#All the past avatars are lost to her but now she at least has two ancient spirits of good and evil to advise her

[thatorangedrank]

Au where korra fused with both Raava and Vaatu (✨somehow✨) at the end of season 2 and her development for the rest of the show semi-focuses on her trying to find balance within herself with the two sides. Imagine her being unable to connect with raava in book 4 and only hearing Vaatu WHILE having mercury poisoning.

[onskepa]

hi i was wondering if you could write something for tsu’tey? so to set the scene it’s jake and fem avatar’s iknimaya and this is when jake is first taming his ikran and fem avatar (that tsu’tey had to train like neytiri trained jake) gets really concerned for her friend who has been through the same things as her (in reference to getting found by neytiri and then being taken to the na’vi village and having to be trained) and tsu’tey gets jealous because he’s slowly grown feelings for the avatar reader as he’s taught her

(and i’m actually so excited bc i saw you write for Sylwanin and Mo’at and now i have so many ideas for stories but i’ll refrain for the time being, also hope you’re doing well since getting over your sickness! <3)

YEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS!!!! MY FIRST TSU'TEY REQUEST!! THANK YOU SO MUCH SWEET~!! OH HOW I WANTED SOMEONE TO REQUEST FOR HIM!! MY SWEET HUBBY!!! HOPE YOU ENJOY THIS ONE~!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ningay

Of all things to happen to tsu'tey, he can bare it all. Hunting, gathering, teaching, fighting, being a warrior. Tolerate pathetic whiney skxawng. He can handle it all. But teaching a sky demon the ways of his people? His already thin patience, will be hair thin.

He and neytiri were given the task to teach jake sully and his dream walker friend. Stranded and lost in the forest, those two were found by him and neytiri. Given a sign by Eywa, mo'at had allowed them to learn the ways of their clan and go through their iknimaya.

At first, while neytiri was reluctant, tsu'tey was highly against it. But of course, what the tsahik says it goes. So neytiri was assigned to train jake, while tsu'tey was assigned to train the demon who he never cared to remember the name of.

"wrong....wrong ...wrong again! even a child can hold a bow better than you!" tsu'tey bullied criticized the sky demon. The false na'vi in front of him inwardly sighed, [don't say anything don't say anything don't say anything].

Tsu'tey smirks knowing the demon cant talk back, she doesn't even think of saying anything knowing anything can go wrong in her way. "AGAIN!" he would say after each failed attempt to shoot a proper arrow.

If he is forced to train the demon, might as well get some fun out of it. "At least tell me where I am in the wrong, yelling 'wrong' wont help me get better" the demon says. He merely scoffs and shakes his head. "I have told you again and again, but your little demon brain cant seem to grasp! What is the point to show you if you don't listen? Demons like you never do!".

"Well at least show me the correct way otherwise, we would be out here for hours" the demon says, slight irritation in her voice. Inwardly sighing, tsu'tey grabs her arms and corrects her position. His face close to her, taking in her natural scent. For a demon...she doesn't smell all that terrible.

The sky demon has gotten better, doing good in a well paste. All achievements, small victories, and accomplishments, the sky demon celebrates them. However, she doesn't celebrate it alone. The sky demon shares her excitement with jake sully.

Why him? Yes they go through the same trials and errors but it is tsu'tey that guides her! If there is anyone the sky demon should share her happiness is should be with him! Not the skxawng! But alas, seems the sky demon only has interest in jake sully. It brings bitter taste to tsu'tey's mouth for some reason.

"jake please be careful and try not to die!" the sky demon screamed after jake sully. It was time for the both of them to tame an ikran, and it was jake who is to tame one first.

Tsu'tey was expecting a good laugh, to see jake sully fail miserably. He could use a good joke. He and others of his training group gathered to see jake sully making his way towards the untamed ikrans.

Looking over, the mighty warrior sees the sky demon holding herself in comfort. Tsu'tey walks over to her, close, nearly their arms touching. "He will succeed....right?" the demon asks in worry, her eyes never looking away from jake. He wont die. Why must she keep looking at him when tsu'tey is right there beside her?

"If he doesn't make a foolish move, he will pass" tsu'tey replies, huffing a bit. The demon should be more worried about herself. In a fit of a show, jake managed to tame his ikran with not so much of blood or injuring himself. Taking his first flight with his newly tamed ikran.

Now it was the demons turn.

Taking a deep breathe, the demon went ahead to the other group of ikrans. "Remember what you have to do!" tsu'tey shouted after. Nodding in fear, the demon hissed at the ikrans, until one took at her challenge.

The demon screeched as she does her best to tie the mouth of the ikran with pale light coloring. But the ikran was slightly more aggressive than jake's. Tossing the demon back against the rocky walls. "I will tame you!" the demon said with determination in her voice. Launching back at the ikran, tsu'tey would secretly admit he was impressed. The demon isnt letting down with a fight.

As days pass, and both dreamwalkers were succeeding in their iknimaya, tsu'tey was no fool in how neytiri sees jake. He sees how she looks at him in a new light. Yet would play it off. But tsu'tey is no fool. He knows, neytiri knows deep in her heart. She is growing deep affections for jake sully.

Tus'tey isn't mad. True they were arranged to be mated but if neytiri feels a connection to jake, who is he to step in the way. Besides, he soon begins to feel for the other sky demon....

Every time he and the sky demon are together, he feels more at free, more loose, more...himself. With the little demon, he smiles more, makes jokes and coitizes less. Overall, he is more at peace.

"you know it tsu'tey, you know it as much as I do" neytiri spoke to him one day. Tsu'tey knows exactly what she is talking about. "I know....but the question is....can it be possible" he questions. Can it be? Can they love the sky demons truly?

"after the iknimaya....they should know" neytiri says. It wasn't a question nor was it a thought. It was confirmation. And tsu'tey agrees. While he may not understand these new found feelings for the female sky demon, its best to confess now. Before either jake sully or someone else speaks from their heart.

Their iknimaya is complete. Both sky demons are now part of the people. Omaticaya. And tonight, the whole clan celebrate their new brother and sister. But in the midst of it all, tsu'tey sees neytiri taking jake away from the crowd. That was his cue.

Gathering all the courage he can withhold, he seeks the female sky demon. It wasn't hard, she was the center of attention. Something tsu'tey isn't fond of. She has to share her attention to everyone, everyone that wasn't him. Quickly he grabs her arm and takes her away from the celebration and somewhere more quiet and private. A field of night flowers that the sky demon has come to love. Her favorite place.

"Thank you for taking me away from them...I am not so used to that amount of attention" the demon laughs nervously. She stares at the vast field of the night flowers, admiring their beauty. And tsu'tey does the same, rather, for a different type of beauty.

"I saw jake leave with neytiri. I wonder where they are going....perhaps somewhere like where we are....Jake is a man who can get easily lost I wouldn't be surprised if he loses neytiri somewhere in the forest" she releases a light giggle. He would have join in had it not being the mention of jake sully. It is always jake sully in her mind. It bothers tsu'tey greatly.

Slowly he moves closer, almost touching at the shoulders, taking in her sweet scent. A lovely smell pleasing to his nose. "Jake is a fine warrior....and so are you" he comment, the demon looks up at him with joy in her eyes. "Yes, it is thanks to you I have come this far...truly tsu'tey, I appreciate everything you have done for me"...there it goes. The pounding of his heart beat, ringing in his ears. The rush of joy and pride flow throughout his body.

"I merely did what I was tasked to do...but you are a good student. Better than others I admit to say. Now I await to see what you can do with everything I showed you" he says with care and genuine clarity. The sky demon giggles lightly, her sounds send shivers down his spine like never before.

The girl smiles brightly, seeming to be pleased with his words. Good. That is a good sign. Teasing him to follow, she leads him further into the fields.

Together, side by side they admire the beauty of the night. The glowing flowers gently swaying from the breeze. "Tsu'tey...there is something I have been meaning to tell you" the demon says in a low whispers but he managed to hear it. Shifting a bit he looks down at her, "what is it?". Anticipation is all he feels at the moment.

"I don't know when it began but......whenever I am with you.....I feel things and......I know it cant be good. While I am now Omaticaya...I don't think it can be with..." her sentence trails off. No no this isn't what he wanted!

Getting near her face, speaking with a soft voice he says "What if you could? What if...we can?" tsu'tey looked at her with strong hope, hope that she may reciprocate what he feels. The demon-no, calling her a demon now sounds more insulting, she is anything but a demon.

This beautiful woman in front him stands still, hesitation in her golden eyes. Gently grabbing her oddly five fingered hands into his. A small smile creeped up to her sweet lips. Oh how her beautiful smile brings warmth into his heart.

She takes a deep breath and says "does this mean you understand...?" she asks. Tsu'tey nods a bit too desperate. "I do...I have began to feel certain ways for you and if we give it a chance, explore where it can go" he offers. He is willing to do almost anything for this woman. As moments pass, he is getting more certain what he is feeling for her. Yes, he knows now.

The sweet girl laughed a bit and looks at him directly in the eyes, "then....can we" she asks a bit hesitantly. Smirking a bit, he says "we can ma'ningay" tsu'tey wraps his arms around her waist, and her arms around his neck, both getting closer, eyes closed and their lips meet to a passionate kiss.

Aaaaaaaaaaaand that is all for this one! Sorry this took me a long time! had to rewrite this so many times! But I hope you all like it! until next time! see ya!

Ningay = truly

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

DC

The Bachelor: Robin Edition by Vamillepudding

Gotham loses its Robin and Bruce Wayne loses a son. Tim finds one of these too tragic to bear. In his quest to make sure Bruce Wayne lives to see the next year, he strikes upon the perfect solution: another son.

-

His best bet is, naturally, Crime Alley.

By 8 pm that day, Drake Manor is filled with ten black-haired, blue-eyed boys sitting around the large dining table, looking around the room suspiciously.

Well. Eleven. But Tim doesn’t think he counts.

ATLA

Dish Duty by Princeliest

All Zuko had been trying to do was wash some dishes. Or: The one where Zuko and Katara both mean well, but still can't find their footing around each other in time to prevent explosive shouting, broken dishes, an impromptu arrest, and Team Avatar's third- nay, fourth jailbreak. Fifth? They've lost count at this point, but at least they're not willing to lose Zuko... now, if only he realized that.

Merlin

all oak and iron bound by numinousnumbat

Some of those born with magic are repelled by iron. Merlin wished he knew how much iron there was in Camelot before he started his new life there.

HTTYD

Abandon Hope Who Enters Here (everyone who enters here) by JaggedEmeraldsOfGold

Eret had spoken about the mindless cruelty of Drago’s base and soldiers, but there’s nothing like seeing it in front of her to make it really, really sink in. She’d wanted to empathize, but she doesn’t think she really understood.

She does now.

Astrid leans her head back until it hits the wall behind her, and blinks up at the ceiling.

It’s going to be a long three days.

Or: Instead of facing the Monstrous Nightmare in the Kill Ring, Hiccup packs up and leaves Berk on Toothless, defeating the Red Death on his own as he goes. Six years later, Hiccup has royally fucked up– Hiccup has severely underestimated Drago, and now Hiccup is cramped, tired, hungry, without his prosthetic, and he really, really, really misses Toothless.

Imagine his surprise (read: complete and utter dread) when he wakes up one day to see absolutely none other than Astrid Hofferson, Snotlout Jorgenson, Fishlegs Ingerman, and Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston sitting in the cell across from him.

against the wind by underpassgraffiti

When Hiccup and Snotlout get stranded, they have to work together to stay alive.

Easier said than done.

To End a War by GhostStone

Stoick may not listen to Hiccup, but there is one person he does listen to on occasion. And that one person just happens to be someone who will listen to Hiccup.

An AU where the night before he is meant to kill the dragon, Hiccup realized how awful his plan is and goes to Gobber for help.

the soul of a dragon by castelia

Soulmarks amongst humans are easily identifiable: they are words tattooed on skin, words to be spoken during the first moment where two people truly connect. No one believes dragons have soulmarks, let alone that a dragon and a human can share a soul bond.

Until Hiccup.

[ronwestbreeze]

TO YOU , WORLDS AWAY : PART TWO : CHAPTER TWELVE

pairing: jake sully x fem!reader

summary: in which it is the year 2159

word count: 2.4k

author's note: hello hello! TYWA part two has arrived! now updating is going to be a bit different for this. i'm thinking posting each chapter once a week will be what I will do from here on out that way I can have time to write future chapters whilst you all read the one's I have already written! just remember, don't demand me to post, it doesn't help with motivation or make me want to keep writing it! anyways, thank you for the patience! and without further ado, part two!

AO3 | prev | next

“I keep having these dreams. About this girl. Every time I saw her, it felt like I knew her for years. Like she was my best friend in the whole world. And I couldn’t imagine a life without her.”

“Tell me about these dreams.”

“Well…they always start with fire and…”

“What’s wrong? Baby girl, what is it?”

“You’ll think I’m weird, Daddy.”

“I won’t, I won’t. I promise.”

“When I wake up, I’m sad. Like I’ve lost someone. And it feels so heavy…Daddy, I hate it!”

“Sssh, ssh, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’ve got you, alright? I’ve got you.”

“I miss her, Daddy. I miss her so much.”

“Miss who, baby girl?”

“That’s the thing. I don’t even know her name…”

Year 2159

It had been five years since the RDA were exiled off of Pandora and Dr. Chloe Parker was still trying to find her footing on this planet. 

Before the battle, she had been well into the late Dr. Augustine’s Avatar Program. Trained and studied learning to control her own avatar and then using her time to explore all of Pandora’s plants and herbs. And it was interesting, learning about all the medicines here, the potential use for them.

Then the battle at the Tree of Souls happened. Killing dozens of wildlife, many humans and Na’vi alike. It was a sad day to say the least. But after Jake Sully took over as the clan leader for the Omatikaya Clan and exiled the RDA off of Pandora, things began to change for the better.

Dr. Chloe had been one of the humans allowed to stay on Pandora, mostly because she didn’t contribute to the war that struck the planet and because Dr. Max Patel vouched for her and some of the other scientists and avatar volunteers. Now she had spent her time continuing to explore all of Pandora, working with the Na’vi in different clans to study their ways of medicine and perhaps teach them some of the stuff humans do, even though she knew they would probably never use it.

For the past few months, Dr. Chloe, and her small research team, took their avatars and their next journey to the Olangi Clan. A very nomadic clan that worked very closely with the Omatikaya so their home wasn’t too far from the former’s. Their clan leader, Akwey, had allowed them to stay and start their research there as long as they didn’t pose a threat to his people and were respectful of the lands and their ways. Which wasn't a difficult task, especially when there were no more military men flanking the planet anymore.

But as of recently, Dr. Chloe had been requested to retrieve the Tsahik of the Omatikaya Clan, Mo’at since the Olangi’s Tsahik had died in the battle against the RDA. So, instead of researching like the rest of her team, she had been made into a messenger, going back and forth from each clan speaking of something called Eywa…Dr. Chloe wasn’t really too spiritual to care much of who this Eywa was. But if it made the people happy and content, and kept them from shutting down her research, then Dr. Chloe would take one for the team for now.

On the other hand, she wasn’t entirely too comfortable leaving her very first patient alone so much. A patient very important to her research.

When Dr. Chloe found Mo’at, she was with her daughter, Neytiri if she could recall correctly. Dr. Chloe never really had a conversation with the woman—mostly because of her obvious distaste of Dr. Chloe’s presence—and today was no different. Once she arrived in her avatar form, Neytiri hissed and walked away. One of her children, a young boy, followed after her closely.

“Why has Akwey sent you now, Chloeparker?” Mo’at greeted her while crushing up what looked like herbs in a small wooden bowl. Dr. Chloe’s Na’vi wasn’t perfect but she could understand a lot of it after years of listening to both Dr. Augustine and the people talk expertly in it.

“An elder died yesterday.” Dr. Chloe informed her, stuffing her hands into her shorts. “Akwey wishes for you to perform the ceremony.”

Mo’at hummed, not looking up from her work. “One day, he will have to come to my daughter as she will be the next Tsahik of the People. And I will finally rest.”

“Let’s hope that day isn’t soon then.” Dr. Chloe commented with a thin smile. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your daughter doesn’t seem to like me much.”

“You are Sky People. Of course she doesn't like you.” Mo’at stood with the bowl and finally looked at Dr. Chloe. “I am not too fond of your people either.”

Dr. Chloe could understand that in a way. But she was a bit tired of being grouped with the people that tried to destroy Pandora and take it over. Then again, she really couldn’t blame them. If she were in their shoes, she’d hold a grudge too. It didn’t matter if they were the same or not. That anger, that resent, it was uncontrollable and rightful. Dr. Chloe could do nothing but shrug.

“Touché.”

“Mmph.” Mo’at then handed her the bowl. Dr. Chloe took it, surprised at the sudden gesture. “I understand you are a doctor among your people. This can be more useful than whatever technology you Sky People insist on using.”

Chloe held the little bowl delicately but frowned, “The technology is not all useless, you know. It does help sometimes.”

“Sometimes.” Mo’at pointed out. Dr. Chloe tried not to roll her eyes.

There was small movement behind Mo’at and Dr. Chloe did a double take. She hadn’t realized they weren’t alone until Mo’at had stood. It was a little girl that didn’t really look like Na’vi. Actually, when Dr. Chloe looked at her closely, she realized the little girl looked awfully similar to someone.

Before she could wonder just who the little girl reminded her of, her earpiece suddenly beeped, alerting her that one of her team members was calling her from back at the Olangi Clan.

Dr. Chloe excused herself before answering her earpiece, “This is Dr. Chloe—”

“You need to get back here fast!”

She blinked in confusion at the urgency in her fellow researcher, Simon's voice, “Why, what’s happening?”

There was a pause, “…Okay, don’t get mad but we decided to take her out of cryosleep—”

“WHAT?!” Dr. Chloe covered her mouth when Mo’at gave her a disapproving scowl and the little girl watched her curiously. She cleared her throat and lowered her voice before continuing, “Why the hell would you do something like that—she’s not even stable enough to take her out—”

“Just let me explain!” Simon interrupted with an exhausted sigh. “We connected her to the machines we’ve been working on for months ever since we first started working on her, remember?”

“Those aren’t even ready yet!” Chloe hissed into the earpiece, walking out of the tent where Mo’at and the little girl still were. “Simon, what the hell were you thinking—”

“It worked, Chloe.”

She went quiet. Her eyes wandered aimlessly around the forest, unsure if she had heard him correctly. When Simon called her name again she finally responded in a hushed whisper, “You’re not shitting me, are you? Y-Your saying—”

“It worked, Chloe, it worked.” She could practically imagine the growing smile on his face as he said this. “She could wake up at any moment now. But with her condition, it’s not exactly permanent and I don’t imagine she herself would be happy with the results, but they are supporting her. They're keeping her alive until we know how to deal with the heavier wounds.”

