#not anti-trudy

[mr-stottlemonk]

How do we feel about trudy? Personally i don't like her, or maybe i just got so sick of monk mentioning her every minute.

I really like the show but hated most moments that were about trudy.

I don't know it felt so awkward to watch. and i know shes his wife and it's hard to get over a lover dying but come on, 8 years. Its okay if he brings her up sometimes i just don't think it's necessary that they bring her every episode or so.

Also i don't really appreciate the way they portrayed ocd, I feel like the show would've been much better if they didn't exaggerate some things.

But that's just my opinion though! you may not agree and i hope i phrased my thoughts right because English isn't my first language

*long post so half of this will be under the cut!

**you phrased your thoughts just fine dear, no worries <3!!

when i started (re)watching Monk, i definitely felt my own heart ache for Adrian because loosing someone who you love that makes life look better, seem better and makes it out to be something you can manage is amazing. I loved that Monk truly loved his wife that much. It's hard letting go of someone who loved you for who you are and didn't try to turn you into something else. Or make you hate yourself even more.

About 5 seasons in though, the potrayal of her became more of something like... painting her out to be the perfect wife, woman and person - and while we can't exactly dispute that because we only get flashbacks, hallucinations, dream-like visions and the episodes at the end. No one is perfect and it did grow to be a bit tiresome.

At some point, you do realize that it turns to unhealthy dependency. On her. On the memory of her. On their past relationship. The years go by and Adrian is stuck in one place. And yes, there are episodes where he does make a bit of progress, ask other women out and tries to go out with them but then, it doesn't work out (it never will, that's always the transparent outcome).

Trudy stands for acceptance and love all through out the show. And the other characters (Natalie, Stottlemeyer, Sharona and later on, Randy) show that easily too.

Thing is though, with Trudy and a lot of other things; Monk does not have the proper coping mechanisms/processes etc. He's not that great at understanding his own emotions and letting things go. Though, that gets better over the course of the series.

Not towards Trudy though and partially, i definitely blame the writers. I would have loved to see more of Monk self-healing. Self-healing and accepting himself (which is fucking hard) but it would have been great to see a man so broken down and unable to move on finally love himself. There's a lot of self-albeism in the show that Monk sets on himself, toxic masculinity standards and self-esteem issues. And ofc, a whole lotta bunch of things.

And I'm ngl, the show tried their best to tackle that. I'd have loved more of dealing with that. But 2002-2009 shows aren't overally the best with that. By the sixth season I stopped paying much attention to it. I found the episode Mr. Monk Stays Up All Night a bit... too much, lmfao.

And the episode where they think she's alive also feels,, this or that. Though, i think such a situation happening was not entirely RARE back then. Missing/Dead people do turn up again... once in a blue moon.

and yes, definitely. as a person with adhd & ocd myself there are episodes where i did have to just pause and walk around my house or take a break (and sometimes even skip) because i felt a bit offended or among the lines of "err,,, that's not exactly how it is/works..." -> especially towards the episode Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine. Didn't like how they portrayed that at ALL. The group therapy episode was also a little iffy but i've never been to group therapy myself so I can't say much there.

They could have done better research, because there are some things that just seem so out of the blue you have to pause but there are also other things that hit you right IN THE FACE that you feel seen and heard for a moment. the show definitely helped me feel like there was a chance for things i struggle(d) with when i was younger. But then again, ocd research isn't that great currently either. :")

To add on to that though. I'm not sure if you've given Mr. Monk's Last Case a try but i don't think they improved much on it there either. It's tiresome, tbh, that when people think ocd they think it's all about aligining things, cleaning things... like gosh, no, a person with ocd can have a messy desk, mugs littered all about their room too... so the writers do lean into being lackluster in their potrayal of OCD.

there's also the thing where most of the time, it's not easy for people to actually SPOT someone with ocd. the show makes it out to be an oddity, struggle for willpower and startingly exaggerated sometimes. Which is a shame. Though, extenuating circumstances can definitely make it worse so, it's here and there too.

Anyway! i think i rambled off a bit too much... i do agree with you on this anon! that the focus on Trudy grew, in some episodes, to be over the top. But Adrian's commitment to her is quite heart-warming but right now, I do tend to skip over those episodes, lol. Unless there's a particular thing I feel like watching in either one of them.

thank you for very much for the ask!! i love discussing such topics haha. i hope i managed to convey my own opinions on the show and Adrian/Trudy.

<3.

[queen-anarchy-art]

Remember; you do not have to be white to uphold white supremacy, and you do not have to be a man to uphold the patriarchy.

[thinkingisadangerouspastime]

not to be overly critical of an incredibly tiny fandom but i think it says a lot about fandom practices in general when the main supporting character in monk, arguably a dual protagonist, has always been a woman, yet there is rarely fandom content about sharona or natalie (two undeniably well-developed and interesting characters) and instead people fixate on a male character who is in fact the third most present character on the show (arguably the fifth most present when you consider percentages rather than plain numbers) and also apply a highly amatonormative lens to his relationship with adrian. i won't even comment on how trudy gets sidelined and reduced despite being thee specter that haunts the text. fandom misogyny truly cuts deep

[movie--posters]

[eveningspirit]

Chicago PD, I dare you. I dare you to give me Adam Ruzek with permanent injury resulting from being shot, point blank, in the chest.

I dare you to give me Adam Ruzek struggling to deal with his new reality.

I dare you to give me Adam Ruzek being angry and snapping at people.

I dare you to give me Adam Ruzek arguing with Kim, because no, she doesn't get it; her situation was different.

I dare you to give me Kim Burgess being upset, because damn it, she's been taking care of him since day one and he's ungrateful.

I dare you to give me Adam Ruzek working the desk -- with TRUDY freakin' PLATT, no less.

I dare you to give me Adam Ruzek going through however many stages of grief over his lost career.

I dare you to give me Trudy freakin' Platt tearing him a new one for being a whiny baby.

I dare you to give me Kim Burgess defending Adam.

I dare you to give me Adam learning to cope with his new reality.

I dare you to give me Makayla being a loving, upset, scared, joyful, annoying, beautiful, loving child she is. Give me Makayla loving her Dad no matter what.

I dare you to give me Adam Ruzek being grateful for still being alive.

Give me Adam and Kevin being friends. Maybe Kevin being awkward, or maybe not. Just. Reacting to Adam being different now.

Give me Kim supporting Adam in his new reality.

Give me Adam accepting his new reality.

Give me Adam having a setback.

Give me Adam making progress again.

And having another setback, because that's how life is.

Give me Adam and Kim and Makayla being together and having a great life, despite Adam's injury, despite it affecting his functioning in smaller and larger ways.

Give me a character surviving a serious injury, and getting through its aftermath (you have that Chicago Med show for crying out loud; guest appearances anyone?), without resorting to a "magical healing" device.

Can you do that Chi PD?

Can you?

I dare you.

