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torukmaktoskxawng · 8 months

Text

tsamsiyu ta'em - strangers like me

Masterlist - part ten

Summary: Kayla continues to learn about island life with the Metkayina and also learns a bit more about her teachers along the way. Tonowari and Ronal find their student strange and intriguing.

Pairing: Ronal/Tonowari/Original Female Character

Tag: #tsamsiyu ta'em fic

posted on ao3

Word Count: 6k+

Taglist (bold indicates "could not tag"): @motheroffae @undeniableadrenaline @mooniequeen @shit-i-say-shit-i-think @heart-an0n @amiets2 @slutforsmut4ever @yeosxxx @im-in-a-pansexual-panik @sucker4angstt @inolaphoenix @ilovechickenwings tojisleftarm andyfromku @ivysully

A/N: I am so sorry for my absence! I wish I have a good excuse for being absent, but the truth is I'm not doing so hot in the real world rn. My job is cutting back hours and I barely have enough for rent. I'm getting a second job next month so hopefully, things smoothen out.

Here is the long-awaited update that I will kick myself for delaying in exchange for obsessively crying over Good Omens Season 2. Let the montage of Awa'atlu life commence! Again, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy!

Note: The title is named after the Phil Collins song "Strangers Like Me" because Tarzan and Avatar just go together XD

To avoid having Ronal hunt her down again, Kayla got up earlier the next morning and made her way back to the village to join her brother's family for breakfast before her lessons. Kiri was definitely doing better and Tuk was excited that her aunt had decided to see them off before their busy days. After pleasant conversations and the promise to meet before their midday meal, the kids took off to pursue whatever they planned for the day. Kayla stood up with the intention of going to find either the tsahik or the olo'eyktan and so Jake walked her out of the marui as they talked.

"So Neteyam mentioned that you guys talked about what happened between Lo'ak and Ao'nung," Jake started off.

'Oh, boy, here we go,' Kayla thought as she tilted her head to glance back at him, feigning partial innocence, "Yes? What about it?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to let you know that it's already been handled, and it sounds like the boys are actually getting along now. Neteyam also mentioned that you didn't get to meet Ao'nung yesterday so I wanted to make sure you knew this before you went looking for a fight with the kid."

"Jake, how young do you think I am?" When his face twisted with hesitance, she rolled her eyes, "Don't answer that. What I'm trying to say is that I'm not a child, I'm older than I look, and believe it or not, I do realize this. You don't have to worry about me... but you could've been a little nicer to Lo'ak."

Jake refrained from also rolling his eyes, knowing his sister would say this. He wasn't blind. He was well aware that Kayla would always be quick to defend his youngest son, no matter what he did. Jake was half-convinced that Lo'ak could get away with murder as far as his aunt was concerned, "He knew he wasn't allowed to go beyond the reef but he went anyway. He was at fault as much as Ao'nung."

"I get that, but it feels as though Lo'ak received more punishment than the boys who actually put him in danger, and for what?"

"For picking fights."

"No, for defending his sister," her eyes narrowed, "Not that you would know what that means."

Jake took the verbal lashing in stride, internally sighing, "I can't punish the chief's son for what he does against my kids, Kayla."

At first, Kayla had every intention of cursing her brother out, but instead paused and tried rephrasing her response. Her eyes drifted to the reef while she recalled far-off memories, "I remember Mom and Dad were allowed to punish the neighbor kids if they misbehaved with us and no one would bat an eye."

The mention of his old life irked him, and he wasn't afraid to show that in his deep snarl, "Well, Mom and Dad aren't here and we're not on Earth," her posture visibly stiffens but doesn't interrupt. Jake's wave of anger is immediately replaced with guilt, so he opts in taking a breath before he could say anything else he might come to regret, "Things are different here. So be civil and keep the peace. Don't go picking fights with teenagers."

"I won't," she mutters darkly, the coldness in her eyes returning as she side-eyes him, reminding Jake that he still wasn't out of the storm regarding her, "That's what you're here for."

She doesn't stay long enough to hear whatever rebuttal he might have in mind. Instead, she walks down the pathways leading further into the village before calling back, "I'll see you later."

Tail lowered in distress and possibly shame, Jake could only turn back to the marui and try to go about his day as he normally would. He knew he deserved the petty insults and his sister's aggression toward him, especially after all the radio silence she had endured for months while he was here experiencing a new way of life, on top of everything else. He just wished Kayla could manage to let go of all the pain and anger like he did when he first began to learn the ways of the Omatikaya. Physically, Kayla's avatar hasn't changed apart from the new Na'vi trinkets she had added to her standard-issued cargo shorts and crop top. However, Jake had hoped her mentality toward him would change the more she learned how to be Na'vi.

He knew he was a fool to get his hopes up so soon.

Walking through the village, Kayla went down the same route Ronal had brought her yesterday, hoping she would catch sight of the tsahik. Again, there were some stares from the Metkayina, but they didn't last as long as the day before and the reef people didn't look as bothered by her appearance. The Na'vi go about their day without much acknowledgment to Kayla, and before she knew it, she had made it to her destination, the craft huts she had met Tsireya just the other day.

It wasn't hard to find Ronal among the crowd of mottled skin patterns. Her accessories, tattoos, and rounded stomach are a dead giveaway, and the tsahik easily found Kayla in the crowd in turn, though it wasn't as hard, given the circumstances. Ronal's eyes visibly squint when her gaze lands on Kayla, then the Na'vi woman pulls away from her task to rise and meet the avatar. Another Na'vi stands to join her, a teenage boy and Kayla had an inkling who it was.

When Ronal approached Kayla, she motioned to the boy behind her, "My son, Ao'nung."

Smiling timidly, Kayla greets Ao'nung as respectfully as possible, though even she could admit her smile was tighter than usual. Ao'nung didn't say a word back, instead deciding to simply nod and avoid eye contact. His ears drooped and his head lowered like this was torture for him. Clearly, he was being coerced into being here with Kayla, but she decided not to fault him for it. Perhaps he's already being punished enough for his wrongdoings that he didn't need Kayla to torture him further about it.

Ronal doesn't appear to notice nor care for Ao'nung's discomfort and sternly stated to Kayla, "We will be teaching you how to communicate underwater. Do not fall behind or you will be left behind."

Kayla refrains from the small smile that threatened to escape her. Ronal's words vaguely reminded her of Neytiri's way of teaching Jake both from the stories she heard and the video log Jake had recorded. As Jake had once phrased it, 'Learn fast or die.'

With that in mind, Kayla doesn't complain and silently follows Ronal and Ao'nung away from the craft huts and further down the pathways. It didn't take long before they brought their guest to a large marui. It wasn't as big as the communal pod for the feasts, but it was significantly taller and wider than the normal ones Kayla has seen, including the Sullys' marui. She took note of the different colors of weaving and decorations adorning the home, such as the totem and skimwing skull hanging over the front entrance in greeting, a small windchime of shells softly dancing in the warm breeze. If Kayla had to guess, this was the olo'eyktan and tsahik's pod. Soon after stepping inside, both Ronal and Ao'nung lower to the ground, sitting back on their legs and Kayla does the same, proceeding to listen as Ronal starts off the lesson.

Nothing eventful happened as Kayla learned the Metkayina equivalent of sign language. Ao'nung never said a word regarding Lo'ak or any incident that happened with Kayla's nieces and nephews prior to her arrival. In fact, Ao'nung didn't say a whole lot other than chiming in a time or two to help Kayla with the lesson. Perhaps he never said a word outside of the subject of his people's sign language because his mother had been giving him sharp looks throughout the whole lesson. It was hard to miss. Ronal wasn't exactly a subtle creature. She openly expressed whatever she was feeling, unafraid of hurting someone's feelings, not even her son's, it would seem.

It was amusing to find all the similarities between the mother and son, both physically and spiritually. Their glare, eyes, and even their pout were the same. Kayla even dared herself to look a little closer without getting caught and noticed that Ao'nung inherited the same mole as his mother's, both spots found above their lip, on the top right side.

She must have lost track in time as the suns rose higher in the sky. Before she knew it, her next teacher had shown up to take her to her next destination. Tonowari stepped up into the marui, his large frame blocking the majority of the light coming in through the entryway. His gaze brushes over Kayla and Ao'nung before his eyes land on the tsahik, "Ma Ronal. Is this a good time?"

One of Kayla's ear flick to the side at the term of endearment, glancing over to the woman in question who only firmly nods and stares back at Kayla, "Go on. My mate will continue your riding lessons from yesterday."

Kayla mutters her thanks and stands up to join Tonowari. As they turn toward the exit, the olo'eyktan points back to his son, "Ao'nung. Remain with your mother."

"But, Father--"

"Do not question me, boy," the tone in Tonowari's voice was a little louder and stronger than normal, and even Kayla could feel her spine straightening up, despite not being under his scrutiny. Kayla briefly glances back at Ao'nung and notes the way he shrinks in on himself, still unable to look her in the eye, clearly embarrassed. Kayla looks away and follows Tonowari out of the marui, shadowing his footsteps as he addresses her, "I apologize for my son."

For the moment, Kayla had the empathy to pity the teenager and decided to soften the blow against Ao'nung, "There's nothing to apologize for. He was a pleasant enough teacher."

His voice had reverted back to its normal tone, significantly smoother and kinder on the ears, "Did you learn well?"

"I think so. It's not that different compared to what the Sky People have," when he flashed a questioning glance over his shoulder at her, she further explained, "They have a language that requires hand motions, too."

He doesn't question it further, instead looking back ahead and leading Kayla down to the docks. The ilu anxiously await their arrival in the water below, clicking and calling excitedly as Tonowari pulls a harness over one of their heads. The two adults get into the water and stand beside the earnest ilu, Tonowari trying to calm the creature whilst Kayla makes tsaheylu. She mounts the creature with ease, remembering yesterday's lesson and dreading the idea of falling off again as Tonowari begins reassuring her, "You need to exude confidence. Tell the ilu that you will command them and you will be respected by them. Do not give them space to come up with their own ideas."

She takes a few deep breaths to calm her nerves and nodded, waiting until Tonowari steps away before commanding the ilu to move forward using only the bond connecting them to each other's thoughts. The creature obliges and all appears to be going smoothly. Kayla manages to instruct the ilu to swim faster before eventually sinking underneath the water's surface. The ilu picks up speed and even as she clings on for dear life, Kayla could already feel her grip loosening. Angry and determined, Kayla tightens her thighs around the saddle of the creature and demands her bonded steed to leap out of the water and let her breathe, no room for nonsense.

To her shock and delight, the ilu chirped happily and sprung out of the water like a bullet, briefly flying through the air and allowing Kayla to take a breath before diving back in. She was so shocked that she almost lost her grip before regaining composure and asking the ilu to do it again, in case she had only imagined her success. The ilu was ecstatic to leap out of the water again and did so without a fuss, and this time, Kayla laughed as the shock wore off.

On the surface, the woman is met with a small audience. Lo'ak, Neteyam, and Tsireya were out riding their own respective ilu that afternoon before briefly pausing to watch a school of fish swim all around them, tickling their feet. Just as Kayla appeared to finally be getting the hang of riding an ilu, the teenagers caught notice of her as well. Lo'ak is the first to spot her, cupping his hands over his mouth as he crows in encouragement, "Go, Auntie! Woo-hoo! Yeah! You got it!"

