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melzula · 1 month

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North and South

part three

pairing: zuko x princess!reader

notes: we’re finally at the end! i hope you guys like some of the changes i made to the original comic storyline :)

summary: with Gilak in jail and the Northerners gone you assume the worst is over, but the festival incident was just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how far the man is willing to go

~ part of the fire lilies series ~

You don’t understand how everything has gotten so out of control.

What was meant to be a wonderful celebration of your friends’ return home had quickly been ruined Gilak’s ambush, and if not for Katara’s ability to heal Hakoda woukd have lost his life tonight. Tensions are high in the South, and you find yourself overwhelmed with worry for the future of the Water Tribe. If your people can’t even get along with each other, how will you ever be able to connect with the other nations?

“I don’t know what to do,” you admit in defeat as Zuko watches you pace back and forth from his place on your bed. “I know Gilak doesn’t speak for everyone, and for the most part everyone has been onboard with the changes we’ve made to the South, but there are still some Southerners who share his sentiment, and I don’t know how to fix it so that everyone is happy.”

“That’s the thing, y/n,” Zuko corrects you gently, being sure to phrase his words carefully so as to not upset you, “you can’t make everyone happy. It’s impossible. As leader you have to do what’s best for the majority, even if it means not everyone will like it. Just look at the New Ozai Society. They’ll never be happy no matter what I do as Fire Lord, but I don’t let their dislike for my decisions influence how I lead the Fire Nation.”

“I suppose you’re right,” you relent with a dejected sigh, flopping down beside him in defeat and sprawling out onto the blankets. “I just can’t help but feel like I should be doing more as Chief. I didn’t know about Gilak and his army, and I certainly didn’t know about Maliq’s ulterior motives regarding the oil refinery. Shouldn’t I have known?”

“You can’t be everywhere at once. You have to remember you’ve been busy rebuilding an entire tribe from the ground up while also trying to restore a part of your culture that was almost lost forever. You’re doing more than enough, and your people are grateful for all you do,” he assures you with a careful smile as he gently pushes back the hair from your face. “Maliq and his crew are leaving by morning and Gilak is in jail. Tomorrow will be better.”

“I’m so glad you’re here,” you express earnestly as you pull yourself up and press a kiss to his cheek. “I don’t know how I’d get through all of this without you.”

“Well it’s a good thing you don’t have to,” he smiles before sweetly brushing his nose against your own. After the chaos of the day, it’s nice to finally have a moment to settle down with your boyfriend, and you’re appreciative of the comfort Zuko always manages to bring you no matter how stressful the situation.

“Did you at least have fun at the festival? You know, before the whole drill incident,” you ask with a sheepish smile as you begin to carefully remove the braids you’d styled into Zuko’s hair for the party.

“I did,” he breathes out in a laugh, immediately melting at the sensation of your careful fingers combing through his hair. “It was a wonderful festival.”

He says nothing more as you continue to brush through his locks; it’s gotten longer since the last time you’ve seen him, and you enjoy the change. You’ve always loved his hair, and you appreciate the fact that he allows you the intimacy of brushing it for him.

“Do you think the conference will go well tomorrow? I’m afraid it might be too soon to start our work with the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation if we can’t even seem to get along with the North.”

“You can’t wait for progress,” Zuko notes thoughtfully. “Making connections will only improve the South’s rebuilding process.”

You hum thoughtfully in response, but your mind begins to wander. You’re trying to see things from an open perspective, making changes that will benefit your people without forgetting about their past, but you haven’t been completely open to Hakoda’s suggestions. You were quick to shut down the idea of the oil rig despite its benefits, and though you’d been proven right about the problems such a project could cause, you also knew that not using available resources would also stunt the tribe’s growth. Zuko says you can’t wait for progress, but how do you know when the time is right?

“We should rest,” you suggest after finishing your work. “We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow.”

“I guess you’re right,” he relents with a sigh before rising from his seat on your bed. “I’ll see you in the morning?”

“You will,” you assure him before gifting him a kiss goodnight and watching him exit your room. Now alone, you collapse back onto your bed with an exhausted sigh.

“Tomorrow will be better,” you try to remind yourself.

But you’re not sure if you entirely believe that.

~~~

The day is calmer now that the construction crew is gone and Gilak is locked away. There are a handful of protestors outside the palace gates who demand that all foreigners leave the South, but they don’t seem to speak for the majority of your people, and for that you are grateful. Sokka and Toph manage crowd control while you prepare for the arrival of King Kue and the conference that is to take place today. Things are normal for the most part and your plans are back on track, so you try to remain positive and focused on the tasks at hand.

“Are you sure this conference is a good idea, y/n?” Katara asks after pulling you aside to express her concerns with you privately, the uncertainty clear on her features. “After everything that’s happened maybe the South just needs to handle things on its own first before starting to work with other nations.”

“I understand your concern, but with most of the Northerners gone we basically are on our own now. There are just some things the South can’t do by itself, so collaborating with other countries will not only give us connections but possible resources as well. I have to look at the bigger picture here.”

Katara is silent for a moment as she digests your words, but after a few moments of contemplation she finally gives you a nod. “I trust you’ll do what’s best for the tribe. I just don’t want us to end up becoming a cheap imitation of the North or lose our identity by inviting other Nations into our home.”

“Do you remember the conflict that arose during the Harmony Restoration Movement when the Earth King tried to separate the colonies?” You ask her with a faint smile, continuing when she gives you a puzzled yes as an answer. “We realized keeping the Fire and Earth people apart would do more harm than good for the future of the world and decided we needed to work together to build peace. Our entire friend group is composed of different nations, and our relationships too. My future with Zuko is dependent on our homes working together, on our people connecting with one another, and so I ask that you try to view this situation the same way you viewed it then.”

“I guess I never thought of it that way,” the water bender admits guiltily, your words obviously having struck a nerve with her. Who was she to pick and choose who got to work together and who didn’t? You had a point, and it was making her question how she truly felt about the changes occurring in her home.

“Chief y/n,” Hakoda calls from the doorway, promptly ending your discussion with Katara, “King Kue has arrived.”

The Earth King enters the meeting room with a look of awe as he observes the interior of the chamber and admires the Southern architecture of the building, and you promptly bow in respect in his presence before offering him your hand to shake.

“King Kue, it’s my honor to have you here in the South. We greatly appreciate you taking the time to attend this conference.”

“I’ve been wanting to visit the South Pole for years since meeting you all! It’s wonderful albeit freezing,” he admits with a sheepish chuckle while taking your hand.

“We’re happy to have you here, and after the conference I’d be glad to give you a tour,” you sincerely assure him before guiding him to his seat.

With all of your friends and the king present, you’re able to begin your presentation alongside Hakoda. You let him and Malina take the reins for the first half as they detail their plans to create an updated harbor for the South. They explain the logistics and the benefits of the project before allowing you to take over and explain the diplomatic prospects.

“Our hope is that this harbor will give the world a chance to visit our home and partake in our commerce as well as educate themselves on our history. Through outreach we hope to build stronger connections with our neighboring nations and establish an era of harmony and peace,” you explain with a pleased smile, eager to convey your ideas for the other leaders to hear. This is definitely the biggest thing you’ve done as Chief so far, and you briefly wonder if your father would be proud to see how far you’ve come.

“Chief y/n also came up with the idea of establishing embassies in both of your nations as well as allowing you to do the same here to further outreach between our people. However, as advisor I must note we don’t necessarily have the funds to enact this plan,” Hakoda states plainly, exchanging glances with you before looking to Zuko and Kue, “and that is why we’ve invited you here. We would be thrilled to have your partnership to make this vision a reality and strengthen the bond between our homes.”

You hopefully scan the room to gauge their reactions, and for the most part everyone seems to be open to your plan- well, everyone but Katara. It isn’t easy to ignore the subtle disapproval on her features and her obvious hesitance to opening up the South to the world, and it diminishes your optimistic mood. You recall what Zuko had said about not being to make everyone happy, but it’s hard to do when it’s one of your closest friends that seems to disapprove of your choices.

“You can count the Fire Nation in,” Zuko says proudly while directing his gaze from Hakoda to you. “Your people have suffered so much destruction at our hands, and we are grateful for the opportunity to help you rebuild.”

“Thank you, Fire Lord Zuko. Your efforts are greatly appreciated,” you express sincerely, taking extra care to be professional when speaking to your boyfriend in front of your peers.

“I’m sorry that the Earth Kingdom can’t offer our support so readily. We have so many of our own needs at home,” King Kue states sullenly with obvious disappointment clear in his tone. “But if I could show my advisers that the Southern Water Tribe is going to make measurable, concrete progress toward civilization-“

“Excuse me?!” Katara butts in harshly. The offense is clear in her tone, and her outburst takes everyone by surprise.

“Oh dear, please forgive the clumsiness of my words, Katara! I should have phrased it differently,” he quickly interjects in a panic. “We would simply want you to achieve a higher form where the South becomes a cleaner, safer, nicer-“

“King Kue,” you interrupt gently as you do your best to remain calm despite your displeasure at his words, “please be mindful when speaking about our home. You are a guest here, and just as we treat you with respect we expect the same.”

“Of course! What I meant to say was-“

“Chief y/n!” A voice interrupts as one of your guards bursts into the room. His tone and features are full of urgency as he approaches. “We’ve just received an alert from the prison! Gilak and his army-“

You cry out in horror as the man is swiftly knocked unconscious by a boomerang, and all your friends quickly jump up from the table in preparation to defend themselves from the oncoming threat. Zuko is by your side in an instant, guarding your figure with his own so that you’re kept away from the danger. He knows you can handle yourself, but after what happened with Koa he isn’t taking any chances this time.

Gilak and his men flood through the doorway, his malicious gaze focused on Hakoda who stands in the center of the room and protectively shields Malina from the group.

“Look at you, Hakoda. So eager to sell our tribe to foreign masters! And you,” he says in disdain as he points his boomerang in your direction, “so easy to be brainwashed by your advisor and your ash maker boyfriend. So easy to manipulate and fool. Perhaps Koa was right about you, y/n. What does a little girl know about running a tribe?”

“You watch your mouth!” Sokka cries out harshly in defense of you and his father.

“You watch it, boy. We’re taking over this meeting.”

“For the tribe!” Gilak’s soldiers cry out before all chaos breaks loose. Two of his men charge towards you only for Zuko to shoot flames towards them in retaliation.

“Stay back!” He commands fiercely, but your own safety is the least of your worries at the moment.

“Protect the Earth King!” You call out as you send a blast of snow into the gut of an attacker before they can reach Kue. Another soldier tries to strike you from behind, but you’re able to quickly dodge their attack before encasing their feet in ice so they can longer attempt an attack on you or your friends. “You swore an oath to serve the royal family and the people of this tribe! How dare you turn against me?!”

“It’s not us you should be worrying about, Chief,” the woman glowers scornfully. “It’s that no good Hakoda and your Fire Lord boyfriend you should be looking out for. They’ve made you forget who you are.”

“I know who I am,” you utter lowly before raising your hands to lift the ice so it encases her entire body. “Maybe you should think about who you are while you wait for the ice to melt.”

Your attention is pulled away from the guard at the sound of a loud crash, and you barely manage to catch a glimpse of Gilak narrowly missing Zuko as he brings his whale tooth blade down into the table. Gasping, you quickly maneuver the water around your arms to form tentacles that wrap around the man’s torso and lift him into the air before slamming him back down again. The impact is forceful enough to disable him of his weapon, and Zuko quickly kicks it away from his grasp.

“Thank you,” he breathes out in relief, clearly overwhelmed from the sudden chaos. You don’t have time to reply as more of Gilak’s army begin to break through the windows and wreak havoc on the palace. You’re completely surrounded, and despite your best efforts to fight them off you can’t ignore the fact that you’re outnumbered. You briefly remember to thank the spirits for the fact that your mother is out visiting Kanna and Pakku and not here in the midst of the danger.

Gilak gets a hold of Hakoda while the rest of you are distracted fighting his warriors, and your friends are quick to rush out after him. You follow in suit only to hesitate when you realize someone must stay behind to guard Kue. You trust in your group’s ability to handle Gilak on their own, but you don’t exactly trust the King to take care of himself. Without anyone noticing, you slip back into the meeting room in search of the monarch.

“Your highness! Your highness, we have to get you out of here!” You call out while frantically scanning the room for him. The chamber is dead silent and questioningly empty considering it had just been teeming with invaders, and there isn’t a single sign of Kue.

You hear the crunching of glass behind you and quickly pivot your body towards the noise, and the sound is enough of a distraction for you to be ambushed by chi-blockers who quickly disarm you of your bending and let your body fall to the floor with a thud.

“Not so high and mighty now, are you, ‘Chief’?” One of them taunts before moving out of the way so another can scoop your limp figure off the ground.

“Where is King Kue?!” You demand as you your eyes look around the room in a panicked hunt for the man.

“Relax, that oaf is fine,” the girl brushes you off with a dismissive wave of her hands. “He’s hiding in a closet somewhere like the coward he is. Besides, it was never about him. We knew you’d be stupid enough to come back for him, and you took the bait.”

“What do you mean?” You say in disbelief as they begin to sneak you out through one of the hallways before your friends can notice.

“You’re the problem with this place, you’re the one who let the outsiders in. We need someone new in charge, but we can’t do that until we get rid of you and Hakoda first.”

Dread fills your stomach at her explanation, and you’re able to do nothing but hang limply over the man’s shoulder as they take you to their hideout. For the sake of the tribe you hope Hakoda and your friends are okay, and you hope they can find you before it’s too late.

Outside of the palace, Gilak and his men have vanished and Hakoda has been returned safely to his children. It seems the chaos is over until Zuko looks to his side and notices his Princess is nowhere to be seen. Panic immediately fills his gut as he rushes back into the palace and begins his feverish search for her.

“Y/n! My love, where are you?!” He calls out, and after finding no sign of you anywhere his worry begins to morph into anger. “No… No!”

“What’s wrong, Zuko?” Toph demands after hearing his enraged roars. The group looks to Zuko with concern in their gazes as he lets out a vengeful blast of flames from his mouth. The Fire Lord is seething, and there’s only one cause for his fury.

“They took y/n.”

~~~

You sit in an empty room tied to a chair with Gilak as your only form of company. For a long while neither of you speak, both of you locked into a staring contest as his eyes of contempt meet your own indignant ones.

“It didn’t have to be this way,” he finally says to break the silence, slowly beginning to circle around your chair like a shark. “I tried to get you to see things from our perspective, but you were just too stubborn. You didn’t want to see the danger in front of you, and even when Maliq disrespected you in front of the entire tribe you still went ahead and invited outsiders into the South.”

“What is so wrong about working with others?” You demand fruitlessly, unable to comprehend how he can be filled with so much hatred. “Not every outsider is bad, but you’re too full of resentment to see that! We’ve been able to accomplish great things because of the help of our sister tribe, and with the help of the Fire Nation-“

“The Fire Nation?!” Gilak bellows angrily, and you can’t help but to flinch in fear at his outburst. “They burned down our outer villages, desecrated our water benders, took our Chief from us! They are the reason we must rebuild in the first place! And yet you invite the Fire Lord onto our land simply because you let your love for him blind you of his true nature.”

“The Fire Nation did horrible things, yes. But Zuko is trying to right the wrongs of the past. There is good in his heart as there is in the hearts of other Fire Nation citizens. I’ve witnessed it firsthand. We cannot remain stuck in the past if we wish to build a future.”

“There is no future for the Southern Water Tribe with you and Hakoda in charge, and that’s why I’m taking matters into my own hands,” he says menacingly before signaling for two of his guards to remove you from the chair and bind your limbs together so you can be transported out of the tunnels.

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ve sent a letter to Hakoda asking him to meet me at the Bridge of No Return. He’s under the impression he’ll be trading his life for yours, but once he sets foot on that bridge and meets you in the center I’ll cut the line before either of you can make it safely across.”

“No…” you utter in disbelief, panic beginning to settle in your gut.

“The South will finally be rid of its problem, and then we can truly begin to strengthen our tribe.”

You’re able to say nothing more as a cloth is tied around your mouth to keep you from speaking. The last thing they want is for you to try and warn the others of their plan once you get to the bridge.

