#not very proud of this one tbh I feel like I didn't nail the characterizations

[eldragon-x]

A little Comfort

FutureTrioShipping fic where Grovyle and Celebi are having a rough day and Dusknoir tries his best to make them feel better. Might have turned out too cheesy Idk.

1334 Words

Dusknoir had spent the day doing missions by himself while Grovyle and Celebi stayed home. He already noticed that they were not feeling well in the morning, so the group agreed that he would do the dungeon work on his own. On his way home, Dusknoir picked up groceries so he could cook one of Celebi’s and Grovyle’s favourite meals in the evening.

When Dusknoir got home, he noticed that the other two Pokemon were still in their rooms. He decided to leave them be for the moment and start preparing dinner. Only a few minutes later, he heard Grovyle behind him, entering the kitchen. Dusknoir didn’t acknowledge him until Grovyle was peeking over his shoulder to see what he was doing.

“Impatient as ever.” Dusknoir said, lighthearted. 

Grovyle apparently didn’t expect the Ghost-Pokemon to notice him, as he got startled and took a step back before trying to change the subject. “Thank you for taking over today. I’m sorry I didn’t come along.”

Dusknoir rolled his eye. “I wouldn’t have gone if I couldn’t handle it. There is no point in apologizing because you needed a day off, Grovyle.” He turned to face the lizard, only to widen his eye in surprise at the sight of him. “You look like you’ve just cried. What’s wrong?”

Grovyle turned away in embarrassment and Dusknoir could only assume that he didn’t even realize how much his face gave away. It took Grovyle a second to find his words again.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” he finally said before walking away. Dusknoir grabbed him by the hand before Grovyle could leave the kitchen, which caused him to look up to the other Pokemon in surprise.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but I’m still concerned for your well-being. If there is anything I can do for you to make you feel better, please let me know.”

Grovyle couldn’t help but smile a little while moving his hand out of Dusknoir’s hold. “I appreciate it, but you’re already helping enough. Thank you, Dusknoir.” Grovyle paused for a second. “But if you could only bring me a serving to my room when the food is done.”

Dusknoir’s soft-eyed expression faded and was replaced with a suspicious glance while he crossed his arms. Grovyle held back an amused smirk, already knowing what he was getting at. 

“Is something the matter, Dusknoir?” he teased.

“Don’t take me for a fool, Grovyle. I know how messy you are.” Dusknoir responded. “I’ll bring you your food, but you bring your dishes back to the kitchen, understood?”

“Celebi doesn’t need your permission to eat in her room.” 

“Celebi doesn’t leave her dishes in her room either, now stop making fun of me.”

Grovyle left without another word to bother Dusknoir. Despite the mild annoyance, Dusknoir was relieved that Grovyle was still able to goof around despite having a rather bad day. Once he was done cooking, he brought Grovyle his food before going to Celebi’s room and knocking on her door.

“Who’s there?” Celebi responded to the knock.

“It’s me, Dusknoir. Do you want to eat something?”

“I’m not hungry.”

Dusknoir could hear that Celebi was upset, which worried him. “Can I get you anything else?” he asked, wanting to make sure that she was alright. It didn’t take long for Celebi to get to the door and open it.

“Can you stay with me?”

Dusknoir was a little surprised since he couldn’t hear Celebi fly to the door, but he nodded. “Of course.”

Celebi opened the door further and moved aside to let Dusknoir in. She sat down on a stool while Dusknoir closed the door behind him and took a seat on a chair that seemed to be too big for Celebi. 

“Do you want to talk?” asked Dusknoir.

Celebi stared down at her own hands while thinking about an answer. “I don’t know? I’m just… still really upset about everything that happened in the dark timeline. It’s silly. It’s been over for years but I just can’t get over it.”

“It’s far from silly, Celebi. You can’t just get over something like that. Your feelings are justified.”

“...You know, a part of me hoped that things could be just fine when we woke up on the mountain back then.” She held back tears while speaking. “I hoped I could leave all of that behind me and have a happy life in this new timeline, but it’s much more complicated than that.”

“Can I give you a hug?” Dusknoir asked to which Celebi nodded in response and flew to him. Dusknoir held Celebi as she continued talking while tearing up.

“I feel like I should be happy. I mean I am happy, but I don’t know if I can recover from… all that, you know?”

“I know, Celebi. I can’t tell you that you’ll be completely over it eventually, but I’m here for you if you ever need someone.”

Celebi wiped her tears away. “Thank you. I just want you to stay here for a while, if that’s okay.”

The two Pokemon sat in silence for a while, not exchanging another word. Eventually, Celebi broke the silence.

“Can I stay with you overnight?” she asked.

“Of course you may.” he responded with a smile.