Kayla laughs as Neteyam and Tesireya begin to cheer her on as well, their voices carried by the winds as Kayla and her ilu dive into the water and back out again. By the time Kayla remembered herself and returned to her teacher, Tonowari had his arms crossed but otherwise appeared pleased by her improvement, tail leisurely swaying behind him with curiosity.

~~~~~~~~~

Weeks go by since Kayla first arrived in Awa'atlu, and despite having to adapt to yet another completely different culture, Kayla had to admit that it was getting easier as time went on. She originally thought the ways of the Metkayina were a cakewalk compared to the Omatikaya, but maybe it was because she learned from the Forest People first that made learning from the Reef People easier than she originally thought it would.

She makes sure to reiterate this to Norm and the other humans every time she sees them. When everyone in Awa'atlu is meant to be resting, Kayla retreats to her campsite and secures her avatar form before closing her eyes and breaking the neural link. The next time she opens her eyes, it's within the link gurney back at High Camp. Norm and Max are always there to greet her, asking about her headaches and other health problems. There were days even Kayla had to admit were rough. After spending so much time in her avatar form, it's starting to strain the link connecting herself to her human form and it causes massive headaches every time she breaks a new record of not reporting back for days on end. To distract her friends from lecturing her, Kayla just updates everyone on Kiri's condition and relays any messages Jake or the rest of the Sully family wanted her to bring. In return, the scientists or even the Na'vi, such as Txe'la and Meui, would update her on any information regarding Ardmore or any Sky People activity.

She's always left disappointed when they say the same thing. No one has seen Spider.

Trying not to let the news discourage her, Kayla always wakes back up in her avatar form in better spirits so as not to worry Jake and his family. Kayla continues to treat the days as normal, continuing her lessons and helping out in any way she can so as not to overstay her welcome. When she wasn't following Tonowari or Ronal around, Kayla was usually in the company of her nieces, nephews, and their new friends.

Tsireya was one of those friends, and she was such a sweet girl who would happily entertain Kayla in any endeavor. When she wasn't busy, one of Kayla's favorite pastimes was helping Tuk and Tsireya find seashells for their hair and any jewelry idea they had in mind. Tsireya, as Tuk said, knew all the best spots where the shells were always fully intact and not crushed into pieces by the harsh tides. During these little adventures, Kayla, Tuk, and Tsireya would learn more about each other, bonding over the fact that they were all their families' younger sisters.

The sign language was easier than the verbal language, but Kayla felt as though she had a rug pulled from beneath her feet when Ronal knowingly stated that she was going to be teaching her student a third language. The tsahik, with the help of other Metkayina, began to teach Kayla the language of the tulkun, the sea creature Kayla learned to be the spiritual animal and companion to the Reef People, as the ikran is to Forest People. Apparently, not even Kayla's nieces and nephews have progressed as far as learning the tulkun language yet, and they became ecstatic to realize that they would be learning this alongside their aunt. Joining Ronal in these lessons with Kayla and the Sully kids would also be Tsireya and Rotxo, which only excited the forest kids more. Ronal wasn't as pleased with her own student when she caught Kayla fondly watching the children interact more than once.

Kayla had to learn this extra language on top of her breathing lessons, the latter of which was taught by both Tonowari and Ronal. Sometimes they would teach her separately, and other times they would do so together, but whatever the case may be, it didn't matter to Kayla. She would carefully listen to whoever was teaching her, and sometimes she listened so intently that she caught herself observing her teachers a little too closely.

Like Tonowari's eyes for example. Kayla noted they were a light blue at first as she sat cross-legged across from him while they practiced breathing exercises. But upon closer inspection, Kayla noticed specks of green engulfed by those blue orbs, like clumps of islands surrounded by warm sparkling oceans.

He was a clenched fist with a gentle touch. Kayla greatly admired him for being someone who could easily take advantage of his strength and position above his people but chooses to be kind and soft-spoken instead.

It was fascinating for Kayla to see just how different the Metkayinas' eyes were compared to the Omatikayas'. Whereas every Na'vi of the Forest had orange or yellow cat-like eyes, the ones who live off of the reef had rounder and bigger eyes, not to mention they had a variety of different shapes, sizes, and colors.

Like Ronal's eyes. The opposite of her mate's, Kayla noted that Ronal's eyes were more green than blue, with specks of a warm, gold color, like a sunset reflecting off the ocean surface.

She was orphic, but that's as far as Kayla allowed herself to describe the tsahik.

There was plenty to say about Ronal, but Kayla thought it best not to linger on any of the words bouncing around in her head. It was clear to her that the tsahik will always disapprove of Kayla and her presence among the Metkayina, so Kayla didn't want to compliment the Na'vi woman too much, especially since she doesn't intend on staying for very long.

Her stay was still very much temporary, at least in Kayla's eyes, as she still intends on going back to the forest to find Spider. For now, however, she was content with her small campsite just inside the treeline of the Metkayina island, a campsite that Ronal appears to disapprove of along with everything else about Kayla. The tsahik still has to occasionally venture out and find Kayla among the trees if she is in need of the avatar woman, like today when Ronal had the mind to take the time to find Kayla. It wasn't hard since the demon had kept her promise and never moved her campsite so she would be right where Ronal could find her. Still, Kayla was apologetic when Ronal found her and the tsahik begrudgingly told the foreigner to follow her back to the village.

Ronal brings her to the shoreline and recruits her to help fix an ilu pen that had begun to wither with age. Tonowari was already hard at work on it and briefly looked up to greet the two women when they sat down on the edge of the pathway and gracefully slipped into the water with him. After a brief instruction from him, Kayla gets to work in silence, and Ronal isn't opposed to doing the same. The silence wasn't as awkward as they were in the past, but out of the corner of her eye, Kayla could clearly see that something was bothering the tsahik, as Ronal wasn't ashamed of openly frowning while watching Kayla work. She didn't appear to be glaring in disapproval, but she looked... frustrated. It was as if she was trying to figure out a complicated puzzle. Kayla briefly glanced at the Na'vi positioned on the other side of her and noticed that Tonowari was much more subtle than his mate. Unlike Ronal, he only snuck glances at Kayla and her work here and there and did his best to hide whatever expression was on his face.

"Am I doing it wrong?"

"No. You're doing well," a compliment was not what she was expecting and it shows as Kayla's ears perk up and her eyes briefly widen. Ronal pointedly ignores the reaction and blatantly asks, "Why do you not stay with your brother's family at night?"

Kayla looked at Ronal, nose scrunched slightly in confusion, all the while completely unaware of the stare Tonowari sent to his mate from above Kayla's head, "Why would I?"

"Group sleep is also customary in the Metkayina."

"What's a group sleep?"

By Eywa, did the Omatikaya teach this alien woman anything? Ronal huffs out an irritated sigh, "Families sleep in large groups, usually in their swaynivi. Some clan members will sleep alone or with their mate just as long as they return to their family's nivi in a short period of time. Otherwise, they're deemed spiritually unhealthy. It is unsafe for one to sleep alone."

"I see," Kayla's ears pin back and her posture straightens, understanding the question now while pointedly staring down at her work on weaving the ilu pen together instead of addressing Ronal, "Well, where I'm from, that's called an invasion of privacy. I would assume that the families who sleep in large groups mostly contain parents and their children, correct?"

She doesn't wait for a response as she further explains with a small distaste in her mouth, "Since I'm neither of those, I don't want to invade my brother's and his children's privacy. Thank you for your concern, but I've been alone for a very long time. I can assure you that I am just fine with the sleeping arrangements I have now."

Even Ronal can sense a dismissal when she hears it in Kayla's voice. It was clear that the alien woman didn't want to further discuss this topic and so the tsahik didn't push it. Returning to her work, Ronal now briefly shared a glance with Tonowari but he pointedly kept his mouth closed during the whole conversation and after.

Luckily, the silence is saved by Neteyam as the teenager arrives with a purpose, slightly bouncing over the pathways above the adults' heads, "Auntie. My father is looking for you."

Kayla's discomfort visibly melts before Tonowari and Ronal's eyes. She looks up and smiles at the Na'vi boy, "Tell your father he can come and get me himself next time instead of sending you out. You should be elsewhere, enjoying the reefs and hunting with your friends."

She briefly turned back to the clan leaders, silently asking for approval to leave with her eyes flicking between the two Metkayina. Both nodded and openly watch as Kayla turns back to Neteyam, smiling up at her nephew as she rises up onto the pathway and follows him out, gently shoving him once to get him to pick up the pace so she didn't trip on his heels.

Neteyam huffed a small laugh as they walked, but the sound falls in replace of shame. He was visibly acting a little shy as he avoided eye contact, "I am sorry that I told my father about our conversation. I should have asked for your permission."

"Hey, no harm," she nudged him, "It's not like our talks are meant to be a secret or anything. It's nice that you can trust your father with everything; trust him enough to talk about whatever you want. As long as you're comfortable, kiddo."

"Was your father not like that?"

Kayla bit her tongue to refrain from visibly wincing, staring directly ahead instead of at her nephew, "No. I don't think he was. Not from what I can remember. Mostly I relied on Tommy and your dad growing up."

"What was my father like as an older brother? Am I like him?"

Kayla briefly grew quiet as they walked, pondering about how she could best word this to her oldest nephew. She tried seeing Jake in Neteyam, she really did, but whenever she tried comparing the teenager's best traits, they only remind her of Neytiri. And when Kayla thinks about Jake, all the pain and other torture he had put her through both intentionally and by accident, she couldn't even fathom Neteyam doing the same thing to his own siblings. Physically and mentally, deep down she knew that Neteyam was nothing like his father, and she was secretly grateful for that.

So instead of agreeing, Kayla simply smiled while staring the teenager in the eyes so he could see her sincerity, "No, 'Teyam. You're like Tommy. He was the older brother. When it comes to how you treat your siblings, you remind me of him, and I think your father sees it, too."

~~~~~~~~~

When Ronal isn't busy with her duties as tsahik or teaching Kayla, she is making sure Neytiri also adapts to their way of life. Although the former tsakarem had been comfortably accustomed to island life by the time her sister-in-law joined her family, Ronal still takes Neytiri into the jungle for a second pair of hands to gather the needed plants and herbs for her stock. Today was no different as the two women stumbled across a large jungle tree, larger than any of the others around them. Instead of following Ronal's suggestion to skip this tree and its healing fruits in exchange for a shorter one, Neytiri stops and shakes her head. Ronal was adamant about moving on since she was in no condition to climb and wasn't built to climb trees even if she wasn't currently pregnant.

Neytiri still shook her head in defiance and simply said, "You need Forest People."

The Forest woman opens her mouth and calls out at the top of her lungs, causing Ronal's ears to twitch in response to her whooping and cawing. Notifying her family about her location, it didn't take long for Jake, Kayla, and all the Sully children to come running to Neytiri's call.

Neytiri proudly smiles at her family while explaining why they had been summoned, "Our tsahik needs the fruit from the top of this tree and the ones surrounding it."