The guards carry you away, and you desperately try to come up with a plan of escape before it’s too late.

~~~

Zuko is anxious as he makes his way up the mountains. While fruitlessly searching endless tunnels hadn’t brought you back to him, receiving the letter from Gilak detailing your whereabouts didn’t exactly ease his nerves either. You were in danger, and if for some reason Sokka’s plan failed your life could be lost tonight. The thought almost sends him reeling, but he reminds himself to stay focused on the task at hand. He needs to be at his best if he plans to get you back safely- he promised your distraught mother he’d return you to her alive, and that’s what he planned to do.

“There she is!” Sokka exclaims as he points to your sullen figure across the way. Your arms are completely bound and a cloth is wrapped around your mouth to keep you quiet, and the sight has Zuko fuming. How dare they treat you so disrespectfully? He begins to rush forward only for Sokka to halt his efforts. “Hold on, buddy. I know you want her back safe but we can’t make any rash decisions or this plan won’t work.”

Zuko falters, huffing out a breath of smoke through his nose in protest before backing off. His eyes meet your desperate ones from across the way and his chest aches at the sight. He’d failed to protect you, and now you were a captive being used as bait for Gilak’s plan. He shouldn’t have left you behind, he shouldn’t have taken his eyes off of you, and he shouldn’t have let this happen.

You watch helplessly from across the way as Gilak sends his chi-blockers towards your friends and wince on their behalf as they receive the paralyzing blows. You let out a muffled cry of alarm as one by one they collapse to the ground, but you’re unable to do anything as the man gives you a harsh shove from behind.

“Get moving, Princess. Your time is up.”

You stumble forward onto the rickety bridge and take cautious steps in fear the wood falling out from beneath you. Hakoda meets you halfway before carefully pulling down the cloth from your mouth. Your features are frantic as you immediately utter jumbled pleas for him to leave.

“Hakoda, they’re going to cut the bridge! You have to get off,” you urge him desperately, tears welling in your eyes as you try to shove him back. The man rests his hands upon your shoulders to stop your movements before reaching down to remove your binds.

“I know,” he says softly as he gives you a reassuring smile before looking across the way. “I promise you we’re going to be okay.”

You follow his gaze to see Malina using her bending to stop Gilak from cutting the bridge. On the other side, your friends have risen from the ground and are busy taking out his army of soldiers. His plan has failed, and Hakoda quickly begins to usher you across the unstable structure.

The bridge begin to tremble as more weight is added onto it, and behind you Gilak angrily chases after you and Hakoda with a torch in hand. He doesn’t plan to give up so easily, so consumed by hatred that it’s made him crazed.

“I’m not letting either of you get away with this! You need to be punished for what you’ve done!” He roars angrily before charging at you both. “I’m going to take you down even if it means I have to go with you.”

“Are you mad?!” Hakoda cries before shoving you behind him to keep you out of Gilak’s reach. Another jolt shoots through the structure as Malina attempts to stop your attacker, but her efforts only cause him to involuntarily light the bridge aflame with his torch. As the two struggle for control over one another, Zuko dashes onto the bridge and uses his bending to put the fire before it can spread.

“Zuko!” You cry out in relief at the sight of him, only wanting his comfort after everything you’ve been through in the last twenty four hours. He meets your eyes and smiles in relief at the fact that you’re okay, but his features quickly morph into ones of dread as the burnt rope snaps and the bridge collapses. Your stomach drops as your feet lose contact with the ground beneath you, but the Fire Lord is quick to reach out and capture you by the wrist before you can fall.

“Hold on tight!” He tells you, making sure your hold on his forearm is secure before he propels the two of you upward using the streams of flames he releases from his feet. You land safely on the fresh snow below you, and you’re more than grateful to finally feel the ground beneath you again.

“Oh, Zuko!” You breathe out in relief before throwing yourself into his arms and holding him tight. His warmth soothes the chill in your bones from being so close to death, and he’s quick to return your embrace.

“I’m here,” he assures you as he carefully strokes your back. “I’ve got you.”

“Where’s King Kue?” You ask as you rapidly scan the area in search of the man. “Is he alright?”

“He’s fine, Pakku and your mother are looking after him. Are you okay?” He reiterates before pulling out of the hug to get a look at you. Indents have been left behind on your cheeks from the cloth that had been tightly wrapped around your head, and Zuko carefully looks you over for any other signs of hurt.

“I’m okay,” you promise him with a quick nod. “The chi-blocking wore off, I just feel tingly from being tied up is all.”

“They tied you up?!” Zuko exclaims angrily only to calm down when he sees the abashed look on your face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. It just makes me so upset to think that someone would want to hurt you. I’m sorry I didn’t protect you.”

“It’s not your fault, Zuko,” you correct him with a slight frown. “If it weren’t for you I would have fallen of that bridge.”

“Speaking of which,” Sokka interrupts urgently as he directs your attention to the collapsing structure, “it’s about to give! How are we gonna get them back up here!”

“I can go back down and get them,” Zuko insists only for Sokka to wave him off.

“Your weight would make it collapse before we could save anyone.”

“I’ll try to keep it stable!” Toph offers as she uses her earth bending to support the structure. “You guys are gonna have to work fast, I’m not sure how long this will hold.”

You watch as Katara and Aang spring into action to gather the others, and the Avatar is able to grab hold of them right as the bridge finally falls apart. He struggles to bring them up, and you watch anxiously as he flies his guider back towards the cliff top. Gilak isn’t making it an easy task he makes a last ditch attempt to lash at Hakoda, but the man only succeeds in losing his grip in the process and falling towards the bottom of the cliff.

“Gilak!” You cry out in horror, turning away so you don’t have to watch the man plummet to his death. Despite all he’s done, you’d never wish for death on anyone, and so you’re torn at the fact that this is how the conflict will end.

“There was nothing Aang could do,” Zuko says in an attempt to comfort you, but you’re not sure if it helps. Hakoda and Malina are brought to safety, and you’re left to deal with the aftermath of all that’s occurred.

“How did you all overcome the chi-blocking?” You ask as your mind begins to process all that’s occurred. You couldn’t compute how your friends hadn’t been susceptible to the blocks like you had.

“Metal armor!” Sokka explains proudly while showcasing you his invention. “It was my idea, but Toph made it a reality.”

“Sokka, you genius!” You laugh, throwing your arms around him in a hug full of gratitude for his help. “I can always count on you to figure out a solution to every problem.”

“Thank you, y/n, I am a genius.”

“Please don’t make his ego any bigger than it needs to be,” Katara teases before taking your hands in her own and giving them a gentle squeeze. “I’m glad you’re okay, and I’ve been thinking about what you said, about changing my perspective. I think you’re right.”

“I’m happy you see it that way,” you tell her with a careful smile before looking to her father and Malina. “And I think it’s time I did the same. If you both can come up with a revised proposal for an ecofriendly oil refinery that will benefit the South, I’d be happy to give it another look.”

“Thank you, Chief y/n,” Hakoda says gratefully, sharing an excited glance with Malina, “we appreciate your openness.”

“We need to get you back to the palace,” Zuko tells you while resting a careful hand on your back. “Your mother is probably worried sick waiting for you, and I promised I’d bring you home safely.”

“Spirits, you’re right,” your murmur fretfully before taking hold of his hand and quickly beginning your descent down the mountain.

“They’re good for each other, aren’t they?” Hakoda notes to your friends as he watches your figures disappear over the hill.

“They are,” Katara agrees with a faint smile, her mind beginning to imagine what your future will look like. The embassies will provide a good foundation for the relationship of the Water Tribe and Fire Nation, and the project will be a testament to what you and Zuko had proved long ago.

The fate of the nations are in good hands.

~~~

The South has settled back into its normal routine. With the death of Gilak and arrests of his army came the end of the protests, and reconstruction was able to resume without the threat of unrest or discontent among your people.

You stand inside the museum with Zuko by your side, your hands interlocked as you stare at the wall before you. You’re in the hall of royal families, an area full of photos and relics of all the people from the past and present. You’d ventured into the Princess exhibit and were now staring at your wanted poster hanging on the wall of your section. You’d swiped the scroll from a Fire Nation market place while in disguise with the Avatar and his friends, and you felt it was an important piece of history to include in your exhibit.

“That’s the prettiest wanted poster I’ve seen,” Zuko comments with a small smile. “It’s strange to think how much has changed since this poster was made.”

“The past is a strange place,” you agree quietly before looking to your boyfriend. “Now that the war is over, do you ever find yourself thinking about the future?”

“Always,” he says, a familiar spark in his eyes as he stares down at you.

“We’re living proof that a strong connection between nations is possible. We always have been, and yet it scares people like Gilak.”

“People like Gilak fear change,” he murmurs lowly, the mere mention of the main leaving a bad taste in his mouth. “They fear going against tradition, and we are far from being a traditional couple.”

“Yeah, but I like it that way,” you say with a smile before reaching up to press a tender kiss to his lips. Zuko’s hands find their place on your hips as he pulls you in close to savor the feeling.

With peace in the South having been reestablished, you now have a good feeling about what awaits you in the future. It’s going to be complicated, there’s no arguing that, but you’re willing to face whatever challenges arise if it means getting to be with the boy you love.

You and Zuko are the hope for the future of your nations, and if your relationship has been able to withstand all the difficulties and heartaches that have come over the years, then there’s no doubt in your mind that your people will be able to do the same.

Water and fire are opposing elements, and yet you both work so well together. You’re two halves of a whole, and no one will ever be able to break you apart again.

| zuko tags: @ilovespideyyy @yiyibetch @eridanuswave @lammello @a-monsters-love @taeeemin @livelaughlovekuni @lovialy

| fire lilies tags: @emberislandplayers @kikaninchen-2 @music-geek19 @thia-aep @thyunnamed @haylaansmi @nataliahaslosthershit @idkdude776 @aangsupremacy @thirstyforsometea @ihaveaproblem98 @brown-eyed-thang @xapham @misnmatchedsox @chewymoustachio @that-bucket-hat-gal @chilifrylizard2 @kyomihann @kaylove12 @kiwihoee @freggietale @moon-spirit-yue @bubblegum-bee-otch @cipheress-to-k-pop @potato87123

| atla tags: @sirkekselord @niktwazny303

#melzula writes #fire lilies #zuko #zuko x reader #zuko imagine #prince zuko x reader #prince zuko imagine #prince zuko #sokka #katara #toph #aang #atla #atla x reader #atla imagine #avatar: the last airbender #north and south

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avoxrising · 4 months

Text

The Feral One • Ch 28

Finnick x Y/N

Series Masterlist Link

This may be the last chapter for a few days as we’re approaching the end of the story rapidly and I haven’t finished editing it yet lol. I apologize for leaving it off with a cliffhanger but I want to make sure the end is perfect before posting it. Life’s been busy this week so I haven’t had the time to finish it the way I want to.

Content Warnings - Injury, death, medical issues, I promise Finnick isn’t being stupid this time lol

The next week was full of recovery. You slowly regained your strength and were able to try solid foods again. The doctors polished all your scars off, including the one on your face from your games, at your request. You wanted nothing left to remind you of them.

You started physical therapy, as well as regular sessions with Dr. Aurelius. He allowed Finnick to join you, realizing you felt more comfortable with him nearby. You still had to use a walker to get around, but you were making progress.

A few weeks after the war ended, Coin called all the victors into a meeting. There were barely any left, mostly due to the war.

“I’ve called you all here for a very symbolic vote,” she states. You don’t like where this is going.

She proceeds to pitch her idea for a hunger games featuring capital children. There are mixed reactions from the remaining victors, with some believing the idea to be fair and others believing it to be cruel. Votes are cast around the room and it finally comes down to Katniss.

“I get to kill Snow,” she tells Coin, who agrees to this proposition.

“Then I vote yes,” she states. “For Prim.”

You can’t even process what this means. Another games? Was Coin out of her mind? You finally realized what you had been denying all along, as long as Coin was in charge, you would never be free.

Finnick brings you back to your shared room after the meeting. You allow his touch but still flinch away at everyone else. Dr. Aurelius had been working with you on that but it’s hard to undo the trauma of many years.

“I just want to go home,” you tell him.

“You have to stay here for a bit,” he explains. “District 4 doesn’t have the resources for your treatment. Once you are better I promise you can go back to 4.”

“What about you?” you ask him. “Are you staying?”

He hesitantly shakes his head.

“I have to go to 4 for a few weeks but I’ll come back as soon as I can,” he states. “Johanna will be here with you in the meantime and I’ll call every day.”

“You’re leaving?” you ask, dumbfounded by his response.

“I promise it’s for a good reason,” he says, squeezing your hand. “I wouldn’t be doing this if it wasn’t important.”

“When do you leave?” you ask.

“In two weeks,” he responds. “I’ll be here for the first bit of your treatment and return before it’s over. Then we will both go back to 4 together. Do you trust me?”

“Always”

That afternoon Finnick helps you walk out onto the avenue to stand next to the other victors. Snow was finally falling, and you were both alive to witness it.

Standing in front of all the capital people made you uneasy. What did they think of you? Were they going to hurt you?

You’re lost in your thoughts when suddenly the crowd erupts into chaos. You look up to see Coin lying dead on the podium, an arrow in her heart. A mob of people begins rushing towards Snow, eager to kill him.

Finnick quickly scoops you up and carries you away from the commotion. When he finally sets you down, you ask what happened.

“Katniss killed Coin,” he states. “Snow is dead.”

He has to take you back to your room before you have a breakdown. What evil creature was going to seize power of Panem next? All of this was too much.

You end up collapsing on the floor of your room, shaking uncontrollably.

Taglist:

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#hunger games #finnick odair #hunger games fic #the hunger games #finnick odair x reader #finnick x reader #finnick odair angst #finnick angst #finnick #thg finnick #mockingjay part 2 #the feral one #avoxrising

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dreamless-daydreamer · 2 months

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TBB as Taylor Swift Songs Character + Song Analysis Part Five

(Part One) (Two) (Three) (Four)

Today we’re doing something different, instead of a character, we’re doing two characters and their relationship(not romantic please don’t take this that way).

Here we go!

Hunter & Crosshair - My Tears Ricochet

I’m sorry, in advance.

If I'm on fire, you'll be made of ashes too Even on my worst day, did I deserve, babe All the hell you gave me? 'Cause I loved you, I swear I loved you 'Til my dying day

The song itself uses funeral imagery to show the death of a relationship, and it's no different for Hunter and Crosshair. As the first season progresses it becomes more and more clear that the bond they once shared is dying, as they betray each other continuously throughout the season, Crosshair hunting them down, Hunter refusing to go back for him.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And you're the hero flying around, saving face And if I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake? Cursing my name, wishing I stayed Look at how my tears ricochet

Neither of them were sparing each other from their misery, and they both convinced themselves that they were the ones doing the right thing, Hunter taking care of his other brothers, Crosshair because he was a loyal soldier, and therefore everything they did to the other was justified through that. And yet despite their growing resentment for each other, they still missed them. They both still tried to rekindle that brotherhood they once shared but they were such different people by then that it didn't work out.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace 'Cause when I'd fight, you used to tell me I was brave

"used to tell me I was brave" They're no longer supporting each other. And Crosshair is able to cut wounds in Hunter now that only Crosshair could cut. Only because he knows exactly how to hurt Hunter. He used to stand by Hunter, his leader, no matter what. But now hes accusing Hunter of failing, of being too weak to lead. And it hits Hunter so hard that he struggles with crosshairs words a year later in S2. And those words hurt him so much because Crosshair knew him so well he knew exactly how to hurt him.

And I can go anywhere I want Anywhere I want, just not home And you can aim for my heart, go for blood But you would still miss me in your bones

Despite the fact that Crosshair is on Kamino and Hunter is on the Marauder with the rest of the batch, neither of them will really be home because their family isn't complete. Not while theyre separated. And no matter what, no matter how much they hurt each other, no matter how much they try to hide it, they miss each other.

I didn't have it in myself to go with grace And so the battleships will sink beneath the waves You had to kill me, but it killed you just the same Cursing my name, wishing I stayed You turned into your worst fears

And in the end when they both had the chance to come back to the other, they both turned it down. And everytime they hurt each other they hurt themselves because they don't want to hurt each other. They're stuck in a cycle of using their own pain to justify causing each other pain, which brings themselves even more pain from hurting the other. They've lost each other and they've lost themselves in the process. Neither are the lighthearted, michevous brothers who trusted each other more than anything in S7 of TCW, they're colder and reserved, and they've left each other, something they used to think was impossible.

