#Is a scorpion gonna jump out?

[n3ptoonz]

Ok ok ok we got the boys getting walked in on soooo what if Earthrealm boys walked in on US?

i knew somebody would have this idea 😈 REVERSE REVERSE 🔄

these are gonna be drabbles instead of bullet points

implied scent knk mention, sphinx can't stick to a theme to save her life

Scorpion

Kuai Liang was shocked at first, but quickly understood. He's gone a lot and knows that. He's not upset at all by this, what gets the job done in his absence is what he roots for, but he'd still rather be the one making you sound like that. Lowkey is impressed with how well you must've been going at it too. 'Have I ever made them sound like that...? Hold up-' he thinks. Once you see him and are like woahh when did you get here he's like "Curiosity got the best of me, I'd like to help if you'll have me." as if you weren't already jumping on him before he finished his sentence.

Sub-Zero

"You just couldn't wait, could you?" Bi-Han said, standing over you. You jumped at the sight of him looming over your almost fucked-out glow from your own hands and splayed out on the couch; just how the fuck was he so quiet?! As you nervously try to explain, thinking he's actually upset at you, he interrupted you again by grumbling and picking you up to properly escort you to your shared bedroom. He laid you down and got on top of you, pressing himself between your legs. "I'm not angry with you. I just wish you had waited." he said before letting himself hang free. "But I don't mind finishing the job."

Kenshi Takahashi

When Kenshi checked out where the noise was coming from, he caught you grinding against a lounge pillow with his shirt over your nose. Once your eyes opened and saw him standing in the doorway half shocked half into it, you kicked the pillow off the bed and sat up. "No, no, please, don't let me interrupt." he teased half jokingly. Honestly he could see himself encouraging the concept. He has many duties to attend to, so who would he be to tell you not to tend to yourself? He walked further into the room with a more serious look on his face, he really wanted to apologize he couldn't always be there, but since he was now there's nothing stopping him from helping his lover out.

Smoke

Tomas was beyond flustered. He planned to come over to your place and cook together to make up for lost time since he's often very busy. He had a key to your house so he naturally just walked in, set his stuff down, and went to go find you. "Hey, you ready to cook-" cue a Disney studio audience gasp. After like a full 60 seconds of him stuttering over his words he apologized many times before you stopped him. You offered for him to help you out, and now he was pushing down his own immediate boner, but a simple 'yes' sealed the deal for the both of you.

Johnny Cage

This sexy fucking prick. Unbeknownst to you Johnny just sat and watched from the door of your bedroom, truly fascinated by how needy you were for him. Before you could even reach a semblance of climax, here he waltzed in all smug, "11 times." he said. You gasped and threw the covers over yourself, asking what the hell he's on about now (you're used to him popping up unannounced). "You said my name 11 times, new record babe." He knew your next remark would either be witty or frustrated, so he spoke again. "Ah, ah, ah, let's make it 20."

Kung Lao

Kung Lao is also another sexy fucking prick, but a little worse. You have been walked in on before but not thwacking the noodle or flicking the bean, something less crazy like changing, and yet he still was a teaser. You recalled if he was coming over today and reached the conclusion that he would have no reason to, so you got to work. Silly silly you, Johnny and Lao are known for showing up out of nowhere, you knew that! So there you were doing your thing, and boom, Kung Lao pulled up and caught you by accident. He had no regrets though, all you saw looking at you was a smirk, clear idea on his face, and his signature dimples smiling back.

Raiden

Look guys idgaf what anybody feels or says, I can say he's baby while also knowing a lot, obviously. Raiden is a grown ass man with a dick and balls, but he's never walked in on someone before. Me personally I believe he'd be in shock, and he was. Why? Not only because he walked in on AND interrupted your own time, but you were whispering and moaning his name too. Like Smoke he'd be shifting where he stood trying to control his aching boner, but surely once you gave him the okay to enter your room, hell, even touch you? Game fucking on. He's still nervous but wouldn't let that stop him!

Liu Kang

Liu Kang may be a God, but obviously he cannot tell the future. He just created the world and tried to maintain peace as much as he could. He can predict things, and that included what you were doing while he wasn't there. He figured with how much he was gone it wouldn't be surprising if you took matters into your own hands, and he was right. He slowly rounded the corner to the sight of you using some kind of toy and muttering incoherent words that lead to his name somewhere in there, but it didn't bother him. In fact, when he made his presence known he offered to help including the toy if you wanted.

Geras

Lowkey I don't think Geras would know what to do. He doesn't interact with mortals much technically outside of Liu. So like, if you were waiting for him back at his chambers especially when he took so long to come back due to business, he'd be stuck in his tracks. He'd say there's no need to apologize but rather explain your desire to him so he could fulfill whatever void was left in his absence. I feel like he'd be reassuring too if you were embarrassed and happily make your wishes his command.

a/n: OKKAAAYYYYY i got this out FUCK writers block and periods and life IS A BITCH and ik i recycle the same stuff but like hey, it works🥱

[hadesisqueer]

i think the reason why ppl criticise ruby for the tyrian thing is bc she cut a limb off when her own sister got a limb cut off too

Well you have to be an asshole to compare the situations because they are completely different.

With Ruby and Tyrian:

Tyrian arrived already attacking them. Then, Tyrian says he's gonna take Ruby, so of course JNR all try to protect her and fight him off along with her. He's too strong, they can't beat him.

Qrow arrives and fights him off instead, to defend his niece and her friends. Ruby sees that they're evenly matched and wants to help her uncle. She starts fighting Tyrian with him, but Qrow's bad luck affect her, so he gets distracted for a second to prevent her from getting hurt.

In that moment of distraction, Tyrian poisons Qrow with his scorpion tail, might as well have killed him (if they hadn't managed to get help in the finale). And also now they don't have Qrow to protect them any longer, he's been weakened by the injure. So before Tyrian starts fighting them again and kills everyone, Ruby cuts his tail off.

Now, the whole Adam and Yang thing at the Fall of Beacon?

Blake and Adam have a fight-- well, he's beating her rather than really fighting, while he keeps acting and speaking like what he is: a toxic ex-boyfriend who wants to get back at his ex. He tells Blake that he's going to destroy everything she loves and then Yang shows up calling out Blake's name.

Adam sees Blake looking at Yang with pure concern and can tell immediately that she truly cares about that girl, that she likely has feelings for her. That makes Adam jealous and also gives him a way to hurt his ex-girlfriend, and basically tells Blake he's gonna kill her first.

Adam then stabs Blake to get Yang's attention. Yang sees it, and obviously she jumps in to fight him, without any knowledge of who Adam is or what he is capable of, because he had just stabbed Blake and Yang wants to defend her.

Adam cuts Yang's arm off and then proceeds to go toward Yang to kill her while she's unconscious, but thankfully Blake gets there first and gets Yang out of there.

So, you see, Ruby cut Tyrian's tail off (not his arms or his legs, not even the full tail, only the deadly part) to prevent him from continue to fight her and her friends and kill them. It was an act of self-defense. Adam cutting Yang's arm off was not self-defense at all. It was the act of an abusive ex-boyfriend who was jealous and wanted to hurt and punish his ex-girlfriend for leaving him. So, no. They're not the same. Not even the slightest.

Also let's be real here, if Yang was there instead of Ruby she would have cut Tyrian's tail off without hesitation too.

[dyssonant-skyline]

I have been working on an Angel Dust redesign/rework for a bit but I've sort of stalled at adapting his story while being respectful. When I fully figure them out, I'll make a more formal post with more final art.

I really love arthropods, especially chelicerates which are what spiders/scorpions/horseshoe crabs are. I had a whole college report on arthropods so I'm gonna get a bit rambly about them. First of all, spider butt is called a thorax and Angel's prob needs some resizing her to make everything more balanced. I wanted to give them 8 legs and have their arms represent pediplaps, the little "hands" spiders have. Then the actual fangs of a spider (called chelicerae) are on the sides of Angel's head. The eyes have no anatomical basis, but having 2 be larger than the others is a jumping spider thing, which is the kinda fuzzy spider I imagine Angel is supposed to represent. Anyway, Angel is very rarely in full drider form, usually just having 2 legs present.

I am considering retooling Angel's story completely so that it is about the importance of engaging with bdsm & fantasies in a safe way, (Using safe words, not using things that could actually harm your partner, aftercare). Angel would start out loving working at Val's because he gets to engage in a lot of fantasies he has and get paid for it... but he gets advertised as "no limits" and he prides himself on not using safe words. His arc would involve realizing he can still engage with these fantasies while being safe & cared for as he breaks away from Val. Verity (Hellbound Hostel's Vaggie) would also have a bit of an arc in tandem with Angel where she has to reckon with sex just being a part of being human and shouldn't be considered a sin on it's own.

I wouldn't be trying to write something that makes a statement on sex work, but more of a message on safe sex over preaching abstinence... but I'm not sure I'm really experienced enough to tackle that? Please let me know if you have thoughts or criticisms over any of this.

[lordofshitposting]

JJK as Brooklyn 99 quotes because it would be hilarious

─────────────────────

Miguel: Getō! Where is Mimiko's stuffed bear?

Getō: Umm... She must have forgotten it in the temple. Don't worry, I'll get it tomorrow and-

Miguel: Let me be clear. Mimiko can't sleep without that stuffed bear, and if Mimiko doesn't sleep, Nanako also doesn't sleep, and if both of them don't sleep-

Getō: I know, I know. Miguel doesn't sleep.

Miguel, holding black rope: No. Getō doesn't live!

─────────────────────

Mai: Alright, give me your hair dryer.

Mechmaru: What?

Noritoshi: What are you talking about?

Mai: Don't you carry one in your bag?

Noritoshi: Have you met a normal person before?

Mai: Pulls out her phone to call Momo

Mai: Hey, do you carry a hair dryer with you?

Momo: Of course, I'm not an animal.

─────────────────────

Gojo, to principal Gakuganji probably: You think that disapproving glare is gonna work on me after all the times I've seen it? Step it up, find something new. You're boring.

─────────────────────

Maki: So what, now I'm supposed to do everything Yuta does? What if he jumps off a cliff?

Panda: If Yuta were to jump off a cliff, he would have done his diligence regarding the height of the cliff, the depth of the water, and the angle of entry. So yes, if Yuta jumps off a cliff, by all means, jump off a cliff.

Maki: You jump off a cliff!

Panda: Gladly, provided Yuta did first.

─────────────────────

Yuta: I gotta go.

Maki: Aren't you forgetting something?

Yuta: Uh...

Yuta: kisses Maki's forehead

Maki, blushing: No, pay your bill! Damn, who raised you?

─────────────────────

Manami: You want to hold him, Larue?

Larue: Oh, um... yeah sure, that would be great.

Larue: Hugs Getō

Manami: The baby, Larue.

Larue: Yeah. Right, right. The normal thing.

─────────────────────

Nanami: The most time I have spent with someone is four hours and it was hell.

Gojō: What about the ride to Bludhaven we took? That was four hours.

Gojō: Oh, I see what just happened.

─────────────────────

Yuji: Remember how upset you got when Megumi ended a text with "thx" instead of "thanks"?

Nobara, visibly upset: Why would you bring that up?

─────────────────────

Gojō: Hey Getō, do you know my blood type?

Getō: Yeah, it's B positive.

Gojō: Okay, I guessed wrong.

Gojō, to his nurse: Excuse me, ma'am-

─────────────────────

Gojō: Be myself? Shoko, I have one night to win over Suguru. How long did it take before you guys started liking me?

Mei Mei: A couple of weeks.

Kusabake: Six months.

Utahime: Jury's still out.

Gojō: See, Shoko? "Be myself" what kind of garbage advice is that? First impressions are everything and I'm not Nanami!

─────────────────────

Nobara: How much could I possibly owe you? Fifty, sixty bucks?

Megumi: Two thousand four hundred and thirty-seven dollars.

Nobara: Dollars?! Wait, of course dollars. Why was that the part I was surprised by?

─────────────────────

Hakari: Do you wanna know how I actually hurt my wrist?

Kashimo: Yes.

Hakari: I was hoola-hooping. Kirara and I attend a class for fitness and for fun.

Kashimo: Oh my God.

Hakari: I've mastered all the moves. The pizza toss, the tornado, the scorpion, the oopsie doodle.

Kashimo: Why are you telling me all this?

Hakari: Because no one will ever believe you.

Kashimo: You sick son of a bitch.

[py-dreamer]

So... I know I'm late...

But yea! I said I was coming back with some stickers and I kept my word! I would've hoped that I could've completed the sheet in like a day but as you can see...that didn't work out

I know I've been a bit MIA lately but burnout sucks. I do have a lot of WIPS I really want to work on but again, it seems that the ProcrastiNation hath struck my feeble mortal brain again.

But anyways:

I headcanon Aroace Mei, just a personal headcanon (disagree if you like) I also like lesbian Mei but thought I'd give some aroace appreciation

Silktea was only given 1 episode but OH BOY did it fuel our wild shipping habits. And I jumped on the bandwagon. It's a reference to that scene in She-Ra where Scorpia tells Catra she 'didn't want to do this' then wraps kitty up in the blankey and cradles her like a wee baby. And Sandy would do that for any friend, I will die on this hill

Saw a fanart where Mk had a pig nose themed pacifier and I just yoinked that idea. The pig hoodie and the pacifier seems like something Tang would do for Pigsy (also to get away with free noodles cause who can say no to that face?~)

Mac showing Wukong the lantern. What can I say, mans' fascinated by them pretty lights. Though our little performer's eyes seem to be straying from the show (^u ')

I know many people have issues with shipping with Nezha and such and I know the two had a rough history but y'know what fans do; they love to make the people who kill each other soulmates (platonic, romantic or otherwise) Even if it wasn't romantic, I still love the idea of them being buddies and just chilling, the danger noodle prince and the angy prince snuggle and watch a movie (mainly from Nezha 2019 but I also saw New Gods and can I just say, I want those two twinks to bicker then kiss awkwardly and I want Yun Xiang to BEAT. HIS. ASS) but in case anyone asks, I do perceive Nezha to be a consenting adult in general outside shipping drama and if the two are adults, it does make my heart squeal when I see these two hold hands and whatnot

HOW COULD I EVER FORGET MY SPICYBOIS, inspired by that one Ponyo kiss scene. I was actually gonna make a bigger piece but then I saw someone do it already in a much better fashion than I ever could and I just gave up on the idea but Ig here, its just like the two cakes mentality and I gave it a go. Hope I could do the concept justice

Have spider queen or scorpion queen ever interacted before? No. But they are both queens and I believe Spider Queen's confidence could rub off on Scorpion Queen and she'd appreciate the company of Spider Queen's children henchmen. Also she give yummy food so lesbian venomqueens for the win

Redraw of that moment with Peng and Azure. I normally detest that bird but these two do get some gears grinding and whatever anyone says. Neither of those two are straight. I'll tell ya that.

Toxicinsanity is another rarepair that had like 1 sec screen time. I don't think they'd ever work out in canon and had virtually no chemistry. I still love all the fluffy ship content I can find of them though and if it ever were to happen. I think the mayor would scare the sh!t out of Syntax

Let's get at least one hetero couple here, Chang'e and Hou'Yi are a couple of favorites ngl, I took most of their outfits from Over the moon cause both of them looked stunning, Chang'e especially. I've seen people ship mah girl with other people and while I do agree it's healthy to move on, in my heart she will always long for Hou'Yi

Also irl, on valentines, my mum took us out for lunch, she treated us to bubble tea and donuts. We walked home so I waited to drink mah drink in my room while I drew and I accidentally finished it all... I'm so sorry mum

f*ck I forgot ironbull. Uhh....I'll draw something later, rn I need to go to bed before I get yelled at...

click pic for less sh!ty quality!

[heavenlyhoundoom]

This is my tadc swap au.

Bubble 🔄 Caine

Pomni 🔄 Kinger

Gangle 🔄 Jax

Zooble 🔄 Ragatha

Kaufmo 🔄 Queenie

Gumigoo 🔄 Loolilalu

Swap quotes

1.Bubble: Welcome to the amazing digital circus! My name is Bubble. I'm your ring master, and I'm gonna show you the most jaw-dropping, heart-stopping, mind-bending paraphernalia you've ever laid your eyes upon! Isn't that right, Caine?

(Caine flies out of Bubble's hat.)

Caine: That's right, Bubble. I can't wait to see what you're cooking up for today!

2.Gangle: Bubble, is this one of your NPCs, or is this a new sucker. Because if it's a new character, We're gonna have to redo this whole theme song...

Ragatha: I'm not doing that again...

