#its a very distressing event for everyone!!!

[bella-goths-wife]

I feel like we should have an actor au for the pet series where like the vees actors comfort the actor (who is the reader) after really distressing scenes I just like imagine vals actor being so sweet after the scene where val locked pet in a room with him to make her panic idk just a thought I would love to see because even though I luv the story line it always kills me when there is no comfort after things that happen even though sometimes they do comfort her it just makes me feel so icky and I feel like having an actor au will help people like me so that we can still enjoy it, with the reminder in the back of our heads that it is not real because even though its not real it still kinda feels real if you know what i mean because I get really immersed in x reader stories. I know this is a lot but just a suggestion no pressure I will still read and love it either way

I actually think this is a fun way to comfort the readers without straying from canon, I think I’ll probably do one for each of the characters each

Also they all have the same names as their characters :)

Vs pet actor au (Valentino version)

Warnings: val is worried, pet acts panicked, crying, non canon events,

“Come here princesa” val coos in his characters voice to your character as you act out a fake shiver of fear

You act out the scene of abuse with fake tears streaming down your face. The scene was one that you had been nervous about for weeks, having known that it was a disturbing scene to watch and film.

In the scene, vals character had locked your character in a room with him to imply that he would possibly assault her like he had done to angels character to cause her to panic and breakdown.

You and val had gone over lines together in your trailer and lamented about how it would be a rough filming day for the two of you, considering you had the punishment scene to film just after.

But you put on a brave face as you acted out your scene with minimal distraction. You followed the script and your weeping character sat beside Val on the soft couch as the camera did a close up on your face to ensure they captured the panic in your eyes and the quiver in your bitten lips.

as it came time for val’s character Valentino to touch your thigh in a menacing implication, he did so and you felt a shiver uncomfortably run through you.

You suddenly became hyper aware of the people behind the cameras who had their eyes peeled on you, and how the pink lighting shined so brightly on you.

As your cue came to jump into val’s arms, you froze completely with your face lowered to your thigh and tears running down your cheeks.

“Cut” the director called out and it broke you out your frozen daydream

“Everything okay kid?” Val whispers with a concerned look as he removes his hand from your thigh

“I don’t think I can do it” you whisper back through tears as you face your back to the cameras

“Everything okay up there guys?” The director called out with a concerned expression

Val uses his wings to hide your face and tucked you against his chest before he answered, making sure to spare you any embarrassment.

“We’re gonna need a 15 minute break” val called back politely “private please”

The director nodded with an understanding look before calling most of the set to go on a break away from the filming Scene.

Val turned to you and put a hand on your shoulder.

“Are you okay kid?” Val asks with a worried look as he pulls you away from his chest to observe your expression

“Yeah” you say with a shaky inhale as you wipe your tearful eyes with your palm “it all got a bit much for me”

“I get it kid, it’s a hard scene to film for everyone” val says with a nod and a soothing tone “that’s why I tried to put it off for as long as possible”

“I’m just not used to doing scenes like this guess” you say with a sigh “I had the same problem with Vox during our panic scene, I think it just gets too much for me”

“Your playing a very difficult role honey, it’s understandable that you’ll get a bit freaked out during your scenes” val says gently

“I can’t believe I made them stop shooting, I bet they’re all so mad at me now” you say with an embarrassed groan “I should have just continued”

“Hey, hey, no one is mad at you” val says with a reassuring tone “your having to put yourself in very disturbing scenarios, you have every right to stop filming when you feel uncomfortable and anyone who tells you otherwise hasn’t got a clue about how much work these scenes take”

You nod with a frown, still embarrassed about your freak out, Val notices and wraps his arm around your shoulder

“How about we go get some water and then go talk to the intimacy coordinator about how we can make it feel less overwhelming” val suggests with a smile “or we can try and ask if we could use your body double for the scenes where my hand is physically touching you”

“Yeah” you say with a small nod and a smile “let’s go talk to the intimacy coordinator please”

“Of course sweetheart” val says with a gentle smile as he wraps his hand and wing around your shoulders and begins to guide you to the door.

You managed to work out a way to make the scene to work after a few different attempts and you captured your best shots before retreating to your trailer with Val in tow as you both celebrated a successful scene by eating food while you had your wigs, makeup and costumes removed.

After that day, Val made it a point to always be present during your harder scenes and was always checking in on you during the breaks between takes. He also made sure to update the intimacy coordination on your preferences so they could be added to your filming contract.

You were the youngest of the actors he was working with, and he wanted to make sure you were completely protected while on set.

Should I do more?

Sorry it’s so short 😭

Tag list:

@the-faceless-bride @idontreallyexistyet @ivebeenthearchersstuff @hazbinhotelxreader @fandomaddict505 @corvid007 @buttercupfangirl @lilyalone @rerarlo @perkypeony @sparkleyfishies @repostingmyfavs

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

Why has Barnaby made TWO hospital visits in one year??? What was the first one about??? [<-Talking about the Human AU]

no yeah the first one was Howdy's brief stint (a couple hours) for the whole smoke inhilation minor injuries from the fire thing.

the second one was for Wally's festive lil car crash where he comes very close to Fuckign Dying!!! and. well. technically there are many different visits for that one cause he's in the hospital for a hot sec, but yk. technically only two hospital-worthy events

[stormy-river]

Transcripts from the Humanity Hotline 7

As I finished this, I discovered it's been exactly one year since I posted the last Transcript. A lot has happened in that year; I've graduated college :) . I want to thank everyone for the support I've received, and I hope to get back into some of my creative projects and give you guys an opportunity to laugh, and maybe learn something. This one is inspired by a request from @a-romantic-twst from forever ago; I hope it was worth the wait (sorry about that). (It's about periods if anyone's uncomfortable with that and wants to skip this one.)

------

Operator: "Hi, my name is Mindy. How may I help you today?"

Caller: "Hello, Mindy, I am very concerned about one of the humans on my ship."

O: "What seems to be the problem?"

C: "Well, I'm the chief medical officer and this particular human has been on the ship for just over two Earth months now. On two separate occasions during that time, she has requested strong painkillers citing 'Shark Week' as the reason. I looked into what 'Shark Week' is, and found an Earth television special about certain aquatic predators, and I'm unsure how that could cause a human physical pain lightyears from Earth?"

O: "Interesting, is there anything else you can tell me about this human during these events?"

C: "Yes, I've also received reports from other crewmembers around these events that this human is not as outgoing as usual, and shows signs of discomfort with facial expressions and changes in appetite, but does not respond well to the standard psychological protocols for team building and social connection."

O: "What about the timing? You said this has happened twice, correct? How much time was between them?"

C: "Yes, I've documented both with dates. The human requested the painkillers twice, 28 days apart. The crew reported signs of distress for a few days following each request, and two times in the day before the first request."

O: "Alright, I believe your human is using the phrase, "Shark Week" as a euphemism for the start of the menstrual cycle, which is often referred to as a 'period'. To put it simply, one of the female reproductive organs sheds its inner lining roughly once an Earth month, lasting anywhere from a few days to a full week."

C: "Similar to how the Rythyani shed and replace their stomach linings?"

O: "Yes, though the uterus has blood vessels that extend into that lining, so shedding also causes bleeding."

C: "Bleeding? How much blood is lost? Why has she not requested bandages or a transfusion?"

O: "For most, a period is not life-threatening. The amount of blood loss does not require a transfusion to replace, or bandages to stop, though iron deficiency may be a concern for some that can be easily remedied through their diet. Ultimately, your human will know her body and how to handle her cycle best. We learn to deal with periods from a relatively young age. You should have received a human anatomy and physiology textbook when the first human joined your crew. Do you have it?"

C: "Yes, though I do admit I have not yet had the time to read it."

O: "That's alright. The chapter on human reproductive systems goes into more detail about the biology of the menstrual cycle than I can tell you. For the time being, make sure your human knows that she can ask for support if needed, and inform your crew that not all humans will be happy all the time, and they don't need to be. Over time, you will gain a better understanding your humans' patterns. Until then, trust them to express their needs, and talk to them if you have specific concerns. I can give general advice, but they will know themselves best."

C: "Thank you for clearing up the confusion, Mindy, I will look into this and update the protocols as necessary. I have no more questions for you at this time."

O: "You are very welcome, please don't hesitate to call again if something else comes up."

End Transmission

[shiro-luvs-victor]

This is just my impression so far on the MCs of Ikemen Series. I have seen posts about Ikemen MC not having enough spite, dumb, damsel and distress etc etc....and to some point I do agree with it. Even I made a post about MCs being overly positive. But at the same time I feel like this is done on purpose from the writers' part.

Let's just say it, the MCs are not really that relatable even though they try to make it look like that. MCs in these games are very kind-hearted for no reason, overly positive and lack basic common sense. For example, take this scene from Harry's story event:

Harry did mention to her before this that he can detect if a person is lying or not when he makes eye-contact. In the scene mentioned above, a person with common sense can easily tell that Harry lost on purpose. But for some reason Kate thought he lost because she was able deceived him. It is only later that Harry told her and Kate looked genuinely surprised. I don't think Kate is dumb. But I feel like the writers think we players are not that smart enough to distinguish between Harry's lies and truth. It makes me laugh some times.

I just honestly feel like MCs are portrayed this way so that we players could understand the game and its characters better. Like Paimon from genshin, who repeats everything in baby terms so that we could understand what we have to do (even if her screechy noise is annoying). MCs here are played by us, so when male characters has a plan that they don't reveal, MCs try to find out what their plan is so that we could understand. That's it. MCs are here just simplify the story to make us understand the character's better. They'll only ask the male characters what's needed to know right now and not anything extra. If it where a realistic MCs, she would ask more logical questions like:

Is Victor also cursed?

If Crown consists of only 'cursed' people and Victor went around to search these people, are there any 'cursed' people out there who rejected his request?

More questions on their abilities like: Can Harry still detect lies if someone closes their eye? Can Elbert trigger sad memories if a person doesn't have a sad memory? etc etc...

But we don't see Kate asking these questions.

I feel like the reason why we feel sometimes frustrated when MCs act in a certain way is because these MCs are not at all realistic. I'll never believe that someone with common sense did not try to run away after watching a murder happen. I'll never believe that someone with common sense falling into easy traps. Like this one scene from Silvio's story where, Silvio's daddy visits Rhodolite because his lost son is found and he also wants to know if Rhodolite King is dead blah blah blah...you guys know that story (I assume). Emma has to choose the next King without Silvio's dad knowing and they wait for Sariel's call. A servant comes to Emma's room to call both her and Rio. This servant itself is sus because Emma clearly states that she hasn't seen that servant before. When I read this, I immediately knew it was red flag. But even so, Emma and Rio ignores the red flag and goes with the servant and what do you know? They get kidnapped. The scene was very predictable. But it's so frustrating because, realistically speaking I think normal people would feel a little bit suspicious about the person given the situation. Maybe even question the servant. That's why I'm saying...I do feel MCs are not realistic enough. I don't think anyone is overly-kindhearted to the point that they would accept insults from the male leads and be like "I'm going to prove myself to you!". Normal people would just be like "fuck off!" and won't listen to their insults. No one is so dumb it fall into easy traps and no normal person is like "I will work hard to get to know them better." Majority of the people are way smarter and way selfish (not in a bad way though!). Many people have attitude, not everyone are kind to strangers. That's why MCs are not realistic, so there is no use in comparing MC to your personality or your intelligence. They are just tools for explaining the story in a simplified way and moving the plot forward. Because like I said, if Emma and Rio didn't go with the servant and get kidnapped, Silvio's story wouldn't move forward.

That's all. This no hate, this is just how I felt after reading quite amount of stories both in-game and on tumblr. MC's don't have much background because the writers don't really put too much thought about their personality. MCs are basically last on their lists. They just make sure that she's an adult, working woman (doing some odd jobs like a flowershop lady or something, because I've never seen a CEO MC), and they are very kind for some reason. They don't have family (except for Emma), they don't have a story, they don't have anything that impacts their personality. At least it would have been nice to see why a MC is so kind-hearted would be nice. But otome games' main selling points are the male leads. The male leads falls for MC's purity in their dark world.

[thelostgirl21]

English Translators: "Jaskier" translates as "Buttercup", but we can't just let a manly man use "Buttercup" as his nickname! That's way too feminine, and our readers would be horrified! Let's call him "Dandelion" instead. Yes, much better... Mucho macho...

Netflix & Joey Batey: Yeah, no. We'll just call him Buttercup by keeping the original Polish name, i.e. Jaskier.

So, this is our very own Prince Buttercup. He's a damoiseau in distress that's regularly in need of being rescued, enjoys chatting with animals, and might randomly break into song.

He feels very comfortable asking a strong, stoic, muscular man to accompany him to the Royal Ball for protection, and will attempt to convince him by rubbing chamomile onto his lovely bottom, giving him a bath, washing his stupid hair, and dressing him up in stylish, fine clothing.

He tends to see the good in everyone, and will spontaneously attempt to become friends with things that want to eat him (both figuratively and literally).

However he can occasionally become pretty condescending with commoners, and treat those that fail to appreciate his talent as beneath him; often with a complete disregard for his personal safety, as if it doesn't seem to occur to him right away that they'd actually dare lay their filthy hands on him.

He cries very pretty (so pretty), and will look at you with gorgeous doe eyes when he feels sad, hurt, scared, or needs a favor.

He's very distrustful and afraid of power-hungry sexy witches coming at him from many different angles, until they stop being all predatory and menacing, and begin rescuing and protecting him instead.

He gets along very well with other princes/princesses, and will resent not being invited to one of the most important social events of the Continent, but not getting to spend more time with them.

And he never experienced what romantic love truly was until he finally got to meet his very own Prince.

Obviously, Prince Radovid fell in love with our Buttercup at first sight, and was willing to give up his Kingdom for a chance to be by his side.

And as far as Prince Buttercup is concerned, he sees himself as a

because that's simply who he is, and that's also what masculinity looks like.

So, unless Jaskier, in the books, is a very insecure man that constantly worries about being mistaken for a woman, I can't help but find it hilarious that the translators of the books, in English, got so worried over "Buttercup" sounding feminine...

...when the character himself likely wouldn't have been bothered by the way it sounds in the least, and would totally have rocked that nickname while making it work perfectly for a guy!

Hell! As a non-native English speaker, other than the fact that I've seen the movie "The Princess Bride", and the princess in it was named "Buttercup", my brain does not at all perceive "Buttercup" as inherently feminine, nor "Dandelion" as inherently masculine.

Perhaps because, in French, each word has its own gender, and "bouton d'or" (i.e. "buttercup", but the literal translation would be "button made of gold") is masculine.

Un bouton d'or (a buttercup) is masculine.

Un pissenlit (a dandelion) is masculine.

Une rose (a rose) is feminine.

Une tulippe (a tulip) is feminine.

Etc.

"Princess Buttercup" is thus named "Princesse Bouton d'or" (it's actually the title of the movie) in French.

But "Bouton d'or" (Buttercup) is, by itself, a masculine word.

The funny thing is that, where I'm from, I think the dandelion is literally the single most hated flower I can think of.

When I was a kid, my parents - and pretty much all our neighbors - spent countless hours trying to remove every single dandelion they could find on their lawn and in their garden while making sure to fully eliminate the whole root, because they tended to replace all the grass, and some of the other flowers and plants from their garden.

Some of our neighbors had their lawns treated with very harsh chemicals (many of which are thankfully illegal today) in a desperate effort to get rid of them.

Dandelion always makes allergy season a complete and utter nightmare, makes it harder to breathe outside (those floating bits clouding the air always get stuck in your nose, throat or even eyes), it also clogs the air filter of your car...

And, when you cut them at the stem, your hands wind up all sticky and smelling awful.

Unless they want to make a point that they'll be extremely annoying, unwanted, sticky, smelly, trying to get into every single exposed orifice of your body as soon as you're exposed to them, and hard to get rid of, why would anyone ever wish to nickname themselves "dandelion"?

I mean, "pissenlit", the French name for "dandelion", comes from "pisse-en-lit" and literally means "peeing-in-bed".

Because if you eat dandelion leaves, they will make you pee and wet your bed (they have a strong diuretic effect).

Yes, we hate the dandelion so much, that we've decided to name that freaking flower "peeing-in-bed".

So, if you go from the original Polish name to the English translation of the name, and then translate the English name back to French...

You've essentially replaced:

Jaskier - > Buttercup - > Button made of gold (Bouton d'or).

By

Jaskier - > Dandelion - > Peeing-in-bed (Pissenlit).

It's hilarious!

All because some English translator got scared "Buttercup" would sound "too feminine".

The good news is that we kept Jaskier's name as "Jaskier" in the French translation of the books and the games. Although Bouton d'or would have worked just fine.

But yeah, come on! Jaskier would have made a beautiful Buttercup!

#the art of creating some gender issue where there's none.

When in doubt, just ask the character...

Would Jaskier have had what it took to call himself a "Buttercup"?

You bet your lovely bottom and bloated biceps he would have!

Still can't wrap my mind around him being a peeing-in-bed flower in English... Just... Nope! Does not compute.

[totesnothere04]

Unexpected Turn of Events Pt. 1

Tonowari x Fem!Reader

I do not own ANY of the fanart I use for my fics.

Pt. 2 here.

You slid off of the back of Jake's Ikran and looked all around you in pure awe. Awa'atlu was a place you'd only heard stories of its beauty. The never-ending expanse of the sky, the sound of the waves crashing, and the sounds of the villagers coming to check your group out. Being human you stuck out like a sore thumb among the extremely tall natives. Many of the villagers that had gathered were obviously not fans of your presence. You stayed still as you observed Jake for instructions, but he was more focused on showing the group wasn't hostile. Neytiri seemed to grow in height as she looked down her nose at everyone. Neteyam was already trying to befriend two of the Metkayina boys, and Lo'ak decided to try to follow his big brother's lead... For once. Kiri kept her arms crossed as she didn't seem pressed to be inviting. Tuk was nervous from all of the attention on the family which was evident from her shuffling to be hidden behind someone.

The sound of approaching Tsurak caught your attention and you turned that way. You'd always wanted to see one since you arrived on Pandora nearly 20 years ago. You let out a quiet exhale of breath as you remember your age, and chuckled at your thoughts. A very tall, teal-green skin and ordained in intricate garb. It clicked that this was the Olo'eyktan and you suddenly felt small. You had only befriended a couple of other clan leaders after the war due to Jake wanting a semi-diplomatic leader for the humans. From what Jake had told you of Tonowari he was a difficult leader to get used to. As the larger Na'vi approached you tried to make yourself unseen since he was slightly intimidating to you. Unfortunately, you were the closest to him as he walked out of the water and he immediately took notice of your presence. He took long strides toward you and stared down at you when he was directly infront of you. You took a deep breath and looked up to meet his eyes.

"Oel ngati kameie, Olo'eyktan Tonowari." You say and somehow keep your voice steady and strong.

"Oel ngati kameie, Tsahík (Y/n) of the good Sky People." Tonowari says and your eyes widened as you quickly cast a look to Jake who was just as confused as you.

"No disrespect Olo'eyktan, but I am not a Tsahík. I'm only a doctor that tends to wounds for the Omatikaya and Na'vi supportive humans." You clarify and he shakes his head.