Thanks for suffering with me, always a pleasure. Happy Bad Batch Day!

#star wars #the bad batch #tbb #bad batch #star wars the bad batch #star wars tbb #tbb hunter #tbb crosshair #hunter bad batch #crosshair tbb #crosshair bad batch #clone trooper crosshair

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waywardstation · 10 months

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Bad Habits

[SEQUEL TO LEARNED BEHAVIOR] Akari thinks it’s funny that she’s essentially trained Lady Sneasler’s kits to tickle Ingo for food. It starts to lose its humor when it progresses to less playful methods, though.

It's been a while since I got a fic out, hasn't it? Long Covid's taken it's toll on my ability to focus and organize, and sadly write, but I still enjoy doing it just as much as before!! It just takes a little longer to pull things together for now ^^; I wrote this after my friends speculated on a possible sequel to the previous minutes fic I wrote.

OR read here on AO3!

Enjoy!

————

“Ah-hAh! Powder!”

Ingo jumped up from the dojo’s bench with an uncharacteristically-high shout, jerking as if he had been tasered in the back; Powder inadvertently came tumbling out of his coat with the movement, and sprawled onto the ground. The runt seemed unbothered by the jostling; she leapt up and scrambled under her favorite hiding place, the battlefield’s wooden platform, with a plump bean pod between her teeth.

“Good job, Powder!” A fit of giggling from the bench behind him gave away who had orchestrated this, having once again slipped a bean pod into his coat. But this incident had repeated itself enough times by now that Ingo didn’t even need the hint anymore - how did she keep managing to sneak them in?

“I am… aware you find these situations humorous, Miss Akari,” Ingo fixed his crooked cap and smoothed his coat back down, his face flushing somewhat - he was not fond of such an embarrassing weakness of his constantly being exploited. And Akari’s constant incitement encouraged them to start tickling with intent now, rather than doing so incidentally while searching for food. “But I am afraid I must repeat myself; I really must implore you to stop going down these tracks. Do not positively reinforce this, please.”

“Oh come on Ingo, it’s funny!” Akari popped open a pod and munched on one of the beans, brushing it off. His tone sounded a little annoyed or exasperated if she was being honest, but he always got a little defensive after a surprise tickle attack. “They’re just playing with you a little! I mean, it’s not like they’re hurting you or anything, right?”

Ingo remained stern, his expression not one of amusement; it appeared as if he viewed tickling to be just as unpleasant as getting hurt.

“While that is technically true at the moment, I must remind you that they are steadily growing bigger.” He glanced over at Powder momentarily. “This continued behavior is unacceptable, not only because it is inapplicable for wilderness foraging and survival, but because it can also become dangerous for myself, and possibly even other people, as their venomous claws develop.”

The last point especially seemed to put a stop to Akari’s antics; with a look of contemplation, she seemed to consider his words. She was well aware the kits were growing - she got to witness the process almost every day - but she simply had not considered the long-term consequences.

The teen glanced over at Powder beneath the platform, still tearing at her prize with her claws. She knew it would eventually happen, but it was still hard to imagine they wouldn’t always be that size, and of their more subdued temperament.

Ingo’s stern reaction made more sense now.

“I didn’t really think about that.” Akari turned the empty pod around in her fingers. “Yeah, I guess I should stop then. Sorry.”

But by then the damage had already been done, even if Akari herself did stop slipping beans and berries into his coat; the next time Ingo found himself under attack by the kits about a week later, it was entirely unprompted by the teen.

“We’re back!” Akari announced as she entered the training grounds, a basket held securely in her grip, and Zisu and Rei following behind her. Ingo looked over, away from all the sneasel kits he had been entertaining for most of the afternoon - the group had asked him to bring all the sneaslets to work today, so they could see how much they’d grown. The answer was… noticeably.

At the trio’s arrival, all nine kits scrambled towards them in a hurry to greet them, yowling as if they had been separated for thirty years, not thirty minutes. Rei and Zisu happily knelt down to pet them all, but Akari stepped around the tiny sneasels to approach Ingo.

“I take it you all had a pleasant lunch?” The warden questioned, seeming relieved to get a short break from the kits as he watched them swarm his companions. Though, Akari caught the quick glance he threw at the basket in her hands.

“Yeah, it would have been nicer if you had joined us though.”

“I would have if I could.” Ingo’s frown pulled at the mere thought of attempting to bring nine sneasels along, or leaving them unattended at the training grounds to join her, Zisu, and Rei at The Wallflower.

Another glance at the basket. Akari mistook his trepidation for interest.

“I know, I know,” she brushed it off, before holding up the basket. “That’s why we brought you something back!”

Ingo’s expression immediately gave way to worry; it was exactly what he dreaded. “Miss Akari, you really didn’t need to-”

“-No, Zisu insisted!” The teen had expected him to resist. “We know you said you’d be fine, but you’ve been here all day. So we went to Floaro’s, which is why it took so long-”

Akari opened the basket and rooted around inside. She pulled out a Jubilife Muffin, and held it out to him. “-But we got one of these for you!”

Akari made the mistake of presenting it for all of the sneasel kits to see as well. Behind her, Ingo could see a few kits turn their heads towards her, forgetting all about Rei and Zisu in a second. His gratitude was pushed down deeper under another layer of alarm.

“Miss Akari, I appreciate the gesture, but I really couldn’t,” An attempt to prevent the inevitable.

“Really? He added oran berries to these ones, and it’s really good!” She tried to hold the muffin out, in hopes he’d take it.

Ingo barely processed her sentence. His gaze was locked past Akari’s shoulder. Four kits’ eyes were now focused intently on her back, along with Rei and Zisu’s own curious looks going between her and said kits.

“Perhaps later, I will try it,” The warden held his hands up, clearly not accepting the muffin. He wanted her to just put it back in the basket.

Another glance over her shoulder. Akari now had the attention of all nine sneasles. They stalked, approaching her carefully with a few more calculated steps.

“Fine, but it’s not as good when it’s cold,” Akari shrugged, seeming to finally accept his rejection. But by then, it was too late - all nine kits finally took off, racing towards her.

They were actually going to attack Akari.

Her hand still holding the muffin out, Ingo grabbed it and held it for the sneasels to see their original target no longer had what they desired. The horde immediately diverted from their route. They rushed around a surprised Akari, pouncing to instead latch onto Ingo’s pantlegs.

“Mochi, Duchess! Nettle! No-!” Ingo attempted to correct all the eager kits before they could climb any further up his legs. But his stern voice did nothing to stop the sneasels as they continued to knock into him and pile up.

Together, the tiny sneaslets felled their caretaker. With combined tugging on the pant legs and the collective weight of nine sneasels putting him off balance, Ingo was pulled backwards onto the ground. The moment of vulnerability cost him; the sneasel pile swarmed on top of him in seconds, like a flock of hungry staraptor on a single unfortunate cherubi.

The kits got to work immediately; it only took seconds for Ingo’s demands to crumble into hysterics.

“Hey, hEy-! Gh- nOho!” Ingo’s awkwardly-stifled bouts of laughter overtook any attempt to put authority in his voice as the group of sneaslets ganged up on him, pestering his most ticklish spots in hopes that he’d let go of his food. Nudging muzzles, nibbling teeth, and scritching claws - by this point, the kits had learned quite well how to quickly wear Ingo down. It took considerable effort for him not to roll over defensively, his fear of crushing them barely overpowering his desperate reflexes to protect himself. “Please! C-ceASe-! Before one of you- gaH!”

Before anyone could even move to help him, Ingo cut himself off with a sudden exclamation that sounded genuinely surprised, and not in a good way. The horde of sneasels abandoned him as quickly as they had pounced on him, leaving him behind to lie on the ground in front of a stunned Akari.

It only took a moment to become apparent why; their efforts had quickly been rewarded. Balm had managed to pry the muffin from Ingo’s weakened grip and had whipped around to bolt off with his prize as fast as he could, greedy as ever. The siblings’ cooperation instantly dissolved, and the rest of them raced after him in an attempt to steal the prize away, yowling excitedly.

Ingo quickly sat up to defend himself in case another attack would be imminent. But when it was clear the sneasels were too focused on chasing each other, he let out a sigh of relief and reached over to situate his hat back on his head; it had been knocked off in the squabble.

Akari stood there, trying to process what had just happened. Any amusement she normally would have felt gave way to confusion from being caught off guard, then slight concern as she realized Ingo was focused on his hand that previously held the muffin. “…Are you ok?”

“I am alright, but Balm appears to have bitten me… quite hard.” Genuine surprise in his voice overtaking any irritation Akari was expecting, Ingo inspected the soft part of his palm, now peppered with tiny red tooth marks. A few clearly had broken the skin, where new droplets of red began to spring up across his red-smeared palm.

“Here, here,” Akari hastily reached into her satchel for a few scraps of bandaging, handing it to him. The sight of Ingo’s blood dripping down his hand sent a sudden pang of guilt through her. And then that sent another pang when she realized it took Ingo getting hurt to feel this bad about it. “They’ve bitten you before?”

“Yes. However, they have never drawn blood like this.” Ingo wrapped his hand securely, making sure the bandages covered every puncture.

Akari didn't know what to say to that. She glanced back over at the sneasel kits, now roughhousing over mere crumbs by the training ground’s fence, as Zisu helped Ingo back to his feet.

If the kits had ever used their teeth, they always nibbled on him gently enough to just tickle him. They never bit him hard enough to draw blood. And if any kit was going to bite that hard, Akari had expected it to be excitable Chomp, not mild-mannered Balm.

This wasn’t as playful as it used to be.

Ingo’s warning of the kits’ development and all the problems that would come with it popped up into her mind again. Was this happening every time he had any kind of food out around them anymore? Ingo hadn’t wanted to accept the muffin from her at first; was it because he knew this would happen? She had stopped slipping food into Ingo’s coat to encourage them, but had she done it to the point of teaching them to do it independently?

…Perhaps, Akari realized, Ingo’s reason for skipping lunch today had extended further than simply wanting to babysit the kits attentively.

————

Ingo was not at the training grounds. He had been expected there early that morning, but he never showed up.

Akari only waited a total of fifteen minutes before telling Zisu she’d make sure he was ok, and had set out to go look for him. He had promised her an early-morning battle the day before, and he always made a point to follow through with his promises. If he didn’t show up, that meant he either came down with a debilitating illness overnight, he had gotten seriously injured on the way to Jubilife, or the Miss Fortune Sisters had decided to try and roadside rob him… again.

All three were situations he’d need help with though if he still was yet to show up, so Akari had set out immediately, backtracking on his usual route to Jubilife from the highlands.

It had both relieved and worried her that she had made it all the way to the base of Mount Coronet without finding a trace of him. Where was he?

Surely he wasn’t still in Lady Sneasler’s den; it was almost noon by now. But, she had to be thorough. So Akari trekked up the mountainside, taking care to make sure no predatory pokemon were watching her as she deviated from the worn trails, and climbed up the cliffside to the entrance of Lady Sneasler’s den.

“Ingo?” She called out tentatively into the cavern. “Are you in here?”

There was no response.

But… she heard something quiet inside.

Were those the kits she heard? Akari shuffled a bit further in.

Squinting hard as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness, Akari bore witness to a massacre.

Nesting material was sifted about in uneven heaps, as if there had been a struggle. A multitude of shining eyes stared wide in the darkness, catching the dull light from outside as several faces kept focus on her. A motionless foot could barely be made out in the dimness underneath them, sticking out of a mass of indistinguishable, furry forms. The familiar black shoe that was expected to cover it was nowhere to be found amongst the site, most likely lost in the nesting layers.

Something had certainly happened here.

“Ingo?” Akari repeated with both a bit more alarm and certainty this time. The small forms with bright eyes collectively went stiff in the darkness, and a muffled groan sluggishly responded. The form beneath the kits moved ever so slightly.

“…Mmmiss Akari..?” The familiar voice slurred, as if half awake from a fever-induced sleep.

A short yet incredibly heavy stretch of silence, as Akari’s mind stalled on what to do.

Was he hurt? How bad was it? Why wasn’t Lady Sneasler here? Did a wild Pokémon try to get into the den, and did it maul Ingo in his efforts to protect the kits? She still couldn’t see all that well, what if he was bleeding out, or-?

One of the many pairs of bright eyes flickered out of view as one of the indiscernible kits lost interest in Akari and lowered their head, presumably back towards Ingo. A second later, a subdued jolt of almost-laughter was heard, and the foot sticking out of the sneasel pile jerked suddenly.

“Taro, no-”

…Oh.

Akari knew what had happened now. She let out a sigh of relief as Ingo continued to chuckle listlessly into the nesting material.

“…S-some assistance, please-“

————

Ingo bit into the pecha berry, wiping away the juice with the back of his hand (which still felt quite sluggish and heavy) as he chewed thoroughly.

At least he could somewhat feel it on his tongue now, and his fingers were beginning to tingle. That was a good thing; it meant the berry was finally starting to lessen the venom’s numbing effects.

Ingo sighed through his nose as he chewed, and rested his head back against the cavern wall; with stiff nerves and muscles, it still took a lot of effort to hold his head up at this point.

He remained there like that for a few moments, until he became aware something had entered the den. A lethargic glance over, and he met eyes with Akari as she approached to sit down next to him.

She had returned from taking all of the kits outside the den, both to wait with them for their mother to return and hear what had happened, and to give Ingo some time to eat his pecha berries in peace, without fear of them attacking him for it.

“Um, Lady Sneasler just got back.” She reported after a moment of silence. “I told her what happened. She’s scolding all the kits right now.”

Ingo could hear her yowling from outside, muffled by the cavern walls. The tone was very upset, even more so than he had expected, if he was honest.

“So they just… attacked you while she was out hunting?” The teen’s eyes flitted away from the cavern entrance back to Ingo, who’s own eyes were still closed. With his gaze off of her, she freely observed the tiny scratches peppered around his skin. They were tinged purple around the edges, faded compared to earlier but still noticeable.

“You’re on the right track.” Ingo paused eating to respond. “I believe they had simply become impatient for Lady Sneasler to return with breakfast, and thought they could instead awaken and pester food out of me as they always do, despite carrying none myself. Yet when I unsurprisingly relented nothing, they grew more aggressive with their efforts, until, well…”

Ingo trailed off. He didn’t have to say anything else, Akari knew the rest of it. He bit back into his berry, static still on his tongue.

“Ugh,” the teen leaned forward, hugging her knees. “Look Ingo, I feel really bad about all this. Like, really, really bad. I’m sorry, they wouldn’t be doing this to you if I hadn’t kept encouraging it.”

Ingo didn’t exactly jump at the chance to defend her as he chewed on his pecha; while he usually took care not to speak with his mouth full, she had a feeling he was more so agreeing with her, but saving face by not voicing it.

And she couldn’t blame him, he had told her to stop more than once.

“…I believe things simply derailed slightly more than you intended.” He summed up instead.

She would accept that. “Yeah, they did.”

Ingo swallowed down the last of his pecha berry and relaxed into the nesting materials, now just waiting for the pecha to continue doing its job. “But, this cannot continue; I must set them back on the right track. As Lady Sneasler’s caretaker, I am also responsible for the development of her young, and their success will reflect my abilities as a warden. They cannot sustain themselves on this method in the wilderness. And if anyone is harmed by this behavior, I will be at fault.”

Akari did not really know what to say to that. “So, um, do you know how to get them to stop doing this?”

It felt incredibly awkward - if not humbling - asking if he knew how to essentially clean up her mess.

Ingo simply shook his head. “I will be honest; a problem has developed that I am unsure how to surpass. This is Lady Sneasler’s first litter that she’s had under my care, and I admit that raising Pokémon entirely from adolescence is a different track from battling alongside them, the latter of which I can only faintly recall explicit experiences with. And they ignore any of my attempts to dissuade them. I am… not entirely sure how to conduct corrections to this specific behavior.”

Akari didn’t quite know either. It had progressed past the point of controlled incidents where it would only happen when she initiated it with a well-placed berry or bean pod, and developed into relentless attacks when food wasn’t even present, but simply desired.