3.Bubble: How about we talk about something else? Like your name.

Kinger: My name? My name is...

(Kinger realizes that he can't remember his name.)

Kinger: Oh, God! Why can't I remember my name!

Bubble: No one can remember their name once they've entered the digital circus. One of the few things I don't have control over are your minds. So all I can do is help you come up with a new name.

4.Zooble: Oh, wait. We should go check on Queenie. I'm sure she'd like to meet our new friend.

(The glionks take Pomni's pillows.)

Pomni: My impenetrable fortress!

Zooble: Hey, Pomni!

Pomni: Huh?...

Zooble: Want to come with us to go check on Queenie?

Pomni: No, not really.

(Pomni walks up to the others.)

Pomni: I think Queenie's gone insane. The last time I spoke with her, she was rambling endlessly about some exit. Kind of like you, Kinger. You might be going insane too.

5.Gangle: By the way, I may have left something in your room, so let me know if you find it. Say, you're not afraid of scorpions, are you?

Zooble: Gangle! That's literally my only fear. Why would you do this!?

Gangle: What? It could be a completely unrelated question. You never know until it's too late.

6.Prince Gumigoo: Here's the key back into the kingdom for when you've secured the goods. I trust you not to let it fall into the wrong hands?

7.Gummyshark bandit(girl): You think your dad's gonna pull through if we get all this back to the village?

Gummybear bandit(girl): I'm sure he will. This much syrup would save hundreds of people.

Loolilalu: We won't be sure until we get back to the village. He's a fighter, though. He taught me everything I know.

8.Gangle: Alright, Jax, when we catch up to them, I'll jump over, crawl inside, and shoot them repeatedly until they're unrecognizable.

Jax: I feel like that violates some kind of convention.

Gangle: You're violating my ears with your clap-back, get driving, driver!

[pastorfutureletthembe]

Link Click and flowers

When CANON gives us such amazing and layered characters, we're always fascinated. We go on treasure hunts to find every little secret about them. Because we want to understand them better. We empathize with their struggles. We write meta and fanfictions.

Sometimes, CANON shares golden nuggets of easter eggs: Birthdays and flowers.

Today I'm gonna tell you everything you need to know about Myosotis and Daisies!

> Myosotis ~ Forget-Me-Not ~ Scorpion Grass

The genus name comes from the ancient Greek word, mus (mouse) and ous or otos (ear). This comes from the shape of the plant’s foliage, which features short, pointed leaves reminiscent of mouse ears. More than 70 species of myosotis exist in the world. Most likely, when you picture this flower, you think about Myosotis Alpestris. The alpine forget-me-not species is distinguished by its delicate blue petals featuring yellow throats, which create a striking contrast against the rugged landscapes where it grows. Its ability to flourish in harsh, cold environments makes it a remarkable example of nature's adaptability. Another type, Myosotis scorpiodes, is sometimes called scorpion grass, which seems like an unusual name for such a pretty little flower. Before the flowers bloom, the plant's stem appears coiled, like a scorpion’s tail. It then slowly uncurls as the flowers open up. When you give someone these tiny blooms, it represents a promise that you will always remember them and will keep them in your thoughts.

Lore

Throughout history, forget-me-nots have been laden with meaning. Europe: A German knight was strolling with his lady along the banks of the Danube river. The lady saw pretty blue flowers—but they’d been pulled loose by the river’s flow and were about to disappear downstream. She wanted to save the flowers, so her chivalrous knight jumped into the water. He couldn’t fight the strong current, so he tossed the flowers onto the bank, and as he was carried out to sea, he called out, “vergiss mein nicht”, which is German for “forget me not.” World War I, they were linked to fallen soldiers and were used as a symbol to remember the dead. Victorian era: emblematic of true love and remembrance, often given as tokens to signify faithful and enduring love. During this time period, people sent each other flowers to convey messages that couldn’t be spoken aloud. In this flower language, they represented love, devotion and everlasting faithfulness. They also conveyed the message, “Do not forget me.” Christian creation: God bestows names upon all the plants He created, except for one tiny blue flower. Afraid of being passed over, the unnamed flower calls out, “Forget me not, O Lord!” In response, God declares, “That shall be your name!”

Symbolism

Forget-me-nots represent true love, devotion, and faithfulness. Everlasting love: From the Middle Ages to Victorian era, they were used to decorate valentines. Devotion: They seen as symbols of remembrance for loved ones who have passed away. Commitment: They’re often given to spouses, significant others, or friends to convey deep affection and loyalty. Friendship: Long distance, two friends enduring affection living in different places.

> Daisy ~ Bellis Perennis ~ April Flower

Daisies originated from the Old English word "dægesēage”, meaning day's eye. This etymology reflects the flower's association with the sun and its daily cycle. It refers to the nature of the flower's sunny appearance as well as its behaviour of opening in the morning and closing at night. A sun-like core surrounded by delicate white petals as if a radiant sun is peeking through the clouds. The white, often red-tipped petals are both separate groupings of numerous flowers giving the illusion of a single flower. It actually posesses a composite flowerhead: daisies are two blossomes in a single one. Daisies are a diverse family of flowers, each carrying a unique symbolism. Bellis (meaning pretty) perennis (meaning everlasting) are the common Daisy, and those provide a message of innocence, childlike happiness and playfulness. Shasta Daisies have an ability to thrive in diverse climates, mirroring our own human resilience and making it a fitting symbol for enduring love and the continuity of life. No matter the species, it is known to bring hope and joy for anyone who takes the time to appreciate its beauty. They are often given to someone you admire. It is also a tangible expression of union, used in weddings, and ironically considered as a heartfelt farewell, placed on graves, as promise of remembrance through genuine love even in death. The birthmonth for Daisies is April.

Lore

Norse mythology: In Norse mythology, daisies were considered sacred flowers because of their power to predict the future. They represented love, loyalty, and destiny. They were also associated with Freya, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. According to legend, whenever Freya cried, her tears turned into daisies. Ancient Greek Mythology: According to Greek mythology, Zeus, king of the gods, fell in love with a beautiful nymph named Belides. When Hera, the wife of Zeus, learned of this, she turned Belides into a daisy to protect her from Zeus' advances. Zeus could not save Belides and instead honoured the daisy for her beauty and love. Celtic Mythology: In Celtic mythology, people associated daisies with the sun, bringing prosperity and good luck. They also believed that these bright flowers were a sign of the summer solstice, carring the sun's light to the earth. In Victorian era, they developed floriography, or the language of flowers, to relay different coded messages depending on the type of flowers they sent and received. Daisies in particular symbolized loyalty and the ability to keep secrets. Someone would send daisies to a person who told them a secret to let them know their secret was safe.

Symbolism

Daisies are quite popular for radiating cheerfulness and positivity. The beauty of this flower is that it implies trust and reciprocity. Innocence: symbolise innocence, purity, and childlike wonder, because of the flowers’ soft, white petals, which give a sense of freshness and purity. They also stand for innocence in the sense of faithful love and loyalty. Love and Romance: associated with true love and secret admirers. As two flowers which have blended harmoniously together into one bloom, it represents perfect union. Beauty: while appearing simple, their sunlike attribute makes them the symbol of aesthetics. New beginnings: for transformative times, most especially for new beginnings. Popular for spring and to welcome new chapters in life. They represent a positive change or even a fresh start. They are often used for depictions of Mary, mother of Jesus, as childbirth symbol. Friendship: tokens to express appreciation or to celebrate a beautiful bond between friends. Joy, loyalty and union in the purest sense. This one is for me haha: Celebrate a 5th anniversary

That's all for today! they choose wisely, don't you think?

I am willingly ignoring that Forget-Me-Not could hint on Lu Guang's death :D I just wanted a cute post on flowers for now.

Find out more about Hyacinth, Qiao Ling's flower, here!

[numberonecodwomenfan]

im going crazy thinking about my idea for a cod women roller derby au

i play roller derby and i literally just finished practice so its fresh in my brain rn

also theyre all on the same team because i want them to be besties ok

laswell is the captain of the glam grenades (yes i know the name is corny, derby team names usually are lmaoo), and her wife coaches the corresponding junior team. laswell’s derby name is watcher, and her number is 01. she usually plays as a blocker, but she’ll pivot sometimes.

farah is almost solely a jammer. her derby name is farah scare-‘em (which again, i know its corny but all derby names are 😭). she’s a speed DEMON, and she’s insane at jumps. if she’s jamming against you, you’re barely even gonna land a hit on her. she’s jumping around on her toe stops and squeezing around blockers like she’s dancing. alex goes to all of the team’s practices and bouts, and he’s practically drooling the whole time like “holy shit thats my badass girlfriend”

valeria is usually a pivot. her name is slammin’ scorpion (referencing that one line where alejandro calls her a scorpion 🤭), and when i say slammin, i mean it. shes one of those blockers that gets penalties constantly. she is VICIOUS. she send jammers flying when she hits them. she has a lot of pent up anger, ok? god forbid a woman has hobbies.

roze is a blocker for sure. she’s sturdy as hell and it takes a lot to take her down. her derby name is ragin’ roze and shes a bad bitchhhh!!! i like to think shes pretty tall, so sneaking around her is a no go with those long legs. she also seems like the type to manhandle her teammates a lot. like if the jammer is moving to the opposite side, shes yelling “out!” and just yanking the other blockers over.

callisto is a blocker too. she prefers to play as a point because she’s a control freak, and while she trusts her teammates, she prefers to be able to see the jammer. this is a really stupid joke but i think it would be funny if her derby name was lady liberty because she’s from france and moved to the US lmaoo

i feel like stiletto’s derby name would just be stiletto. its cool enough on its own lmao. she also gives blocker to me, and i feel like shes the type to get penalties a lot and then get insubordination penalties for giving the refs sass.

nova feels like a jack of all trades to me. i think her derby name would be nova, and i feel like she would be one of those players that just throws caution to the wind and charges in with no hesitation.

kleo is greek and i also imagine her to be pretty tall, so i think her derby name would be something like amazon lol. i feel like shed be a pretty aggressive blocker. she is NOT letting that jammer past, so much so that she sometimes gets stop block penalties.

uhh yeah thats all the brainrot i have lmao. i might draw them 😏😏

[mechformers]

Ma Miles - Ch. 21

12.6k words

Chapter warning:

Animal death (hunting), Ritual drugs (glow worm and "scorpion" poison), PTSD hallucination - drowning, child death, death, gunshot wounds, blood

For those of you who doesn't already know, I've been dealing with the loss of a much loved pet. The hiatus that happened wasn't planned, but the emptiness left behind after his passing hit me much harder than I thought it would. I haven't been able to write much at all and so time passed me by. I'm still finding it very difficult, so updates might be every other week instead. At least until I can gather the creativity to write for longer periods of time.

On a better note though, we've officially reached, and passed, 100.000 words on this story! 🎉 I'm so incredibly grateful to all of you for reading the story and for cheering me on while I write it. Your support has been way and beyond magnificent! Thank you so much ❤️❤️

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Previous chapter | Masterpost | Chapter 22 - Coming soon

“It’s time, Quaritch,” Jake chuckles as he stands before the bed, Tonowari crowding closely behind him. 

Groaning, Miles rolls over to his back, taking your sleepy form with him, his hand spreading across your bare back as you rub your face into his chest sleepily. Behind you, Spider snores loudly, his short limbs spread eagle, his lips parted as he breathes. Shifting his eyes back to the mop of your hair beneath his chin, a content hum rumbles through his chest and then your beautiful eyes flutter open once more to stare up at him. The small smile that crosses your lips has his heart stopping in his chest, taking his breath away - until Sully snorts indignantly above him. Tearing his eyes from yours, Miles scowls up at Sully, a growl ready to leave his lips. 

“It is time, my friend,” Tonowari ushers again, poking Sully in the side before getting up from his bent position. 

“For what?” Miles growls, noticing how your lips pull into another smile against the skin on his chest, no doubt enjoying the rumbling his raspy voice is making beneath your ear.

“Can’t say,” Sully grins widely down at him, that mischievous smirk sliding onto his infuriating face once more, “Get moving, Colonel,” 

“Ronal and Mo’at will be waiting for you at ranteng utralti when the sun is full, Y/n,” Tonowari addresses you, smiling gently when you rub your face against Miles’ chest as you mumble something affirmative. 

Rolling to your back, you release his arm from beneath your head and just like that, your sleepy morning cuddle is over. Sighing, Miles sits up in the bed and rubs the sleep from his eyes before yawning. The faces looking expectantly down at him reminded him more of labrador puppies than actual clan leaders, but tough tits, this was just his luck now, he guessed. Getting to his feet, he slowly bent down and draped the blanket over your sleep-warm body, covering you from the other men’s eyes - not that they probably bothered to check you out, but it still made him feel better. Stroking a finger over your cheek, Miles smiles down at you, feeling his heart jump in his chest when you turn your face into his finger and smile. 

“Let’s have lunch here today,” He hums, watching as your eyes slowly close and open again. You were always so malleable in the mornings. No scowls, no hisses, no distrust as you clung to him like a lifeline. 

“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen, Quaritch,” Sully offers, that annoying mischievousness still stuck to his voice. 

“Supper?” He asks, raising his eyebrow only to watch as Sully and Tonowari both shake their heads - negative. 

“Ronal and Mo’at will keep her company until we return,” Sully smirks and then he moves towards the entrance of your home, just trusting that Mile’s would follow, “Don’t worry, Colonel, we’ll bring you back to her in one piece,”

Growling, Miles shakes his head, sparing the two of you one last look before following the pain in his ass and his equally annoying friend outside. Closing the flap to the hootch tightly behind him, Miles hums as he breathes in the crisp morning air. The sun has barely risen on the horizon, the village still bathed in the bioluminescent hues of Pandora as he walks through it, following the idiots until they reach the beach. There are a couple of dozen warriors waiting for them, their little canoes bobbing in the water, ready to leave when they arrive. Huffing with annoyance, Miles follows Sully when he nods his head toward the furthest canoe. The prospect of getting into the water yet again, in a boat-like transportation with Sully, didn’t sit well with him. The last time he’d been on a boat, well… 

“C’mon Colonel, promise I won’t drown you this time,” Sully grins with a huffed chuckle, his eyes all but glittering with humor as he reads Miles’ hesitation like an open book.

“Hilarious,” Miles drawls, scowling over at Sully before taking a deep breath. 

Trust - he reminded himself. He needed to trust Sully again if he was to do this. It was the only way to be with them, to be…free of the RDA once and for all. Walking up to the canoe, he pushes it into the water before jumping in with Sully. The shit-eating smirk that he sends him has Miles huffing while shaking his head. Now, Miles had always adapted pretty quickly to any situation he was thrown into. It was what had made him such a great Marine and an even better chief of security for the RDA, but this shit? This shit was uncomfortable as hell. Just the sound of the water brushing past the canoe had goosebumps erupting all over his ridiculously exposed skin. 

“You’re doing alright, Quaritch,” Sully offers him after a while, a genuineness in his voice that he hadn’t heard before. “If I’m honest, I’ve been struggling with water too since… well,”

Miles just hums, sucking his bottom lip between his teeth. He’s not about to have a therapy session with Sully, but the admission somehow made him feel a little bit better. After he was healed, he had a helluva time trying to conquer his newfound fear of water, which was absolutely ridiculous. He was a goddamn decorated Marine for fuck’s sake. A Marine didn’t fear water. Yet, when the sea crashed against the roots below their hootch, he had felt his breaths becoming shorter as his palms grew clammy - his heart racing ridiculously fast in his chest. He had refused to call it a panic attack as that would indicate that he suffered from PTSD - and that he most definitely did not. 

Not that there was anything wrong with having PTSD, Miles knew a lot of strong men and women who bravely fought through it, but that didn’t mean it was something he struggled with. Too lost in his own thoughts, however, Miles didn’t register when the canoe approached the shore, the sudden stop rudely tearing him out of his thoughts. Clearing his eyes, he notices that they’re in a completely new part of the island groups. Following his old Corporal out of the canoe, he pulls it with him up on the beach like the others have done. Sully joins Tonowari at the front and just like that, something Miles barely recognizes molds his face into a mask of leadership. It was an expression he had only seen twice in his life, once in the video of his own death and the other when they fought on the Sea Dragon. It wasn’t hard to imagine Sully as a clan leader when he looked like this, although the admission didn’t sit well with him. If he were to do this, however, he would just have to swallow his own opinion of the man. 

“Alright, gather around,” Sully raises his voice and waits for everyone to join the circle around them. 