The others take a moment to look at one another before Kayla breaks the silence, briefly tapping Tuk's shoulder before running off, "'Last one to the top is a rotten egg!"

Tuk squeals and immediately chases after her aunt. The older Sully kids smile and break into fits of laughter, following suit and running after Kayla and their little sister. They all leap up, grabbing onto the lower branches before lifting themselves up, climbing expertly higher without their arms protesting the weight of their bodies. Ronal watched them climb higher and higher, keeping her expression stoic while observing the way Kayla makes the collecting and scavenging into a game for her nieces and nephews, challenging them to see who can gather the most fruit. In the corner of her eye, Ronal could still see Neytiri standing beside her, also watching the trees and smiling fondly up at her family. Jake soon stands beside his wife, hands on his hips while watching his sister and his children with a careful eye.

It was then did Ronal address Toruk Makto directly, flashing a face of disapproval, "Does your sister always act so childish?"

Jake's posture stiffens and he struggles to find the right words under the tsahik's watchful eye, "Well-! Uh..."

"No, only with the children," Neytiri answers for him, eyes hardened when they meet Ronal's as if daring her to speak again, "She plays with them because she wants to remind them that they are still just that. Children."

~~~~~~~~~

Kiri woke up bothered about something and everyone could tell. That girl didn't know how to hide her feelings no matter how badly she wanted to, the definition of an open book. Even though no one knew why she was upset, they could clearly tell that whatever it was, it had something to do with her aunt. Kiri wasn't necessarily cold to Kayla, but the teenager would go quiet and only speak in one-word responses whenever the older woman spoke directly to her.

Kayla decided that she needed to fix whatever was going on between herself and her oldest niece, so she offered to take the children out as the afternoon slipped into the evening. Neytiri suggested bringing them swimming through the reefs to collect barnacles and other underwater plants for tonight's supper, a passing time a lot of the villagers tend to do. Kayla takes up the idea and presents it to the Sully kids, who all agree to go, some more enthusiastic than others.

Tuk immediately splashes into the water and her brothers chase after her. Meanwhile, Kayla and Kiri linger on the beach, watching them disappear into the ocean. Kayla had tried breaking the tension with a small smile, "So when are you gonna show me how to use those underwater fairy wings?"

She was hoping for a small laugh or even a smile, but Kiri does neither. Instead, she looks sad and distracted, looking out over the horizon where the sky meets the sea, daydreaming of other lands... of home. Kayla bravely touches the girl's shoulder, and when Kiri looks up, her aunt could see the concern plain on her face. The avatar woman squeezes Kiri's shoulder, "What is it?"

Kiri bites the inside of her cheek before giving in, letting out a small sigh, "When are you going back to the forest?" She quickly understands how that could easily be misinterpreted and corrects herself, "It's just that-- you promised you'd look for Spider. And yet, you're here and he still hasn't been found yet."

Kayla relaxes both in posture and touch, removing her hand from Kiri's shoulder and instead letting it fall to her side, "I'll likely be gone by the end of the week, but for Norm's peace of mind, I'm going to be running a few tests on you so he and I both know you'll be okay," silence follows and Kayla reaches out once more, letting her hand gently grasp Kiri's arm, "Kiri, look at me."

The teen does so, a little belligerent at first. Upon staring up at her aunt, Kiri could see the determination in her eyes that closely matched Kiri's father's. Kayla tilts her head down to try and stand more at Kiri's height before softly explaining, "I haven't given up. And you might find it pointless to keep an eye on you after what happened, but I don't, and I don't think Spider would either. Think about it, kiddo. Spider would want us to make sure you're alright before we ever went looking for him."

Kiri ducks her head and watches her toe make shapes in the sand beneath her feet, "I know... but that doesn't mean I have to like it. He deserves to be put first for once."

Silence lingers between the two of them before Kayla simply says, "You're right."

Kiri doesn't wanna look up to see whatever expression was on her aunt's face. Instead, Kiri takes her arm and drags her to the water, "Come."

"'Where we going?"

"You said you wanted to learn how to use a txampaysye."

Kayla's nose scrunched up, testing the word on her tongue with bitterness, "How do you even spell that??"

Kiri manages to loosen up and laugh before they both held their breath and sank down into the water, sinking until they joined the rest of the Sully children. They introduce Kayla to txampaysye -gill mantle- and instruct her on how to use it in order to breathe underwater. Kayla wasn't far off. The gill mantles really did look like fairy wings, but other than maybe a few comments or stories, none of the Na'vi children would know what exactly a fairy was. The children and their aunt spend the evening doing as Neytiri suggested, gathering underwater plants and barnacles alongside other Metkayina, most of whom all wore the txampaysye. By the time the communal dinner rolled around, the Sully family was exhausted, but content all the same.

~~~~~~~~~

A peaceful morning where the Sullys invite Kayla over for breakfast goes uneventful until they're rolling up their nivi after a good night's rest. Their peace is interrupted by a horn, followed by whoops and hollers of celebration coming from outside. Confused and on edge, Jake and the kids emerge from the marui, looking around as the Metkayina jump around and dive into the water, making the newcomers curious as to what was going on.

Their answer came in the form of Tsireya, astride an ilu as she waved down her people from the water below their homes, "The tulkun have returned! Everybody! Our Brothers and Sisters have returned!"

Kayla looked up toward the atoll wall protecting the village from less docile nature. Emerging from the tunnels and pathways underneath the wall were rolling waves indicating something large below the water. Spurts of seaspray spring out like geysers from beneath the ocean's surface. It was a large pod of whale-like creatures, massive and slow. Their descent onto the village was graceful and one that brought much joy to the Metkayina as they couldn't get in the water fast enough.

The Sully kids couldn't wait either, jumping from the walkway around their home and into the water below. They scatter, exploring the new creatures one way or another. Tsireya had grabbed Lo'ak when she spotted him and pulled him onto her ilu, swimming away to introduce him to her Spirit Sister. Jake summoned his tsurak and both he and Neytiri take off to observe the sacred animals themselves. Rotxo had come around and pulled Kiri and Tuk away too, leaving Neteyam and Kayla to wander. Ao'nung was not far behind his friend, however, and invited Neteyam to come along with him to find his own Spirit Brother. Earning a small reassurance from his aunt, Neteyam doesn't hesitate to jump in and both teenagers each grab an ilu and take off, making a game of chase with Ao'nung in the lead.

Neteyam kept close to Ao'nung the entire time. The chief's son leads Neteyam through the chaos expertly, the two of them swimming quickly around a particular tulkun. Kiri, Tuk, and Rotxo were hanging onto the bull's fin and gliding peacefully through the water, the tulkun likely the reef boy's Spirit Brother. Neteyam was only able to catch a glimpse of this as they swim by, keeping close to Ao'nung's tail and playfully chasing him.

Jake had been leisurely swimming his skimwing through the maze of tulkun and Metkayina before glancing off to the side and perking up. Reaching back and tapping Neytiri's thigh to grab her attention, he waits until her eyes are on him before pointing out the sight he stumbled across. Following her husband's gaze and finger, Neytiri spots a mother tulkun and her calf, the smaller whale-like creature keeping close, mostly under its mother's fin or belly. Neytiri smiled with delight, her heart melting at the picture.

Kayla had been floating above the surface, watching the vast sight of tulkun from up top the back of an ilu she had successfully summoned. She didn't venture very far until the olo'eyktan sought her out. She noticed his tsurak first, flying above her head before gracefully sinking into the water, folding in its webbed fins. Tonowari brings it back around and swims up to Kayla's side, a determined smile on his lips, "We must put all that you learned to the test. Come meet my Spirit Brother and see how well you can understand and communicate with him."

She nods and dutifully follows him into the water after taking a deep breath. They submerge and take off, weaving through and around the large bodies of tulkun, dodging other ilu and Na'vi while Tonowari keeps his pace slow for Kayla's ilu to catch up. Underwater, Kayla can get a better look at the tulkun, and to her amazement, she realized that most of them were tattooed like their respective Na'vi. Eventually, they come across a large bull and Tonowari slows to a complete stop, disengaging from his tsurak and openly swimming the rest of the way to the heavily tattooed tulkun male. Kayla disengages from her ilu and watches it swim away before swimming in the same direction as the olo'eyktan, keeping a small bit of distance while he approaches the tulkun, greeting it like an old friend with a wide smile before gesturing Kayla to come closer.

When Kayla swims close enough to float near the large eye of the creature, Tonowari motions to the bull and makes rapid hand movements, "This Makayla te Suli tsmuke te Toruk Makto. She is of the Forest People and has come to learn our ways."

"Greetings, Makayla te Suli." The tulkun sings, and Kayla is delighted that she can understand him.

She quickly signs back, just as she had practiced, "I See you, great and mighty tulkun."

"Have you learned much since your arrival?"

"Yes, many things. I have excellent teachers in the olo'eyktan and the tsahik."

"Indeed. You are in good hands with my Brother and his mate. Ro'a speaks highly of her."

Curious, Kayla turns to the olo'eyktan in question, hands slowed by the water as she asks through the Metkayina sign language, "Is Ro'a Ronal's Spirit Sister?"

Tonowari nods while further explaining with his hands, "Yes, and I believe Ro'a has just given birth to her first calf."

"Indeed." The tulkun calls softly, the beautiful sound muffled in Kayla's ears like a song trying to pierce through cotton, "We are very proud and happy for our sister. What of Ronal's child?"

Tonowari beams, "Growing fast. Halfway there."

Kayla faintly smiles as her lungs begin to faintly burn, then quickly makes the appropriate hand motions to signal, "Forgive me. I need air."

She tilts her head upward and kicks her arms and legs to plunge up to the surface. Kayla immediately gasps for air the moment her head broke through the ocean waves, taking deep and calm breaths while looking around at all the joyous reunions going on around her. Laughter and cheers are still clinging to the approaching afternoon air, not a single Metkayina worried about the day's chores as they are too busy reacquainting themselves with their Spirit Brothers and Sisters. Kayla fondly watched these interactions, her heart warm and yet... sad as she watched the Na'vi swim around her without a care in the world. It's not as though she expected anyone to notice her, but it was a brief realization that today she was invisible and an outcast compared to these beautiful tulkun creatures. It was just another reminder that she didn't belong here and she had no Spirit Sister of her own, feeling out of place among an entire lagoon full of tulkun, Na'vi, tsurak, ilu, and other aquatic creatures.

Once she caught her breath, Kayla inhaled deeply and stuck her face back into the water to check out the activity going on beneath her treading feet. Looking around, she managed to catch a glimpse of a familiar Na'vi, a woman, adamantly communicating with her hands toward another tulkun, a female and her calf. Kayla recognized Ronal's ornaments that expressed her importance among the other Metkayina, along with her rounded belly. Without those traits, however, Kayla wouldn't have recognized her because the tsahik was smiling, broadly, unbothered by anything going on around her as she spoke to what had to be her Spirit Sister, Ro'a.

In all the weeks Kayla had been living here, she had never seen Ronal smile, let alone smile like that.

A/N: Please remember that I can't reply to any comments below every chapter because I'm using a secondary account. So if you have questions about the series you would like answers to, please put it in the ask box, thank you!