"Your search for answers, connection to our planet, and extraordinary healing abilities earn you that title for your people." Tonowari states with a low voice that seems to vibrate through the very ground you stand on. He had heard of your exploits even all the way out here past the forest. Not only your strong stance next to Toruk Makto but your seemingly natural ability to adapt to your environment, despite your disadvantages. Unbeknownst to both you and the Olo'eyktan he had stood there looking you up and down. You didn't dress like a demon, you didn't act like one, and you seemingly didn't want to be associated with them. Jake senses your distress under the intense stare of the taller Na'vi and finally jumps to your rescue.

"Oel ngati kameie, Olo'eyktan Tonowari." Jake said as Tonowari finally tore his eyes away from you. You released a breath you had been unknowingly holding and tuned into the conversation between Jake and Tonowari.

"Oel ngati kameie, Jakesully. Why have you come to us?" Tonowari asks.

"I seek uturu for my family." Jake says as he picks up Tuk.

"You family?" Tonowari says as he looks at everyone but stops at you. "I was unaware you had two mates Jakesully." Tonowari said and you involuntarily cringed and Jake looked confused.

"I don't." Jake says with confusion.

"Ugh Jake he thinks I'm your second mate. I'm not his mate Olo'eyktan. I'm a family friend." You told Tonowari.

"More like overprotective Auntie." Lo'ak mumbled loud enough for you and Tonowari to hear. Your head snapped in his direction and sent him a light glare.

"Lo'ak... Show some respect we might be in the presence of friends, but they are to be shown the utmost respect. Especially your elders." You scolded him lightly and Neteyam nudged his side with his elbow with a snicker.

"I apologize for my son's behavior." Jake is quick to apologize but Tonowari looks like he was holding in laughter.

"Aside from that you are forest people, we are reef people. Your skills will be of no use here." Tonowari says.

"We can adapt. Right guys? We can adapt." Jake says and asks his family. Tonowari looks to his children and thinks for a moment.

"Toruk Makto and his family will be staying with us. Treat them as our brothers and sisters for they will be like babies taking their first breath. Teach them our ways so they do not suffer the shame of being useless." Tonowari announced to the gathered people. He stepped closer to our group. "My daughter Tsireya and my son Ao'nung will be showing your children what to do." Ao'nung stepped forward to complain to his dad and you rolled your neck to look at Neytiri. She looked at you and coughed to hide a chuckle. "It is decided. Tsireya will show you around, and I will show (Y/n) around. She is a healer is she not?" Tonowari asked.

"I am." You say and grab your few measly items and your bag and follow the giant man. He stops at a marui that was slightly isolated from the others and motions for you to enter.

"This is your new home." Tonowari says and you nod. "I must attend to training Jakesully." He says and you grab your med bag and move to follow him. He looks at you amused and slightly confused.

"If there is one thing that Jake is, it's clumsy. At least with new things, once he's used to it it'll be second nature to him. Until then I'll be on standby for any incidents." You say and Tonowari chuckles and leads the way.

~About a Month Later~

You finished patching up a spear wound from a hunting accident and sent the poor boys on their way. Kiri and Tuk ran into the marui and you grabbed your med bag.

"Which one is it this time?" You asked and they shook their heads.

"We wanted to see if you wanted to come with us to the Cove of Ancestors? It's their version of the Tree of Souls." Kiri said and you thought about it.

"Alright I'll come. Only because I haven't left this pod since yesterday." You said and slung your bag over your shoulder.

"Do you really need to bring your healing supplies?" Kiri asks.

"Yes. There is a good chance that one of you could get hurt and I refuse to not be prepared." You say and follow the two girls to their siblings and friends.

"Yes! Auntie is actually doing something for once." Neteyam pokes at you.

"I do alot of things Neteyam, but you wouldn't know what they are. I heal people all day, everyday." You say and he groans.

"Sorry Auntie." He says and you chuckle as you sit behind him and grab his waist. The ride there didn't take as long as you thought it would and you were floating infront of the tree with the kids. You watched it sway with the current as you stated in awe. It was magnificent. Matching the beauty of the Tree of Souls back in the forest. The kids all started attaching their queues to the tree, and you watched them with fondness. When Kiri attached hers the leaves surrounding you moved and you looked at them curiously. Then they moved again but this time reaching out and grabbing ahold of you. You let out a sound of surprise and this caught Neteyam and Tsireya's attention. They started to make their way to you, but as they grabbed your hand one of the leaves pushed your mask off of your face to drag you into it. They couldn't focus on trying to reach you for too long since Kiri started to seize. Neteyam and Tsireya switched their attention to Kiri to get her above water. Once topside Lo'ak and Tuk looked around for you frantically.

"Where's (Y/n)?" Lo'ak asked them.

"The Tree took her." Tsireya said in a rush.

"Okay. Tsireya and I will take Kiri back. You two look for (Y/n). We'll send either Mom or Dad back to help." Neteyam said then he and Tsireya left. Lo'ak turned to Tuk who was just as panicked as him. They started searching around the tree, but they couldn't find you. They stayed at the top for a short break then dove back down. Tuk went back up as her panic started to cause her breath to leave faster. When she surfaced she saw her Dad and Tonowari. When Jake saw her he made a b-line right for her and scooped her up.

"What's going on Tuk?" Jake asked his youngest.

"I don't know. We were all enjoying the Cove of Ancestors and were connecting with the tree. It took (Y/n)." Tuk said quickly and as she finished Lo'ak surfaced.

"I can't find her she's just gone." Lo'ak said and Jake looked at Tonowari.

"The tree took her?" Jake asked his son.

"Yeah. I thought Neteyam was going to explain the situation to you." Lo'ak said somewhat frustrated.

"He did. Alright I need you to take Tuk back home. Tonowari and I will search for her. Assist Tsireya with Kiri as much as you can." Jake said and Lo'ak nodded then took Tuk back to Awa'atlu. "Has the tree ever done something like this before?"

"No. I'm just as confused as the rest of you." Tonowari admitted. They both dove down and started searching the far side of the tree thinking you might've escaped to the other side. On the way back to the front of the tree Tonowari went up toward the leaves, while Jake continued looking near the base. He noticed a body floating down from the leaves, but it was a Metkayina Na'vi woman. Her queue was attached to one of the leaves as she seemed to pulse with an unheard heartbeat. Jake surfaced to catch his breath and Tonowari followed behind him. When they caught eyes Tonowari presented your exo-pack to Jake.

"I think I found her. I'm not completely sure." Jake said and Tonowari looked at him confused.

"How can you not be sure?" Tonowari asked and Jake just dove back down with his friend following behind him. The closer they got they noticed the mysterious Na'vi was wearing your clothes and carrying your med bag. Jake and Tonowari grabbed what they believed to be you and dragged you to the surface. The moment your face hit the open air you started coughing up water. While still recovering from your coughing fit you felt the face of the person holding you.

"Jake. Are the kids alright?" You asked and he nearly dropped you. He still wasn't expecting this to be you.

"Kiri had a seizure under water, and (Y/n)... You aren't human anymore." Jake spoke and your hand immediately went to your face to try and find your exo-pack. You saw your hands and arms and became very confused.

"What happened?" You asked the two men, but they were just as confused as you. "Nevermind that Kiri needs me. Would one of you gentlemen mind giving me a ride back?" You asked and Tonowari almost instantly invites you onto his Tsurak. The three of you take off fast from the area and back home so you can care for Kiri. You can focus on this odd transfiguration later, your niece matters more. The moment your feet hit the ground you were running to your marui to grab your stuff. You were basically throwing things into your bag and sorting through what you didn't need.

"(Y/n)?" You heard Tsireya behind you so you turned to look at her.

"Any update on Kiri?" You asked her but she stood shocked staring at you. "Tsireya?"

"Sh-she stopped seizing, but now she is unconscious and unresponsive." Tsireya said and you nodded your head once then grabbed your bag. "Some of Jakesully's friends arrived and are currently trying to figure out what happened to Kiri."

"They will not be able to figure it out. They are not actual doctors and Kiri seized attached to the tree yes?" You asked her and she nodded. "Then there's a good chance that this is spiritual." You finished grabbing your stuff and started to rush to the Sully's marui.

"How... What happened (Y/n)?" Tsireya asked.

"I'm not sure, and right now it doesn't matter. Kiri matters." You said and sharply turned toward your location. As soon as you were in the doorway you were met with the sight of Neytiri pacing anxiously, Norm trying to figure out what was wrong, Jake talking to Norm, and the rest of the kids next to you outside.

"Auntie?" Neteyam asked as you marched inside.

"Norm get out." You said somewhat harshly and he looked up at you confused as to who you were. "I said. Get. Out." You said to him and realization seemed to dawn on him.

"(Y/n) what-" Norm started but you cut him off.

"Not the time. Go." You said and he started packing everything away. You started to unpack things and let your hands hover over her. You finally let your palms settle on her head and chest and turned back to your bag. At this point, you were allowing the information implanted in the back of your mind to guide your hands. This caught the attention of Neytiri, Jake, Tsireya, and Tonowari. They were all watching as you performed a ritual that you had never even witnessed. When Kiri stirred awake you collapsed back being caught by Tsireya and Tonowari.

"How did you know to do that?" Tonowari asked quietly.

"When I was attached to the tree Tsahík Ronal implanted her wisdom in my mind. I'm still confused why I was... Evolved." You told him and he started to help you up.

"We need to get you some food and back to your marui so you can get rest. A ritual like this one takes alot of energy, both spiritual and physical." Tonowari says and turns to Tsireya.

"Daughter. Would you be so kind as to pack her things and take them back to her pod?" Tonowari asks his youngest. She nods and starts collecting your things. As you went to exit a hand shot out and stopped you.

"Thank you (Y/n). You don't know how much this means to me." Jake says and you make eye contact with him.

"After Grace... I think I do. Go and be with your family Jake. Kiri needs you and Neytiri now more than ever." You said but he stopped you again.

"What exactly happened out there?" Jake asked and you looked over to Neteyam and motioned for him to come over. He came up to the three of you and looked up at you.

"This is weird Auntie." Neteyam says and you chuckle.

"You were a witness to what happened earlier Neteyam. Whatever I can't fill in could you possibly do so?" You asked him and he nodded. "Well, I was happily watching the children bond with the tree and started to watch as Kiri bonded with it. She always gets this serene look on her face as she attaches to it. But when she attached this time there seemed to be some kind of reaction from the tree to me. The leaves started moving and I thought it was the current so I looked at them. Then they started to move toward me and grabbing ahold of me. Neteyam and Tsireya tried to reach me and pull me from its grasp, and that's the last thing I remember with the group."

"Right after the tree took her Kiri started to seize so we had no choice but to leave Lo'ak and Tuk to search for her." Neteyam finished and Tonowari looked at Jake.

"(Y/n) said that Ronal implanted her wisdom in her mind while she was being changed. What if the Great Mother knew Kiri was in trouble and provided a solution? The only mind in the group that could handle all of the information and change." Tonowari said and he motioned to you, who was still leaning on him for support.

"If you will excuse me, Jake. I'm exhausted and starving. I need to go restore my energy." You said and he bowed out of the conversation.

"I concur. I will prepare some food." Tonowari said.

"That's unnecessary Olo-" You started but he cut you off.

"Call me Tonowari. Please." He says and you nod. "And I insist." You only nodded knowing you weren't going to get anywhere fighting against his generosity.

[kentosovertime]

(n.) the extraordinary sense upon first meeting someone, that you will one day fall in love

➳ nanami kento x gojo's sister/afab reader - 6.5k (oopsies)

➳ a/n: does nanami deserve a happy ending after shibuya? did anything happen between reader and geto after nanami left? (so many ideas just off of this one fic and its so refreshing to write gojo platonically for once) enjoy~

➳ cw: explicit content, explicit language, tension, angst, choking, hair pulling, unprotected sex, breeding, stranger to friends to strangers to lovers, idiots to lovers on a journey, miscommunication, everyone's depressed anxious and existential

✨Masterlist | Tag List | Ask Box | Open Request Event | AO3 | Ko-Fi✨

10 years ago…

“And why exactly am I the one to be dragged along for this?” Nanami’s eye twitches in annoyance as he follows Gojo down the hallway to where the classrooms are. “Where’s Geto? This seems more his speed.”

“I’m not bringing Geto along for this.” Gojo scoffs loudly at the idea. The last thing he needed was Geto giving her fuck me eyes like he did when he stayed at the clan houses for the summer. “The pervert can’t be trusted with such a delicate task.” 

“Trouble in paradise, Satoru?” His voice drawls, bored out of his mind already. These dramatics were a waste of his time. Whatever this was, he didn't need to be here. 

Gojo’s blue glare pins him as he stops outside the first year classroom, an edge of distress in his gaze.

“I brought you because I trust you around my-” A cloud of dust suddenly plumes around Satoru’s head and Nanami watches as a chalkboard eraser clatters to the ground from where it nailed him in the… is his infinity off?

“It's the first day, you ass!” Someone hisses behind Satoru, just out of Nanami’s field of vision as Satoru rubs the back of his head with a pout. “Can I go one god damn day without you showing up and making my life more annoying than you make it at home?”

Nanami's eyes widen slightly as he peeks out from behind Satoru to take in the girl handing Gojo’s ass to him. Tall.. curvy… with long white hair- his thoughts are cut off by a pair of squealing girls inside the classroom. A quick look has him seeing them pointing at Satoru and whispering, along with a boy who’s rolling his eyes at their antics while keeping a very close eye on you. 

“How did you even know I was here?” He whines, rubbing the bump on his head. “You should be paying attention to Yaga.”  

Nanami watches as she huffs out an exasperated sigh and points at her eyes, covered by sunglasses.

“Six eyes.” You snip, turning your finger to point aggressively at him. “And you stomp around like a toddler and control your volume as well as one. Where’s Geto? He’s the capable one between the two of you.”

“Sorry.” Nanami finally pipes up, giving you a small wave as he clears his throat. “I was enlisted instead. You try controlling this menace… You must be his.. sister?” 

“Mhmm..” You turn your blue gaze to him, taking him in as you nod your head in Satoru’s direction. “Surely you’re not friends with this? I implore you to have better taste.”

You didn’t know your brother had decent friends, you hum to yourself. Your sharp eyes take in his presence, the cursed energy around him steady and calm despite dealing with Satoru. His presence and attention feels soft… there’s a rightness to it.

“See, Nanamin? She’s just as bad! Stop acting like I’m the only one who’s annoying. And you-” He turns to you with an assessing glare. “Talking about Geto a lot... obsessed much?” 

“Must run in the family.” A bored yawn comes from your mouth as your brother’s teeth grit. 

You 1, Satoru 0. 

An uncharacteristic snort flies from Nanami’s throat and your heart flies into your throat knowing that you’ve managed to almost make him laugh. He’s so serious you’re sure it's not a common occurrence. You want to hear him do it again. 

“We’ll leave you to class.” He doesn’t give Satoru the option as he pushes him down the hallway and out of the building. “I’ll see you la-” 

Nanami turns to the quiet spot looming behind him that’s normally filled with Satoru’s endless prattling, only to see him gazing up at the building with a worried look on his face, chewing on his cheek in thought. 

“I had to threaten the clan to get her here… helps that they can’t touch me now.” He says softly. “They don’t see how good she is… they only see that she doesn't have the limitless technique. Not how she’s used the eyes to adapt other techniques.” 

“Where else would she be if not here?” Nanami is sure that he knows the answer, hoping he’ll hear something else come from his senior’s lips. 

“Sixteen’s a little too young to be breeding stock for the Zen’ins. Naoya’s a piece of shit.” Gojo shoves his hands in his pockets and shrugs. His eyes meet Nanami’s over the rim of his round sunglasses, more serious than he’s ever seen him. “Geto and I.. We won’t be on campus often.” 

He holds Satoru’s gaze for a moment longer, giving a quick nod in agreement. Even if he feels he’s being selfish in fulfilling this for him. 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

By the end of your second year in Jujutsu High, you’ve felt like you can breathe for some time now. It’s not that you don’t appreciate everything that Satoru did to get you here, but it's nice not to have to deal with the shadow he cast while he was a third year. 

At least you had Ken, even if he’d be graduating at the end of the month, leaving you alone here without someone to lean on. You feel he counts on you just as much as you do him, opening up about the hole Haibara left in his life before you came to school here. 

You lay on a couch in one of the common rooms, your feet propped on his lap as he reads. You examine the ends of your hair absentmindedly, trying to build up the courage you need to tell him how you feel. 

There’s no guarantee that you’ll see him again once he graduates and takes on jobs. No guarantee that he’ll survive them. You don’t want to have regrets when it comes to him. Not when you’ve never had someone like him in your lonely life in the Gojo clan. 

“Ken…” You start, licking your lips nervously. 

“Yeah, hun?” He shifts to gaze at you over his book, looking at you curiously. 

“I…” You start, swallowing around the lump in your throat, chickening out at the last second and changing the subject before he can ask why you’re acting so cagey. “Where are you planning to be based after graduation?”

“Oh.. I..” Your eyes note a nervous flare in his cursed energy, his body tensing under your legs. You pull your legs from him, sitting up as your brows pull together. 

“Is everything ok, Ken?” You asked worriedly. “Listen, I can take care of someone if they’re bothering you.” 

“It's not that…” He sighs and closes his book carefully before turning to you. “I haven’t told anyone yet but… I’m leaving jujutsu. I’m going to work a normal person's job away from all this death and despair.” 

“O-Oh?” Your heart seizes, scared he’s going somewhere that you won’t be able to reach him. Your voice cracks, betraying your emotions. “You’re still going to visit… right?”

“N-No… I don’t think I can do this,” he waves his hands around at the school, “anymore, hun. It’s too much. All the pain.” 

You stare at him, your blue eyes unguarded as they start to mist. He’d just leave you behind? Not talk to you? Not beg you to come with him even if your clan will never let you follow?

“Good to know I mean nothing to you.” You bite out, your bitter attitude you reserve for those you’ve written off. This is just the first one to mean something to you. 

You leave before he can see your tears fall. There’s no death for a jujutsu sorcerer without regrets… you suppose yours will be no different. 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Present Day

You yawn and settle in the chair, crossing your arms as you watch Satoru sitting in the seat across from you. 

“I trust you’re not destroying my house with that student of yours.” You hum, examining your manicured nails. 

“Well Yaga’s cursed doll may have broken a TV but I replaced it. Yuji needs to watch his movies.” His grin widens.

“Then I don’t get why you had the higher ups pull me from my assignment.” You huff in offense. “That was good money.” 

“Like you need it.” He rolls his eyes and unwraps a pastry that he munches on loudly. “Besides I’d like you to hop in to help with Yuji.” 

“Yes, master. Anything for you, oh, Strongest One.” His jaw twitches and you mentally note another win on your tally board. “You really have him just sitting in my basement watching movies? Remind me to pray you never have kids.”

“I’m fantastic with kids! They love me!” He argues before dropping into a more serious tone. “I have someone I trust with him but I was stopped by two unregistered special grade curses last night. Keep them alive pretty please.”

“Someone you trust? I thought that list was nonexistent these days.” You figure keeping them alive involves ensuring Sukuna stays sealed and these two stay healed up with your reverse curse technique. 

Satoru’s phone rings in his pocket, making him smirk when he sees who it is. 