Celebi smiled back. “Thank you. I just don't want to be alone.” She rubbed her head and looked almost embarrassed. “I would have spent the day with Grovyle, but he wanted to be alone and I didn’t want to bother him.”

“You know, I could have stayed home today if I knew you’d be so lonely.” Dusknoir pointed out.

Celebi just shrugged. “I guess I didn’t want to hold you back.”

“Oh please, you think I’d rather spend my time in a dungeon than with you? Where would I be if I willingly choose that over my beloveds?” Dusknoir responded, speaking in an intentionally overdramatic tone which made Celebi laugh a little.

“Alright, I get it. I’ll let you know next time I want you to stay around. Stop being silly.”

Dusknoir giggled, but suddenly went silent when Celebi gave the mouth on his belly a kiss. He stared at the smaller Pokemon in surprise who gave him a smirk.

“You’re too easy to fluster, my dear Dusknoir~”

“Well you took me by surprise. Not that I mind it.”

Shortly afterwards, Celebi noticed how hungry she was and decided to eat something with Dusknoir at last before the two headed off to bed.

-

It was late at night when Dusknoir was woken up by a knock on his door. Grovyle peeked into the room.

“I didn’t mean to wake you up. I’ll leave.” Grovyle whispered.

“What do you want?” Dusknoir asked before he could close the door. Grovyle shook his head dismissively.

“I was gonna ask if I could stay with you but since Celebi is already here-”

Dusknoir rolled his eye and reached his free arm out. “Come here already.”

Grovyle only hesitated for a moment before he climbed onto the bed and tried to find a comfortable position. Dusknoir moved a little to give him more room and was afraid to wake Celebi up, but she only moved to cling even more to his arm and kept sleeping peacefully. Grovyle curled up next to Dusknoir and rested his head on the chest of the Ghost-Pokemon. Dusknoir moved his hand to scratch Grovyle’s head, which made the lizard purr.

“Couldn’t sleep?”

“Hardly.” Grovyle admitted. “But it’s more comfortable here.” he said before yawning. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Grovyle.”

It didn’t take Grovyle long to fall asleep in his exhaustion. Dusknoir was up for a little longer, but tried to fall back asleep too. He still took the quiet moment to appreciate his partners. It may have been a harder day for them, but to him it was worth helping them through it. Even more so when he knew he could trust them to support him the same way when he needed it.

[oceanivoxjoquainx]

Let's talk about Eric Effiong

Let's be honest Eric's storyline and characterization is one of the most appealing out of all the characters in Sex Education periodt. A true gay, fierce, Drag QUEEN and I feel like ranting about this amazing force of nature. (Spoilers. Duh.)

When I saw the trailer for Sex Education it didnt even hit me that Eric was gay until I read the synopsis. Was just like "Oh I wonder which one of these three mains are the gay one people keep talking about" even after I saw him in drag like a dumbass 😣😂. Personally im glad we've reached a point where gay guys aren't overly feminine and even the brightest colours won't differ a character from the rest (unless I'm just a blind bish and he was obviously gay from the trailer) ei 👏🏾 ther 👏🏾 way; his character was refreshing when I started watching the show. I immediately clicked with him and knew what every look he gave or hand gesture he did meant. Felt nice. When Adam pushed him into the locker for the first time and started with the heterohomoerotic bs I knew that Adam had a raging boner for Eric and was another internalized homophobic bully™ and wasn't really excited for what was to come but I knew it was coming and tbh I liked it in the end.

Eric and Otis' friendship is so pure. Like?!? Get me a straight supportive bestie lilke Otis? Ik they fought but even then Otis was respectful and kept his boundaries and let Eric go through the motions before immediately belting into an apology at the first chance he got. Their dancing scene?!? Iconic. The fact that Eric sees Otis' house as safe and another home?!? Iconic. Otis going drag with Eric to watch an LGBT+ movie as a TRADITION (meaning they've done it numerous times)?!?! Iconic. The fact that Otis was straight up ditching Eric and Eric STILL tolerated him and let him do his thing without too much pressure!?! The most iconic of them all. Just pure love and respect all around.

I am so proud of Erics growth over the course of the season starting from a naive and scared gay doormat to facing homophia and getting beat up by those assholes on his birthday no less to losing his best friend and becoming depressed to channeling that anger into defending himself when people tried him to getting his sparkle back and coming back more fierce that ever before.

Speaking of him getting his sparkle back lets talk about that and why that scene is so important. A random guy asked Eric for directions and Eric noticed his nails were polished and the guy was wearing earrings and he was a big ole black dude. He was like Eric. When Eric noticed that the guy was out, loud, glamorous and proud he immediately switched back into the bright colourful and wonderfully gay Eric we all know and love.

THIS IS WHY REPRESENTATION MATTERS!!!!