If you have a request, check the rules first! Much love!

Buy me ko-fi <3

Just a brief notice that updates are gonna be spotty from here on out as summer is coming to a close and I'll be working two jobs next month (Sept). Keep the love and support coming and I hope to update for y'all soon!

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kissporsche · 2 years

Text

What gets me about this scene (aside from literally everything) is Pete putting his hand around his throat. Because everything else he reacts to is something Vegas either did in a moment of bonding (making noodles) or during sex (tying his wrists, kissing his hands). But we never saw Vegas choke Pete during sex. The only time we've seen that are:

Which is just fascinating. In this montage of things Pete is tangibly missing about Vegas, he includes this action which has only been done to him in anger, which should be some of his absolute worst memories of Vegas.

And it gets me thinking about:

Now i'm not saying that Pete was enjoying the torture, and certainly not enjoying the fight with Vegas that lead into his escape. But. It means something that he was physically trying to recreate this in a moment of utter vulnerability and lonliness, no lies or masks even to himself, no "I don't like it, so then why didn't I say no?", just the shameful recognition that he does like it and now he does miss it.

Because he's attracted to all of Vegas: the surprising care (noodles), the sex (wrists) and the cruelty (choking). It doesn't mean he necessarily liked it in the moment, but it is a facet of him that he likes. The truly dark parts of Vegas, even when they were turned against Pete, are a part of Pete's fascination and attraction to him.

Even if Pete won't admit it to himself yet, I think this scene shows he knows it, deep down. He wants Vegas for all of him, including the worst parts

#kinnporsche #vegaspete #kp orig #kp meta

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finelinevogue · 2 years

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Imagine the late night talking music video is just clips of harry and Yn during lockdown he filmed on his phone/retro film cameras. Like making midnight feasts, late night drives, them chatting in bed or watching the stars 🥺🥺🥺

crying okay okay.... before the mv actually comes out:

The idea came one morning when Harry woke up and asked you what your favourite song of his was.

"Yeah, I know you don't particularly want to choose a favourite but I'm asking you kindly to." Harry ran a finger down the bridge of your nose and tapped the tip of your nose once, before moving his hand to rest on the cheek further away from him.

Bed with Harry was always the most intimate, because he was often so close and comfortable with you. He would always be draped across you somehow and if he wasn't then he'd want you to starfish across him. Now, he was laying to the side of you, head propped up in his hand and his body half over yours. Your legs were woven together with his and you both looked freshly fucked from some soft morning sex.

"Okay, but don't get stroppy with me if I choose the wrong favourite." You gave him a warning glance before continuing, "I'd say Late Night Talking."

"For any particular reason?"

"It just reminds me of all the tiny, minuscule, moments in our lives where I'm at my happiest. I can tell you are happy too."

"I am baby. I really am." He smiled cheerily before fully leaning over you and slipping his lips over yours. Both of you were smiling too hard to properly kiss each other, but you found the moment a good one nonetheless. Kisses like these were the best, because they were private and they were imperfect.

He had rolled off you momentarily to reach for something on his bedside table and bring it back in front of you both. Both of you now laying on your backs side by side.

"Are we about to film a porno?" You joked, noticing he was holding up and old film camera he adored. Many of your favourite smiles had been captured between that cameras shutter and film tape. Harry fiddled around with some buttons as he laughed at you.

"No baby. We're filming a music video."

"We are? I thought you'd finished with As It Was?" You turned your head to face him, his arms reaching up above you both after he'd started the record button.

"This one is new. It's my Late Night Talking video." He smiled, watching your eyes when you realised what he was on about. This was a video in which he was making just because it is your favourite song he's written.

You couldn't help but smile softly at him, pouting after because he was making your flutter in ways you didn't know possible. You reached through his lifted arm and cupped his cheek, pulling him softly towards you as your lips met his. He was very okay with kissing you back, pushing into you with his love. You both kept pecking each others lips until they were both swollen full of each other's love.

And that's how the first scene of the music video was filmed.

After that, came a consistent montage of tiny moments Harry had filmed over the course of the next year on his film camera. There had been many moments where you hadn't even been aware that you'd been filmed, but watching the music video now brought back all those old memories to the surface and you felt like you could breathe clean again.

"Stop fidgeting." You laughed as Harry changed positions again, curling up more into your side.

You were both laying on bed ready to watch the music video. It was an exciting day. He was clinging to your side like a cuddly Koala. You kissed his forehead as the timer on the video climbed down from 10. He was nervous, because of how much this video represented how much he loves you and he hoped that would come across perfectly.

"I hope you like it." Harry said shyly.

And the video began.

A black screen appeared and the piano introduction, that he used for on tour, started playing in the background. You could already tell the fans were going to go crazy for a studio version of that piano solo. Then in white writing came a small message;

"Dedicated to all our late night talks. I love you."

You furrowed your eyebrows together as you tried to blink away the threatening tears. Harry's arms tightened around you and you tilted your head to rest on his a little better. You bit you lip before any tears could fall, because you wanted to watch the video without a cloudy vision.

The first clip came as the moment that had started it all. It was you two in bed, but as the music to the song started playing you noticed that Harry hadn't kept the original audio in. It left people to wonder what you were actually talking about, but that was something that only you and Harry would get the pleasure of knowing.

The film camera quality was slightly fuzzy and little grains fizzled on the screen some times, but it made for the most comforting and homely video you'd ever witnessed.

The next clip was one of yours and Harry's hands, swaying as you walked in a park together. It had been on an early morning and you had wanted some fresh air before a busy day. You'd been sharing headphones and were listening to 'Stuff We Did' by Michael Giacchino. To some it was a sad song, but Harry said it was your "together" song.

The clip afterwards showed you dancing in the kitchen with a wooden spoon as your microphone. It had been on a day when you were going to meet Anne and you wanted to bring her cupcakes. Then, you had got distracted when a Bon Jovi song came on and ended up singing and dancing around so crazily that you'd forgotten about your cupcakes and they burnt. Harry hadn't been much help though and just sat recording the entire thing instead.

A small clip came on where you were laying completely on top of Harry on the couch. It had been after you'd watched 'How to Train your Dragon' together. Your face was tucked under his chin and you were bundled up in an oversized hoodie of his. You were smiling ever so slightly in your sleep and Harry took pride in this little clip of you. Harry even kissed the top of you head before looking at you and smiling.

The next clip was you in Waterstones, looking around at the bookshelves. You had a tendency to take photos of books you liked, but couldn't afford to buy just yet, and wait for later to buy them. It built up your TBR list easily. What you hadn't realised on that day, until later on, that Harry had been collecting those books you were taking photos of and had purchased them all without you knowing. THere had been four books in total and he'd gotten you all of them. The clip showed you putting each of them back and then Harry immediately picking them up without you noticing. It was one of your favourite things he's ever done for you.

Another clip came of you in Waterstones and Harry told you to pose for his camera. You smiled and brought your hands up to put them under your chin to pose, but in the process accidentally whacked someone in the head. You apologised profusely and it turned out they were a Harry fan too. That fan would no doubt freak now that they were in the video.

A clip of Harry filming the sunset whilst you were driving appeared. The sunset glowed off your face and you skin was slightly dewy from the heat of the day. You turned to him and giggled when you realised he was recording you, reaching to knock the camera away. It didn't work and Harry kept on recording little moments of that drive of you two together. It went dark before long and Harry had gotten a cool shot of the moon before panning down to you. There was another, on the same car ride, where you were screaming at the top of your lungs to Sign Of The Times. Harry's face then came into view and pretended to be really creeped out by you doing that.

There was a montage of clips where you were falling over;

One, where you were running down the stairs and slid on the last two and landing on your bum at the bottom. Harry had laughed too hard that he couldn't even help you up off the floor.

Two, where you were wearing heels and one of them snapped and had sent you down to your knees. Harry had quickly put the camera down to the side for this one and came rushing over to you. He made sure you were alright, before helping you up. You remembered that was the night he banned you from wearing heels ever again. Unless they were Gucci.

Three, you were laughing too hard with Harry in bed that when you rolled you accidentally rolled of the bed. You'd take the covers with you so it didn't hurt too bad, but it was still another moment where Harry cursed you for being so clumsy.

Then there was a montage of kisses, but only quick ones.

You kissing Harry whilst he's getting his hair done for an event.

You kissing Harry when he's just come out of the shower, towel wrapped around his bottom half.

Harry kissing you whilst you're putting on your makeup.

Harry kissing you whilst you were both watching The Martian, after you cried over the ending.

You kissing Harry when he won an award.

Harry kissing you when he proposed to you.

Then the video ended with you two back in bed and the first clip replayed itself. It showed that you were both a cycle of love. You were never ending. The together forever kind of couple.

The screen turned black and the piano reappeared. The text then came up white again;

"Editor: Harry Styles. Videographer: Harry Styles."

"So?" Harry prompted you after the video had ended.

"You edited that?"

"Why? Is it that bad?" Harry sat up quickly and took note of your eyes swelling with tears and even a rogue one running down the side of your face.

"You are a marvel, Harry Styles. I.. I.. God, I love you and I loved it. Of course I did." You laughed, letting out a few tears in the process.

And you both kissed, in cheers to all the Late Night Talking that made you into the couple that you are today.

#harry styles #harry styles x reader #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x y/n #harry styles fanfic #ask finelinevogue #finelinevogue #harry blurb #harry styles concept #harry oneshot #harry styles blurbs #late night talking #late night talking fic #harry styles lnt mv #harry styles late night talking #late night talking music video #harry styles fluff #harry styles boyfriend

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officialgleamstar · 6 months

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okay, here's a long post talking about my thoughts on dungeons and daddies, s2ep45, hell or high father. obvious spoiler warning, im gonna be talking about the events of the episode, but this is going to be more outside the fourth wall focused/thinking about what the pacing says about the narrative, rather than actually talking about what happened in this episode!! also ive only listened to the episode once so if i missed anything, feel free to say so

to start immediately: i loved this episode, but i was also disappointed that ron, terry, and scary didn't get a full episode. but i was thinking about why that would be the case, and that lead me to the two reasons im speculating:

Beth felt that Scary's arc didn't necessitate a big ending and that it came to a clean closing with that scene

This episode shows the narrative divide between the Stampler family and the Close family

the first reason is mostly a timing thing. they included taylor in this episode as well because scary's conclusion didn't need the full run time, or maybe even lincoln's episode was longer than they wanted it to be and scary was supposed to be in that arc as well. the pacing was just a result of the past few episodes: scary has already confronted that she regrets how she treated terry, we've seen that a million times. ever since his death, she's confronted that fact again and again, and i think it makes sense that this episode would resolve that in a much quieter way than it could've. the stamplers have always been the family to resolve things 'the right way' - they show up for each other, they love each other unconditionally, they finish their arcs by holding one another in forgiveness. even if i wouldve loved a longer memory (though holy shit, WE SAW THE BETRAYAL ON SCREEN-- sorry not the point of this post), and i really hope we get some more with them in upcoming episodes, i did like how it was so sweetly resolved!!