And, if you don't, well... I'm not saying I'll write that fanfic, but I will certainly WANT TO write that fanfic. ;)

[bisexualmultifandommess]

Trudy trying to mention that she’s worried about Joe and Gloria finding a way to bring it round to talking about Frank lmao

[whateverthought]

"I don't know how they did things over at the 31st, but here at 21, rules do not exist so you can find new and creative ways to break them."

Trudy shut the fuck up. You are Hank Voight's friend! You have said you would want that man on a case if it involved someone you loved, you want to talk about rules? Like actually? When you also go off the rails?

[minnesotafollower]

Other Comments on David Brooks’ Column  on “the Bad Guys”  

The New York Times’ on August 2 published a David Brooks’ column entitled, “What If We’re the Bad Guys Here?”[1] and on August 9 this blogger published his blog post about that column.[2] Now on August 12 the Times published the following comments by nine readers of that column.[3] Michael Hadjiargyrou (Centerport, N.Y.) “I am sick and tired of people like Mr. Brooks telling me that I am the…

[toothflowers]

Valentine's Day is aaaaall about Desire yeah? Trudy's a big fan ;-) Gotta give some attention to her favourite's favourite :-P (can you tell I sssssliiiightly referenced those french anti-smoking ads? You Know the ones)

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Trudy Ring at The Advocate:

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a defense spending bill that includes a provision denying insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for transgender children of service members. The National Defense Authorization Act, providing for $884 billion in military spending for fiscal year 2025, passed Wednesday on a vote of 281 to 140, with 124 Democrats and 16 Republicans voting against it.

The controversial provision in the act would prohibit coverage under the TriCare insurance plan of any medical intervention for “gender dysphoria that could result in sterilization” for anyone under age 18. That would mean an end to care for any military families using TriCare as their health insurance. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a far-right, anti-LGBTQ+ Republican, had backed this section of the bill. The bill now goes to the Senate, which has a narrow Democratic majority. However, it is still expected to pass there, Breaking Defense reports. President Joe Biden has pledged to veto any anti-trans legislation. Civil rights groups and Democratic politicians quickly condemned the House's action. “Military servicemembers and their families wake up every day and sacrifice more than most of us will ever understand," said a statement from Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. "Those families protect our right to live freely and with dignity — they deserve that same right, and the freedom to access the care their children need. Today, politicians in the House betrayed our nation’s promise to those who serve. Not since the ‘Defense of Marriage Act’ passed almost 30 years ago has an anti-LGBTQ+ policy been enshrined into federal law. For the thousands of families impacted, this isn’t about politics. It’s about young people who deserve our support. Those who have courageously stepped up to serve this country should never have their families used as bargaining chips. Now, the Senate has the opportunity to reject this and any bill that includes these dangerous anti-trans, anti-military family provisions, and remember the fundamental promise of our democracy: that everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the right to healthcare.”

81 cowardly Democrats voted to deny Tricare insurance coverage for gender-affirming care for trans children of service members in the NDAA that passed 281-140. Shame on them!

This will go to the Senate, and we hope to have that provision removed there.

See Also:

LGBTQ Nation: House passes NDAA bill restricting military families from getting trans healthcare

AP, via HuffPost: House Approves $895B Defense Bill With Military Pay Raise, Ban On Transgender Care For Minors

[msookyspooky]

Female Genderbent House of Wax AU

Me and @bitchyhorror have been discussing a genderbent AU and how much more tragic it would have been for Bo and Vincent Sinclair to be women in HoW. In fact, female conjoined twins have a drastically increased survival rate compared to males.

Beauregard 'Bo' / Beatrice 'Bea'

- The pretty sister, the 'normal' sister and yet the blacksheep. The bad seed. The Reject.

- Always wears her hair in a way to hide the scar. She never was the same after the surgery according to her folks...Was it that her brain was messed up? Was it anger at how she was treated?

- Trudy forced her in dresses and dainty doll-like clothes at a young age. Always a fight every morning with her tearing the bow out in overstimulated rage and then being hit for it.

- Never fit in, never made her parents proud, yet looked like she should have been the apple of their eye.

- Your twin sister is ugly and has to hide her face because of you attached to her and still a good girl; what's your excuse? She could've been the most beautiful perfect girl and destroyed that just by being born.

- Always damned for how 'unlady-like' she was. What a disgrace having a daughter with the Sinclair name be so ill mannered and such a lil bitch. And look at what you did to yourself! Marking your skin up by fighting those belts. You want everyone to see those and judge us!?

- Obviously cracked under pressure and couldn't take anymore by a certain age. Her first times with guys were escapes to numb the pain and it made it worse. She was the families biggest regret. She had fantasies that weren't right. SHE wasn't right.

- Bonus to her trauma; she's gay. In the Bible Belt Deep South. The Church she goes to daily like a ritual. She prays over her Mama's body for forgiveness. Forgiveness for being masculine and being unlady like and working on cars instead of what her Mama wanted. Forgiveness for tainting everything she touches...Forgiveness for her urges.

- Just to lure pretty women she doesn't think she'd have a chance with. Or better yet, doesn't try. Bind them the way she was as a girl. Relive her trauma with them and show them both the love she never got and the abuse she endured. She's technically a Stone Butch touch-me-not even if she doesn't really get into labels or know the term other than WRONG.

- It was drill into her she was going to Hell just for liking women so what does how she likes them or killing people matter?

- She likes women at her mercy and unable to touch her. Unable to hurt her. Forced into being what will make her feel in control for once in her life

- She thinks she's a Sociopath/Anti Social but really she has severe CPTSD. It's why she is codependent on her sister yet resents her, why she never leaves, why she insist on making a town something her abusive mother wanted, why she can't have intimacy without reliving her past with her forced fetish. She is deeply disturbed and is reliving the trauma to be in control and make sense of it daily.

- She dehumanizes others not because of natural apathy but because it was taught and because she feels a duty to fill the town with wax corpses that outweighs her morals. She was never given empathy so how would she know? All she knows is she does feel guilt when calling her sister a freak even if she doesn't know how to make amends.

- In denial. Her Mama was stressed. Her Daddy was busy. Her Twin was Good. SHE was the monster. She deserved to be hit and tied down...Right?

Vincent / Victoria

- Her Mama's favorite. Trudy's protégé. And yet...Trudy's secret. Trudy's guilt and remorse and hindrance. She couldn't brag about Victoria...Not with her limitations.

- Not being like other girls weighed on her heavily. She always watched those old movies and cried herself to sleep wishing she could be like them. Dainty, Pretty, Desired. She kept her hair long just to have that once of femininity and to hide her face.

- Relied on her Identical Twins pretty face, her normal face, as a mold for her masks and even if she loved her twin the resentment built over time

- Bea got to go out into the world. Bea could have anyone. Bea could do anything. Victoria's only talent was her wax sculpting making her mother proud stuck in Ambrose

- It wasn't fair! Victoria was the girly one, the talented one, the good one and yet because of her face she was the ugly forgotten one that hid. The face her twin got to have and took for granted.