“The sewer?” Your nose crinkles in disgust as you listen, wondering why curses can’t appear in a five star hotel and spa. You’ll make sure that your dry cleaner’s bill makes its way to your brother if he expects you to go there. “I have a higher ups to terrorize but I can drop off some back up for you.”

“You better be providing hazard pay for my clothing.” You mutter as he hangs up, giving you a shit eating grin. 

“You could try not wearing $900 shoes while fighting curses.”

“Says the man who spends over a thousand on one shirt.” You scoff. 

“They don’t get dirty. One of us has limitless.” You glower at him as he pretends to draw a tally on his side of the board. “Don’t look at me like that. At least you won’t be bored.”

Satoru stands, picking an invisible piece of lint off of his navy blue coat, waiting for you to stand, placing a hand is his so he can teleport you. 

Sparing poor Ichiji a ride into the city for you and putting his plan into motion for you? You should be thanking him for being such a wonderful brother. He’s truly the best matchmaker in Japan. 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

Nanami panted in exertion, his stamina starting to fail, his movement growing sloppy as he compensates for the wound seeping blood into the torn fabric of his shirt. He dodges the swing from the patchwork curse in front of him, in a state to only be able to defend. He grits his teeth in frustration, the match up unfair when he can’t damage the soul of his opponent that’s constantly in flux. He needs to distract him long enough to make a break for it and report this to Gojo. 

A light, quicker cadence of footsteps enters his range of hearing as he ducks behind a large piece of debris, not seeing the arm that had shifted yet again, bending around the rubble to reach for the killing blow, but it never comes. Instead his vision is filled with the flash of blue cursed energy, the veins of energy moving to push the curse’s reach away, grabbing a hold at launching him across the room. 

“Thank yo-” His mouth goes dry as a blur of long white hair streaks across his field of vision, charging the curse from where she slammed him into a pillar. “Don’t let him touch you!” 

Fear like he’s never known floods his system. You shouldn’t be here. Not if it means exposing you to the possibilities that this curse presents. He won’t let you be the next face that he sees, torn, bloody, and lifeless, when he closes his eyes at night. 

“I know.” You snap at him, your cursed energy wrapping around your body like a blanket, making the curse’s attacks graze right over you as energy blasts forth and ties its way around every piece of the curse it touches, slowing him now, sealing him like the talismans you specialize in before he graduated. 

“I forget you know everything.” He grunts, the impatience and immaturity bubbling up to the surface as the memories of your last conversation together flashes through his mind.

“I should have known Satoru Gojo’s sister would give me a run for my money.” The curse cackles maniacally, continuing to fight but slowly drawing back as her technique starts to overwhelm him. “He’ll be so pleased to know you’re a pawn to use in his plan.” 

Nanami circles around him, running towards a weak spot in the wall, grateful that at least he has an opening to end this for now. He swings his blunt blade at the 7:3 weak spot, shattering the concrete and catching the curse off guard. 

“Put me down!” You hiss as he appears suddenly, wrapping his arm around your waist and holding you to his good side to drag you away from the curse laying in the rubble behind them. “Let me finish the damn fight, Kento!” 

He doesn’t stop. Doesn’t put you down until you’re out of the sewer and approaching the road, his pain taking over as he presses a hand against the wound and his hand comes away coated in blood, turning your face sheet white. 

“You’re hurt-” You reach out to him automatically, knowing you can help but you pull away at the last second. You can’t do this out in the open. There’s somewhere you can bring him to patch him up. 

“Where did you take me?” He asks warrily, unsettled by the ritzy interior of the building they’re in and that the door man didn’t even bat an eye when the two of you entered in this state. 

“Satoru owns the building.” You say plainly, refusing to meet him in the eye. He supposes he deserves such a reaction from you, knowing he hurt you all those years ago. 

He follows you into the elevator and up to the top floor, taking in the penthouse apartment that screams Satoru as soon as they enter. 

“Uh uh.” You glare at him as he tries to move into the living room to sit to sew himself shut to stop the bleeding. “Bathroom. You bleed on Satoru’s couch and he’ll have my ass. I’ll be right in to help you.” 

He opens his mouth to ask how you could possibly help him, but thinks better of it considering your mood. He listens, leaving you to where you disappeared into the kitchen to get a drink. 

He leans against the counter of the sink, pressing a towel he found against the wound, dialing Satoru’s number to warn him about the unregistered curse that can kill with a single touch. 

“Want to tell me why you’re doing this?” He rumbles low in his chest, his eyes darting to the crack in the door, making sure you weren’t lurking where you could hear him. “You know she wasn’t ready to see me.”

“If I told you, you’d call me a liar.” Satoru sings across the line, sounding entirely too pleased with himself. “Maybe I’m just being your bestest friend ever~” 

“Whatever you’re trying, I’m not falling for the prank you’re setting up.” He hisses, the anger bubbling anew. “There’s stirring things up, Gojo, but this is cruel.” 

Nanami can practically see Satoru shrugging nonchalantly, like he couldn’t possibly be doing something wrong.

“Have fun, bestie~” The phone beeps, indicating that he ended the line, making Nanami let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Take your shirt off.” You order as soon as you cross the threshold with two glasses filled with a generous serving of expensive whiskey, handing one to him before downing yours in one gulp. 

“E-Excuse you-” He sputters, freezing in place. “Did you just ask me to-” 

“Strip? Yes.” You meet his eyes, keeping your gaze purposefully blank. “How else am I going to heal you?” 

Heal him…? He blinks at you in shock. You mastered Reverse Curse Technique? Enough to heal others? Only Shoko was capable of that…

His fingers move hesitantly down the buttons on his shirt, shedding it and tossing it on the sink so he can wash it when you’re done. He notices that you purposefully advert your eyes from his form, frowning at the disappointment he has no right to feel. 

“This is new.” He says as carefully as he can, wanting desperately to know everything you’ve been doing since he left. 

“I had a lot of time during third year.” He notes an air of sadness in your tone. “Why do you think Satoru chose me to help you with Yuji?” 

He tries to answer but hisses in pain as you prod the wound, kneeling in front of him so you’re eye level with it, adjusting your grip 

“I figured he’s bored and wants to spice things up by torturing his “friends”.” He watches with rapt fascination as the flesh at his waist starts to stitch itself together, leaving his skin like the wound had never been present. The thing you couldn’t heal was the damage the curse had caused to his soul by trying to transfigure it.

“Seems accurate. Considering he didn’t tell me who I’d be helping.” You sigh, your brows pulling together in concentration as you direct your energy into the technique. “But he knew you’d need my skills… this and the sealing abilities.”

A silence stretches between the two of you, but you’ve never been one to be alone with your thoughts for long, even given your present company. “I thought you were done with jujutsu.” A pit forms in your stomach. He was back after everything that happened and it was like your pain was for nothing. “How long have you been back?” 

“I was… but I knew I couldn’t help people here more than in an office cubicle.” His skin jumps slightly as you pull away and adjust your grip to heal a smaller spot left the the side of the tear in his side. “About a year…” 

“A year?” And you didn’t come find me? Somewhere small and distant cries inside of you at that. “You were here during the Night Parade of a Hundred Demons?” 

“I was stationed to help in Kyoto… but I didn’t see you there.” He looks away with a sigh, his skin tingling as you move to wipe the residual blood left on his skin. “I looked for you. I figured they would split you and Gojo between the two locations.” 

“I was sent to update the seals on the doors around Tengen to ensure his safety while everyone was away. And set barriers around the school entrances to him. Besides, I’m hardly his counterweight to send elsewhere. I’m only a Semi-Grade 1.” 

“You don’t need to be a Special Grade to make a difference or to save more sorcerers from dying at the hand of curses.” His jaw twitches as he grinds his teeth, feeling bad as soon as he sees your eyes soften like they used to, seeing right through him. 

“You know I would have been there if I wasn’t ordered to attend Tengen…” You stand, dusting the dirt from your knees and leaning against the wall opposite of him. “Especially for the young ones.” 

It wasn’t just Nanami that had experienced a classmate dying on duty. The other two girls in your year died on missions, one in year two the other in year three. You’re sure that if you still agree on anything, it's to make sure students don't need to shoulder the burdens of the jujutsu world if it could be avoided. 

“That wasn’t fair to say to you. Seems I can’t ever say the right things around you…” 

“No it wasn’t.” You wish the fluttering in your heart would stop and leave you to die with the regrets you expected to bear until you were no more. You laugh humorously, all too familiar with the brand of pain he brings into your life. “You excel at walking all over my heart. I used to like you, ya know?” 

He stares, blinking rapidly at you as the new information slots into his mind. The shock reverberates through him. You’ve always been as outspoken and upfront as your brother… would that not have extended to you telling him before he graduated?

Once the shock abates, he’s left with a sense of longing that couldn’t be resolved. “Used to” like him. Past tense. You’d probably moved on by this point. He remembered what Satoru had confided in him when he asked Nanami to look after you. You were 26 with a long list of potential suitors from prominent families to choose from. 

Any hope that he had rekindled in seeing you again slowly starts to die. 

He was too late, and made too many mistakes. Maybe he would leave this world with regrets after all… despite coming back to jujutsu to make things right with you.

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

The unease of seeing Ken again weighs on your heart, especially when you keep catching him looking at you like a wounded puppy days later when you decide if you’re helping out your brother, you can stay in the comfort of your own damn home. 

“Ms. Gojo, ma’am?” Yuji cocks his head as you walk across the living room to bring your stuff up to your bedroom. “Are you staying in Sensei’s safe house with us? I promise we’re not that bad to hang out with. You don’t need to look so down.” 

The comment stops you in your tracks, making you look back at where Nanami and Yuji are settled on your sectional. Nanami’s gaze is carefully averted, trying to not have his mood called out by Yuji too. 

“Yuji, you know this is my house, right?” Leave it to Satoru to try sounding cool by claiming he owns a dedicated safe house. “Satoru is borrowing it for the time being… sorry. More like commandeering it. Asshole.”

“I like this one…” A deep voice purrs as an eye and mouth appears on Yuji’s cheek before he slaps it, wincing at the pain before it moves to the back of his hand as he goads you on. “If you dislike the man, help me destroy him.”

“High praise from the King of Curses.” You deadpan, mentally rolling your eyes. “Stay cooped up in there or I’ll make sure you sleep another thousand years.”

“Such vile words from a woman’s mouth. In my day, you’d be slain so deliciously for such impertinence.” 

“Whelp.” You shrug, looking very much like your brother at that moment. “Good thing I’m allowed to have thoughts and opinions in this age.” 

You disappear up the stairs, ascending them without paying any mind to the final words flying from the demon residing in Yuji’s body. 

“Woman! I didn’t dismiss you!” Sukuna’s yells echo after you to the second level of your home and he snarls when he hears you snort at the dramatics, listening to Yuji chastise him for disrespecting you in your own home until you get far enough down the hall to not hear them anymore. 

“Wait up.” Nanami jogs up the stairs after you, trying to take your bag from your arms. “I didn’t know this was your place either… I sort of took the master bedroom.” 

“... Is Yuji in the spare room?” You hold onto your back tighter, not allowing him to carry any of the weight for you. If you had known that you wouldn’t have a room to sleep in you would have stayed at the hotel you were in. 

“He is. Listen… I don’t mind sharing with you. It’s not like we didn’t in school.” He rubs the back of his neck, knowing that there isn’t another bed in the house. “Of course, that is, if you’re comfortable. I don’t want to assume it's ok, not knowing your current situation.” 

His heart beats in a frantic rhythm in this chest. If this was your house, he didn’t notice that you lived here, let alone another man. There had been a basic set of feminine clothing in the closet and a small stock of high end body care items in the bathroom, but nothing to note a masculine presence had ever occupied the space. A tiny corner of his heart holds onto the hope that he was right all those years ago, that he would one day love you and be able to have you. 

“As long as you didn’t become a pervert in your old age.” He almost doesn’t catch the smirk twitching at the corner of your mouth and the playful gleam in your eye, he rolls his eyes with a chuckle and yanks your bag from your grasp.

“I’m only a year older than you.” He playfully flicks your nose, his eyes lighting up when you scrunch your face and swat his hand away, the echoes of who you were in school still there.

“You didn’t even deny it.” You whine and make your way into your room, seeing his neat pile of items on your spare night stand, the rumpled blankets next to the side of the bed you normally occupy, fills you with a nostalgic kind of warmth. “You better not be. I sleep naked.” 

You double over in laughter, hearing him choke on his shock before it throws him into a coughing fit, his face bright red. He’s still so easily flustered, even looking like… well… like that. 

Your cheeks flush a light shade of pink, remembering what he looks like under those blue button downs. He didn’t look like that in his third year and you wonder how he managed to maintain his physique while working in the corporate environment in Tokyo.

“Don’t worry. I’m fucking with you.” You chuckle, hoping your flush can be excused on your fits of laughter.  Resolving yourself to settle in for the night, you start removing your jewelry, starting with your earring, setting them on the nightstand . “I’ll wear pajamas for you.”

Even if you didn’t want to. 

Hours later, Nanami lays awake, willing his mind to be as blank as the ceiling he’s been staring at. Eventually, he shifts, settling on his side, facing your back. Pajamas hadn’t been the mercy he thought they would be. 

His gaze trails the bare expanse of your back where your silk tank top dips, stray strands of long white hair escape the messy bun you tied before burrowing your face in the pillows. His journey is halted by the faint white scarring that stretches across your left shoulder blade, disappearing around your front. 

The lines of the scars weren’t raised or angry, indicating a reverse curse technique was used to heal them. But the fact that any mark was left at all? It either took her long enough to get to healing them, or they were serious enough that not all the damage could be erased. 

The fear that he felt in the sewer when she appeared pales in comparison to the guilt that slams into him. Had he been sitting at a desk in some high rise in the city, selfishly avoiding his fate, while you were out risking your life?

Never again. He promises himself. 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

“You shouldn’t go, Yuji.” Your grip tightens on where your phone is still glued to your ear, Ken waiting on the line for you to relay the emergency in front of them. 

A high school was set in the sights of the patchwork curse that almost managed to kill Nanami and Yuji’s friend was stuck within its halls. Yuji’s body shakes with the desire to run into the fray. 

“I’m sorry, Ms. Gojo…” He sprints past you, slamming open the door before he disappears, running as fast as he can to the school’s campus.

“Yuji!” You shout after him, gritting your teeth in frustration. He shouldn’t have to shoulder more burdens than he already does. 

“Y/N.” Kento murmurs over the phone, pulling you back to attention. “They lowered a barrier. We need to make sure he can’t get away and drop another one around them.”

“You’re asking me to sit on the sidelines.” You hotly argue, storming out to find your car, following Yuji regardless of what your role will be. “You can’t just push me to the side because you’re afraid I’ll get hurt!”

“No. I’d never, hun.” Your old pet name sounds strained on his tongue, a long beat of silence stretches between you before his voice cracks, filling the silence. “I just… We can’t let him get away. I need you when this is over.” 

It only comes at the cost of tying your hands. Imprisoning you beyond a barrier where you’re stuck without being able to back him up or even know if he’s alive. 

“Y-you better come back to me then.” You choke into the phone. 

“Always.” He promises and you both know that promise is a lie. 

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

You pace the sidewalk next to your car, the barrier still in place until you were told to drop it. A trail of cold sweat drips down your spine with each minute that passes without any update on what’s happening within the barriers. 

The ringing of your phone makes you jump out of your skin and you answer it without a glance at the caller ID. 

“You can drop the barrier.” Your brother’s voice sings through the phone and it makes your stomach drop that Kento wasn’t the one to reach out to you. “The slimy bastard escaped through the sewers below the barriers.” 

“But w-what about-” You stammer, your insides twisting and catastrophizing the worst case scenario. 

“He’s fine, Y/N.” His voice is softer than he’s ever addressed you and you stammer out an excuse, that he wasn’t what you were going to ask about. “You don’t cry in the bathroom of someone’s going away party and then run out if you don’t care about them.” 

“I told you to never bring that up again.” You croak, embarrassment flushing your cheeks. “I was just upset that he was leaving. It’s not that deep.” 

“Yeah, yeah, yeah.” He dismisses you easily. “Thank me for forcing you on a mission together when you idiots admit your feelings for each other. Especially if Yuji’s not around to save him from the patchwork’s domain expansion next time.”

“You didn’t want to lead off with that!?” You scream into the microphone, pulling the gaze of a couple of people walking across the street. As the barrier you set dissolves, you launch yourself into the driver’s seat. “Where are they? I’ll get them.” “Ichiji is dropping Yuji off to me. They left already.” He hums. “He’ll go back for Nanami after. He’s catching Ino up so he can search for the curse in the sewers.” 

“So what the hell am I supposed to do?” You growl at him, annoyed that you continue to be ignored when you could be in those underground passages, tracking and sealing him away with your talisman technique. The tires on your car squeal as you peel out of your parking space, turning the wheel to head home. 

“Rest.” Satoru says simply. “We have at least three unregistered special grade curses on the run and no clue what’s organizing them. Whatever is coming, we're going to need you with Shoko.” 

“Nursemaid. Got it.”  You can hear how he rolls his eyes before he simply hangs up on you. 

The halls of your home echo when you unlock the door, the stagnant air clinging to your skin and mocking you with what it would feel like if you didn’t share this space with Kento. 

You let your body carry you to the kitchen, your bare feet padding down the hall until you find your liquor cabinet, downing a double straight with a grimace. The glass clatters as you set it on the counter and slide it away from you. 

Your shoulders droop as you lean against the counter, letting your head hang so you can take a steadying breath. You remain that way until you hear footsteps approaching you from the front door. 

Your tired gaze meets Kento’s and a silence stretches between you as you simply take a moment to look at one another, to realize that the other is still there and that hasn’t been ripped away from you. 

“A-are you ok?” Your eyes widen as Nanami walks towards you with purpose, your feet slipping backwards until your lower back meets the granite surface of the counter. “What are you do-” 

The question dies on your lips as the distance is closed with his hips against yours, pinning you in place as both of his hands cup your cheeks. He uses the position to hold your face in place as he slams his lips to yours desperately. 

A shocked whine emanates from your throat, but you're quickly melting against him, moaning openly as you seek his lips in return, fisting his shirt so he doesn’t try to pull away. 

HIs hands slide in a path down your body, his palms finding purchase on your hips, gripping the skin there to try to get closer. You groan, wanting to feel him grind against your center instead. 

You twine your arms around him, refusing to break where the kiss has grown heated, your tongue tangling together, drunk of the taste of one another. You use the leverage to hop up to sit on the counter and you gasp into his mouth when he doesn’t miss a beat, easily gripping the back of your clothed thighs to spread them around his waist, urging them to lock at the ankles behind him, your ass perched on the edge of the flat surface. 

You imagine what his hands look like gripping your ass, kneading the soft skin there as he uses his raw strength to move your hips against the growing erection in his pants. 

“K-Ken please.” You plead breathlessly as the sloppy, wet kisses transition across your cheek, to along your jaw and down your neck. “Fuck- please-” 

“Please.” He rumbles your own command back at you before reaching to fist a hand in your hair, forcing your head back and to the side with a sharp gasp. “Use your words or I’ll have to start guessing how you’d want me to take you.” 

“Please. I n-need-” A small sob bubbles out as he immediately bites down on the juncture of your neck. “K-Ken, I need more.” 