She had no idea how to properly correct something as specific as this. But she felt obligated to at least try and figure it out. She put Ingo in this position, and felt he was being incredibly forgiving by not berating her for doing such a thing in the first place.

Though maybe, he suspected she was already doing that to herself enough.

“Well, look. I kind of did this to you. I’m the one that taught them it was ok to attack people for food.” Akari fiddled with the end of her scarf. “So it’d only be right for me to help, uh, un-teach them. I know Irida’s coming next week to check on them all, and I don’t want to hear you got in trouble because they all attacked her or something.”

The mental image of that disaster seemed to make Ingo chuckle a little bit. She knew he was still under the effects of the poison then, because normally he wouldn’t have considered something like that humorous enough to laugh at.

“The tracks to their desired destination may be long, but help may shorten it. Your assistance in their correctional training would be greatly appreciated,” He finally responded to her offer. His general acceptance eased her guilt somewhat.

“Great. Tomorrow then, we start?” Today would be better, but she didn’t think Ingo would be in any state to start that today.

“Tomorrow fits my schedule just fine.”

#submas #ingo #warden ingo #akari #sneasel #hisuian sneasel #pokemon akari #pokemon legends arceus #pokemon legends #pokemon #pokemon fanfiction #pokemon fanfic #fanfic #fanfiction #waywardstationfanfic #sneasel enrichment gone wrong

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duckiemimi · 7 months

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trying to wrap my head around WHY gojo had to die but all i can think of is how the story literally came to a standstill when he was in the prison realm. how they all fought to get him out of the box bc he's the strongest, he's gojo satoru, he's their savior.

and then gege just threw in a 2 month time skip, a bland shonen fight scene (i stand by it being bland! throwing in fancy techniques =/= a strong fight scene. this fight was poor executed in that it lacked meaning on both sides. maybe if we saw megumi tear up or gojo react in some way to his students and megumi...) just to kill him off at the end.

what i don't get is why he had to come out of the box for that? the main characters developed really well when he was in the box, to the point where i thought we were going to get an all out fight with yuji, yuuta, maki, AND gojo against sukuna; this would've been a cool full circle moment with gojo's goal being accomplished before he died. then, he would've died knowing that he isn't the sole strongest.

(that's the kind of meaning geto was looking for too, i think)

but the way it's being done now, it feels like we're just gearing up for another gojo level up? (also who is kashimo i'm all for jjk's power system but WHEN will we get to see nobara's tomonari and yuuji's new cursed technique and even yuuta and his absolutely op copycat technique again???)

idk it feels like we're erasing the entire culling games arc and all the progress we made during it just to get to where we are now... gege please explain what are we thinking...

like? they spent multiple arcs trying to save him, thinking he’d be their savior, and it didn’t pay off at all 😭 there are effective ways to build up a tragic character storyline and a “you’re best is never enough” theme! this isn’t it! had the wait been shorter, and had we been given a couple panels of gojo and his thoughts in the prison realm, then maybe it would’ve worked, probably loosely. but even then, this is an event-based plot driven story that keeps moving forward and the trajectory gege set in the beginning doesn’t line up with where we’re at now. sure, the existential nature vs. nurture theme is still there (gege really wedged in that “are u strong, or strong are u?” question to salvage some consistency), but the development of everything we’ve watched bloom is thrown away for…what? a quintessential shounen fight to live up to other shounens? a “PEAK” battle that’s rushed?? gege used to be so good at drawing circles closed, but it’s been confusing loops these days.

(oh, and i viscerally feel you. many people praise the technicalities and powerscaling of this arc, but just like the recent writing, gege’s power system isn’t consistent. and even if it was completely consistent per character and per CT and understandable as a whole, fight scenes without “meat” to them lack story! i wanted see more characterization! i wanted to see that the battle went deeper than surface-level! fifteen chapters of cyclical back-and-forths with barely anything else to pay attention to is boring…if gege wanted to keep every reader engaged, he should’ve added sukuna’s characterization during his fight with gojo. and if he really wanted to land that tragic character storyline for gojo, he should’ve added more scenes of gojo’s introspection and inner-conflict, or at least a thought process we could follow. as it is now, ending him like that betrays the trajectory for growth gege set for him in the beginning.)

#jjk #jjk 236 #jjk 237 #jjk spoilers #gojo #asks

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pupkashi · 1 year

Text

friends to lovers

includes gojo satoru, nanami kento and fushiguro megumi

a/n: hi hi !! thank you for the lovely request i had sm fun writing this !!! a bit lengthy so i apologize in advance ,, srry if it’s a bit ooc but let me know what u all think <3 i live off feedback

wordcount: 2,820

masterlist

gojo satoru !

the friendship you and gojo had felt easy

you never felt the need to try to have conversation, there was just always something to talk about and there was never a dull moment

the two of you had found the perfect balance of goofing around and being partners in crime while having deep conversations and comforting each other during rough times

anytime the two of you were together there’s either be a smile or a scowl on your face (mainly because he was being reckless during a mission or making one too many bad jokes)

the great gojo shift, as you called it, happened after you had one too many shots and gojo looked much more attractive than usual

we’re his arms always that toned? had his chest always been this firm? “y/n? you need some water?” sapphire eyes looking at yours, full of concern and care had he always been this gentle with you? “I’m fine thanks bro”

that night gojo tucked you into bed after you’d thrown up twice, figuring you wouldn’t remember anything by morning he placed a kiss on your forehead “sleep well y/n” he turned to leave but not before you giggled

“you’re so pretty toru, think i like like you” pink dusted his cheeks and he tried to fight the smile on his face, leaving to sleep on your couch

when you woke the next morning your head throbbed, and then your heart clenched as you recalled the forehead kiss

you hadn’t remembered calling his pretty or confessing your feelings, and gojo didn’t want to bring it up, deciding it was time to take matters into his own hands

after that night gojo doted on you a bit more than others, sure he’d always been caring but now he’s show up at your door with your favorite snacks in hand, he’d ask you to hang out just the two of you

“i like your outfit today” “did you do your eyebrows?” “are you wearing a new fragrance?” small comments like that only made your feelings grow

your touches began to linger on each other, when you’d hand him a paper his fingers would brush against yours, he’d hold your hand in crowds when he’d never done that before his excuse being how would i survive if my y/n isn’t with me?

you would FaceTime call more often, missing each other when you hadn’t seen each other in a couple days which was rare

at some point gojo got frustrated with the little progress, he just wanted to kiss you and hold you close and call you his

he just wanted to love you

so during a movie night you’d planned gojo turned to look at you, causing you to turn and smile at him

“what is it?” “have you always been this pretty?”

your world was turned upside down, your heart racing as he watched you process the words

“i like you, y/n” he spoke, leaning a bit closer to you after you hadn’t said anything for a couple seconds “what?” gojo smiled, “you called me pretty then told me you liked me that one night when you got drunk”

your face was burning and your hands flew to your mouth in shock “and you just didn’t tell me i said that!?”

“i liked you too so i thought i should let things progress naturally!” he pouted, “but naturally was too slow and i just-” he sighed, “i just wanna be yours, if you’ll let me”

the words rung in your ears and you didn’t think twice before pressing your hand against his cheek, tangling your fingers in the nape of his hair and pulling his face closer to yours

you both smiled into the kiss, giggling as you pulled apart from each other

“so, i take it that’s a yes?” he teased and you rolled your eyes, placing a kiss on the top of his nose and nodding “definitely yes”

nanami kento !

you’d met nanami at your own little bakery, seeing the man come in quite often and ordering almost the exact same thing everytime

after a couple weeks as you were calculating his total you made small talk, cracking a bit so funny joke that had your ears burning and nanami’s lips curling into a small smile

after that interaction you two began to talk more at the register, usually slipping in a free pastry or two when he’d say he was gonna work late that night

small talk turned into conversations when it was just the two of you

“can you try this for me? it’s a new recipe I’m testing out” “this is the best thing I’ve ever had in my life”

even after he quit his office job and the bakery wasn’t on his way to Jujutsu high or his apartment, without fail he’s stop by at some point of the day

nanami always felt so relaxed around you, not feeling the need to act so mature and let lose when you two would hang out

“we’re closed sorry!” you called out one night, looking and finding your favorite costumer smiling at you, “nanami! didn’t know it was you, thought you weren’t coming today so i just sold my last couple items” you frowned and he waved you off

“no worries, it’s my fault for coming so late, got stuck at work” he smiled and you returned it, placing the last couple of things in their spot before finishing cleaning up for the night

“have you had dinner?” he asked, looking at you with hopeful eyes, you shook your head and he smiled, “would you wanna go get some? with me? right now?” the dim lighting only accentuated his facial features and you felt like a giddy little kid in a candy shop as you nodded

dinner was fun, catching up and telling anecdotes, getting to know each other a bit more

you ended up hanging out outside of work more often, catching movies together, getting lunch or dinner together

you’d text more often, the two of you considering the other your closest friend

it was during an afternoon walk on your day off that nanami’s breath caught in his throat as you smiled at something he said, the sun rays hitting you just right and you looked like the most beautiful person on earth

“kento? did ya hear me?” your voice snapped him out of his thought and he shook his head, “what? sorry was thinking about this uh work thing we’ve been stuck on” your eyes lingered on him for a bit, but you decided to not push him

for you i was when you two went to watch a movie you’d been wanting to see, catching the last one available for the day, nanami showing up at your apartment in black crewneck with a t shirt under and some loose fitting jeans

“ready?” you nodded enthusiastically, putting your jacket on and heading out the door, not even halfway to his car he yawned and you looked at him

“y’know we can watch it another day right? if you’re tired we don’t have to go” you reassured him, thanking him softly when he held the car door open for you

he turned the car on and smiled at you, not wanting to ruin your excitement just cause he was tired, “I’m fine y/n! promise”

the theatre was quite empty, not many other people wanting to watch a movie at 11:45 pm on a Wednesday night

within the first five minutes of the movie you looked at nanami, who had fallen asleep in a position that would definitely make his neck hurt when he woke up

as quietly as you could, you lifted the small armrest between the seats and ushered him to lay as comfortably as he on against you

kento mumbled a bit, curling into your side and staying fast asleep on your lap

that was when you realized you had very real romantic feelings for your number one supporter / customer and best friend

your hand moved almost on instinct to let your fingers run through his hair, watching as his face relaxed at your touch

with loud booms and crashes from the movie, nanami didn’t move a muscle, even the flashes of lights from the fight sequence didn’t bother him

you stopped paying attention to the movie, your eyes focusing on the man asleep on your lap, taking in every detail and feature, drinking in his beauty

the flashes of light illuminated his face, your breath taken out of your lungs when he smiled a bit, nuzzling into you a bit further

as the movie came to an end you gently shook him awake, whispering a small “kento” he stirred a bit, his eyes blinking open but by bit before the realization of where he was hit him

he sat up quickly, apologizing profusely as you shook your head, shaking your hands to stop him

“no no it’s okay really! I’m just glad you trust me enough to relax and sleep around me” you beamed, your kind eyes causing his worries to melt away and god this isn’t how you feel about best friends, this isn’t how you look at best friends this isn’t how you think about best friends

because all he was thinking of is being in your arms again and kissing you softly and slowly and waking you up with a kiss and making you breakfast and-

“I’ll drive home, you can crash at my place i don’t want you falling asleep behind the wheel” you spoke, taking the keys from his hands and unlocking the car, he didn’t bother arguing, he knew how stubborn you could be

as you arrived to your apartment you unlocked the door and invited him in, giving him some pillows and blankets

the two of you parted ways after a bit, as you laid in bed staring at the ceiling with thoughts facing through your mind, and maybe it was because he was right outside in your living room or maybe it was because it was 3:54 am and you were slightly insane

you got out of bed, swinging your door open surprises to see nanami’s hand lifted as if he was about to knock on your door

your heart raced, your palms were a bit sweaty as you opened your mouth to talk, only to close it and grabbing the collar of his sweater, crashing your lips together

nanami didn’t hesitate to return the kiss, his hand moving to the back of your neck

the two of you pulled apart, trying to catch your breath, making eye contact with each other and you smiled sheepishly

“guess we had the same idea huh sweets” he laughed, his voice a bit raspy from his tired state, after a bit more kissing and a lot more confessing feelings the two of you fell asleep in your bed, wrapped in each others arms

fushiguro megumi !

you and megumi were just casual friends, not best friends or anything but you two didn’t hate each other

you’d always thought he was cute but you never said anything, only hanging out when mutual friends would invite the both of you, even then you’d never talk much

when your friend group had invited you to the amusement park nobara smiled at you, “fushiguro’s gonna be there” you rolled your eyes at her, “okay? what’s that gotta do with me not going” she frowned, “you like him don’t you? this is your chance!” She squealed and you shook your head, “so you’ll go right? please?” you sighed, reluctantly nodding your head

when the day arrived you found yourself being seated next to megumi during the first ride, you noticed how tightly he was making his seatbelt, pushing the safety bar down three times just to be sure it was really safe

“you nervous?” you smiled at him and he looked at you with a small pour on his lips before scoffing, “me? pfft, no” he spoke, but you didn’t bring up the slight tremble in his hands

“okay, well if you by any chance do get scared, you can always hold my hand” you offered, watching as his ears turned pink

by the first drop in the rollercoaster megumi’s hand was intertwined in yours, eyes squeezed shut as he willed himself to not scream in fear, your giggles caused him to open his eyes, taking in how happy you looked

you hair was all over the place as you smoothed it down, taking your free hand and doing the same for the sorcerers spiky hair

megumi let go of your hand, mumbling an apology and smiling at you a bit

the rest of the day the two of you spent talking to each other, sharing a funnel cake and sitting next to each other for every ride

after that day the two of you got closer, talking more often and hanging out just the two of you

megumi always felt giddy around you, a smile always on his face when you would explain to him the plot of a show you wanted him to watch

your feelings for him were always in the back of your mind, gnawing at your heart when you would take in just how good he looked in an outfit or when he’d place you on the other side of the sidewalk so you weren’t next to the street

megumi liked you, he knew that much, but how do you confess to one of your only friends without ruining your friendship? and so he found himself reluctantly knocking at nobaras room door

she had a shit eating grin on her face as he explained his predicament to her, megumi was about to get up and leave when she yelled at him to stop, promising she would genuinely help him out

and so there you were, the two of you seated on his bed, making light conversation, giggles escaping your lips as he made a stupid joke gojo had told him earlier

there was a beat of silence and the ambience of the room shifted, your stomach plummeting as you realized what was coming, had nobara told him you liked him? was he gonna cut you off? the worst case scenario ran through your head as you tried to calm yourself down

“i like you” he broke the silence, his palms were embarrassingly clammy and suddenly his body felt too hot, his ears were burning and his heartbeat felt more obvious than usual

“what” the one word response made you wanna hit your head on the wall, “not a bad what! just what? like… what?” your rambling causing your cheeks to heat up

you took in a deep breath before looking up at the raven haired boy, “me too” you internally winced at your words once more

the two words were enough for megumi to stop holding his breath, a smile forming on his face and relief washing over his body, he finally looked up at you, his face still burning and heart still racing

“o-okay” was all he could muster, the two of you sitting awkwardly for a second before you broke into a fit of giggles, megumi looking at you with a wide smile

“what’s so funny?” you could hear the smile through his words as you contained your laughter

“we just told each other we both like each other and somehow made it extremely awkward” megumi gasped and shoved you lightly, you fell onto your back and continued to laugh

you sat up and looked at him, shoving him slightly, megumi only smiled and grabbed you, pulling you on top of him as he fell over, you squealed, holding your breath as the two of you stared at each other

your faces were inches away, you could hear his erratic breathing, taking in the way his eyes looked up at you in the most loving way possible, the way his eyelashes seemed to fan against his cheeks, you made the mistake of looking at his lips

you couldn’t stop yourself as you placed your lips against his, your eyes closing

both of you giggled into the kiss, your teeth knocking into each other a bit but neither of you minded, only smiling wider when it happened

you pulled back with a smile, megumi only snaked his hand behind your neck, pulling you down once more and crashing his lips onto yours, kissing you once more, this one with more desire than before

you both pulled away breathless, both of you chuckling, you moved off of him, sitting next to him as he sat up to lean against the wall

“y/n, will you be mine?” he asked, still nervous as me uttered the words, you nodded, a smile on your face

“only if you’re mine too” he smiled as you peppered his face with kisses, a laugh escaping his lips as you continued

#gojo satoru x reader #gojo satoru fluff #gojo headcanons #gojo satoru headcanons #gojo satoru x gn!reader #nanami kento x reader #nanami kento fluff #nanami kento headcanons #nanami headcanons #nanami kento x gn!reader #megumi fushiguro fluff #megumi fushiguro x reader #megumi fushiguro headcanons #jjk imagines #jjk fanfic #jjk headcanons #jjk x reader

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hitlikehammers · 5 months

Text

✨WIP Wednesday Game✨

Tagged by the incomparable @hbyrde36 (a week ago?) and @pearynice (MUCH LONGER AGO BUT I KEPT TRACK)—thank you for tagging me I love playing the games and also for patience in my actually taking the turn and DOING IT, but maybe it’s better late than never (?)