and that sweetness leads into the bulk of my thoughts here: scary and taylor shared an episode because of how differently their memories went.

as soon as nicky went "i have a memory you weren't around for", i knew we were in for a fucking ROLLERCOASTER, and holy shit. the entire played out montage of glenn failing to be there for nicky, failing to be there for taylor, and in turn, taylor finally tells nicky to his face that he wasn't there for taylor either. taylor's fixation on the idea of redoing it all with time travel, because there is no other way, in his mind, to solve the rift in their relationship. "there's no fixing this." there's too much baggage, there's too much thats already been fucked up, and theres no way for them to come back from that. nicky is a grown adult. taylor is already in his teen years. they can form a relationship with their dad now, but no matter how well that goes, its never going to fix the childhood behind them that was already ruined. they do love each other, they're friends, but being friends doesnt equal a true good relationship. being friends doesnt mean you succeeded in parenting.

and now we contrast that with the stamplers. both terry junior and scary go into their relationship with their stepdads seeing him as an inferior replacement, as someone who could never truly be their dad. terry junior loved his biological dad, is literally named after him. scary's dad was so absent in her life that she doesnt know how to handle someone actually being there. they both refuse to take the replacement, until eventually, they learn that their stepdad's strength is that hes a new man. not a replacement, but his own full person, a person who loves them. ron put his life on the line for terry, time and time again, because he didnt want to be his own dad. terry showed up to all of scarys soccer matches, even when she refused to even acknowledge him, because he didnt want to be her bio dad. "you showed up." even though terry's memory is literally him using ron, it ends with ron forgiving him without a second thought. when scary apologizes to terry, terry takes her into his arms with a moment's hesitation.

the stamplers have a happy ending because even with how badly they've fucked up, they always showed up for their kids. the closes don't have a happy ending because they weren't in their kids' lives and they think being friends now fixes that. and that's why scary and taylor shared their episode, really. because it drives home the crucial difference between the two families

#dungeons and daddies #dndads #dndads spoilers #mine #in conclusion: STREAM CHILD SUPPORT BY WOZ 💥‼️ <- sorry this is like the fourth time ive made that joke

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holodeck-enthusiast · 2 months

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All You Have is Printed Circuits

(Context: TOS episode - "This Side of Paradise")

As the characteristic of being dangerously confident was in every cell of his body, Kirk was sure he'd succesfully gaslight Spock in order to help him build anger and fight against the alien infection that had already taken over Spock's mind.

"All you have is printed circuits!"

"Captain...I..."

"...you devil-eared freak!.....a planet of traitors.....never had an ounce of integrity...a carcass full of memory banks...."

"Jim.."

...

Kirk feels the selfloath all over his body generating from the very core of his mind. Every words leaving his tongue, backfired at his heart. In front of his eyes, Spock was turning paler each second....the disbelief on his face, his eyes, his beautiful sparkling eyes....Kirk wanted to hold Spock and mind meld with him, speak with him, that none of these mean anything except he just has to invoke a strong emotion and kick the spores out of his system. If it were the other way round, if it were Kirk, it would have taken seconds for Spock to mind meld with the captain and make him aware of the situation.

But all Kirk has got, is that insane hope that Spock WILL understand why he's doing this...Spock will recognise Jim through all these opaque curtains of words that Jim would never, in any universe, think of for real.

...

Spock grabbed Kirk's torso and threw him against the wall. He forced himself back to the moment and kept yelling at Spock.

"You belong in a circus, Spock, not a starship.."

Spock's whole face went green. He was trembling. He closed his eyes and submit to the tsunami of hormones breaking onto him like a cloudburst. He picked up a chair and walked a few steps towards Kirk who was at that moment, still lying on the floor, still looking back at Spock. He wasn't capable of moving his literally bloody mouth.

*Wake up Spock! Wake the fuck up!!!*

Spock wasn't seeing.

Spock wasn't thinking.

Spock wasn't listening anymore.

Spock lifted the chair above his head.

"H-had enough?" Kirk tried to speak out faintly. His chest rising at its best to catch some air for him. Spock put his arms down in a lightning speed and smashed the chair onto James Tiberius Kirk, his captain, his T'hy'la.

...

Spock felt like rising his head above the waves! He doesn't remember much, only some auditory montage of words, pain all over his body...and then it all started coming to him episodically, incidents one after another. Even the Vulcan part of his brain took 4-5 seconds to get a grab of the situation. Then he looked down.

Jim was there. Lying on the floor on his back. his whole body was shaking. His head was turned to one side, with eyes closed...blood sipping from the corner of his mouth. Broken pieces of that chair covered his chest and abdomen forming a messy pile. Spock desperately hunched over him and shook him by grabbing his shoulders.

"Jim!"

Spock didn't waste a second. He dragged Jim somewhat closer to the wall. Jim's shirt from chest to abdomen was blood-soaked..torn in different places. Everything was going too fast for Spock.

"Captain..please.....Jim"

Spock patted on his cheeks. Almost like a slap. He knew Jim's just unconscious for now but he needs immediate medical attention to check for internal injuries.

Spock pulled Jim into his arms from behind and tried to make his torso stay upright.

His eyes were fixed on Jim, whose head was now resting on Spock's chest. On many occasions he had been either sassy or rude about Jim's recent weight again. At this moment almost the half of his body was rested against Spock's and Spock didn't feel a thing. Jim looked so tired, so very still, alarmingly still....and small. Spock felt like he can wait for an eternity with Jim on his lap if that's what it's gonna take before Jim gains consciousness.

Why is it taking so long! Spock was checking his pulses frequently. He needs him to wake up! He needs his help to at least make McCoy come aboard and start the necessary treatments.

For the first time Spock felt somewhat helpless and his human side missed Leonard like hell!

"...Sp.."

Spock turned his heads to Jim in a millisecond!!!

"Spock.."

Jim finally opened his eyes. If one can look closely enough, the relief in Spock's eyes was quite prominent. He slowly, very carefully moved Jim to lie him down on his back on the floor.

"I am sorry Spock. But I had to."...Jim pauses to catch a breath.

"Jim, I understand" he takes Jim's left hand into his. "You deliberately did that and that was a dazzling display of logic, my captain"

"None of those words are real. It can never be. I am so so sohr-ry.......I..can't....breathe Spock!"

Spock realised in a second that Jim was having a panic attack.

"Jim! Look at me!" Spock held him close

"Captain try to focus on your breathing. Follow me as I say.....in...out...in....out..."

Jim tried his best to keep eye contact with Spock. All those years of extreme training, even all the shitty situations he and his crew had faced in recent past....and THIS is the very first time he is having a panic attack. Scared the hell out of him. And it was quite visible on his face.

As the situation got slightly under control...Jim was breathing normally but still shivering, Spock lifted him up again and held him tightly into his arms.

"Those words...Spock..I..."

Apparently he was fixated on those words and was facing an uncontrollable guilt, although it was the only reasonable action at the particular moment....bt it's... it's Spock. And it was just as painful to Jim as it was to Spock.

Spock didn't let Jim finish his sentence. He held Jim's face into his palms and placed a very soft, warm and passionate kiss on his lips.

...

A few moments later, as the symptoms of that panic attack with an aweful sense of timing, faded away, Captain Kirk stood up on his feet, rigged a plan with Spock and they executed it in a very smooth Spirkly way. All the affected crew including McCoy was cured from the effects of the spores. McCoy started treating Kirk at sickbay as soon as he was transported back on the ship. Kirk told him everything later, on listening to which McCoy had the best laugh in his life. Of course Jim had skipped a part about a kiss..very human.

#tos spirk #star trek #spock #spirk #james t kirk #leonard nimoy #star trek tos #william shatner #jim kirk #star trek spirk #spirk fanfiction

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shehungthemoon · 4 months

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Just dumping my Ina Paha thoughts here. 🙃

First of all I did NOT know it was the 100th episode going into this, so i was very confused watching the montage at the end lol

I also had to click out and make sure I didn't click the wrong episode when the Pilot started playing at the beginning. When I heard Danny's voice on the phone instead of Hesse's I swear I got whiplash

It's filmed so well (bar where they reshot the pilot where Steve gets Danny on the phone instead of a dead dad, in which they literally forgot to put the same filter over the scene to make the stitching coherent) and I absolutely love the camera work they did with the white-room and the video projections. It felt very much a level above normal network television cinematography, especially the parts where Steve's going in and out of the hallucinations.

Steve finally FINALLY killing Wo-Fat was so cathartic, it should have happened ages ago but I'm willing to look past all the dumb ways he survived just to allow this incredible ending to his story.

Ina Paha gave me Kono doing... this. I owe Grace Park my whole life. Pls costuming department put her in hot pink again 💗

yes, it was a Steve episode. but Danny REALLY shone, first as the only resident Actual Detective figuring out what happened to Steve by the tire-tracks, rampaging through the compound steadily and efficiently and knocking people off without a pause, and then in Steve's mind shooting Hesse's kneecaps off?!?!?! That was CRAZY and probably not suppose to be as hot as it was and definitely made me want an ex-mobster AU immediately. Basically I have a competency kink and really like badass!danny shit 😊

Seeing Chin's long hair again made me swoon

My jaw dropped when I saw Jenna! I think it's really interesting that Steve still thinks of her so much, and I was surprised that she showed up in both the actual dreams and the montage. I definitely underestimated how much she impacted Steve's life, it seems, and I hate that we'll never hear him address that and we'll only know about it inadvertently like this.

(hand over the heart for how lori got like. one team shot. poor girlie.)

⭐I took the montage at the end as being flashbacks and memories that Steve was having as he left the compound. Looking at it through that lens certainly makes one unwell.

Obligatory squeal for Adam appearing just to save the day :))) look below to see the love of my life! :)))))) ⬇⬇⬇

Of course, the obligatory mcdanno bullet(s). It writes itself! The way Danny said Steve's name so small and broken when he found him. The way they look at each other on the ground, the pain their faces. I need an official apology statement from Scott and Alex for it. Can we talk about what flashes by during the montage at the end? (IMO it being Steve's memories.) So much Danny.

The first thing is Danny and Steve's first meeting. Jfc. The showrunners milk it SO MUCH and who's complaining

The big, rocking hug. The hands clasping underground. Gracie of course. And then Danny collapsing from the bioweapon, which to be honest I was NOT expecting to see at all--it felt like a genuinely strange choice to include in there and it really ONLY makes sense if you go along with all that being what Steve's remembering. Even then, I was surprised to see it, so basically this is Hawaii Five-Oh making mcdanno gayer than even I was wanting them to be. Steve still thinks about that? From so long ago? Even with so many other close calls in between then and now? Good fucking lord ok then loverboy that's WILD. Canon accepted ig this show is just pure whump.

Danny goes through all of this just days after losing his brother and killing Reyes. JFC can we please address that. I need a 30k introspection fic to let me into this man's mind rn.