“Shit you’re so eager…” A low growl rumbles from him as he loops his fingers in your pants, starting to pull them down your legs with your panties. “Tell me you want this. Tell me you need me.” 

“I need you.” You lean forward as soon as your pants are off to kiss him again, your hands easily locating the belt cinching his slacks up. You pull it open and pop the button before pulling the zipper just enough to slide your hand in. 

His hips buck into your hand as you wrap your fingers around his length, pumping until he’s mad with the need to be inside of you, scrambling to drop his pants to the floor so he can tug you closer to shoves his way inside of you. 

“Hun-” His fingertips dig bruises into the skin of your ass, dimpling this skin with his hold as he leans to lap at the skin at your neck, his hips still grinding into your hold around him.  “We should s-slow down. Let me t-take care of you first.” 

It took everything in him to try to pump the brakes. After 10 years of knowing you, he didn’t want to wait any longer. 

“L-Later.” You pant. “We’ll have time for that later. Just please f-fuck me.” 

“I don’t have a-” You pull him by his cock, trailing his head through your folds, shuddering as you tease your clit with it before positioning the tip at your entrance. 

“I don’t care, Ken.” You feel as if you’ll explode if you wait a moment longer. You don’t want a barrier between the two of you, the consequences of that be damned. 

He pulls you forward as he thrusts into you suddenly, making you fall back onto your elbows with a long moan, your cunt taking the brunt of the force of his cock bullying its way into your vice grip. 

“M-move-” Your body shakes, squirming on his length for any measure of friction you could find to help the burning heat spreading from your center.

“I can’t yet, baby.” He bows over, resting his forehead on your shoulder, giving the skin there a soft kiss. “Or I’ll fucking cum in you too soon.” 

Instead he takes a deep breath, reaching between you to rub your clit in steady circles, building you up to be able to cum with him. 

“Baby.” He coos in your ear, slowly starting to pull out of you before slamming home against your cervix, increasing his pace while he acclimates to your tight grip. “Your precious little cunt clamped down on me when I mentioned coming in you.” 

It does again, pulling him deeper as he groans, nearly losing himself in the process. 

“There it is.” He growls, pushing you back to lay on the counter by your neck, pinning you there with his hand around your throat. “You like the thought of me breeding you, princess? None of those jujutsu suitors good enough for this pussy?” 

“T-There aren’t any-” Your legs spread, falling wider to accommodate his thrusts as they build in intensity, his thumb rubs frantically against you, doubling its speed when he feels you clench around him, groaning at the high pitched whines that accompany it. 

He soaks you in as you cum, the flush of liquid against his hips that make the slapping of his hips against yours that much more obscene, how your eyes have gone so cloudy and trusting that you accept being prone with his hand where he could harm you, and the roundness of your mouth as your brows furrow together as you shake violently with your high. 

“K-Ken-” Your broken voice cracks as his thrust overstimulates you. “G-God I need your cum inside of me. Pl-please daddy-” 

The pet name has his eyes rolling back, his cock twitching inside of you before it explodes against your womb in spurts of cum that continue until you’re leaking it onto  the floor below you. 

“Shit.” He curses, a small panic in his eyes as he comes down from his high. “I.. I’m sorry. I wanted to be slow the first time… So you know how much I loved you.” 

His confession thunders through your chest, sending a truly genuine smile to grace your lips. 

“You love me?” You inquire as the room still spins in circles, making sure he said what you thought. 

“I do.” He smirks, leaning in for a slow, loving kiss. “From the day I met you until we’re parted.”

tag list: @sugarbooger513 @sugarmapoops @roughwithfluff @severelytalentless @yelzoldyck @silversslut @aazaard @dreamyyholland @wobblewobble822 @vantastic210 @rafzaha @tirzamisu @chososhoney @littlemochi @bebechinas99 @firdaoz @saoney @meromelo @pelicanpizza @sukunassoulmate @damncakie @katgalle @honeyyjems [[ if your blog name is crossed out i couldn't tag you]]

[emotionallyattachednerd]

Sweet Honey | G1 Bumblebee x f!robot reader | NSFW 18+

Word count: 1700+

Warnings: Smut ( spike in valve and first time ) and two inexperienced bugs. NSFW 18+.

Notes: Don't have enough G1 stories written, but slowly will build up over time I hope. Thanks anon for sending through this was rather cute and sweet to write. Enjoy. 🥰

☕ Coffee

Being the two youngest among the autobots it's no surprise from anyone that you both ended up together. You two were like teenage lovebirds, sweet to one another and always expressing your love. There is one thing though that hasn't quite happened yet, and that's interfacing.

There's no skill from either of you when it comes to interfacing, both completely new to it, virgins, and it's something you've both held out on for a long time, seeing no right moment for it to happen just yet. You did wonder why you haven't felt the need to do it with Bumblebee yet, though when you both talk to Ratchet about it he says it's normal to feel not ready, and that everyone feels different when it comes to something so intimate. He expressed that rushing or forcing it to happen won't help, and might cause either of you to express distress or regret.

So, you wait, and wait, until the moment happens.

On earth it's the new year, an event humans celebrated before the start of a new year. You and Bumblebee sat on top of the ark having the perfect view of where the fireworks were going to be set off. Everyone else was doing their own thing, even taking part of the celebration with Sparkplug, Spike and Carly among the other humans.

Bumblebee and you decided to have your time together, to spend time and share your love in your own privacy. Resting yourself against his chassis you gently trace your digit against his arm plating, optics looking over the spectacular view you both have, knowing you have the best seats in the house for the fireworks, which were to be set off within the next hour.

"Earth sure has its own beauty." You hear yourself whisper calmly.

"That it does, wish everyone sees it like we do." Bumblebee agrees through a tender hum. "Guess that's what makes us good together."

"Aye, very true." You snuggle into his side, nuzzling your face gently into the crook of his neck and let out a low purr. For a moment you continue to do this, before you feel his frame twitch slightly and hear his venting hitch. "What's wrong?"

"N-nothing..."

"You're a terrible liar." You can't help but smirk faintly before lifting yourself to look at him better. "Bee, what's got you tense?" You then feel his frame more, noticing his heat increasing. "You're heating up..."

"Yeah, I know." He sounds nervous, unsure even. "I...it's fine, I'll be fine."

"Don't keep secrets from me. You never have before, don't start now." You touch his face plating, caressing the area and getting him to look at you. "You can tell me anything, always."

For a moment he's quiet, before finally confessing. "Remember what Ratchet said? The moment will happen when it happens..."

"Yeah?" Confused, you stare at him, than you slowly figure out what's wrong with him. "Bee, are you aroused?"

"I think so?"

"Oh..."

He's indeed warming up more as you continue to caress his cheek plating without even realising it, and by the time you do, his plating is so warm, pinkish hue appearing in his face as you feel yourself growing oddly warm too. The sight of him like this, it sends a strange warm buzz through you, and now it's your turn to crumble in nerves.

"I think I am too." You barely manage to say while fiddling with your servos.

"Alright. So...what now?" Bumblebee sounds embarrassed, but you feel it too. Neither of you had any experience, and you already guessed that when it did happen it was going to be a learning experience, it just so happened suddenly without warning.

"Maybe we could touch one another?" You've seen videos, you both have of course, so you still had an idea where to begin.

Bumblebee nods, going along with it, and you lay back down before shyly moving your servo between his thighs and across his heated panel. You hear him let out a hitched exhale at contact, the heat continues to boil, before his panel retreats and and you watch as his spike emerges out of its housing.

Your digits lightly ghost across the twitching length, before gently wrapping your servo around the base and giving him a slow pump, feeling some of the soft bumpy ridges as his spike throbs eagerly under your touch. This feels good, and you're making him feel good.

Bumblebee is unable to suppress his sounds as he feels himself heat up even more throughout his entire frame, his waist bucking slightly under your touches before realising he should be touching you.

Shifting closer, you shyly retract your panel and your untouched valve is exposed for him to explore. Moving his own servo between your legs, your optics flutter as you feel his digit skip against your valve, feeling the odd bundle of nerves and warmth settling within you and growing more velvet-like, smooth and tender.

Moving your legs more apart you give him better access, keeping your servo wrapped around his pulsing spike while still gentilly pumping him, letting out soft vents as you feel his digits play between your valve lips. It's all an exploring adventure between you two, and you still have time before the fireworks and new year start.

Bumblebee skips a digit across your node that causes your body to jolt from the contact, followed by a whimpered mewl, and this makes him stop.

"Did I hurt you?" He's worried he's done something wrong.

"N-no, no, you didn't. Just felt...surprised, but in a good way." That's the best way you can answer it. "How about me? Is this alright?"

"Yeah, I like it." He says through an aroused gentle smile. "I'll keep going?"

Nodding is your answer and he resumes his actions. The two of you touch one another, bringing your arousal levels up quickly much to your surprise, covering your mouth a little to muffle your increasingly desired whimpers as your optics flutter close due to the boiling heat rushing through you.

At some point, and somehow, you end up straddling his lap, sharing a heated kiss with him as you grind yourself along his length, you're soaking valve lubricating his spike like overcharged beasts craving a good rutt. But this isn't that, this is your first time, and you're both ready. The ridges stimulate against your node, adding to the growing arousal and building more fluids through your channel.

Your growing moans are faint against his inner neck, glossa darting out to lick along his neck cables, causing his frame to quiver along with his own increasing moans, his spike begging to be buried in your valve. Meeting his baby blue optics, you caress his warm cheek, as he does the same to you, sharing dainty smiles, young love blooming even more, before you grab hold of him and position yourself against his leaking tip, slowly sinking as you let out a shaky exhale.

Grabbing hold onto his shoulders you control yourself as his spike stretches your channel, letting out a soft hiss feeling the burning sensation snap through your valve, tearing your seal and your lover claiming your innocence. The pain does linger, but not for too long, and it's not long before you're fully seated in his lap with his pulsing spike stretching through you.

Bumblebee lets out a stuttered hiss between clenched dentas with his servos gripping at your waist, holding you still while his face tightens as if he was both in pain and feeling overpowering pleasure. Only a few drops of tears stream down your cheek plating, and than they cease. It's not until you move slightly that Bumblebee jolts and lets out a startled groan before there's another warmth filling you.

"W-what was that?" You can't help but ask, the small burning pain still surrounding your valve, his spike twitching along with the warm fluids that suddenly soaks your inner channel.

"I...I think I overloaded?" Bumblebee doesn't even sound sure. "Sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to happen so fast, it just caught me off guard, and feels so good."

"Its alright. I mean, I'm more lubricated now, right? Can I move a little?" He nods and you slowly rock your hips. You're still unsure how to move, just that you try to stimulate yourself on him.

Even though he's already overloaded he feels the pleasure still against your rocking hips, moaning into your neck as he rests his servos against your hips, gently holding you against him while you slowly roll into his lap. The burning sensation slowly vanishes and the pleasure soon grows more fierce within you, grinding your node between your bodies in perfect sync as you keep his spike buried in your valve. It's all happening, and you want to finish it perfectly.

Your thoughts grow foggy as you continue to ride him while he bucks up slightly against your movements his spike twitching wilding even more much to your surprise, and hearing his startled venting hitching, you can only guess he's surprised himself that he's growing hard again, a second overload slowly building in him than.

No words are needed between you two and let the moment happen. His servos roam across your hips and waist, holding you close still as you start to bounce on his spike more, letting out moans and hitched vents while he thrusts up into your lightly, sounds increasing more vibrant from you, loving every second of it, silently questioning yourself why you never did this sooner.

"Bee, Bee..." His name moans from your lips, licking them eagerly as you feel yourself grow more hot and your thighs start shaking, servos resting closely against the back of his neck.

"Primus...oh Primus!" He stuttered loudly, arms clinging onto your quivering frame and jerks again deep in you.

In the exact moment, right at midnight, your overload erupts through your systems, your fluids flooding through, as you let out a high pitched moan mixing in with the fireworks setting off in the distance. You hold yourself against his chassis and nuzzle into his inner neck, purring gently between vented breaths, savouring the warm buzz still swimming.

"Oh Bee, that was wonderful." You say to him fondly. "Twice?"

"Yeah, twice." He chuckles lightly, sounding not fully convinced he was able to overload twice so fast. "Didn't think that was possible, yet it happened. Primus, I'll love you forever."

"As I will too." You share a tender kiss with him, caressing his warm cheek platings under your servos. "Happy new year, Bee."

"Happy new year, my love."

[gloryy-vs]

Neteyam x reader or Jake x reader with anxiety???

idk what to title it so i titled it as the medication i used to take idk 😭😭

Xanax

characters: jake x na’vi reader

ratings: soft, concerned jake, soft jake, nice boy jake

||

Antsy, restless, impatient, unsociable were only a few words used to describe you by your parents a fellow Na’vi. Ever since you were a teenager, large social events and stressful situations made you indescribably afraid. It was like an impending doom or weight constantly sat on your back and shoulders when around other people. Which made socializing very difficult.

You we’re continuing your rambling to Jake, trying to explain why you never wanted to go to community meals and hunts, as the stares and numbers of people usually scared you off after only a few minutes. Your mate Jake was in awe, realization slapping him in the face. No wonder when he first arrived you seem to avoid him at all times or just look indescribably restless, cracking your knocks or pulling at your fingers.

“Baby girl, anxiety. That restless feeling?” Jake wrapped an arm around your shoulders.

Your ears went flat, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What do you mean? Is that what that is?” Jake grimaced, nodding his head.

“It’s like you feel like you constantly have to do something or���like you’re worried, always looking behind your shoulder.” He explained, fingers caressing your shoulder gently.

It was still a lot to wrap your head around. Na’vi people didn’t really have s good explanation for this as they’re very sociable people who enjoy large families and get together. So to find the odd one out is very astounding.

“We can work it out together. Find better ways to cope, you don’t need to hide from everyone all the time.” Jake said, kissing your forehead.

He was a very comforting figure in your life, always looking for signs of your anxiousness. It even brought those habits to your attention. How you’d bounce your leg impatiently, crack your knuckles and absurd amount of times and play with your hands consistently. Like when it came time to finally go out to your first communal meal in a long time, he could tel you were hesitant about getting any closer to the group. Your breath was erratic, and fingers balled up tensely.

“You got it, baby. Just breathe, just breathe. I’m right here, you tell me when it’s enough. Okay?” He said, his hand resting on your lower back to guide you closer. Your feet moved on their own, instantly finding an empty spot towards the very back, but Jakes hand pushed you in the opposite direction, towards the center.

You whined softly, unwillingly following. He sat you both down, and the Na’vi on either side of you and Jake were surprised to see you out and about. As you squatted down on the log, your leg began to shake, distracting you with its quick movement. Jake was being handed two bowl of season fruits, one for him and one for you. His yellow eyes darted over to you, seeing your habits began again. Your face looked distressed. He placed his free hand on your knee, massaging it harshly to calm you down.

“I’m right here. You’re gonna be okay.” Jake said, his hand remaining on your leg to stop the shaking from starting again. He handed you your share of food, placing his in his lap while he wrapped another arm around you, pulling you closer so your leg pressed against his.

“Let’s eat. Keep your mind off it.” He said, taking a berry out of your bowl and plopping it in his mouth. Letting out a shaking breath, you nodded quickly.

Your hands grabbed at an apple like fruit, sinking your teeth into it while your eyes darted around the room to see if anyone was staring. Nobody seemed interested in you, which calmed your nerves more than anything. The only eyes you could tell were on you was your mates. He smiled softly, “See baby? Calm already.” He joked. He knew better than to assume your anxiety had magically gone away. Jake knew this would be a long process but he’d be there to help you each step.

You laughed, wiping your mouth from all the fruit juices. “Got a laugh out of me in a place like this.” You said pretty confidently.

“I know, it’s my specialty.” He said, ruffling and messing up your braided and beaded hair.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

“Sweetheart, if you knew the things I could do with you, you’d have run away a long time ago,” said the young man standing below the arch of the city gate.  If you looked at him full-on he seemed normal enough, but catch him in your peripheries and he seemed Wrong somehow.  Like he had too many sides to him, or like his limbs were just out of proportion, or like he moved with a grace that wasn’t quite human.  He reached out to run a finger along a stray lock of hair escaped from the pigtails of the young woman he was talking to.     

She groaned loudly.  “Don’t. We’ve known each other far too long for this bullshit.” 

The man grinned.  It was an unexpected grin, usually men like this are expected to smirk, or leer, or smile slyly, or even quirk an eyebrow if it came to it.  But the grin was real, open and glad, briefly washing away the aura of inhumanity and leaving merely a boy who very much liked talking to this girl. 

“But it’s funny.”

“I’ll kill you.”

“But it’s really funny.”

Let’s back up a bit.  Everyone knows that history repeats itself and certain outcomes always arise.  Violence is condoned through complacency.  Tyranny lasts for a while then tends to burn itself out.  Empires always end up toppled in the end.  These are our stories, at least, which crop up again and again.  The principle is true in other lands as well, they just happen to view different things as histories. 

Fulfaran was particularly high in story density as cities went.  It seemed you couldn’t turn a corner without running into a run-away princess, or a charming scoundrel, or a crone (crones were particularly bad – it was a 50/50 chance as to whether they’d try to destroy your life or give you genuinely good advice).  The markets were teeming with exotic goods, the castle at the top of the hill flew its banners brightly in the breeze, and there were established parts of town you went to only if you wanted to a. meet an orphan, b. meet a thief or c. fall down a hole.  Rather a good place for Reynard and Connie, who tended to be plagued by stories. 

Constance was a baker’s daughter who had been taken as a teenager to live in a tower by a witch in exchange for her impoverished family receiving enough gold to live on.  She never fully understood that witch’s motivations but that’s just how it went.  She had immediately proceeded with a number of escape attempts, most of which failed until Reynard had ridden below her window and she had bargained with him until he snuck a rope inside with her food deliveries.  He had claimed to be a prince, but wasn’t.  Connie knew he wasn’t quite human either, but he didn’t seem to want to talk about it and she didn’t want to pry. 

She had wanted to go home, but she knew the witch would try to exact vengeance.  So, she said her goodbyes for a second time and started out in the opposite direction, which happened to be where Rey was headed as well (or so he claimed, in truth he had no direction or purpose.  But he liked Connie, she was sensible and she made him laugh). 

Unfortunately, it seemed the two of them were not fated to have an easy path.  For one, events kept transpiring which forced Rey into situations where he was expected to betray Connie.  Said events seemed rather upset every time he simply told her everything and they worked out a solution together.  Connie, on the other hand, was continuously being offered chances to fight royalty and claim a kingdom.  It wasn’t that she wouldn’t like a kingdom, she commented once as the two of them wandered through the woods, but she didn’t think she had the training to run one.  She was, after all, a baker’s daughter.  She could make excellent bread but she didn’t care for administration. 

They also stubbornly refused to fall in love with each other, which seemed to make the stories very distressed indeed.  This was not helped by how within a few hours of meeting they had become firm friends – Connie rather thought they had been expected to be unlikely allies who hated each other at first.  But it wasn’t in either of their natures to hate very hard and she liked Rey – he was clever and cutting, but never cruel.

Eventually the events all became too much, which is why they had come to where they were, the main gate of Fulfaran.  The storied city.  Surely someone here must know how they could get out of this. 