Anyway: it’s WIP Wednesday, time for a some midweek accountability, sharing your work, and being bullied encouraged to work on your stuff/get your stuff done.

Here’s how it works:

In a reblog of this post (so people can find you in the notes) or new thread (w/ rules attached) if you want to play on your own, post up to five (5) filenames of your WIPs; not titles, file names.

Post a snippet from one of them. Snippet must be words you wrote in the last 7 days. We’re posting progress here. If you haven’t made any, go make some and come back to play!

After you’ve posted, people can send you an ask with one of your file names. You must then write 3 sentences in that file. If the filename is one you can't share from (for example, an event or gift fic), write 3 sentences on it anyway, and then 3 more on another to share.

That’s it! You can invite others to join in, or just post. I’ll be searching the reblogs to find people to send asks to!

If you’re reading this, you’re invited!

If you see someone posting a WIP Wednesday Game snippet, send them an ask! Make them write.

1: REWRITE THIS SHIT TO SPITE GOOGLE, ch10 (aka Google deleted all of the unposted parts of the fic cue great despairing):

“He’s something else, Wayne,” Eddie shakes his head, but he doesn’t have to move at all to feel dizzy with it, “I mean…”

“Yeah,” Wayne huffs a little, but sounds almost…fond, actually, which: more than well deserved, if not wholly expected. “He is, isn’t he.”

2: Mistletoe's Poison(ish): cannot post snippet because EXCHANGE

3: bc people wanted HAPPY not hopeful

Robin’s face is raw, as in she thinks she’ll split open the skin if she wipes the tears that don’t stop one more time but she can’t even care, she’s already sliced open and spilling out from the heart of her because, because…

Steve’s not waking up.

4: did it really need a part 2?: also an exchange if it ever gets done

5: there MUST ONLY BE ONE BED

“Fuck.”

Steve lets himself spare half-a-second from watching the road, and <I>only</I> half-a-second; the ice is getting bad, and it’s not even dark yet, which is enough reason for the low-breathy-sexy-wait-no-not-sexy-that’s-not-it—

It’s enough of a reason for Eddie to both say and draw out the commentary of fuck, is the point.

Please grab this and run with it if you're so inclined, consider yourself tagged as inspired! And, just add some inspiration to get the process tarted: @cranberrymoons @imfinereallyy @t-boyeddie @viviseawrites @luthienstormblessed @reignofdreams @chaosgremlinmunson @writing-kiki @katdeerly @gutterflower77

#wip wednesday #rip wednesday game #steddie fanfic #stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steve harrington/eddie munson #fanfic

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bluemoonperegrine · 6 months

Text

Those Who Wander

Rated T | Chapter 1/? | 1865 words | ao3 link

Authors: @bluemoonperegrine and @vicarious-rebel

Fandoms: Moon Knight, Werewolf By Night

Tags: Marc Spector/Jack Russell, Marc Spector & Steven Grant & Jake Lockley, mentions of Khonshu, mentions of Layla El-Faouly, San Diego/Tijuana area, alternate universe, fluff, romance, silliness

Summary: The Moon Knight system, now living in San Diego, decides to get back to nature after a mission investigating a human trafficking ring. Hiking in a national park in the mountains east of San Diego doesn't go as planned.

Notes: This is such an alternate universe. Seriously. It doesn't get much AU-ier than this! It's somewhere around 2010, the system and Jack are in their late 20s, and we've done a number on their backstories. Fun! We'll update tags as the story progresses.

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

Chapter 1: Well-Met

Out of all of the criminals Marc Spector had hunted down in his twenty-six years, he despised human traffickers the most. Although they weren’t the most depraved of those who’d received Khonshu’s justice by his or Jake’s hand, their calculating opportunism made his blood boil. These lowlifes were modern-day slavers. Following Khonshu’s orders regarding them wasn’t a problem.

One such lowlife by the name of La Araña was the reason why Marc had moved from London to San Diego last month. One of the reasons, really. Somehow Khonshu had learned about an explosion in human trafficking in the San Diego/Tijuana area and ordered him and Jake to cease Araña’s operations by any means necessary. The bird had ordered Steven as well, but the Brit has managed to talk his way out of it for the most part. Steven was smarter than the skeletal blowhard, much to his annoyance and Marc’s, Jake’s, and Steven’s amusement.

Rather than embark on a long-term mission, the system had decided to move back to the States. Although a few months had passed after their mother’s death and the Harrow/Ammit mess, they still felt off-kilter. Moreso than usual, anyway. A change of scenery would do them good, Steven and Jake thought.

Marc didn’t care either way. Life was pretty lousy no matter where you lived, so whatever. Their best friend Layla traveled constantly for archaeological or Taweret-related reasons, so they’d see her often. She and Frenchie were their—particularly Marc’s—rock. Thank god for cell phones.

Despite being at the top of a rocky ridge, Marc’s flip phone had no signal. He withheld a sigh as he swept his gaze around the arid, rugged landscape. He needed to get moving before the morning sun climbed higher in the sky. Somehow he’d forgotten to pack a hat in the small rucksack that Khonshu’s suit could absorb. Steven had wanted to experiment more to see exactly how much mass the moon god’s magic could manage. It sounded like a long and tedious process, so Marc vetoed it entirely. If it could fit in his Army rucksack, it would work. Simple.

After taking a long swig of water from his half-empty canteen, Marc stowed it, shouldered his pack, and started down the narrow animal trail that led down the steep, east-facing hillside and into the canyon below. They’d need water from the stream that had carved the deep, narrow valley by the time they got there. Water purification tablets would make it safe to drink.

A pulse of anxiety washed over him. This time Marc sighed. “What, Steven?”

Kinda steep, innit?

“Kinda. Jake and I hiked worse in the Army.”

Sure did, jefe.

Marc grinned; he hadn’t realized that Jake was awake. “You keeping an eye on things, Jake?”

He felt his headmate’s mental nod. Yup.

We’re not lost, Steven said as if reassuring himself. Marc said he knows where we are. I don’t see how, flying at night after our mission when there’s no moon and there’s hardly anything out here! How do pilots—

“Steven,” Jake and Marc said simultaneously. Marc continued, “Even if we were lost, which we’re not, it’s fine. We’re trained for this. Packed accordingly, and—”

You forgot a hat.

Jake chuckled as Marc grumbled under his breath. “I wanted a relaxing hike, Steven. This right now is the opposite of relaxing.”

Está bien, hermanito. We’ve got the suit, remember?

Steven chuckled. Right. One of you nudge me when we’re not on a cliff or if something interesting happens.

Marc grinned. “You got it, buddy.” He felt Steven retreat just in time for the first switchback. The footing was a bit dicey unless you were a mule deer. He’d manage, and if he didn’t the suit would save their ass again. The suit didn’t dull pain, so Marc focused on the rocky trail and enjoyed the wilderness stretching out in all directions.

Three hours later the sun was directly overhead and felt searing due to the thinner atmosphere at this elevation. Marc was halfway through his canteen of safe but gross-tasting purified stream water. He’d stripped off his T-shirt an hour earlier to act as an improvised headwrap/scarf to protect his scalp and the back of his neck. It was working, but allowing his rucksack straps to chafe on his shoulders. Most worryingly, the canyon floor was now sloping uphill. He’d been walking southwest as planned. Barrett Junction should be a half mile ahead and downhill.

Steven did the mental equivalent of a stretch and a yawn. We there yet, bruv?

“Getting close,” Marc hedged.

Jake chuckled softly.

Wot? Steven asked.

We’re—

“Do not, Jake.”

We’re what?

Marc sighed and rubbed his eyes. “Taking the scenic route.”

Jake laughed and soon was joined by Steven. It’s all scenic, mate!

Hold up, Jake said, and Marc halted. Despite sharing the same body, somehow Jake picked up on things before he and Steven did.

Marc looked and listened intently. Nothing was moving other than a few birds high overhead, but he heard something, just barely.

Jake stated, Vehicle. East.

Brilliant! Steven enthused as Marc darted behind a stand of pine-tree-like shrubs. What’re you doing? We can get a ride to civilization!

Gotta make sure he’s not a hostile.

Marc felt Steven virtually roll his eyes. You lot are paranoid. ‘E’s—or she, could be a woman, you know—prob’ly just out enjoying nature, but not lost like—

“WE’RE NOT LOST!”

The sound of the approaching engine quieted. “Hey!” a male voice called from the southeast. Maybe the canyon branched that way. “You need a hand? ¿Necesitas ayuda?”

Yes! Steven replied as if the guy could hear him.

Marc shushed his headmate so he could continue observing. Footsteps crunched on sand and gravel. Soon a slender man in a park ranger’s uniform stepped through an opening in the canyon wall and into view. His wide-brimmed hat shaded his face.

Feeling foolish, Marc shifted his weight to his other foot and debated waiting the ranger out. Maybe he should just summon the suit and fly off after all. He’d be a lot less sunburned that way.

The park ranger seemed to look right at Marc despite the evergreen shrubs hiding him. He started jogging toward him, calling “¿Estás herido? Are you hurt? I have a first aid kit in the jeep.” His English had a light Mexican accent.

Busted, Jake chortled as Steven snickered.

Wishing he’d never attempted a relaxing post-mission hike, Marc strode around the edge of the shrubby trees. “I’m okay, just…”

The ranger had halted about ten feet from him, close enough to make out his features despite the shade from his hat. He was drop-dead handsome, clean-shaven with tan skin and short dark hair. Seemed to be about Marc’s age and height.

Blimey, Steven murmured. Those eyes!

I thought you liked Layla, Jake said.

I do, Steven returned, but she doesn’t like any of us like that—

¡Gracias a Dios!

—and that’s fine, and I dunno, I’m still figuring things out so—

Shut. Up. Marc managed to say silently, if through gritted teeth. Mercifully, they listened.

The ranger—Russell per his name tag—tilted his head and frowned. “You’re sweating. That’s good.” He resumed walking toward him.

“Good?” Marc echoed, acutely aware that he was shirtless. Why did he care? He’d been in the army for crying out loud!

Russell smiled broadly. “You don’t have heat stroke. Do you have water?” Marc nodded. “Good.” He stretched one arm in the direction he’d come from and reached the other toward Marc’s shoulder but didn’t touch him. “Let me give you a ride back to wherever you’d parked. Was it the main lot, or one of the others?”

Marc found himself walking with the young man. “I, uh, was dropped off.”

Jake snorted.

Russell looked at him askance, then shrugged. “We’ll go to the station. It’s air-conditioned. You can rest, then go from there.” Marc nodded agreement.

They walked uphill along a short, narrow gap in the canyon wall heading east. Marc spotted the ranger’s dusty jeep parked near its mouth.

“Got a name?” Russell asked.

“Marc,” he replied.

Russell grinned. “Nice to meet you, Marc.” He put one hand on his stomach. “Jack.”

Steven chuckled, which made Marc frown. What? he asked.

“Yes, like the dog,” Jack said with a brilliant smile. “It wasn’t intentional.” He stopped walking, so Marc followed suit, abruptly realizing they’d reached the jeep. His situational awareness had gone to shit for some reason.

Jack’s brow furrowed again. He motioned at the passenger side of the jeep. “Go ahead, get in. It’s a half hour drive on rough roads to the station, so be sure to drink some water. I’ve got jerky and trail mix if you need something to eat.”

Marc nodded again and did so, putting on his shirt after setting his rucksack in the back seat. Jack steered the jeep further east, then turned north on a rutted jeep trail. They were headed in the opposite direction he’d intended to go, not that it mattered. He caught Jack’s eye and waved southwest. “How much further was Barrett Junction?”

Jack’s eyebrows shot up as smile crept across his face. “That’s where you were headed?”

“Yeah.” Marc felt his headmates’ amusement loud and clear.

“I’m glad I found you,” Jack said, now serious. “Eight miles as the crow flies, but with this terrain? No offense, but I don’t think you’re prepared for it. And there’s no backcountry permits issued for this area right now. You shouldn’t be here.”

“Oh.” Marc faced forward, stared out the windshield, and tried to ignore Steven’s and Jake’s laughter. “I’ll be sure to get a permit in the future.”

Jack nodded, glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. “They’re for safety more than anything. It’s not good to do this stuff alone. I love it out here, but have to admit it can be dangerous. There are predators.”

“Yeah,” Marc agreed, his thoughts returning to La Araña. With the border only a few miles to the south, the trafficker may have routes nearby. For a moment Marc considered asking Jack if he’d heard of Araña, but decided otherwise. If anything he might seem suspicious, being in a remote area of the park near the border without a permit. So he drank more of the bitter-tasting water from his canteen, and waited to return to civilization.

Look at ‘im, bruv.

Marc didn’t on general principle and to not be weird; Jack was navigating a tooth-rattlingly rough section of road. Why?

‘Cos I want to see him. He’s cute!

Dios, Jake moaned. It’s Layla all over again.

Would that be so bad? Steven countered. She’s brilliant! A good mate.

Marc sighed. Enough. It’s not like we’ll be out this way again.

Unless we want to go on another relaxing hike, Steven said. I’d say this is the perfect place to go!

Jake drawled, Try not to get lost, jefe.

Marc tried to lean the back of his head against the headrest, but the lurching jeep made that impossible. I hate you guys.

You don’t, Steven returned, affection clear in his words.

Marc returned it, smiling. I don’t.

#moon knight #werewolf by night #fan fiction #alternate universe #marc spector #steven grant #jake lockley #jack russell #moon knight fanfiction #werewolf by night fanfiction

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romanarose · 1 year

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Leather and Lace: Chapter 8

Santiago "Pope" Garcia X Fem!OC

Fic Masterlist

Previous Chapter : Next Chapter

Chapter summary: Santi makes his round of apologies. Later, Frankie has an emergency and Santi has to take Laci to Will's, where they go on their own adventure, and a new person is introduced.

A/N: I feel like the last chapter had everyone like that Micheal Scott meme "why are you the way that you are" so here, hope I fixed it. Not a whole lot of Santi Laci but next chapter will, promento. Not proof read bc this was LONG AS FUCK and if I look at it one more second I'm going to SCREAM!!!!!!

shout out to @welcometostayingawake ask and you shall recieve, here is Laci in Santi's shirt.

WARNINGS: Mentions of drug use, mentions of addiction and alcohalism, general fic related references to sex trafficking but nothing super bad.

**********

Santiago Garcia was woken up that morning to a cup of water being splashed on his face.

“Jesus Christ!” He sputtered awake, a wave of nausea over taking him before he could process who was in his house. Santi found a trash can at his feet, which he promptly threw up in. When he looked up, he found Will standing above him, arms crossed. “Jesus, Will, what the actual fuck.”

“Get up.” The older Miller stated simply.

“Why are you here?” Santi groaned out, head throbbing from his hangover.

“I have a key and your home security info for a reason.” Will practically pulled Santi’s smaller body up, pulling him to the bathroom.

“Yeah, for emergencies. What are you doing?”

Will dragged him to the bathroom, turning on he shower. “You’re trying to ruin the one good thing in your life, that’s enough of an emergency for me” He pushed Pope, fully clothed, into the shower.

“What the fuck!” He shouted as the water drenched his clothes for the second time in the last 24 hours.

Will walked out of the bathroom, calling to his friend. “You have 15 minutes. Get showered, get dressed, sober up, then we’re going to Ben’s, and you're going to make this shit right.”