“We will have a special Iknimaya today,” Tonowari informs when the last soldier joins them, crossing his arms over his chest before looking at each one of them. 

“We are in a situation where Iknimaya will be performed in a mix of two clans, the Matkayina and Omatikaya,” Sully picks up, the tone of his voice gnawing on Miles’ patience. 

“Today, the Great Mother will test Miles Quaritch, will judge his heart to see if he is worthy of being one of the people,” The big chief looks at him the same way he had when he had first awoken in Y/n’s hootch, but behind his eyes, mirth danced clear for anyone to see. 

“C’mon Colonel,” Sully grinned, waving him forward to step into the circle. 

Taking a deep breath, Miles shook his head before clenching his jaw, squaring his shoulders as he stepped forward. He had to trust the process, had to trust that Sully would not do him any harm. Yet, trusting him was difficult in a situation where he was surrounded by Na’vi. Sully had lived with them for fifteen years. Had been their leader, had married a Na’vi, and had kids with her. He was as much a Na’vi as any of the others surrounding him. 

“Hope you’ve trained with a bow and arrow, Quaritc,” Sully snickers as he steps forward, that annoying grin spreading across his equally stupid face. 

“Today, we hunt,” Tonowari’s voice booms to rising cheers around them. “Omatikaya style,”

“What’s going on, Corporal?” Miles grunts, unable to keep the annoyance from his voice. 

“You’re gonna be a man, Colonel,” Sully grins up at him, the sides of his eyes crinkling with amusement, “Congratulations,”  

“Ngaah,” Miles grunts before placing his hands on his hips, “And how do I do that?”

“Well, your situation is a bit… different than normal. Usually, you would have been a teenager and completed your Iknimaya in the way of your clan, but you know, that’s not where we are today,” Sully explains and it rings a bell in Miles’ mind. 

“Y/n made the unit go through Ikni-maya before she would allow us to get the ikrans,” He offers, noting how Sully’s grin widens. 

“I know, she told me,” He chuckles before nodding his head toward the forest. “We already know that you can fly and have bonded with your ikran. Although your Iknimaya was never official, we’ve decided to have you hunt for us to complete it. You will have to perform clean kills. Should be easy enough for a seasoned Marine like yourself, right, Colonel?”

It’s a jab at his pride, Miles knows it is - still, he’s helpless to keep the growl from entering his throat. Bending his ears down, his tail whips annoyed behind him. It only results in Sully’s grin spreading wider though. A warrior steps up to Tonowari with two small bowls in his hands. 

“You will receive the markings of a Metkayina warrior,” Tonowari steps forward, handing one of the bowls to Sully as he approaches. 

“You will bear the mark of the Omatikaya,” Sully offers, that same leader-like mask hiding his amusement from the others. 

Dipping two of his fingers into the black goo in the bowl, Tonowari presses the two digits to his forehead, spreading his fingers in a small circle that doesn’t meet in the middle. Next, Sully steps up to do the same thing, his thumb dipping into a yellow paste, this one thicker than the black, before he presses his thumb between Miles’ eyebrows, drawing a straight line up over his eyes, ending it in his hairline. Dipping his thumb into the paste again, he repeats the motion on the other side before pressing his thumb to Miles’ forehead, inside the black circle Tonowari had drawn previously. 

“Call your ikran, Quaritch,” Jake hums before yipping for his own, the call shrill in Miles’ eyes. 

Putting two fingers to his lips, Miles whistles loudly, uncertain if Cupcake would be able to hear him from this far away. It should not surprise him when no more than ten minutes go by before banshees could be spotted in the distance, quickly approaching them. When Cupcake lands on the beach though, Miles isn’t at all surprised to see Hawnu with her. Reaching his hand toward Cupcake, he greets her with a good forehead rub before turning to Hawnu, hand outstretched to do the same. 

“I wouldn’t do that, Quari-” Sully hastily adds before his words die in his mouth when Miles rubs Hawnu’s head the same way he had done to Cupcake. 

“I wouldn’t worry too much, Corporal. Hawnu and I go way back, don’t we boy?” Miles chuckles as Hawnu pushes harder against his hand. 

“Well, Eywa certainly go a sense of humor,” Sully sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose before staring at Miles again, “The only other person who’s allowed to touch him is Spider,”

“Well, like his father, the kid does have a way with wild animals,” Miles grins back before he steps away from the banshees. 

“Touché,” The Corporal deadpans, rolling his eyes. “Bob and I will take the lead. We’re hu-”

“Bob?” Miles can’t help but interrupt Sully. 

“What? Like you named your ikran any better?” He shoots back, lighting fast, eyes lighting with amusement when Miles just growls. “What’s her name, Quaritch?”

“None of your goddamn business, Corporal,” He bites, making the connection with Cupcake for the first time since escaping the Sea Dragon. 

It punches the air from his lungs as Cupcake screeches. Immediately, his mind is bombarded with worry and pain, the feeling of hopelessness and fear, of heartache and relief. Gasping for air, Miles’ eyes only clear when Hawnu pushes his forehead into his back, all but pushing him forward against Cupcake, the two of them creating a protective circle around him. Distantly, he can hear Sully shouting for him to just breathe, to try and ground himself, but the input from Cupcake is too much. He had made her feel this way. 

Desperately, he tries to push apologies through their bond, tries to calm her down enough to take a breath, to fill his burning lungs with much-needed air, but it’s no use. Cupcake screeches again and again, her wings flapping wildly before him until he closes his eyes, fear gripping his heart. The thought of you, however, calms him. Your eyes, your smile, your warmth, your love, it gives him the strength he needs to step forward, embracing Cupcake’s neck as he orders her to calm down. It doesn’t take long before she’s breathing heavily against his chest, the air hot and moist where it hits his skin.

“It’s alright, Cupcake,” Miles hums, stroking her neck, “You’re safe. We’re safe,”

Minutes go by like that, Miles trying his damndest to calm her down, to calm Hawnu down behind him. To his utter relief, Hawnu steps away from their protective circle and then Cupcake lifts her head, shaking it as she spreads her wings wide, ready to glide through the air. 

“You haven’t made tsaheylu with her since the ship, have you?” Sully asks calmly, wary of Hawnu’s sharp eyes on him. 

“No,” The word comes out raspy, dismissive.

“Alright,” And with that, Sully connects to his own banshee, stepping up to sit astride him. 

“You ready, girl?” Miles whispers, receiving a chirp in return. 

Mounting Cupcake, Miles grabs onto her as she flaps her wings hard, lifting them both into the air. Immediately, calm settles over the bond between them, Cupcake’s relief at being airborne with him once more. Sully takes them away from the beach, away from the island, and prying eyes, steering them out over the wide ocean. For well over half an hour, they do nothing but fly and Miles realizes then that this is for him, for them. Looking over at Sully, he’s not really surprised to see his Corporal already watching him. Nodding his head that they’re ready, Sully nods back, reading Miles loud and clear as he changes course back to the island they had left. 

“We’re hunting sturmbeests,” Sully shouts over the wind as he flies his banshee closer to Miles. “Follow my lead and make two clean kills,”

Nodding his head in understanding, Miles follows Sully’s lead as he takes them over the jungle. Below, beneath the canopies of trees, something huge moved on the ground, making everything around it shake with force. It isn’t until the first clearing appears that Miles gets to see what a sturmbeest is, the bison-like animals smashing everything in their way as they run along the river. Diving down, Sully readies his bow before letting go of an arrow, the force behind it cutting through the air like a knife in hot butter before it hits its target, piercing the soft operculum, making the huge animal drop within seconds. 

Miles could do that. Sure he could. Swallowing loudly, Miles felt his mouth go dry as he readied his own bow and arrow. The small amounts of practice Y/n had made them go through probably didn’t make up for the skills he would need to take down one such animal, much less two, but hell, he had to at least try. Picking an animal in the pack, Miles silently asks Cupcake to dive down after it. The next few minutes go by too fast, his first arrow hitting the animal’s soft operculum immediately. Then, unbeknownst to himself, Cupcake makes a summersault and dives anew for an animal Miles apparently must have looked at which made Cupcake decide that this was the next target. Miles is clumsy to get the next arrow out of the quiver, cocking it with shaky fingers as Cupcake approaches too quickly. Still, when Miles lets go of the arrow, it hits home and the animal crashes down to the ground beneath it. 

Surprised, Miles lets out a victorious whoop, gripping his bow as he grins widely. Sully is looking at him with surprise of his own, no doubt disbelieving of what he had just witnessed. Unable to help his chest from puffing out, Miles laughs as they dive for a landing, the pack of sturmbeests now long gone, leaving the fallen animals behind. Jumping from Cupcake’s back the moment she lands, Miles jogs over to the first animal, removing the arrow and making sure that the animal was dead before saying his thanks, just the way you had taught him. Repeating the same motion with the second animal, he washes the arrows in the stream before placing them back into the quiver. 

“She taught you well,” Sully hums as he steps up behind Miles, kneeling down to wash his own arrow. 

“She taught us all well,” Miles agrees, smiling fondly over how patient you had been with them all. “I thought these animals were bound to the mainland?”

“Normally, they are,” Jake hums as he gets up on his feet, “The pack migrated over to this island a few weeks ago. Made for easy access,”

“So what now?” Placing his hands on his hips, Miles waits for instructions. 

“Now we wait until the others get our position. It’s on the river, so it should be easy enough to transport the parts with canoes until we reach the open sea,” Grinning at him, Sully shakes his head as he steps over to a big stone, climbing up to sit down on it. 

“Spit it out, Corporal,” Miles growls, reading Sully like a book. 

“You did well,” He starts, but it’s not really what he wants to say, so Miles just waits, and sure enough, eventually Sully sighs before he continues. “You’re not how I remembered you to be, and yet, you’re somehow exactly the same,”

“Should I have been anyone else?” Miles snorts, unable to poke the sleeping bear. 

“You know what I mean, asshole,” Sully chuckles and it’s not the response Miles was expecting. 

“Well, getting murdered by your wife, being brought back as a blue friggin tree hugger, discovering the son you left an orphan was raised by your enemy, kidnap said son, having his mother hunt your blue ass down, drowning by said enemies hands only for your son to save you and leave your sorry ass, and then for his mother to save you from certain death certainly changes a man. You should try it sometime,” Miles deadpans, noticing how Sully winces at more than one recap. 

“So she hunted your ass down?” He eventually asks, that same glint of humor entering his eyes, and try as he may, Miles couldn’t help his huffed chuckle. 

“Showed up outside the gates of Bridgehead like she was some kind of John Rambo incarnate, demanding to see me,” Miles grins at the memory. ”Tried to choke me to death. Damn near succeeded had it not been for Corporal Wainfleet,”

Sully whistles his aspects before chuckling to himself. The grin that spreads across his lips is one Miles had always found charming, something that probably made him accept the younger man into his weird little family. 

“Her wrists were bound,” He adds and just like that, Sully loses his composure and bursts out laughing. 

“She was bound?” The laughter rings through the open riverside, bouncing off of the trees as Sully laughs and try as he might, Miles couldn’t help his own huffed chuckle as he shook his head. 

“Yup,” Miles pops the P, “She jumped me after I threatened Spider. She wrapped her legs around my waist, pinning my arms as she wrapped her hands around my neck. Tried to dislodge her, but I went down like a redwood. Wainfleet entered shortly after,”

“You threatened Spider?” Sully sobers, his eyebrows raised comically high. 

“Yeah, it wasn’t a direct threat, more of an implication that he might get hurt. Either way, I did the mistake of referring to myself as his father… Let's just say that hell hath no fury like that woman,”

“You should have seen her when we got back to camp without Spider,” Sully snorts, his ears flattening against his skull. “Scared me half to death, even made Neytiri take a step back,”

“Damn,” Miles whistles imagining just how furious you must have been. 

The silence stretches between them as they think about what they had just learned. Intellectually, Y/n’s anger was understandable. Hell, Quaritch had seen time and again when he was younger. War brought out the strongest in mothers, especially when protecting their children. Your reaction to Miles threatening Spider should have been expected, especially with the knowledge that you had left your clan to search for him, walking up to enemy lines to surrender just so that you could be reunited with your son. You must have been a helluva warrior in the tree-hugger clan. Distantly, he wondered if you would have fought in the battle that ultimately punched his ticket and if you might have crossed paths. 

“Who is she?” He hears himself ask, watching as Sully’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. 

“That’s just it, Quaritch. She isn’t anyone important in the clan,” Sully speaks slowly, choosing his words right, “She wasn’t a warrior, not a hunter, gatherer, or artisan. She helped Norm out with the orphans, that’s where she found Spider,”

“Spider was in the clan?” He could no more help himself from asking as he could help himself from turning his head to fully face Sully. 

“He was too young to be put into cryo and when we sent the humans back to earth, he was left alone when the other kids were adopted by the other scientists. Spider just kinda… He didn’t fit in anywhere, but when Y/n came, she would make sure he was properly cared for, that he was active and was fed right.” Sully’s ears droop as he talks, his tail thrashing anxiously behind him. 

“It didn’t take long before they were inseparable. Y/n bent backward to give him what he needed and as he grew, Spider and Lo’ak, my second-born son, became best friends. She’s just kind of been there, in the background, ever since. Helping the clan where she’s needed. We never even knew she could be that angry before I had to tell her that you had kidnapped Spider and that we had allowed it to happen,”

“If she’s not a warrior or a hunter, how come she has a banshee?” Miles chose to ignore the other information, choosing his battles. 

“Spider…” Sully hums, but doesn’t elaborate. 

“Spider?” 

“Yeah. They must have been around five and seven or something. Lo’ak had decided it was a good idea to sneak off after the teens that were ready for their Iknimaya, to have a look at the ikrans. Some of the people had noticed them following the party out and one of them had mentioned it to Y/n. When I arrived, I only had enough time to locate them before an ikran spotted the kids.” Sully picks at the knife in his hand, the blade dangerously close to slicing his skin open. 

“Lo’ak?” It isn’t lost on Miles how Sully said that this was Lo’ak’s idea and not theirs or even just Spider’s. He specifically said Lo’ak.

“To follow Tarsem and the teens, they would have had to take a pa’li - a horse-like animal, and seeing as Spider is unable to make tsaheylu… Well, it wasn't difficult to put two and two together,” His old Corporal almost looks embarrassed as he continues, “Which is probably how they ended up at the old shack to be kidnapped by you too. Lo’ak called it in,”

“A lawbreaker, just like his daddy then,” Huffing a chuckle, Miles shakes his head, watching as Sully does the same before sobering up again.

“Ikrans will kill children, will kill adult Na’vi if the chance presents itself. It’s just the way of their nature. Y/n tried to talk to the boys, to help them get to safety, but they were just kids - they were too afraid. When the ikran lounged at them, Spider pushed Lo’ak away, shoving him out of harm's way. Luckily, the ikran had miscalculated and missed as its maw clapped shut.”

“How does that explain why Y/n got an ikran?” Miles can’t help his impatience, feeling his skin growing tight as he long to see that Spider is alright. 

“Spider went tumbling over the mountain edge with the force of the ikran’s maw and well, Y/n jumped off of the mountain after him. Tarsem jumped on his own ikran and dived after them while I ordered the teens to watch Lo’ak before doing the same. No matter how fast we dived, we couldn’t see them. They were gone, disappearing into thin air. I figured I would have Tarsem send a search party to the bottom of the mountain t help me locate their bodies. A big shadow suddenly flew over us and we had to hide, thinking it was a great Toruk. When we got back up, Y/n was standing there with Spider in her arms, and behind them, Hawnu screeched furiously at us.” His old Corporal looks troubled as he recalls the memory, his brows furrowed as his tail whips anxiously behind him. 

“Hawnu saw something in Y/n when she jumped off of the mountain after Spider, something no other Na’vi had shown him before her. He decided that she was worthy of his loyalty, so he picked her as his rider, diving after them. The great Toruk that we thought we saw - that was him gliding over us. For some reason, he willingly gave himself to her, creating a bond, unlike anything that has been recorded to date. Hawnu is the biggest of his kind, a rarity in both size and color. Many Na’vi has tried to bond with him throughout the years, but he has not allowed anyone to do so before Y/n.” 

“Hngh… And what does Hawnu mean?” Miles hums in acknowledgment before asking, already thinking that he knows the meaning. 

“It means protector,” Sully offers, a thoughtful smile on his face. 