Connie felt herself smiling back despite herself.  “Fine, it’s a little funny but I honestly don’t know how you can say stuff like that in public without wanting to curl up into a ball and die,” she said starting to walk again, under the gate into the crowds.  Rey fell into step beside her. 

“I have no shame,” he shrugged, “besides, I don’t know any of these people. No one’s paying attention and even if they were, they’d think it’s normal.  I’m pretty sure I saw at least three pairs of ‘people who definitely hate each other’ coming in after us."

Connie was going to reply, but she was cut off by a harsh voice that had snuck into their path. 

“Child! I see greatness in you—”

“Oh not today, thank you!” said Rey, doffing his cap to the aged woman in the dark cloak swaying before them.  Connie summoned up her best customer service smile, the one with just enough of a hint of rage in it that it tended to shut people up without them knowing why, and slipped past the figure. 

“Wait!” the crone cried, “there is a prophecy—”

“Probably not me,” said Connie cheerily over her shoulder.  “Try that girl with midnight-blue eyes over there, that’ll do the trick.”  She rolled her eyes at Rey who grimaced. 

“When we get to the inn we’re taking the most boring room imaginable,” he said emphatically.  “Nothing on the top floor, nothing with secret passages, just four walls and a bed.”  The two of them had long since given up on multiple rooms, or even multiple beds.  No matter how hard they searched every inn was always just a little too full. 

“We better do it quick, I want to sleep before dinner.  Who did you say this place was recommended by again?”

“Basically everyone I know who’s been here,” said Rey, scanning the buildings as they passed.  “They say it’s lovely, really quaint and unique. We should be there right around this corner—”

He halted.  Connie almost hit his shoulder but she hardly noticed, too focused on the inn they had found.  It was small and smoky, almost crumbling beneath the weight of the sky.  Hooded figures passed in and out, glimmers of gemstones sometimes flashing out from beneath their clothing.  The sign was covered in enough grime that it couldn’t be read and there was a large board on the front with dozens of papers stuck to it advertising quests, monster-hunts, missing people, missing dogs, various balls, festivals, and competitions, and the best shops to find weapons in the area.  Connie’s heart sank and Rey’s expression told her he was feeling the same thing. 

“I saw a TreacleTavern down the road,” he said under his breath.  TreacleTaverns were in every city and they were all huge and identical.  Connie nodded vigorously.

“Let’s go, let’s go.”  She all but shoved him back down the way they had come. 

As they left she shot one last look over her shoulder.  A young man was staring at them.  He had chestnut brown hair and an intense expression, as though he had seen them before.  He seemed oddly familiar to Connie, though she didn’t know how she might have met him. 

It was probably something very important that she would have lingered on had the circumstances been different.  Unfortunately for the stories, however, she was still extremely invested, come hell or high water, in getting her pre-supper nap.   

[hellfirexhoe]

Saturday | Eddie Munson x Bitchy Reader

Summary: Eddie and reader are enemies who fuck on the down low. Reader attends a party that Eddie specifically asked her not to go to, but why would she ever listen to him?

Warnings: 18+ content, minors do not interact, drug use, language, reader gets very drunk, sexual violence, violent violence, angst, mentions of vomit

2.5k+ words

Series Masterlist

taglist: @haylaansmi @hellomothermoon @tlclick73 @fieldofsecretss @ghostiegorlie @likedovesinthewnd ​ @soulfelon ​ @xxlilyxx90

Once the afterglow from your closet rendezvous had left his system Eddie was left with a niggling sense of irritation, a feeling that only grew the longer he tried to ignore it. By Friday evening he was in a foul mood and the Hellfire members couldn’t help but notice it. Dustin was the only one brave enough to ask Eddie if anything was wrong, but the black look he received quickly informed the group that whatever was eating Eddie was not something he was going to share.

Hellfire ended on time that night, an event that was previously thought to be a myth. Eddie waved everyone off when they attempted to help him clear the room,

“ ‘s fine, just go home.” No one was going to argue with him tonight so they quietly said their goodbyes and left him in the room. Eddie packed the set up into its boxes, trying desperately to shake the image from his mind that had been plaguing him all day.

It was you. You were giggling, hair untied from its usual ponytail so your curls framed your face, your cheeks were flushed as hands ran up your thighs. A soft sigh escapes your parted lips as your partner comes up to kiss you, hands running over all of your sensitive spots that Eddie himself knew like they were on his own body.

Except, your partner wasn’t Eddie. In Eddie’s mind, he’d walked in on this scene and was watching from the door while a party carried on from behind him.  Most of today he’d been able to shake it from his head before it escalated, it was like his brain was intent on torturing him with this image.

You, on the other hand, were totally fine. Your Friday evening was spent in your bedroom with Chrissy trying on outfits for the party the next day.

“You still haven’t told me where you disappeared to after Spanish. We were walking along and then poof! You were gone!”

“Had to pee Chris.”

“Don’t lie to me, Louise said you ditched Math. No pee takes that long.”

“I was having digestive distress.”

“Also a lie.” Chrissy narrows her eyes at you while you rummage through your drawers, trying to find some tights. She wasn’t stupid, she was giving you a chance to tell you herself, she’d already heard the rumor about you and Eddie in the closet but wanted to hear it from you. 

“Fine. Yes, the rumor you heard is accurate.”

“In a closet? On campus?” You shrug chuckling at her expression,

“Honestly? Miles better than sitting in a stuffy classroom for an hour.”

“And its not weird? You guys haven’t fallen in love with each other or anything?”

“God no, perish the thought of me falling in love with Eddie Munson. He’s a good fuck, that’s all it is. He feels the same.”

“You guys talk? When you’re fucking?”

“It’s more like an unspoken truth.”

“Hmm.” Chrissy remains unconvinced that neither of you are being affected by your activities.

“We both know the score, I’m a free agent, free to fuck whoever I please tomorrow.”

“And he’s okay with that?”

You remember the flicker of anger you felt from Eddie at the mention of you sleeping with someone at the party, the way he had grabbed you, told you he would ruin you for anyone else, held you so tight you thought you might break.

“Totally okay with it.”

Eddie made his drop at Jason’s a few hours before the party, keen to get it over with and to avoid seeing you. The growing unease he felt while driving up to the house only worsened as Rick drove past, obviously leaving Jason’s having performed a similar delivery. Rick wasn’t necessarily a bad dude, but he had no problems selling to bad dudes. Then again, Eddie was also selling to bad dudes, just with more stipulations on what he would sell.

Eddie was met by one of Jason’s friends at the door for handover, Prince Carver was obviously much too busy with party planning to deal with drug deals, plus Eddie doubts Carver would ever be caught dead by drugs from anyone, it would ruin the clean boy image.

“Patrick, Jason needs your help moving some sofas, Chrissy and I are much too weak for such work, we need a strong man.” Eddie freezes as he hears your flirtatious giggle from inside the house. You step out into the hall from a room and Eddie is unable to hear the words that leave your lips over the sound of blood roaring in his ears.

You’re wearing a red dress that skims the tops of your thighs, legs clad in fishnet tights, heels showing off how toned your legs are. Eddie’s eyes take in every detail, down to the rollers which are still in your hair.

“I can finish up here, you go help Jason, you big brute.” You slap Patrick’s arm affectionately and giggle as he hands the cash to you and enters the room you appeared from.

“Is it all here?” Eddie stares blankly at you until your click your fingers in his face, “Munson! Is it all here?”

Eddie shakes himself and nods at you, handing over a brown paper bag to you and you hand him the money. You thank him and slowly close the door, once you’re out of sight Eddie seems to remember to breathe and that he should leave.

The image of you with someone else had been bad enough, but seeing your outfit meant he was now seeing everything in excruciating detail, seeing you flirt with Patrick meant that your partner was no longer just a faceless, vaguely male shape. It was Patrick’s hands tangling in your hair, Patrick’s hips that your legs lock around. Your red dress hanging around your waist as Patrick touches your breasts, red lipstick transferring from your lips onto Patrick’s skin.

How Eddie made it home without crashing the van as a result of his brain being determined to torment him is a mystery to him. He stays sitting in the van until his hands stop shaking. Wayne had already left for work so Eddie is facing the prospect of being alone with his thoughts until the morning. So he smokes, he burns through his personal stash over the course of a few hours, more a chimney than a man at this point.

You lean back and close your eyes as hands run through your hair, you’ve always loved having your hair played with, and this extends to hair styling as you’re now discovering as Chrissy unwinds your curled hair from the rollers at the back of your head, as you’d done for her.

“I hate to bring this up right now...”

“Then please don’t.”

“You saw how Eddie looked at you. Are you really sure there’s no feeling there?”

“Chris, no offense, but you were watching from a window, I got the full face. There wasn’t a look.”

“Bullshit.” Chrissy lets a rare near-swear go and you turn in your chair, mock scandal on your face,

“Chrissy Cunningham what is that foul language?” She laughs,

“You’re corrupting me!!” You link arms with her and head out of the bathroom and down to the party, keen to avoid any further discussion of Eddie for an evening.

You’re giddy a few hours in, going shot for shot with the basketball team will do that to someone. Jason has already switched Chrissy to water, but you? You’re a free agent, and determined to prove that a cheerleader can handle their drink better than any man. Your trash talking has attracted a small crowd and your attention has been caught by a guy you don’t remember seeing at school.

On a break from pounding shots you nudge Chrissy and use your eyes to indicate the guy,

“Who is that?”

“M’not sure, think he’s just one of the guy’s friends. Never met him before.”

“Well cute, tall stranger is making eyes at me.” You flounce over, alcohol tipping you beyond confidence into over-confidence, you go to introduce yourself but he beats you to the punch,

“Finally, was wondering how long I’d have to stare at you to get you to stop pounding shots and just say hi.”

“Well, hi?”

“I’m Hunter.”

You snort and give him your name in return, “Well, Hunter, what’s the prey tonight?”

He smiles and hands you a drink, “You, if I’m lucky.”

You politely decline the drink and he shrugs, taking a glug, “Fine by me, more for me. Smart girl though, not taking drinks from strangers.”

“Does Team Cheerleader admit defeat?” Andy jeers from the table where he’s set up more shot glasses.

“Never.”

You return to your position, quickly knocking back two shots while Andy is still pouring his,

“Jesus.”  Andy has a look of almost fear in his eyes.

There is no high on Earth that could stop Eddie’s mind from racing the way it has been. At least that’s how it feels to him right now. He’s also cleared out of anything other than weed until tomorrow night, so it’s not like he could try.

Sick of torturing himself, he decides he’s going to crash the party, he rationalizes that maybe if he does see what he thinks he will that it might kick him into some kind of rational thinking. He might still be able to walk away.

“Hunter. w-who names their kid that. fuck that’s funny.” Your speech is slurred and legs are uncoordinated as your new companion helps you upstairs, insisting you need to lie down, take a nap. Chrissy had tried to intervene but you waved her off insisting you were fine, and Hunter was fine too.

But now you’re alone in a room with a virtual stranger who has anything but a nap on his mind, and this only dawns on you as you are shoved against a wall, rough hands grabbing at you.

“Hunter ‘m too drun for thi-” Your words are cut off by lips being pressed to yours, a foreign tongue invading your mouth, smearing your lipstick as you try to turn your face. You’re being forced onto the bed now, and in your fear your body goes limp, willing it to just be over with. You hear the sound of fabric ripping, and then a loud bang as the bedroom door is thrown open.

Of all the scenes Eddie could have walked into, this one was something he never would have wanted to imagine. You, looking barely conscious on the bed with some creep’s hands all over you. Eddie grabbed Hunter and threw him to the ground, fists laying blows until his rings were covered in blood, Hunter was barely able to register was happening before Eddie broke his nose. Eddie was still seething and shaking as you slipped off the bed and knelt beside him, Hunter had gone limp under Eddie, blood bubbling from his broken nose was the only way you could tell he was still alive.

“Eddie? Eddie ‘m okay. Stop now.” You sniffle slightly on the last word and he turns to you, a hand gently stroking your face,

“Promise me you’re okay?” You nod, your hand laying over his. “He didn- I got here in time right?” You nod again,

“Can you take me home?” You hiccup slightly “I was supposed to stay here but...”

Eddie straightens up and takes your hand to help you to your feet. You manage to sneak down the stairs together, everyone’s attention turned to Patrick doing a keg stand. Chrissy is waiting by the front door, eyeing you nervously.

“Are you okay? I’m so sorry, I tried to follow you guys but he locked the door and I couldn’t get in but then Eddie showed up looking for you.” Chrissy lets out a choked sob and you pull her in for a hug,

“You did good, I promise I’m okay. Eddie’s going to give me a ride home.”

“Thank you.” Chrissy nods to Eddie awkwardly as she opens the door for you guys to leave before returning to Jason, making an excuse that you got sick and wanted to go home.

“Have you seen Andy’s friend anywhere? H-something? I don’t know.”

Chrissy shakes her head at Jason, deciding it better to let someone else deal with the unconscious dirtbag upstairs.

The atmosphere in the van is tense, Eddie hasn’t said a word to you since you climbed in, you don’t bother asking how he knows where you live as he starts driving. You slump back into your seat, eyeing Eddie nervously,

“So...”

“We can’t do this anymore.” Eddie’s tone is flat and matter of fact and you know immediately what he’s talking about, but you ask anyway,

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t keep fucking you and pretending it doesn’t mean anything. We need to stop this.” Eddie’s eyes are fixed on the road, even as you place a hand over his and squeeze it gently,

“Please can we talk about this tomorrow. Not tonight Eddie, please.”

He nods and moves his hand to return yours to your lap. The rest of the journey is spent in silence, Eddie parks on the drive of your pitch black house,

“I’ll wait until you’re inside.” He gestures to the door, motioning for you to leave.

“Eddie... please. Can you, please, can you come inside?” You plead, terrified to be alone, Eddie leans his head back and sighs softly,

"Okay. Let me just park around the corner." Eddie parks up a little way from your house, then steps out of the driver's side and walks around to open your door, holding a hand out to steady you as you stumble slightly,

“Easy there tiger, I've gotcha." You wrap an arm around his neck to stabilise yourself and he helps you to walk the path leading to your parents house.

Once you've snuck into your parent’s house, you point Eddie in the direction of the kitchen to wash his hands while you check your parents are asleep. Satisfied with the deep breathing and snoring you hear from outside their room you motion for Eddie to come upstairs.

“Why are you bringing a bucket?”

“In case you puke, obviously.” Eddie hisses at you as you step into your bedroom. You step into your bathroom to clean yourself up, unable to properly look at your face in the mirror. You bin the ripped fishnets and step into your shower, letting the hot water erase any bad sensations left on your skin.

Eddie meanwhile has never felt more out of place, your room feels like it could be the same size as his trailer, it’s clean and tidy. He doesn’t even want to sit on the bed for fear of messing it up, so he stands awkwardly in the middle of your room, taking it all in.

When you step out of the bathroom, staggering slightly Eddie’s hands are reaching for you, to steady you, you offer him a small smile as he helps you into bed. You wriggle over so there’s room and pat the space next to you, Eddie shakes his head.

“I’m fine on the floor.” Eddie sits beside the bed, back leaning against the bed frame.

“Eddie..”

“Go to sleep, I’ll make sure you’re safe. Bucket duty and all that.”

[strayheartless]

Here have a couple of sort of sad headcanons about Cloud Strife!:

Cloud doesn't like to be percieved. doesn't matter whether its at a company function, the infantry shared Kitchen or seventh heaven. If you draw attention to him he will shut down.

If Cloud had to definitivly give an answer to the 'who's your best friend?' question, he would say him mom. Once he meets Zack he'd say his Mom... and Zack. He doesn’t really care when admitting that, nobody ever cared to be his friend so why should he be ashamed of the people who did. When he finally gets to have a relationship with Tifa it’s difficult to reconcile the fact that she kind of represents both the people he loved and lost, but also she is her own completely different and special person whom he adores.

Cloud was mute as a kid. He was never officially 'diagnosed' with selective mutism, because his mother couldn't affort do take him to a doctor, but that didn't change the fact that for a very long time Cloud lived in such a high state of anxiety that he just didn't dare speak. And when he did it was barely above a whisper and only ever to Claudia.

He had days during his time at shinra where he convinced himself that Zack was getting bored of him and he activly avoided his company until he eventually Zack pushed Cloud to tell them whats wrong.

He doesn't cry. More specifically, he feels as though he can't cry or shouldn't. His friends have only seen him cry maybe once, and at the time he was high as fuck on pain meds. it distressed everyone involved.

If Cloud is dissapointed or Sad he shuts down completely and won't let people touch him.

He doesn't often get Mad mad, but when he does he could level a small town with one look. The only person that has ever seriously been on the wrong side of that stare is Vincent and he never wants to see it again. Its not an 'I'll kill you later' look its a 'I am so viserally angry at you that I cannot actually vocalise how I feel, so instead I am going to look at you like if i stare hard enough you will realise that I am a single step away from hating you. choose your next words carefully' look.

His nail beds are ruined.

There was a period just between the events of FFVII and AC where Clouds Brain -still in the throws of sorting out its mako muddled identity- regressed after nightmares. Nights when Tifa and Barret have had to coax him out of corners. Nights when Marlene has offered her stuffed bunny and climbed into his lap; shocking everyone when Cloud took the bunny and didn’t cry, but he started shaking really badly.

After AC the gang look into getting Cloud a therapy dog. They look for a calm breed but in the end Cloud picks the wiggliest most excitable ball of energy that he can and lets it smother him with love. The dog is just called ‘puppy’ and Cloud refuses to elaborate on why.

Ah look, sadness and sorrow. Why do I torture him so? I will never know

[cosmicjoke]

One tactic that some Eren fan once tried to argue to me, in trying to defend Eren's actions, is that Isayama, halfway through his story, suddenly decided that fighting back was "bad", and that's the cause of Eren's supposedly sudden shift in character at the end of the story. This person basically tried to blame it on Isayama changing his mind about the themes of AoT and, thus, on bad writing. They couldn't just accept that that was who Eren was all along; a whiny, selfish child that put himself and his desires above everyone else. Eren isn't bad because he was "fighting back", he's bad because he used the justifiable cause of self-defense as an excuse to commit horrific atrocities, when the real reason behind his actions was a childish inability to accept the way things were. It's why Eren's murder of the two sex traffickers who had kidnapped Mikasa was, on its face, justifiable, but the real reason behind Eren's actions wasn't. He did it because he was bored and enjoyed it. He could have waited for his father to get the authorities, but he didn't. And he didn't because he wanted to do what he did. He wanted to commit murder. It wasn't self-defense, it was self-indulgence.

Isayama never condemned the concept of self-defense or fighting back, and I think anyone who thinks he did wasn't paying any kind of attention to what they were reading/watching, and they aren't giving AoT enough credit for its nuance and sophistication.

The thing about AoT is that it doesn't present or force any sort of black and white moralistic world view on the reader/viewer. I talk about this with Levi a lot, how Levi is really representative of how morality isn't a static concept. How it varies and depends on the circumstances. He's a good man, the kindest, most compassionate man, that does quote on quote "bad things". Bad things within the context of normal society. But context always matters, and violence and killing isn't always wrong, even as it's always tragic. Jean, for example, very harshly criticizes Levi for killing people, only to be placed shortly thereafter in a position of having to kill in order to defend both himself and the lives of others; and when he falters and fails to do so, it's Armin who's forced to take that burden upon himself. We see in that moment how Jean's static morality and stubborn world view caused great harm to one of his friends, because he was more interested in preserving that static idea of morality and, thus, his own self-comfort, than he was in protecting his comrades. Jean's unmoving morality costs Armin dearly. Jean, in that moment, was extremely selfish.