This was definitely a development. This had been something she had been working on for two years now, hearing that it worked, on a person no less? Chloe couldn’t help but start packing up her things and leave.

“I’ll be right there! Don’t do anything without me!”

And with that, Chloe rushed back toward the Samson she had arrived in, ordering the pilot to take her back to plains.

There was a lab within the tall trees the Olangi Clan lived in. Chloe had it built when she first arrived in the plains. Even though she technically wanted to build one in one of the trees, having a lab hanging from a tree wasn’t exactly the safest position. So, they went with having it on the ground.

Plus, if they had done it in the tree, then the lab wouldn’t be as spacious as they needed it to be.

When Chloe arrived back, she came out of her link bed with Simon waiting for her.

“How is she?”

The two walked side by side with each other, leaving the link room and walking down the long hallway. Simon carried a holographic pad in his hands as he spoke, “She’s stable, still has yet to wake up, but things are looking good so far. The doctors want to start on the severe wounds right away.”

“How exactly bad are these injuries?” Chloe found herself asking. Really, when they first saw the patient, they had already decided to quickly put her in cryosleep with how badly injured she was and freeze her wounds before it became any more lethal to her body. Chloe hadn’t exactly seen it for herself but she’d always kept hearing about how bad it was.

Simon frowned, “Third and second degree burns, a broken rib, and a her lungs might've collapsed, I'm not entirely sure.”

“Holy shit.”

“Yeah, I hear she was a lot worse and the doctors managed to work on some of the less lethal burns, but she’s not exactly out of the woods yet.” Simon sighed as they stopped in front of the closed door. “We have twenty minutes with her before the doctors get to work.”

Chloe frowned, staring at him incredulously, “What should we say to her if she does wake up?”

Simon shrugged, “Tell of the situation, maybe fill her in since she’s missed basically five years of her life, and…I don’t know, comfort her the best we know how?”

“Comfort is not either of our strong suits, Simon.”

Simon rolled his eyes before finally opening the door.

What did death feel like? Was it this bright? This cold? Were you supposed to feel so heavy, so numb as if you couldn’t feel your body. Maybe your consciousness was floating above your body. There were stories like that, you remember reading about people who have died for a few seconds and were able to see their body outside of themselves.

Okay, maybe you weren’t actually dead. You may not have known what it felt like but you were pretty sure you weren’t supposed to be able to recall a memory as if it were another day. Then again, your body didn’t feel like a ton of anvils had fallen onto it and was pinning it down, preventing you from moving.

You hadn’t realized your eyes had been open until a shadow came into view, blocking some of the light above. Your vision was blurred, really you didn’t know when you had woken up or how long you had been staring up at the ceiling. Yes, that was definitely a ceiling.

Either hell was some bright room or you were somehow still alive.

Muffled voices echoed into your ears. You hadn’t realized, at first, that the voices were coming from the shadowed heads above you. It was like using your ears for the first time, like you were a newborn baby. Hell, your eyes felt like they hadn’t been used before.

Soon, you started registering the voices.

“You think she fell into some sort of vegetative state?” This voice belonged to a woman.

“I don’t know. It’s a possibility. Coming out of a cryosleep can be a little much.” This voice belonged to a man. Neither of them were familiar to your groggy mind. “We might need to get the doctors.”

Soon your vision began to clear.

“Wait, hold on…” The woman above you whispered. She was staring directly down at you, eyes wide with wonder. “I think she’s…”

Your eyes then moved to the second head, the man, when he came back over and appeared in your vision. And like their voices, they were both unfamiliar to you. Even in your foggy mind, you could not recall a single memory where it included these two strangers. Wait, maybe the woman. Back before you had stopped going to Hell’s Gate, you might’ve seen her a few times in passing.

Wait.

Hell’s Gate.

The bombs.

The ship crashed.

You should’ve been dead.

“Dr. L/N?”

The woman’s voice pulled you out of your thoughts, you refocused your gaze on her and she grinned excitedly. “You can hear me? Understand me?”

With great difficulty, you nodded. Or maybe your head shifted slightly similar to a nod, you didn’t really know.

“Holy shit.” The male muttered in amazement.

The woman continued grinning, “Welcome back, Doc.”

Before you could ask her where you were, before you could question who these people were, it suddenly hit you.

And it really hit you. Worse than a pile of anvils. More like an out of control train that crashed right into your body and dragged you along the way.

That was the type of pain that struck your body once your senses had begun coming back. This pain was unimaginable. It was unlike anything, unlike any pain you had ever felt in your short life.

This was worse. This was what death felt like.

You didn’t remember much of what happened after your chest jolted forward from the shock of the pain. All you saw was the two that had been standing over you, rushing away, shouting for what sounded like help. And in the next few seconds you kept blacking out a few times. The world went in and out. Every sound clashed together around you. Most of the pain, you realized, was coming from your waist, hell, just your entire upper body.

You wanted to scream. But all that came out of your mouth was choked gasps, barely any words or cries. You were crying. You were crying. Yes, you were sure of it.

There was a sharp prick against your neck.

And in the next second, it was like you were falling out of the world and back into the blackness.

Falling.

Falling.

Eventually, you would hit the ground…

And Jake Sully would wake up.

[rainyweeds]

Home is where the heart is {Part 2}

Part 0 | Part 1 | Part 2

Pairing: Ao'nung x Fem!Human!Reader

Summary: Finding out the events that happened after you were shot out into space wasn’t exactly what you planned for when arriving in Pandora. But now not only do you have to process all that has happened, but you also have to learn the was of the Metkayina. Which doesn’t sound all that bad when you think about it. Except your teacher isn’t helping. Like at all.

Warnings: Brief mentions of death(?), Swearing at the end

A/N: I left this series alone for over a month 💀 but it’s back now! These updates will still be pretty spread out but they won’t be more than a few weeks (unlike this one🧍‍♀️)

Make up post before I take a few days break to plan out my other works

Italics will be na’vi

15 years.

You have been in cryo for fifteen years longer than you were supposed to be. Just what the hell caused the ship to malfunction while you were put under? "Then what happened in the total of twenty-one years I was asleep?"

Even though you were asleep for fifteen extra years, you still went through the original six to get out to Pandora. And despite all the lost time, you were still technically nineteen.

"It's a long story." Jake sighed. Where was he even supposed to start? So many events have happened in the past two decades. Many of which he'd much rather leave buried in the deepest parts of his mind. But it also felt wrong to keep it from you. After all, you were asleep for way longer than you should have.

"I have all the time in the world apparently." You take a seat across from him.

"There was a war between the humans and the na'vi. Many lives were lost in the process. Including Grace. Quaritch was the one in charge of the whole mess." Jake began.

You remember hearing about how you would probably meet him once you arrived because he was some important figure within the RDA. "And then he came back as an avatar a couple of years ago. Killing our oldest. So the Metkayina aren’t particularly of humans all that much. It's a miracle Ronal even let you set foot here." The atmosphere around you darkened.

Grace was gone?

You sat in silence, slowly processing all the new information. Where did everything go wrong? All you wanted to do was live a simple life on Pandora and a xenobotanist with Grace in the forest.

Of course now, that was impossible. She was gone. Quaritch had destroyed the sacred home tree that she had always told you about. He had caused not one, but two wars between the human and na'vi races.

“Oh. I see.” You continue to stare at the floor.

Everything just seemed to go wrong. So of course the na’vi would be so distrusting of you. Your kind has been nothing but destructive to their home. And you couldn't do anything about it. All you could do was process and continue on.

"So... You somehow managed to find someone who can put up with you." You smirk, trying to lighten the atmosphere. "Never thought the day would come."

Jake gave you an offended look as the woman next to him let out a laugh. The girl beside you, Kiri as you learned, covered her mouth to suppress a chuckle. You always loved poking fun at Jake whenever he was on call because he was always the only one who wasn't in the science field. He was always the easiest target.

"At least I have someone. Your nerd ass could never, in your nineteen years of existence, date someone. You were always a weird one." Now it was your turn to look offended.

"Low blow man." You clutch your heart in false agony. The two of you never took any of the insults personally, always laughing it off. "I will have you know I would probably have someone by now if I wasn't asleep."

Jake simply rolled his eyes. You always had a way to lighten the mood no matter the situation.

“I believe I'm supposed to find Ronal soon.” You excuse yourself from the family.

As you walk along the sandy beach, you feel various pairs of eyes on you, watching your every move like you're a ticking time bomb. Just how far did Quaritch go all those years ago?

Not long after your search began, you saw Ronal wading through the water. She meets your eyes as you make your way over to her, keeping a guarded stance when you reach a few meters away.

“I’m supposed to begin lessons today?” You gave her a nod of respect, raising your fingers up to your forehead.

“Yes. My son shall guide you and teach you our ways.” She didn’t take her eyes off you, like you would attack the moment she turned away. “You can go now.” Ronal waved you off as a warrior approached her.

You quietly took your leave, stepping back onto the dry sand.

“Why did you allow that demon to stay?” The na’vi hissed in their native tongue. You freeze, back still turned to the pair. Did they think you couldn’t understand them?

“It was willed by Eywa. She spoke of a human who would heal the clan of its tragedies.” Ronal only sighed a response.

Someone who would heal the clan? What the hell did that mean? Whatever it meant, it got the gears in your head turning. You were so immersed in your thoughts that you didn’t notice the na’vi that you were about to bump into.

“Ah I am so sorry.” You look up. Before you stood a tall na’vi, around nine feet if you had to guess, long curly hair that was tied half up and half down, tattoos that covered many parts of his body, and various necklaces that hung around his neck.

“Watch it, demon.” He glared down at you.

“I said I was sorry.” You scoff, responding in his native language. To say he was shocked that you spoke na’vi was an understatement.

“Ao’nung.” A female voice called out to him from behind you. Ronal stood beside you, looking at the male before her. “You will be in charge of this little sky demon.”

Little sky demon.

“What?!” He hissed. “Why not Tsireya! She’s better suited than I am!”

Well, at least he was honest about it.

“Your sister is learning to be the next Tsahìk! She is too busy.” Ronal replied in a calm manner.

“I’m not? I’m next in line to be Olo’eyktan!”

“And I am your mother.” She effectively shut the boy up. “You will teach her our ways. End of discussion.”

He lets out a frustrated sigh, turning from Ronal to you. So he’s the one you’re going to be stuck with? Awesome. You’d rather have literally anyone else on this island at this point. You could practically feel the hostility rolling off of him in spades. He clearly didn’t want you around him and vice versa.

“Fine.” He spat through grit teeth.

You watch as his figure grows smaller and smaller before stopping a short distance away, leaving you to actually realizing that you were supposed to follow him. Quickly jogging up to him before he could walk any further away from you.

“You better pay attention when I teach.” He spoke in English for you. “And no more demon language.”

“Fine by me.”

He lead you to an isolated spot away from the village, a small patch of grass surrounded by trees in the middle of the forest.

"Why are we all the way out here?" You admire the flora surrounding the two of you.

"I don’t need my people seeing me with a sky demon.” He sat down.

“Yeah yeah. What are we learning today.” You roll your eyes, joining him on the grass.

“Sign language.”

He watches as your eyes light up at the sound of it. He remembers how Toruk Makto mentioned something about how the hand gestures underwater was similar to something he had back on Earth.

“We have that back on Earth!” You remember when you’d use it to communicate with some scientists back at the lab.

“Show me.” He watches you move your hand in confusion. He had absolutely no idea what you were saying through the gestures. “Yeah no. That’s not even close.”

Ao’nung watches in amusement as your brows furrow in frustration. What did you expect? Your little Earth language couldn’t possible be the same as one from a completely different planet.

Sure, some of the gestures were similar when referring to certain things, but others were way off. You let out a noise of defeat before taking in a deep breath and finally accepting your fate.

You were going to be here for a while.

And you were right. You spent the next 2 hours straight learning all of the basic hand signals to communicate with the other na’vi. Although you were sure it wouldn’t have taken as long if Ao’nung was a better teacher.

“Eywa you are terrible at this.”

“You’re doing it wrong.”

“Come on it’s not that hard demon.”

Yeah. You were certain that the lesson would have gone much more smoothly with a better teacher. “Will you shut up.” You grumbled. “You are such an asshole.” The last insult was spoken in your ‘demon’ language.

Ao’nung scrunched his nose in distaste. He didn’t enjoy listening to you talk without being able to understand anything. Especially when it’s the same language as the species that caused destruction to his home.

“I said no demon language.” He gave your arm a light slap. “It’s bad enough that I have to be the one to teach you.” The task if teaching you gave him an uncomfortable sense of déjà vu. Back when he was given a similar one as a teen.

You groaned as you were finally let off for the day. “Jesus fuck. That was the worst fucking lesson in my entire life. Shit, I think i just lost even more of my life from that.” The words just seemed to spill out of your mouth like a waterfall. All your foreign curse words escaping faster than you could register what you were saying. Old habits die hard you suppose.

“What are you saying.” Ao’nung simply sat there as you grumbled to yourself. You really were a ‘weirdo’ as Lo’ak would say.

"Nothing. Just thinking about how different the signing is here." You flash him a big, fake smile.

“You really don’t belong here.” He scoffed, standing up to walk away. Leaving you alone to wander back to the village by yourself. "Freaks like you should just go back to where you came from."

There he goes again. Acting just like his teenage self.

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[shiningdesignersreflections]

Yexiao: Spring Forest

Designer's Reflection: Spring Forest

Obtained: Mind Maze 5 workshop

Rarity: SSR

Attribute: Gold/Elegant

Awakened Suit: Autumn Forest

Story - transcripts from Designer's Reflection

Chapter 1 - Spring Wind of Past

Chapter 2 - Small Town's Spring

Chapter 3 - Cool Breeze

Chapter 4 - Verdant Spring Wind

Story - summarized

Fei was only a young boy when disaster struck his hometown of Banyan. Now that he's grown up, he wants to pay a visit to the remains of that town.

The weather used to be perfect: sunny all the time, slight breeze. And everyone was happy, not a single care in the world, no suffering. As a boy, Fei loved sitting under the Great Banyan Tree in the center of the town.

One day, he found a girl already under the Great Banyan Tree. She was lost and couldn't remember where her home or family was. All she could remember was her name, Yexiao. But she wasn't scared or distressed. Instead, she calmly painted alongside Fei.

The two became fast friends, and they met every day under the Great Banyan Tree to paint the leaves and flowers. Everything was perfect - until heavy rain swooped in.

From that moment on, Banyan was no longer a paradise. Turbulent weather, more accidents, even Fei's Grandma fell and injured herself. Despite the family's best efforts, she died soon after. As much as Fei wanted to stay, his family knew they had to leave before they themselves got hurt. But Yexiao was staying behind.

Many years have passed since then, but Fei still wonders about her. Everyone in Banyan either died or went missing, and he never heard from her again. But on his trip to the old remains, he passes by a greenhouse, with a large tree that reminds him of the Great Banyan Tree.

And inside, painting the leaves and flowers, was a girl who looked exactly like Yexiao! She even had the same name. But this girl looked too young to be his old friend.

Nevertheless, after their encounter, Fei was at peace. Even if he couldn't return to his old hometown, he could at least hold onto the memories.

Connections

-Yexiao has always loved painting nature. In her Reflection for Flower Tune, she reveals she's entranced by even the paths flowers take when they fall from trees. No two paths are the same, depending on the season and the weather.

-Although no one knew why Banyan suddenly suffered and disappeared, Yexiao explains that the town of Banyan was very close to the Ocean of Memories. So, while the Ocean's power originally gave the town longevity and peace, it eventually "flooded" the town and destroyed it.

Fun Facts

-Despite not being a recurring character, Fei has an avatar sprite for when he's a child. You see his picture during the discussions between him and Yexiao.

-Leonid's prophecy is that the Ocean of Memories will destroy Miraland, and Banyan's fate is one such example of how that can happen.

[cinamun]

Hey Cin, So... I kept debating as an introvert whether or not to come onto the Big T. But I am a long time enthusiast of your work (since your S2 contest and S2 story days.) and wanted to join Triple R. (The Raven Simone pic is a good look for the club Avatar LOL.) I, as many of the rest of us were not expecting you to do a Stephen King and "Kill your little Darlings" well... not specifically El who I felt was a more complex character (literally) at least so far than Jayce (IMHO) because he like several of your characters had potential for redemption even when he took that dark turn. Yes, I know not every character has to be dark and twisty with continued problems. But case in point: I noted how quick the anger blazed up toward Elliot but Darren is lauded for his turn around and growth even after he *also* put hands to Indya in the early days of their relationship... now granted he didn't put her lights out like Hope, but came close. Elliot was that ride or die friend (like Darren.) that Hope didn't even have with her girls (that I could tell.) and even helped to find her when she ran away. But with the good doctors help, breakthroughs regarding Sean, an absent mother and love could have possibly changed El like Darren to a grizzled happy middle aged healed OG with a family. But, it's unfortunately not to be. I do also wonder with the way these events went down if Darren and Indya remember this side of himself? Even though that was past Darren and not Daddy of 3 and Uncle of 1 Darren? Ok, I am going to fade into the bushes like Homer Simpson now.

NO! Bestie! Come BACK! You can't just drop a think piece like this and fade away boo. Nope, we don't do that here. But you know what we DO do?

We get into it...

First of all, those sims 2 model contests where the best thing to ever happen to me in the early 2gs okay? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? That's when I learned how to use hair brushes in photoshop AND "frankensim". But I digress....

Elliot's death was not something I took lightly. I was VERY attached to him. I made him from scratch in CAS as a child *specifically* for Hope. That was her bestie, first crush, first love, first kiss. He was *MADE* for her and I really do mean that literally. It took at least 2 weeks to even come to terms with the idea and up until the last screenshot of that fateful day on the pier was taken, I was still not convinced I would do it. It was a test as a writer: to do something so drastic to an OC that it torments you. It hurt.

The reason everyone jumped on Elliot was because of *how* he chose to do it (I was angry with my DAMN self, but it couldn't happen another way in my head). LIke you said, he "put her lights out". He squeezed her neck so hard, with the most powerful part of his arm, and caused so much internal damage, it kept her in the hospital for two weeks (there is symbolism to this that I won't disclose just yet).

He absolutely had the potential to grow and be redeemed just like Darren did and Darren had far more demons than simply a lost love (he had that too, though, with Sherrita). Darren lost whole family members. Elliot was without a mother. Darren was without a mother. This is where, I believe, the parallels end.

I truly believe that Darren and Indya remember the days when abuse was a regular occurence. Indya had the same bruises from being lifted up by the neck by Darren that Hope now has after being.... (wait for it...)

...lifted up by the neck by Elliot:

Lest we forget....

Key difference here: Darren was abusive. Elliot was not physically abusive (that we know of) until the argument with Hani that led him down a spiral that would ultimately take his life.