Santi pouted the entire ride over. “How much did Ben tell you?”

Scoffing, Will couldn’t help smile a bit despite his irritation. “It’s Benny, he can’t keep a secret to save his life.” But he turned to Pope with a frown. “He told me the shit you said.”

He groaned. “Which time.”

“Well,” Will started sardonically. “There's the fact Laci had the courage to not only talk to you but to call you out, and you shut her down in possibly the cruelest way I can imagine, and I can imagine a lot”

A pang of guilt and shame shot through him. “Yeah. Yeah there's that.” Santi remembered the strangled smile that fell from her face when he said that to her. He had been so happy, thrilled even, with how freely she had been speaking that day, and the words he chose were almost certainly going to undo every piece of progress they made, and possibly fuck up whatever it is they had forever. He would understand if she never wanted to talk to him again.

“And then,” Will didn’t stop. “Then there’s the shit you said to Benny.”

Santiago flopped his head back to the headrest of Will’s truck. “Will, I’m sorry-”

“Don’t say to me, say sorry to Ben.”

A pause. “You’re not going to beat me up?” Santi joked wryly.

Will laughed back, pulling into Benny’s driveway. “No, I’m not going to beat you up. But,” He turned off the roaring engine, giving him a serious look. “You need to make this right. Listen. Maybe we’re done in the field, maybe our days as a team are done and everyone is moving on with our lives.”

“Will-”

“But I need us to stay connected. You and Frankie don’t have family, Ben and I just got our mom and piece of shit dad left, and y’all know how bad that bastard fucked up Ben.”

Santi did know. The Miller’s dad was alcoholic fucker who beat the shit out of their mom and the boys. Santi knew that Benjamin’s drinking and fighting started long before the shit he’d seen in the military. But he also knew what Will refused to acknowledge, that Will took the brunt of the beatings to protect Benny and Mrs. Miller. He knew that Will held a lot of guilt for all the times he couldn’t deflect his dad’s anger away from his baby brother. Will would never admit to any of that.

Will continued. “We are what we got. And I have… I have a hope that in the future, we’re still all together, still friends, even if our paths go separately. And I’m hoping Laci will be a part of that.”

Santi nodded. “I’ll make this right, I promise” They knocked on the door, Ben answered. Santi had expected him to slam the door on him, curse him out, maybe swing on him. But Ben greeted him and his brother with a smile. “C’mon in.” he turned to Will. “Grab a beer, I’ll meet you in the yard” then back to Santi. “Listen, she’s ready to talk, I wouldn’t let you in here if she wasn’t.” Benny nodded towards where the top of Laci’s blonde head over the couch on the other side of the house, out of earshot but actually aware of him. “I’m not gonna tell you how to live your life, but that girl is in love with you, and I’ve seen the way you look at her. We all have. Just… she could make you happy, if you let her.”

Santi shuffled, hand rubbing the scruff of his neck. “I know. I’m worried about hurting her-”

“Oh, I call bullshit. You’re worried you’ll get hurt the way me, Will, Fish and Tom have. You’re the only one who has avoided it this far. But if you let that girl walk away, I’m willing to bet it’s gonna hurt just as bad. There’s no avoiding it now., which maybe isn't what you want to hear, but it's the truth."

Santi nodded, patting Ben’s back as he walked past Ben to get to her. Before he took more than a few steps, he turned back to his friend. “I’ll talk to you in a bit, okay?”

Benny surprised him with a bright smile. “After last night, I sure hope so.”

Again, Santi nodded and made his way to her. When he rounded the corner of the couch, she was shitting with her arms crossed, legs tucked between her and the cushion. Laci avoided his eyes, a sadness on her face he hadn’t seen since they were alone in the jungle.

“Hey Lace.” He greeted tentatively, standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets to avoid wringing them in nervousness.

She continued looking at the tv, but motioned for him to sit. Santi practically scrambled to the other end of the couch.

Turning to face him, her feet on the couch pointed to him with her arms crossed, but nevertheless meeting his eyes. A pregnant silence surrounded them, Santiago trying to figure out where to start. Laci raised her eyebrows, waving her hand at him. ‘Well, go on then.’ Santiago thought back to the previous day, how easily she talked to him, and now she was closed off again, relying once more on reading her face and body language.

“Lace I’m so sorry” He burst out in one breath.

Her face softened a bit, but prompted him to go on. “I don’t really have a good reason, but I panicked. I’ve never been in a serious relationship, never been in love.”

She rolled her eyes.

His foot began tapping on the floor. “I know it’s a cliche, but it’s true. And I was worried, I don’t want to fuck you up, I couldn’t forgive myself if I hurt you.

She gave him a dry laugh.

“Well, hurt you more. Not after everything you’ve been through.”

Laci pointed to herself and shook her head, then motioned like she was rocking a baby. ‘I am not a child’

Santi sat back against the couch. “I know. I’m sorry for treating you like one. I was trying to be careful but I think, and I can’t believe I’m saying this.” The smallest smile quipping up on his lips. “But Benny was right. I should be supporting you, not keeping you locked up”

Santi watched her face, for a moment there was no reaction. Then, thankfully, she let out a snicker.

Pope’s smile broadened. “Don’t tell him I said that.”

Out of nowhere she spoke again with a light smile, much to Santi’s relief. “After the shit you said, I’m definitely telling him.”

Santi dodged her eyes, but nodded.

She continued. “He’s just my friend, Santi. I love you.”

Quickly looking back at her with wide eyes, he barely whispered out, so quiet and nervous Laci almost didn’t hear him. “Still?”

Her shoulders and face fell at that. Crawling along the couch, she sat again facing him and taking his hands in hers. “I told you I love you, that doesn’t change after one fight… right?” Her voice trailed off, face faltering a bit as she looked at him with concern.

“No” Santi breathed out, sitting up and taking her face in his as as he moved to kiss her, waiting until he saw the smile on her face return to close the gap. His lips on hers, he couldn’t help but think how right it felt, how this was what he wanted. Out in the open, where Will or Ben or anyone could see them, away from the cover of midnight. As much as he cherished the nights they spent together, there was something different about it being open. Santi was well aware there wasn’t much of a secret with them between the guys, he had admitted his feelings to them before. But now, he no longer had to lie to them, to her, to himself.

When she pulled away, Laci touched her forehead to his. “Santi…”

A quick kiss on the lips. “Yes, Munequi- uh” He stopped himself, calling her little doll felt wrong after Benny’s comments and the accusation of her infantizing her.

She returned the quick kiss and laughed a bit, returning her forehead to his, still holding his hand. “You can call me Munequita, baby, I like that.”

“Okay” he grinned at her, unable to take his eyes off her.

“You need to apologize to Benny.”

Santi couldn’t help the small sigh that escaped him. “Yeah, I know. I will. I promise to do better, whatever you need, even if it's space, you can tell me. I want what you want."

When he found Ben and Will outside, he nodded at Will, letting him know things were right between him and Laci. Will walked inside to join Laci, doing the ‘I’m watching you’ motion, leaving Benny and Santi outside.

Santi started. “I’m sorry, Ben. I was an asshole-”

“Tu eres pendejo” Benny said with a cocked eyebrow and a slight smile. He didn’t hold a grudge.

Santi laughed back. “Frankie teach you that?”

Benny took a drink of his beer. “Hey, I can speak some Spanish. I learned the important parts.” A pause. “And it’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it more. An apology is more than I think anyone but her has gotten from you. You two good?” He nodded through the plexiglass to where they could see Will beguiling Laci with some story.

Santi turned back, smiling. “Yeah, yeah we’re great.”

Benny grinned at that. “Oh thank god. I think if you guys broke up, we’d all just give up on love forever, it would be more devastating than Taylor Swift and Harry Styles.”

Santi blushed, looking away but grabbing Ben’s beer from his hand and taking a drink.

After a pause, Benny added. “There’s not, and there never was anything with us, just friends.”

“I know-”

“I’m talking to someone” Ben spit out, body buzzing from not being able to keep the secret.

Santi’s ears perked up at this. Benny had a lot of people he fucked, very few people he ever talked to outside of a little flirting before hooking up. “Oh? Who is she? Or he! Or… they… or…”

Ben burst out laughing at Santiago’s awkwardness. “I appreciate you trying."

Santi threw up his hands. “I’m sorry! After what I said, I don’t want you to think I’m-”

“I don’t.” Ben reassured with a smile. “And it’s a she. She’s a she. Don’t tell Will, I’m not sure where this is going yet.”

Nodding, Santi finished the beer and motioned Will and Santi to come outside. “I won’t”

That night, they went to bed separately, Santi not wanting to rush or push her. As much as Pope was beyond thrilled that they were together (is he supposed to ask to make it official? Is he her boyfriend? Maybe he should take her on a proper date now…) the fact of the matter is that she was a victim of sex trafficking and had eluded to other problems in her past, he would wait as long as he needed to in order for their first time to be to her complete comfort and enjoyment.

When Laci gasped awake in the middle of the night to Santi turning her bedroom flights on. Santi never entered her room unless it was an emergency. Oh shit. “What’s wrong?” She cleared and focused her eyes to see Santi on the phone, face panicked.

“Laci, we gotta-” he stopped, glancing at her. “Are you… is that my shirt?”

Laci looked down, heart pounding in a panic. She had on Santi’s green long sleeve that he gave her their first night in the jungle. He never had asked for it back and she just… held onto it. “Yeah, sometimes I wear it when… if I’m nervous. Sorry.” she began to take it off.

Despite the anxiety flowing through his veins, he still felt his heart flutter. He never had gotten butterflies before her. “No, no” A slight smile spread on his face. “Keep it.” His smile faded. “We do need to go. I’m taking you to Will’s”

A range of negative emotions flooded Laci’s face. “What’s wrong? What’s happening?”

‘Is she going to be okay? I know she’s only ever been alone with you or Benny’ Jana, Frankies’s babymomma, asked on the phone.

“She’ll be okay” He looked to Laci. “You’ll be okay with Will, right?”

Laci frowned deeply as she crawled out of bed, but nodded, trying to put on a brave face, but Santi could read her like a book.

“I’m sorry, Lace, there’s an emergency and I can’t take you with me.” Jesus christ, she was in her underwear, straps of the tank top peeking out from the collar of his shirt that practically swallowed her tiny frame up. Santi wondered if she was always underweight, if she had high metabolism or if she had eating problems way before she was starved. His eyes followed her as she went to her drawer to pull on pants, but looked away when she bent over and he caught a peak of her pink underwear.

“Can’t I come?” She always came with him. Where he went, she followed.

“Not this time, munequita.” Santi was apologetic. Jana had called Santi. Her and Rosie were on a trip to her parents, but Frankie had gone on a bender, showing up on her front porch. They weren’t home, but Jana got the alert on her phone from the home security that Frankie, ironically, insisted on getting for her and paying for.

“Benny?” She and Santi walked out to the foyette where she put on her shoes and Santi grabbed his keys.

Santi talked into the phone again. “What’s he doing?”

‘He’s still just on the porch, yelling’ Jana and Frankie were together for years, but after Columbia his drug use got much, much worse, and Jana ended things, taking Rosa.

“I’ll be there soon, please don’t hang up” Santi was pretty sure they had never fallen out of love, and held out hope that If Frankie could get sober, they’d get back together. He liked Jana, he missed her. She was there for him after Fatima’s death, even agreeing to name her and Santi’s daughter after her. She fit in well with them. But right now his focus was on Frankie, who was high as shit and would only end this night hurting himself in some way or getting arrested.

‘I won’t, I promise’

Back to Laci. “I’m sorry, I tried calling Ben but he didn’t answer, Will says he probably went out tonight” and was probably halfway to blacking out or getting in a fist fight by now.

‘You can tell her, she deserves to know what’s happening’

They climbed into Santi’s truck and immediately drove to Will’s house which was a 5 minute drive. “Listen, I can’t tell you everything right now, but Frankie is in trouble, I need to help him.” Santi’s hands and voice were shaking. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry I have to leave you and I’m sorry if I scared you-”

Laci scooted over, placing his hand on Santi’s knee reassuringly. “It’s okay. I trust you and I trust Will. You need to help Frankie.” Laci didn’t ask what was wrong; Frankie never pushed her for answers. He deserved his privacy. Santi visibly calmed to her touch.

When they arrived, Will was waiting on the porch in the warm Florida early summer night, and jogged up to her door. Santi squeezed her hand. “I’m sorry, but I’m on a time crunch. I’ll text you later but please try and sleep”

Laci had no idea how she was supposed to sleep after this.

Will opened her door.

Laci gave Santi a quick peck on the cheek. “Be safe” and left Santi to do what he had to as Will coaxed her inside. When they stepped in the living room, he was noticeably nervous. “Hey, I’m sorry, I know this isn’t exactly ideal”

“Is Benny okay?” Laci stood with arms crossed, despite it being plenty warm inside.

Will laughed at that, blue eyes bright despite his clear irritation. “Damned if I know. I didn’t even know he went out tonight, but I shouldn’t be surprised. 50/50 chance I’ll get a call from him asking me to bail him out of jail. Again.” He walked her over to his spare bedroom. “You can stay in here. It’s a bit of a mess, Ben usually stays there and you know how he is.”

“Can I… stay on the couch? I’m not going to sleep much tonight so I might just watch tv, at least until I fall asleep.”

He squinted his eyes a bit. “The bedroom door locks, I can’t lock my room from the outside.”

Laci paused for a moment, confused. “Oh! No, I don’t need to lock the door, Will, I trust you.” She realized what he was getting at. He wanted her to feel safe and he didn’t think she felt safe around him.

Now that was enough to melt the 6’1 giant of a man’s heart. ”Okay, then yeah, tv is fine.”

She sat down. “Does Ben get arrested a lot?” Will rounded the couch to sit at the opposite end as Laci pulled up Archer.

Will couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, about every other weekend. Sometimes weekdays. Isuslly me or Santi go with him but… yeah”

A crease appeared between her eye brows and her lips pressed into a pout. Santi didn’t go with him because he was stuck with her. “How is he not in prison?”

“Miss, ‘round here, if you get in a bar fight they just lock you up for the night and let you lose with the world’s worst hangover when you’re sober enough to walk home.”

Another pause. “Why does he get into so many fights? He’s so nice. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone easier to get along with”

Will’s playful mood faded out. “That’s sober Benny. Drunk Benny is a bit more combative. He’s not mean, but he’ll look for a reason to fight.”

Surprisingly, Laci kept going. “Why does he drink like that?”

“Sweetheart.” Will sighed. “We all got our shit that gets us through the day. After all the shit we’ve seen, everyone needs something, a way to cope. You’re in therapy, you’re doing it right. Benny has the drinking and fighting, Fish has the coke.” Laci’s eyes widened at that. Ah, so she didn’t know that about Frankie.

“That’s where Santi is, right? Did Frankie overdose?!”

The panic was evident in her voice, but even without that, he could tell by the rapid rise of her chest- wait, wasn’t that Santi’s shirt? “No! No, sweetheart he’s fine. He’s just having an episode, Santi needed to be with him to keep him safe.” A knot twisted in Will’s stomach. It was understood that Frankie was Santi’s, Ben was his. It wasn’t often that he had to think about Frankie’s addiction, but tonight was different, tonight the problem was clear an evident; there would be no other reason for Santi to drop his precious… girlfriend? Are they actually dating now? His precious girlfriend who was always so nervous about everything, drop her off with him, of all people. It had been months since Will had been a dick to her, but Will didn’t forget, Laci wouldn’t forget, and he knew a small part of Santi would never forgive.

Laci relaxed a bit. “Do you know where Benny is it?”

Nodding, Will pulled out his phone. “He shares his location with me.”

“Can we… can we get him? Before he gets in a fight?”

Will gave a short chuckle. “I think Santi would kill me if she left the house.”

Laci shot him a pointed look, but with a smile. “I’m not his little captive, Will, I can go where I want.”

A hearty laugh escaped him, slapping his knees before standing up. “You’re right sweetheart, you’re not. C’mon, let’s go rescue that dumbass”

Laci lightly smacked his arm, but they headed out. 15 minutes later, they were walking in the bar. Will had tried to get her to stay in the car, but she insisted she felt safer with Will.