And yet Levi later says to Jean that he doesn't know what's wrong or right, and he doesn't condemn Jean for his inaction, but simply states a fact; that Armin saved his and others lives by taking action in his place. Isayama's themes are never so basic or self-righteous as to present a definite answer on moral questions. He never tries to convey any kind of black and white world view. Rather, he presents the complexity of morality, and it's ever shifting conditions, while also showing us the oft tragic outcome of violence, even when that violence is justified or necessary.

Eren's actions weren't actions taken in self-defense or defense of others, they weren't necessary to his or anyone else' survival, and so they can't be defended and aren't justifiable. But Eren was given the power he was in an attempt at self-defense. Because a group of people was being persecuted and punished for things they weren't responsible for. That act of giving Eren power is justifiable. And that's the tragedy. Of having to rely on a bad person like Eren in a desperate attempt to survive. Just like Armin's emotional distress at having to kill in order to save Jean was a tragedy. Armin was justified, but it didn't stop him from being damaged by the event. It's not the self-defense itself that's wrong, but the fact of people being placed in a position of having to defend themselves at all, and all the many consequences of that, including the trauma is causes, both to ourselves and others, the sometimes ugly things it forces us to, and the cyclical, inescapable nature of it, that's tragic.

So it's not about questions of right and wrong, good or bad. Really, AoT is more a study on the tragedy of human nature and of nature itself. The world is cruel but beautiful, as Mikasa says. It's designed this way, and we're designed this way, and that's the way it will always be. Kill or be killed. Nature itself is predicated on that truth.

[bits-and-babs]

𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐄𝐗𝐈𝐀 — 𝐄𝐙𝐑𝐀 (𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓)

↳ summary: Abandoned by your prospecting crew, you team up with a fellow castaway to survive the hostile environment of Bakhroma.

↳ pairing: ezra (prospect) x f!reader

↳ [6.7k words] content: 18+ MDNI. Violence, injury, use of the name 'Little Bird' (canon), medical scenes. Fingering, riding, p in v sex, unprotected sex (ain't no condoms on a moon, girlie, but you better wrap up!), oral (f receiving). This is a @beskarbabs remaster — original post date 2021.

Ezra masterlist I| main masterlist |I join the taglist here

On your journey to Bakhroma, you'd heard an old wives' tale. Somewhat of a ghost story passed around the three-member crew during drunk nights while the long-haul space freighter floated in endless space. The unit said that other Prospectors that had survived the trip to the moon claimed that anyone who stepped foot in The Green was consumed with greed. How they were overcome with voracity upon the sight of the first Aurelac gem obtained, how Prospectors would literally kill for more of the obscure crystals, for the money that came from selling them, even just to be able to possess them for themselves. You had laughed.

How you wish you had taken them seriously.

Clutching your right arm in distress, you stumble through the foliage surrounding you on shaky legs. There's no denying the agony crawling up your arm in tendrils. You also lack oxygen, food, water and a weapon to protect yourself. Yet, you aren't as afraid of this as you are of the likelihood of other Prospectors wandering the forests. Given the traumatic event you managed to survive only hours ago, you could happily live the rest of your life without seeing another Prospector again, even if that shortened your life by force of circumstance.

Your crew, many of which you had grown up with, had stranded you on a hostile moon, of which its air was unbreathable, with little to no chance of survival. Despite the ache in the soles of your feet and the searing pain that shot through your arm with each step, this irrevocable fact left you numb: there was no accident. They'd abandoned you.

You didn't even observe when the atmosphere amongst the crew changed; it had all happened so fast. Having landed in the Drop Pod without incident and safely navigating The Green without needing to fire a single shot from the two Frontiersman guns you shared between the three of you, it had all gone so smoothly. Even the first Aurelac extraction had been successful.

If you were to pinpoint a moment you could pin the blame on for your fellow prospectors' change in attitude, it was when they first set their eyes on the crystal that they extracted from the hideous organism's membrane.

There was no way around it; everyone had become greedy. Their ridiculous ghost tale had manifested itself. They had harvested as many as was needed and then some more, and some more. The storage cases were overflowing and impossible to close without bursting at the seams. Some Aurelac gems were too big to fit into the case and had to be carried by hand.

When the time for harvesting was up, the group wandered back to the Pod. Maybe if you had been more observant and taken heed of the muted conversation, you could have avoided this mess entirely.

Upon returning to the Pod, the atmosphere had curdled. Stasya and Devi had control of the weapons since the very start of the mission, and you now found the barrels aimed at you. Stasya, the self-appointed leader of this expedition and all-around pretentious air-head, had decided upon leaving you on Bakhroma, initially claiming there wasn't enough weight capacity to take all three of you back home on the Pod.

"That is nonsensical, and you know it!" You'd insisted, wondering whether or not Stasya had secured her helmet correctly. She had to be going insane. Surely the toxic air had seeped into a crack in her armour-

"We have at least 140 pounds in Aurelac gems," she'd replied abruptly, her stance aggressive, "We need to leave you." You were in shock, bewildered by her statement. No matter how hard you tried to interpret her logic, it wasn't making sense...

"But we were cautious that we didn't pack too much equipment to ensure we had capacity for the harvest- I don't see how we could have breached the volume that we can't all make our way back safely," you contend, incredulous at her insinuation. When she didn't respond and instead aimed her Frontiersman Gun up between your eyebrows, your attention flitted to her overly-protective grip of the handle to the storage case in her free hand. Finally putting two and two together, you scoff, looking between Stasya and her power-grabbing number two, Devi.

"You are being ridiculous! We have an even split of the money we'll make from the gems-" You'd tried to plead for your life, well aware that abandonment on The Green was a definite death sentence. Devi interrupted.

"We get a much bigger cut if you're not involved," he pointed out rather callously. These two crew members, your friends, had been tainted by the very same greed they had forewarned in their ghost stories, passed on by other Prospectors, and were willing to sacrifice you for a shot at blood money.

Maybe it was the pressure of the situation, the rising panic in your stomach, but time seemed to slow down as the gravity of their plan for you began to set in. That same alarm sent you into fight mode.

It had all happened in what felt like a microsecond. Charging at Devi, you grabbed the gun in his hand with both of your own in a reckless attempt to foil their plan and turn the tables. You grit your teeth, straining at the exertion it took to try to pry his fingers from the weapon. Devi panicked, the gun slipping from his grip, and he began screaming at Stasya to do something.

She did.

She shot you in the arm, causing you to drop to your knees with a cry as you pawed at your wound with your palm. It burned white-hot, and you almost doubled over at how the pain pulsed from the crown of your head to the tips of your toes. Your vision had begun to blacken around the edges through the blurriness of the pained tears that welled in your eyes. Yet, despite your obvious distress, your agonising cries fell on deaf ears. Aiming his now secured gun at your head, Devi breathed heavily as he attempted to ease the shudder that wracked his body.

Adrenaline had coursed through you in your body's subconscious effort to numb the pain, and you rocked your torso backwards and forwards, battling the onset of unconsciousness. Through your astounding agony and the way your jaw throbbed from the strain of gritting your teeth as an anchor to ground you to reality, you'd managed to make sense of Stasya's final address to you.

"You should be grateful. We're allowing you to live. It's up to you whether or not you make an effort." She muses before turning on her heel and leaving you on the muddied floor of The Green, Devi following quickly behind her.

✰

You can't recall how long you've been staggering through the forests by yourself in your endeavour to find water. It's already hot in The Green, and your adrenaline spikes have caused you to sweat even more and edge you further towards dehydration, to the point your throat feels like sandpaper whenever you swallow. Whatever liquids you had drunk before leaving the Pod have now seeped through your pores, making your undersuit stick uncomfortably to your hot skin and your wound burns from the salt of your sweat.

Having lost all sense of direction some time ago, whether that was due to the ever-changing forest line or the pit of emptiness that sat in your stomach that growled in protest at the lack of nutrition in return for your bodies labour to trek across this forsaken moon, you are entirely disoriented.

You can't go on much longer like this. Not only are your vitals appearing utterly grim, but breathing has become much more challenging. You're running out of oxygen, and your lungs are beginning to ache. It begins crossing the threshold of uncomfortable, morphing into something akin to pain. You clutch at the fabric at the chest of your environment suit, struggling to maintain a calm disposition while also supporting the drive of a survival instinct.

You're so tired.

Despite your best efforts, anxiety and dread rip through your body and inundate your logical brain. You can feel your chest heave, the onset of a panic attack. You lurch forward in your hysteria, rushing in your despair to find something that could help. You aren't even sure what you are looking for, only that you're looking for something that would enable you to survive.

You see the fallen tree log at your feet, but the blind panic is so overwhelming that you don't have time to react. Pain racks up your ankle and calf as you trip over the damned thing, falling forward and rolling down a muddy hill. You're falling so fast that the trees and grass look like a green and brown smudge through the glass visor of your helmet, like some arcane painting. You hold your hands out to brace yourself, to stop yourself, but the mud is slippery, and there's nothing to grab onto until you reach the very bottom and come to a stop, groaning weakly at your arm's complaints.

You sit up slowly, hands braced on either side of your hips to keep balanced as you move in the soaking, sticky mud. Checking your oxygen supply, you have enough to last at least another 5 minutes. Then you'd have to rely on the air in The Green's atmosphere. A few hours of that would kill you. By your estimations, you had an hour to find shelter and breathable ai...

The view when you look up and take in your surroundings is breathtaking. Having landed in some kind of wide open valley, you have an uninterrupted view of the horizon the forest had once concealed. You're enclosed from behind with bright yellow wildflowers, the remnants of the flora in the woods you had quite literally tumbled out of, but what lays before you now is a beige-coloured wasteland surrounded by mountains. With no camouflage to hide behind, the skyline is perfectly clear. Suspended in the sky, much to your astonishment, is a colossal moon, similarly toned neutrals to the floor beneath you, but with brilliant splashes of rusty oranges and reds.

You're not sure whether it was the inevitable feeling of your life slipping away with each passing second or whether the sight before you is washing away all of your fear, but when you finally hear the hiss of your oxygen tank running out, you don't feel frightened. Pulling the latch on your helmet, you slowly remove it, noting the sting of the spores in your throat, the tickling in your lungs that reminded you the air on this globe was toxic. If this was how you were to die, at least you had a beautiful view.

So you sit back in the grass and mud, taking in the stunning view, and let time slip away. The absence of hope wasn't as petrifying as you had imagined; it was calming. So serene. In your moment of peace, you can't feel the pain in your arm despite it worsening over the hours of wandering aimlessly. It's a simple resignation, one that doesn't take much thought at all. You would return to the stars here and become a part of this ecosystem. While hostile, it's certainly gorgeous.

You tilt your head back, observing how the celestial bodies twinkle and frame the gargantuan moon in the sky. The breeze picks up slowly, tickling the skin of your exposed face and neck while the sun soothes and warms it.

When you cast your eyes behind you, taking in the expanse of your surroundings over your shoulder, you're jolted from the tranquillity and suddenly reminded of your dire situation. Not only is there an Aurelac cluster nestled in the grass to the left of you that you had narrowly avoided hitting during your fall, but there's also a person beside it dressed in an environment suit. They're staring, Boscelot Frontiersman gun aimed straight at you. Terror rips through your veins as you attempt to scramble to your feet.

"Wait, wait!" You gasp out, eyes wide as you put your hands out to show you aren't a threat. The sun reflects from the glass visor covering their head, preventing you from seeing the person's face. The suit is old. Keeping the gun aimed at you, they point to their radio, asking you to turn it on. You crouch slowly, pointing to your helmet to alert him that you must reach for it. He seems to understand, as he has no quarrel with you picking it up and slipping it onto your head. The rustling of the trees and gentle blow of the breeze cuts out when you're sealed in, and as you connect the radio, their voice echoes in the plastic chasm.

"You won't endure much longer if you persist without oxygen." It's a man. The voice is unexpected. It's low and laced with an attractively smoky tone. So smooth, it almost flows and ebbs with each word. You've never quite heard an accent like his, the twang new to your ears.

"I won't endure if you decide to shoot me either," you point out bitterly, mocking his extravagant phraseology. You've had enough of this planet having it out for you. Your lack of luck today was becoming almost humorous, but your limited patience certainly wasn't. Did it have to torment you like this? Why couldn't it finish you off quickly and not at the hands of another Prospector, considering you had already had enough of them too?

You hear a throaty chuckle at your mocking comment, though there's no humour to that either. The stranger keeps aiming his gun at you, taking a few steps forward. The sun, still reflecting from his visor, causes you to squint when it targets your eyes, hoping to see his face before he kills you.

"It appears that your words hold venom," he begins. You sneer slightly, already past the point of no return as far as you are concerned. He lowers the barrel of his weapon ever so slightly then, and you assume he's studying you.

"It has been quite some time since I heard the sound of a fellow human's voice," he laments, taking another step forward, "How nice it is to exchange utterances with someone who understands me." Had he not stepped out of the sun and revealed his face, you would have made some snotty remark about how you can't understand him anyway, his flamboyant verbiage creating a difficulty of comprehension. However, the sun's rays don't extend this far, and the moment his face is revealed, you find yourself stunned into a shocked silence.

Given the age and weathering his environment suit shows, he's younger than you would have expected. A beige-green colour with notes of black, he had been completely hidden among the leafage. His jaw is square, covered with dark brown stubble and a moustache on his upper lip that he's miraculously maintained well, given his situation. After all, you could safely assume there wasn't an endless supply of razors on the moon.

From what you can gather from his face, his skin tone is honeyed, and his aquiline nose is subtle though the bridge does arch enough to be noticeable from this distance. He's rather handsome.

You're so focused on his face that you almost wholly overlook that his right sleeve is knotted just below his shoulder, indicating he has lost his right arm. So many questions cross your mind, but the predominant query is... How had he survived even a second in this environment with only one arm?

"Though," he continues, disrupting your evident surprise, "It would also appear you have been impaired. What happened, Little Bird?"

Discounting his name for you, you consider your answer carefully. How would he react to knowing that you had come to harvest Aurelac? Is that what he's here for too? The likelihood of him seeing you as a threat to his harvest and killing you was more feasible than letting you go. But you're running out of time, and your lungs are screaming from the intake of a toxic atmosphere. So you decide upon the truth.

"My crew-mates shot me," you admit stiffly, coughing from the strain the spores are putting your body through, "We came to harvest Aurelac, but they left me behind. Wanted to split the harvest between the two of them."

The man standing before you considers your words, his expression unreadable. You're sure he's about to shoot you. A second bout of coughs breaks the tense air, making him relax a little.

"So the other Little Birds flew the nest and left you behind," he muses, watching you struggle with a quirk of his lips. He seems to take a moment to think about something before asking you another question.

"Are you..." A pause. "Are you out of oxygen?" He asks, nodding his head to your helmet. Despite what you think is a pretty obvious answer, you nod weakly. He lowers his gun.

"Will you be able to walk? You took quite the tumble." He fucking saw that?! Just how long had he been watching you?

Again, you nod, wondering where he plans to take you, given his miniature inquisition. He slings his gun over his shoulder and holds his only palm out to you.

"Hand me your oxygen tube," He orders, curling his fingers in and out for emphasis. You stumble awkwardly on your injured ankle, grabbing the tubing and making your way over to him. Despite your better judgement, you are willing to trust him. Your urgency for aid outweighs any wariness you have for him. The man takes the tube from your palm, feeding it into his oxygen tank with ease. The surge of fresh air into your lungs and the instant relief from the burning brings you solace.

"We need to revert to my Pod. Can you make the journey?" He asks of you, commanding the situation flawlessly. You nod again, at a loss for words at this man's generosity. Finally, he turns his back to you, leading the way back up the hill you fell from. It's a struggle, especially given the slickness of the mud, but the stranger manages to help you up with little effort despite his handicap.

"You can't keep the lesion exposed to the air like that. The spores contaminate it," he continues to make conversation. You're not sure if you're thankful for the silence being broken or want him to remain quiet, but you listen to him regardless. "It will make you feel bilious, and then it poisons the tissue in the arm... Resulting in necrosis." He's far too knowledgeable in the effect of Bakhroma's spores on the limbs for you not to think that is what caused the lack of his own. It spills from your lips before you even have the chance to stop it.

"Is that what happened to yours?" You blab. He doesn't stop walking. In fact, he doesn't answer your question at all.

"I'm Ezra," is all he states, his way of an answer, you suppose. The silence following is arduous and highly discomforting, considering Ezra just told you there was a likelihood of your arm turning black and dying due to the exposure to spores. It's now that you make the decision that you wish he hadn't spoken at all.

Without a response, Ezra answers instead, amusement in his tone ringing throughout the tense atmosphere.

"You're innominate? I guess I'll stick to calling you Little Bird then," he muses, once again leaving you stunned by his use of vocabulary. He's like a walking thesaurus, spouting words you've never heard before and blindsiding you with his knowledge of language. You are so blinded that you miss his asking for your name.

At this point, the blissful feeling of reassurance hits you like a tonne of bricks. The Pod is just ahead of you now, and you have to chew on the inside of your cheeks to prevent the sting of tears of consolation from devolving into full-fledged sobs. Not five minutes ago, you had truly convinced yourself that you would die. Now safety is just within your reach.

Ezra moves forward and opens the hatch for you, helping you inside. It's not large, but it's just spacious enough for you not to feel claustrophobic. The first thing you notice is that it has been kept very neat, almost to the detriment of a homely feel, as the steel-grey walls, floor and ceiling give off an almost hospital feel. There are few of his things on display, and you just assume he keeps most of his possessions in storage.

There is one thing that catches your eye, though. Despite the almost solitary cleanliness of the Pod, there are two cot beds. One is neatly made, pillows put into place, and covers smoothed out so there are little to no wrinkles. The other is messy, with pillows askew and covers pushed into a crumpled mess in the left-hand corner of the mattress. You glance back at Ezra, who's entering the Pod from behind you.

"We need to execute the procedure to preclude infection, Little Bird. Sit down. You may remove your helmet in here too." He orders, pointing to the neatly made bed as your seat. You do as he says without question, sitting down cautiously and taking off the crash helmet as he makes his way over to storage, riffling through whatever was in the containers. You need to fight the urge to cry again with the relief of the strain of your body weight on your feet, having been wandering for hours amongst harsh terrain.

Ezra returns to you, med kit in hand. He lays it down next to you on the bed, removing his helmet now that his hand is free. Of course, you had seen his brown hair back in the valley, but you hadn't noticed the little blonde tuft at the front of his hairline. It's cute and gives him somewhat of a boyish charm. He takes this moment to give a weak smile.

"I need you to disrobe from the environment suit. Do you require my assistance?" He asks you, tilting his chin to your arm. You're so taken aback, probably overwhelmed and exhausted from the extremity of the events that had unfolded so quickly that you find yourself at a loss for words. Once again, you merely nod, accepting his offer of help gratefully.