- She has never been kissed or never held hands. Never had anyone love her. Truly love her. Want her in a way a woman should be wanted and loved. Both twins felt unlovable. One for her face, one for her personality.

- And every argument Bea brought up her face and every argument she could tell her ill tempered twin regretted it but the damage was done and it chipped at her heart.

- Ate away at what little sanity she had from such isolation and dehumanization. Mute, deformed, had parents that hurt yet loved her with their words and actions, blamed by her twin for Beatrice's mistreatment, never allowed to be normal.

- Victoria would caress her victims longingly. She viewed bodies like works of art but oh how she wished this strong male victim under her would want her. Yearn for her like she saw in movies. To gently trail her soft fingers from years of wax working over his paralyzed form. See the fear in his eyes and wish it was adoration. How cruel it was that God let her be born, she always thought.

- She applied makeup to her mask. Making herself pretty in the mirror as if that wax mask was her face. That's all she wanted was to be pretty to someone...Just one person look at her with adoration instead of fear, disgust or pity.

- Unlike her male counterpart in the original movie; her lack of beauty eats at her even more as a young Southern Belle. Us women and femme presenting are pressured to be beautiful even more than men/masc presenting and it eats at her daily that she isn't. Even more that it eats at Vincent in the movie.

- Shields her face crying and hiding like a traumatized animal whenever her mask is knocked off or damaged. No one can see her! Her mother gave her such kindness in drilling it into her to cover her disgusting face...

- Wax sculpts because it's all she knows. Always waxing women with envy and reverence at what she COULD be.

[justinsentertainmentcorner]

Alex Cooper and Trudy Ring at The Advocate:

Anita Bryant, the evangelical Christian who led a charge against LGBTQ+ rights, died last month at 84, according to an obituary shared by her family. According to the obituary, Bryant died on December 16, 2024, at her home in Edmond, Okla. Before her anti-LGBTQ+ positions made her a favorite of religious conservatives, Bryant was known for appearances in commercials, her time appearing at Bob Hope's holiday tours for overseas troops, and for singing "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" at the Super Bowl in 1971. She sang at both Republican and Democratic national conventions, at the White House when Lyndon B. Johnson was president, and at Johnson's graveside service in 1973.

Bryant, born in Oklahoma in 1940, was a beauty queen and a best-selling pop star before returning to her Christian roots in the 1970s. She became an antigay activist in 1977 when she launched the successful effort to repeal an antidiscrimination ordinance in Miami-Dade County; she had become prominent in Florida as a spokeswoman for its orange growers. Miami-Dade County's government had adopted an ordinance banning employment and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation, making it one of the first municipalities to do so. Bryant, who had testified against the ordinance, was outraged at its passage and led a campaign dubbed "Save Our Children" to persuade voters to repeal it. “I got involved only because they were asking for special privileges that violated the state law of Florida, not to mention God’s law,” Bryant said of gays and lesbians in an interview with Playboy. Along the way, Bryant became a darling of her fellow conservative Christians and an enemy of gay people and their allies; in 1977, an activist threw a pie in her face at a press conference.

Miami-Dade citizens did repeal the ordinance, with over 70 percent voting to do so. The city-county government restored the ordinance in 1998 and added gender identity to it in 2014. Her activism also inspired a ban on adoption by same-sex couples in Florida, which was struck down in court in 2010. Outside Florida, she backed California's Briggs Initiative in 1978; the ballot measure sought to bar gays and lesbians from teaching in the public schools. It failed to win a majority of the vote. Opposition was led by activists including Harvey Milk, and California's then-governor, Jerry Brown, and Jimmy Carter, then the U.S. president, spoke out against it. Along the way, Bryant claimed that she didn't hate gay people but wanted to help them, and she founded Anita Bryant Ministries, which offered "ex-gay" therapy. However, she also conflated LGBTQ+ people with pedophiles.

[...] Her divorce from her first husband, Bob Green, in 1980, led some conservative Christians to lose their respect for her, and she in turn lost her respect for some of them. But she clung to her anti-LGBTQ+ ideology. “I’ve never regretted what I did,” she told The Oklahoman in 2011.

Vile anti-LGBTQ+ hatemonger Anita Bryant has assumed room temperature, will be reporting to a place six feet under next to Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

[ghelgheli]

Stuff I Read In August 2024

bold indicates favourites

Books

Minima Moralia, Theodor Adorno [link]

Joseph Stalin: A Political Biography, Marx-Engels-Lenin Institute

Exordia, Seth Dickinson

The Racial Contract, Charles W. Mills

Short Fiction

Esse est percipi, Jorge Luis Borges & Adolfo Bioy Casares [link]

The Proper Study, Isaac Asimov

2430 A.D., Isaac Asimov

The Greatest Asset, Isaac Asimov

The Jaunt, Stephen King [link]

There Will Come Soft Ruins, Ray Bradbury [link]

Harrison Bergeron, Kurt Vonnegut [link]

Billenium, J. G. Ballard [link]

The Food of the Gods, Arthur C Clarke

The Star, Arthur C Clarke

Tantie Merle and the Farmhand 4200, R. S. A. Garcia [link]

Queer &c.

Kill the Couple in Your Head, Anonymous [link]

Gender without Gender Identity: The Case of Cognitive Disability, Elizabeth Barnes [link]

The Woman Question, Lori Watson [link]

Being Your Best Self: Authenticity, Morality, and Gender Norms, Rowan Bell

Reimagining Transgender, Robin Dembroff [link]

Yep, I’m Gay: Understanding Agential Identity, Robin Dembroff & Catharine Saint-Croix [link]

Forgotten lives: Trans older adults living with dementia at the intersection of cisgenderism, ableism/cogniticism and ageism, Alexandre Baril & Marjorie Silverman [link]

Dementia and the gender trouble?: Theorising dementia, gendered subjectivity and embodiment, Linn J. Sandberg [link]

Pol

Moving Towards Life, Marina Magloire [link]

Rosa Luxemburg Foundation please note: ‘A time comes when silence is betrayal’, Haifa Zangana [link]

Beyond Orientalism and Islamophobia: 9/11, Anti-Arab Racism, and the Mythos of National Pride, Steven George Salaita

On misogynoir: citation, erasure, and plagiarism, Moya Bailey & Trudy [link]

Other

“Democratizing AI” and the Concern of Algorithmic Injustice, Ting-an Lin [link]

What is a (social) structural explanation? Sally Haslanger [link]

The Importance of `Godzilla' Cannot Be Overstated, Charlie Brigden [link]

The Special Effects in Citizen Kane, Wesley Tilford [link]

For Friendship to be Revolutionary, Sever [link]

[sirenologyyy]

SPEAKING SONAR !

ao'nung x fem!sully reader

✷ premise : as tensions rise and your family is forced out of the only home you've ever known, fish boy meets forest girl and the rest is history (tragedy)

✷ warnings : kidnapping, swearing, injury, blood, violence, and death

✷ author's note : gotta have ya'lls parents' povs here hehe, also some spider content if ur an anti dni I'm a spider defender 4 lyfe.