The Wo Fat v.s. Steve fight at the end was INCREDIBLE. I would love to give the choreographer's hand a shake, it's some of the best work I've seen on television in a long time. It was impressive for a procedural like this. It was long and physical and you truly didn't know what the outcome was going to be; it everything that their built-up relationship deserved for a conclusion. It also happening with a Steve coming off of hours of torture and drugging was crazy (guess we finally know who would win a PVP if they were both at full strength!). That being said I was really impressed with Wo Fat's capabilities and physical prowess, I was not expecting it to be so even and close to the line. I actually jumped when Steve LIFTED him up into the lighting fixture. We do not talk about Steve's (Alex's???) raw upper-body strength enough.

Anyway. Electricity in the water play. The physicality hell that this gif below is ⬇. Fire extinguishers and loaded needles. Crazy martial arts. Chair and buckets (holy shit did y'all see the force with which Wo Fat SHOT that bucket?????) flying. All's fair. I loved it.

The shot going right through the forehead, clean. I don't know how to put into words why that's so monumental to me but it is.

The mystery bad lady was SO intriguing, I wish we got more from her... How does she know Wo Fat? Why was she entrusted with all that information on him and Steve and especially Doris? Absolutely where did she come from, what was her name? Why did I have a huge huge hot crush on her? All important questions. (Goes to show that h50 CAN give us some more genuine badass, not just there to date someone women characters, just explicitly choose not to. I'm holding out for Ellie to remain platonic so hard right now.)

Almost forgot Danny in that black Hawaiian shirt. Will be whimpering over that image forever. The whole episode I was trying to focus on the underlining betrayal mystery they were laying out but every time my brain started working too hard Scott with his stupid waist and those flower patterns just started flashing into my head

Again, are you seeing this:

I'm unwell and so so happy.

H50 you're a gem when you want to be.

#just a post for me really #h50 #ina paha #i like to imagine that after this danny and steve just curl up in a house with doors locked and shades shut for a week and cry on each othe #steve mcgarrett #mcdanno #hawaii five 0 #i've been going thru h50 chronologically very very slowly for years but have watched p much most of the show on reruns #but god am i so so glad that i just so happened to never catch this one. i'm so glad I watched it when it was suppose to be watched

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stomach-bugg09 · 1 year

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I just need everyone’s reaction to the reader graduating/going to college now in the modern day au

tags: @pinkhotdogsfr @bonnibuckets @liyahsocorro @wxnderingthoughts @itssiaaax @grierpilots @eywas-heir @historygeekqueen @missroro @hjkshshjkhklh

graduating ( sully!daughter modern headcanons )

jake

oh my goodness he is so proud of his girl

like obviously he knew she would graduate and leave, but still... it's such a big accomplishment that she made it through thirteen years of the american public school system

not only that, but she literally made it into one of her top five schools

even though it's far away

when she first got the acceptance letter, neytiri and him looked at each other and were just like "oh no," only because their baby girl would be so far away from them

when they went to visit the campus, they knew there was no way they could convince her to stay closer

didn't cry on the graduation day because he knew he had to stay positive for [y/n] since it was a big accomplishment ( plus neytiri was emotional enough for the both of them )

the day she moved out though... yikes !!

he was a wreck

suddenly he had this whole montage of the moment he first held her, dancing around the kitchen with her when she was a toddler, taking her on her first rollercoaster, her fifth grade graduation, taking pictures with her at her eighth grade dance, all of it crashed down in him at once

dropping her off hurt

so much

but nothing could diminish how proud her was that he was [y/n]'s father

neytiri

oh my goodness gracious

you know i'm about to rant about how emotional and stressful this mama bear was

she was so confusing because, while she dreaded the moment her daughter would leave them, she also wanted everything to be perfect

she wanted [y/n] to have the best senior night for sports / as the lacrosse team manager, the best senior prom, the best lady birthday while living with them, the best senior year

it was what her daughter deserved

the graduation party was amazing, but behind the scenes it was extremely stressful

lo'ak thinks he's traumatized from the entire week leading up to it

but it still ended up perfect with appearances from family members from across the country

uncle tsu'tey even showed up !!

neytiri put so much work in because she wanted the best for [y/n]

but after that graduation, it was the final moments of her enjoying the presence of her eldest child

the summer was interesting because, while [y/n] wanted to spend the last moments with her friends, with fali...

neytiri wanted [y/n] to herself

but she knew she couldn't do that

so she cherished the moments that she did have !!

they had some really epic board game nights over the summer

it was really dangerous and competitive though

but, for some weird reason, by the time they reached the date in which [y/n] moved out

neytiri was ready to let her go

she was sad, sure, but she was also so extremely excited for her daughter to adventure a world beyond her own, so excited for her daughter to make her name known

she can't wait to see what her daughter does in the world

neteyam

part of him doesn't really... realize that she's gonna leave

like he knows, but he doesn't know

for the majority of the year, he just treats it like the year before

there's nothing to make it weird or a big deal, it's just another normal year

it's only the end, as they near graduation, that he starts to panic

over the course of the last few years, he started making a box of memories being like, "oh, i'll give these to her when she graduates. that's going to be in like, a million years!" and alas...

as they get closer and closer to the moment in which he has to give her the box, he gets sad staring at it

sometimes he'll just sit there and look through, at one point thinking, "maybe i should just keep it for myself..."

but, one night at a pre-season lacrosse practice, he sees [y/n] sprinting towards him and fali

it's when she screams that she made it into her dream school that he knows he has to give it to her

( he'll never forget that night )

graduation is sad, but it's more happy than it tearworthy

they have the entire summer ahead of them, anyway! why ruin it now!

over the summer, they spend a good amount of time together, continuing to take their therapy drives as they scream music with the windows down

all neteyam can think is, "i'll miss this."

and all [y/n] can think is, "i'll miss him."

move out day is super rough

originally, neteyam was gonna fight tears and hold them in... but when he saw his big sister's sad eyes... the water works were heavy that day

nevertheless, it all just makes for an amazing time when she visits

kiri

aw man, this one is gonna be super bittersweet

they're so close, especially being the two oldest girls - they especially bonded in their childhood because they had to deal with neteyam together, and then eventually lo'ak

tuk came later, of course, but that was a good bit into their childhood

but, either way, she grew up looking up to her big sister

she wanted to be just like her

and eventually, when neteyam and kiri finally reached freshman year, they finally were able to get past the "annoying sibling" stage and just be best friends

sure, they hung out with different groups of people, but they were just happy with each other

always

and that's the only part that actually mattered to either of them

kiri isn't big on being emotional

but every time, over the past year, that kiri thought of her big sister leaving

she would get extremely sad

she refused to listen to any sort of bittersweet song with her sister ( ex. rivers and roads, landslide, vienna, etc. )

she keeps trying to be excited for [y/n] but she just keeps getting sad

kiri was eerily silent on the day of graduation, she honestly only really talked to tuk the whole day

when her big sister confronted her that night, kiri burst into tears in [y/n]'s arms and just spewed everything out

and that was when [y/n] promised, despite how far they were, despite her not being at home anymore

she would always pick up the phone when kiri called and she would not hesitate to book a flight home if kiri needed it

she was here for her baby siblings, even when she was gone

and that made kiri feel the tiniest bit better

although she was still a complete sobbing mess on move-out day, but that was more bittersweet than it was sad

lo'ak

lo'ak didn't know he was so attached to his big sister until she started applying to colleges

he began to keep tabs, noting exactly where she wanted to go, her chances of going to far away school, all that stuff

of course he wanted her to go to her dream school, but he also panicked

what if she was in danger one day? what if she was dying and she had two hours left to live and they missed the time slot because of airport traffic?

his sister assured that would never happen, but lo'ak still had an entire plan just in case it did

it was an extremely odd thing to have his sister leave after being in high school with her for only one year

it was gonna feel particularly emptier next year when she wasn't teasing him every time he hung out with tsireya at school

it was gonna be extremely sad when he didn't get anymore doordash or uber eats

but the graduation dinner she picked made it worth it, he supposes

she chose some really good food

he was sad, but he was just as excited for his time to leave so he couldn't blame her

he was more worried about just not seeing her

she's always been a constant in his life, so it's really weird when she suddenly... stops

they still keep their snapchat streak even after she leaves

tuk

ahh this poor baby

she's like a little bit clueless about it all ?? she hears her family talking about her big sister leaving, and she's like, "oh, that's gonna take forever to get here."

time just moves a little faster than anyone expected

she's more excited and happy than dad just because her sister seems so happy about it all

tuk doesn't really understand what it means

she doesn't quite get that [y/n] is actually leaving them

so, while graduation is fun and exciting, move out day is a wake up call for this baby sister

absolutely losing her mind as she hugs her sister goodbye

tears and snot all over

including on [y/n]'s shoulder after she picked her up and hugged her

will steal one of her siblings' phones and text or call her sister like all the time

#avatar 2 #avatar the way of water #loak sully #neteyam sully #sully family x reader #sully family x y/n #tuk sully #tuktirey #sully family #kiri sully #sully!reader #lo'ak #lo'ak sully #lo'ak x oldersister!reader #lo'ak x sister!reader #neteyam x sister!reader #sully siblings x reader #neteyam x platonic!reader

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nanomooselet · 4 months

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Episode Eight: Our Home

When this episode was first airing I saw someone describe it as "com[ing] for your feels with a rusty shiv" and it sure does! It sure does. It'll only get worse from here on out. :D

Little sprouts in their little hats! This scene is so friggin' cute and the show ruins it by cutting straight to the aftermath of the crash. Unfair.

The first time I watched this, I realised that Nai wasn't "evil" from the start. That is, he wasn't always... like he is now. I think he truly loved Rem and Vash, though he might have only realised how much later on. But on rewatch, I also don't think Vash's memories of his childhood with Nai carry the same level of nostalgic longing that Knives does for his memories. In the few short minutes he's being recorded, here are three things that Nai does.

Upset Vash by acting as though food - judging by Vash's reaction - makes Vash less of a Plant.

Play a prank by convincing Rem of something that isn't true.

Show affection to his brother... after Vash goes along with it and Rem falls for it.

I think, for Vash, the discovery they eventually made wasn't so violently unlike what he'd come to expect that he couldn't handle it. Vash believed he could rely on Rem to accept him and that was all he really needed. But what did Nai believe he had? His brother. He could rely on Vash to back him up, to play along, to understand. Vash seemingly being lesser, being other (like Rem) made Nai feel lonely. And though this touches on the manga* more than what we've so far seen in Stampede, I think Knives is far more of an idealist than Vash has ever been, even now.

Vash wants a better world, and he's willing to work for it, to fail, and to try again. He knows what it's like to fall short.

Knives wants a perfect world, and perfection admits no mistakes.

I just damn near made myself cry thinking about Rem and what she considers her mistakes MOVING ON.

THIS ISN'T AN IMPROVEMENT although it is a lovely colour scheme.

When Nai reveals the truth about the crash (or what he believes to be the truth; Knives cannot be relied upon as a source of information even a little bit), Vash flees. He continues to flee; even lying in the sand, it's to seek some kind of escape - not a good kind, but that's what it is. "I want this all to end./I don't want to be here." He can't, of course. Not before humans find him. We're survivors. For all our many faults, evolution didn't select for us giving up or failing to help each other, especially in the wake of such a disaster.