You use the hand of your healthy left arm to pull down the zipper on the front of your environment suit, while Ezra works to pull down the shoulder from your right. He's vigilant in ensuring the collar doesn't catch on your wound on its way down. Then, working together, you unpeel the suit from your torso until it hangs around your hips, your sleeveless body glove exposing the blast to the outside of your bicep.

You decide not to look at it.

"Will it hurt?" You finally speak to him, and Ezra's eyes move to your face momentarily. He seems to consider his answer carefully while he raises his wrist to his mouth, ripping the velcro of his gloves and pulling them off with his teeth. He takes the item of clothing, laying it neatly on the bed beside the med kit.

"I'll do my utmost to keep your discomfort to a minimum," is his reply. While it does nothing to quell your initial fears, you appreciate his honesty and consideration. You look around the room, trying to find something to focus on as Ezra works through the med kit, taking out whatever he needs to start the procedure.

"Remember to breathe," he murmurs, his voice suddenly very soft. It causes chills to break out across your skin, even though the fear of pain is causing you to sweat. Inhaling slowly, you feel your lungs expand in your ribcage to the point it grows tight before exhaling again, fixating on the sensation to distract yourself from the pain.

"Hey," he whispers softly, pulling your focus back. You glance up at him through your lashes and find him gazing back at you. His expression is tense and cautious. He doesn't want to hurt you, yet the inevitability traps a sense of trepidation between you. Deep-rooted panic settles in the pit of your stomach, making your blood rush through your veins quicker.

"Look me in the eyes," he takes your chin now, holding it a little tighter with his fingertips to ground you. Your eyes probably gave away your internal panic.

You nod weakly, looking to catch his eyes and-

And time just stops.

It's humiliating; you know you would be blushing if you said it aloud. His irises are a deep and warm earthy-brown, as though Ezra had spent so much time amidst the rich soils and thick mud here that it had almost become a part of him. Looking into those eyes, you felt like you were orbiting around him. Maybe the spores had left you with irreversible brain damage from the very little time that you had your helmet off in the valley, or perhaps he was quite possibly the most handsome man you had ever seen.

Once he notes that you're holding his gaze and breathing steadily, he sets to work. You hear him pick up something from the kit, a top popping from it. He hesitates for a moment but holds your gaze still.

"This will sting," he admits. There's a splash of a lukewarm liquid before the burning starts. You grit your teeth, straining against the scorching sensation. It prickles, an intense itching following that is so bad you feel your toes curl in your leather boots. Yet, you maintain eye contact. You cling to the empathy that's there and appreciate his understanding.

He lays down the tube, eyes flicking down for just a moment to pick up an item. A Patch Gun. Ezra stares back at you, pulling the stopper with his teeth and lining up the nosel with the wound.

"Breathe in," he commands, and you do. You breathe so hard and fast that your sternum aches with the strain. The sound of medicated foam being released from the Patch Gun reaches your ears before the pain does. When it hits you, you release the air in your lungs with a strained whine, squeezing your eyes shut as the agony rips through you. Like the initial wound, it seers white hot, spiralling down your arm to your fingertips and up your neck muscles. Your jaw is tight, tears springing to your eyes.

"Good girl," Ezra soothes you, pulling the patch gun away from your arm. Leaning back into the searing torment, you moan as he helps you to lay back against the mattress to ride out the peak. It's not long until the intensity slowly ebbs away until you're blinking your eyes open to find he's putting the stuff back into the kit box to lay back into the storage containers. You can see the peripherals of your vision pulsing rapidly, skin buzzing all over as you come down from the tense and excruciating high.

Time seems to both slow and accelerate in this mid-conscious state. What feels like hours passing by is probably only a few seconds, but you're exhausted. That fatigue catches up with you so fast that you barely have the chance to catch it before your eyelids droop. Sheets pull up to your shoulders, and their comfort is enough to finally push you to slumber.

✰.

There's a suspended moment when you ease back into consciousness. You are aware that you're awake, but keep your eyes closed in an attempt to fall back into unconsciousness. A dim thrumming in your bicep pulses with each beat of your heart inside your chest. It's not painful, just unpleasant. You pull your eyebrows together slightly, your other senses finally beginning to awaken with you.

You can hear Ezra moving around in the Pod, searching for something in the storage containers. You blink your eyes open slowly, still curled up on your side. He's just ahead of you. Having shucked his environment suit, he's dressed in a deep camo-green, long-sleeved shirt tied just beneath his amputation and a pair of grey sweatpants. You can't help but feel like you're imposing on his privacy, seeing him dressed so casually and watching him walk around his own space.

"Ezra?" You croak his name. He glances up quickly from what he's doing, eyes settling on you. He looks relieved, eyes crinkling around the edges as he smiles at you.

"You awoke! Do you need liquids?" He asks, pacing his way over to you. He leans over the bed, placing the back of his palm on your forehead to feel your temperature— though you're certain he gets a reasonably inaccurate reading. The moment his honeyed skin touches yours, your cheeks heat up as your heart hammers in your chest. You're not sure why his presence is suddenly so debilitating for you, but when he looks expectantly into your eyes for an answer to his question, you swear your brain short-circuits.

"Yes, please," your voice is raspy from the lack of use, and your throat aches as the words pass your lips. He smiles that same smile again, rendering your heart almost completely useless before he turns on his heel to grab you a glass of water.

You know exactly where this is coming from. Your very sudden attraction to him comes from months of loneliness. While your abandonment by your crew had come as a shock, it certainly wasn't a surprise. They had always been much closer and would go days without acknowledging your existence if you didn't make an effort to talk to them. Maybe this had been the plan all along?

Regardless, despite being in the presence of other people, your isolation had made you utterly starved of touch, needy for attention. Along came Ezra, coming to your aid and focusing all his consideration on you.

Stars above, you were desperate. Shockingly so.

You look up, seeing him stroll over with a cup of water in tow. He settles himself down on the bed, laying the cup on the bedside table to hold your waist as he helps you to sit up in bed. You're almost sure he doesn't mean to, but his fingertips brush the slither of skin exposed between your undershirt and your bottoms. It sends a tremor up your spine. It's so intense you swear you can feel it on the crown of your head.

"You had me concerned, Little Bird," He smiles, passing the water over to you, "But you're out of the woods now." Ezra sounds almost as relieved as you feel. He keeps his gaze on your bicep for a moment, chewing on the inside of his cheek as he plans his following few sentences. Nothing acceptable seems to come to mind, so he remains silent, the unspoken words hanging in the air and causing a thick tension between you as you sip at the water.

You cast your own gaze upon his arm, or lack thereof. The questions in the valley swarm your mind again, much louder in the silence than they had been at that moment.

"Did you amputate it yourself?" You work up the courage to break the stillness with a whisper, and once again, he casts his eyes upon your face. You'd known him less than thirty waking minutes, yet you had already reconciled multiple things you admired in him. His smile, his hair, his use of vocabulary.

However, it was how he looked at you when he spoke to you; how he gave his full attention and hung on every word was your favoured attribute. It may be that those spores *had* caused some form of irreversible damage to your brain chemistry...

"No," he chuckles, fingertips moving to brush at the stump of his arm underneath the fabric, "No, it was my companion who dismembered it." You sense almost a fragility hidden deep beneath his extravagant persona. It doesn't take a genius, a person with Ezra's knowledge of dialect, to see that the unspoken words indicated the partner he spoke of was no longer with him.

You try to steer away from what appears to be an emotional subject for him, deciding upon another question to ask.

"What made you decide to help me?" The query falls from your lips so easily. Ezra's own quirk up slightly.

"Your candid account of what you had experienced touched me deeply. Had you told me a differing narrative, I wouldn't have been so lenient," he admits to you, those earthy orbs finding flitting between your own once more. You swear he's doing it on purpose now.

"But I empathise with you. Many moons ago, I found myself in your state of affairs, my own crew deserting me. Words and metal were exchanged, and I found myself alone on this very same celestial body with no help." His hand takes your own, brushing his thumb along your knuckles as he speaks.

"I was hoping I could be of service to you, help you in your moment of need... You might help me in mine." You pause, taking in those words with surprise. Help him? What could a man who had survived an extended time in such a hostile environment, alone and with only one arm, possibly need your help with?

Ezra turns his hand slowly, his knuckles brushing up your forearm absentmindedly as he talks. Yet, for a man so equipped to be savage and cruel, he also managed to maintain a very soft, gentle side.

"I lost my partner," he confirms. There's a tender, mournful look in his gaze. "I met her not unlike I met you in the valley. She was heedful but intrepid. An astonishing companion..." He trails off slowly, that pain finally reaching his expression as he gathers himself.

"I miss having a partner. I'm half the man I once was and can no longer defend myself adequately. I require a confidante and associate." He looks expectantly at you.

"You're asking me to stay?" You question, your surprise reaching your voice. Was he always this trusting? Or was it simply because you were both stuck here regardless?

"Yes. Truth be told, I miss the company. Besides, how could I turn down your companionship when you are as bewitching as you appear?" He muses, a smirk spreading across his lips as you let out a bemused laugh.

"Are you saying I'm pretty?" you grin, unable to hold your overwhelming attraction to his charms. He just nods slowly, tracing his palm up your bicep and over your neck until he's teasing at the skin stretching across your jaw's bone with his thumb. He's methodical in his strokes, almost contemplative.

"After all, it's not as though you could leave without oxygen," he points out teasingly, but the smile slides from his face almost as quickly as it pulls up. The air is charged around you, a pull so strong you're convinced that Ezra can feel it too.

You begin to wonder if Ezra was as desperate, as touch starved and deprived of affection and care as you are.

"How long have you been alone?" You manage to force through the quiet between you. His thumb trails beneath your jaw again, the pad tenderly outlining the column of your throat. You swear your heart is beating hard enough for him to feel it beneath your skin, but you do your best not to draw attention to it.

"Some six to eight months. I lost track after the fourth," he admits his voice a murmur. Those deep globes flick back up to yours, considering the expression they hold, reading your sympathetic gaze. His lips curve into a small, meek smile, very unlike the personality he'd displayed to you. But Ezra was such an open book; you felt you knew everything you needed to know about him already.

In a universe, so advanced and technological, science had been able to explain away every form of mystery and coincidence that humanity had ever thought up. But there was something about Ezra, the way he had stumbled into your life and saved your own, that made you feel like this was some sort of fate. Destiny. He was meant to find you.

You're bold with your next move, moving your unhindered arm up to place your palm over Ezra's wrist, forcing him to take you by the throat. He looks surprised at first, looking between where he held you and your expression. You can see the number of questions running through his mind slip away as you lean forward.

There's this moment of suspense between the two of you, your chest so tight as you find your breath escaping your lungs a little heavier than a moment ago. Your lips are so close, millimetres away. You can taste him on your tongue, can smell a citrusy scent. It's oddly like oranges, sweet and tangy. Those lips you're so needy for tilt upwards, smirking at the drawn-out wait of you psyching yourself up to make a move.

"I wouldn't leave even if I had oxygen," you sound hushedly. It wipes that grin off of Ezra's face, the implication of your words not having time to sink in before you're pressing your lips to his in a desperate kiss, so full of tender and agonising need that wholly consumes the both of you.

He squeezes his palm around your throat, not enough to choke you but enough to apply light pressure, and uses the leverage to pull you into a deeper kiss. His lips are soft, barely exposed to fresh air due to the ventilation in the Pod and the constant covering of his helmet. It's intoxicating, and you find yourself slipping so fast into this heated embrace that you forget to breathe entirely.

Ezra leans you against the mattress slowly, trailing his palm down your side ever so gently despite the heated frenzy of your lips. He's highly aware of the bruising you sustained during your fall in the valley, and in any other moment, you would have been overwhelmed by his consideration, but he tastes so sweet on your tongue that you cannot help but lose yourself to him. You're certain Ezra can feel you melt into his touch as his tongue traces the plush of your lips, groaning softly as he allows his hands to explore the heat of your skin.

He begins with feather-light touches on your hip, squeezing gently to test for sore spots before he adds pressure to his grip. You hum in appreciation into his mouth, your fingers trailing through the dishevelled brunette curls at the side of Ezra's temple before working their way to the nape of his neck and taking root there.

Brushing his palm up your abdomen slowly, Ezra's fingerprints map the ridges and bumps of your muscles and the bones of your ribs. He moulds his lips against yours in a softer kiss before pulling away, smirking as he feels your ribcage expand with a sudden gulp of air.

"You need to respire in order to survive, Little Bird." he mutters, the pad of his thumb brushing the underside of your breast, "Don't say I've restricted your ability to perform a basic human function." You giggle breathlessly, appreciating him trying to break down the intensity of the situation as he presses a delicate kiss to the tip of your nose, between your brows while he waits for you to catch your breath again.

"May I touch?" He asks you, ensuring that it's what you want. You nod feebly, finding yourself at a loss for all words apart from those that sounded like you were pathetically begging. Your skin buzzes as his palm cups your breast, squeezing gently.

"You are just heavenly," he murmurs into your ear as you tilt your head back with a soft moan. It's been so long since you were last touched by someone else that every skim of his skin against yours sparks embers of heat beneath it. He groans softly as he feels your nipples harden under the fabric of your undershirt. Only then do you notice the strain his body is under, having only his elbow to balance.

"I can-" you pause to consider how you want to put this, "I could get on top." There's a break in his purposeful movements, almost as though his brain has buffered at your words. Swallowing a moan that he manages to catch in his throat, Ezra nods quickly and turns to lie on his back.

The dynamic changes almost instantly as you straddle his hips. You can feel the atmosphere change around you, as though the ambience shifts and clicks into place. When Ezra's hand finds your hip, you feel empowered. So you lean over, kissing him with a hunger that allows him to experience your breathlessness.

A soft whine escapes you as you feel his hips shift, the stiff bulge in his sweats brushing against your clit through the pants of your environment suit that he had left on you when you fell asleep. The friction, mixed with the tension in the air, seems to unlock a primal side to Ezra. He leans up suddenly, pressing open and sloppy kisses to your throat. He's nipping and sucking on your skin as you fumble with the waistband of your environment suit to push it over your hips.

Quickly pulling your legs out of your clothes, you're left in only your undershirt and underwear. Ezra pulls you back over his hips, grinding up against you and letting out a groan that almost reverberates in his chest. You're both grabbing at each other in your desperation, months of pent-up frustration and lack of intimacy fuelling the both of you with little thought.

As he continues his ministrations to your neck, you pull down his sweats, easing them over his hips. You can't help but pause as you reveal his cock, Ezra having decided not to wear underwear beneath his sweatpants. He presses another open-mouthed kiss to your jaw, teeth brushing your skin with the smug smirk that spreads across his face.

"What's the hold u- oh fuck-" he chokes out as you brush your clothed cunt over his exposed crotch. He grips your hip hard, pupils expanding until the earthy brown of his iris' are almost entirely swallowed by them at the feeling of your slick leaking through your cotton underwear and streaking across the length of his dick.

"My sweet... Let me..." He trails off, his thumb hooking underneath your underwear and pushing them to the side. You can feel him brush against your pussy lips, your thighs shaking at the heat that settled between them. Then, before you even have the chance to beg for his touch, he's brushing his fingers through your folds and spreading your slick up to your clit.

You jolt at the sudden pleasure that arcs up your spine, head lolling back as the feeling practically liquifies you. Ezra is rubbing your clit with his print in small, tight circles, and you swear you could cum right there. But, almost as quickly as he starts, you must stop him, grabbing his hand and pinning it to his side.

"Little Bird, why can't I touch y-?" He cuts off as you lift yourself, sinking down onto his cock slowly. He squeezes his eyes shut, throwing his head back against the pillows and practically tearing up as he feels your cunt flutter around him at the stretch.

"E-Ezra," you splutter his name, bracing your hand on his chest and digging your nails into the sun-kissed skin to the point pink blooms underneath. He's stretching you so wide it's almost like he's splitting you in half, enough for you to need to spread your legs wider in order for you to feel like you can take him all.

"Good Girl— so good. Just a little more," he coos, kneading the tips of his fingers against your hip to ease you. Sucking in a deep breath, you sink yourself down to the hilt, whimpering at the intense stretch and the delightful sparks of pleasure that come with it. His cockhead is spearing up against something that makes your thighs tremble.

"Hah, ah..." You try to steady yourself against his hips, only rocking them slightly as you adjust to his size. He's gazing up at you like you're the most dazzling gem he'd ever seen, pupils tinged with enough awe and reverence to make you feel like you are some kind of goddess.

You begin to grind into him, a chorus of moans and gasps falling from your mouths as bliss spreads through you. You can already hear your blood rushing in your ears, your heart pounding in your chest so hard you swear you can feel your ribs crack. He's filling you up so well, hitting that spot in you with each bounce of your hips.

"Brighter than the stars, Little Bird- Fuck, you're so beautiful," Ezra growls, using his grip on your hip to rock them harder against his. Meanwhile, you're speechless. Your mouth is agape, panting out with a squeak every time he fills you up to the hilt repeatedly. It's all happening so fast and building so much that you could scream.

That's when Ezra switches his position, hoisting you up slightly as he plants the heels of his feet into the mattress. You sob loudly, tears of excruciating ecstasy slipping down your face. They drip from your chin as he grabs your ass, kneading it and using its leverage to bounce you on his cock. He's pounding into you, his dick hitting your cervix with each thrust.

"Ezra- Ezra, that's hah- that's-!" You wail, eyelids slipping shut as you focus on chasing your pleasure with each sway of your hips, making sure the head of his cock hits that mind-numbing spot inside you that just makes your toes curl.

Your focus is broken when Ezra grabs your chin, dragging your face forward so your noses bump together. Your eyes fly open in surprise.

"You're going to look at me when you cum," he orders, voice indicating this wasn't up for negotiation. You couldn't find it in you to argue anyway, completely cockdumb from the way he fucks you. When he sees that you're pliant, he resumes absolutely destroying you, relying on the relaxation of your body to allow him to thrust his hips into you without using his hand on your hips. He keeps his fingers under your chin but slips his thumb past your kiss-swollen lips and into your mouth, ordering you to suck.

You hollow your cheeks around his digit, running your tongue over the ridges of his thumb print as you keep eye contact with him. He growls out, losing himself in the fervency.

Abandoning that thought, he rushes to remove his hand from your face and press it to your abdomen. He moans out, delighting in feeling his cock slip in and out of your cunt. He can feel the rippling of your muscles and skin with the force he's using to pound into you. Every ridge of his cock adds to the overwhelming feeling as he moves in and out of you, the pressure he's applying to your pubic bone enough to launch you to your orgasm, but then he begins ruinous thrusts that knock your cervix and that sweet spot inside that have your legs turning to jelly with a scream.

You cum so hard that white blooms across your eyes, splitting you down the middle and pulsing devastatingly between your thighs. It sends heat from the bottom of your feet to the top of your head in gentle waves. Tilting your head back, you sob as he continues to thrust in and out, to ruin you completely.

He's babbling, voicing gorgeous and heartwarming compliments, but you're unable to discern them, still in the peak of your orgasm as it just builds and almost reaches a point of rapture that has you in pain. It's when you slam your fist against Ezra's sternum in an attempt to pull yourself from the earth-shattering orgasm that you hear him yell out, painting your fluttering walls with his cum. His thighs tremble, and you fall against his chest, fighting to drag air into your lungs to rid your eyes of the black spotting in your vision.