Huffing an affirmative, Miles lets it sink in. You had named your banshee protector after he saved your lives and what had he done but steal your lives, taking you away from your home just to hunt Sully? Silence stretches between them again until Tonowari arrives with the rest of his war party, the canoes slowly navigating up the river stream. They teach him how to wield his knife through the animals' thick armor, teaching him how to part and how to save the skin. Nothing goes to waste, he notes as they divide the parts, getting them ready for transportation. The amount of meat would feed the entire village well and the realization made something burst inside of his chest. Pride for providing was not something he would have ever thought he would feel, but there he was, the corners of his mouth lifting as he washed the blood from his arms and chest in the river. He couldn’t wait to get home and tell you all about it. 

Freezing for a moment, he let the thought sink in. Home. To you. Shaking his head, he didn’t want to admit to himself that he was becoming soft, but there was little need to admit anything when the truth stared him straight in the face. 

“Ready to go back home, Colonel?” Jake huffs behind him, sheathing his knife. 

Nodding, Miles steps into the canoe as Jake pushes it all the way into the river. The current takes them to the open sea in record time without them having to do much more than navigate. However, when they hit open water, Sully slows them down to a stop beside Tonowari’s canoe.

“We will take a tsurak back. It will be your challenge for the Metkayina to ride it smoothly,” Tonowari offers, immediately sending chills down Miles’ back. 

Sure, he had been training with Sully, but that had been inside the relatively safe enclosure of the seawall. This, however, was not. This was open water. This was the bane of his existence when this new life of his brought him awfully sour lemons, making it impossible to tame it into lemonade. He’d never particularly liked the water, as strange as that was for a Marine, but he’d never had a problem with it like this before. 

Grunting something affirmative, Miles bites the inside of his cheek as he watches one of the warriors arrive with three skimwings. He was so not looking forward to this shit, but if it was the only way to be accepted into this clan, then so be it. He would have to do it for Spider - for you. They had given him everything when he had deserved nothing, his discomfort with water would have to take the backseat for the time being. Taking a deep breath, Miles lowers himself into the water, making the first move. Connecting his queue with the skimwing never gets old, the sheer wildness of the animal coursing through his brain at lightning speed as he tries to mount the beast. 

It’s easier than he had thought it would be, the animal’s presence in his mind somehow calming him down when all he wants to do is sever the connection and get back into the stupid canoe. But as with most things these days, Miles doesn’t get what he wants. Instead, Sully and Tonowari lead the way while he tries to keep his balance on the skimwing, trying his best not to panic whenever it would dive underwater. The sheer and utter relief he feels when the seawall pops up in the distance is painfully like the dream he used to have when he was young and less blue. The closer they get to the village, the more the sappy feeling of joy overtakes him. The village meant home and home meant you. 

“You have learned well, my friend,” Tonowari comes up beside him, his ears pointing forward as he smiles, nodding slightly at him. 

“Of course, I taught him,” Sully huffs from the other side of Miles, making him snap his head back to growl at his Corporal. 

“You are pathetic, Sully,” Miles hisses, his voice so painfully bothered by the other man. 

“Ouch, Colonel,” Sully snorts as he feigns hurt. “You know you’ve enjoyed it,”

Grumping to himself, Miles ushers his skimwing to swim faster. When he’s close enough to the shore, he gently breaks their connection, but not before giving thanks to the animal. It’s like muscle memory, something he just does without having to think about it, but when he realizes it, it stops him dead on his way back to dry land. This tree-hugger shit was getting to him without him even noticing it. Immediately, it makes his mood darken as anger floods his mind. Even if becoming one of the people was the end goal here, he didn’t want to lose himself in the process. He didn’t believe in this mumbo-jumbo stuff anyway, so why did he… -

“Go find Y/n, she will prepare you for the rest,” Sully offers, clapping his hand on Miles’ shoulder as he walks up to the beach with Tonowari. 

Y/n. Now that was an anchor he could focus on. Moving one leg in front of the other, he eventually finds himself in front of your hootch, only to find it empty. Raising his head in the air, he lets his eyes glide over the village and nearby hootches, but you are nowhere in sight. Sighing deeply, he walks across the bridges until suddenly, he catches the sound of Spider’s laughter. Following the sound, he’s met with the sight of his son’s grinning face as he looks up at you. There’s a basket by your feet, carefully put to the ground as you jump back and forth after Spider, catching him in your arms and blowing raspberries on his exposed skin. Spider tries to do the same, climbing you like a tree whenever he succeeds. It’s obvious that this is a game you're used to playing with each other, the ease with which you dance around each other, one that only comes with repetition. 

Stepping forward, it doesn’t take long before you notice his presence, your ears twitching in his direction, your tail wagging lazily back and forth. You’re happy to see him, he realizes, and then you turn your head, directing the most beautiful smile Miles has ever seen at him. Spider, on your shoulders, grins widely too as he waves him over to them. Huffing a breathy chuckle, Miles is helpless but to move his legs in their direction. Hell, even Quaritch would have been helpless in this situation. 

“How’d it go?” Spider asks breathlessly, crossing his arms to rest his chin over his mother’s head, the ears now twitching on each side of his. 

“Got two animals and rode a skimwing back,” Miles offers, only for your smile to grow even bigger as you look up at him. 

“Awesome!” Spider hoots, his own grin growing bigger as he stares at Miles. 

“The warriors are coming back with canoes,” He doesn’t know why he continues to talk, he’s already replied to Spider’s question, but there’s something in him that wants the conversation to continue, if only for a little while more. 

“The hunters,” You offer him, your smile gentle as you shift your weight on your feet, making Spider grab onto your forehead to keep balanced. “They are hunters, but some of them are also warriors,”

“Hunters,” Miles repeats, nodding his head. 

“Now, so are you,” Your smile is warm and gentle as you lay your hand between his pecs.

“You did good,” Spider adds, his small hand patting Miles’ head, making his ears rotate toward him, open and… happy?

“You look good like this,” You hum, smiling up at him before you move your hand to his right ear, “With your ears relaxed,”

Closing his eyes, Miles takes comfort in the way your fingers gently trace the rounded tip of his ears, your fingertips soft and warm. Sighing, he turns his head into your hand, relieved to feel it open to welcome his head. You take a step closer to him, the heat of your body bathing him in even more comfort. Reluctantly, Miles reaches forward with his hands, gently placing them on your hips as if to test if he’s allowed to or not. But when you don’t move, when you instead caress his cheek with your thumb, he opens his eyes to find yours already searching for his. 

“Uh, guys…You’re gonna be late to your own party,” Spider interrupts, making Miles lift his head to look at his son incredulously. The grin Spider offers him could only be described as shit-eating, the knowing look on his son’s face sending sudden heat to his cheeks that weren’t there before. 

“Our son is right,” You whisper while continuing to caress his cheek with your thumb. It makes a full-body shiver run through him while his ears twitch as his tail whips a couple of times behind him. 

“Awkward…” Spider sing-songs as he steps down from his mother’s shoulders. 

“We should go,” You chuckle as you take his hand, making his breath freeze in his lungs, “We have a lot of preparations to finish up before it’s dark,”

“Can I go with Lo’ak?” Spider asks as falls into steps beside you, but Mies barely even hears him. His ears are ringing as his legs move on their own accord while you hold his hand, initiating contact for the first time. 

“If that is what you want, Spider,” Your voice is gentle and warm as you speak, the sound itself caressing Miles' ears, “I will be close to your father if you need me,”

“Awesome, thanks Mom,” Spider whoops, but Miles isn’t really sure what is going on anymore. The only thing he is sure of is how warm and small your hand is in his. 

Before he knows it, you’re all back in your hootch, the warm rays from the setting sun painting the inside in a golden glowing hue. Spider puts the basket down and starts collecting stuff before you hand him a small satchel that looks as if it’s specifically made to fit his small stature. And why wouldn’t it? Hell, you were a woman to be reckoned with, that was for sure. Everything else Spider wore was made to fit him and it is as if Miles is just realizing what you’re doing for your son. These items were all handmade, were all crafted for Spider. When you had time to make them, he had no idea. Your days were filled with lessons from that old bat with the soul-searching eyes, and when you weren't there, you’d be with him, teaching him the Na’vi way.

“Good luck,” Spider’s small arms wrap around his waist as well as he’s able to before quickly letting go again, and then, his son is out of their hootch like a bat outta hell. What this was about, Miles had no idea. 

“Come,” Your hand find his again, gently pulling him with you, “Sit down,”

And so he does, eyes wide open as he stares at you, watching as you kneel before him. The basket sits beside you and inside it, there looks to be a bowl of white goo, some cloth, and a bowl of some kind of watery clear liquid - which, in retrospect as he watches you dip the cloth in it, was just water. Gently, you wipe his face down with the cool cloth, continuing down his shoulders, his arms, and then further. Briefly, embarrassment enters his mind as he’s reminded that you’ve seen it all before. That you’ve seen…worse. It’s a time he would rather forget about, a time when he was more vulnerable than ever before, and yet, you had treated him with dignity, with a respect he hadn’t deserved. Not from you. Not after what he’d done to you. 

“Thank you,” He croaks, his voice breaking at the unfamiliar words. “Thank you for being Spider’s mother,”

It stops you dead in your tracks, your eyes widening as you look up at him in confusion. And why wouldn’t you? A woman needed kindness to be able to trust, needed reassurance. He knew for a fact that he had not given you either one of those things. Yet… the way you looked up at him spoke of a different story, one he had yet to understand. So he just watches as you nod your head, a soft smile crossing your lips before you dip two fingers into the bowl of white goo. 

“This is ceremonial paint,” You explain to him as you raise your hand to his forehead, running your fingers across his skin in a pattern only you can see, “You will go through Uniltaron today - the dream hunt. It is the Na’vi way, a rite of passage,”

“It will not be easy,” You continue, lowering your hand to rest over the bowl.

“I’m used to difficult tasks,” Miles hums back, daring to poke his finger against your knee. 

“This is different. You will swallow an eltungawng - a glowing worm. Then, you will bear a sting from a kali'weya. I do not know the sky people word for it. It will give you a vision in which you will follow,” Dipping your fingers into the paint again, you explain to him how this dream hunt works. 

“So it’s like a drug then? I’ll hallucinate something?” Miles offers as you start painting circles on his chest. 

“I do not know what hallucination is,” And of course, you wouldn’t know what it was. There hadn’t been a setting on Pandora in which you would need to use the word. 

“Hallucination is like a dream, it isn’t real - just something you think you’re seeing,” Miles offers in return only for your hand to freeze on his skin. 

“A dream is a vision, it is real,” You challenge him and for once, Miles doesn’t actually want to take the bait. Instead, he nods his head seriously. “It is the Great Mother’s way of speaking to us, to let us know that we are not alone - that she is out there, that we are not forsaken,”

“Alright,” Miles hums gently, before painfully continuing, “I will have a… a vision,”

“You will have a vision and it will guide your way. It is important that you follow it. If you do not, then you will forever be lost within the grasp of Eywa,” The way you whisper the last part makes him pause, understanding what you mean. 

“How often do people… not make it?” He’s unable to help himself and by the way you sigh, you had known this too. 

“It happens sometimes,” You whisper before continuing to paint him. 

“I will make it back to you and Spider,” Miles whispers as he reaches for your chin, gently lifting it so that your eyes meet once more, “I promise,”

It might have been a stupid thing to promise, but he had to come back to you. He would fight the deity herself if he had to, but he would return to you and when he did, he would do his best to become what you needed. Hell, he would live this tree-hugger life if it meant he could be with you and Spider. He would even tolerate the Sullys for you. 

“Do not make promises you cannot keep,” You whisper back, your eyes glittering with emotions. “You are strong. You will do well if you follow the vision,” 

By the time you have finished, he looks like a Christmas tree. There are stripes and swirls all over his body, but you’re not done yet. Dipping your fingers into the paint again, you motion for him to lower his head, and when Miles does, you put your fingers above his lips, slowly pulling them down, painting the last mark over his lips, his chin, his throat - until they stop between his clavicles where it meets the other stripes. Stepping back, you observe your work, clearly pleased with yourself. 

“So… how do I look?” Miles hums, opening his arms to show off. 

“Ready,” You smile back at him before reaching out for his hand. 

Taking a deep breath, Miles takes your hand, following closely behind you as you lead the way through the village. Distantly, he notices that there are no people around, the village is all but deserted. Walking past the communal area, you take him further into the island until you reach a huge cave. There’s music and song coming out of it, low lights flickering against the moist cave walls, and when they arrive at the center, the entire village is there - waiting for him. It dawned on him then that this was a big thing for the Na’vi, a lot bigger than he had first thought. Distantly, he remembers Sully talking about this moment of becoming a man in the eyes of the clan when they had still been human. The final rite of passage, of sorts. 

“Oel ngati kameie, Olo’eyktan. Oel ngati kameie, Olo’eyktan,” You greet both Tonowari and Sully with the customary gesture and their titles before turning to the old bat and Mrs. Tonowari, “Oel ngati kameie, ma Tsahìk. Oel ngati kameie, Tsahìk,”

“Oel ngati kameie, Olo’eyktan.” Miles parrots less elegantly than you did, and when he comes to Sully, he’s unable to help himself. “Oel ngati kameie, Sully,” 

His disrespect of Sully does not fall on empty ears, though to his surprise, Sully himself snorts and grins before gesturing back to him. There’s a glint in his eyes that Miles can’t quite place, but when you huff irritably, he realizes that he’s used his one leeway for error on a jab against Sully. So instead, he takes a deep breath and turns to the old bat and Mrs. Tonowari. 

“Oel ngati kameie, Tsahìk.” He notices how the old bat smiles at him, so unlike her batshit crazy daughter, before she gestures back. 

“Oel ngati kameie, Tsahìk,” Tonowari’s wife is her usual serious self, stiff as ever he saw, but she is polite enough, gesturing back to him as if he was just any old normal Na’vi instead of… well, he wasn’t that guy anymore. 

Well, not after this anyway. Had he been, he would have used this to his advantage, to help the RDA get the upper hand on the native population. That would only bring doom and suffering - his specialty it would seem. With this new chance, however, he found that he didn’t want that fate for the Na’vi. His son was here, had been welcomed by the people, despite what Miles had done to them in the past, or even in recent times. 

“Miles Quaritch of the sky people, you have proven yourself worthy to go through uniltaron, to put your life in the hands of Eywa for the chance to become an adult - to become one of the people,” The old Tsahìk speaks, her voice ringing through the cave with a steady wave. 

“Despite your past, you have proven yourself worthy of becoming Metkayina,” Mrs. Tonowari continues, not missing a beat. “You will walk through the Great Mother’s trial and if you emerge, you will be welcomed as one of us,” 

“Miles Quaritch,” The old Tsahìk calls to him, “Are you ready?”

“I am,” Miles hums, his confidence unwavering. 

He would complete this rite of passage and then, he would finally get a break from all of this mumbo-jumbo tree-hugger shit. So when Mrs. Tonowari gestures for him to sit in the middle of a series of painted circles, Miles does as told, waiting patiently until you walk toward him, a small bowl in hand. The glowing worm inside of it wiggles around the wooden surface. The prospect of having to eat it doesn’t exactly please him, but then again, he’d have to eat worse things to survive than a glowing worm. Gently, almost too gently, he takes the bowl from your offered hands, letting his fingers grace yours before retreating the bowl. Looking up into your eyes, he bends his head back and tips the bowl, swallowing the worm while holding eye contact. Sully snorts as he steps forward, holding a scorpion-looking creature in his hand. Miles guessed this was the sting part of the rite.

“This is gonna sting like a bitch, Quaritch,” Sully whispers as he rounds Miles, a gesture that has you hissing angrily on his behalf. 

Reaching out to grab your hand, Miles squeezes it to reassure you that there’s nothing Sully can do to him, but as he does, Sully lets the scorpion sting once, twice - two more before you hiss at him again. Only then does Sully round his body to stand beside you, a shit-eating grin on his face that lets everyone know just how much he’s enjoying this. Grouching, Miles clenches his jaw at the blooming stings before letting go of your hand. He needs to find his center if he’s to do this with any kind of honor left. Winking at you, Miles closes his eyes as he crosses his too-long legs, resting the back of his hands on each knee while he works on his breathing. 

The blooming sting on his back is only spreading, the nausea that follows taking him by surprise. He hasn't felt this way since… He can’t actually remember, but when his chest starts to hurt, in two distinct places, he guesses this new body of his doesn’t actually need the memory to remember. There’s a thumping sound behind him that’s a bit too loud. It makes his ears twitch with every sound, making it difficult to concentrate on his breathing. It doesn’t help when the blooming sting spreads to his front or when different sounds and voices blend into the mix. 