✷ trigger warning : THERE'S GUNNA BE A KINDA GRAPHIC SCENE LATER IN THE CHAPTER ABOUT THE SULLYS AND QUARITCH, IT INVOLVES BLOOD AND MORE BLOOD so be advised... but it's short dw dw

part 4 of the SOLD OUT OF LOVE series

When you'd be confined to the lab because of influenza which you caught often, Spider would risk the possibility of infection and stay in your room all day because unlike you, your germs feared Spider. You'd close all the lights and the both of you would lay on your bed and look at the glowing solar system Max and Norm had painted on your ceiling. It was a moment of peace he wouldn't exchange for the world, just lying next to his sister in the dark, basking in the silence.

Until he speaks. "Do you ever wonder what it would be like if we lived on Earth?"

You turn to him. "I'd always be in the hospital"

"Yeah, well what's different now?" He bit back.

You chewed on your lower lip, he was right. "We'd be going to school, we'd have friends-"

"-that are not giant blue aliens" He adds, the both of you laughing.

"You think if we were on Earth we wouldn't be orphans?"

He shifts, and the bed bounces underneath you. "Maybe" Spider replied cautiously. "If my mom hadn't been flying that gunship she'd probably still be here... not sure about my dad though"

"You're lucky you knew your dad"

He shook his head adamantly. "No I'm not"

"Fine, then you're not" you say, giving up.

"Would we even know eachother if our moms weren't brought here? If they hadn't met our dads?"

This made Spider think hard. "We still would, my mom knows your aunt Trudy"

"No, they met at that flight school, if they weren't chosen, they wouldn't know eachother, we wouldn't know eachother"

This made him tuck his lips together. "I guess you're right"

"I am right" You tell him, propping yourself up by your forearm, Spider mirroring your action. "But what does it matter anyway? We're stuck here, there's no life for us back in Earth cuz it's dying, we've got nowhere else to go"

"Then I guess we gotta stick together don't we?" He replies, poking your shoulder. "Us outsiders gotta stick together, Spider and Firefly, that way nothing can tear us apart"

You grinned, your teeth lighting up in the darkness. "Nothing" You echoed, twirling your pinky over his, breathy giggles taking over you both.

You were the first to pull away, lying flat down on your back, using the same hand to scratch at your IV taped to your wrist used to replenish your dehydrated body. That was several months before the accident, where it changed your lives forever. It was never Spider and Firefly against the world anymore, it was just Spider.

Because the promise you had made to eachother, the promise of the two children orphaned by war initiated in a dark room lit up with neon stars and planets was forever broken.

The both of you grew up in Pandora, took your first steps on Pandora, spoke your first words on Pandora, you had Spider, Spider had you, he didn't care that he could spend most of everyday outside when you were stuck in your room. He'd tell you everything and spare no detail, the speeches, plays, and presentations you two had made to convince Max and Norm to let you out for 3 hours were the highlights of your life, especially when they'd agree.

He lost his mom, his dad, and when they pulled you out of that river unresponsive he thought he might as well lost you too.

2 months ago he had been bragging to the Sully children that he could palace his chin on top of your head without even standing on his tip toes, he blinked and suddenly you could place your entire forearm on top of his head without even trying. He stayed silent, knowing he should be grateful you weren't so sick anymore- but at what cost? He had been more alone now since before you were born, you had been alone together, now he was just alone.

But he wasn't the only one feeling what he was feeling, you were battling your own surges of loneliness trying to grab hold of you. It was a hard change, human food started to taste like paste, you weren't used to being a tug away from being naked, your skin being so blue. It was weird.

You shared a bond with Spider not even the other Sully kids could replicate, now he was gone, and you didn't know when you'd get him back, if you'd get him back.

Lo'ak snapped his fingers in front of you. "Baby sis, you good?"

You blinked. "Uh-huh" You mutter unconvincingly, standing up with a basket you dug against your hip, making your way down to the fish nets to retrieve your lunch for the day.

"What's up?"

"Missing Spider"

"Oh" He says. "He's a tough guy, he'll be fine"

Even Lo'ak didn't believe his words, and so you nodded along. "Yeah, I know"

He crouches beside you, grabbing the pesky fish that fought back and dropping them into the basket. "I've seen him chug Whiskey with a straight face, and, get a scolding from our parents for letting us take a sip, if he can survive that he can survive anything"

"I know he can" You tell him, sliding a fish into the hole of your basket. "Sometimes I just wonder if it's enough"

"It is" He assured you, placing a wet hand on your shoulder. You appreciated the gesture but pried his hand off of you moments later.

Lessons that afternoon were interesting, it was the only word that could sum up the entirety of what had awaited you after lunchtime. The moment you saw Ao'nubg across the beach with your siblings you turned your heel and bolted the other way, you hid in your Marui, helping your mother with repurposing old clothes, chopping fruit for dinner that night.

1, 2, 3, 4 Sullys on the beach, yet one was missing.

He itched to ask them, your brothers, it practically consumed him, knawed at him on the inside to ask your brothers where you were and why you missed your lessons.

Only at the end of the day did he finally give in. "Where is she?"

"Where is who?" Neteyam wonders.

"Your beloved sister?"

"Kiri? Tuk? They're right over there with Tsireya and Rotxo" Lo'ak butts in, pointing his thumb at the secondary group floating on their backs in the water, giggling and gliding.

He rolled his eyes. "No genius, your other one, Y/N?"

Lo'ak shrugged. "Dunno, she says she was dizzy, Mom didn't wanna let her swim in her state"

He hummed. "I see"

But for the past week, it was almost as if you hadn't run out of excuses to miss lessons. They'd wait half an hour for you to come out only for one of your siblings to tell the rest of your friends that you weren't coming. Ao'nung never bothered to come anymore, claiming that he himself wasn't feeling well and that he must have gotten what you've caught all the while having no interactions this past week.

After lessons, Tsireya would catch him hanging out with his other friends or if not then lying on his hammock throwing a woven grass ball in the air, but when his grating mother couldn't leave him alone for two seconds then he'd be riding his ilu on the other side of the island for some peace and quiet.

It was the 4th day of you purposely evading lessons, you sat in your Marui with your mother while she braided your hair. "When will you start attending lessons again Ma'íte?"

"When I feel better" You reply.

"There is this boy that keeps coming to our hut, he says he misses your presence in lessons" You practically froze on the spot as your heartbeat began to rise in a cresendo.

"What was his name?" Your mother asked to herself while you sat there and apprehensively awaited for her next words. "Ahh yes, Rotxo"

Either she knew what she was doing or she had no clue at all- but you wouldn't put it past her. "Yeah, Rotxo's a sweetheart"

Your mother hummed in agreement. "Yes, such a sweet boy, very polite" She stopped, tying off the braid she had previously been working with and starting on another one. "although you were never really drawn to the sweet ones, were you Ma'íte?"