It shows people that its okay to be who they actually are and inspires those who are lost to find or return to their true selves. Representation isn't just some offhand thing to throw on a character last minute. And even if you can relate to other characters who arent like you, it is always an amazing feeling to have a character that IS like you. It turned Eric from a popularity seeking doormat into a hurricane with 6 inch heels who was ready to straight up beat down a bully he's had for 4 years. It even inspired him to go back to church and rejoin a community that he closed off. That's exactly how it feels to have someone successful in the media and your life to look up to. Eric only interacted with that man for a few minutes but those few minutes changed his life for the better. So that's a lovely reminder for all who love to bash representation.

Back tracking to Eric's dull colourless period after the attack and his fight with Otis. It was saddening to see one of the brightest characters go dull and even the school felt it. He turned from a guy who rarely stood up for himself and what he wanted into the sass master he reserved only for his friends. All of his built up anger was released causing him to explode on Mr Hendricks (who is adorable tbh and just trying to do his best) and Anwar (I was proud of that punch you go glenn co co) and he even sounded off on his dad who he's usually passive aggressive to at worst. Just goes to show that the happiest faces can harbor the biggest pains and can snap. Moral of the story? Protect the happy few.

Eric also has a great family. Like that obviously know Erics gay and wears dresses because its all right there in his room which his parents enter at their leisure and while it seems that they're a bit homophobic its revealed that they (Erics dad at least) just wants Eric to be safe as he's already a target for being black and apart of an immigant family. He accepts Eric for who he is and what he does he just doesnt want anyone else to give him shit for it and if that's not one of the sweetest things in this world idek what is. Eric and his dad was probably one of my favorite dynamics in the show and watching his dad slowly fully accept that his son was strong and able to stand for himself he was able to become stronger too. This dynamic is important because I never see any gay black characters have a close relationship with their fathers and it was very heartwarming to watch.

Now onto Erics love life. He has a crush on the highschools other only gay guy Anwar who's the typical mean sassy gay we've all come to expect in highschool dramas. Otis saying that Eric doesnt have to have a crush on the only other openly gay guy at school was such a mood as its commonly shown that any gays in close proximity should get together. When Eric punched him I internally went "Finally!" Because all those jeers were becoming annoying. I'm glad Anwar got to come out to his mum over it though. And straight up told the audience that Eric didn't like feminine guys (alluding to him and Adams eventual clean up scene as of we didn't see it coming already).

Moving on to Adam tho, like I said we all been knew that this

was indeed coming and even though I hate the bully x bullied trope I still ended up liking it and hoping that Adam would change. The building up to that kiss was long awaited from episode 1 straight through to 8 with all the longing looks that Adam kept side glancing Eric with and the face cupping and the growls and the lingering touches. I just kept going sthdjksksbslaldbd when one of those moments happened followed shortly after with disgust because gays falling for their abuser is washed up but then immediately going back to jajaklamabsldkd because im shipping trash so 🤷🏿. Eric stepping to Adam in at the ball was one of the most iconic scenes of the show (along with the "Its My Vagina" scene) and the exchange between him and Adam gave be actual chills. The tension was THICCCC. Erics OUTFIT to the ball gave me chills 😭😭 dude came to slay and had everyone at that school proper shook and I honestly could NOT be more proud. I was hoping Adam would become a better person over the course of the season but nope so hopefully they cover all the issues that Adam has in season 2 and properly give him a redeption arc cuz he's still a trashy pos he's just a disaster bi on top of it. (Adam immediately going to suck Eric off is confidence I can only dream of achieving 💀💀) The lab scene was also cute but made me mad because how could Adam look scared, confident and still be a douchebag all in the span of a few seconds was beyond me. A+ acting on Connor Swindells part. I can see why Adam would have to stay in the closet and keep their... relationship?? a secret because it seems like Headmaster Groff would be a homophobic piece of shit and would add to the ever growing list of things Adam did wrong. Even so it doesn't excuse the fact that Adam is in fact a bully and Eric deserves much better. Was sad seeing Adam being driven off from Eric in the end tho. Eric thought that Adam didn't want to see him at all and was probably heartbroken and probably thinks Adam left because of him (my poor baby 😭😭). I feel bad for Adam too because he was just starting to express himself and was at the beginning of a redemption arc when he was just wisked away from the boy he's loved for what seems to be a very long time. I just want my boys to be happy and non toxic and I wish their relationship and them all the best in Season 2.

Eric Effiong is my favorite character in the show and I really want to thank Ncuti Gatwa for portraying him so well and for the shows writers who gave him a very fleshed out character with an amazing storyline and conclusion. His growth was incredible and his strength is immeasurable. I'm 100% certain that he will be a character the community remembers for years to come. Patiently now waiting on what's to come in Season 2 💙🙌🏾.