They sound so far away, yet, they’re right there. There’s a constant stream of noise bombarding his senses, but amongst them, one he now knows all too well stands out. There’s a steady dripping of water to his left, dripping louder with each heartbeat that pounds in his chest. Miles knows that if he chases that rabbit, he will be lost forever. He needs to hear your voice, to hear Spider’s. Hell, he’d even settle for Sully if only he could recognize something, if only he could find familiar ground to stand on, to hold on until this thing ended. He knows that he can do this, but the pain, the isolation is slowly leading him away from where he needs to go. In a desperate attempt to hold on, he calls out your name, the sound burning up his throat as it emerges. It feels as if he’s swallowed acid, as if he’s breathing fire, but when his voice eventually does leave, it echoes with a sound he’s never heard before - hoarse and almost scared. 

He doesn’t register when he’s fallen from his sitting position, but suddenly he’s on his back. There’s water dripping on his face, on his chest, but it might as well have been liquid nitrogen. It feels as if it pierces his skin and then it’s pouring over his body, the water rapidly submerging him until he’s struggling to keep his head over the surface. There’s something holding him down, but when he tries to free himself, the restraints only refasten over and over again. Miles is getting lightheaded from holding his breath, the panic almost consuming him until he’s once more reminded about your words. 

This is Eywa’s way of communicating with the Na’vi. Through visions. He must find his path and he must follow it or forever be lost. Quaritch would not be lost. Hell, he had trudged through hostile territory more times than commonly sane, had found himself lost more times than he cared to remember. He had survived Pandora for decades without getting lost. Quaritch would find the path he was meant to follow, no matter what. So with his new resolve, Quaritch takes a deep breath, filling his burning lungs with much-needed air. The fact that it’s air and not water that fills his lungs, has him chuckling gleefully. Oh, Eywa be warned, he would come for her, and when he does, she would learn the hard way that you cannot part Colonel Miles S. Quaritch from what he desires. 

Getting on all four, Quaritch growls menacingly. His entire body is on fire and when he opens his eyes, there’s nothing but psychedelic colors swiveling around him, figures he recognizes as Na’vi, stand around him, staring - talking to him - but he can’t understand what they’re saying. Their voices sound garbled and far away. Logically he knows that Miles had agreed to this, to become one of the people, but come hell and high waters, Quaritch would rather die again than join this bunch of thee-hugging smurfs. Forcing one of his legs under him, Quaritch demands his body to listen to him, to stand tall among the natives. 

“Woman,” Quaritch growls, waiting for the mama dragon to step forward with her dragonling.

He is not disappointed when moments later, the shape of the woman that has occupied their mind for the past eternity steps forward, their cub behind her. She’s talking to him, her voice soothing the intense fire that’s burning from within him, but Quaritch can’t understand what she’s saying. Everything is wrong and the only thing that can make it right again seems to be the mama in front of him. On unsteady legs, Quaritch steps forward, grabbing harshly onto the woman’s wrist, pulling her even harsher against his chest. The moment her scent fills his nostrils, it soothes whatever was happening to him. 

Wrapping his arms around her, he buries his face in the crook of her neck, breathing her in as if she was air to a drowning man. With each breath, the rage inside of him seems to lessen, calming down enough to dampen the control he had over his body. With an ungraceful huff, he can feel his legs giving out, so instead, he hurries to sit down, taking the mama dragon with him. There’s something insanely pleasing when she wraps her arms around him and settles in. The cub steps forward and without thinking, Quaritch grabs his wrist and pulls him in to sit on their laps. This wasn’t his plan, this wasn’t what he had set out to do, but maybe Miles had gotten something right after all. As the poison in his system takes hold over his body once more, Quaritch is helpless but to hold onto his family as - 

Family. Quaritch had never had one of those. Sure, he’d had the units through the years, but nothing like this. These two were his people. His alone. The mama had shown them kindness when in all honesty, they had deserved none. Quaritch takes. It’s what he’s always done and when Miles was awoken, that’s what he had done too. Only to have his entire life turn upside down. At first, Quaritch hadn’t understood at all. No tail was more important than the mission and yet… 

There’s a pleased feeling bubbling from within him and it annoys Quaritch to no end that this other him, the lesser him, had found this when he could not. Fifty-one years alive and the only thing he took from that was abandonment issues. Yet, this blue monkey hasn’t been alive for more than a year, and he’s already found a woman and Quaritch’s son. It wasn’t fair, but then again, nothing in life ever was. 

Taking a deep breath, Quaritch tries his best to get himself under control again. The mama had said to follow the vision, but there was no damn vision. Not that he could see anyway. Growling, Quaritch’s patience wears thin when suddenly a voice breaks through the fog. It’s not one he recognizes, not female, not from a child. It’s only when the mama’s voice joins in that he recognizes it as his own. He’s singing, but Quaritch knows damn well that it isn’t his doing. He doesn’t know any Na’vi songs, but Miles does. He knows the one the mama sings to his son. Miles mumbles the song, clinging to it as if his life depends on it, clinging to the mama. Quaritch can hear his voice call her name and as pathetic as it is, it actually calms him down when she responds, her smaller frame settling firmly within his lap, leaning on him. 

So distraught is he, that he almost misses the panther in the corner of the room. Its colors are wrong, but Quaritch knows that nasty bitch better than he knows the Na’vi. Hell, he had barely survived his first meeting with one. She prowls on the outside of the circle, but Quaritch isn’t taking his eyes off of it. He has a family to protect now and somehow, that gives him the strength he needs to stand tall and face the animal. But the animal doesn’t attack, doesn’t flash her razor-sharp teeth against him, or pounce with her dagger-sharp nails swinging at his head. Instead, she turns to leave, walking out of the cave. 

“It is important that you follow it…” The mama dragon’s voice calls in his mind as if she was saying the words right then, but she’s still singing with Miles, so Quaritch has to see this shit through. 

Walking after the panther, Quaritch emerges from the cave they had first entered only to be met with the quiet of dawn. It had been midday when they had entered and he knew for a fact that they had been no more than a few hours at the cave. This wasn’t right, but he figured that if this was a vision, then nothing would be as he remembered it. And sure enough, when the panther stops just before the sea, Quaritch knows that this is the hallucination that the mama was talking about. The village is quiet as the sun rises in the distance, not even the fishermen had awoken to start their day yet. 

There’s a sound in the distance, one that is uncannily familiar to his ears. The rhythmic swishing of air from the rotor blades of a Samson, followed by the heavy hum of Valkyries. In the distance, against the sun, he can just barely make out the black shapes. Deep within his chest, a sense of relief at seeing the RDA settles, but soon enough, it shits to dread as a missile is fired, heading straight for the village before hitting hootch. The surrounding area is up in flames before he’s even able to take another breath. Once the first missile has been fired, there’s a never-ending series that follows its lead as the RDA approaches. 

The flames surround what remains of the village by then, the screams of people, of children, filling the air with pain and sorrow. The panther nudges Quaritch’s side before walking off and reluctantly, Quaritch follows. Before he knows it, he’s in Bridgehead, staring down at the remains of Sully and what looks to be his youngest daughter. Behind him, Mrs. Sully wails and screams in her chains, thrashing wildly to go to her husband and child. The new recom soldiers only force her down to her knees as the lead recom turns around to face him. 

“Colonel,” Ardmore’s voice greets him, and for just a second, Quaritch’s breath hitches. “Good work. For a moment there, we almost thought you pulled a Sully on us, but your word is as solid as unobtanium,”

“Of course, General,” He recognizes his voice responding, but he’s certain that he hasn’t opened his mouth. 

“Too bad about your woman and kid, she would have made a valuable asset,” Ardmore continues, but Quaritch doesn’t follow the conversation. 

The panther moves again and when he follows, he’s taken back to the burning village. He’s standing before a Na’vi woman on the ground, her features twisted in blurriness as she gurgles blood, her lungs collapsing as she drowns on dry land. She’s clutching onto an impossibly small boy laying on top of her. It’s obvious by the way he’s trying to cover her that the child tries to protect her, the weeping bullet wounds on his back tell Quaritch all he had to know. Tears roll down the woman’s face, mixing with the splattered blood from her coughing, but it’s not before her eyes meet his that the blurriness dissipates and the tears that had obstructed his vision falls down his own cheeks. 

With a heavy thud, he falls to his knees beside the mama dragon and their cub, hands hovering shakily over Spider’s body before he manages to touch his son’s skin. It’s slick with blood and cooling, his ribcage unmoving as he has long since stopped breathing. The mama is clutching onto him when Quaritch tries to move him from her body, only resulting in the blood still left in her body, to seep furiously from her own bullet wounds. They’re littered from her thigh, up her curved abdomen, and across her stomach and chest as if the assailant had been trying to make a dirtbike map on her body. 

“Y/n…” Quaritch whispers, but the mama’s name breaks in his throat. 

She’s trying to tell him something, but he can’t understand anything she says, the words dying long before they even enter her bloody throat. Her eyes desperately search for his, her hand reaching out for him, but all Quaritch can do is hover his own hands above her body as tears fall from his eyes. Too late, he meets her eyes. The mama’s breath hitches and before Quaritch knows it, she too is forever gone, leaving him behind to wallow in the agony of having lost the only people who ever mattered to him. 

People. Huffing a humorless chuckle, Quaritch looks up into the skies. Damn Miles and his fucking nerve to fall in love with this woman, dragging him into this shit too, giving him a taste of the only thing he had secretly allowed himself to dream of. And now, they were gone forever, taken from him by his past. As much as Quaritch hated to admit it, Miles had been right. They were only pawns in a game of chess that the RDA played and once they had outlived their usefulness, once Sully was dealt with, they would be deactivated too. Reaching out for her hand, Quaritch is surprised to find something clutched within it. Opening it, his breath stops as a pair of bloody silver, human-sized dog tags lay in the palm of her hand. Taking the dog tags out of her hand, Quaritch lifts them to read their designation, his heart stopping in his chest when his own human face stares back at him. Closing his eyes, Quaritch locks his jaw as tears sting his eyes, making the world blurry once more. 

Getting to his knees, Quaritch binds the dog tags into his loincloth before heading into the sea, leaving his family and the panther behind. If this was Eywa’s vision of the future, then he would throw hands at her and anyone else that would stand in his way. Stepping into the sea, he lets the water submerge him. Quaritch just continues to walk until eventually, he finds himself outside of Bridgehead City, the panther once more by his side. He would avenge his family if it was the last thing he did. Damn Ardmore. Damn Bridgehead. He would burn them to the ground if they stood in his way. As the gates of Bridgehead open, much like they had for the mama dragon, Quaritch walks into the lion's den once more. 

Blinking, Miles eventually regains control of his body once more. He’s sitting in the same circle he remembers sitting down in, but in his lap, you and Spider sit, his own arms clutching onto them. Spider’s big brown eyes are staring up at him, a small smile slowly spreading on his lips as he gets up from his mother’s lap. Turning his head, Miles is met with the blindingly beautiful smile that was directed at him. 

“You have passed the Great Mother’s trial,” You whisper, your voice a bit raspier than before. 

“So what now?” Miles hums, unable to help himself from clutching your hip. 

“Now, you are welcomed by the people,” Sully offers from the side where he stands with the old bat and his wife. 

“Stand, my friend,” Tonowari starts as he steps forward, a big grin on his face. 

Sully and Tonowari reach forward, putting their hands on his shoulders when Miles eventually gets up to his feet. Reluctantly Mrs. Sully lay her hand on his chest, over where her arrows had stricken him, killing him as a human, as she accepted him as one of the people. Surprise is written all over your face as you lay your hand above hers, whispering a quiet “Thank you,” before the rest of the people follow. In the end, Miles’ upper body is covered with the hands of the people, the ones unable to touch him, touching the person in front of them until they were all connected until they all touched him. 

“You are now Omatikaya,” Sully announces, a smile of his own offered to him. 

“You are now Metkayina, my friend,” Tonowari follows shortly after, his own grin firmly placed on his face. “Now, we feast to celebrate,”

As the hands on his body quickly leave, your hand still remains over his heart, unable to break the contact. You’re looking up at him with worry in your eyes, a question so clearly dancing behind them. But this was a joyous occasion, and before he gets to voice his own question, you are both pulled ahead, leaving the cave behind. What follows is just a series of celebrations Miles has never seen the likes of before. 

There’s dance and music, lights and laughter, and amazing food. The hunt from earlier that day has been prepared, seasoned, and made into different dishes that make Miles’ mouth explode with each bite. Spider is staring at him with this weird smile on his lips, the boy just staring as his mother fusses over him to eat enough food. In the end, Spider runs off with his friends and you are nowhere to be seen. Miles doesn’t quite know how he ended up sitting around a bonfire with Sully and Tonowari, but the conversation is light and for once, Miles doesn’t mind the company. 

“You know,” Sully stars, obviously already intoxicated, “Your first hunt went better than mine ever did,”

“Neytiri used to smack me, calling me a child and a skxawng almost daily until one day, I suddenly got it right,” The grin on Sully’s face is nauseating, but Miles guess there was something admirable to still be that deeply in love with your wife after fifteen years. 

“Y/n did the same to us,” Miles starts, surprising not only himself with opening up, “She had so much patience with our bullshit. Hell, she managed to take a unit of salty, hardened Marines and break our set ways to become tree-huggers,”

There’s more than one head turning when Miles outright laughs at the fond memory. Sully looks as if he’s allowed something sour while Tonowari reminds him of a perplexed puppy. The big guy somehow always manages to turn a situation into something positive, so Miles guesses the puppy comparison isn’t that far off. 

“You really like her, don’t you?” Jake eventually recovers enough to ask after Miles continued to share stories about you teaching the nit the Na’vi way.

“Let’s just say that I would go to war for her and leave it at that,” Miles grins, the reference going straight over Tonowari’s head, but it makes Jake huff a chuckle and shake his head. 

Tonowari, of course, finds his own meaning in Miles’ words though. 

“I hear you. Ronal has that same effect on me,” He says, grinning widely, so obviously still madly in love with his wife, “She snaps her fingers or bats her lashes at me and I’m helpless to deny her anything,” 

That makes both Jake and Miles laugh, grinning widely as they look at each other. In reality, there was no stronger force in any universe but two people in love, Miles knew that. But to share his vulnerability like this, with these two men, one of which was his greatest enemy - was difficult. He had never been the kind to share himself, always holding his cards close to his chest. Quarich had done so his entire life, but the more Mile learned, the more tired he got about the prospect of guarding himself from others. 

“I feel you, buddy,” Jake echoes, as they both turn to Miles with open shit-eating grins on their faces. 

“Oh, hell no. I ain’t that pussy whipped,” Miles balks, but Jake and Tonowari just look at each other with knowing expressions before bursting out with laughter. “Well, I’ll be damned,” 

Miles eventually sighs with the realization that he totally is and it makes the other men laugh even harder, Tonowari wheezing as he supports himself on Jake’s shoulder, his former Corporal wiping tears from his eyes. Their laughter eventually fades out though, leaving loose smiles on their faces and a good, safe space behind the bonfire. Some of the other men stood up to leave when their mates approached, bidding them goodnight and congratulating Miles on his success. Miles, however, was still stuck thinking about you and the realization that he totally was whipped. 

“I don’t know how to be what they need,” Quaritch eventually hums, a rare moment of trust and vulnerability shining through. 

“We’re jarheads, Quaritch, used to taking orders. Just follow hers and you’ll be fine,” Jake starts, slapping a hand on the back of Miles’ shoulder carefully as if to test to see if it would be tolerated or not.

“Breaking the code… it’s not easy, but heck, I somehow made it.” Huffind an affirmative, Miles just nods, deep in thought. 

“If you want her, you need to prove to her every day of your life that you’re worthy enough to call yourself her mate,” Tonowari offers, leaning forward to pin him with a firm stare, “And should she bless you by having more children, you lay on the very ground she walks on to protect her tired feet.” 

“I ain’t much of a family man, chief,” Quaritch straightens, facing Tonowari head-on. 

“These things have a way of figuring themselves out, Quaritch. Hell, look at Spider. Even after all the shit you’ve done, he saved your sorry ass, so you must’ve done something right while you had him,” Groaning, Miles rolls his eyes. He would never back down from facing what he had done to these people, figuring the least he could do was stand through it. 

“You are a strong and capable male. There are others among the people who would be interested in becoming your mate,” Tonowari offers, a knowing look in his eyes as he lays the truth bare. 

“You have become Metkayina now, you stand free to choose a mate among the people,” The bare thought of choosing anyone other than you physically pained him though, something the others immediately noticed when his ears snapped back against his skull. 

