stop pulling me around. i can walk just fine.”

he only stared down at you. his tail swayed behind him and his ears perked. you could’ve sworn that you saw his lip curl into a smirk.

he turned and walked off.

fast.

“hey!”

you nearly had to jog to keep up with him. when you caught up to his side, he was smirking. this was a punishment. what an asshole!

“you are slow.” tsu’tey said without looking at you. his voice was always so sharp. his accent was thick and it made your ears tingle. “you are weak.”

“climb.” he said, flicking his head towards the center column of home tree. a spiraling, colossal root that acted as a staircase.

you grit your teeth. you hated heights but you hated that smug look on his face even more. you began to climb. he followed behind you. he watched you like a hawk. while his cold, challenging demeanor was as rough as sandpaper— his attentiveness was so sweet it could’ve rot away all your teeth.

he grasped your waist as you slipped. steading you on your feet, he kept you in place. you looked back at him. his hairless browns seemed to raise. it was like he was saying, ‘careful, demon.’

you brushed off his hand and continued on. you had no idea how far he was expecting you to go. you refused to look down. your breath was jagged in your throat and you had never felt more tired. just as your muscles couldn’t take anymore, he tugged your arm. together, you walked along a thick branch as wide as a runway. you followed him into a hanging hut.

it was small. three baskets by one wall. a woven mat across the floor. a bed of furs. small holes in the ceiling to let strands of light in. it was cozy. it smelled of him. you liked it.

“remove those clothes.” he said as he crouched over one of the baskets. he dug through it.

you eyes widened. “excuse me?”

he looked back at you. “remove. the. clothes.” he said again. this time, as if your were an idiot.

when he stood, he held a garment made of beads and a long loincloth similar to his own. standing before him now, you realized just how much of him you could see.

he was broad. impeccably so. his long limbs were slim and his frame was slender but he had muscle. you knew he did. you felt it as he grasped you and carried you through the forest.

bands decorated his arms. a woven leather corset was snug around his ribs. it probably was meant for something tactical but to you it looked like a corset. his waist was small. his legs were long and powerful. around his neck was a collar-like necklace made of hundreds of beads.

his blue skin held the most interesting stripes. his tail was long. a lot longer than yours. it flicked impatiently. his hair was braided back, except for a few pieces with red breads hung by his face. the long braid of his queue flowed down his back. in the dim light of his hut, his freckles glowed.

“now, demon.” he demanded again, throwing the garments at you.

“turn around.” you said, jutting your chin at him.

he narrowed his eyes at you and shook his head. “what?”

“turn.” you said, gesturing the action with your finger.

he scoffed.

“have you no sense of privacy?” you asked with a scowl that seemed to amuse him.

“privacy. human word. meaningless to me.” tsu’tey spat as he passed by you. he made sure to hit you with his shoulder as he exited his hut.

“savage…” you muttered under your breath.

as you undressed yourself, you could hear him pacing outside. he must be paranoid. did he think you would stab him in the back if he turned? wouldn’t you have done that in the forest?

or maybe privacy really wasn’t a thing to him— to any of the navi. less so than humans, at the very least. they did only cover their gentiles with loincloths and breasts with beaded tops. they showed far more skin than the average human did.

dressed in such a thing now, you felt entirely out of your comfort zone. the string of the loincloth rode up your ass. you had to adjust it for it to feel comfortable. the beaded top you wore hid your perky blue nipples, but not much else. while navi breasts were small, your chest wasn’t flat. the human dna used to create the avatar gave the body extra features.

five fingers. hairy eyebrows. the queues extending out from the nape of the neck and not the top of the head. the male avatars had more muscle. they were bulkier than navi-born males. the female avatars were aerodynamic and slim like navi-born females, but their chests weren’t as flat. compared to your real body, the boobs on your avatar were nothing. but the boobs compared to the populaces normal, it was definitely something more.

as you exited his hut, tsu’tey turned. the cold, harsh scowl he wore faltered. you felt something warm tingle in your stomach as his eyes mapped the whole of you. his pupils dilated and his ears perked up as his eyes landed on your chest.

you swatted at him— or tried to.

he caught your wrist and tugged you along. you did not protest. protesting with him did you no good. that was something you learned quick.