It's true that Brad and Luida aren't initially accepting of Vash, but it's Vash who frames himself in terms of usefulness, echoing Nai. It's Vash who seems to believe he shouldn't live unless he can... somehow make up for what "he" did. Luida doesn't know that. She sees another survivor, wrestling with the same guilt. I think the way she speaks with him may have been how she coped herself - and perhaps the way for Brad too, come to think of it. He acts like a paranoid dick, but when given a lead to pursue, he runs right off to dig through wreckage and bodies for some sign of Rem and finds the only shreds of comfort Vash was likely to get. They both have something to do. While I do wish Vash had chosen to live for the sake of living, I think what's keeping him in that bare little room isn't that he's an unproductive Plant or the hatred of humans (at least not just that). It's a trap he built for himself. As long as he does nothing, he's doing nothing wrong and he's not adding to the burden he already bears. They shouldn't trust him, not after what he did.

So when Luida trusts him to help the dying Plant as Rem's blank ticket story plays, she's making a choice. And that's to allow Vash to make his own choice: to live, even with his guilt.

The montage of him travelling around helping Plants! He teaches people how to take care of them properly! It makes him so happy!

So I really, really hope the speculation is wrong and Vash isn't burning himself out doing that. It seems paranoid, and it doesn't feel intuitively true the way some of my other speculation has, but that might just be wishful thinking. I definitely can't rely on Vash admitting it if it is true. I really hope he has at least one nice thing he doesn't pay for with his blood. :(

When Nai's influence re-emerges, so to does the burden of guilt, death and destruction he represents. It's funny that Brad's impulsive anger and mistrust is what drives Vash to seek his brother out - where Vash is going, he'll find plenty more of that.

One more thing. In the shot where Vash enters the Plant carrier (the city of July, or at least, the site where it'll be built in future), it zooms in to show Nai, standing. But if you look very closely as it does? He's rising to his feet from a kneeling position. I wonder what would have happened if Vash had entered a little earlier?

*Reading Maximum in like two days and then watching the final three/four episodes of Stampede was a terrible idea.

#tristampparty #trigun stampede #i love that orange came up with a reason vash and luida have similar haircuts #the wall of photos has so many adorable pictures #it also has one that did me psychic damage. try and guess which one!#tw sui ideation #trigun meta #meta: tristampparty episodes

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8turning · 8 months

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HII can u do a 8turn headcannon abt how they r like crushing on the reader and what they do to show the reader their love for them ?

thank you for this request!! apologies that it took me so long 💔

☆⠀⠀8TURN — when they're pining for you !

hyung line + jangshinz (separately) x gn ! reader ★ fluff. mutual pining. ★ headcannon

warnings: swearing. physical affection. let me know if i missed anything!

n. i have a similar headcannon here about how they'd show their love; this fic will focus more on how they pine for reader since a lot of my thoughts are already shared on that post!! ♡ also this derailed a bit,,, there's implied confessions HELP sorry 🤒

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀〈 REBLOGS ARE APPRECIATED ! 〉

⁰⁰¹ : JAEYUN.

wouldn't realize he liked you until someone pointed it out to him 1/2 🤕

^ he would regret thinking deeper about what yoonsung had told him: "are you sure you don't feel anything for them?" . . . queue a montage of every single memory he has with you where his stomach did a "weird flip" that he never chose to acknowledge.

basically. jaeyun was fucked LOL

BUT despite his revelation, he managed to keep himself composed pretty well. he was never overly affectionate with the members so him suddenly getting lost in his thoughts a lot wasn't exactly foreign.

what was foreign, though, was his very apparent distance.

to be fair, he wasn't fully aware he was doing it. it was more so "when i'm around them i get this Feeling. i cant handle that Feeling right now," then he kinda just. goes somewhere else for the time being.

you'd realize it, overthink it all, and text him on a whim that you needed to talk to him.

he'd get so nervous and only then would he really think about his behavior and . . . yeah you deserved an explanation, even if it resulted in rejection for him :(

he wouldn't speak first. he'd want you to feel welcomed to let out any emotion you were feeling; you were the one who wanted to talk, it wouldn't be right of him to take over.

he'd know that no matter his reason, him suddenly avoiding you and saying "i didn't realize" wasn't going to cut it, so swallowing whatever anxiety he had, he confessed then and there. it wasn't too in depth, of course, but it didn't feel right for him to hide it any longer - especially after everything.

but, the silence that followed his confession made all the anxiety bubble up again, only for you to speak about your reciprocated feelings.

in an unknown way, him pulling back from you is what brought you two together in the end; strange how that works.

⁰⁰² : MYUNGHO.

he's not shy in the slightest LMFAOO 💀 it'd be more shocking if you didn't know he liked you.

it doesn't even matter if you two were hanging out with other people either, he'd make a point to sit by you during a movie. even if it wasn't a horror movie, he'd still tell you that if you're scared, you can cling to him (as if he is any better with scary movies . . . his arm ends up around your shoulder anyways).

he's not usually one for talking during a movie, but he cant help but crack jokes here and there, using that as an excuse to lean in closer to you and watch as you try to hold your laughter in, his eyes watching you adoringly.

myungho would pull you into your own little world when you're with one another,,, he'd literally be so obvious about his feelings for you i'm crying.

openly flirting and complimenting you non-stop,,, holding eye contact if you ever caught him looking at you,,,

myungho would literally tell you how much he liked you straight up 🤭 "i like you a lot, y'know that?" "i'm so glad i met you." "you'll let me stay with you, right?"

the only time EVER he'd get shy if it was you who initiated something. he'd actually lose his mind.

it'd be such a stark contrast to the myungho you knew previously that you couldn't help but laugh a bit whenever you caught him like that.

holding his hand out of nowhere or leaning your head on his shoulder is a surefire way to make heat rise along his neck and make him go speechless.

he's so open about it and talks about you so much. his members are SICK OF HIM!!!! /j

minho probably threatened that if he doesn't make a move soon that he'll ask you out himself . . . you'd get a message from myungho the next morning ♡

⁰⁰³ : MINHO.

bye he's so so playful and he'd be able to cover up how he truly felt pretty well, which was both a positive and a negative for him.

positive: he'd be able to hug you nonchalantly or tap his cheek asking for a kiss and you'd think nothing of it.

negative: you'd think nothing of it.

since minho often acts this way with his friends as well, he slowly becomes self-conscious of his actions, worrying that that's all you saw him as - a friend.

he'd probably slowly try to either a: be more forward with you, or b: reserve certain actions for you only.

minho would stop blowing kisses to myungho and asking seungheon to kiss his cheek. he might even go as far as to not be as physically affectionate with his members anymore.

slowly letting you come to the conclusion yourself that the way he treats you is different from his members.

if you weren't the type to fight against him when he acted this way, if you suddenly started reciprocating the same actions towards him, his head would start spinning.

if it was a normal occurrence for you to return his energy, he'd start to wonder if you treated your friends like this as well.

but . . . he never saw you cling onto jaeyun's arms like you do with him . . . and you don't look at haemin the same way you look at him . . . hm . . .

minho crushing on you would be hard to detect until he made more of an effort to let his guard down about it.

you'd pick up on his behavior change pretty quickly which only opened the conversation of "why are you suddenly treating me like i'm special?"

(hint: its because you are special to him).

⁰⁰⁴ : YOONSUNG.

he is taking this to his GRAVE!!! he'd try to be so so so secretive and discreet.

yoonsung falls hard and doesn't want to overwhelm you with how he feels and everything :( wants to try and soak in the feeling of crushing on you but every time he sees you he just gets so overjoyed and just wants to confess right then and there.

which is why he feels he needs to take this to his grave 😭 he's not sure if he will ever be able to fully "calm down" around you enough to properly confess to you the way you deserve to be confessed (he thinks you deserve the world).

tries to act as Normal as he can around you, but most of the time i think he'd fall kind of silent.

whether you're with a group of friends or just talking one-on-one, he'd get so wrapped up in his thoughts and become uncharacteristically quiet.

it was a constant internal battle for yoonsung. he wanted to be near you but also knew he likely couldn't hide how he felt for much longer.

unlike minho, yoonsung wasn't going to hug you or hold your hand out of no where. he did this with his friends, sure, but he didn't see you as just a friend, which made physical affection towards you that much harder.

the lines would get blurred in his brain and he feared if you reciprocated, even if it was platonic, he'd make an assumption that could end up hurting him.

of course, yoonsung was unaware of your feelings towards him as well, and seeing him seemingly pulling away from you, you subconsciously do the same :(

he doesn't realize just how different he was acting towards you until that moment, and as if his heart took control over his brain, he'd spill all of his feelings for you, doing his best to explain away his behavior.

and it worked - who could stay mad at him for too long?

⁰⁰⁵ : HAEMIN.

wouldn't realize he liked you until someone pointed it out to him 2/2 💔

everything would be going perfectly fine for haemin,,, until minho jokingly commented about how much he liked you. then that became all he thought about.

begin haemin's internal debate of if he liked you romantically or not! and if it was true (it was), how long? upon actually giving it a lot of thought . . . he's liked you for a while without really processing his feelings effectively.

and now,,, he cannot properly face you!! at least, not in the beginning.

everything hits him so fast and he's forced to process his emotions at a rapid pace now. he does a decent job at hiding his inner turmoil about the topic, but he eventually confides in kyungmin about it (though it wasn't on purpose),, kyungmin just caught him while he was dazed!! totally not like he went to kyungmin stressing about possibly ruining your friendship hahaha . . .

once he was able to fully "recover" and process everything, he's a goner. heart eyes are permanent.

just so absolutely infatuated with everything you do and say. comes around more often and always manages to take the spot next to you if you're with a group of people.

always always always joking around with you because he loves the sound of your laugher and how happy you seem when you smile, especially when you smile because of him.

in a twisted ending, haemin is grateful that minho made him fall into a crisis. if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been able to have these moments with you.

once you end up together, minho rightfully takes full credits for the relationship starting, kyungmin taking credit for helping haemin get over his fear of ruining everything between you two.

so - albeit his disagreement - haemin accepts that they should get some credit for their help.

but how it all came to be doesn't matter much, as long as in the end, he ended up with you.

⁰⁰⁶ : KYUNGMIN.

i'm not usually fond of the trope of someone who brings up the person they like every time they can but,,,, kyungmin does exactly that. his members get so tired of him for it too HELP (he's gotten into the practice of just,, thinking of you instead of verbally bringing you up so often).

his members' anger (/j) doesn't stop him though!! every chance he gets he talks about you,, the only time that stops is when you're around 🧍‍♂️

you BET the members are gonna poke fun at him for that too LMFAO

when you're around, he'd be much more into listening rather than speaking himself.

"platonic" kisses on the backs of your hands. "platonic" hand holding. (nothing about it is platonic).

kyungmin would love love love to rest his head on your shoulder!! whether he's standing behind you while talking with a group of friends or sitting next to each other watching a movie, he just likes the feeling (bonus points if his arm is looped under yours to play with your fingers).

he'd be in his own head a lot,,, daydreaming and such,,, even though you're right next to him 🧍‍♂️

if you were to nudge him while he was like this, he'd look at you with the most love-filled gaze.

he didn't have to say anything to you, just from the way he looked at you and the light blush forming on his cheeks, you knew. the way your stomach filled with butterflies as you held his gaze was also a great indicator that his look meant something more.

it was then when he saw how your gaze changed too - it changed to one that matched his own. with a deep breath, he'd squeeze your hand before a smile spread across his face.