“Tell her how you feel, my friend. You might just be surprised,” Tonowari offers gently, watching as Miles’ eyes close while he rubs his hands over his face.  

“She already knows,” Miles offers back, a sad smile on his face. “Has known for quite some time already,”

“You so sure about that, Colonel?” Jake offers and it’s the way he says it that makes hope latch onto something deep inside of him. 

Nodding to Sully, Miles empties his cup, falling back into silence as the others continue to talk. As the night progresses, he finds himself searching for you among the people, his eyes sorting through each and every member of the clan until finally - finally - they land on your form. You’re sitting with Mrs. Sully, the two of them huddled close as you talk. As if on instinct, your head snaps up to meet his eyes and a small smile crosses your lips. Mrs. Sully bumps your shoulder, whispering something and then she leaves. Getting up on his feet, Miles is annoyed to feel the wobbliness in them as he approaches. 

“Have you had anything to heat?” It’s a stupid question, he knows it is, but the way it makes your eyes light up, he can’t help his heart from beating a little faster in his chest. 

“I have, thank you,” You smile up at him until he eventually sits down beside you. 

“Where’s Spider?” Miles finds himself asking and it’s somehow awkward. 

“He’s off with Lo’ak and some other boys, doing teenage stuff,” You huff with a roll of your eyes. It makes Miles huff a chuckle of his own.

“Is he safe with them?” 

“He is,” You hum, turning your head to stare at him. 

It makes him uncharacteristically nervous, his ears bending flat against his skull while his tail thrashes wildly behind him. Closing his eyes, Miles wills his embarrassment to pass, but when he opens his eyes again, he has no such luck. You are unyielding when it comes to his bullshit and for once, he’s actually comforted by that fact. 

“You should tell him how you feel,” You offer kindly before getting up. “It has been a long day, I will bid my goodnight before returning to our kelku. You did well today and I’m very happy for you,”

Miles understands the words you’re saying, but there’s something off about it. Something off about the sound of your voice, something that makes the hairs on the back of his neck stand on alert. You sound almost detached as if you’re distancing yourself from him. The bare thought of it almost has him spiraling before he gets up to follow you around, bidding his own goodnight and thanks. When they eventually get back to the hootch, Miles doesn’t know what to do or say. He watches as you undress, watches as you curl into the bed, and yawn before closing your eyes. You look… sad? No matter what it is, it’s unacceptable. Undressing, Miles crawls into bed behind you, lifting the blankets until he’s slotted tightly against your body. Instinctively, you curl up against him, sighing deeply when his hand snakes around your waste to hold you tight. 

“I’m proud of you,” You whisper when his head eventually rests against your shoulder, “But that paint is going to get everywhere by morning,”

“I will clean it,” Miles hums, feeling the huff you let out in response as you hold his hand close to your chest. 

He’s barely awake by the time Spider gets back, his small, colder body wiggling over you as he finds his space in the bed. Miles is unable to hold back the smile on his face when Spider’s head rests in the palm of his hand, completely occupying the arm under his mother’s head. Rubbing his thumb against Spider’s forehead, Miles’ heart stops in his chest when Spider sleepily mumbles a “G’nite dad,”. In the morning, he would have to confront Y/n about what was going on and then, he needs to ask the old bat about the visions he saw and what truth they held. Maybe Sully could tell him about his own experience and how that unfolded. 

“Sleep,” You mumble before clutching his hand tighter, curling more firmly against him while taking Spider with you, your son already long gone into la-la land. 

“Alright,” Miles whispers back, intertwining their fingers against your chest. 

He would have to get ahead of this if he wanted to have a fighting chance. The more he learned, the more he knew, the better he could prepare to keep his family safe. Tomorrow would bring about a change, unlike the days until then. As a member of the tribe, Miles now stood free to do whatever he wanted to do, no longer bound to repent. Though that wouldn’t stop him from doing what he could to make you happy. He had gone into this one hundred percent, knowing that if he did, he would have to do it on your terms by becoming a true Na’vi. And now that he was one of the people, your futures had once more opened for change. Only time would tell now…

Chapter 20 | Masterpost | Chapter 22 - Coming soon

[mydearneteyam]

AS IT RAINS ;; TEYLAN

summary ;; just one look is enough to want to learn more.

pairing ;; teylan x gn!na'vi!reader

warnings ;; none

word count ;; 0.8k

word of the day ;; nume [ˈn·u.m·ɛ] vin. learn

"Yes, I-I know, I'm sure I know it's name!" you heard Teylan's voice along with a soft laughter from Ri'nela. As you entered HQ you came upon two familiar faces. From the tablet in the female's hands you could guess that she was trying to see if Teylan knew the names of the pictures. Priya told you they were 'memory games' to get the younger Sarentu to get used to Pandora a little more. Behind Teylan's back you folded your arms, waiting for him to speak.

"Well?" smiled Ri'nela, giving you an amused look. The capped one scanned the image in front of him and clapped his hands.

"It's a Whipfang Crawler!" he exclaimed. You gave a couple of soft claps, making him jump in fright and turn to look at you.

"Tslikxyu Txumtem" you corrected. "But very good. I see you've made progress" you sat down next to him, swinging one of your legs over the couch. The girl extended the tablet to you.

"I got eight out of ten right, but the names in Na'vi are still… complex for me" you listen to him at the same time he receive the device, reviewing the earliest pictures.

You remembered a couple of words from Dr. Alma, who had explained to you that Teylan was the most attached to English and in itself, to human practices or customs.

"You're on the right track." you pointed out to him, noticing the boy's face light up all over, happy to have approval, you could guess.

"I have to go. Nor has asked me to help with something." indicated Ri'nela, holding onto your shoulder and carefully, you placed your hand over hers, smiling.

"That's alright. I can go on. I'm a great teacher" you laughed, making Teylan's tail wag anxiously as he noticed how you took the tablet from him and set it down on the couch.

"Are we gonna keep studying?" he asked, to which you stood up, holding out your hand.

"Outside. We are going to study outside" you indicated.

…

"Look, look, a Helicoradian!" Teylan smiled, approaching the plant excitedly, touching it and noticing how it retracted. It had been a while since both of them had left the place and for now, it has been good. Very good.

"And in our language, what is it called?" you asked, keeping up with him. Teylan made a grimace that you found amusing, where he also shrugged, hoping he was right.

"Tawtsngal?" you denied. "Ah, Loreyu!" now you nodded.

"Tawtsngal, 'the plant of love' according to humans… it's from another area" you remember, looking down at your feet as you walked. Suddenly, the sound of some branches and something falling made you raise your head. Teylan frowned and before he could bring his hand to his cap, you stopped him.

"Kali'weya…" now, he didn't remember that name at all, but when he noticed that from his cap dangled something similar to what Nor once caught, similar to a scorpion, his eyes snapped open, terrified.

"Wha...what do I do?" he asked, almost freaking out. Carefully and with only the tip of one of the arrows you had, you received it, pulling it out of Teylan's cap and setting it down on a log.

"They can sting" you said, now taking his face onto your hands and examining to see if something else hadn't landed on his hair. The closeness was such that the boy's tail once again swayed vigorously and anxiously. When you noticed his ears tilted back, you released him, with your cheeks flushing. "I'm sorry, I thought something else had fallen."

Teylan shook his head, embarrassed. "It's okay…" he pressed his lips, starting to turn around. You were just about to suggest to come back at HQ if he wanted, but when you felt drops of water fall to your face you smiled.

"Let's stay here for a while, please" you took his hand before he managed to walk away. Although that action even surprised you, you didn't want to avoid physical contact between both.

The Sarentu looked at you for a few seconds. Your hair was beginning to be adorned by the raindrops and the bio-luminescence of the trees was beginning to glow behind your figure, thought your freckles were too. Your nose wrinkled every time the water hit your face, but you kept smiling.

"You are a blessing…" he said, with a low tone. You turned to look at him and he tried to walk away again, embarrassed. "Sorry, sorry!"

"Syawn, blessing. Rain is a blessing" you nodded with a serene face, oblivious to the context of what he said. "You get it right, well done. We can go back now" you let go of his hand, but he took it again with purple cheeks.

"I want… to learn more"

You noticed that the rain became heavier, but his grip, for the first time, was resolute.

"As you wish".

a/n ;; i had an idea for a series for so'lek but mmmm- and i repeat, people, if i make a mistake please correct me, english isn't my first language and i'm insecure.....

[laismoura-art]

Baby Satoshi is cute and polite and sweet to everyone but Bi-Han. Especially when it's just the two of them and Satoshi says something nasty unprovoked.

No one believes Bi-Han.

Bi-Han doesn't dare tell anyone cause he knows he will be blamed for it, even though he's only partly at fault!

See, Bi-Han is a fierce warrior, and he fears no enemies! But he can't, for the life of him, stand jump scares!

He falls for ALL OF THEM, doesn't matter how mild they are, or if it's just someone startling him, he will be scared, and he will be LOUD about his contempt!

And when I say loud, I mean swearing to the four winds! The most colourful and creative ways of swearing, five in a roll, six if you're lucky!

And Satoshi thinks that's THE FUNNIEST thing in the world!

Kid will use his ninja skills to sneak on Bi-Han, yelling, "HI, UNCLE BEE!" And Bi-Han would let out some swear words no one has ever heard before! (And of course Satoshi would take note of them all!)

Satoshi: Hey, uncle Bee, what does [Bleep] [Bleep] [Bleeeeeep] means?

Bi-Han:

Bi-Han: How about I pay you some ice cream??

Satoshi, in the most angelic voice: Yay! Thanks, Uncle Bee :3

Also, a little bonus:

I imagine Satoshi as we see him in Scorpion's Revenge, and a kid that age would DEFINITELY be into FNAF, and you BET he would make Bi-Han watch him play or even make him play by himself, and can you IMAGINE the chaos that would be??

Bi-Han: HE MOVED! HE MOVED! WHAT DO I DO??

Satoshi: Look at the cameras!

Bi-Han: I already looked at the damned ca-- !#$&%@ HE'S GONE! HE'S !#$&%@ GONE! THE !#$&%@ DO I DO???

Satoshi, already rolling in laughter: Calm down, just close the door!

Bi-Han: Ok, ok! I'll close--

Bi-Han: *is jump scared* AAAH! !#$&%@ FREAKING !#$&%@ BEAR! I'M GONNA !#$&%@ !#$&%@ YOU FURRY SON OF A !#$&%@

Bi-Han: I think I had enough of this game for tonight, Toshi.

Satoshi: Ok! Thanks for playing with me, Uncle Bee :3

Bi-Han:

Satoshi:

Satoshi: So... what was it that you called Freddy's mom?

Bi-Han, rushing to the nearest exit: alwaysapleasuretoplaywithyoukiddon'tmentionanythingtoanyofyourparentsbye--

@running-with-the-feels @mikka-minns 🩷💛💙

[crikeygatormate]

I Promise - K.B ; Part 2

Summary: After your clan had been exiled and shunned from the western lands, your family grew to hate the royal family who they felt betrayed them. In return you were sent on a mission to reclaim your families honor, but you would come to find out that your mission came with a price.

Dragon Prince!Bakugou x AFAB Reader

Warnings: Hunting and animal death, somewhat graphic, use of weapons (spear), detailed creepy scorpion type bugs sorry lol, acceptance of death, graphic injuries, spelling errors ofc

A/N: sigh I’m a sucker for bkg treating wounds, makes me happy lol and to add this isn’t like a abo sort of thing, I just like long canine teeth 

(Part Three)

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

PART TWO

You waited for a good hour before Bakugou came back to your tent. In the time you waited, the clear dawn sky was starting to fill with dark clouds, you could even see lightning crackle in a few clouds in the distance. You sighed, it smelled like it was going to rain even, and with a groan you leaned forward and laid your forehead against your knees, watching a small ant fight its way through the thick summer grass. 

“Hey,” Bakugou’s timbre voice appeared out of nowhere causing you to jump out of your own skin, “let’s go.”

You blinked hard, still recoiling from the small adrenaline surge from his sudden appearance, you took another beat of silence before speaking up, “and where are we going?”

“Showin’ you around,” Bakugou grumbled as he brushed a ladybug off his bare shoulder.

You lifted a brow about to say something till he shot you a menacing stare.

“I am not your tour guide, just fuckin’ doin’ this so the ancient hag will get off my ass,” he quickly snapped, “get up, I need to get out and hunt before it rains.”

You pressed your lips together, clearly a little displeased with his attitude, but you listened and got up to follow him around the camp. Your sharp tongue would not serve you well during this time, you needed to be passive, collected. You needed him to trust you, in fact, you needed him to befriend you.

You furrowed your brows in thought as you followed him around the camp, not really listening to him as you mulled through different ideas on how to become his friend. Obviously you couldn’t ask what he likes, that would give you away, he was already suspicious of you. 

“This is where most of the women cook, if they chose to do so,” Bakugou explained, unaware, or simply not caring that you were completely zoned out and deep in thought. “I’m sure you’d love to spend a lot of time here,” he quipped, as his vermillion gaze cut towards you.

You were pulled out of your thoughts at his comment. Was that a dig at you? “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Nothin’,” Bakugou shrugged, trying hard not to let his lips pull up into a smirk at your frown.

You scoffed, rolling your eyes, “you haven’t changed at all, ya know? You’re still that little snotty brat I met in the field when we were kids,” you said before you were able to hold your tongue.

“The fuck?” Bakugou gasped, clearly caught off guard, “what makes you think you can say that to me?”

You shrugged, internally wincing at your words, you should not have said that. Now he’s all mad, in fact his ears were all red. You tilted your head as he lifted his upper lip into a snarl, or was it a sneer? Wait, you paused as a slow grin grew on your face, was he embarrassed? “Did I embarrass you?”

Bakugou huffed, and quickly glanced at the older women who stopped skinning their deer to listen, and then he looked back at you. The air around him dramatically rose a few degrees and he bared his teeth at you, “no, you didn’t embarrass me, fuckin’ gnat. You can figure out the rest of camp by yourself if you’re gonna be like that,” he snapped and then promptly left you, cursing you out under his breath no doubt. 

You snorted, shaking your head. There was a small twinge of pride you felt bloom in your chest at his outburst. Then again though, you probably just took about five steps back from becoming friends with him. With a quick glance over your shoulder you took off after him.

“Hey, please show me around, look I’m not a morning person okay, I get grumpy this early-”

“No,” Bakugou hissed, as he looked at you through narrowed eyes.

“C’mon, this place is at least triple the size of my home, I’ll get lost,” you tried to plead, which wasn’t very convincing at the slightest.

Bakugou stopped walking and folded his arms over his chest. The sky was now almost black with storm clouds, “No.”

You rolled your eyes, “why not?”

“You’re annoying as shit,” Bakugou began taking a step towards you, “and not to mention you’re obviously hiding something, don’t think I can’t see the way you’ve been watching us, watching me. Sizing me up like prey.”

You folded your arms across your chest, mirroring him. The little lighthearted banter you had going on was quickly put out as he took another step towards you and you were reminded again how big he was, how strong, how smart. 

“You’re sly, like your clan, I know a snake when I see one, and you’ve been givin’ me all the signs,” he hissed as lightning flashed behind him, illuminating his figure.

“I’m not like them,” you said seriously, a small part of you couldn’t tell if you were lying or not. “I’m not, just because I share the same name and traits does not mean I am them. You don’t even know me, and not to mention I went out of my way to save you and your dragon. If I’m such a snake, why did Kirishima come to me first?”

Bakugou’s upper lipped twitched up and he shook his head, “he’s fuckin’ dumb thats why.”

“No he’s not,” you shot back, “just give me a chance, your grandmother is willing to give me one, why can’t you?”

Bakugou mulled over your words, keeping his unblinking gaze trained on you before he spoke again. “Come on my hunt then, if you can feed the clan before yourself, then I might be convinced.”

So he wanted you to hunt and then feed his clan, but not yourself. So obviously he wanted you to give up your food for the foreseeable future, which was not ideal. But you had no other choice. A bitter feeling settled in your gut as you glanced at some clan members, they were watching you through narrowed eyes and bared teeth. They hated you.

Not like you liked them, but you were willing to do anything to get your job done, and if that meant feeding your enemies before yourself you would do that.

“Fine,” you said with a curt nod, “I’ll do that-”

“For a week,” Bakugou concluded. A week with scraps would break almost anyone, which is what he wanted. If you were hiding something or had an ulterior motive it would come out surely. No one would sacrifice their wellbeing to that extent. 

“A week then,” you repeated, keeping your face passive.