“tomorrow, i teach you how to ride.” tsu’tey said as he led you back down the main column of home tree.

going down was much scarier than going up. you gripped his hand and stared at the back of his head the whole time. while he was tense, he did not pull his hand from yours.

“ride what?” you dared to ask. your heart was in your throat.

“pa’li.” tsu’tey said. he glanced over his shoulder. “you call them…horse.”

a horse? that should be easy enough. you used to watch old western specials as a kid. nothing too terrifying about a horse, right?

instead of walking back down to the ground level, you entered a large hollow section of the tree. hundreds of navi gathered. sitting down all together, you realized they were eating.

you could’ve cried. thank you, lord! your stomach felt hollow with hunger for the last hour.

“sit.” tsu’tey said, pushing at your shoulder.

you sat. the navi beside you seemed to shy away. you looked up at tsu’tey but he was gone. he was off to the side gathering food off a long wooden table. when he returned, he handed you the leaf piled with meats, berries and nuts without a word.

you ate in silence across from him. he sat with the tsahik and the chief— the olo’eyktan. you remembered the word. beside them, a strikingly beautiful navi woman. she ate without lifting her gaze.

as her ears pinned back, you knew she could feel you staring. you were quick to look down at your food.

it tasted better than anything you ever had before and you ate with haste. the pain in your stomach ceased and you ate your fill. it was rude not to clean your plate. you made sure to eat every last bite.

when you finished, you looked up to see tsu’tey watching. your ears perked as he flicked his head. you followed his gaze to the long table full of food. it took you a second but you realized he was asking you if you were still hungry.

meeting his gaze, you shook your head no.

he nodded once.

the clan ate all together— and they slept at the same time, too. filing up through the main column, people separated into their designated beds. hundreds of hanging hammocks and nests filled the space between the internal branches. single navi slept alone. pairs slept with each other. families shared nest-like hammocks.

“come,” tsu’tey said, guiding you onward.

as you followed him, you couldn’t help but feel a pair of eyes deadlocked onto the back of your head. looking over your shoulder, you saw her again. the female navi. she climbed down into her own hanging hut and disappeared. when she was gone, that’s when you remembered tsu’tey was an impatient jackass who would yank your arm if you didn’t pay attention.

he nearly did but you reacted just in time.

“what’s her name?” you asked. you flicked your head in the direction of her but.

tsu’tey followed your gaze. his shoulders stiffened and his lips twitched. not a smile. a frown. “that is neytiri. daughter of olo’eyktan and tsahik.”

“this is yours.” he said with a lazy point towards a hanging hammock. it was nearby his hut. a branch below. “you sleep now. tomorrow is going to be long.”

“aye-aye, captain.” you said with a salute.

tsu’tey narrowed his eyes as a puzzled expression took over his face. you swallowed hard. slowly, you signed to him.

‘i see you’.

he only huffed out a small goodbye. you watched as he climbed his way to his own hut. he did not look back at you. he disappeared inside and the flap shut.

you sighed and carefully slipped your way into your hammock. it was comfier than you thought it would be. warmer, too. the warm air and soft breeze made it easy to feel drowsy as you laid down. the gentle sway of the hammock made your eyes heavy.

it felt like you had fallen asleep. black muddled behind your eyelids before bright, tunneling white.

all you could see was white.

there was a loud, incessant ringing in your ears.

“c’mon, kid, wake up.”

the white blinding light began to morph into shapes. into colors. into people. a ginger haired scientist. she moved her flashlight in and out of your face, patting your cheek.

“hey,” grace said, her voice coming in clear. “snap out of it.”

sense rushed back into your brain as she snapped her fingers beside your ear. your eyes widened and a gasped cleaved it’s way out of your chest. the whirr of the machine purred in your ear. the bright lights of the room were harsh after the gentle luminance of the pandoran forest.

“are you okay?” grace asked, pushing your hair behind your ears. it was the kindest she’d ever been. “how are you feeling? is the avatar safe?”

“i— i am. i’m good…” you said. your voice was hardly a whisper. your breath came hard and fast. even then, a smile curled onto your lips. “doc, you’re gonna do backflips when you find out where i am.”

[thanks for reading :3 this is a lot of fun to write and i have a lot planned <3 tsu’tey is an underappreciated king and a slow burn romance fic is exactly what the world needs i fear :) see ya next chapter! —moony]

next chapter >