This woman was sick.

"I don't know what you mean" You lie.

She giggles. "You might not be my child by blood but we are more alike than you thought" She asks you for one of the shells you were holding and you hand it to her, feeling her thread it into your locks. "Just say it, sweet girl"

"Say what?" You managed, ignoring the warmth that plagued your cheeks as you straightened your posture.

"That you thought I was talking about somebody else"

You needed to get out of here, she's practically nipping at your heels. Your sweet mother, bringing you in for slaughter. You remaining silent only made her laugh.

"So there is someone?"

"No" you replied a little too quickly. "No, there is no one"

"Then I believe you"

"Good, then we'll just chalk this conversation up to finished"

"Maybe we will" She tells you to stand up and look at yourself in the mirror, admiring the beads, shells, and hair cuffs you told her to put in, turning your head so that the sunlight reflected onto them.

"You did amazing mom, it looks beautiful" you grinned.

She smiles, placing her hands on your shoulders. "I did nothing sweet girl, the beauty is all yours"

"How's she feeling?" You both turn your heads to see your father walking in the Marui. "Still lightheaded?"

"She's feeling fine, aren't you Ma'íte?"

You nod.

He took one good look at your face and turns to your mother. "Neytiri, her face is all flushed, is she coming down on a fever?"

Your eyes widen as you whirl your head towards the mirror. Goddamnit.

You mother pretends to be shocked, turning you to face her. "Your father is right, maybe you should stay home today afterall"

You shook your head. "No I think I'll go out today, it's been long enough"

Jake frowned. "Is she sure? Are you sure? "

You nodded. "Mm-hm" already making your way across the Marui.

"No funny business alright???"

"Alright! Alright!"

"Y/N!" Your father called out.

"I got it!" Was all you said before you jogging down the steps and onto the beach.

Neytiri approached Jake by the mouth of the Marui, the pair of them watching as you ran up to your other siblings and your friends splashing eachother with water by the coastline.

"Ma Jake" Neytiri began.

"Mm"

"It may have escaped your notice but no matter how much you deny it, she is her own woman now, not the little girl we have taken under our wing so many years ago"

Jake sighed, his ears flattening against the sides of his skull as he turns his head towards Neytiri. "I know that"

"I know you do, and yet you refuse to acknowledge it"

"She's got too much fire in her"

"That is a good thing"

"Come on, you knew Betty, cross her one time she'll cross your heart out" He exclaimed, trying to prove his point.

"Ma Jake, believe me when I say that you cannot keep protecting her forever, someday you have to let her go"

"I made a promise to her mother that I'll keep her safe, with everything she's done for me in the past I owe her that much" He explained, Neytiri places a hand on his cheek in the process. "I'm too scared of screwing this up, I try and limit her, and what is she doing? She's going against me, fooling around"

They watched as you joined in on the fight, cringing and screaming when Kiri sent a huge wave your way. "Go easy on her, if you restraint her too much she will drift farther and farther away from us"

"I haven't been living up to my promise like I wanted, I've almost lost her once, I'm not about to let that happen again"

They turn to the beach again and watch as You and Tuk harshly tackle Neteyam, Rotxo and Kiri throwing fistfuls of sand at eachother, and Tsireya giggling her head off as Lo'ak tried pulling off a piece of seaweed that had gotten stuck on his tail but ended up spinning around like a top.

"Stay down!" Tuk screamed at Neteyam floating in the water pretending to be dead and even sticking his tongue out for effect.

You grab her waist and placed her on your shoulders. "The mighty warriror Tuktirey has defeated the fearsome wildebeest, she knows nothing! only rage!"

She let's out a war cry, everyone else in the group started doing the same causing passersby to look at what was causing the sudden ruckus on the shoreline She then leaps off of you and into Neteyam causing a huge splash, she pretends to wrestle with his body while your oldest brother tried his hardest to contain his giggles. All of you began chanting Tuk's name as she managed to stand on Neteyam's chest (with him holding her by her ankles of course) banging her fists on her chest as you all started hooting and cheering for her.

Since you were so close to your Marui, Neteyam (who you were sure had a bruised lung at this point) got word from your father that you were allowed to stay out a little later than usual.

Lo'ak was with Tsireya somewhere, Neteyam and Kiri were riding their íkrans above the islands, which left you and Tuk collecting shells on the beach.

"This one! This one!" She says, pointing a finger at a shell that looked similar to one she picked earlier.

"You already have one that looks like that" You say, holding a bucket already half-full of shells.

"Yeah but now I have two of these, so if I lose the other one I got this one" She explained whilst dropping it in the bucket, joining the other shells.

You laughed, shaking your head. "Can't argue with that logic"

All of a sudden you hear Tuk gasp, you turn around just in time before you see her bolt into the forest. Abandoning the bucket you run after her, calling her name, firing threats at her until you reach a clearing and you realize you lost sight of her.

"Tuk!" You shout. "Dad will skin you alive!"

No response, only the breeze and the chirping of insects in the distance mocking you.

"Come out! Come on! " You say, looking behind trees and bushes, behind rocks and shrubs. "Tuktirey Te Suli Neytiri'ite this is not funny!"

"Kinda is"

Your head snaps up at the voice, but you don't turn around.

"chilly night tonight, isn't it Forest Girl?"

At that you finally turn around to see Ao'nung, leaning against a tree, sporting a devilish smirk.

You feel your hands ball up into fists, your nails creating crescent shaped dents onto your palm. "What did you do to my sister"

His eyes widen, he shows you his palms, chuckling raucously. "If my calculations are correct she might be running into your brother and my sister any minute now" He steps forward. "Listen, I asked her to lead you into the forest so that I could talk to you, alone" He states, aquamarine eyes scanning your face. "I only wanted to talk to you"

You prayed to Eywa to give you the strength to not punch the lights out of this boy. "You were in cahoots with my sister??" You practically shrieked.

"Well-" He began, trying to think of a statement that he could use to defend himself but sighed when he realized his mind was blank. "Yes, that is exactly what it is"

"I can't believe you!" You spat, narrowing your eyes into slits.

"Y/N I just wanted to say sorry, please" He begs, the fact that this was the first time he used your actual name in front of you and not some derogatory nickname did not go unnoticed by you or him.

"You fuck up, you apologise, you trick me into trusting you and then what? You fuck up again?" You wonder. "Is this a part of your golden boy routine? Get some praise for admitting to your mistakes?"