I'll end with this (because the Ratchet Readers™ may have some nuances I'm not seeing) While Darren and Indya might remember those days, they choose to live in the present where blessings are abundant, the soil is fertile and the growth is perrenial. I believe that *everyone* has that capacity which is why I always say that this story is ultimately about growth. The plot is growth. The arcs are growth. All of it. So I absolutely believe Elliot could have grown to the OG status that Darren now is. The reality is that, some just don't get there, even with the capacity to grow inherently a part of them.

[impossiblycolorfulpanda]

AANG:

Iroh: How are you enjoying the spirit world, Aang?

Aang: This place is even more fantastic since I’m able to come here physically now.

Iroh: Pretty bold move asking Azula to come to a vacation with you, just the two of you.

Aang: Yeah well, she deserves a break. It’s because of her that Avatar Wan’s dying wish has now come true, Raava and Vaatu’s eternal conflict has finally ended with Raava being both light/peace and darkness/chaos at the same time. Though my link to my past lives is destroyed forever, true balance has been achieved.

Iroh: She is a wonder, isn’t she?

Aang: That’s somehow putting it mildly. I knew there was a reason I needed her by my side. I’m a different person now because of her. She made me a more powerful and more mature avatar. She’s never afraid to speak her mind and give constructive criticisms. Out of all firebender’s inner fire...hers is the most beautiful.

Iroh: Are you in love with her?

Aang: W-what? I...uh...

Iroh: No worries Aang.

Aang: Is it that obvious?

Iroh: Very.

Aang: How long have you known?

Iroh: From the moment I saw you two enter together I sensed a strong bond between you two...Besides, I kept catching you look at her when she wasn't looking and you had a dreamy look in your eyes.

Aang: Great...And now she probably knows and hates me or is afraid of me...

Iroh: Don’t be so sure. I was able to sense the passion in Azula as well. You should tell her how you feel, you'll both be happier for it.

Aang: Last time I expressed my true feelings to someone I thought I loved, it didn’t pan out so good.

Iroh: It’ll be different this time because Azula is not an earthly attachment, quite the opposite, she is the beacon of your ascension.

AZULA:

Iroh: How are you enjoying the spirit world, Azula?

Azula: Oh boy, the beauty and strangeness of it all. Words won’t do it justice. I can see why you wanted to spend eternity in this place.

Iroh: I’m here because of you. As you can remember, I was trapped in the fog of lost souls among others, forced to spend eternity in my own madness and failures. You got trapped as well, but no only did you withstand the fog’s powerful influence but used a firebending equivalent of spiritbending to purify the fog, absolving, saving, and freeing all of its prisoners. All right before slaying Koh, the face stealer. You are truly magnificent.

Azula: Well, ya know, it was the least I can do since both you and mother gave your lives to help me. Despite it all.

Iroh: Aang wanted this vacation to be special. It's not everyday the avatar offers to take a friend to the Spirit World on a private vacation.

Azula: Yeah, he’s a great friend.

Iroh: He means so much to you. Tell me. Do you love him?

Azula: Uh...I mean...I don’t...not...like...seriously!?

Iroh: It is ok, Azula, like the spirit world, love is strange and yet beautiful. There is more than one variation.

Azula: What do you suggest I’d do?

Iroh: Go ahead and show him how you feel.

Azula: Oh, sure, that’ll be a fun conversation. ‘Hey hippy, you remember the time I zapped you, possibly killing you, destroying the avatar cycle and truly putting the nomads into extinction, all just for sport and anger? Well, I think we should hook up now, don’t you?’

Iroh: It’s probably not place to say this, but he feels the same for you.

Azula: What makes you so sure?

Iroh: Think about it, right after Aang had let go of Katara and embrace his last chakra, he felt compelled to visit you often. He believed in you when no one else would. He taught you to master you’re own chakras. He gave glances at you often when you weren't looking. And he brought you here, a private vacation to the spirit world, a place where you two can be together with no distractions, do all of these sound like simple platonic gestures to you?

Azula: Well...the chakra part could be.

Iroh: You know, Zuko and Katara’s relationship started off very rocky as well, but as Zuko proved his atonement and how combatable they were, their love proved very indomitable. You and Aang’s love will be the same.

[verbophobic]

Fics I do plan to go back to and Finish

No no particular order other than my scrolling of my AO3

What To Even Call This (actively working on this)

Zelda Series; Sidon/OC

To help his people, Sidon begrudgingly agrees to a marriage with a Hylian. All he wants is a woman who can rule at his side, someone that he may one day grow fond of like his sister Mipha had with Champion L-something-or-other. What he does not expect is Kino. A girl who seems almost clueless to the difficulties of the Zoran domain but whose heart will not let her stand by and just watch them struggle. As he learns more about her he finds himself growing fonder and he finds himself wondering, 'just who is this woman that wormed her nervous little way past his tightly guarded walls?'

What Am I Doing

Avatar; Tsu'tey/OC

A soldier is sent with Jake to the Omatikaya. She’s sent in an effort to keep an eye on Jake as Quaritch is beginning to doubt his loyalties. So Quaritch has a soldier he feels he can trust more than Jake reporting back about Jake. She tells Q to the best of her abilities what Jake is up to. Unfortunately as Jake has told the Omatikaya that he and her are both of the same clan Jarhead, they want to try to keep them separated as possible. So while Jake is off learning with Neytiri she is left to meander about and an eye is kept on her. She finds that she's fairly often around Tsu’tey - as he trusts her the least so he keeps the closest eye on her. Now she finds herself begrudgingly learning about the Na’vi’s ways and learning about the giant blue jerk. Still she reports to Q about msot of what she learns. Often asking how much longer her misison is so she can return to the base. Her way of tricking him into thinking she’s not actually having fun or enjoying learning about her friend. This fic is intended to follow the first movie loosely and into the second movie where she differs from Jake. ISO BETA

What A Clusterfuck

TMNT (Bayverse, sue me); Raph/OC

Raphael met a woman by coincidence, if you could call a hydroplaning car coincidence that it. But all the meeting for the next month and a half after that? Coincidence. Mostly. Raph would see this walking talking beacon of bad luck, and help her from the shadows. Until he didn’t. Until he stepped into the light and she was relieved he was a mutant turtle and not a mugger of New York City. Plus he was offering the poor half drowned woman an umbrella to help her starve off the rain. Now though? Now it’s just a clusterfuck of trying to figure out how her apartment ended up burning down. Raph/OC oneshots. Not yet put in order. Soon though!

Plane Jane

Lost Boys; David/OC

She was just another Plain Jane among a sea of them. In Santa Carla where everyone tried to stand out, those with the barest of differences are the most memorable. So a girl that's working behind a counter in yet another convenience store that looks like just another 'normie' was no one memorable. Dead end job for what seems like forever, no family so to speak of, and an ex who just can't fully let go; that was all just another boring day in a sea of eternal days to her. The most abnormal she'd ever seen up until a single fateful day was the cat that would somehow sneak into the store and just sit on the counter with her some nights. Until those boys came in like ghosts. She never knew how that triggered the events and she didn't care, all she cared about was the guy trying to rob her. Completely edited and beta's as of 11-20-2022 Ya'll are also welcome to suggest chapter titles.

Lost In The Wilderness/Stolen In The Wilderness

Lost- Transformers; Prowl/Sideswipe Stolen- Transformers; Elite Trine/Sideswipe

Lost: Sideswipe and Sunstreaker have had it bad since sparklinghood. Like so many others they were snagged up and put into the pits, chosen for where to end up and where to be a profit. The gladiatorial pits seemed perfect for two mechs whose steps couldn't be more in synch if they tried. But like so many others upon reaching their adulthood it's time to be put up for auction. They have the training, they have experience, they have survived their upbringing and are on their way with others to be put up for auction when unlikely rescue comes. It's not for them of course, but they are along for the ride at this point. Who are those savage black and white barbarians and what do they mean by 'Mine'?! In Search of Beta

Stolen: Spin off of my Lost In The Wilderness fic. What would have happened if it had been some other barbarians that had descended upon the caravan? Barbarians that are nowhere near as 'kind' as those we've come to know In The Wilderness? While Prowl and his group are far more 'civilized' those that rule the skies are seen as demons with wings. And poor little Sideswipe just so happened to be cute and in the wrong place at the wrong time. In this take of the wilderness, Seeker's are not nearly as kind as land mecha. But perhaps there's some charm to Sideswipe that can woo one or two of them~

Sink My Teeth Into You

Little Vampire; Gregory/OC

Rory Murry is a normal teenage. Unfortunately her divorced parents have decided to change their custody agreement and she is forced to move away from the 'big city' to the rural town she had first grown up in. Her memories of back then are blurry due to the young age she left and the few traumatizing events that happened directly prior to leaving. Such as said parental divorce. A teenager that she meets in a graveyard does tug at a few strings of memory though and she is left curious as to just who he is and why he's always hanging out in a graveyard late at night. Her own reasoning for being there? She's not the brightest there is and a tiny bit lonely in this 'new' town. Also- why is there a creepy old guy in a wanna-be ice cream truck haunting this place?

When It Bleeds

Predator Series; Pred/OC

Experimentation is not always okay. But sometimes its necessary. Ta'roga knows and understands this. But when he looks at the other experiment being paraded down the hall in front of him he feels nothing but rage and disgust at these humans. How could they do something like this to- to-Join us on our exploration into hunter territory where we learn about a code of honor that the 2018 movie tossed to the wind. Join me as i make the 2018 move better later in this story. We will be fixing up plot mistakes, and making a proper set up for the movie and not killing off every good character. I will be killing off characters that we will grow to love but saving others that the movies did dirty.

Work In Progress/Metempsychosis

MHA; Bakugo/OC

WIP: Sato Misaki is just your average girl, a young adult who has a semi useless quirk. IT's nothing she's proud of and honestly she would rather be Quirkless. That is until she meets a man in a grocery store. He works in his own way to help her come to terms with her Quirk and accept herself. Bakugo Katsuki is not the same person he was while growing up. He's grown as an individual and learned better how to handle his emotions and mostly reign in his temper. Few understand why he, of all people, would go for a girl who's quirk is so plain. Not to mention someone so oblivious as to not have a clue to the majority of Japan's hero's. This is a series of oneshots, out of order, featuring my OC Misaki and her relationship with Bakugo. One day I'll do a story for them, for now enjoy their life's snipets since meeting.

META: Metempsychosis; resurrection, rebirth, reincarnation. It has a definite definition. The being that chose this as their name has a path set before them. One that will change the hero Ground Zero’s bleak future after his lover - or rather soul mate - is murdered before him. Katsuki had met and fallen in love with a normal girl whose quirk was nothing special. But that in itself made her special to him. With having seen her life ripped away before his very eyes he’s on the brink of insanity. Until some being walks up to him with a warning of ‘pivotal moments’ and ‘not changing them’. Whatever that meant. All he knows is Misa has melted in his arms and left him. His own form is liquifying. Yet he’s able to open his eyes once more and finds his hands are small and chubby. Just like his reflection in the mirror - wait, is he five again?!

Penny For Your Thoughts

CW DC verse; Snart/OC

Prue's motto was to not let life get her down, she'd hit rock bottom while young so she couldn't get any further down, right? One would surely hope so. Seeing a penny heads up she can only hope that it means luck, that whatever was going on right now would be for the best. Taking the coin from the ground she hold it up and out to the man with a gun trained on her. She knew she wasn't walking away from here. As queasiness bubbled up in her stomach and she felt like throwing up she forced out a smile and touched her stomach as if to calm it and keep from throwing up in fear. "Penny for your thoughts?" Perhaps she'd been around her snarky boyfriend far too long as saying this to the man with a twitchy trigger finger might not be the best of plans. Snart/Oc (putting this here because as a ready I like to know exactly which ship I'm reading and not be surprised later on.)

[ettawritesnstudies]

thanks @hd-literature for the encouragement!

Her father left home when Sora was a baby, supposedly for her own safety – an airbender abandoning the child to learn for herself the truth about her history, wondering for the rest of her life why he left her behind. You see a toddler tugging at her mom’s skirts, asking if he still cares about them. When is the next letter coming? Will he remember us on his adventures? She doesn’t know what she is until her sister’s attacked by a firebender during the occupation of Omashu. You see a ten-year-old blasting a full grown soldier with a column of air, then trembling in a secluded street corner, clinging to little Avani for dear life. She cries herself to sleep that night, knowing the guards will arrest her the next day, waiting for a knock at the door that never comes. Why wasn’t her father there to stop the guards? When the war ends, she receives the summons to republic city. What if she can find her father there? She hopes she meet other airbenders and learn what he never taught her. When she finally meets him again, will she only see disappointment in his eyes? There are no answers in republic city, only visions of madness and the fear that her father might already be more of a ghost than he’s been her whole life.

Her mother doesn’t know her, doesn’t recognize or like the persons she’s become. She never wanted her to be what she is, and tried so hard to keep her little baby girl grounded, but she’s not little and the gravity of family tethers her no longer. And so, she’s not her mother anymore. Sora left her too, and she won’t welcome her prodigal daughter home. She’s become nothing more than a ghost in her past, someone to be looked through and worked around, not understood.

Her sister only remembers a nagging, paranoid, annoying older sister. If she never really got along with Sora, what’s there to miss? The letters stop coming, and that probably doesn’t mean anything good, but Avani can’t bring herself to care. If Sora came back, it would upset the careful balance and grounded household that she and her mother have built, brick by brick. They can’t have that chaos whirling its way back into their life. Besides, Sora must clearly be happier without them, and Avani’s perfectly happy without her. It’s ok if her sister is just a ghost passing through her life.

Celeane – that little glimmer of jealousy, Sora has the one thing she doesn’t, but bending is the one thing Sora could never really use. They’re friends, at least she thinks they are, but how can she be sure? Sora left her behind too, flying off without a word, excluding her from her little world. She must really reset her now. How could Sora be so callous to be what she is, while pretending to be a nonbender like her. What a cruel trick. Now look what her lies have done. Her first friend will hate her forever now that she knows the truth and knows Sora’s just one more person who has what she doesn’t. The ghost of a friendship lost, a bridge burned, a misunderstanding never reconciled, of space growing between two people until it can’t be mended anymore.

Aang goes into the avatar state, outraged with her actions, pushing her away, overpowering the wind, leaving her completely helpless, out of the element that she loves so much. The one who was able to use his powers and reach his full potential, who knows everything she might know, her one chance for a teacher, for a friend, for an ally, for someone, anyone, who can understand, banning her forever, alienating her from the other airbenders, hating her for what she’s done, what she is, thinking of her as a lesser waster of his time, trying and failing to prove herself, knowing there’s no such thing as a second chance, he represents all the ghosts of their shared past, and they’re all angry, she’s not good enough to live up to their legacy.

Name unknown, a terrorist airbender woman killed in the Republic City Bombings, killed by Sora’s own hand. What drove her to join those people, who was taken from her, who was she? Sora doesn’t even know but she killed her. My god, she killed a woman. She watched the blood seep out of her hair. Her hand threw that stone. Her hand is shaking. The wind stills. The woman lies still. There’s hatred in her eyes. What has she done? She hasn’t really picked up her sling since then… only against Asira, but her arm trembled, she couldn’t bring herself to aim the stone. She guided the harpoon but that was different. You use harpoons to fight monsters. You use slings to kill people. But even that monster didn’t deserve to die. They did despicable things but they were also incredibly hurt and lashing out in order to feel like they had any control over the hell that was their lives. Sora knows that, that woman is the ghost of the outline, she knows this person was a victim but she can't honor them or grieve them in any meaningful way because she doesn't know who they were, she never learned their story, she took away their ability to tell their story when she ended their life, and now she'll never know. She can’t decide if that’s better or worse. She’s a question mark. An open wound. One of many faces haunting her dreams.

Asira is dead but the scar on Sora’s chest still burns, like a coal got stuck in her heart and the skin healed over, and she never got out the ember, and now it’s there, smoldering in the depths of her soul. Every time some injustice gnaws at her, every time she witnesses one of her friends go down, every time she has to tether their souls back to their bodies, wasn’t that just what Asira was trying to do? Was she so wrong? Sora tries so hard to deflect the anger and fury and grief and rage and hurt that she carries but sometimes she wonders what it would take to set her off. What small gust of wind would it take to fan that ember and grow it into a bonfire that completely consumes her? She can’t be too far gone. What happened to the spirits of the twins, separated and lost too soon? Will Sora cross into the spirit world one day and find them waiting for her? Will they kill her there too? They’re restless souls and they’ll linger until they get what they want. It’s too late for her to pull them back now. They won’t stop following her… begging to return. If only she’d learned of her powers a little earlier. Maybe they wouldn’t be lost.

Saluq struggled to take his last breaths as Sora forced him underwater with the power of a tempest, drowning a waterbender. You witness the scene from his point of view in those last minutes as his vision goes black. The fury in her own face, the corrosive darkness hanging around the ship, clinging to her like a smokescreen and wisping off her clothes. She’s unable to shake off the knowledge she knows now, and she can never go back to who she was before. The old, ignorant Sora died along with him, now she’s seen his horrors face to face and realized that she’s not so different. Every time she sees a blood splatter, she hears his own voice in her head, hungry.

Boma is a man haunted by the ghosts of all his family and community, all dead, driven to drink his sorrows away. Sora’s a ghost to him too, someone who should be dead, but isn’t somehow. How can he look at her and not be reminded of everything he lost? She’s tethering him to the past, and he can’t move on. Soon he’ll fade away to become a ghost himself, and she won’t be able to save him. Is every airbender she meets doomed to drift away on the wind?

What if Ari died in that cave? How would they all react if Sora couldn’t save her after saving Jol and Seraphine? Would Mari lose it like Asira did? Why does one twin always die? Why is the universe so cruel? Would Sokka kick them off the ship, would they fail in their quest, be stranded? Has Sokka wanted to kick them off all this time but restrain himself? Does Sokka view her as just as terrifying as Saluq? Does he only respect her out of terror? Sora doesn’t want to be feared, she wants to be trusted, she wants to have true friends, but how do they know they’re not trading out one demon for another by keeping her around. There’s a ghost aboard the ship regardless, and they can’t tell the difference between the two.

Suliyos witnesses his violence form her point of view, seeing his most terrifying moments played back in a 3rd person perspective. Right after Sora kills the airbender and she’s just trembling and nauseous, she looks up and sees him astride Falanx almost gleefully shredding people with his ice sword glinting with blood, antlers covered in gore, easily dismembering anarchists (children, like them) without a second’s hesitation. The first moment she witnessed him bloodbend, already full of adrenaline and horror from revealing her airbending. He climbs on the roof and everything in her struggles to resist the urge to flee and leave them all behind – is he climbing onto the roof to confront her and blow her cover, to attack her in fury for her lies, to throw her into the room for the Eye to take? Slowly, methodically walking towards her like the hunter that he is… No, he’s reasonable and talks it through with her, but then, haloed by the moon, he reveals his own secret, and a bird twitches unnaturally, his eyes dark as steel, realizing that he’s used this before, used this to kill before, that he wouldn’t be alive now otherwise, and all of that settling in at once as the bird flies away. Sora can’t fly away. He’s her friend. He wouldn’t do that to her. Right? The Eye’s son screams in terror. Saluq writhes in pain as he’s pinned to the floor. Suliyos grows stronger and so does Sora’s fear, but she squashes it down. They’re the good guys. Right? She keeps watching him grow stronger and learning that he's cut from the same cloth as Saluq and they both have the same powers just reinforces to her that loyalty is the only thing protecting her from him and loyalty is a very fragile thing indeed.