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pencil-peach · 3 months

Text

G Witch Onscreen Text: Episode 23

Welcome back to Part 24 of my Episode by Episode analysis of G Witch and its onscreen text! We're on Episode 23: Unrelenting Tenderness.

<< If it's too much tenderness, you can return to The Woven Path. Or you can go to the Masterpost.

It's the Penultimate.

Before the opening sequence, we see this scene where Chuchu has to pilot the Demi Barding without the assistance of Permet Links. It's really difficult, and it makes sense if you think about it. Permet excels at evenly distributing and communicating information, such as, in this case, all of the functions of a mobile suit. Without that link, you basically have to pilot it taking all of the systems that the link previously handled for you into account. (Stabilization/Equilibrium are the most important ones that come to mind)

Of course, Chuchu quickly adapts, because she's just that good at it.

For these final 2 episodes, the OP changes once more, in that the mobile suit montage now depicts the attack on Quiet Zero, featuring Demi Barding, Calibarn, Aerial, the Gundnodes, and the Schwarzette. The final scene zooming in on Suletta's face has also slightly changed to show Permet Scars running along it, as she's now piloting Calibarn and not Aerial. (I've always liked how Demi Barding is shown engaging in combat in the montage considering that that. Doesn't happen.)

After we come back from the intro, we open on the Jeturk brothers' conflict.

Lauda demands to know why Guel never told him about what happened to their father, and he believes it's because Guel thinks he's unreliable. Lauda has always supported him and believed in him through all of their strife these past few months, but it seems to him now that Guel doesn't feel the same. He didn't tell him about their father, he abandoned him at the school, by all intents and purposes, he's shutting him out of his life.

But Guel insists that wasn't his intention. He truly cares about Lauda. He didn't tell him about their father because he wanted to protect him from the harsh reality that he had to face. It's like what Miorine did to Suletta. Leaving them behind and bearing the burdens themselves in the hopes that they can lead a normal life.

But in the end, all Guel was doing was hurting him, leaving him alone with his grief. Lauda needed his brother to be there for him and he simply wasn't.

You'll notice that in this scene, Guel is piloting his Dilanza instead of the Darilbalde. If you remember, during the duel with Shaddiq it exploded, presumably beyond repair. I brought it up before in Episode 17's analysis, but the Darilbalde can be seen as a representation of the brother's relationship throughout the series.

In Episode 4, after the duel, the brothers have a talk in front of the heavily damaged Darilbalde, a sign of their relationship becoming strained due to the influence of their father. (Top)

In Episode 17, the brothers talk in front of the Darilbalde again, newly repaired: A sign of their renewed bond. Guel has let go of his pride, and Lauda's support of his brother is still unwavering. (Middle)

But in Episode 20, when Lauda learns the truth of Guel having killed their father, the Darilbalde explodes, utterly destroyed, showing that the truth has left their relationship (as it once stood) irrevocably fractured. (Bottom)

Delling Rembran making use of the power of frustrating bureaucracy to buy time for the others. Thanks bozo. You ever think about how Delling never spoke to Suletta even once in the entire series.

When Suletta and Eri are arguing, I think a lot about how the examples she uses for why she can't forget about Eri and their mother are specifically about being able to comfort her when she's sad.

If you look back throughout the series, we never really see Prospera be sad or afraid around Suletta. She always maintains a calm, confident, cheery exterior around her. I think after Eri showed her the memory of Prospera crying over her body, and everything that happened at Vanadis, she came to the conclusion that her mother is doing all of this because she's deeply, deeply sad, and she wants to support her.

I think this sequence gives us a good look into Eri as well. The things Suletta describes are all physical. When she hears them, Eri looks down, deeply upset, because these are all things she wants to do too, but she can't, not as she is now. Quiet Zero seems to be the only way for Eri to be able to physically be with her mother again after decades of being trapped in an unfeeling machine. It makes sense why she wants the plan to succeed so badly.

Not to mention Prospera's face when she hears that. Just utter disdain. I wonder what her eyes look like under the mask in this scene.

When Eri prepares to destroy the capsule containing the team infiltrating Quiet Zero (Left), the framing is similar to when Eri first took someone's life in the Prologue (Right). But whereas before, she was a child who simply didn't know any better, this time there is murderous intent.

But before Eri can execute her intention, something interferes, causing the Data Storm and the Gundnodes inside it to destabilize for long enough to give the team time to escape. When this happens, Eri interrogates the suspect, asking to know why they're interfering, explaining that the Data Storm can give them everything they want. We learn later that this interloper, and the person Eri was talking to, is 4lan, who's Artificial Nervous System data was incorporated into Quiet Zero at some point.

I think a lot about these two, and the framing of both of these scenes. How Eri knows it's 4lan doing it, and how she tries to convince him otherwise, saying that the data storm can make both of their dreams into reality. I think about how 4lan died before knowing anything about Eri, but understands her situation when Suletta meets him again.

Maybe this is just wishful thinking, but I like to imagine that Eri and 4lan talked within Quiet Zero, and, both having had their lives cut short, Eri promised him that he could have a new life with her and Prospera in Quiet Zero's data storm once the plan succeeded. I think, if things were different, they could've been good friends.

After this, the Assembly League speaks to the head of the of the League Fleet stationed outside Quiet Zero, asking her to make use of the Laser Power Interplanetary Transmission stationed in Lagrange one to take out Quiet Zero (and, consequently, the Benerit Front). To this, the commander responds that making use of that laser would take out the entirety of where both are stationed, that being Lagrange 4.

They never really explain what a "Lagrange Point" is in the show, but the novelization actually explains it. Here's its definition:

The term refers to the gravitational equilibrium points between two celestial bodies — such as the Earth and the Moon. There are five points from L1 to L5, and because the energy required to maintain a fixed position in these areas is reduced, many fronts are concentrated there. Asticassia School of Technology is located at L4.

In simpler terms, a Lagrange Point is a point in space between/around two large celestial bodies where the gravitational pull of both forces causes smaller objects within them to stay put/(in the case of an orbiting body) follow along its orbital path.

In the case of G Witch, the Lagrange Points in question are the ones created between the Earth and the Moon. Here's a diagram of them.

(Correction: Thank you to @gomez-alonzo-addams for the correction! I mistakenly thought the Lagrange Points were those of the Sun-Earth System, but they're actually those of the Earth-Moon System, which are a recurring element of many Gundam Series starting from the original.)

The Fronts are artificial living spaces built in space, constructed into Asteroids. Since it takes less energy to maintain a fixed position around Lagrange Points, Fronts and other large living spaces are commonly built within them.

For convenience sake, I went ahead and organized many of the shows locations into their Lagrange Points. This isn't an exhaustive list, and I might have missed some, in which case please let me know and I'll correct them! It kind of stinks that we don't know which Lagrange Point Folkvangr was stationed at :(

(Edit: Added Quiet Zero's Construction Point to Lagrange 2. Thanks again to @gomez-alonzo-addams for the info!)

Funny how the story is actually relatively contained in a small area, that being Lagrange 4.

Anyway, I really like how even O.Elan is kind of disquieted about Peil and the League Council's utter depravity here. He may love money and have a loose moral code but these guys are on a whole other level.

It's not necessary to document all this text, but according to the display, the infiltration team is headed for "Core Block C" to shut down QZ.

Cutting back to the Jeturk Brothers, their final clash is much the same as Guel's final clash with Vim. A full frontal assault with sword weapons. Both clashes' climactic moment even end with one stabbing the cockpit of the other.

Before, Guel won out against his father because he was afraid to die, but against his brother, he deactivates his sword and takes the full brunt of Lauda's attack, unafraid to die if it means his brother will stop piloting the Schwarzette.

It seems like history will repeat itself once again, but luckily Felsi was there to save the day! Everybody say Thank you, Felsi.

When Miorine and Bel access the Quiet Zero's main console and attempt to input the shutdown code, they input 4 codes:

Miorine inputs "quod erat demonstrandum" (top left) first, a latin phrase meaning "what was to be shown," or "which was to be demonstrated." It's usually shortened to the acronym Q.E.D, and placed at the end of mathematical proofs or philosophical arguments to indicate that the paper is complete.

After that is rejected, Bel inputs "Quod Erat Demonstrandum," (top right) which is. Exactly what Miorine just typed but capitalized. It is obviously also rejected.

After that, Prospera appears, and when Bel begs her to stop, Prospera explains why she can't:

"Eri is the child blessed by Vanadis' ideals, yet there isn't a place for her in this world. So I'll have to make one. A place where Eri can be happy."

At this, the next code Miorine inputs that gets rejected is "quod erat faciendum," (bottom left) a latin phrase traditionally placed at the end of geometric constructions, meaning "which had to be done."

Frustrated, Miorine demands to know if Prospera cares about Suletta at all, to which she responds:

"I do love her, but now she has friends like you."

Seemingly in response, the terminal rejects the final code we see Miorine input, that being "quod est absurdum" (bottom right), meaning "which is absurd."

Isn't that nuts? These codes only appear onscreen for mere frames and they still put in the effort to make them responses to Prospera's arguments. Or maybe, seeing as how they're meant to be placed at the end of arguments, perhaps they're meant to represent Prospera's final thoughts on the things she's saying. Either way, isn't it amazing that they put in the effort anyway?

When Miorine gets through to the Administrator Environment, the available tabs are:

Metasystem Administration

Startup Control

Permissions Management

Energy Management

Notrette

Internal Environment Control

Crew Management

Physical Defense Management

Outer Wall Defenses

Quarantine Related

Intrusion Defenses

Digital Defense Management

Defensive Quantum Computing Status

Hardware Availability Management

Navigation Control

Enemy Search Management

Course Prediction

Drive System Management

Course Prediction Avoidance

If this post wasn't already thirty miles long perhaps we could spend more time here, but alas! I think it's cute that Notrette's icon is a tomato. The fact that her code is in Quiet Zero makes you wonder how far along they were on the project when she died. I guess we'll never know. Thank you anyway, Notrette.

The things a mother will do for her child. I think it's really powerful how in this moment, Prospera is willing to kill the love of Suletta's life for Eri's happiness, while at the same time, even from beyond the grave, Notrette was willing to give up on her lifelong ambition for Miorine's.

After QZ is shut down, the error on the main display (left) says:

Warning Security malfunction - Complete system shutdown imminent

Data storm space dissipated - Data storm space is contracting - Data storm destabilized across all domains

On the right, the Quiet Zero Monitoring Console simply says "All functions disabled" when its systems are fully infiltrated and shut down.

I love Prospera's expression here. The sheer vitriol in her eyes. The daughter of the man who stole her family from her, and the same girl who's stealing the last chance at happiness from her daughter is lecturing to her about family. I'd make that face too, to be honest with you.

I love the final look Eri gives Suletta as she blocks the laser's blast. She's proud of her.

Eri...

May All Blessings Find Their Way to You, I'm Wishing It >> Masterpost

#g witch #gundam the witch from mercury

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