"No" He proclaimed steadfast, walking up to you again so now there were only a handful of inches in between you. "I am the son of the Olo'eyktan, I should have been treating you with more respect, I have been stupid, an-and selfish and I have let arrogance and conceit take over me"

He stops to take a breath, wetting his lips before he continued. "I want you to see that I do not want my past behavior to define me, if you will accept my apology and let me make it up to you it would mean the world to me... but if you don't, just say the word and I will never show my face to you again"

An ultimatum. You shouldn't have expected less from him. You found yourself scanning his face for any weak points, any tell tale signs that might tell you he was lying and was only doing this as a dare or if his parents promised him a grave punishment when he came home unsuccessful. You hated it when you realized he was telling the truth.

As much as you would have loved walking the shores of Awa'atlu knowing that Ao'nung would never show you his putrescent face again- you couldn't help but succumbing to his words, his promises, you were fighting with yourself, telling your other half to turn heel and sprint, sprint, and never look back but you were falling, he was using his tricks against you, letting his big blue eyes do all the work.

That was when you felt it, a little flame, bursting to life inside of you, warm, unfamiliar, questionable, lighting up the dark caverns of your chest, flooding it with an obscure sensation.

"Why did you want to talk to me all the way out here? In the forest?"

He sighs. "My father encourages me to maintain good relationships with all the Sully children, he says that it is most vital to have connections once I become chief..."

You cock your head to the side a little. "...but?"

"My mother says that I do not need to see you more than I have to"

And there it was.

"Why?" You implore.

"She thinks you're the one that is causing me to skip lessons and my training-"

"-You've been skipping lessons?" Was what left your mouth.

"Admittedly, yes, I have been skipping lessons"

"Why?"

"I didn't feel like attending them"

You gave him a genuine look of disbelief. "That's it?"

"What about you?" He evades. "I heard you have not been keeping up on appearances either"

"Yeah, I wasn't feeling all that great the past few days" you confessed, crossing your arms over your chest. "But I guess I'm feeling better now"

He nods languidly, taking in the situation. "So will you be coming tomorrow?"

You look at the ground then up at Ao'nung. "maybe"

"Good" He says with a smile, you almost wondered why it was so good to him but he squashes your assumptions when he opened his mouth again. "I might have to teach you how to swim all over again"

You flick your finger against his toned forearm, making him look at it and let out a scoff of objection. "Don't get ahead of yourself"

The silence that followed after was evident, your eyes travel up to the sky and realize that it might be around dinner time, mere seconds before your Dad starts ringing the dinner bell and all 5 of you scurry back to the pod like a bunch of sows.

"I guess I'll see you around?" You spoke up, making his head turn to you again. "I gotta go find my sister before she makes Awa'atlu falls to its knees"

"Wait" says he, making you stop. "You never answered me"

You exhaled through your mouth. "Fine you skxawng, I forgive you" you see him grin, ducking his head. "What will the nation do if you never show your face to anyone ever again?"

"I agree, pretty things should be enjoyed"

You involuntarily gagged, earning a loud chuckle from him. "Come on, you like looking at my face"

You remain quiet as he chuckles to his own joke, you roll your eyes and turn around. "Goodnight jackass"

He collects himself. "Goodnight tree hugger"

"Keep 'em coming" you taunt, hurriedly making your way out of the forest as he stays and watches you leave. Only when he was sure you were out of earshot was when he punches a fist in the air and whoops in glee.

"The ocean blessed you with a gift, brother "

Ao'nung stirred. "The Tulkun have not returned yet, and anyway no Tulkun is ever alone"

"This one was" You turn to your brother, sat across from you. "He had a- a missing fin, like a stump, on the left side"

Tsireya's expression changes. "Payakan"

"Who's Payakan?" Kiri wonders.

"A young bull who went rogue, he's outcast, alone, and has a missing fin" says Rotxo.

Tsireya turns to Lo'ak, taking his arm. "They say he is a killer"

"He killed Na'vi," Ao'nung butts in. "And other Tulkun" He says, leaning forward, his eyes meeting yours before it lands to Lo'ak. "Not here, but far, to the South" He adds.

Lo'ak shook his head, intent on proving his point. "He's not a killer"

Tsireya purses her lips beside you. "Lo'ak, you are lucky to be alive"

"I'm telling you guys, he saved my life, he's my friend!"

"My baby bro!" Neteyam crooned. "Who faced the killer Tulkun, and lived to tell about it" Lo'ak shrugged Neteyam's arm away, standing up to face all of you. "You guys aren't listening"

"Lo'ak I'm listening!"

"Lo'ak come back, you skxawng"

Neteyam runs off to follow him, Tuk dragging Tsireya and Kiri off to the ilu pen, Rotxo following them just for the sake of Kiri, leaving Ao'nung and you behind.

"And then there were two" He beamed, following you as you walked down the steps of the platform and onto the beach. You couldn't help but notice the slight bounce to Ao'nung's steps when he started walking in front of you "You were a whole lot quieter today, Forest Girl, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

You shook your head at him, biting down on a smile. "You're baiting me, no thank you"

"I am doing nothing of the sort!" He exclaims, giving you a playful frown. "You wound me, Forest Girl"

"Good, somebody's gotta keep you on your toes"

He gave you an unsatisfied hum. "Thank Eywa for you then"

"Damn right, you should be" You replied, approaching the trees that lined the beach, hearing the creaking of the branches only to see Ao'nung already 3 feet above you. "Get down from there, I don't wanna have to carry you all the way home just because you broke something"

"I think I'll risk it," He says. "That way you've got a better of view of me from up here" He begins flexing his muscles in front of you and you shot him a look of disgust, gritting your teeth to keep you from giggling. You failed.

What was happenning?

Ao'nung finally hops down, landing on the sand beside you. "We have got plenty of time to kill before eclipse, what do you suggest we do?"

You begin walking again, Ao'nung following you. "We sit and watch the water"

"Boring" He droned.

You look at him with eyes wide. "You were the one who asked"

"Clearly my mistake, I did not realize how utterly dull you are"

You stopped walking and turned to him, raising a quizzical brow. "What about you smart guy? What do you suggest we do?" You wonder.

He shrugged, a sly smirk playing at his face. "I was thinking we just go to the cave and-"

You stop him from talking by placing a finger over his mouth. "Nuh-uh, the last time we went there I practically got my ass beat because of it, I am literally an arguement away from my Dad chaining me to our Marui"

He compromised. "Fine, we could go to the other side of the island and visit the waterfalls?"

"I'm not allowed to go to the other side of the island"

"Your father won't know"

"No means no, Ao'nung" You insist.

He threads his fingers together, cracking his knuckles. "You wanna go to the diving rock? It's got a killer drop, 30 feet"

You shook your head. "No, no more swimming"

"Then I have got nothing" He confessed, placing his hands on his hips and facing the water.

"Look, you don't need to push it, bro" You tell him, placing a hand on his shoulder. It was like he took a punch to the gut. "You can go do all that stuff without me, I'll just hold you down"

"You wouldn't" He says, making your ears flick upwards. "I just wanted to..."

"Wanted what?"