Seraphine has always been a wildfire.The first time Sora saw the spirits was when they were talking with Asira. Fire wreathed around Sera’s head without being bent, and she had no idea what that meant. Sora’s witnessed her worst nightmares and the evil in her family’s past, and it hurts a little, knowing the kind of explosive power and anger that runs in her family. A tiny part of her wonders when (not if) Seraphine is going to snap. She’s proven herself again and again not to be a threat to Sora for being an airbender, she’s not worried about betrayal, but she knows that if you stand to close to an inferno, you’re going to be burned. You try to embrace the warmth, and you’ll come away with blisters, because you can’t get too close. Trying to talk to Seraphine is like trying to reason with Icarus flying to close to the sun. She’s waiting for the moment that her friend becomes nothing more than a shadow, a silhouette against the flames. All semblance of personhood lost, a ghost of a person clinging to a roaring demon that’s all that’s left of her friend, ruining everything and everyone in it’s past.

Jol has numbness surrounding her… she’s not even a ghost, she’s a zombie and she doesn’t even know it, she’s just a walking corpse, she has no spirit and she shouldn’t be able to live like that but here she is, arguably lucid and conscious, but who knows how deep the crazy runs under the surface, how deep the rot and decay digs its dirty fingers into the core of her soul. She wants to disconnect the spirit world. That shouldn’t be possible, but Sora just remembers the feeling of Shishi being ripped from her, and shudders. Could this girl tear her soul asunder like so? Sora’s so intertwined into the spirit world it might kill her to get out now. How did she get in so deep without realizing it? What has she gotten herself into that she doesn’t understand. What if Jol is right??? The spirits scare her, as much as they thrill her. Maybe she’s right to be scared, scared of herself, and scared of the cheerful ticking time bomb.

Cab is callous. he doesn’t really care about the party, he only cares about himself. He’s loyal to them for no real reason but entertainment, after his burns he shouldn’t want to continue this life. What’s in it for him? Why is he following along when he doesn’t seem to engage with the party otherwise? What is his end goal? Is he secretly trying to manipulate them? Or is he really just that indifferent? That might honestly scare her more. It would be so easy to turn him if he was offered enough money, enough cabbages, enough power and prestige. He knows so much, but he has so little stake in the game. If he were to go rouge, it would doom us all.

And what is left at the end of it all when you strip away the lies? When you take away the false bravado in the face of nightmares, feigning courage to keep herself on her feet. When you wash away the sweetened words of hope to leave the bitter reality beneath? When you untangle the manipulations to realize how she’s been pulling the strings – more of a puppetmaster than any bloodbender? When you boil away her attempts at diplomacy into the rage that motivates her every action. When you break her down to a frightened little girl, scared of the world, scared of her fellow humans, scared of her own powers, scared for her life, desperate to do anything it takes to survive and maintain all the lies. What happens when Sora herself becomes a ghost, when that scared little girl dies and all that’s left is a callous and calculating woman who can bend reality to her will, trap people in prisons of their own minds, and strip away their sanity? One day she’ll be safe, she’ll be honored, looking upon her worshipers with a graceful demure smile, befitting the deity that stole their souls. But no love will reach the withered husk at her core, and no one will touch the woman who’s both there and gone.

I went into hyperfixation mode at 4am last night and wrote nearly 3k words of meta about my dnd character, ghosts, and fear but it has some lines I really like and kind of want to share. Would anyone be interested if I posted it totally out of context?

[hedgethemaze]

4, 8, 23, 25

4. Favorite animal? I could easily just put him as the answer, I mean

Appa is the best, I don't think I even need to explain this. But the question doesn't especify from which show so...

Naga not only is my favorite animal exclusive to LOK, she's also the mix of two of my favorite real life animals.

8. Favorite battle? Tough choice!

Both series excel in the fighting department, so in order to not hurt my brain thinking too much (at least for ATLA) I'm gonna go with the fight I think is one of the most fun to watch and that has to be Toph vs all 7 Earth Rumble VI fighters from her debut episode "The Blind Bandit".

I've never been into WWE, except when done in animation and by shows I like, and what a spectacle it is to see Toph face The Boulder & Co. and handing their a$$es to them while sending them flying out of the arena in a flawless victory. It's a real blast!

Favorite battle in LOK: I would say is Korra vs. Kuvira in the series’ finale. Not only is her rematch against the great uniter but this fight represents Korra's true comeback. She may not be the Avatar she was before her battle with Zaheer, but she's overcome the worst of it and now she's stronger than ever.

Aftar everything she's gone through, there's something amazing about the display of her fighting and bending habilities during this fight. She's come a long way and it shows! And while the battle gets interrupted because of the giant mecha exploding, I belive that had they continued the fight outside the metal box, Korra would've had a bigger advantage - and that’s not mentioning the Avatar State, which she only used to protect Kuvira from an energy beam equal to a nuclear explotion that would've easily obliterated her had it not been for Korra's power and skill.

23. Favorite Korra moment? O.O Boy, and I thought 29 was hard to answer. C’mon, I LOVE Korra and watching her do anything, really. Any moment she’s on screen, or page (as long as she’s not suffering in any way, kind or form), is my favorite Korra moment <3

That said, for the sake of the question, I’m gonna have to choose...

Her reunion with Asami in, well, “Reunion” lol

I think we’re all well aware what this moment meant to Asami, who was already in love with Korra at the time (I will die on that hill). But to the Avatar, while not given the proper time to fully let it sink in, I like to think this is the moment where she no longer doubts her romantic feelings for Asami are no illusion or mistake and that she's, in fact, crushing on her best friend 😊 

Not to mention, that look she gives Asami after the hug is such a soft and happy expression, it literally melts my heart! Every. Single. Time.

25. Asami or Korra? In what regard?

As in the better fighter, the prittiest, the smartest, the richest- wait, sorry, there’s no contest in that one lol Just kidding! 😆

I’m gonna go with Asami here. And simply because the entire series revolves around Korra (titular character, duh!) and I couldn’t ask for more of her - actually, I could but that’s not the point. Besides, I know there will be more Korra content eventualy...

I’m not saying I want Asami to be the protagonist of her own series, I like her right where she is, thank you. Even so, she’s the least explored (I even dare say “developed”) member of Team Avatar - the brothers even got their own mini web series, Republic City Hustle, depicting them 3 years prior to the main series - and to this day I’m left wanting to know more about Asami.

There’s bits and pieces told to us about her backstory. Mainly that she lost her mother at a young age and she’s well trained in self defence, but nothing’s ever shown and that’s only concerning her past. But what about her present in the series? Asami, as an individual, is rarely touched upon to the point some people think there’s nothing of substance or importance about her, besides that her money and vehicles get the protagonists to every place they need to be, reducing her to the LOK version of Appa (we all know the memes). They easily forget a lot happens to Asami, and I can’t blame them because the series never takes the time to explain to us how she manages to cope with any of it. It all happens behind the scenes. And I hate to say it but the more I think about it, I find that offencive to her character.

Thanks for asking, gray face. Sorry it took so long to asnwer...hope you enjoys the reading.

Anyone that would like to can ask more from here :) 

[yuueee]

𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐝𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 fire lord! zuko x fire lady! reader

authors note: Firstly I just want to apologize for the hiatus, I want to be more active from now on! I’m starting finals next week so I’ll thankfully be done with this semester soon and will also have more time to write. Anyways I hope you enjoy!! I also want to apologize if Zuko is ooc here.

requests:

First of all, your tumblr looks sooooo cool! I’m looking forward to reading all of your future work! Imagine this: Zuko is annoyed by people constantly asking him about a future heir, but when one day his friends also start to ask, and even his uncle and his own mother join the baby fever train, it’s too much for him so he complains about it to his wife who only reassures him with her lovely self and her understanding smiles, not telling him yet that she is in fact pregnant. What do you think ?

Can you write an imagine with zuko who is clearly, utterly and soooo obviously in love with the reader (outgoing, courageous, loving) and maybe with the prompt “So you...well...I mean...I could give you a massage?” Thank you a lot! ^^

As the current Fire Lord and Lady, it wasn’t uncommon for the citizens of the Fire Nation to be deeply invested in your relationship - it was to be expected especially due to the uncommon nature of your union. What you weren’t expecting were Zuko’s close friends and relatives being wrapped up in your business as well. Being outside of team avatar, you were naturally more welcoming to his friend's constant questioning, but Zuko on the other hand was not. He couldn’t understand why they cared so much all of the sudden. They hadn’t been as interested when he was in a relationship with Mai - so why did they care so much now?

It wasn’t as if you weren’t getting along with his friends or family - you got along with them quite well and were very loved by them in fact. Outside of them though, you weren’t always as welcomed, unfortunately, the Fire Nation was still coming to terms with having the daughter of an Earth Kingdom General as their Fire Lady. The arranged marriage was put in place to solve several different ‘problems’. After Zuko broke up with Mai several years ago, he hadn’t begun dating anyone else due to being so busy but he’d eventually be expected to have an heir in the next coming years.

Although they had gotten better, tensions among the Earth Kingdom Colonies were still high and both sides were having difficulty keeping them under control. Eventually, an agreement was made for the daughter of a high-ranking Earth Kingdom General to marry Zuko - that daughter being yourself. Arranged marriages certainly weren’t unheard of in either nation - but a union of this sort was definitely unique.

Though he certainly wasn’t thrilled about it, Zuko understood that it was for the good of the people - and it wasn’t like there was anything he could do about it anyway. Even with his position as the recently crowned Fire Lord there still wasn’t much he could do.

On the other hand, you understandably had some issues coming to terms with your new situation at first. Despite being known by those around you as friendly and just a joy, in general, to be around - the woman Zuko had first met was quite the opposite. He could recall it like it was yesterday. Though it was awkward and stressful at the time, he now considered it to be the best day of his life.

“She’s in there.” A female servant whispered to the young man quietly, as if she didn’t want to speak loud enough for you to hear from your place at the balcony.

“Thanks,” he replied with a soft smile, bidding the elderly woman goodbye as she shuffled down the hallway. Turning towards you he was faced with a warm tropical breeze. His advisors had arranged for the two of you to meet a couple of weeks before that dreaded day, and for some reason, they thought Ember Island was the appropriate place. A combination of anxiety and general distaste for being on the island was causing him to be quite stressed - which led him to be more awkward than usual.

“Um, hello?” he spoke up faintly, as if not to startle you. He was sure you heard him come in, but you hadn’t turned around since he entered the small room. You stood several feet away with your hands placed on the railing, your [hair-texture] locks sifting gently with each gust of wind along with your predominantly red clothing. It was against what you had wanted to wear that day but it didn’t seem as if you had much a say in anything going on in your life recently.

You understood that doing this would be for the greater good of the Earth Kingdom and that your situation could technically be worse. You could have been married off to some old creep - but if you were being honest with yourself being married to the Fire Lord sounded just as bad. As you turned around though, you were surprised at the face you were met with.

He had a much younger face than you had expected, but the slight hollowness of his cheeks and the worry lines on his forehead told you that he had experienced things beyond his years. He also happened to be quite handsome - not that you wanted to admit it though. You had been bent on hating him ever since your father told you who you’d be wedding.

He was the leader of the Fire Nation, of course, you would hate him! The country that has had a century-long reign of terror on the world - and now you found yourself engaged to their leader. What had you done so wrong in your life to deserve this?

As much as you wanted to plan on running away the first chance you got, you knew deep inside that it would only cause tensions to increase and more issues to arise. You wanted the best for the residents of the Earth Kingdom, so you agreed to go through with it, but did so resentfully - which you had every right to feel that way.

But as you glared up at the young male next to you and tried to keep your attention off of the scar over his left eye - you couldn’t help but wonder what if this was the man who joined the avatar in defeating the Fire Lord? He wasn’t what you expected at all. Standing in full armor with his hair holding the fire nation insignia in a top knot - he looked awkward and out of place. You almost felt bad for him - keyword is almost.

“What do you need Fire Lord?” you questioned him, turning your gaze back to the rushing waters of the ocean.

“Um,” he faltered slightly, probably not anticipating your response. “I just wanted to introduce myself-“

“I know who you are.” you brushed him off, turning around and walking towards him - grabbing his collar and pulling him to your height. “We might be getting married but if you think for a second I will ever be nice to you, you are sadly mistaken.” you hissed at him before letting him go and walking out of the door.

Zuko couldn’t recall how long he stood there watching your form leave, all he remembered was standing there like an idiot with a red face. He hadn’t expected you to like him of course but he surely wasn’t expecting that.

As he reminisced on memories long ago while sipping his Uncle’s tea, he couldn’t help the smile that appeared on his features. As stated earlier, It may have been an unpleasant memory back then but now he considered the day he met you to be the best day of his life. Though your relationship had surely faired through many complications for a while in the beginning - surprisingly, you became fond of Zuko over the years.

It was certainly a long time coming but that strange friendship you two shared eventually evolved into love against all odds. That didn’t mean you weren’t constantly giving him an ear full (as you should tbh) your first months together. But as time progressed and you learned that he may not have been the evil prince that you had heard so much about, at least not anymore.

He wasn’t that same angsty teenager he had been years ago looking for the avatar, he was now a young adult growing quite well into the position of the Fire Lord - which was no easy feat. Taking another sip of tea, he watched his Uncle and Mother come to take a seat with him.

“How is it, Nephew?” His Uncle asked with a mischievous grin and a raise of two bushy eyebrows - albeit already knowing the answer.

“It’s great as always Uncle,” Zuko responded with a small smile, his Uncle's expression making him just a bit concerned, causing his Mother to chuckle. Though she had gained a few wrinkles over the past couple of years, she was still as radiant as she had been in her youth. She was also much happier being able to live with the family she had been apart from for many years without fearing Ozai’s intervention. It came with a price though - it seemed as if her relationship with her estranged daughter who was now on the run would never be resolved. She never lost hope though.

“Zuko,” his mother began speaking, catching the young Fire Lord’s attention with a raise of his eyebrows. “When are you going to give me a grandchild?” She asked teasingly, eager to see his reaction. In turn, her son had barely kept himself from spitting out the mouthful of tea.

“Why do you ask that?” He choked out in between a series of coughs with Iroh patting his back gently.

“You haven’t?” She asked in between chuckles, noticing how her son got bewildered at the mention of having children of his own. “You know you’ll eventually have to have an heir at some point right?”

“It’s not that I haven’t thought about it... but Y/N and I are just really busy.” He thought aloud, wishing he could run a hand through his hair - but was unable to since it was pinned in a top knot.

“Zuko, you never know when you’ll get this time of peace again. What better time to raise a child?” Iroh reassured, wiggling his eyebrows. Letting out a groan, the young Fire Lord attempted to mentally prepare himself to go through this same conversation every time he visited his family.

Over the next couple of weeks, the constant badgering he received from his friends and close relatives started to frustrate him further, so who could he turn to? You of course.

Being married for several years now, you were more than used to Zuko’s rants, so you simply just reclined on the bed with an eyebrow raised as he paced back and forth.

“I don’t get it! Why is everyone so concerned about when we’re going to have a child or not?” He questioned seemingly no one as you attempted to keep your face from contorting into a smile. It wasn’t as if you didn’t understand his frustrations, it was just funny to watch, especially since you were already pregnant.

You were surprised that he hadn’t noticed honestly, with you staying in for the past few days due to feeling sick. Who could blame him though? It wasn’t as if he wasn’t attentive and loving as a husband, he was extremely busy as of recent-and also just dense at times. After noticing his silence for a few moments as he looked over the balcony, you decided that maybe this could be the perfect time to tell him.

Getting up and sneaking behind him, you snaked your arms around his waist and turned so you could see his face. He let out an audible sigh of what sounded like relief before returning your smile and your hug.

“You want a head massage?” You questioned pulling away, wiggling your fingers playfully.

“Please.”

For the past couple of years, Zuko had been letting his hair grow out so now it rested around his shoulders.

“There’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” You started tentatively, but as usual, he was too caught up in the sensation of your fingers raking across his scalp to entirely understand what you were saying, so he just nodded in response. “I’m pregnant.” You stated plainly, ceasing your scratching. Not getting a response for a few moments, you turned to face him with a worried expression.

Much to your surprise he was grinning up at you and placed a warm hand on your cheek. “Really?”

“Yes. I’m sorry it took me so long to tell y-“ you were abruptly cut off by him pulling you into another hug and placing a kiss on the crown of your head. “So you’re happy about it?”

“Couldn’t be happier.” He responded sincerely, leaning into your shoulder so you couldn’t see the redness on his cheeks.

Maybe your family and friends would finally leave the two of you alone now?

taglist: @practicallylivesonline @chewymoustachio

[number1villainstan]

AtLA Analysis: S1E1: The Boy in the Iceberg

Intro: I’ve decided to rewatch AtLA again, and this time I’m analyzing/writing down my reactions to it as I go. I’m a huge fan of villains (if you couldn’t tell) so this series will likely focus on antagonistic characters and on random details I catch especially about the Fire Nation. However, I will be making an effort to pay attention to characters and parts of the show that I haven’t paid much attention to before. Hopefully I’ll be able to get this done before Fall classes start, so if all goes well it’ll be one or two episodes a day. On the other hand, work is a thing, so that may be an unrealistic expectation. Perhaps instead you should expect a couple of episode analyses on weekends.

Now: on to the show, and on to the analysis!

Oh, it’s been a while! The introduction to the first episode is a little bit different from what I remember of the regular introduction, with Katara saying “My grandmother used to tell me stories about the Avatar...” instead of “Long ago, the Avatar...” after the first line of “Water. Earth. Fire. Air.” I think that’s a nod to where Katara’s character is at the very start of the season, not knowing that the Avatar exists and has been cryogenically frozen for the past hundred years.

She also calls the invading force “the ruthless firebenders,” as if each individual in the population was at fault rather than the governmental system. Points to in-universe prejudice and inter-ethnic tension, perhaps? Or is it Katara’s lack of understanding of population dynamics and government on a large scale, growing up in the small Southern Tribe? Or is it both?