—--------------

You found yourself out in the woods with Bakugou, along with a few other hunters. It was raining now, and hard. Water was streaming down your face, making you have to wipe your eyes every few moments to help you maintain your sight. 

You were hunting an elk, a bull. The elk in these lands were large too, larger than any animal you’ve seen in your life. When you told Bakugou’s hunting group that you’ve never seen an elk before, they laughed at you. Then not so subtly mocked you on how your clan was used to eating rats and other vermin.

You would have normally snapped at them, said something foul, but a quick glance at Bakugou reminded you that you were on a mission. He was watching your every move. You were an outsider here, a traitor, and you needed his trust. 

“Look at how clumsy you are,” Sero, one of the other hunters mocked as he flicked your arm, “clearly never been in the woods in your life.”

“You’re loud too,” Kaminari said with a snort as he watched you step directly on a branch, causing it to snap loudly. 

You were bristling, barely holding back your venom as you pushed forward. In fact, you were sure you were going to break a canine tooth if you kept grinding your teeth so hard. Did they not forget that you were practically once royalty too, not like Bakugou, but far above the likes of their families. 

You shared a lot of the same traits that the Bakugou’s did, the oddly colored eyes, affinity for dragons, and sharp teeth. Not to mention being more skilled athletically than the normal person. 

“There,” Bakugou interrupted his friends, lowering his voice as he came up next to you. He was crouched low, vermillion eyes trained on a group of elk in the distance. “You have one shot,” he said quietly as his gaze slid over to you.

You met his eyes with a look of determination. Of course, you were somewhat nervous, but you had practice taking down big game, well if emancipated cows counted as big game. You didn’t have the luxury to practice on real game because there were none in your homeland. 

With a sharp inhale you looked away from him and zeroed in on the largest elk in the herd, the bull. He was massive, with a tawny coat that stretched over strong muscles. He was grazing ahead of the herd, but was cautious, swiveling his ears to listen for any sign of danger. 

The rain was your friend in this moment for it helped cover the sounds of your movements in the undergrowth towards the bull. You kept yourself low to the ground, as you moved downwind so he wouldn’t catch your scent. Just like you used to practice. Your breaths were slow, calm as you reached back to grab your spear when you came within range. The bull still hadn’t noticed you, and was looking more relaxed, this was your opening. With one swift movement you pulled your spear off your back and threw it towards the bull. 

A thud and a short scream from the bull let you know you hit your mark. It was a clean shot, right through the heart, and you watched with pride as the big elk tumbled to the ground. He let out a final breath as he watched his herd run to safety.

You were quick to make your way over to your kill, inspecting it to make sure it wasn’t suffering any longer than it should. To your delight, you had done everything perfectly. For a moment you felt a twinge of happiness that you accomplished something, but it was quickly doused the moment you remembered not to get distracted by your own feelings again. 

“Well that wasn’t that impressive,” Sero said as he yanked your spear out of the elks side, “he was old anyway.”

“Should have made her hunt a young bull,” Kaminari added, “those ones have a lot more fight.”

You shot them a glare, but quickly turned your focus to Bakugou who was silent. 

He nodded once at you, “Bring it back to camp, and clean it for tonight.”

You glanced at the bull, it had to be at least eight hundred pounds. Which was heavy, how could you even begin to pull it? 

“Don’t be out here after dark,” Bakugou added, his eyes holding a slight glint of malice as he turned around to head back to camp. Not before smacking Kaminari in the back of the head as he passed by him. 

You stood still, dumbfounded that they would leave you out here in the pouring rain and make you figure out how to make your way back to camp even though you’ve only been there one day. With a disgruntled sigh you glanced to the sky, it was probably about midday now, and the trek back would take all the way till nightfall, if not more. 

—---

“Damn,” you panted, as you dropped the bulls antlers, you were shaking from exhaustion. You probably made it about halfway back to what you presumed was camp, but it was already night. Thankfully it stopped raining though, or else you would have not been able to see the smoke stacks that were rising at the foot of the mountain, where you assumed Bakugou was. 

There was no moon out tonight which would have been problematic , but the forest was surprisingly well lit. There seemed to be some sort of bioluminescent plants that would glow at night, lighting your path with a soft blue light . It was strange seeing so much life and so much diversity after being in a place that had none. 

As much as you were intrigued with the flora in the woods, you didn’t forget Bakugou’s warning to not be in the woods at night. He knew there was something in here that was dangerous, was he hoping that you would encounter it? Surely he must have, you’re practically inviting something to hunt you with the carcass you're dragging. 

You glanced over your shoulder quickly, trying to see if there was any flash of movement before beginning to pull the elk again. 

—----

Bakugou huffed, glancing up at the forest from where he sat around the fire. You had been gone a long time now, and his grandmother would be heading to dinner soon, which meant she would ask him about you. 

He frowned, already expecting the ancient hag to smack him over the head with her cane. His mother, though, would be pleased to hear he left you in the woods, where the creatures of night would surely be thrilled to have an easy meal.

Someone sat next to him, he didn’t have to look to know it was Kirishima. 

“Got anymore of that boar from the other day?” Kirishima’s voice cut into his thoughts.

Bakugou glanced over at his dragon, he was still pale. His red eyes seemed dull, but he looked much better than he did this morning. “No, waiting for the traitor to bring back dinner. Elk.”

Kirishima gasped, “you left her up in the woods! Katsuki!”

Bakugou rolled his eyes and returned his gaze to the forest, “she’s fine.”

“No she’s not! The moon is gone tonight,” Kirishima said as he looked up at the dark sky. There were only stars out tonight. “Those things will be out, and they’ll be hungry.”

“Then she’ll have to figure it out,” Bakugou replied with a shrug. The things Kirishima was so worried about were some kind of creature that he thought resembled a scorpion. They were blind, and would only come out once a month during a new moon to hunt. He tracked them before up to a large cave near the top of the mountain. He learned they didn’t like light and used their sense of smell to hunt. They would kill their prey with a sharp sting to the side and carry it back up the mountain to a much bigger one, presumably the queen. 

He thought they were fuckin’ creepy as shit, not mention hard to kill. They had a tough armor of chitin on their backs and could only be killed with a spear to the abdomen or fire. 

“They’re gonna sting her and bring her up the mountain, Katuski, you can’t let that happen,” Kirishima said with wide eyes as he grabbed Bakugou’s shoulder roughly.

“Why the hell do you care so much?” Bakugou snapped, looking back at Kirishima with furrowed brows.

Kirishima’s hand slipped off Bakugou’s shoulder and he brought it to his lap and looked down. “I dunno,” he shrugged as he played with a string on his pants, “I just trust her I guess. She has a good heart.”

“A good heart, huh?” Bakugou snorted, “good heart my ass. She obviously is here for a reason and not a good one, don’t you think it’s ironic that she showed up almost a minute after you got hit with a silver arrow? Not to mention, someone knew that silver would hurt you.”

Kirishima nodded, but kept his gaze down, “I know, but she has a dragon, Katsuki. I know I’m not like the wild ones, but we follow the same routine when picking our rider, our partner,” he explained as he looked up at his best friend. “We don’t choose people who are truly evil by nature.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes and then glanced over to the area where your dragon was tied off. She looked agitated. Her amber eyes were focused on the woods too, maybe something was wrong.

“I’m starved,” a frail voice said, his grandmother, who he somehow didn’t hear sit down across from him. “Did you have a successful hunt this morning, Katsu?”

Bakugou looked at his grandmother, she seemed to already know what had happened. “Yes.”

“That’s good,” she said as a horrid shriek from the forest echoed down the mountain. It sounded like a woman’s shriek, and suddenly your dragon was up, roaring loudly. A few commoners screamed as she violently tugged at her restraints. 

Bakugou ran a hand over his face before making eye contact with his grandmother once more.

“Did you leave that poor girl up there?” she hissed, narrowing her vermillion eyes, “a prince shouldn’t act like that, that’s barbaric.”

“That’s rich- '' Bakugou began, about to remind her of his family line, which did in fact include barbarians.

“Go get her,” his grandmother interrupted, her voice was low and she was looking at him like she was going to smack him with her cane from across the fire. 

Bakugou stood up and roughly kicked a log into the fire, causing sparks to fly up into the air. Why was his grandmother so trusting of you? Why was Kirishima so trusting of you too? Were they blind? 

—---

You let out another shriek as a horrible insect tried to grab you with its pinchers and sting you again. They were disgusting, pale and huge with a coat of slime covering their backs. Their eyes were small and milky pink, and you had quickly figured out they couldn’t see, but their sense of smell and hearing were impeccable.

You tried giving them the elk to at least try to get away, but they didn’t want anything dead it seemed. 

They wanted you.

The bugs were clicking and chittering to one another as they circled the bottom of the tree you were clinging to, and occasionally stabbing the trunk with their tails. Maybe you were safe up here till morning. They couldn’t climb right?

You held your breath as a smaller one, probably about the size of you took a running start at the tree and leapt. All eight legs landed squarely on the tree, and you watched in horror as it dug its little claws into the bark before using its tail to anchor itself into the truck. 

“Shit,” you hissed as you looked up at the tree, you could climb a few more feet. Maybe if you got to the top, the thin branches would snap under the weight of the bug. Your heart was pounding in your chest like a drum as you did your best to climb up the tree. The bark of the tree was cutting into your hands, making the insects below go wild when they scented your blood. 

You continued to climb, glancing down to see the one bug was almost caught up with you, and their clicking became unified and loud. You took another step but the branch beneath your feet broke and you now you were hanging.

The bug that was chasing you up the tree was now snapping at your feet, just a few inches away from getting your legs. You let out a cry of frustration as you tried to lift yourself up, but after dragging that elk for most of the day your muscles were exhausted, you were barely hanging on. 

All at once a searing pain erupted from your left calf and you screamed, and turned around to see that the bug had planted its pinchers into your leg. It was waving its tail and you felt dread sit heavy in your stomach like lead. 

Was this it? Were you going to be killed by these insects? Fail your mission and be remembered as the one who failed to bring your family's honor back? 

No, you couldn’t give up. Not when you’ve gone through so much, sacrificed so much to be here. These insects were not going to take that away from you. 

With a growl you used your good leg to kick the bug in the face, causing it to screech, but it kept its pinchers locked in, tearing at your flesh as it used two legs to grab your upper leg, trying to yank itself up your body to get you to fall.

You kicked it again, and again, hoping that it would detach but it hung on, and dug in deeper. You let out a cry of frustration, maybe you could drop from the tree and land on it then run away? You glanced down, the forest floor was probably about fifty feet down. You’d die if you fell from this height. 

The bug while you were looking away for a moment raised its tail, the stinger was aimed at you. In a split second you glanced towards the bug and acted on pure instinct, one hand shot out and grabbed the bug's tail, leaving the stinger inches from your face. You were now hanging on to the branch by one hand, supporting you and the insect that was clinging onto you. 

“Fuck,” you shouted, as a few tears threatened to spill down your cheeks, “let go damn it!”

You kicked the insect one time, letting out another shout. Maybe this was it, your hand was slipping off the branch, and there was nowhere else to go but down. You let out a sigh and shut your eyes. The sounds of the bugs faded and the forest faded till all you could hear was your unsteady breathing and rapid heartbeat.

You took a few more breaths before you decided to let go, your fingers slipped from the branch and you felt your stomach drop and air whooshed past your ears. It would be fine in a few moments, you thought to yourself as you felt the bug that was on you fall away from you, scrambling to grab back on to your leg in mid air, it managed to scrap its stinger down your thigh in it’s attempt, drawing blood, but you didn’t even feel it. 

You braced for impact, but to your surprise it never came. 

Something grabbed you, yanking at your cloak hard, making the clasp of your cloak tighten around your neck and practically choking you as you were flung up into the air and onto something hard. You coughed, scrambling to grab onto something as you opened your eyes, only seeing the stars above you.

Suddenly an orange light illuminated the sky and you could feel the heat of fire on your skin. You blinked as a face came into view in front of you. It was Bakugou. 

He was looking down at the forest floor, baring his teeth as he turned his mother’s dragon around and commanding her to set the bugs on fire again. Another plume of fire erupted in the forest and you could hear the dying screeches of the insects as the flames devoured them. 

“Fuckin’ insects,” Bakugou snarled before he turned his gaze to you. You looked horrible. Dirt and blood covered your skin and hair and most of your clothes were torn. He glanced at your hands, they were rubbed raw from dragging the elk and climbing the tree you were clinging to. His gaze moved down your body, checking for any obvious sting marks and he frowned when he saw the large scrape on your thigh, it was oozing the same black liquid that he saw when Testsu got stung. Then he noticed the bite marks in your calf and he was quick to yank off the leather strap around his bicep and tie it above the bite mark.

You winced, weakly trying to push Bakugou away as he tied a tourniquet around your leg. “Stop.”

He glanced at you with a neutral expression, ignoring your comment before looking back at your wounds. A small part of him felt a twinge of regret for leaving you out in the forest all alone. He expected you to get a little roughed up, not to get hunted by a pack of those things till the point of pure exhaustion. 

As your senses started to come back more you were able to sit up a bit, well as best as you could since Bakugou had you slung in the saddle in front of him on your back like a carcass. You glanced at him, “can you help me get upright?” you asked as your body flopped back down, making the world appear upside down.

“Fine,” Bakugou replied, his voice was clipped as he yanked you upright, frowning as you let out a whimper when you moved your bad leg over the side of the saddle. 

You let out a sigh, feeling like you had your bearings a bit better now that you were upright. You could see the camp was so close now, and you could see your dragon in the distance too. She was worried you could feel it. 

As you prepared to land, you started to feel strange, your bad leg was starting to freeze and it felt like it was on fire. “What’s happening?” you hissed as you grabbed your thigh, trying to find the source of the pain.

“You got stung, not badly though, just a scratch,” Bakugou explained as he glanced at your thigh from behind you, “our healer has seen this before.”

You nodded, hissing as the fire seemed to travel up your side making your abdominal muscles spasm and contract. The pain was nothing like you felt before, it was like it attacked your nerves, made them feel like they were burning.

Bakugou quickly wrapped his arm around your waist as you started to writhe against him, hissing and clawing at his arm. He now felt a little more than just a ‘twinge’ of guilt. Once he landed he was quick to get you both off his mother’s dragon and to the healers tent.

You were crying trying to grab at anything to distract yourself from the pain, which resulted in you yanking one of Bakugou’s necklaces from his neck. You missed the curious looks of the commoners watching Bakugou rush you across camp to the healer covered in your blood. You also missed Kirishima rushing up to Bakugou’s side.

“I told you, you shouldn’t have left her out there,” Kirishima said as he glanced at your leg. It looked mangled and was streaked with black lines. “Katsuki, I told you,” he repeated again, more softly.

“I know fuckin’ shitty scales,” Bakugou growled as he walked past his grandmother whose eyebrows rose in concern, and his mother who smirked at the sight of you writhing in her sons arms. 

Someone grabbed your hand, they were warm and you looked to see a blurry outline of someone with red hair. They squeezed your hand before the pain made you black out and your hand fell out of theirs limp.

—------

Midoriya usually liked to spend his evenings in his tent, inspecting the flora and fauna he collected from the forest under his magnifying glass by the fire. Sometimes he would read through some of his findings for the day, try to see if he missed something in his research. 

But his favorite thing to do was to paint. 

Most of his medicinal plants and flowers could be turned into colorful paint, which at night would glow on the parchment he’d use. Tonight was one of the rare nights he could paint.

Tonight he was painting your dragon.

He had never seen a dragon like yours before. She was long and slender, like some of the forest snakes he’s observed. Yet she had an extra set of teeth like the marine sharks he saw when the clan was near the ocean during winter. Her fire, though, was what was most intriguing to him. It was green, which meant unlike the dragons he knows to have gold in their blood, which keeps their fire orange, yours must have copper, which turns it green. 

She was fascinating to him. Midroyia dipped his paintbrush in the green paint he made from a bit of malachite and filled in the tail of your dragon. He was pleased with this painting, it was probably one of his best.

“Deku!” Bakugou’s voice carried through the tent, “get that art shit off your table!”

Midoriya glanced up to see Bakugou yank open the tent flap and in his arms was you. “Oh my,” he said in mild shock as he quickly cleared his painting and his supplies off his table. “Put her down, Kacchan.”

Bakugou moved inside and set you on the long wooden table and leaned back as Kirishima entered the tent looking worried. 

“What happened?” Midoriya asked as he examined your wounds and your body. Black lines were traveling up your skin towards your heart. He didn’t wait for Bakugou to answer, he knew it was those arachnids out in the woods. 