His eyes meet yours, turning his body away. "It's- nevermind that now, it is stupid"

You slap his shoulder. "No it won't, tell me"

He keeps his eyes down, only meeting your gaze every now and then just to catch a glimpse of your face, how the setting sun casted a syrupy glow onto your face, how it only made him want to look at you longer. It was like an anvil had been tied to his ankles, pulling him down to the seabed, down, down, down until he finally allows it.

"I wanted you to stay a bit longer" He concedes.

"Why?" You teased. "All you gotta do is ask"

He looked unsure, hesitant but scans your face nonetheless, after a moment of standing, the setting sun a witness to Ao'nung's diffident self, he sighs. "Will you stay?" He finally asks.

You considered it, turning to the water as you felt your lips curling up into a mischeivous grin. "Fine, only because you begged" You said. "Desperation is a good look on you, you know" Ao'nung shoves you again and you stagger back cackling, letting your laughter rip.

You see him grinning too, pointing at you as you kept on laughing. "Foul play, you do not get to word it that way"

"I was telling the truth!"

"You were twisting my words" He insists, giving you a shrewd smile.

"Only a little bit" you admit, pushing your hair away from your face and sitting down on the sand

He props his leg up, placing his elbow over his knee while you sat cross legged. "I hope your father didn't reprimand you any more than what I have seen two days ago"

"No, he just gave me the silent treatment, he always does it"

"Now why would he do that?"

"He dosen't want to fight with me anymore than he already does, that's why he stays quiet"

He lets out a condescending scoff. "Dosen't look like it"

You half-shrugged. "I'm used to it, it's no big deal"

A moment of silence settles.

"Open out your hand" Ao'nung says oh so suddenly.

You turn to him, your interest piqued. "Why?"

"Just do it" He says, pointing his chin at your hand. "And look the other way"

You sighed, opening your palm and keeping your eyes away until he dropped something in the middle of your hand, something cold, something hard. You finally look down and you couldn't help the gasp that escaped your lips.

It was a necklace. Held together by golden twine with clay beads and pearls strung a centimeter away from the others, then, a pearlescent conch shell as big as your thumb in the very middle.

It looked amazing.

You hated it.

"I asked Tuk for the beads you managed to gather, wasn't hard, all I had to do was bribe her with some candied fruit" He surmised like it was something to be proud of.

"You've got to stop using my sister for your stunts" You say, placing the necklace against the light, your smile widening to an O as it glimmered.

He smirked, ducking his head. "She's the only Sully who truly likes me"

"That's not true" You tell the boy, waiting for him to look up to you, and when he does you continue. "Not really"

And this boy blushes.

"Hah! 14 different shades of purple!" You shout.

He dosen't say anything, only letting you make fun of him, prodding at his forearms, giggling when he averts his face.

"Are you done?" He asks after a while, failing at stifling a grin.

You shrugged, lifting your hair up to tie the necklace together. "Maybe" you laughed, patting your hair down and raising your eyebrows at him. "So, how's it look?"

"Uhh, it looks- it looks great" He responds, feeling the unfamiliar warmth blossom beneath your ribs. "Now you'll have something to draw attention away from your frightening face"

You click your tongue at him, hearing his infectious laugh and watching as he shields his face away from the beating that was about to come.

"Y/N"

The laughter stops. The both of you whirl around to see Neteyam donning his signature stony expression, you stand up straighter, distancing yourself from Ao'nung.

"Come on" says Neteyam, his gaze switching to you, then to Ao'nung, then the necklace. "Mom's calling you, she needs help with dinner"

"Can't you help her?" You can't help but wonder. That was probably too mean.

"She wasn't calling me was she?" He retorted, ice running through your veins. "And anyway, i'm not interrupting anything here, am I?"

"No" You tell him.

"Then let's go" He says, you reluctantly walk towards him, he takes your shoulder, leading you out of there as he looks at Ao'nung whose eyes followed you away a little too long for his liking.

"Ao'nung" Neteyam acknowledges.

He nods. "Neteyam" says Ao'nung.

You both arrived at the Marui, your mood souring by the second. "Explain yourself" Neteyam demands.

You spun around. "What is there to explain? you saw us, we were just talking"

"I mean if you know the way he looks at you or you're just pretending to be blind"

"What are you talking about?" You almost screeched, your eyebrows knitting.

"I don't like you hanging around him," Neteyam tells you, pointing back at the beach. "he's bad news"

You hiss at him but what came out was a groan of annoyance, walking deeper into your pod. "Just butt out of my business"

"Your business is my business!" He tells you pointing at his chest.

"That is not true"

Neteyam groans. "It's Ao'nung, Y/N" He emphasized.

"I am perfectly aware of his name" You sassed.

"He's too old for you" Neteyam insists. "He'll break your heart"

You let out an incredulous laugh, as you turned around. you couldn't believe what he was saying, what he thought was happenning. "That is not what was happenning back there, alright?"

"Why'd he give you that then??"

You don't answer him, instead you scoffed, rolling your honey color eyes. "You are way off-base"

"No," He insisted, stopping you from walking out of the Marui. "what I am is right"

You throw your hand in the air as you walked passed your oldest brother, silencing him. "Whatever, I'm done here"

"I'm still talking to you"

"Well I'm not" You yelled back, running down to the beach, your anger simmering.

In an attempt to avoid your big brother you decide to join both your sisters, Rotxo, and Tsireya to visit the Cove of the Ancestors, hastily agreeing and in a hurry to hop up on your ilu, your brother decided that he would not let you go away so easily and insists that he joined too.

"We have to be there before eclipse settles, it's better that way" Rotxo appends with a grin, before his ilu splashes him in the face, Kiri laughing at his misfortune.

And Rotxo was right. It did look better after eclipse.

The sky may have darkened into a deep prussian blue but the water hadn't, it glowed several different shades of purple, you look down and see a warped image of their spirit tree, your siblings oohing and ahhing beside you.

All of you swim downwards, Rotxo instructing you to connect your queue to one of the bright purple margins of the leaves and you do, once you had linked your queue it felt as though you were being pulled through a blinding white tunnel, until it stops, and you land on all fours like you had been thrown out of there by some disembodied force.

You look up, you were back in the lab.

Your bare feet on the cold obsidian like tiles giving you fleeting flashbacks of what it was like to be standing back here, your first home. You look down, your hands were smaller, you weren't blue anymore, you adjust your focus to your reflection on the tiles and there it was.

You were a human again.

The sound of arguing catches your attention, it was coming from a few doors down and so you stood up, feeling the weight of your bones pulling you down, the world spun you around and you grab the nearest object to steady yourself, blinking until the world stopped spinning. You slowly made your way across the lab, the familiar mess of papers, the coffee stained tables, holograms of different insects, different plants propped up, books open to pages booked marked with sticky notes, the familiar intricate yet haphazard scrawl of Norm's handwriting, how his t's had a little tail.

"I trusted you! I trusted all of you!" The voice was a woman's, loud, piercing, she was definitely angry, but about what?