The different first monologue also gives us pieces of crucial information: “The Fire Nation is nearing victory,” and “2 years ago, my father and the men of my tribe left to battle the Fire Nation.” The shot associated with the second line shows a mere four small (?) boats, each holding who knows how many men--but not that many, not enough. This implies that the Fire Nation is everywhere, and most of the fighting going on is between not fellow armies from different nations but FN garrisons and pockets of resistance. No wonder a 17-year-old boy is leading the Freedom Fighters.

She says, in the first monologue, that she has hope that the Avatar will return to save them. This seems naive to me, placing faith in a legend, but she is 14, and struggling to survive in a broken community. All we see of the Southern Tribe is Katara and Sokka’s small village. Are there other fragments of a once-great civilization out there, struggling to survive, or is what we see truly all that’s left? The tragedy of the Southern Tribe is left mostly untold, at least until Hama, but we can see its effects in the very first episode.

We open, of course, with Sokka and Katara attempting to catch fish. Sokka is overconfident and boisterous, bragging to his sister: “This is how you catch a fish.” We also see Katara waterbend, though we get the sense that she isn’t totally a master of the art yet--once Sokka bursts her bubble she has no reflex to keep the water in the air and the fish out of the sea.

We also get Sokka’s line “Why is it that every time you play with magic water, I get soaked?!” and Katara’s exasperated “It’s not magic, it’s waterbending.” A funny exchange, at least on the surface, but further analysis and its placement in context just drives home the tragedy of the Southern tribe’s lost culture. Waterbending is crucial to its culture and its survival, and Sokka can’t even remember the name. Even if he was stubbornly refusing to listen to the stories of his tribe, waterbending should be so suffused into the social environment it would be impossible for him to not know what it is, and he certainly shouldn’t be calling it weird. His referring to Katara’s ‘hair loopies’ as, well, ‘hair loopies’ is another piece of evidence for this. Even with his (admittedly perfectly normal) teenage-boy I’m-invincible-and-know-everything attitude, he should still know more about his culture than he does.

Damn, not even 3 minutes in and I’ve already got a rant on the decline and tragedy of the Southern Tribe. But! On with the show!

Next we see another piece of evidence for Katara’s lack of skill with waterbending: they get caught in a current between dangerous ice floes. If she had had the skill, likely she would have used her waterbending to lift the canoe over the ice and to a safer spot, or to push the ice floes away. Instead, because she is a 14-year-old girl with a power she doesn’t understand and no teacher to guide her, she doesn’t do much but panic and backseat drive. Shouting at your siblings to ‘go left! GO LEFT!’ is peak sibling dynamic, trust me.

Once their canoe is destroyed (how much and what gear was in that canoe and is now lost?) and they get stranded on the ice floe, we get the first blatant look at Sokka’s misogyny: “Leave it to a girl to screw things up!” He says this despite the fact that he’s been living with only women and children for two years now. (The first hint may have been more subtle, with his dig at waterbending, if it was considered a more feminine art in the South, but that would likely be better explored in The Puppetmaster.) This might have several factors behind it: Hakoda’s charge to Sokka to be the ‘man of the tribe’ when he left, for one, which implies a lot about gender dynamics in the SWT.

And then, of course, we get Katara going off (queen shit) at Sokka, calling him out for his sexism (which seems to imply that maybe Sokka’s attitude towards gender roles isn’t actually traditional or expected?). She also says “I’ve been doing all the work around camp while you’ve been off playing soldier!” which, while it probably has some merit to it, mostly implies that these siblings don’t appreciate the work the other does. It implies a lack of respect between the two as well as Sokka’s unhelpfulness. Which, ykno, pretty normal (if not entirely healthy) sibling dynamics, at least to me. (Same with the ultimately empty ultimatum she gives him while accidentally waterbending open an entire iceberg.)

Also, the faces during that whole exchange are fucking hilarious.

IT APPEARS! Who knows how much Spirit Shit these two have seen. From their reactions, I’m gathering two possibilities: a) this is entirely new to them and they have no idea what’s going on, or b) they have some idea of what’s going on but they think it’s highly dangerous. Neither of which points to the flourishing of stories and spirit tales in the SWT.

Sokka’s line “We don’t know what that thing is!” cements the first possibility. It also shows the difference between his cautiousness and Katara’s immediate want to help (“He’s alive!”). They serve as foils to each other right from the beginning.

If I had to pick an inciting incident here, it would likely be when Zuko lands his ship at the SWT and demands the Avatar, although this would be a close runner up. Aang’s waking up is a natural starting point for the way that he changes the course of the world.

What exactly caused that fierce wind and that pillar of light? The wind probably points to high air pressure inside the ice, but if it was an air pocket, then how did Aang survive? And why was he suspended in the ice ball like that? The pillar of light, on the other hand, was definitely Spirit Shit.

Aaand there’s Zuko! The first look we see on his face is amazement, almost disbelief. Did he truly have so little hope in his quest? Of course, it quickly changes to an angry determination. He has a reputation to keep up (and he’s a dramatic theater nerd). But that subtle show of his softer, less angry side right at the start hints at the character arc to come.

Iroh sounds tired in that first conversation: “I won’t get to finish my game?” “Or it’s just the celestial lights!” He’s clearly somewhat disillusioned at this point with Zuko’s quest, or just tired of his nephew’s antics. It seems almost strange, given the light the show later puts him in.

Zuko’s line “That light came from an incredibly powerful source! It has to be him!” tells me two things: number one, that everyone seems to assume that the Avatar is going to be a man (sexism in universe, or out-of-universe lazy writing with a male Avatar character already picked out?). It feels odd. Avatar Kyoshi wasn’t that long ago, and Zuko as a Prince should be well-versed in history, no? Number two, it tells me that Zuko is probably far more experienced with Spirit Shit than Sokka and Katara are. Makes perfect sense, given how he’s been desperately chasing a legend for three years.

“I DON’T NEED ANY CALMING TEA! I need to capture the Avatar!” 1. Further cements Zuko’s hotheadedness. 2. Gives us information on what his goal is and how desperate he is to achieve it.

When we cut back to Sokka and Katara, we see Sokka shielding his sister. He’s protective of her, and she lets him protect her. Clearly, they love each other, despite their earlier bickering.

Aang’s wake-up scene: Sokka poking Aang’s head (cautiousness and nervousness) vs Katara cradling him (kindness), “Will you go penguin-sledding with me?” showing off Aang’s playful side right at the start.

Appa’s friendly nature and relationship with Aang is established right off the bat: licking Aang, Aang’s gleeful “You’re okay!”

What’s sticking out to me most is Katara’s trusting nature vs Sokka’s cautiousness, at least when it comes to Aang. Katara’s in the right here, of course, but she won’t be about everyone. Jet comes to mind, as does Hama. Sokka and Katara balance each other out. I probably won’t be making such close note of that side of them--I feel it’s established by now, and I don’t want to take four hours to watch a 22 minute episode.

Sokka uses ‘feet’ as a measurement device. What’s the story behind that? Just a lack of worldbuilding, or is ‘feet’ an actual in-universe measurement? How big is it? Whose feet are they going off of?

Sokka is also practical: despite his reservations about Appa, he doesn’t refuse to get on and let it and Aang give him a lift. Although he’s clearly not happy about it. He also seems to be sarcastic when he’s in a bad mood. He is, after all, the Meat and Sarcasm Guy.

Holy shit, Iroh just straight up tells Zuko he won’t find the Avatar. I mean, I get that this is the first episode, and we have to establish history and stuff, but like--ouch. Definitely doesn’t fit with the ‘kind old mentor’ character so many see him as. It seems as if Iroh doesn’t have much of a character at this point, and he’s just being used as exposition. I’m of the opinion that Iroh’s character and development is one of AtLA’s weak points, and so are many of my friends, but I might be in a sort of echo chamber. Which is part of the reason I’m doing this rewatch. Also: He straight out says that Ozai, Azulon, and Sozin all went looking for the Avatar as well. You heard it here, folks! Ozai did leave the Fire Nation for at least one point in his life!

Zuko then goes on to say why he’s different: his honor hinges on the Avatar’s capture. He doesn’t outright say ‘banished’ here, though, which is...interesting. It implies almost that he could go home if he wanted to, he’d just go home in shame and he’s just really concerned about reputation. In context it makes sense, but it gives off almost the wrong impression about Zuko’s situation. Although I would make an argument as for Zuko’s shifting definition of honor, from external reputational ‘honor’ to internal moral ‘honor,’ over the course of the series, and therefore this line would give off exactly the right impression for his character at that point in time.

I forgot to mention that first hint of Kataang: “why are you smiling at me like that?” “I was smiling?” (At least, I think it’s a hint of Kataang. I’m aroace, I’m oblivious to these things.)

Aang says that he didn’t know the Avatar when Katara asks. It’s obviously a ruse, but perhaps it might be poetic, if you could argue that at this point Aang doesn��t know himself.

So far, Aang comes across as fun-loving, happy-go-lucky, and sweet. However, with context, that ruse also paints him as a little bit untrustworthy, a little bit avoidant of responsibility. Almost like he embodies the element of Air itself. However, he clearly feels apprehensive about it, from his expression after Katara turns away.

How far were Katara and Sokka from camp when they found Aang? How long does it take to reach the village, give that Aang wakes up there? Is Appa even going in the right direction at first?

The dream Aang has doesn’t give us a lot of information at first. It looks almost as if he’s been possessed (and technically, he kind of is possessed by the Avatar State) after falling prey to the storm. But it does give us a hint that he’s more than he seems, even after watching him emerge from the glowing ice ball.

Katara sees Aang’s tattoos and realizes something--but what? That he’s an Air Nomad? We’ve already established that he’s an airbender. Having to realize on top of that that he’s an Air Nomad implies that there were airbenders outside of the Nomads, and they were well-known enough for Katara to hear of them. However, Gran’s statement “No one has seen an airbender for a hundred years” implies that those airbenders may have been wiped out too.

I already said much on the topic of the SWT dying, but the sheer tininess of the population really drives it home. Also, there are a lot of very young children, although I’m guessing no one under the age of 2 here. What happened to produce so many children at that point in time, and almost none who are Katara or Sokka’s age?

In the shot of ‘the entire village,’ I counted 19 and a dog. Add Katara and Sokka, and that makes 21 and a dog. Katara and Sokka are the only teenagers there. Gran Gran is one of two older women there. There are seven non-elderly adults, all women. Ages of children are hard to guess due to lack of detail, but I count four older children (two boys, two girls) and six younger children (three boys, three girls). Ages are skewed younger for both children and adults. Was this deliberate, coincidental, or influenced by outside environmental factors? If there were other boys Sokka’s age, and they went with the adult men, then why was Sokka left behind? It doesn’t seem likely--there aren’t any girls Katara’s age either. How many men were on those boats? How many women joined them? Who’s missing from this picture?

I’m surprised Aang’s upbeat enough to banter with Sokka and show off his flying skills after Gran Gran said that she and the SWT, if not the world, thought that airbenders were extinct. Perhaps he’s just in denial. That would make sense for his character at this point in time, as does him crashing into the watchtower from not looking where he’s going.

The watchtower is Sokka’s, which implies that he built it. That means he’s planned out and finished a medium-to-long-term project already, one that was made in the interest of protecting the village, which is more than the ‘playing soldier’ Katara accused him of. He’s been working towards the goal that his father set him, which is to protect the village.

Katara says she’s not yet a waterbender, despite her ability. Does the label ‘waterbender’ only apply to those who have mastered the art? Hell, the way they talk about it, it’s almost as if anyone could learn to do it.

“I sense he’s filled with much wisdom.” Is he, Katara? Is he? Or do you just have a crush?

Iroh is hard on Zuko during the firebending training scene, with a callous demand to “get it right this time” after explaining the fire-from-breath philosophy. The sequence itself, despite Iroh’s claim that Zuko hasn’t moved past the basics, looks pretty advanced, pairing acrobatics with fighting against two opponents. Zuko also demonstrates a lot of raw power, firebending at one of his opponents and actually knocking them backwards. Zuko worries about the Avatar’s bending prowess and uses it to order Iroh to teach him the advanced set, though Iroh doesn’t look happy about it. He actively uses his roast duck to hold off on obeying that order, knowing it would annoy Zuko. Zuko looks almost disgusted when he pulls it out. (I agree--where has that been?)

Sokka gives his speech about courage and facing a firebender to six boys, all of whom look the same age, maybe three or four. While there are six male children in the ‘entire village’ shot, they don’t look all the same age in that shot like they do in this. What are their ages? Why are there so many young children and so few teenagers?

In the shot where they’re all walking away, they no longer look the same age. The oldest, however, I’d peg at about seven years old, still much younger than Sokka and Katara. The age distribution of this village is bugging me.

Aang’s comment “Everything freezes in there!” seems off to me. Yes, it’s made of snow, but that snow should still be insulating heat, no? Also, what is that pipe made of snowbrick? It looks well made, better than Sokka’s watchtower. Is it part of Sokka’s watchtower or something else? What is its purpose?

Aang hears about a war, worries, and then is immediately distracted by the penguin. Add distractable to the list of attributes for early-show Aang. It’s also a clear avoidance of the darker things in life.

Despite Katara calling herself ‘not really’ a waterbender before, she tells Aang during the penguin sequence that he’s looking at ‘the only waterbender in the whole South Pole.’ An odd contradiction. Also, we see little evidence that there are any other villages in the South Pole, and yet it seems implausible that Katara and Sokka’s is the only one, or even the only one left. Perhaps the Fire Nation has been slaughtering them one village at a time. But if so, then why would the men leave the women and children?

Aang is also helpful, kind, and optimistic, much like Katara. He offers to fly her across the world to the North Pole to help her find a master as soon as he hears that there’s no one who can teach her in the SWT. Although, as the Avatar, he may have had an ulterior motive there.

During the sledding scene: Katara: “I haven’t done this since I was a kid!” Aang: “You still are a kid!” It’s delivered in a fun setting, in a lighthearted manner, but here lies one of the biggest driving factors of AtLA: the cast are children. Children growing up too quickly in a world torn apart by war. Children taking on adult responsibilities because there aren’t enough adults. Fun gets left by the wayside in the face of fear and pain and responsibility. And Aang wants to bring back fun.

The penguins don’t seem too bothered from being used as sleds. Do they ever get back to their flock, I wonder?

“If you want to be a bender, you have to let go of fear,” Aang says. Granted, it’s in getting Katara to do something stupid, but how much of this philosophy is real? Air is about fun and spirituality; Water is about change and adaptation; Earth is about stability and strength; Fire is about passion and life. Fear gets in the way of all of this.

I’m picking apart every detail I notice. And yes, it’s taking me four hours to watch a 22 minute episode.

Everything about the beached ship is presented as dangerous, dark, and sinister. Even the ripped banner of the Fire Nation, with its black-on-red symbol, seems an omen of terrible things. It’s military, cold, cruel, and dangerous. Even if I like the Fire Nation, I can’t say I don’t like the atmosphere, and at this point in the series it’s perfectly understandable to paint the Fire Nation as this constant, background, oppressive threat.

Okay, so: the ship has ‘haunted [Katara’s] tribe since Gran Gran was a little girl.’ How old is that ship? Why didn’t that booby-trap thread decay? Was it because it was cold? Seriously, how is that booby trap still working? We see Hama help to beach it later in the series, which places Hama as older than Gran Gran by a bit--is Gran Gran younger than she looks, with the stress of the war and being matriarch prematurely aging her? If so, then how old is Hakoda or Kya or whichever Gran Gran’s child is? Is she actually Katara and Sokka’s biological grandmother? What does that mean for marriage customs and family culture in the SWT?

Also: did that flare bust through the roof? Was there supposed to be an opening there?

Zuko calling Aang ‘agile for his old age’ is hilarious. And then we get the first hint that Aang really is the Avatar, with Zuko straight up saying that he’s the Avatar. Of course, if you’re a first time watcher and don’t know anything, then you have no idea if he’s even correct (unless you look at the title). Calling the SWT his ‘hiding place’ does not bode well for the village, but we all know that.

And that’s the end of the first episode! Looks like it only took me three hours. In my defense, I was trying to take care of other things at the same time. Also, I would rather not have later analyses be this long, but at the same time I have a tendency to immediately write down Thoughts(TM) on every single detail that grabs my eye, so who knows.

[plush-rabbit]

I Want To Hear You Say It

Ch. 8: Did You Find What You Were Looking For?

Word Count: 6.8K

A/N: A fun filler chapter!! (I wanted to split the chapter, but it didn’t feel right so yall get a long one:))

Prev.

-

It’s quiet between the two men. It isn’t out of the ordinary, while they might be close- or as close as two villains can be- their conservations are usually short and limited to only certain subjects, neither of which any of the men want to approach. Shuichi doesn’t know when it started, he just knows that it has. Him and the other members have noticed the sudden change that Shigaraki has taken on lately. The secrecy- more so than usual- along with the sneaking out late at night and sneaking back in just before dawn. No one knows where he’s going and even if one did manage to follow him, they lost him just as easily, almost as if Shigaraki was making it all that much harder to track him and his location.

There’s different bets going around. Twice believes that he’s gone to underground concerts which host both villains and civilians alike- he’s sure Jin had mentioned that he went to a few to acquire some cheap alcohol. Toga believes that he’s gone out to try to find out where Kurogiri exactly is, and as far-fetched as that is, it’s not impossible. Dabi likes to believe that he’s gone to some internet café since the “internet sucks” here at the current base. He isn’t wrong, the little internet that they do get is from a coffee place opposite of where they rest for now. Mr. Compress and Magne don’t really want to get into it, commenting that as long as he isn’t leading anyone back, then it’s all okay. Shuichi on the other hand doesn’t know what to think. There’s something off about Shigaraki now. He isn’t sure what, but there just is. He’s constantly checking his phone, looking at the screen for far too long, and when someone gets close, he shuts his phone off.

Shuichi glances to where Shigaraki leans against the wall, his legs over the edge of the bed, and hands holding onto the controller, pinkies extended outward. “I’ve been meaning to ask you something,” Shuichi states, his hands gripping on the controller, his claw pressing carefully on the joystick. Tomura hums in response, his eyes glued to the screen before him, his character successfully stealing a car. Shuichi nervously clears his throat, a chill running through his body as he follows Shigaraki’s avatar through the city. “You’ve been out a lot these past nights.” In the corner of his eye, he sees the slightest still of him, his thumb hovering over a button before he presses on it. “We’re all-” he struggles to find a proper word for the feelings of unrest that have been growing inside the team- “wondering about where you’ve been.”

“Does it matter?” Tomura replies, his eyes now narrowed and the top of his lip curling upward. Shuichi’s gaze is fixated on him, and Tomura lets out a sigh. “I’ve just been meeting with someone. It’s nothing to worry about.”

It isn’t enough. He’s sure that he can press just a little more. Just enough for him to slip about something other than meeting someone for a meeting. His canine nips at the soft pink flesh inside of his mouth. “You aren’t usually so distant about these types of things,” Shuichi comments, his attention to the game half-hearted.