He wasted little time moving through his vials of anti-venom before he grabbed one that was filled with an opaque blue liquid. “Open her mouth,” Midoriya said as he glanced at Bakugou, “she’s going to need a few other things as well.”

Watching Midoriya practice his medicine was almost like watching him paint, he was precise in his movements, and intentional. He never made a mistake. 

Bakugou glanced at Midoriya as he continued to pour vials of who knows what down your throat, and lift your head off the table so you wouldn’t choke. “What is all that?”

“Medicine,” Midoriya muttered, as he continued to rush around the tent grabbing various items.

Bakugou rolled his eyes, “dumbass.”

“Will she be alright?” Kirishima asked, ignoring Bakugou’s glare.

Midoriya nodded, “yes, no need to worry. She’ll be fine by morning. I'm assuming because of her lineage she’ll be similar to Kacchan in terms of recovery time. Your families seem to share similar traits,” he added as he pressed his pointer finger against your canine tooth, it was long and pointed like Bakugou’s.

Bakugou narrowed his eyes as he ran his tongue over his own teeth, you were similar to him in some ways. Not in all ways clearly, you were still a traitor in his book. He let go of your jaw, making Midoriya yelp when it snapped shut, almost getting Midoriya’s fingers. “Tell me when she’s up.”

Then he left the tent, not glancing back behind him, and tuning out Kirishima’s voice. He rolled his shoulders and flexed his neck, feeling a headache come on. He made his way back to the fire where he could see his grandmother who must have took it upon herself to get dinner from somewhere, probably from the old hags who were skinning the deer earlier today.

He looked away from her as he passed only to feel a sharp whack on his head, “shit, what the hell!”

“That’s what you deserve after doing that to that girl, traitor or not, she didn’t deserve to be left to those creatures,” his grandmother said as she placed her cane down, “you still have much to learn before you can lead us.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes while rubbing the top of his head as he made his way to his tent for the night. 

[half-oz-eddie]

Hawkins finally got a local radio station. Billy was hoping that the eclectic mix would mean he'd hear some new bands to broaden his tastes, but no! Because apparently, the DJ of this backwater town station was none other than Steve "The Hair" Harrington who only appealed to his friends, accepting requests for Madonna, The Clash, Duran Duran, and occasionally letting Mr. Clarke stop by to talk about the weather and "sciency bullshit."

Where was the Scorpions, the Metallica, the Mötley Crüe?!

"This station is for fuckin' losers." Billy groused as he changed the station. Just another reason to hate Hawkins even more.

Billy put on one of his preferred mixtapes for his drive. He always took long drives to get out of the house and calm himself down.

Eventually, he found himself near the station's center. He thought now was a good time to march right in there and hassle Harrington for his shitty music selection.

He parked right out front next to Steve's pretty little BMW, resisting the urge to ding it up before heading inside.

It was late, and fortunately for Billy (But unfortunately for Steve), Steve was all alone.

Billy ignored bright, blaring ON AIR sign and opened the door, walking right into the booth.

Steve's eyes grew wide and his brows deeply furrowed.

"Aaand now for a commercial break!" He turned off his mic and hastily pulled off his headphones, jumping out of his chair and approaching Billy who obnoxiously leaned against the door.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He questioned through his clenched teeth.

"I was in the area, figured I'd stop in and make a formal complaint...in person" Billy smirked.

Steve rolled his eyes. "What's your problem?"

"My problem is the music. Do you not have any taste?"

"I have taste!" Steve argued. "I play what the town likes to hear."

"So, I'm not part of this town?" Billy wondered, taking a drag from his cigarette.

"I never said that." Steve quickly contested, almost worried he'd hurt Hargrove's feelings.

Billy chuckled, blowing out the smoke. "You didn't have to. Guess that's fine. I'm not much of a...small town golden boy like you."

Steve let out an annoyed sigh. "If you wanted to make a request, why didn't you just call the line?"

"Because I gave King Steve the benefit of the doubt. Thought being a DJ would actually make you look cool. But it's doing nothing for your reputation."

Steve tusked, folding his arms and rolling his eyes. "My reputation is fine, actually."

"Oh yeah? When's the last time you had any bitches, huh, pretty boy? I hear all the girls do is laugh at you."

"Y-well..that's—that's not true." Steve faltered, unable to meet Billy's eyes as he laughed in his face.

"Hey, look. If you wanna be cool, stop playing music for just the dweebs and Hallmark Card families. Throw some party mixes in there. I can't crack open a beer to this, or play your station at a party."

"And I'm supposed to be taking advice from you?"

"You need my help, and you know it." Billy brushed past him and sat in his chair.

"Hey, hey, hey—"

"What's happenin', Hawkins? This is DJ Hargrove taking over the graveyard shift, bringing you the latest, the greatest, and the baddest. Grab your lady, grab a beer, and enjoy!"

Billy switched the cassette to his favorite mixtape as Steve threw his hands into the air, mouthing "I'm screwed, I'm gonna get fired."

"C'mon, this isn't a toy, get up."

Billy pushed Steve away as Steve tried to pull him out of the chair, when the phone rang.

Steve's heart nearly fell out of his ass. "That's probably my boss. If you got me fired, you're gonna pay."

Billy laughed and shrugged. "Worth it."

"H-hello?"

"Hey, just callin' in to say that DJ Hargrove's graveyard shift mix is bitchin'!"

"I'm so sor—wait, did you say you think it's bitchin'?"

"Yeah, man! Keep it up!"

Steve slowly put down the receiver, unable to shake the shock. He turned to Billy, annoyed by the smug smile on his face.

"So...it's bitchin', huh?"

"Ugh." Steve scoffed. "I guess...you...were right."

"Of course I was right. I'm never wrong."

"Hey, you...wanna swing by and play your mixes on the air sometimes?"

"Oh, now you need me?" Billy laughed. "I'll think about it. How much do I get paid?"

"Paid?!" Steve let out a defeated sigh. "I'll talk to my boss."

"In that case, I guess we'll be co-workers."

Steve smiled. Maybe Hargrove wasn't so bad. Maybe it would be nice to get along with him for a change.

[disventure-rewrite-takes]

Something that’s always annoyed me is that we literally never saw Emily actually do her job before she got fired. In episode one, they said her job was to create drama between the contestants and use the confessionals to do that, which she then.. never does??? I feel like it’s such a missed opportunity that they never really used her for this, especially when all the characters just jump to conclusions and create drama on their own which just makes them unlikeable most of the time. For example, she could’ve told Jake things about Tom and Aiden (even if that plotline sucked), made the Jake and Ally plot worse, Connor and Riya, Ellie with the villains alliance, etc.

Plus, I could be misremembering, but I’m pretty sure we never find out WHY she even helps Yul out in the earlier episodes. It sort of makes sense for his manager to contact her out of all the staff since she’s the newest, but why exactly does she decide to help?? How does it benefit her at all to do something that could (and did) get her fired for the sake of his reputation? Just because the manager would pay her?? It makes no sense to me.

I don’t think ONC had any idea what they were doing with her character for this entire season. Like, what the hell was the POINT of spending 5 episodes straight building up a friendship between her and Trevor that was clearly good for both of them, just to fuck it up for the sake of Trevek. And again, we have no idea what her plan to “ruin the show” even is. I’d assume that she intended for the scorpions to seriously injure or even kill one of the contestants so the staff would be in a lot of trouble, but. How did they NOT consider this as a possibility. They (or atleast Trevor and Derek) knew about the scorpions since season one, they’re in the same caves, and it was probably them who locked them in that cage in the first place. Plus, Trevor seemed to know exactly what Emily was gonna do and just didn’t.. try to warn anyone or say anything at all? Ok. Emily I’m so sorry for what they did to u queen, you deserve to be in a better show than this

every single character deserves to be in a better show, because i can truly get behind why characters like riya or even fucking YUL can be nuanced. TRULY, they do have potential, just not under ONC.

but EMILY??? they did her DIRTY. i don't get anyone saying it's in-character or out-of-character because guess what, her character is barely fucking established. it is SURREAL just how BAD her writing is. if you did a proper character analysis for her you couldn't say shit because there's so many contradicting things to say!! and this sucks!! because she could've been great!! but in ONC's eyes if a character is queer they're interesting enough who cares about actual development that makes sense!!!!! they're so progressive you guys!!! don't you want to watch disventure camp because they show up in those '_ rep in shows' slideshows from tiktok?!!?!?! don't you !?!?!??!?!?!?!!!

[spideyreid]

Why would you cook them?

I keep seeing those Australian Hunstman spidersonas and I wrote a little drabble about the conflicting British, American and Australian ‘chips’ argument. As an Aussie I love the Australian Huntsman idea, and people from Australia should get this. 

Just a little drabble about an Australian Spidersona with Hobie,  Miles and Gwen arguing chips.

Can be read as a Hobie x reader, or platonic, can be read as any gender 

Warnings: Swearing lmao but spidesona is Australian guys, tiny dig at American healthcare, first fic

“I swear Miguel’s actual mission is to kill us,” you hear Miles groan. The latest mission had been rounding up a scorpion anomaly, whose stinger somehow multiplied when it was cut off. After dropping it at HQ, the battered and bruised group decided to crash in your universe.

“Correction, try to kill you,” you laughed, which earned you a pointed look from Gwen. Hobie smirked, slapping Miles on the back. “Aye, probably cause you missed his last lecture mate.”

Gwen rolls her eyes. “No, that was you Hobie, you missed his last lecture.”

“Nah, ya trippin Gwendy, why would I miss the boss’s twenty minute screamin match about ‘HQ mandatory cleaning regulations,” he responds, leaning back in his chair. You couldn’t help but smile to yourself, as you recall ranting to him about that lecture yesterday. 

Since being bitten by a radioactive spider a year and a half ago, you had been Sydney’s one and only Huntsman, and a part of the spider society. A year and a half of fighting villains, anomalies, maggies and eshays. You enjoyed your life as Sydney’s huntsman, your average broke yr 12 (public school not private because you ain’t one of those snobby rich cunts, you literally live in Bankstown be fr) by day, before swinging over to Maccas for a quick frozen coke and being an eshay fighting official sick cunt by night.

Hobie jumped out of his chair with a grin on his face making his way over to where you stand in the kitchen. He leans against the sink, arms folded. “Oi love, where you keep ya food?”

You hummed pointing up to a cupboard, “Should be Chips up there.” 

“Chips?” He asks, not quite sure if he heard you.

“Nah fucking potatoes, yes chips you dickhead.” You scoff. 

“Means ya gonna cook em then.” Hobie sighs, and looks down from the cupboard. He is met with your horrified face. Your jaw drops and he realised he’s fucked up somehow judging by the furious look in your eye.

“WHY WOULD YOU FUCKING COOK THEM?” you yell dumbfounded. Your outburst caught the attention of the rest of your friends which made them come running. 

“What’s going on?”

“Oi, y/n eats chips raw mate, like I have to draw the line there that’s pretty fucked.”

Gwen raises her eyebrows before sharing a look with Miles. “Why would you cook chips?” Hobie looks at Gwen unimpressed.

“Thank you, yes, god, yeah you cook chips but you don’t cook those chips.”

“Wait what chips do you cook y/n?” Miles asks, confused.

“Y’know, um…. the long ones?” Hobie and Gwen smirk, and you roll your eyes. “Fuck off, I mean the potato ones, I can’t explain them just y’know.” 

Gwen pinches her nose. “I’m confused.”

Miles looks between all of you. “Me too.”

Sighing you push past Hobie barely avoiding the leg he sticks out and opening the cupboard. Down you pull a packet of Smiths original chips, and place it on the bench. “There, chips.”

A loud laugh pierces the air, surprising you, Miles and Gwen. Hobie was howling with laughter, tears in his eyes. You stood there not knowing how to react. He crossed his arms over his stomach in an attempt to catch his breath and wipes his eyes. 

“Oi y/n mate, they’re crisps,” he chuckles.

“What the fuck are crisps?” You snap.

“Those are crisps.”

Gwen quickly butts in, “She’s right Hobie they’re chips.” Miles nods in agreement.

He shakes his head, “Nah chips are the one ya cook.”

“Oh, no that’s French fries,” Gwen responds in realisation.

You question Gwen, “Like the chips you get at Maccas?” 

“Maccas? Yeah, but we call them Fries or French fries.” 

You cross your arms and grin. “They’re not even French.”

Hobie nods in agreement, before turning to you. “So you call Chips like the fried ones, ‘chips‘ and crisps ‘chips’ as well?” 

“Well yeah but y’know the difference depending on the scenario like why would I keep chips in the cupboard?”

Miles pick up the packet, before questioning you as well. “So y/n you call fries ‘chips’ and chips the same?”

“Yes Miles,” stealing the bag from him and opening the packet. 

“Ya Aussies are weird,” Gwen says while taking a chip from the packet. A ring clad hand is shoved into the packet and takes a handful, while a web from his free hand takes the packet. Before you can respond to the two Americans with some comment about having free healthcare involving lots of bad words, Hobie nudges you with his arm. “Glad we cleared that up love, cause I couldn’t hang with someone with shit food choices,” he snickers, shoving his mouth with food.

You huff, grabbing the packet again. “Shut the fuck up, your name is literally Hobart.”

[esorxy]

word of honor ep31 is something else entirely

they get intercepted on their rescue mission and just as the assassin people were about to rush forward and start stabbing, guess who appears spinning out of nowhere to save his beloved one true soulmate its wkx wearing hot red robes with sexy red eyeshadow, who boomerangs his little paper fan and slices their throats all in one go, does another little spin for dramatic flavour and slowly flutters down like an autumn leaf in the wind, successfully making the most replayed segment of the episode 🍃

and then everything he says from this moment on is like "fuck you, im better than you, eat shit" and DPJ is like "yeah ur cool and all but you're only one person" as if he didnt just kill half your men in one swipe while flying. anyway then zzs is like "who said hes alone" and steps out of his little carriage looking like hes about to die. like bro!! you cant even stand chill tf out. wkx comes over and holds his boyfriend and gets full on whiplash from switching too fast between (1) gazing lovingly at zzs and (2) murderous stares assassin gvng.

then like 3000 ghosts come out from the forest looking for a nice fight with 20 men, half of whom are dead, and the rest of them just dip like nope not today

they all kneel for our favourite gays and then wkx kneels as well and zzs, who still looks like hes abt to collapse and die, is like "fuck yeah im still influential" and awkwardly pats wkx's head like hes some overgrown puppy, which is not entirely inaccurate ykwim

so our power couple gets like 20 more kids for the price of none, and head back to god knows where to meet 😱 some more gays😱 one of them is a healer and the other looks like asian robert sean leonard so... whats new 😮‍💨

wkx finds some time to wipe off his eyeshadow and everyone is ready to die for zzs suddenly, and wkx goes from 🥺 "a-xu is gonna live??" to walking back into ghost valley in the blink of an eye without even changing clothes. scorpion king is also there 😱😱 i didnt even know they were working together cos i skipped all of the boring old people scenes. the twinks face off in some intense power play conversation where everyone wants to top, wkx has a mid life crisis in his pajamas featuring genocide and suicide but then hes like but SOMEONE taught me to live love laugh aka im in love, finishing off a killer episode that fully lives up to the drama part of chinese drama. my man needs to be locked up. in a mental hospital.

bonus: zzs in ep32, freshly injured from having metal hooks stabbed through his shoulders, is like "noooo little girl don't you know i need alcohol to live???" huge announcement everyone youve dedicated your lives to following an alcoholic 🤦

twink healer is like "bro u cant even taste shit" and james wilson is like "remember when u wanted me to find u a cute gf... but turns out... (ur gay)"

omg i wanted to stop, but like the dramatic clown ass scenes just keep coming what can a girl do 🤷

so zzs goes back to serving face (not that he ever really stopped) and he overhears that wkx is about to be forced off a cliff 😱. so flutters into this 50v1 fight with about 2% of the dramatic flair that wkx has, steps up to kiss him except they cant cos censorship, and is like "me n u against the world babe." 🤦

yby comes too cos this drama is tiresome and neverending, and wkx is like "im tired, kill me 🫠", which is so relatable, but then he puts up a damn good fight before falling off the cliff from one tiny needle through the heart. zzs also jumps after him and everyone is like 😱 even though they can literally fly.

but hes dead (not rly) so zzs burns his corpse by kicking a lamp at it and sits at the cliff to reminisce the good old times when he was a hobo and wkx followed him around like a clingy wife. he relapses into alcoholism and pulls all his nails out aaaand this is just romeo and juliet with gay and dramatic flair 😮‍💨

when do they stop serving face honestly like im fed up 🤦