“OH MY GOD! LACI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!” Benny was practically screaming as he hugged Laci, spinning her around.

Will spoke first. “We’re here to bring you back so I don’t gotta pick you up at 6 am.”

“UUUGGHHH” Ben rolled his head as me groaned. “I’m fine, William” Ben emphasized his brother's full name, much to Will's chagrin.

“Benny” Laci put his hand on his arm. “Can we go home so I don’t have to worry about you?”

Ben looked down at his friend, her wide blue eyes compelling him. He was a foot taller than her at least, and she really knew how to work that pretty, innocent thing she had going on. Even without the sexual or romantic attraction, Benny would do just about anything for her if she gave him that look. “You’re gonna have me whipped just like Santi” he grumbled, throwing money at the bartender.

Laci smiled, taking his hand and the three of them began walking out.

Until Laci passed a man sitting at the barstool, facing out. Her body lurched, hand squeezing him tight enough to break a bone.

“What was that?” Benny asked, but Laci was frozen, eyes wide with terror

“Laci?” Will asked, trying to get her attention. He looked at the man, then back to her. “He touch you?”

Laci, despite everything, gave a small nod, then tugged at Ben’s hand. She wanted to leave.

But before Will could stop him, Benny had flung towards the man. “You fucker!” he shouted, landing an aggressive punch that knocked him off his seat. The fight that ensued was a mess, Will could hardly keep track of what was happening. Laci clung to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. He wanted to step in, wanted to break up the fight the way he usually did, but he couldn’t leave her.

But she, apparently, could leave him.

Beny was getting his fucking shit rocked. The man had folded him, bringing him to the floor and climbing on top, laying punch after punch after punch on Benny’s blood covered face, Ben kicking and flailing.

Laci couldn’t sit there and watch it. Despite what everyone around her seemed to think, she wasn’t innocent, she wasn’t pathetic, and this was not the first fight she’d witnessed. She charged at the man, his unprepared frame falling over in exhaustion at the force. Benny, however, didn’t register any of this, as was still in fight mode. Eyes closed, he sent a punch to where he thought the man still was, punching Laci with a pathetic weakness in the nose.

“FUCK!” she fell back, holding her nose.

“BEN WHAT THE SHIT!” Will ran over to her. “Let me see.” He brought her hands down, revealing the blood lightly dripping from her nose. It wasn’t a much, looked worse than it was.

The bartender threw two ice packs at Will. “Get him out of here, now, or I’m calling the police.” He turned to Benny, who was still getting his bearings. “You’re 86’d, asshole. I’m sick of you.”

“But he groped her!” Benny defended himself.

“And you punched a 5 foot girl who weighs 100 pounds.”

“On accident!”

“OUT!”

Will held Laci up, handing her ice, and yanked Benny up “Ben, now”

The walk back to the truck was a long one, a litany of apologies spilling from Benny’s lips as Laci ignored him, storming away. When they got in the truck, Benny moaned in the back. “Pope’s gonna murder me!”

Laci sighed, taking mercy on the man who had become her best friend and pushing back the anger once again “No he won’t, we won’t tell him.”

Benny perked up immediately. “Really?”

“Yes, Ben” She smiled at him in the backseat. “You got beat up trying to defend me, let’s call it even” Will muttered about not encouraging him, but it was only half hearted.

If Laci wasn’t sitting, she would have been knocked over by the force of Benny’s hug.

Upon Laci’s insistence, Will took Ben to the ER.

“Oh hey Loralei!” Ben called drunkenly to the ER nurse he recognized.

Laci trained behind the Miller’s, having cleaned up her face. Will half carried a drunk and beat up Benny.

The dark haired nurse looked up from the chart she was holding, giving Benny an almost motherly look. “Benjamin Miller. Again.”

Benny shrugged with a cheeky grin. Will didn’t recognize her, but it seemed Benny was frequent enough of a ER flyer to know the nurses.

“What is it this time?” she asked.

Will took over. “This dumbass got into a fight and we need to make sure he isn’t concussed." Will’s free hand smacked Benny.

“Hey!” The nurse snapped at him. “Don’t hit my patients.” She ordered, voice firm but calm as she motioned for a wheelchair

“It’s okay” he chuckled out. “He’s my brother.”

“I didn’t ask. He’s my patient, this is my hospital, behave or leave.”

Will raised his hands in defeat. “Yes ma’am” There was no playfulness or condescension in his tone, just respect.

She nodded, then turned to the other nurse. “Get him a scan, make sure he somehow avoided traumatic brain injury again.”

Benny looked up at the new nurse as she wheeled him away. “Hey Amy, how’s the baby”

Will called after him. “Ben no flirting with the nurses!” Then looked over to see the nurse glaring at him for yelling. “Oh sorry.” He extended his hand. “William Miller”

She gave a quick shake. “Lorelei” Then walked to Laci. “What happened to you?”

There was still some blood around Laci’s nose. Laci felt the familiar sense of things folding in, her mouth unable to form the words she needed.

Loralei continued, motioning her thumb back towards where Benny went. “You guys get in a fight? “

Will leaned in. “Actually, she got in the middle of another fight-”

She simply held a hand up to him. “I wasn’t asking you.” Her intense gaze was focused on Laci, her tone was soft. She reminded him of Santi in a way.

Laci shook her head.

Will tried again. “She has-”

With the wild eyes of a nurse who's seen it all and the intensity of a woman tired of men not listening, she turned to him. “William, I’m going to need you to step back, please.”

Will opened his mouth to argue, but closed it when he decided better. He turned to Laci. “Use your notes app, I’ll be over here.” With a soft smile to Laci and a nod to Lorelei, he walked away.

Lorelei turned back to Laci. “Hey honey, everything okay?” The irony of it wasn't lost on Laci, she was safer with the Millers, Frankie and Santi than she had been with anyone since her brothers death.

Laci took a moment to type. ‘I have trouble talking sometimes. Ben and Will are my friends.’

Lorelei nodded, but continued. “Did one of them hit you?”

Laci considered lying, but opted for the truth. ‘Kinda. Benny got in a fight and I tried to stop him, he accidentally hit me. That’s it.’

Lorelei scanned Laci’s face for a lie, but found none. She nodded, beckoning Will back over. “Wait out here, fill out these forms, he’ll be done soon” She began to walk away.

Will cleared his throat. When Lorelei turned back to him, she was greeted with a cheeky smile. “Yes?” She asked.

Will raised an eyebrow at her. “Well?”

She smiled back, but put her hands on her hips, challenging him. “Well what?”

At that, Will scoffed, still keeping his smile despite his mock offense. “Well?! You basically accused me of hitting her, and I didn’t.”

Lorelei's smile was a challenge, ‘keep going’ it said ‘I’m not backing down’ “I won’t apologize for seeing clues and being suspicious. You work in my line of work for one week, you’d do the same. I’ll talk to you when your brother is discharged.” She walked off.

Will couldn’t help hoping she’d come back.

Him and Laci sat down in the waiting room in silence until a ding it Laci’s phone. It was Santi.

Santiago: Frankie is okay, we’re at his place, he's sleeping, but I can’t leave him. I hope you’re asleep, but I know you probably aren’t.”

Lacina: I’m glad he’s okay. I’m fine here, stay with Frankie. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.

Santiago: I love you, Lace. I’m lucky to have you.

Lacina: I love you too, Santi. Stay safe.

It dawned on Laci that Santi had her location, as she did his. He had no reason to doubt where she was, but he hoped she wouldn’t look. Benny and Santi just made up after weeks of tension, she didn’t need Santi acting up because Benny accidentally hit her Laci knew the irony of telling him to stay safe considering she got decked. She relayed the message to Will, then rested against his shoulder. “Hey Will?”

“What’s up.”

“You said you all have ways you manage things. Ben had drinking and Frankie has coke.”

“Yeah?”

“What’s your thing?”

Will huffed out a laugh. “You’ve seen part of it.” She looked up at him confused. He continued. “I was a complete ass to you. Made you feel like shit when you did nothing wrong. I tend to have outbursts like that. I ever tell you I was engaged?” Laci shook her head. “Yeah, years ago. It ended because I went ape shit on a guy in a grocery store. I have a few vices. Drinking, being an ass, fights, the list goes on. Jack of all trades I supposed. I’m not any better than Benny or Frankie.” Why was she asking this?

“And… Santi?”

There it was. What Will did not want was to get in the middle of them, and he especially didn’t want to inadvertently mess up what they had. “Projects. It’s always something. Work, house renovations, drug lord bust. He always needs something to focus on until the next thing comes along. And alcohol. We all drink a bit too much.”

Things were quiet for a moment before Laci replied. “Am I his project?”

Will sat up, forcing Laci to sit up as she was resting on him. “No! Oh my god, no. You are…” He shook his head. “You are, wow, I’ve never seen him like this with anyone before. He loves you.”

Laci laid back down, but she wasn’t convinced.

‘He always needs something to focus on until the next thing comes along’

If she was a project, how long until the next thing comes?

Benny was fine, but under strict order to drink water and to ‘stop fucking around, before you find out’ according to the nurse. Will took them both home, putting Benny in his usual bed as Laci insisted she wasn’t going to sleep. That morning, Santi let himself into Will’s house. He found the house quiet, and Laci, predictably, asleep on the couch. He knelt down beside her, taking a minute or two to watch her. It was rare he could see her like this; calm, peaceful, in the daylight. He hoped, as they progressed, he could wake up to this sight every morning for the rest of his life.

She was incredible. The light shone on her face, a light flush of pink on her face and her under-eyes ever so slightly dark from lack of sleep. Wisps of her long bangs covered her face, and he brushed them back, revealing the scar on her forehead. Laci stirred, waking up. “Hey Munequita.”

Without even opening her eyes, she smiled at the sound of his voice. “Hey baby.”

Baby. He could get used to that. “You alright? Everything go okay?”

She was… so tired. Laci reached out for him as she nodded. “Yeah. Can you lay with me? I don’t wanna get up yet.”

He smiled at her in adoration. “Yeah, scoot over honey.”

With a satisfied grin, she scooted back. “C’mere, I wanna hold you. I get to be the big spoon.”

Santi laughed out loud, but then realized she was serious. “Really?”

“Yeah, wanna hold you. You had a long night, wanna make sure you’re okay.”

Santi was in no position to deny her. He was exhausted, he was sad, he was hurt. He had never seen Frankie that bad before, it worried him. The idea of being held was appealing. Santi laid down, back against her chest as she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled her face into his hair and neck. “Good night Santi” She spoke, despite the bright morning sun shining in.

“Good night, Lace.” With her arms around him, he felt comfortable, warm and safe with her.

When Will woke up an hour later, he found his friend on his couch with a tiny blonde clutched to his back like a backpack.

“Not a word” Santi muttered.

***********

I HOPE YA'LL LIKED IT!!!!

A lil announcement for those who didn't see my post, after leather and lace ends (chapter 12 is the last!) the universe will continue in the form of a Will Miller fic! Although Santi and Laci's story will be on the back end, Laci will make appearances throughout Will's fic and we'll get to see how Laci grows! Hope y'all tune in for Piece by Piece!

Also, come back out Seattle, my Marc Spector story!

Love y'all! Please remember to reblog if you are so inclined, and comments mean the world to me, i literally reread them all the time. I'm so glad everyone has come to love Laci as much as I have, and I really hope this chapter showcases more of her personality now that she talks more! Also, I hope you like Lorelei, bc she maaaaaaayy or may not show up in this universe again

@littlenosoul @bensolosbluesaber @milkymoon2483 @gogh-with-the-flow @itspdameronthings @trinkets01 @p0edameronswife @welcometostayingawake @spxctorsslxt @username21mk @lucianadraven32

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melodygatesauthor · 9 months

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Weekly Update

07/30/2023

Announcements

- I’m writing an original fiction novel -

You read that right! I’m writing an original fiction called Lock & Key, and I’m taking all of you along my journey as I go through the process. I’m so excited to get started actually writing it soon (once I have a bit more of the outline finished) and I’ll be posting all updates on @lockandkeynovel!

This is a big project, and it’s going to take some time, but I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for all of you and your support. You all mean the world to me!

- No more requests -

I have 3 more requests left in my inbox, and once those are done that’s it for now. I’m not sure if I’ll ever be in a position to take requests again or not. My WIP list is a mile long, and right now (summer) is a VERY busy time for both of my jobs. I’m lucky if I get one day off a week. All this to say, it’s not feasible for me to continue taking requests when I can’t even handle the fics I have currently in the works. In fact, those 3 are folks who requested back at the end of APRIL, so…yeah…

I’m not saying I’ll never do requests again, it’s just not realistic right now. There will still be follower celebrations and birthday events and things like that in which I may take limited requests, but as far as the regular ones go, I gotta stop taking them for now.

Fic Updates

Disclaimer - I never know which way the winds of inspiration will blow. Timeframes aren’t a promise/guarantee, they’re a goal.

Fic Updates Legend:

Blue - Update this week

Pink - Update in progress

Red - Backburner Fic (not currently working on. See WIP list for status)

Chaptered Fic Updates

A Bit Dodgy - We’re back baby! I got chapter 14 hitting a Tumblr dash near you tomorrow at 8am! Thank you all for being patient. I’m hoping to be back to regular Monday updates, but we will see. I’ve worked SO HARD on this fic, along with my good friend @whatthefishh and I would hate to ruin it all by rushing through the ending. I would rather write it well and while inspired, than push through just to say I did it, you know what I mean?

Always Yours, Never Mine - Chapter 3 is on its way. This one had to be put aside while I was on the cruise, but i’m planning to work on it this week. I’m not sure if the update will come out this week or next though! Stay tuned!

The Fractured Moon - Part 3 is coming this week! - So I had a bit of confusion with this one in my own head. Let me explain haha…

I had already planned out the four parts for this fic a long time ago, and I spend hours in canva making the banners for each part. Each part was supposed to be centered around each boy. Part One (All boys) - Part 2 (Steven) - Part 3 (Jake) - Part 4 (Marc). Then I had some other ideas and plans that I wanted to work into the fic but was trying to figure out how I was going to do that without messing with the banners I made, so I planned to do 4 bonus chapters called “These Fractured Knights” all with the boys having their own bonus chapters. However, these chapters are all in line with the timeline of the fic, and it really makes more sense (and is less confusing) to just have them be part of the series normally as parts 3, 4, 5, and 6. (I hope I haven’t lost anyone yet).

That being said, I’m not going to call 4 chapters that fit in line with the story “bonus chapters” just for the sake of the banners I made, that’s my weird mental thing and idk why I do that. Once I’ve planned something, I HATE changing it. So I’m just going to make them fit in line with the fic like normal lol.

So anyway…

Part 3 is coming this week hehe.

Mini-series Updates

Feeling You Can’t Fight - I’m hoping to have a new chapter out this week, but I’m not really sure. This fic was supposed to be finished a month ago and I’m sad that I’m behind on it but I’m working on it!!

All on the backburner for now but will get additional chapters soon:

Not a Doctor - Part 2

Worth the Risk - Part 3

The Good Doctors - New Series

AI Character Bot Updates

I currently have the following bots on my list that I’m working on. If you have any suggestions or additions you’d like, please feel free to ask! I won’t make every single one I get asked for but I’ll make some of them as I get time!

Requests Updates

My 1k Follower Celebration ficlets ARE COMPLETE! - YAY! I AM going to be doing a 2k celebration (I’m like 50 followers away! Woot!), but it won’t include writing requests. I just don’t have time, sorry all! It will consist of games and other fun stuff though! Can’t wait!

I had 2 requests for Nathan Bateman, however I don’t feel overly inspired to write for him. That doesn’t mean I don’t like him, nor does it mean I never will write for him, but I just don’t want to have those requests sitting in my inbox while I figure that out. I still have them written down and I have the people who requested them written down so if I ever feel up to it again I’ll do it, but as of right now I don’t foresee it happening any time in the near future, and I just mentally needed to take it off my plate.

I’ll be working on the other requests between this week and next! I’m hoping to have them all out this week but that’s probably unrealistic lol. Thank you for all being so patient, and I love you!

That’s it for now! I love you all!