“What type of things?” There’s an edge to Shigaraki’s words and if Shuichi weren’t so curious, maybe he would have backed off.

“You know-” he shrugs his shoulders and his character moves away from the other’s avatar- “going out and meeting with potential recruits. You’d at least send one of us to do it. Like with Twice. Twice is good with people. He always makes sure he isn't being followed. Shouldn’t it be- I don’t know, Mister, or Dabi-” his avatar rummages through his inventory before pulling out a knife- “even me?”

He can be good for something other than pure missions where it involves needing someone to drive. When he spares a glance at his leader, he sees him deep in thought, his fingers resting over the buttons, and his character still. “It isn’t like that,” Shigaraki states with an unusual distaste in his words. “This is a special case. They’re a special case,” he corrects, “I don’t want them to be freaked out by outsiders.” For a moment, he and Shigaraki lock eyes in the reflection of the television. “They were freaked enough when it was just me.”

“No offense, but you aren’t exactly the most comforting person in the League. That would go to Magne or even Mister.” Shuichi tries to tease, hoping that the lighter mood would offer just another snippet of information.

“It took them a long time to trust me. Or at least to feel safe around me. I’m not risking it by introducing new characters to the mix.” Whatever or whoever it is that Shigaraki is hiding, he does a good job at it.

“Is it even safe?” Shuichi presses, his character just running around a building, not doing anything in particular. He doesn’t know what answer to expect. It must be safe if Shigaraki continues to visit him, but what if it isn’t. What if he’s being led to a false sense of security?

“Is what safe?” Shigaraki asks with an annoyed tone. It’s apparent that he doesn't want to have this talk, but Shuichi does. He needs to know what's going on. He’s here for Stain and as long the League will uphold that bit of ideology, then he’ll stay. It’s not as if he has anywhere else to go.

“Meeting them,” Shuichi says as if it is the most obvious thing in the world. He’s met with silence. “If you can’t trust them to meet us, then what makes you think they won’t sell you out?” It might be cruel, he isn’t entirely sure, but it’s the truth. If they were scared to meet Shigaraki, it’s only fear that is keeping them compliant and eventually that will run out.

“They won’t,” he responds with a serious tone. “I know them. I know who they are and where they are. They won’t do something like that.” His character stops moving and he can hear the controller creak under the hands of Shigaraki. “You don’t know them. I do. They won’t snitch.

Shuichi turns to him, his controller on his lap as he leans close to Shigaraki. He has to understand where he’s coming from. If the roles were reversed, he’d be acting the same. He’d be just as accusatory, if not more. “But-”

“I have to go.” Shigaraki places the controller down on the bed and moves away, the floorboards quietly creaking under him as he stands. “Log off for me, will ya? I need to go.”

The door closes and once again, Shuichi is left alone. Behind him, the screen shifts in color, and when he turns, Shigaraki’s character has been killed. Carefully, a scaled hand picks up the discarded controller only to place it down gently beside him. The menu pops up and the game is saved, the screen returning to normal after a second, the character now revived, and suddenly standing next to Shuichi’s character.

He isn’t sure what’s going on, but at least he knows that whoever it is that Shigaraki is visiting, is someone that he cares for. The screen goes black and Shuichi is left to stare at his reflection. The room is quiet and only lit by a flickering bulb that remains lit. There’s a knock on his door, and when he turns to face it, there are shadows between the space of the door and the floor. He scratches at his snout, his claws picking at dried skin and ripping it away. “Come in,” he says, leaning against the wall and watching as the remainder of the League walks into his room, letting the door close with a soft click of the lock coming into place.

Magne is the first to speak. “So? Did you find out anything useful? Are we getting a new recruit?”

“Or is he going to some concert?” Twice says, interrupting Magne with a hand on her shoulder. “Who’s right? Who wins the bet?”

With a simple roll of the eyes, Magne continues onwards. “Ignore the bet, what’s he doing?” She runs a hand through his hair and plays with the ends as they all stare at Shuichi with a waiting explanation.

He shrugs. It’s the honest answer that he can give. “I don’t know. I don’t think- Where he’s going to, it isn’t to meet with recruits. He seems almost-” he hesitates to find the correct word- “protective about them.”

“Who’s “them”?” Dabi asks, his gaze focused on the television that still buzzes with electricity.

Once again, he shrugs. “I don’t know. I tried as best as I could, but when I pushed, he shut down. And then he just said he had to go and left.” Shuichi glances at the television, frowning when it still remains just him in the reflection. “All I know is that they’re easily skittish, he doesn’t want us to meet them, and he’s defensive when it comes to him.”

The bed dips as Toga sits on it, her legs crossed and a pillow pulled to her lap. “Well, lucky for us, I managed to actually follow where he’s been going,” she says with a smug attitude, her grin wide and kittenish. All eyes are on her and she sits straight, her hands playing with the edge of the pillow case, wrapping a thread around her finger. “I had to take somebody’s blood but whatever. I doubt he suspected something because I saw him enter some apartment.”

“An apartment?” Mr. Compress asks, his head leaning to a side. “With tenants? Or was it abandoned?”

“Tenants. I saw people go in and out. You know, like civilians. So I guess, whoever he is meeting, it means we all lost the bet.” The attention is still on her, confusion written on everyone’s face and she sighs. “I’m sure of it. The woman I was disguised as was even greeted by someone who lives there.”

“When was this?” Dabi asks, his eyes on Toga. “Time wise,” he clarifies.

“Um, maybe around, two in the morning?” Toga shrugs and moves further onto the bed. “I didn’t check the time, but it was late.” her legs are out straight and Magne sits beside her.

Magne starts talking, her fingers tapping against her knees. “It’s a bit later than when he usually goes out but-”

“And you’re sure it was him?” Mr. Compress asks, taking a step closer to her, his eyes narrowed in confusion as he takes in the new information when Toga nods. “Do you remember where it was?” Once again, Toga nods, pulling out a piece of folded paper and handing it towards the man. The paper crinkles as he opens it and the two standing behind him, inch closer to read what it says. “Huh,” he breathes out. “Should we pay a visit?”

“A visit?” Shuichi hisses. “We don’t even know who they are. All we know is that they live-”

“You said it yourself,” Dabi interjects, his eyes grabbing at the paper and tucking into his pocket. “Whoever it is, is skittish. They’re scared. Which means that if that hand-covered bitch could force them into submission, then we can too.” Shuichi glowers at the man and Dabi sighs. “We aren’t gonna kill them or anything, we just want to see who it is. Aren’t you curious about who it is that lives there?” Shuichi’s silence is enough of an answer. Dabi grins, wide and devious, as if this is all some sort of game to him. “Exactly. We’ll visit when we know that Shigaraki can’t. Maybe an hour or two before his usual time and we’ll just scope out this new person.”

“When are we going? Tonight? Tomorrow?” Twice asks, glancing around as he moves past Mr. Compress to sit on the bed with the other three. “The sooner the better, right?” His shoulders slump and hands clench and he stares at the other slowly. “Or should we plan this to make sure there is no room for mistake,” his voice has shifted to something a bit deeper, a tad more serious than his excitement just moments ago. “If Shigaraki catches us,” his tone returns to a more enthusiastic nature, “he’d definitely be pissed.” There’s a pause and everyone glances at each other, before finally returning to Twice. “That’s totally a yes.”

-

It won't be the first or last time that you complain to yourself on why you chose to have a floor that wasn’t the first. It isn’t a long climb, but it's excruciating when you carry bags of groceries that are digging into the joints of your fingers. You’re stubborn and too tired to make more than one trip, and even if you weren’t, you usually carry tote bags to place the items in, but you must’ve forgotten it in your apartment before you left. All you really want to do is just sit down, but you can’t. At least, not until you’re inside.

You struggle between the bags to reach your keys, the bags knocking against each other as your hands try to inch for your keys that hang around your neck. The key is inserted shakily, twisting the key while your hand also twists farther than usual as you pull the key out. Your brows pinched as you quickly enter your apartment, letting the bags fall onto the floor, as you close the door with your hip.

You let out a heavy sigh, flexing your hands as you try to ease the pain that has gathered. When you kick your shoes off, you kick them to the side, sparing a glance to the couch, as you lower yourself to pick up the bags. As you do so, you hesitate. There’s something wrong. Something feels wrong to you- enough to make you uncomfortable and all too aware of how you can feel someone watching you. It starts off easy enough- how your scalp itches, how the clothes on your body doesn’t feel right and pricks too much against your skin, and the forced silence that is in your apartment. You quickly rise and turn, your hand going to grab at the doorknob, only to have the pointed end of a knife directed towards you.

Yellow eyes stare at you, a thin smile decorating a young girl’s face and all you can do is raise your hands in front of you, your eyes catching against a sea of colors as six people stand in front of your couch. How you missed them, you have no idea, but you’re sure that they only wanted to reveal themselves to you know.

“You should lock the door,” the girl says sweetly, twisting the knife. A gleam catches along the metal and you nod, slowly reaching behind you to put the lock into place, your breath caught in your throat. Your hand is clasped over the doorknob, the tips of your fingers teasing against the lock. The young girl’s eyes flitter to where you tease at the lock, and she shakes her head. “You shouldn’t do that. Come on, come sit.”

Behind her the others watch you, a slight shift in their weight as they analyze what you’re about to do. You wouldn’t be able to run even if you wanted to- you’d have to unlock the door, and turn around, while leaving your back exposed to people who are clearly criminals. You nod slowly, and the girl steps back allowing you to walk further in your apartment, all eyes on you as you sit down on the ouch, your knees pinched together as your legs shake. Your groceries are sitting precariously by the door, and you worry that the milk is going to leave the bag wet and sticking to the jug.

Your face burns, legs shaking and teeth clasped down on the inside of your cheeks as six menacing people stand in front of you. You can’t handle the silence, the stares and the uncertainty of whatever is going to happen. In your back pocket, your phone sticks out, a vibration against your backside the curiosity for that is another fatality for you.

“Why are you here?” Your voice is quiet, your eyes on the tip of black boots that have scuff marks over them and splatter of mud against them.

“Do you mind if we sit?” You look back up, a man in a white mask with organic black lines stares down at you- at least that’s what you assume he’s doing.

The collar of your shirt feels too tight, restricting every breath, every word, every small swallow of saliva in an attempt to do something that isn’t clawing against your forearms. You nod. “Yeah- I uh, yeah,” you stutter. “I don’t mind.”

“Relax, we aren’t here to hurt you.” A heavy hand is held out to you and you stare at it with distrust, the owner of the hand removing their white rimmed, triangular sunglasses. “You can call me Magne.”

“She’s like our sister!” The younger girl says cheerfully, wrapping her arm around Magne’s, leaning her head against the woman’s bicep. Her small falls into something flat, the enthusiasm in her voice gone. “So you shouldn’t disrespect her in any way.”

You nod quickly, leaning over and taking Magne’s hand in yours. “Hi, it’s um, it’s nice to meet you, Magne,” you say quickly, giving her a nervous smile.

“I’m Twice!” A man in a black suit stretches his hand outwards to you, the suit clinging to his skin and showing off his muscles, and you fear that he’s done much worse than a simple break-in like this. You nod slowly, reaching towards the warm hand, your arm given a curt handshake. “That’s Toga-” he points to the young girl who smiles at you, her arms now removed from Magne’s. You’re about to give another greeting when another speaks up. “That’s Mr. Compress-” he points to a man in a yellow coat who nods, and tips his hat towards you. “Spinner-” a green-scaled man narrows his eyes at you and you look away, staring at the last one to be introduced. “And that’s Dabi!” The man in black hair and purple colored scars- or maybe burns- nods at you, his face devoid of emotion.

You smile but when it’s unreturned, you give a weak cough and look away from him and try to find comforting eyes that you can stare at, but none of them are comforting to you. You settle back at Dabi, giving him a small smile. Twice has yet to let go of your hand and you don’t want to risk anything by pulling away too soon. “I’m- my name is-”

“We know what your name is,” Dabi says with an attitude, the first sign of emotion that you’ve gotten from one of the people who have broken into your home. That thought leaves you feeling unsettled. It’s usually Tomura who does that and yet, he is nowhere to be found.

“Okay,” you say with a crack in your voice, nodding and looking back at your hand that is still extended outwards.

“Don’t be mean, Dabi,” Toga says with a pout, smacking the side of his arm as she huffs and crosses her arms. “Now they won’t trust us.”

There’s a tap against the back of your hand when you stare back at Twice, his shoulders are squared. “And you already know our Leader Shigaraki, right?” His voice has changed tone into something more serious and with the accusation, your nervous smile fades away, and when you stare back, his hand is now squeezing down on yours.

The whites of his mask make it difficult to look him in the eye. It makes it difficult to feel safe. Magne had told you that they wouldn’t hurt you but even if she is the resident big sister, it seems as if Twice doesn’t follow her loosely based rule. His hand is squeezing yours, and you wince, and your lungs that were deprived of air are suddenly filled once again when you take in a sharp inhale.

“They won’t talk if you break their hand, twice.” Your head is bent and you are unable to see who it is that is talking to him. The steps are heavy against the floors and you’re trying to pull your hand away, when a rough one covers yours. You look up to meet the eyes of Spinner, yours are filled with tears and his with something that you can’t quite make out. Your hand is let go, and you scramble to sit further against the couch, your legs bent to your chest as they all watch you. Spinner’s attention is redirected at Twice. “I told you the information I had on them, including how weirdly protective Shigaraki is with them.

You cradle your hand and then Dabi speaks. “You mind calling him? We all kind of want to see the look on his face when he comes in and sees that we found out about his little secret.” It’s then that emotion finally spills out, his lips stretching into a smug grin as he slouches over your couch, his leg bent over the other as he stares at you, nodding for you to pull out your phone.

You’re glad that you never installed a password for your phone, you’re sure that with your current anxiety skyrocketing, you’d be unable to put in the correct pin. Dabi steps towards you and watches over your shoulder as you struggle to go to your contact list, and he’s right there at the very top under the “A”. You tap the phone button and place him on speaker, the ringing going off immediately.

“Alleyway?” Dabi asks, leaning close to you, and you stiffen, the scent of alcohol and smoke a bit too strong for you. “Who the fuck is- Why is he put under “alleyway”?” There’s a hint of amusement laced into his words, but you aren’t in the right headspace to make any quippy comment.

“It’s um-” you clear your throat and give him a forced smile- “It’s an inside joke.” You sniffle and the tip of your nose with the side of your hand as you hear the call ring. You desperately hope that he’ll pick up. He promised that he would. Or at least, he insinuated that when you needed him, he’ll come for you. Maybe you held too much trust in him. You frown. You held too much trust in a mass murderer. You suck in your bottom lip and press the top of your teeth down against the soft flesh. Surely, there must be something wrong with you for you to even hold any amount of trust in a man like that, but to be fair, he did… do something to the man who assaulted you, and that was sweet of him. Sort of.

You hear the phone click and you look down, the timer starting as his voice is echoed into the room, everyone leaning closer to you to hear what he has to say. “What’s wrong?” A smile slowly curves your lips, and you look away, your hand covering your ever growing smile. He’s worried for you. Granted you don’t call him, so he must be worried or at least surprised by this. “Are you okay?”

You look at Dabi who gives you a curt nod and you take a shaky inhale. “I- So, um, you’re friends are here.” There’s a pause. “At my place,” you add, wanting to clarify.

“You were supposed to tell him to come over,” Twice whines, slumping in his seat with arms crossed. His tone shifts and you hold the phone tight in your hands. “Didn’t Dabi tell you he wanted to see his reaction?”

“I thought the nod was to tell him,” you retort in a high-pitched voice, your face aflame. “I didn’t know I was supposed to just tell him to come over. He would have come over on his own. There wasn’t any reason to call him!” By the end the volume of your voice has risen, your lungs devoid of air as you try to push your statements out.

“They’re there now?” He asks and you let out a sigh, dipping your head forward and nodding, mumbling a soft yes, when you realize that he can’t see you nodding.

“No dipshit, we’re here tomorrow,” Dabi says, humor heavy in his voice as his clasps around your shoulder and his other hand covers yours, bringing your phone close to his lips. “What the fuck do you think?”

“Can we not curse? We’re probably giving Shigaraki’s poor partner a heart attack as we speak,” Mr. Compress comments.

“We just broke into their apartment,” Toga says with a disbelief, and when you look up, he’s rolling her eyes at Mr. Compress’s stare- or at least what you assume, given his mask is still on but pointed in her direction. “I’m pretty sure if that didn’t kill ‘em, then cursing won’t do it either.”

“This was a horrible idea,” Spinner comments, running a clawed hand through his hair.

“I’m going over right now,” Tomura comments. “Just wait for me there, okay? I’ll see you as soon as I can.” Immediately after, he hangs up, and without saying goodbye, your phone blinks the time of the call to you, and you’re left alone in a room full of notorious villains who aren’t fond of you.

It’s silent for a moment, the little debate now put to rest and your phone is still in your hand, Dabi having let go of you after Tomura hanged up. You can still feel the burning sensation that he left, the roughness of his hand that is different compared to Tomura’s. It’s uncomfortable and you’re left shaking your leg, your phone fading to black.

“Hey,” when you look up, Toga is snapping her fingers to get your attention and you nod. “Do you have anything to drink here? I’m kind of thirsty.”

You’re bewildered for a second staring at her with wide eyes as if she hadn’t just had a knife pointed towards you. You nod. “Yeah, I think I have some water and ginger ale. I think I also have lemonade,” you say, pointing to where the kitchen is. “Do you want me to go get it for you?”

“Yes, please,” she chirps, smiling sweetly at you and pulling the sleeves of her sweater further down. “Just bring me whatever, I’m not that picky.”

“Yeah, okay.” You rise to stand and when you take a step towards the kitchen. You point to the empty space between each member, your smile still tense but more polite than before. “Uh, do you guys want anything to drink? I might have some mango and peach drinks too.”

“Oh wait! I change my answer! Can I have a mango drink?” Toga asks, leaning towards you, her smile eager.

“I’ll have a mango too,” Spinner adds, raising his hand and lowering it when you nod.

“Ginger ale for me!” Twice comments.

“A peach for me,” Magne adds.

“I’ll take water,” Dabi says, spreading his arms against the back of the couch.

“I’ll go along with you to help,” Mr. Compress adds, standing up and walking beside you, hooking his arm with yours. “I’ll choose when we get there. Just lead the way, dear.”

You walk before pausing and rushing to the door. “Wait, wait!” You call, grabbing your grocery bags. “Let me go put these away before anything spoils,” you say, dashing to the kitchen with Mr. Compress behind you.

In the kitchen, you begin to assort things where they belong, frowning when some bags are wet and uncomfortable, and you toss them to the sink. The man in the mask has taken it upon himself to aid you in placing things away, organizing your fridge to make sure that it all fits neatly. Once done, Mr. Compress leans down to look through your fridge, his arms reaching inside and pulling out a drink one by one, letting them rest on the floor where you immediately grab them.