"Look, listen to us, all we wanted, all I wanted was to keep her safe, I tried my best Betty, believe me"

Betty?

There was no way.

"Don't try and kiss my ass Sully, do you think I believe the shit you're tryna feed me?" She shouts, followed by a few words in some foreign language where she rolled her r's a lot. "I told you to take care of her, then I come back 8 years later because she cracked her skull open because you- you! " You heard a tussle, like she had pushed someone into a wall. "You let her out at night in this cesspool! In the pouring rain!"

"Betty, we didn't know it was going to rain, alright?"

"Shit excuse, you have trackers in their exopacks don't you?"

"We do but- but Spider and Y/N managed to bypass it without us knowing, we had a hard time locating them and when we did-"

"-My baby's been bleeding out for 20 minutes" She says as you her tired voice turn brittle. "20 minutes" She repeats.

You finally see the door at the end of the hallway, its hinges eased open letting out a ray of periwinkle light on the floor. You walk up to it, standing on your toes and you see a woman, her thick wavy locks looked more puffed up when she was angry, her hickory brown eyes practically piercing needles onto Jake's face, Jake, who was also human, who was standing on his own two feet.

"That's 20 minutes too long Sully"

"Betty, we can't count our losses in this scenario" Jake tells her. "Look, her conditions stable-"

"-Yeah her conditions stable but she's damn lucky she didn't suffer any permanent neurotrauma"

"Betty "

"You're done Jake" says your mother, prodding a finger at his chest, you watch him raise his palms and cringe. "I'm taking her back"

Jake's eyes widen. "You can't do that"

"She's my daughter"

"I raised her! " Jake snapped.

" She was never yours! " Your mother retaliated.

You feel Jake's heart rip at the seams just by the look of his face. "Betty, you can't do this" He says weakly.

"Tough luck Sully, I can"

"What if we all just take a breather-"

"-Up your ass Norm" with that the door sprang wide open and you truly see what was going on, there was Jake, there was your Mom, there was Norm, there was Max.

And they were all looking at you.

"Luz, Míja, what are you doing up??"

Who the hell was Luz?

Was that supposed to be you? The name she gave you before she died? Before Neytiri came in and gave you a new one? One that stuck so well that even Norm and Max started using it?

You don't answer, still shell-shocked from taking all of this in for the first time.

"Come on, we have to go," She says, grabbing your hand and leading you out of there.

She pulls you out of there, further out of the lab and you pass by a mirror, you see a fleeting image of yourself, you were 8 again, practically skin and bone, fresh and healed bruises everywhere, knobby knees, and sallow skin. How the hell?

"You can't take her away!" Jake yelled. "Please, Betty! you're not thinking this through! Please! " The desperation in his voice was evident, it almost tugged at your heartstrings before you remembered how he treated you, how he snapped at you and yelled at you, restricted you, and berated you.

She keeps pulling you, pulling you out of the lab, your eyes widen as you remember you didn't have an exopack, nothing happens, you didn't choke on the spot, you see the Sully kids the way you remembered them that night- scared, shaken, dejected, calling out your name as you were pulled away by your mother, Neytiri holding all of them back.

You turn to Betty Chacon and the woman she was, your mother, the one who birthed you, and gave you life.

You couldn't believe she was here. You gripped around her hand tightly, following her into the forest where you walked through the trees. Until you hit a branch and your vision turns black.

Your eyes snapped open, realizing you had been pulled out of your encounter with your mother, at first you were angry, it was too short, you wanted her back, until you realize the spirit tree blinked like a lightbulb going haywire, you see your sister convulsing beside you. Anxiety floods your nerves as you jolt her awake, realizing you needed to pull her braid out but when you did it felt like your whole body was on fire.

TRIGGER WARNING !

Fire.

You open your eyes again and you see fire festering all around you.

You see blurry, fleeting images of Quaritch, you hear guttural screams, shrill screams, knife tearing through flesh, splattering, it was blood splattering on the stones. You blinked hard and see your family all lined up in front of you, impaled by sticks, you could hear blood splattering on the floor like you had just hung the washing and not wringing it dry, you run to help them, making a beeline towards Neteyam who was in front of you, but you screamed, realizing he had no face, like somebody has ripped it off his head.

"You're next" And it was Quaritch who was standing behind you, throwing Neteyam's face onto the rock like a slab of wet cloth, right beside the others, whose expressions of terror were imprinted on their faces forever.

END !

You feel your world jolt, when in reality it had been Rotxo shaking you out of your reverie, asking if you were okay or not answer you didn't think of answering back, only swimming up to the surface because you remembered your sister shaking violently.

You and Rotxo resurface to see Neteyam giving Kiri CPR atop his ilu, she gasps, and the next thing you knew Neteyam zooms out of there, Tsireya calling for Tuk to ride with her, leaving you with Rotxo who places a hand on your shoulder.

"Y/N! Y/N are you alright???" He practically demands, his wide eyes full of worry.

You blinked, almost having to untie your mouth open to speak. "We need to go back, my- Kiri- she's-"

"And we will," Rotxo assures you. "Hinewai is here already, see? Do you need a moment?"

You shook your head, propping yourself up on Hinewai's back. "No"

You and Rotxo speed through the waters to make it back to the village where you see throngs of village gathering around the beach, seeing your sister being transferred onto a bamboo gurney, hearing your mother's inconsolable wails wracking her body as Jake held her in his arms, barking orders left and right, Neteyam making sure they were being carried out, Tuk was sobbing, Tsireya stood close by in order to calm her, you couldn't find Lo'ak anywhere, there were too. much. people.

Your chest tightens again.

[crusherthedoctor]

IDW Sonic

Well hey howdy hey, which universally known take of mine should I select for this one. :P

I'll go with this: we all know I don't think IDW Sonic is a particularly good representation of the character because he's a holier than thou twat who's ironically less sincerely benevolent than Game Sonic, who the comic consistently props up as being in the right despite the opposite being true. But there's another layer to it: I also react negatively to Mr. Principles because he's a bastardization of the archetype they're seemingly trying to go for. Contrary to a lot of folk, I tend to prefer hero-heroes over anti-heroes so long as they're well written and entertaining (and when it actually fits the character rather than being applied to one that it makes no sense for), so when characters like Holier the Thou come along, it can convince people that nice and kindhearted heroes are inherently bad or boring... and a lot of folk are already convinced of that as it is.

Given I have Trudy under my belt, you can see why this would steam my hams. >:L

[kim-ruzek]

i just watched fire and five things:

i am actually really enjoying this paramedic, not because she's an amazing person but because she's fresh and she brings a new dynamic in a polarising way but not like in an anti-51 kind of way which is refreshing and also i loved the way she talked down the kid - definitely has 51 potential

trudy taking down the woman was so fucking badass, i love her so much

i loooooved seeing kylie at 51 and her interactions with james

stellaride continues to be couple goals, i love them so much

carver and violet are definitely growing on me, that ending scene between them was so bloody cute