#moon knight #steven grant #jake lockley #melody gates weekly updates #melody gates updates #Santiago Garcia #triple frontier #marc spector

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songliili · 1 month

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wip wednesday!

one again i'm here with a snippet from ciayaq?, this one is from chapter three, the high school years.

henry just turned 16 and alex will turn 15 in a few days.

“Okay. Okay. Here goes.” he takes a deep breath and sits straighter, looks at Henry’s encouraging little smile and says it. “I think I’m bi, and I think Liam wants to date me.” Henry stays silent for what feels like an eternity. He looks like he’s deciding how to reply to the bomb Alex dropped on his lap. He doesn’t seem like he will tell Alex that he’s disgusting and he should just pick between being gay or straight, that he’s doing it for the attention, that it’s a phase and he’ll grow out of it, but then Henry blinks and smiles. It’s his soft smile, the one that is reserved to his family. Finally, he says, “Thank you for telling me. Does anyone else know? Or is this something that is staying between us?” Alex feels a little stupid for doubting his best friend. “You’re the only one that knows. And well, Liam too, I guess.” “Yes, if he wants to date you, the poor sod, I suppose he knows you’re attracted to men, too.” Henry chuckles lightly. “How does he know?” “Oh fuck you, I’m a delight and a perfect boyfriend!” “Let’s ask Nor-” Alex interrupts him, laughing, to say “Don’t bring her up! God that was a fucking lapse of judgement on my part.” “Not on Nora’s?” “I said shut up! Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?” Henry mimics zipping his lips, laughing silently. [...] “So, is this what you needed to tell me before asking for advice?” Alex nods. “And is this what made you worried I’d never want to see you again?” “I dunno…” Alex shrugs, going for nonchalant, “Maybe you’d get offended that I didn’t tell you immediately.” “We’re not six, Alex." Henry rolls his eyes, "I won’t be offended if you need time to process your feelings before you feel up to sharing them. But I’m happy you trust me enough to share this part of you with me.” He smiles warmly at Alex, and something stirs in his belly. Relief at being accepted by his best friend, he thinks. “Thank you for listening, Hen.” “Of course, Alex. Now, what is it that you need advice on? If it’s something sexual I still have the PowerPoint your mum sent me last year before prom. It’s surprisingly thorough!” “Please never say that about my mother when you’re talking about anything sexual!” Alex shudders. “I just don’t know if I really like Liam like that. I think I do but I’m not sure? It feels like how I felt for Nora, and we all know how that went.” “I can't tell you how to feel, Alex. But I can tell you that if you're not sure about it, you don't owe him anything. You shouldn't date someone because you feel obligated to it, that is regardless of their gender.” “Of course, I know that,” he nods, “I just don’t… I think I want to try. See what happens. And if it goes like with Nora then maybe it means I should stop dating my friends.” he laughs at that, even as his stomach drops as he says it. Henry's laugh sounds weird, but Alex doesn't understand why. He says something like “That would be best, yes.” and then changes topic, tells Alex about Arthur's progress of the day. It's a little abrupt, but Alex lets it go, maybe Henry is trying to make things feel normal. He doesn't mind.

open tag!

#songliili writes #firstprince #rwrb #red white and royal blue #fic: ciayaq

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cheekycherry20 · 3 months

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I work in the field of aba (applied behavioral analysis) and have been for a little over a year. I started off really passionate about positively influencing the lives of children under the spectrum, because as an adult with adhd, I understood how hard it is as a kid to live in a not-so-opened minded neurotypical society.

I myself was bullied, left out, and made to feel unimportant on numerous occasions. I lacked the correct social skills, trying to mirror my peer’s behavior, yet being completely far off, and struggling to fit in for years. I’ve dealt with anxiety and depression with no outlet and proper coping mechanisms, all made worse with skewed communication skills. All of which I still struggle with today.

I started as a bt(behavior technician) and was quickly pushed into getting my license to become an rbt (registered behavior technician). On the journey to getting my license, I tried to soak up as much information as I could. It was very important to me to be a voice for the children. I had more downs then ups, as I put more pressure on myself then I should.

I wasn’t worried about running targets and gathering data. I wanted to ensure a good quality of life for my children. I’ll always call them my children, because I care for them that much. It’s almost maternal. I cry over my kids, worry about my kids, get angry at my kids. I love them more than anything in the world, I never knew I was capable of love until I got into the field.

Rbts don’t just work alone, we’re directly below bcbas (board certified behavior analyst). They make the plans for the kids, as the rbts run the sessions and gather the data bcbas need. Since the bcbas aren’t in session, it’s incredibly important that the rbt is collecting the right data and being extremely analytical over the session.

In my short time in being an rbt, I’ve been made to feel unimportant (as mentioned before) by numerous senior rbts and most importantly, bcbas. In my personal opinion, not being in a session can make it quite easy for a bcba to make the wrong decisions. In the past I’ve been quite vocal about ideas and goals that my kids can have long term, or just to push them into their next step of life. With children who are learning to functionally communicate, I step up and speak for them if I notice anything. I’m not a bcba, so technically I’m not legally allowed to run something without a bcba knowledge. But once again, my voice doesn’t matter.

As well as taking data, rbts are required to speak to parents. Not just about the child’s day, but for goals, progress, regression, and behaviors. Parent communication is very important, but parents implementing the same strategies as rbts is even more important. Some parents are amazing, but some parents drop their children off as an aba clinic is a daycare. It is far from it.

It’s very difficult watching parents drop their kids off in sick states, or seeing them come in minimal clothing in extreme cold. I’ve seen parents listen to therapist feedback and do the opposite of protocol,ensuring intense behaviors for therapist. As a parent it’s very difficult to live with the behaviors, so I undertstand how hard it may be. But as a therapist, I feel as if I’m not doing enough for my kid because they’re not making progress, because I can’t get them there alone. Parent cooperation is key.

I continue to get shot down and made to feel like I’m incompetent. I don’t know if it’s my age or minimal experience, but whatever the case may be, I no longer want to allow myself to be in spaces where I don’t feel heard. This is a really difficult thought for me to have, as I feel like I’m giving up on so many kids who just need someone to care about them. But I can acknowledge that in this field, caring isn’t always enough.

In the beginning I definitely tried my best. Advocating for my kids wasn’t the hard part, but my mental state is rapidly declining in the process. I truly still want to advocate for my kids, but when I voice my opinions I feel like what I’m saying is wrong.

I believe that stepping out of the field is my best option. To sit and watch fellow rbts and bcbas care too little or not at all for my kids has taken an incredible toll on my mental health. If you’re a parent or friend of someone interested in bringing a child into an aba clinic, please be sure you know exactly who is with them. There’s good therapists and bcbas , but there’s also a lot of people who just so happened to get their license and want a check.

#applied behavior analysis #adhd #ocd #autism #audhd #bcba #rbt

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jones-friend · 1 year

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I have finished playing yet another game and I have some thoughts I wanted to share!

This is one I’ve been wanting to post on bc I’m not the biggest fan of the game’s discourse. I’ve been playing pokemon since Ruby/Sapphire. I have completed gen 2 remake, gen 3, gen 4, gen 5, gen 6, gen 8, and now gen 9. I have attempted gen 1, gen 2, and gen 7 without completing them.

I want to start with that I believe this is the best pokemon game. I’ll explain in full, but upfront this is the best time I’ve had playing a pokemon game.

Another thing I want to get out of the way is the game’s performance issues. When I see the game discussed this is the only thing I see being discussed. Yes I agree the game shipped unfinished, there are many performance issues. Its easy to go online and google silly glitches. I played both this and Cyberpunk day 1: this is nowhere near as bad as Cyberpunk. In the time I’ve played this I have not experienced any bugs that forced a restart. You’ll see NPC’s taking a walk at a brisk two frames per second, windmills tick like clocks, and sometimes Fuecoco slides into the abyss but nothing I encountered broke my forward progress. That’s why this recommendation comes with a “yes if you can set aside performance issues” because they are present and they are serious.

I’m going to move forward from talking about the game’s performance issues now.

The game takes the three plotlines of the 8 gyms, legendary pokemon, and an antagonist team and fractures them into bite sized pieces. You set out and find new wild pokemon to add to your team and shape your team through the course of the game.

Theres a LOT to love here. We’ll start gameplay. I have never cared about filling out the dex until this game. Hunting wild pokemon is easier since you can see them all before you encounter them and this gen serves a wide and intriguing variety of types from across nine generations of pokemon games. I never felt walled into a single or small set of typings and I was consistently finding stuff I wanted to try. TM crafting is very helpful, most necessary items can be bought, and terastalizing is the best version of mega evolution the series has made since gen 6.

Each pokemon has a tera type, typically the typing they are. When you terastalize you shift into that tera type and moves of that type become more powerful. The kicker is your tera type doesnt need to match your type. Through raid battles and a special process to change it you can receive different tera types. I cleared the elite four with a banette that shifts to fairy. You can only terastalize once between pokecenters making it much clearer than gigantomax. Its huge for pvp play and I’m excited to tinker with it.

Pokemon has also struggled with difficulty often opting to go too easy. To me this game hits it just right. Some fights were easy but some really wrung me out. The team star fire and fighting leaders in particular gave me a run for my money. I has two pokemon left after the dragon elite four trainer. Granted I did remake my team at lvl 60 for all the path finales, it was exactly the level of difficulty I want out of pokemon that made me engage with its typing mechanics.

New pokemon are also delightful, lots of exciting type combos, cute new designs, there’s a ton of hits this generation and fantastic new evolutions.

The story is much improved as well. Essentially you have a rival per story line and they all function differently. At the conclusion of all three paths the next story is unlocked where you and your three buds you’ve become friends with over the course of a typical pokemon game go on an adventure. I wont spoil this section, but genuinely this is the strongest part of any pokemon game I’ve played. It made me feel the themes the game wants to reinforce. A+.

Also shoutout to all the team star fight themes all three are bangers.

So is this a good game?

If we’re judging by pokemon standards its incredible. To me its the closest the series has been to what the premise promises. If this gets remade I think fans will be stoked. Its absolutely one of the strongest entries.

Is it a good game divorced from the pokemon legacy? Yes*. Its got a great finale, great art direction, engaging battles that never felt too easy, the GAME here is very strong. The performance can be a real problem and if the performance of a game can make or break it for you I cannot recommend this one. You need to be able to let a lot of aesthetic performance issues slip by, sometimes daschbun just goes into the stratosphere. Sometimes Jeff from Biology walks through your pokemon battle. But if you’re able to set these issues aside I think you’ll have a wonderful time.

I think gamefreak is headed in the right direction with this entry and I hope to see more from them like this! A patch released the morning of posting this, and I’m hoping the performance issues settle to let what is a strong entry in the pokemon series get attention it deserves.

#Pokemon

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mit · 7 months

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An implantable device could enable injection-free control of diabetes

The device contains encapsulated cells that produce insulin, plus a tiny oxygen-producing factory that keeps the cells healthy.

Anne Trafton | MIT News

One promising approach to treating Type 1 diabetes is implanting pancreatic islet cells that can produce insulin when needed, which can free patients from giving themselves frequent insulin injections. However, one major obstacle to this approach is that once the cells are implanted, they eventually run out of oxygen and stop producing insulin.

To overcome that hurdle, MIT engineers have designed a new implantable device that not only carries hundreds of thousands of insulin-producing islet cells, but also has its own on-board oxygen factory, which generates oxygen by splitting water vapor found in the body.

The researchers showed that when implanted into diabetic mice, this device could keep the mice’s blood glucose levels stable for at least a month. The researchers now hope to create a larger version of the device, about the size of a stick of chewing gum, that could eventually be tested in people with Type 1 diabetes.

“You can think of this as a living medical device that is made from human cells that secrete insulin, along with an electronic life support-system. We’re excited by the progress so far, and we really are optimistic that this technology could end up helping patients,” says Daniel Anderson, a professor in MIT’s Department of Chemical Engineering, a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research and Institute for Medical Engineering and Science (IMES), and the senior author of the study.

While the researchers’ main focus is on diabetes treatment, they say that this kind of device could also be adapted to treat other diseases that require repeated delivery of therapeutic proteins.

MIT Research Scientist Siddharth Krishnan is the lead author of the paper, which appears today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research team also includes several other researchers from MIT, including Robert Langer, the David H. Koch Institute Professor at MIT and a member of the Koch Institute, as well as researchers from Boston Children’s Hospital.

Replacing injections

Most patients with Type 1 diabetes have to monitor their blood glucose levels carefully and inject themselves with insulin at least once a day. However, this process doesn’t replicate the body’s natural ability to control blood glucose levels.

“The vast majority of diabetics that are insulin-dependent are injecting themselves with insulin, and doing their very best, but they do not have healthy blood sugar levels,” Anderson says. “If you look at their blood sugar levels, even for people that are very dedicated to being careful, they just can’t match what a living pancreas can do.”

A better alternative would be to transplant cells that produce insulin whenever they detect surges in the patient’s blood glucose levels. Some diabetes patients have received transplanted islet cells from human cadavers, which can achieve long-term control of diabetes; however, these patients have to take immunosuppressive drugs to prevent their body from rejecting the implanted cells.

More recently, researchers have shown similar success with islet cells derived from stem cells, but patients who receive those cells also need to take immunosuppressive drugs.

Another possibility, which could prevent the need for immunosuppressive drugs, is to encapsulate the transplanted cells within a flexible device that protects the cells from the immune system. However, finding a reliable oxygen supply for these encapsulated cells has proven challenging.

Some experimental devices, including one that has been tested in clinical trials, feature an oxygen chamber that can supply the cells, but this chamber needs to be reloaded periodically. Other researchers have developed implants that include chemical reagents that can generate oxygen, but these also run out eventually.

The MIT team took a different approach that could potentially generate oxygen indefinitely, by splitting water. This is done using a proton-exchange membrane — a technology originally deployed to generate hydrogen in fuel cells — located within the device. This membrane can split water vapor (found abundantly in the body) into hydrogen, which diffuses harmlessly away, and oxygen, which goes into a storage chamber that feeds the islet cells through a thin, oxygen-permeable membrane.

A significant advantage of this approach is that it does not require any wires or batteries. Splitting this water vapor requires a small voltage (about 2 volts), which is generated using a phenomenon known as resonant inductive coupling. A tuned magnetic coil located outside the body transmits power to a small, flexible antenna within the device, allowing for wireless power transfer. It does require an external coil, which the researchers anticipate could be worn as a patch on the patient’s skin.

Drugs on demand

After building their device, which is about the size of a U.S. quarter, the researchers tested it in diabetic mice. One group of mice received the device with the oxygen-generating, water-splitting membrane, while the other received a device that contained islet cells without any supplemental oxygen. The devices were implanted just under the skin, in mice with fully functional immune systems.

The researchers found that mice implanted with the oxygen-generating device were able to maintain normal blood glucose levels, comparable to healthy animals. However, mice that received the nonoxygenated device became hyperglycemic (with elevated blood sugar) within about two weeks.

Typically when any kind of medical device is implanted in the body, attack by the immune system leads to a buildup of scar tissue called fibrosis, which can reduce the devices’ effectiveness. This kind of scar tissue did form around the implants used in this study, but the device’s success in controlling blood glucose levels suggests that insulin was still able to diffuse out of the device, and glucose into it.

This approach could also be used to deliver cells that produce other types of therapeutic proteins that need to be given over long periods of time. In this study, the researchers showed that the device could also keep alive cells that produce erythropoietin, a protein that stimulates red blood cell production.

“We’re optimistic that it will be possible to make living medical devices that can reside in the body and produce drugs as needed,” Anderson says. “There are a variety of diseases where patients need to take proteins exogenously, sometimes very frequently. If we can replace the need for infusions every other week with a single implant that can act for a long time, I think that could really help a lot of patients.”

The researchers now plan to adapt the device for testing in larger animals and eventually humans. For human use, they hope to develop an implant that would be about the size of a stick of chewing gum. They also plan to test whether the device can remain in the body for longer periods of time.

“The materials we’ve used are inherently stable and long-lived, so I think that kind of long-term operation is within the realm of possibility, and that’s what we’re working on,” Krishnan says.

“We are very excited about these findings, which we believe could provide a whole new way of someday treating diabetes and possibly other diseases,” Langer adds.

The research was funded by JDRF, the Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering at the National Institutes of Health.

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#research #medical devices #diabetes #chemical engineering #medicine #health science #technology

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