“I think I might have a bottle of Qoo somewhere in there. I’m not entirely sure,” you drift, your hands slowly growing cold the longer you hold onto the drinks. “You’re to take it. I think it’s apple flavored.”

He rises with his drink in hand. The Qoo and you nod at his choice. “Has it been in here long?” He asks, spinning the bottle around to check for an expiration date. You shrug in response and he grabs his mask, pulling it away from his face to reveal his face still hidden but now with a balaclava. The white mask flashes and in its place is a small marble that is put inside his pocket. “I suppose it can’t be bad to drink something like this then.” You nod, turning around, before he stops. “Ah, before we go back, is it okay to ask you a question? Once again, you nod, placing the drinks down on the counter. “What is your relationship with Shigaraki?”

Even you still don’t know the answer. You’ve already admitted that it’s easier to be with him than to deny him. It’s safer that way, but you still can’t help but smile when he actively cares for you. “We’re together,” you conclude, knowing that even if it were vague, it still answered his question. “You know, as a couple.”

“Willing?” He adds, twisting the cap off of his drink, bringing it close to his lips. You narrow your eyes at him. “Forgive me, but while Shigaraki isn’t ugly, he’s still a villain. He has his faults as we all do, but as a close comrade, I have to ask, why is it that you chose to date him?” You swallow and turn away from him, your hands chilled and slightly wet as you cross your arms. “This remains between us, but I’m not against the others getting involved. It may not seem like it, but we’ve all stuck together for a reason.”

You let out a humorless chuckle. “Is that a threat?” You stare at him, your stomach twisting into knots.

“It’s just a word of advice,” he replies, the drink in his hand as he slowly clasps it back. The mascot stares at you with a wide grin and you regret allowing him to take the last of your Qoo- even if it was forgotten in the back of your fridge.

“He liked me first.” You bite the inside of your cheek, trying to push yourself to stay focused and not tear up in front of a man you don’t know. “He’s persuasive in all sorts of ways. I just found it easier to be with him rather than be scared of him.” You shrug, gathering the drinks back into your arms. “He’s nice to me. He’s done me a huge favor and even if I don’t agree with his- er- line of work, I’m not going to report him or anything. He hasn’t exactly given me an out with this relationship, but he hasn’t been forceful with me or anything. Maybe a bit scary, but he’s been okay.” With a free hand, you scratch at your neck and tilt your head, frowning. “It’s just a weird mix of easy and difficult with him.”

“So you were forced into the relationship,” he concludes and you shrug.

“I uh- I found him injured one night and I fixed him up the best I could.” You finally choose to look at the man before you, your stomach churning so quickly, you’re afraid that you really are tasting acid on your tongue. “The next night he came back and he was- I guess, for lack of a better word, obsessed with me?” It sounds so conceited, but it’s the truth. You break away from his gaze and take a step back, already wanting to return to the living room, the drinks leaving you freezing. “He was sweet, but you know, forceful with the idea that we were together. I don’t mind it- now at least- I was scared in the beginning, but it’s nice just knowing he will be there for me.”

Mr. Compress nods his head slowly, reaching over to grab a few drinks in his hands. “I suppose that’s a good enough answer.” He walks ahead of you, standing by the door frame when he looks back. “Come on, let’s go back.”

Back in the living room, the drinks are handed to each respective person, your hands cold as you sit above them, cushioned between your thighs and the couch. You keep your gaze on Mr. Compress who smiles gently at you before thanking you for the drink. You turn away when you hear rapid knocking at your door, the handle twisting, trying to break against the lock.

You know that it’s him. It has to be him. And despite any ill feelings that you had towards him before, you want him to be here. You rise up, dashing to the door and unlocking it, greeted by Tomura who looks at you briefly, before staring behind you where his friends sit. He pushes past you, closing the door behind him and removing his hood, his hair ruffles and strands misplaced as he pushes you behind him.

“What the fuck are you all doing here?” Tomura asks, holding your hand in his. You look down, the glove covering his hand and his fingertips seem softer somehow. You look back up, your eyes meeting with Mr. Compress and you look back down, taking a step closer to him, your hand rising to clutch the back of his sweatshirt in your grip.

“We’re drinking, what does it look like?” Dabi resorts, taking a sip of his water as if to prove his point.

Tomura turns to you and you hold his hand in both of yours, looking away from him. “Did they hurt you?” You snort and shake your head. “Don’t lie to me.” His hand pulls away from your grasp, leaving your hands intertwined with each other. He holds your face, lifting it upwards to face him. “Are you sure you’re okay?”

A part of you wonders what he’d do if you say no. They didn’t try to hurt you- except for the hand crushing- but you rather not get on any of their bad sides. You smile delicately at him, nodding your head and stepping closer to him, letting your forehead press against his chest, before you pull away to look at him. “Yeah, I’m good. You know me, I get spooked easily.” You pull away from him and grab his hand, pulling him toward the couch. “Come on, let’s sit. Do you want something to drink? I have ginger ale,” you say, with a lilt at the end and he nods. His hand curves against the back of your head and he pulls you close, his head leaning down and you think he’s going to kiss you, but he lets go before he can and walks to the kitchen.

“He took that a lot better than I thought,” Magne comments, holding her drink in her hand. “You think he’s going to explode later?”

“Obviously,” Dabi answers, placing his bottle on the floor. “Yo! Shigaraki! Bring me another water!” Dabi shouts, his hand cupping the side of his mouth.

Your eyes widen and you wave your hands, shushing him. “You have to be quiet!” You whisper yell, as if you all hadn't talked in your regular voices before. “I have neighbors! What if they hear you?”

He gives you a wide grin and shakes his head. “It’s a name. I’m sure there are more people with his last name-” he jerks his head at Tomura who walks back to the living room, tossing the water beside Dabi. “Anyways, just tell them you’re in some play or whatever-” he twists the cap off and before taking a sip, he looks at you with a lazy smile- “people are a lot more willing to believe something like that.”

Tomura sits beside you, his legs spread, his knee knocking against yours, and you lean close to him, frowning at Dabi. “It’s still risky,” you say with a pout, gripping the end of your shirt.

“Hey!” Toga says, standing up, her drink empty as she tosses it at Dabi. She ignores his yelp and pointed glare. “If you’re dating Tomura-” she points her fingers between the two of you- “then that means that we’re friends!” She looks at you with a wide grin and you nod. It would feel rather rude if you denied the poor girl of friendship- villain or not, confrontation and denying is something that is not your strongest trait. “Really? Does that mean I get to use your bath?”

Your eyes widen, in both worry of that being her first request and fear of that being her first request. “Yeah, of course. Do you want me to-”

“No, it’s okay,” she smiles and walks away from the living room. “It’s in an apartment, I think I can find it easily enough. Anyways, I’ll probably snoop around, so see you in a bit!” She says, before moving away to go and open doors.

It’s silent for a beat before Spinner pops up. “Do you have wi-fi?” You nod. “Mind if I have the password?”

“Yeah, sure, no problem.” You grab your phone and scroll through your notes app, finding the name of the router and password, and you pass it to him, watching as he pulls out his phone to copy the numbers. Magne leans beside him, pulling out her phone and connecting to the wi-fi, her finger tapping against the screen to make sure it doesn’t dim.

“I’m going to turn on the television!” Twice comments, standing up to grab the remote. When he sits back down, he moves to sit beside Dabi.

“Don’t put anything dumb,” Dabi comments, making himself comfortabel on the couch, his hands going to grab at a throw pillow and brining it to his lap. “And nothing too loud, I’m starting to get a headache.”

“I have some pain medication.” You turn your attention to Dabi. “Do you want me to go get you some?” He spares you a glance, and when he returns his attention to the television that is flipping from channel to channel, he nods.

“I’ll go get it, dear. Where is it?” Mr. Compress says, standing up from the couch.

“Oh okay,” you chirp, leaning back towards Tomura. “It’s in the kitchen. The first drawer by the fridge.”

You turn to Tomura, grabbing his hand in yours. “I didn’t expect to meet them so soon,” you say in a whisper, turning yourself until you’re facing him. “I have to admit, I was really scared.”

He knocks his head lightly against yours and squeezes your hand. “I wish they hadn’t found out where you live, but I guess that can’t be helped now.” He glances at you and returns his attention to the bottle in hand. “Do you know how they found you?” You shake your head and he sighs. “I’ll be here next time.”

While you hadn’t realized just how alarming it is they found you, you can’t help but latch onto the last statement of his. Your head tilts and you look at him with knitted brows. “Next time?”

“Next time they’re here,” he clarifies. “I’ll make sure I come before them.” You nod slowly and he takes another sip of his drink. With your free hand you grab the drink, your hand curving around his and he watches as you pull the drink toward you, taking a sip from it. The apple in his throat bobs and he stares at the television that plays the news before changing to some sci-fi movie. “Whenever you want us to leave, you just say the word, okay?”

You watch the alien hatch from its egg, the membrane sticking to its skin as it opens its mouth. The whole scenario feels surreal. The group of people who threatened you now sit at your home, drinking your drinks, using your bath, taking your pills, and watching your television. And here you are, holding hands with the ringleader, acting as if you two are in a happy relationship that was mutual and not one that was forced upon you. You turn to him and with worry written over your face, he frowns. “Can we talk about something sometime soon?” Your heart falls when you see his face consumed with fear, his eyes scanning over your face, looking for a hint of what you want to talk about. You smile and pull your hand away from him, letting it rest over his thigh. “It’s nothing bad, I promise. Just a-” you struggle to find the proper words that doesn't make this relationship sound like some bad experiment- “an overlook of the relationship. Nothing bad, I promise.” With a smile at the end of your words, he remains silent, nodding his head and turning to watch the television.

taglist:

@chai-tea-bagels @tirzamisu @ikatella

[cipheress-to-k-pop]

Hi hi! I was wondering if you could do a dick Grayson x Avatar like fem reader with either a jealous Babs or Zatanna I hope that made sense🥲

True Love’s Kiss

Pairing: Dick Grayson as Nightwing x Reader

Warnings: I don’t think so

Word Count: 4.1K

@writing2sirvive : Hi love, me again but with a request this time. If you have time of course. I was thinking true love’s kiss with Dick Grayson. You can go crazy with it because I know you love Dick Grayson as much as I do. Btw I love your writing so much.

A/N: I think I did it wrong...cuz even though this is a Dick Grayson x reader fic, it’s mostly centred around reader and Zatanna???? Sorry about that???

You were fine with knowing that Dick was still friends with most of his exes. You completely accepted that he was able to keep functional relationships with most of them. In fact, it showed you how amicable and neutral Dick was and how he never held any grudges against people.

Of course, you were surprised by the sheer number. And the fact that he seems to interact with them practically every day. But eventually you managed not to let yourself get too bothered by it.

I mean, how could you? Barbara was the smartest, funniest, most approachable person you had ever met. She always made sure not to overstep her boundaries and was unusually open with you, given that Dick was her ex-boyfriend.

Raquel was adventurous and fun and you always had a good time when you were around her. She was another one who was respectful of your relationship. She never brought up her past flings with Dick, nor did she ever try and put you down. In fact, she was one of the people who really shipped the two of you.

You liked most of his exes. To the point where it made Dick kind of uncomfortable.

You liked most of his exes.

Ever since you had joined the team, being introduced as Nightwing’s significant other, Zatanna had been a constant thorn in your side. She was nice and sweet but there was something about her that rubbed you the wrong way. You could tell almost immediately that she wasn’t quite over her relationship with Dick. Short as it was.

Or maybe she was just the type of person who didn’t want someone, but didn’t want others to have the same person either.

Nonetheless, being around her put you constantly on edge. You lost count of how many times she redirected a conversation to be about her previous relationship with your boyfriend. ‘Oh, Dick took you to a fancy restaurant for your birthday? Well, I remember back when we were dating, he threw a huge party for me on mine.’

‘Oh, you celebrated your one-year anniversary with Dick in Paris? Well during our 3-month-aversary he bought me an expensive necklace.’

It didn’t bother you in the slightest. At least, not in the way that she hoped. It didn’t make you insecure or doubt or feel intimidated by her. It was just an annoyance that you couldn’t shake off, like the teacher you didn’t like or your annoying neighbour.

Unfortunately, Zatanna couldn’t take a hint that it made you and your friends (Barbara and Raquel included) uncomfortable and slightly irritated. Yet, everyone was just waiting for you to express the slightest distaste, not wanting to step on your toes. However, they were quick to change the topic in case they thought she was going too far.

Dick had been blissfully unaware of everything and you wanted to keep it that way. The last thing you needed was this turning into some sort of issue, especially since Zatanna was still his teammate.

However today you had enough.

You could look past Zatanna’s petty jealousy but allowing the jealousy to come to the forefront during a mission was where you drew the line.

Dick, M’Gann and Conner had been on a covert mission for Batman and out of the country and under team vote decided that you should be made in charge until he returned, since you were the only other older member (other than Zatanna but you were voted leader unanimously. Something you were extremely proud about). That was well and good, until you had been given a mission.

Regardless of how much you did not want to work with Zatanna without the others there to wrangle her, you had to put your personal feelings aside when you had a mission to complete.

You thought you could both be professionals about it and act like mature adults.

You were dead wrong.

If it wasn’t disagreements, it was insubordination. If it wasn’t insubordination, it was blatant arrogance. She questioned your judgment in front of the other members and even had the nerve to argue with you about mission strategies. You were trying to look out for everyone and put yourself in the line of fire since the squad members were better at stealth.

Zatanna seemed to think you were trying to steal the show and insisted that she be partnered with you even though you wanted someone with the younger members to keep them safe.

When you relented and agreed to go stealth, she accused you of ducking out and intentionally trying to put her in danger. The others had to watch as steam practically came out of your ears when you relented once again and decided you’d be with her because you honestly couldn’t argue with her much longer.

As if that wasn’t infuriating enough.

The straw that broke the camel’s back was when she refused to work as a team, putting the mission at risk and nearly getting the both of you hurt. She was fighting on her own, not bothering to have your back and going into it alone. Obviously, the two of you were overpowered quickly once they realized that you were pretty much behaving solo.

Luckily, the others pulled through and got you both out of there before anything horrible happened.

You sat in the ship, jaw clenched so tightly that they swore they could hear your teeth cracking, fists nearly white as you tried to control your anger and keep yourself from screaming at her while you were still in the air.

Once the ship landed in the docking bay and Zatanna was the first one to leave without saying another word, you snapped.

“What the hell did you think you were doing today!” You growled out, fisting her collar and stopping her in her tracks.

“What are you talking about?” She feigned innocence and you felt your skin burning. Everything around you faded out and all you could feel was fury. In hindsight, you would have liked to handle this issue in a more refined manner, but you honestly couldn’t care.

So, you didn’t notice the rest of the team, along with the a few members of the Justice League watching you chew Zatanna out.

Whatever would keep you from lighting her on fire was enough.

“I’m talking about putting the mission, not to mention ourselves in jeopardy, all because you can’t stop acting like a spoilt brat!” You hissed.

She rolled her eyes and you and the thought of strangling her briefly crossed your mind before she shoved your hands off her, dusting herself off like your fingerprints were dirt, “You need to stop blaming others for your inadequacy.”

She turned on her heel sharply and walked away. Blood pounded through your ears and your fingers twitched by their sides before you formed a whip of water from the bay and lashed it against her feet.

Zatanna, caught off guard, was thrown across the room before she caught herself with a muttered spell and turned around, glaring at you furiously.

“We’re going to settle things, right here, right now!”

“If you would stop being so insecure, then we could sort out our differences like mature adults!” She screamed back at you and before you could control it, flames erupted from beneath your feet and raced towards her, scorching the ground beneath it.

Each puff of breath you took released sparks. Zatanna immediately got into an offensive stance, levitating one of the weapons crates and chucking at you. You blocked it effortlessly using a wall of earth before throwing an inferno at her.

You kept fighting, flames and splashes of water going into the air every time you collided. The others watched in fear as you both raced towards each other, it looked like neither of you were holding back.

Before you could strike her again, you were being pulled away by Superman and as Zatanna was by Batman, they both pulled you yards apart. Even with his strong, authoritative grip on you, you couldn’t stop thrashing in his arms, throwing gusts of air at her.

“(Y/N). Enough.” Superman spoke in your ear and you calmed down, relaxing in his grip. He let you go after and you winced, feeling your skin bruise where he grabbed you. He gave you an apologetic glance at that.

“You both have to put your differences aside and work as a team or you won’t be allowed to go on any more missions.” Batman told you, voice firm but it didn’t shake you.

“No, Zatanna is going to have to put her issues with me aside and learn that when I have been elected as leader of the squad then you are supposed to put your petty jealousy aside and know your place.” You spat.

“You weren’t right for the position!”

“I did everything right! And if it hadn’t been for you, we wouldn’t have been under open fire tonight!”

“You’re not the boss of me!”

“When I am the leader of the squadron then I am! And you’re meant to listen and not question my judgement because you’re being blinded by your pathetic jealously!”

“I’m not jealous of you!”

“Oh, please! That’s the biggest load of crap I’ve heard from you and it was all proved today! Admit it! You were immature and fucking stupid because you can’t get over that fact that you dated Dick for what? 3 months?”

“That’s because he’s supposed to be with me!” 

“LIKE HELL HE IS!” You roared.

Batman felt a little helpless watching the two of you scream at each other. All this fighting? Over a boy? His son, no less? He had other sons and you were free to have your pick. But at this point, he wasn’t even sure what to say.

“You just can’t seem to accept the fact that he doesn’t love you anymore! Get over it! Because he certainly has!” You shouted, spinning on your heel and stomping away from her, determined to have the last word. Superman sighed in relief. He thought another fight would break out.

“You’re just insecure because you know that if he had the chance, he would come crawling back to me!”

A chill went done your spine and you felt cold fury run through your veins, turning around to glare at her murderously and clenching your hands tightly. You were so angry your feet were rooted to the floor, body seizing up slightly.

The others looked anxiously between the two of you as you glared at each other for a minute before you spoke with the calmest, yet most terrifying voice they’ve ever heard from you.

“Zatanna, you can try your damn hardest to win him back. But I promise you, you’re never going to get what you want.” You told her darkly, before walking away.

As Zatanna glared at your receding figure she decided she was going to prove you wrong.

***

To keep you from fighting with Zatanna again, when Batman came to you with a solo mission you couldn’t agree fast enough. Even though you knew you’d miss Dick’s homecoming, you still wanted to get the hell away from here. Not like you’d be missing anything important, other than Zatanna fawning over him.

You’d get to tell him how much you missed him in private anyway.

As soon as you were out of the cave, you couldn’t help the relief that filled your bones. You had been so on edge the past few days, still furious with her so the distance between the two of you was appreciated.