You lay there for a while, feeling like you're spinning despite your head securely resting on Ezra's shoulder. Your muscles were so tense from your orgasm that it now feels like they're melting into the mattress, seeping through and dripping out of the bottom and onto the floor of the Pod. You feel entirely liquified.

Then he's turning you both over gently, using his hand to brace the back of your head before it hits the mattress and gently laying it down with your body. You whine from the loss of contact, assuming he's getting out of bed or going to redress.

So when he dips his head between your thighs, brushing his tongue through your folds to taste the mix of your cum together, you can't help the moan of shock, overstimulation seeping down your thighs and pools in the base of your spine. He focuses his assault there, swirling the tip of his tongue around your clit until you're sobbing once more.

On your journey to Bakhroma, you'd heard an old wives' tale. Somewhat of a ghost story passed around the three-member crew during drunk nights while the long-haul space freighter floated in endless space. The team said it had been passed down from other Prospectors who had survived the moon trip. They claimed that anyone who stepped foot in The Green was subjugated by greed. While Aurelac gems definitely pleased Ezra, it appeared he found the treasure between your legs much more valuable...

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[strawberryicemoon]

You should watch Pokemon Horizons

You should watch Pokemon Horizons. No seriously. You should watch the most recent Pokemon anime. Obviously people have different tastes and a children's anime isn't going to be everyone's cup of tea. But if you've ever enjoyed Pokemon, or are a fan of children's cartoons (particularly children's anime), I have to recommend trying Pokemon Horizons. Pokemon Horizons isn't finished yet, at 25 episodes, so there is always time for it to take a turn, but it has just completed its first arc "Liko and Roy's Departure", so I feel confident in recommending it. And with the English dub coming out soon (hopefully), bringing availability to a wider audience so whenever you get the chance, I’d recommend it.

Our main protagonist is Liko. And I don't want to define her by her predecessor, but she really is Ash's antithesis in the best of ways. Nothing against Ash, it’s just a change was necessary. Ash is a hot-headed, straight-forward, confident, extroverted. Liko is an anxious introvert. She's unsure of her identity, and what she really wants to do at first. You could say she's a lot like previous female Pokemon protagonists in that regard; though it's too early to make any conclusive statements about where she's going, I will say I think her particular flavor of self-discovering protagonist hasn't quite been fully utilized. To be brief, I think she's less focused on figuring out her dream, and more on figuring out what she wants next, in a step by step fashion. She’s learning to understand and prioritize what she really wants, not what she thinks she should do. One of the earliest bits we get in the series is her grandmother telling her the importance of that first step, and so as Liko continues to grow in tiny steps, and makes more of her own decisions it feels like growth. Liko is most charming for who she shows herself to be when she stops thinking. Stops hesitating and worrying about doing the right thing. Someone who jumps off buildings. Who charges into battle because it's the right thing to do. We are often treated to Liko's internal dialogue. Where we hear the thoughts she doesn't say aloud due to her more introverted nature. She often expresses her anxiety, her surprise when she does something rash or when something weird happens to her. Which makes her moments of strength all the better, as she grows into a strong trainer, who more easily and more deliberately makes decisions about her future. Also, despite not actively thinking about it as much, Liko does figure out what she wants. And without spoiling it, she’s more like Ash than it may seem at first.

Liko also is in the center of a minor chosen one narrative, possessing a mysterious pendant inherited from her grandmother (and it's suggested she may be descended from an ancient hero), with a power that only Liko can unlock. (Side note: we haven’t gotten too much of her grandmother yet, but she is just a fantastic example of a badass old lady). That may not necessarily be appealing to many people, but it’s a great catalyst for her growth and a justification for her to be getting involved in bigger conflicts in what will probably be a shorter series in a franchise that has escalated the stakes a lot since Red and Blue. She is at series start, a damsel in distress. She's a brand new trainer, targeted by an evil organization for reasons she doesn't understand, rescued by people who are just hired to protect her. But Liko, despite starting out somewhat meek, and overly people pleasing, decides very quickly that she doesn't want to just stand by and let events happen to her. She wants to chase them herself. It may have been extraordinary circumstances that lead her to the Rising Volt Tacklers. But she stays with them because she realizes that this is what she wants to do, this is where she'll grow, and become the person she wants to be. Currently in the series she has already shown very tangible growth as both a person, and a Pokemon trainer. 

Speaking of her being a Pokemon trainer, her Pokemon complement her and her goals well. She was given Sprigatito specifically as the result of an interview judging her personality, so we the audience are instantly cued in that we can use Sprigatito as a way of understanding Liko’s personality. At the beginning Liko doesn't understand Sprigatito, but she also admits that she also doesn't understand herself very well. All the while Sprigatito is very much so, a cat. Who does exactly what she wants to do, when she wants to do it, taking life one action at a time, something Liko does throughout the show. Sprigatito seems to respond better to Liko when Liko is confident and when she does things that she really wants to, not things she feels she should. Sprigatito and Liko are naturally on the same page, so when Liko deviates from that, in the name of doing something she feels she should do rather than wants to do, Sprigatito gets upset. This is an effective way of building up both their relationship, and helping us to clearly understand the girl who doesn't understand herself, providing a catalyst for Liko’s growth. In addition Sprigatito’s calming aroma, and ability to use Leafage as a smokescreen are fitting tools for Liko’s goals and habits.

Hattena, Liko’s first catch, is caught later into the arc, but also fits Liko well. And gets along well with Sprigatito. Hattena is a pokemon known for being sensitive to emotions, and requiring a gentle, calming trainer, which helps highlight Liko’s strengths, and is relevant to Liko’s personal ambitions.

Roy is a passionate, energetic, friendly boy. He has more of an idea of what he wants than Liko, which is to unravel the secrets of his mysterious ancient Pokeball, but he’s still rather laid back. This may make him sound more like Ash, to which I won’t disagree but he is still a defined character himself. (And being “Like Ash” could mean a lot of things considering Ash took on many characterizations throughout his history). He has a big grand dream, but it’s unique to him, and is well defined. He's not as nuanced as Liko, but he makes a charming foil to her. While Liko can be more hesitant and had to be circumstanced into the journey, Roy’s been itching for one for a while. Liko’s grandmother pushed her forward, Roy’s grandfather’s been holding him back. Liko has to learn to consider what she wants, Roy has to learn to support others. Like Liko, Roy’s been making progress on becoming a trainer, often through the support of each other and helping his Pokemon out. 

Though Sprigatito and Liko were a pair assigned to each other and had to learn to get along, Roy and Fuecoco just matched vibes and decided that they actually wanted to help each other reach their goals. Fuecoco and Roy are a great pair too. Fuecoco is a simple type of 'mon. He likes to eat, sing, and wants to be strong like Friede's Charizard. They sing a lot as a form of bonding, which is adorable

Roy's other pokemon is Wattrel. Another glutton. Who also likes to sing. Who has his own ambitions. Unlike Hattenna and Sprigatito who get along well, Wattrel and Fuecoco often argue. Both are boisterous Pokemon with a lot of (metaphorical as of now) firepower, with a lot of ambition. While Fuecoco is more cheerful, and Wattrel grumpy, their inability to naturally support each other fits with Roy’s more individualistic personality. 

Okay, Spoiler time...

The show has gone out of its way to keep them hidden. If you want to keep the twist please skip. However, I think this twist is going to go the way of the identity of Luke's father, so your days are numbered before it's spoiled forever. And I feel I can't really talk about Horizon's and why you should watch it without discussing them. So skip to the end of this section if you don't want to hear it. For the third member of our trio and Quaxly's partner, I am going to talk about spoilers.

While Dot's voice actress and presence in show was announced very early on, along with the rest of the crew, it wasn't immediately clear what was going on. Or rather, she was announced as Nidothing/Gurumin. Liko's favorite streamer. Which was an odd character to give such importance. But by the end of the first episode it's apparent there's more to Nidothing to the story. She does the next episode previews. And while Quaxly had featured in the first poster and was clearly set to be part of the crew, it was not clear who Quaxly belonged to, and it just so happened that Gurumin had a Quaxly. And then the reveal of a Quaxly and a Fuecoco that was certain to become Roy's partner already as part of the Rising Volt Tackler's crew made it a sure bet that Nidothing was part of the crew. The only question was who. The mystery was a good hook, at the start of the series, but they didn't leave it dangling too long.

Dot’s a shut-in, who has already shown tremendous growth, beginning to leave her room, interact with her fellow crewmates, and acknowledge her friendship with the other kids, and her partnership with Quaxly. While we haven't gotten as much of them yet, Quaxly seems to be the perfect partner to Dot. Quaxly is a showy type of pokemon. Energetic and confident, everything she exudes as her Nidothing persona. Though time will show more depths to both characters. While we don't know much at all about her backstory, we know she's been a full-fledged member of the RVT for a while, as essentially their IT person (and internet research specialist), and that she's Murdock's niece (we'll talk about him too). We know she was inspired to begin streaming by Iono (the ScVi gym leader). But what exactly caused her to become a shut in, join the RVT, and befriend Quaxly remains to be seen. We are, afterall, 25 episodes into what is sure to be a 70+ episode show, (likely 100+). And things are just getting started.

That's enough of spoilers.

The kids have a strong friendship that is just starting to grow. It's already clear that they're becoming the kind of true companions that any group of traveling companions should be. Real ride or die for each other, and we're only 25 episodes in. They're goofy, inexperienced, and intensely curious with great potential for growth. We've already gotten instances of them inspiring and encouraging each other. While I don't think they are the most compelling group dynamic out there, they've got potential, and they certainly aren't bad. They're connected, either directly or indirectly, to the mystery of an ancient hero, and want to know more.

They also make for fantastic rookie trainers. Their team sizes are small, and they accumulate pokemon slowly. Which gives them time to show the growth of their individual pokemon and their bond. There’s also a lot of focus on the kids learning to BE trainers. Learning how to come up with strategies, be creative, expect the unexpected, and actually train their pokemon. It’s one thing to show a trainer training a pokemon, and another showing a trainer learning skills to help them direct their pokemon in battle so it's always good to see multiple aspects.

When the anime started there were 151 known pokemon and a promise of more, but nothing crazy. It was feasible to give every pokemon some degree of focus. To try and get as many pokemon as possible some of the limelight. But now there's over 1000. That's not really possible, so I think the quality over quantity works better. More importantly, working with the individual pokemon helps to highlight the growth of the trainer and why they're important. It's very important in Pokemon that battles don't turn into trainers yelling orders that pokemon interpret into all sorts of additional things, and probably didn't need to be told to do in the first place. Liko and Roy are shown to help their pokemon grow by encouraging them, and providing guidance on how to use their moves, and shows how they help in the heat of battle, by strategizing and helping to figure out not just which moves to use but how to utilize them in different ways. In short, Horizon's does a great job of demonstrating what skills are necessary to be a good trainer, and shows them honing those skills, rather than just focusing on their personal-emotional growth or the growing strength of their pokemon.

But the kids aren't the only ones who matter here. The brave Asagi is filled with adults with their own problems, histories and goals. Adults that help guide the Asagi's three charges, and are excellent role models.

Now, to preface, Pokemon has been increasing adult presence in the games especially since Sun and Moon, for better or for worse. After all, such a big draw of the Pokemon franchise was the power fantasy for kids. The ability to see a world, see in themselves, the ability to be independent and strong. (Which is a large part of kids growing to be independent and strong). I'm not really a fan of the way that the most recent games have commentary about the ways adults fail children. In Sun and Moon it's Lusamine's condescension towards kids, Sword and Shield it's the way Leon keeps Hop and the protag away from the conflict for most of it, In Scarlet and Violet, it's for better or for worse the school setting. On the anime side of things we had Ash going to school in Sun and Moon, and then establishing a base at Cerise laboratories where he gets adult supervision (and Chloe going to school). We sure are getting a lot of school these days. I think that erases a huge part of the big appeal for Pokemon, at least for child me, and likely for many of you at one point or another. The disappearing ability for children to explore the wilderness was the inspiration behind the franchise to begin with. It's a world where kids are treated seriously. Where they can be strong, because their strength comes from their bonds and their friendships, where their age and lack of experience doesn't make them babied. Where they are in control of their lives and given the respect they deserve. And in a world that's increasingly hostile towards children, a world where we are increasingly taking away children's freedoms in the name of keeping them safe it's more important than ever that the pokemon world remains a world where kids as young as 10, are free to choose their own path in life, change the world, and not be held back by what adults say they can or cannot do, a world where the god makes no such age distinctions. So no. I'm not generally a fan of the increased presence of school and adults in Pokemon and the commentary of "how fucked up is it that 10 year olds have to save the world". No It's an amazing world because 10 year olds have the power to save the world and aren't subject to the whims of the adults around them.

But all of this is to say that so far, I'm liking how the adult presence is handled in Horizons despite my predisposition against it. I think it's because the characters aren't above our children protagonists. Our children don't match the adults in strength and experience. But they are shown to be strong and drivers of their own stories. They aren't helpless. They chose to join the Brave Asagi's crew because it was the best way to accomplish their goals. The adults support the kids, they are never there as an obstacle for the kids to overcome, nor do they impede the kids abilities to face challenges and peril on their own. And the kids, while they may cause them problems, are never shown as a burden on the adults. The adults aren't useless though either. They're full-fledged characters in their own rights. If anything the story goes out of its way to tell its audience that children and adults aren't that different after all (particularly in episode 19). Adults struggle, they cry, they get excited. Being an adult doesn't have to mean getting trapped in mundanity. Being an adult can include doing the things you're passionate about and chasing your dreams. Being an adult doesn't have to mean you have to give anything up. Which is meaningful in a franchise old and beloved enough that whole families across generational lines can be invested. Now onto those adult characters.

Friede, the partner of Captain Pikachu, and the main adult character. He's kind of a spiritual successor to Ash, with his Pikachu and Charizard, and leader of a group of world travelers with a desire to learn about Pokemon. There's something poetic about the main adult character having Pikachu and Charizard. While Friede isn't Ash and Captain isn't Ash's Pikachu, they do have some similarities. Friede and Ash are both confident, passionate hot-heads who are skilled, albeit unconventional battlers. Captain is an unorthodox battler who breaks the mold of what a Pikachu is considered capable of doing. Episode 18 is their backstory, and if nothing else I would recommend the episode. Friede is a young pokemon professor, disillusioned with the title. Who, due to a fateful meeting with Captain Pikachu is inspired to start the Rising Voltacklers (RVT). The name actually has some significance. Despite Pikachu being Captain, he's the de facto human leader. But the fact that Captain gets to be well, Captain, is fantastic. Friede often forgets to tell people about his plans, and often causes problems with his lack of communication, but he's a strong and clever battler, who knows a lot about Pokemon.

Orla/Orio is the team mechanic. We really don't know much about her yet besides the fact she is originally from Kanto and Friede's childhood friend who at some point moved to Hoenn, before Friede asked her to make the Asagi fly. She asked to join the crew as a mechanic of Friede's half-thought out dream, in lieu of payment. She's cheerful, passionate and friendly. Her partner is a Metagross, and she often works with more rough around the edges fire types to keep the Brave Asagi aloft. It's clear that it's a lot of work for her but is something she's passionate about. 

Murdock is the chef, and a lot of his promo art shows him looking stern, and he's physically the largest member of the Brave Asagi's crew. However, the fact he has a Rockruff and an Alcremie will tell you far more about his personality. He's basically a surrogate dad to all the kids. He's shown to get along well with Roy and Liko, and worries about the kids. But he has been shown to get intense when it comes to his food, and the people and Pokemon he cares about getting hurt, even if he isn't too much of a battler. We don't know a lot about him yet, though we do know he used to be a Patisserie with Alcremie and an old friend who he separated with on poor terms due to tension involving Alcremie's evolution, but we don't know how he ended up joining the RVT.

Mollie, while not yet stated outright, is heavily implied to be a Joy. She at the very least, is from a family of Pokemon doctors and while she does love taking care of pokemon, knows that for every pokemon who can make it to get treatment, there are others who can't. This isn't the first Nurse Joy we've seen do this (there was the one in the Orange Islands at least), but it's always nice to get more insight into the Joy family and the worldbuilding that comes with that. And also characters who take a path layed out for them and instead of following it, or simply heading in a different direction, change the path to suit them. Mollie constantly has a grumpy look on her face, and avoids going into Pokemon centers. But she really is kind and cares deeply about Pokemon.

Last but not least is Ludlow, who I don't have much to comment on, since we don't know much yet. But his fishing boat (the Asagi) literally forms the foundation of what would become the Brave Asagi, the RVT base of operations. He's the team grandpa. He doesn't really do much, but he seems to be the character who everyone gets along with and respects, and is often off on his own, and looks after the Brave Asagi when everyone else is busy.

The nature of the conflict between the Explorers and the RVT leads the encounters between them to be large scale and action packed. Battles that take place in the air, across cities, in cave networks and in old castles. It’s rarely as simple as a 1v1 battle. There’s usually traps, escapes via misdirection, sneak attacks, and strategy employed on both sides. Humans are also often involved in the action themselves, shown riding on pokemon, running around, and even facing attacks on occasion. There are still of course more traditional battles, but they aren’t the majority of battles. With the more traditional battle rules off the table, the possibilities are increased. This also allows the kids more agency. They may not be strong enough to directly counter the RVT, but with some luck, teamwork and some creative thinking they can get themselves out of situations or hold their own until backup arrives. 

I'm not generally one to comment on the more technical animation aspects, primarily because I'm not much of an artist, but I think it's worth mentioning. While Horizons is still, first and foremost a long running children's anime so it's not like its animation is particularly mind blowing. But, it's still worth credit. I found myself pleasantly surprised at times. The airship setting allows for some truly fantastical settings.

I’m not saying Pokemon Horizons is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen or anything, so don’t set your expectations sky high. But it is a show with a lot of heart that I think deserves to be seen, so if you’ve wrote, the show off as just the Pokemon anime, give it a shot. The premise is different from the previous anime and is a completely different kind of show. The characters are lovable, the plot is intriguing, the battles are dynamic, and the atmosphere is filled with wonder and discovery. I think you’ll find yourself pleasantly surprised. 

[electricboogaloosstuff]

Thinking about Mob Psycho 100. The student council turns to fascism under a week and grossly abuses its power. Mezato join a cult and became one of it's most important member for shit and giggles. Teru changes his hair every 2 months (more or less voluntarily), walk around with a God complex and yet looks like he's about to cry if you ask him a genuine question. Most of the teenagers just want to do nothing. The musculation guys are more stable than every adults in this serie combined. Tsubomi sat down through a cataclysmic event just to be polite and turn down her childhood friend in person, making her the character with the biggest balls in the serie (I'm sure she would have resolved the World Domination Arc by looking with slight disgust at Toichiro, making him rethink his entire life). Shou is VERY chill with terrorism. Everyone is clowning on Reigen except Mob and yet ask him to drive them everywhere (he doesn't have a car). Tome has motivation for her life long dream for 27 minutes a week, and the minute are not consecutives. The delinquant guy start going to the gym and instantly become a better person now that he has a positive outlet and a good support system. Ritsu is either Annoyed or In Distress without any in between. Mob wears the ugliest shirt in existence because one of his friend told him it's cool, and now everyone is very awkward about it because they don't want to hurt his feeling but it's so fucking ugly.

ONE really cristallized what is like to be 12-14, huh.