When Dick got home, he was ecstatic to see you again. It had been nearly 3 weeks since he had last held you and his skin was practically buzzing with excitement when he reached a cave, desperate to hug you, kiss you, touch you.

He got to the mess hall quickly, running all the way there and when he opened the door, he was instantly disappointed. You weren’t there.

“Where’s (Y/N)?” He asked Beast Boy, hoping he would tell him that you were just back at your apartment or that you had gone out for a while and would be back soon but he felt his heart sink when Gar gave him a sympathetic smile.

“She’s on a mission for a week.”

“A mission? Who’s with her?”

��No one. It’s a solo mission.”

Now he was worried. You usually didn’t take solo missions, liking to work in a team, knowing that there would be people who would be watching your back was reassuring. He knew you were more than skilled to handle a solo mission but not being by your side made him nervous and slightly antsy.

He was also upset that you weren’t here. So, he decided to do the most adult thing. Go home and sulk in bed while holding your sweatshirt that smelt like you.

But apparently the world had something against him because when he was about to go through the Zeta tube he was intercepted. By non other than Zatanna.

Now, poor clueless Dick had no idea that you had thrown hands with Zatanna just a day ago and was the reason why you weren’t there to welcome him when he got back. If he had he would’ve sulked at her and whined loudly for her to hear while he dragged his feet.

But, poor clueless Dick had absolutely no idea Zatanna was the reason he was being deprived of your kisses. So, he just smiled brightly at her and asked her if she needed anything.

“As a matter of fact, I found an old spell and I need someone to test it out on!”

“I don’t know how I feel about being your non-scientific experiment, Z.”

“Come on, it’s totally harmless, I promise.”

“I don’t know...”

“Don’t you trust me?”

He did. But there was just something about this situation that made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was because he missed you like crazy and just wanted to go home and sulk until you came back. Maybe it was because he felt uncomfortable to go somewhere private with his ex-girlfriend without telling you first. Or maybe it was because of the way Zatanna felt the need to guilt him into it.

Nevertheless, he agreed, albeit reluctantly and went to her room. Inside Zatanna had a bunch of ruins written on a paper and some weird poultices beside it.

“Now this isn’t going to work unless you give me your consent.” She informed, bustling about the room and Dick suddenly felt the air was a little stuffy.

“What do you mean by consent? Consent for what?”

“It’s a love spell.” She told him, smiling slyly but he couldn’t quite understand why. His hands got a little clammy at the announcement. What did she mean by love spell? Was she trying to get him to fall in love with her? Why would she be so open about it then? Especially when she knew he was in love with someone else?

“What do you mean?”

“Oh relax, stop being so tense. It’s just a love spell that proves who you truly love.” She said, immediately noticing how stiff his body was. Though she chalked it up to confusion. Dick was simply confused about who he loved, he was clouded by his attraction to you and he felt guilty about being unfaithful. But deep down, he really loved her. And this spell would prove it.

“In the olden ages, people would use it on their wedding to prove that their significant other truly loved them.”

He nodded, mouth falling open with realization. He already knew what the answer would be so why even bother? He assumed it was because Zatanna was curious to whether it actually worked.

“Too bad (Y/N) isn’t here, I mean I know who I love but I’d like to try it out on her. I mean, who takes a mission the day before their boyfriend comes back to town.” He complained, more to himself but Zatanna still heard it.

“Anyway, can I cast it on you?”

“Sure, couldn’t hurt.”

Oh, how he’d come to know just how wrong he was.

***

You raced through the halls, panicked, hearing your heart beat out of your chest as you sprinted to the Med Bay. Even though you were running as quick as possible you still pumped your legs to run faster, needing to get there quickly.

As soon as you saw Zatanna outside the Med Bay, you skidded to a stop in front of her and grabbing her collar, pinning her against the wall. She hit it with a thud and she saw white for a second when her head collided with the hard surface.

It was then you got a good look at her face. Her eyes were red and face wet. Her lips were bitten until they bled. You gritted your teeth, grip tightening around the collar as tears pricked your eyes.

“What the hell did you do!”

She whimpered, eyes getting glossy again before she started crying, incomprehensible words leaving her lips and you snarled before shaking her again, “You don’t get to cry! What the hell did you do to him!”

“It was a love spell!” She cried out, “It was supposed to reveal who he truly loves.”

“AND?!”

“It’s activated by a kiss.” She sniffled, “And I did.”

“Is it done?” Dick asked just as she finished casting the spell. His body was enveloped by a slight glow that was only visible to her and Zatanna’s lips curled when she realized it had worked. Now there was only one thing left to do.

“Yep.” She said, slinking over to his side and he pouted curiously.

“Are you sure? I don’t feel any different. You said it was supposed to reveal who I love. What happened?”

“We’re gonna find that out. Hold still.” She said, smiling and wrapping her arms around his neck to press a kiss to his lips. Dick froze, feeling her lips move against his and his mind went blank for a second before his chest contracted painfully.

He gasped against her mouth, before his legs buckled and he tumbled to the ground. Zatanna’s eyes widened when she saw the way his body twitched, pained gasps leaving his mouth and tears began falling from his eyes.

“Are you okay?!” She panicked, wrapping her arms around his thrashing figure but he couldn’t choke out an answer.

“Someone help! Anyone! Please!”

“A kiss doesn’t put people through cardiac arrest!” You screamed, feeling your chest tighten as you heard it out loud for the first time. Your eyes began burning and your throat contracted, feeling tears build. It was the first time you had admitted it to yourself.

You were scared. Emotions that you could barely process or understand swirled around you in a dark cloud and you were scared that Dick wouldn’t make it out of his critical state. If he was taken away from you because you hadn’t been there to stop it, you would never forgive yourself.

“I’m sorry.” She whimpered, sobbing and her body went limp in your fists. The urge to rip her head off her shoulders resurfaced. She didn’t get to be upset, not when this was all her fault.

“I don’t give a shit.” You hissed, “How do we save him?”

“A true love’s kiss should stop all the side effects.” She whispered, looking up at you with wide eyes, “If Dick truly loves you, then when you kiss him, it’ll reverse the spell.”

You needed to get in there.

You released your hold and Zatanna and she slid to the floor pathetically, holding her body as she cried. But even with her heartbroken sobs, you couldn’t feel any sort of remorse to her, glaring at her instead, “You better hope this works. Or I’ll kill you myself.”

And then you rushed in.

When you got to Dick’s side your breath stuttered when you noticed just how many things he was connected to and you felt your body shake. Batman was carefully watching him from his bedside.

You carefully walked to his side, gently brushing your fingers against his cheekbone. He looked like he was in so much pain. He looked so weak. You wanted to help him but a part of you was scared. For the first time in your life, you doubted Dick’s feelings for you.

The time you needed his love and devotion to be true the most, you were doubtful. A million thoughts rushed through your head and for a second you were tempted to just avoid doing this at all. But you knew that you had to at least try.

So, with trembling hands, you held the ventilator fastened to his mouth, taking a deep breath before tugging it off. Batman, already knowing what you were about to do, let you pull it off him before pressing a fluttering kiss to his lips. Tears gathered underneath your lashes when you didn’t feel anything happen.

Just when you were about to pull away, Dick took a deep breath through his nose and panted against your mouth, kissing you more firmly. You couldn’t help the sob that bubbled out of your throat and he swallowed it without any qualms.

Even through bleary vision, you were able to make out his blue eyes and the small smile on his face. 

His hands came up to weakly cup for cheeks, gently wiping away the tears with his thumbs, “I missed you.”

You sniffled, letting more tears fall because you knew he’d be here to wipe them away, “I missed you too.”

***

Bonus:

You walked into the mess hall quietly. Dick had just fallen asleep in the Med Bay where he would be kept for a couple days under observation. It was past 1 in the night and you wanted nothing more than to crawl into bed but you had some unfinished business left to handle.

It was dark and it was hard to make out your surroundings until your eyes adjusted to the darkness. As you walked to the kitchen island, your eyes landed on the sorceress that had her head in her arms and wondered if she was asleep. Batman had said you were free to deal with her anyway you liked and that had been exactly your plan.

“He’s okay now, if you’re curious.” You told her. Her head shot up and she looked at you out of the corner of her eye before bowing it away shamefully. But you caught a glance at her face. She looked like she had been crying for hours, eyes bloodshot and face red and blotchy.

“Thank god.” She croaked out.

There was a beat of silence.

“I’m so so sorry, (Y/N).” Zatanna whimpered out before crying again, “You were right. I was jealous. And I did a crazy, wrong thing. And I’m so sorry.”

You sighed, nodding at her apology even though you knew she couldn’t see you. You weren’t sure if you accepted it, and you didn’t have to. For now, it could remain in the air.

“He really doesn’t love me....” She whispered out and you sighed once again, stepping up beside her and setting something on the table.

Zatanna glanced at the bottle of tequila and the two shot glasses you left. You didn’t look at her, instead choosing to stare straight ahead. You opened the bottle, pouring yourself a shot before tilting your head back and downing it, hissing at the burn.

“Obligatory break-up drink.” You mumbled, pouring her a shot and passing the glass to her.

She sniffled, looking at the glass in her hands before gulping it down. You took a deep breath, refilling the glasses. You still didn’t look at her, didn’t speak to her, just poured a refill when either of you finished and downed it in one gulp. The excitement from today and the tense feeling from sitting beside Zatanna kept you from getting drunk too early.

You two ended up finishing half the bottle, drinking in the dark until she passed out first and you followed soon after.

The others found you the next morning, passed out at the kitchen island, clutching empty shot glasses.

***

Bonus bonus:

Batman sighed, smelling the overwhelming scent of tequila as he came closer. None of them were able to wake either of you up. You were out cold, face scrunched up and head against the table in a position that would no doubt have your neck in a crick.

Zatanna was no better. Her hair was a mess, tequila spilt on her clothes and she was drooling all over the table, snoring unattractively.

“All this over a boy?”

Forever Taglist:

@simonsbluee

DC Taglist:

@emmacata

@p--e--a--c--h--e--s

@sometimeseverythingsucks

@sokkas-honour

@unstable1902

@lostgirlheart

@missdisapear

@tadpole-san

[monsterenergysimp]

Permanence

corpse husband x fem!reader 

summary: you meet corpse on a stream and you’re surprised when he reaches out to you 

warnings: cursing, mentions of tattooing

word count: 1.9k

notes: This is proof read but could have missed some stuff. This is my first corpse fic and my first time writing fanfic since I posted that super cringey book on wattpad when I was like 12 or something. I’d appreciate feed back so please reach out to me :)

main blog @itsmysleepover

read part 2 here!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You were cleaning up your station so you can get home and stream. You loved your day job as a tattoo artist but you also really enjoyed streaming. It started as a way to promote yourself as an artist and the shop you worked at but it eventually became a really fun way to destress at the end of the week (or day if you were really itching to stream). “Hey Y/N was that your last client?” your boss, KC, asked as she walked to the front of the shop and put new flash drawings on the walls.

“Yes ma’am!” You said back excitedly. You finished cleaning your station and tossed your black gloves in the trash. “And you can’t trick me into staying and taking walk-ins,” you joked with her. She rolled her eyes and walked back into her office “It was one time,” she said as you slid on your jacket. As you walked out your phone buzzed in your pocket and you checked to see who had texted you. It was a message from Sean asking if you were free to play Among Us with him and some other streamers. You replied that you were on your way home right now and totally down. You were excited to see who was playing this time around since their Among Us streams are super entertaining and have gotten really popular.

On your way back you tweeted and posted to your Instagram story that you’d be streaming soon and set up all your stuff once you made it home. After a few minutes, you had a couple of thousand people watching. You entered the discord chat and Sean spoke up. “Everyone this is Y/N she’s sensitive so be gentle.”

“It’s nice to finally meet you guys and I’m not gentle, I'm ruthless,” You say into your mic and notice the chat calling you a liar. Everyone was in the lobby waiting for the game to start. “You sound way too sweet to be ruthless,” Corpse said. The countdown started and you were imposter with Charlie.

“This should be fun,” you told the stream. Yout tried playing strategically but after such a long shift your brain was mush. You saw Poki in nav and killed her then vented into shields. Not long after the body was reported and you were sure you were going to get voted out or at least sussed.

“Where was the body?” Felix asked. “Nav and I didn’t see anyone near there so whoever is imposter must have vented,” Corpse responded. Felix spoke up again. “I think I saw Y/N walk that way and I haven’t seen her since.”

Shit, shit, shit shit. “I’m in shield right now so-” you said trying to defend yourself but Charlie spoke up. “I was doing tasks with her earlier and I saw her walk into shields so she’s safe but I’m still not sure about Rae.” Everyone discussed a bit more and some people, including Corpse, voted for you but Rae got the majority vote and was ejected. You released your breath and kept playing being extra careful.  

“Okay, guys that was super close. Corpse knows and is out to get me,” you said to the chat. You were eventually voted off but one round later victory was written across your screen with your ghost and Charlie’s avatar. “Good game guys,” Corpse said.

“I told you guys I was ruthless!”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat at your station doing nothing because a client had canceled a four-hour session. You were listening to music and sketching some stuff but you were bored out of your mind and you didn’t want to leave in case you got a walk-in. The music got quiet as you received a twitter notification saying someone had messaged you. You reached for your phone and saw you had gotten a dm from Corpse.

C: hey :)

You didn’t know what to respond. You were mostly confused as to why he decided to message you out of the blue. Did he want something? But what would he want?

Y: Hii! This is sudden

C: was i bothering you?

    shit sorry!

Y: Youre fine I wasn’t doing anything rn

C: how has your day been

    i dont usually do stuff like this

Y: Im glad you did im doing better now I was so bored

C: what were you doing that was so terrible

Y: NOTHING! thats the problem :(

C: im sure youll find something to do

You stared at his message. Unsure what to respond.

Y: Im gonna give myself a tattoo

C: what?

    NO!

You tossed the needles you used for your tattoo into the sharps box. “Oh my god you didn’t,” KC said. She noticed the wrap on your calve from the tattoo you just gave yourself out of boredom. “It’s not my fault I didn’t have anything else to do!” You said trying to defend yourself. She sighed and just shook her head. “Just go home business is slow today.” It was raining so the shop probably wasn’t going to get a walk-in anyway and you didn’t have any more clients for the day. It was only 2 pm but you drove home and after making lunch for yourself decided to stream. You weren’t expecting too many people so it was bound to be super chill. Your leg felt sore reminding you of the tattoo. You snapped a quick pic of the fresh jack-o-lantern on the side of your calve and messaged it to Corpse.

Y: [image] it came out nice!

C: thats  super cool actually

    i was concerned why you would just give yourself a tattoo but i found your instagram and       youre super talented

Y: Thank you!

For some reason, it felt strange to just have that be the end of your response.

Y: Im about to start streaming if you wanted to watch

    [link]

C: ill be watching ;)

What’s that supposed to mean?

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

You sat in your apartment watching tv, hand lost in a bag of Doritos, and scrolling through twitter. You had stopped paying attention to the anime playing on the screen since you’ve watched it a hundred times and knew you wouldn’t miss anything. It was Saturday and you usually take those days off. Take the time to do chores or meet up with some friends but today you felt like not doing any of those things. As you continue your endless scroll (not helping the twitter addiction you told yourself you’d try to get a handle on) you got a message from Corpse.

C: wanna talk?

You looked down at the message unsure of how to answer. It was a simple yes or no and the obvious answer was yes. You and Corpse had started talking more regularly. You still didn’t have each other’s phone numbers but it was fine. Your conversations weren’t too big-- just you sending him memes, tiktoks, and telling him how much you liked the songs he would drop. Or him complimenting a tattoo you did. Sometimes he’d message you during streams telling you funny stuff his fans would say in the chat and you’d do the same. You learned a bit about each other but nothing too deep or serious. Like how you two lived a few cities away and you both really liked Donnie Darko. When Sean first invited you to that game out of everyone else there you were most excited to meet Corpse. He’s just so sweet and funny. Of course, you’d love to talk to him but you were also itching to talk to him and the last thing you’d ever want to do was make him uncomfortable.

Y: Yeah id love to talk

Here goes nothing.

Y: Wanna facetime or something?

     No pressure or anything it could even be a regular call

     I think facetime is just my default lol

You sent those last two messages quickly after you had sent the first. You wished you could know what he was thinking. It was killing you to think you had turned him off from talking to you completely. You put your phone down on the couch and went to wash your hand of Dorito dust. When you got back from the kitchen you turned off the tv and tossed yourself onto the couch.

Still no message.

Why am I so fucking stupid?  

Just as you were standing up to stretch from sitting on the couch all day your phone buzzed. You reached for it fast and looked to see that it was him. You became super excited still not even knowing what the message said. It could have told you to never talk to him again for all you knew.

C: sure lets facetime

    xxx-xxx-xxxx

You had his phone number. You added him to your small but growing contact list and called. You sat on your couch waiting for a response when he finally picked up the screen was black. It didn’t upset you; you kind of expected it and didn’t care what he had to do to make himself more comfortable during this call.

“Hey,” he said. His voice was raspier than usual.

“Did you just wake up?” You asked and looked at the time. It was about a little past noon and you had only eaten Doritos all day. Shit, you should probably make a decent meal.

“Not that long ago but yeah,” he responded and giggled. That giggle.

“Well, I’ve eaten nothing but Doritos all day while rewatching Ouran High School Host Club, so you’re welcome to join me as I make myself something to eat.”

“Sounds like fun; what are we eating?”

“I don’t know yet,” You said as you stood up and made your way to the kitchen. You opened the pantry and looked. You noticed a can of diced tomatoes and reached for it then checked the expiration date. It was still good. On your counter were some onions and garlic. “How about some tomato soup?”

“Sounds delicious.” you smiled at Corpse and your phone screen not knowing if he was also looking at his screen or not. “You’re really pretty-- you know that?”

“Thanks, but you don’t have to--”

“I’ve already told you what an incredible artist you are so many times I bet you’re tired of hearing it, but you already know what a talented artist you are.”

“That is very kind of you Corpse,” you said to him bashfully as you chopped the onion and opened the can of tomatoes. “But once again you don’t have to reach so far to compliment me.”

“I’m not reaching you are talented and beautiful and--”

“I thought I was pretty.” You could hear him chuckle with a smile on his face. “You’re both,” he said. You could feel your face getting warm from blushing.

“Fuck you you’re making me blush. My face is all hot and stuff.”

He laughed at how flustered you got. “That’s the cutest thing ever.”

You didn’t know how to respond so you just put some olive oil in a pot and tossed in your onions. It became silent but it was a comfortable silence. You turned the stove on and watched the flame for a few seconds. “If it was dark we could pretend we were together and having a bonfire or something,” you said to the phone as you turned the camera to show him the flame (still not 100 percent sure if he was looking at you or not).

“I’ll put it on the list of things to do when you visit me someday.”