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dismemberment-on-a-tuesday-night · 1 year

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Eden part fourteen

Masterlist linked in my pinned

TW: emotional whump, Stockholm Syndrome, cannabilism, panic attack, referenced murder, references major character death, referenced organized crime, referenced 9/11, referenced drug use, referenced torture, referenced bigotry (transphobia, racism, homophobia, Islamophobia), pet whumpees, multiple whumpees, creepy/intimate whumper

"Ezra," Christopher said. "It's time to wake up The same goes for you, Jay. I have food. And my siblings are here. So, please behave."

Ezra bolted upright. "Your siblings, sir?"

"Yes. Now both of you get dressed and come to the kitchen."

They quickly did as they were told, and found four strangers sitting at Christopher's kitchen table.

"Hello," a woman said, with a Russian accent far less cleverly masked than Christopher's.

Ezra immediately clocked her as trans, then hated himself for it. He should be better than that.

"You must be Ezra," she said. "And Jay, right?"

"Yes," Ezra said hesitantly. "You're Christopher's sister?"

Christopher walked over to make introductions.

"That's my sister Lucille," he said of the bottle blonde woman who had addressed Ezra. She waved briefly, then went back to filing down a broken nail.

"My brother Michael," he said of a man sporting a rather impressive beard and long braided hair. He didn't so much as look at Ezra.

"My sister Katerina and her wife Jane-Marie," he said of two women sitting next to each other and holding hands. They were both wearing heavily stained overalls and grown out buzz cuts.

"Ezra and Jay," Christopher said, pointing to them in turn. "I'm taking care of them."

Ezra paid close attention for any context clues as to the excuses Christopher had weaved about him and Jay. He couldn't contradict him even slightly, or this would all fall apart to disastrous effect.

"Yeah, taking care of them," Jane-Marie said gruffly. "If that's what you call stalking and kidnapping now adays."

Jane-Marie wrecked all of Ezra's prior assumptions about the situation to bits, leaving him scrambling for how to handle himself.

"You look like a fish with your mouth gaping like that," Lucille said.

Ezra closed his mouth, swallowed, and sat down next to Christopher at the long rectangular table. Jay sat down on Ezra's right, looking unaware of what could possibly be wrong.

He had to be dreaming. There was no way that Christopher's siblings were fine with this.

Well, why not? Nothing heinous had happened. Ezra was perfectly content and happy. Christopher was a savior, not some typical deranged stalker gossiped about on true crime podcasts by insensitive middle aged women.

And besides, Ezra was an only child. What did he know? Siblings always seemed to have a particular brand of loyalty, and one he had always been jealous of.

Going back and forth from the kitchen and dining room, Christopher dished up the borscht for everyone, along with a bowl of sour cream, tall glasses of water, and sliced apricots. A chorus of thank you greeted him.

Ezra wondered if anyone else knew what the meat was.

Katerina began speaking. For a moment, Ezra thought he must be having a sensory overload from stress and the number of people around him, as he was incapable of understanding her words. But after a few moments of straining to comprehend, he realized that she was speaking in Russian.

Ezra ate his stew in silence as Christopher spoke with his siblings, probably explaining the situation...or something. And while Ezra knew that Russian was probably more convenient for Christopher's family, he hated being left out.

He finally zoned back in when Christopher went back to speaking in English.

"Any complaints or suggestions, my dear Ezra?"

"No sir."

Christopher's siblings laughed. Jane-Marie pursed her lips and gripped Katerina's hand tighter.

"Please," Christopher said. "Be casual. We're trying to mourn and make preparations."

"Um, alright." Ezra fought the urge to call Christopher sir again. "I don't have any complaints."

"I'll deal with Colt's criminal connections," Michael interjected. "They'll mostly be glad about Colt Spearing's death. But I'll make sure no one bothers you, Christopher."

"We're treating this like a disappearance, yes?" Lucille asked. "Pretending like he may have gotten picked off by a displeased customer, not put in our stew."

So, they did know. How odd. Ezra couldn't quite comprehend how he felt on the matter.

"Correct," Christopher confirmed. "And we are not deviating from that. We are not filing a missing person case or calling the police. No one will question his disappearance, a great stroke of luck."

Ezra wasn't sure why they had switched to English, now that he didn't need to know any of this. Then again, he was painfully monolingual, despite his grandparents best attempt at teaching him Arabic, so what did he know about bilingual households?

"I still don't see why you ever thought that marrying Colt fucking Spearing was a good idea," Michael said. "I nearly had a heart attack when I found out."

"I did convince him to forgive your rather heavy drug related debt," Christopher pointed out. "It did have benefits, even if I have occasionally ended up in grocery store check out line tabloids."

Ezra's mind reeled in this newly caught information. He had operated under the assumption that Colt was just some asshole, maybe a low time drug dealer at most. Not that he was some kind of well connected crime lord.

How famous was he? Ezra didn't pay attention to tabloids and hardly watched the news, so it made sense that he was in the dark about this. But it did make him feel rather stupid.

Christopher sighed deeply. "You know, despite everything, I miss him horribly. He wasn't a good man, by any definition. But he was good to me, even if all you ever saw was the occasional abuse."

Christopher twisted off his engagement ring and set it on the table.

"So," Katerina asked Jay, "how did you end up one of his victims, dove?"

"I don't remember," Jay whispered. "Drugs, I think. I don't know. It's all so confusing."

Ezra put his arm around Jay and rested his head on their shoulder.

"I don't know the details," Christopher said. "I suppose it doesn't matter now."

"What should we tell our parents?" Lucille asked suddenly, dropping her nail file.

"That he went missing," Christopher answered simply, as she ducked under the table to retrieve it. "We have no idea what happened, but we suspect that he might have been killed. Tragic, but there isn't an explanation."

"Agreed," Michael said. "It's our safest bet."

Christopher stood up and cleared everyone's dishes. He was clearly holding back tears, and Ezra had no idea what to do about it. Maybe they could talk more fully when they were alone together.

"I think that we all need to sleep on this," Christopher said. "I would like to have a memorial. But next week may be a better time. I know that you all hated him, but I didn't."

"It's bad luck to speak ill of the dead," Lucille said. "And even if Colt was scummy, your grief matters more than his life or death."

"Thank you." Christopher brushed a few tears from his eyes. "And thank you all for coming on such short notice."

"Are you kidding me?" Michael asked. "Katerina practically dragged me out of my house by my ear after you called her with the news."

Lucille cuffed the back of his head. "The proper response to that is, you're our brother. Of course we came. We care about you."

Michael laughed. "Yeah, that too...I suppose."

"Why is it," Christopher asked with a small smile, "that every time we are in a room together, we all start acting like children again?"

"My dear brother," Michael said. "You were never a child. I think your first words must have been telling someone to drink more water."

"Having six younger siblings does typically relegate someone to being the third parent. Do you want more to eat?"

"We need to head home," Jane-Marie said. "I have work in the morning."

"Come now," Katerina scolded. "My brother's fiance just died, and you're worried about work. You can't go home without me, we drove together. And I'm not leaving yet."

"I don't like being around your brother," Jane-Marie hissed, almost too softly for Ezra to hear. "He's insane."

"You're so rude!" Ezra exclaimed.

"My dear Ezra," Christopher said. "What has gotten into you?"

"She just called you insane."

Christopher pinched the bridge of his nose under his glasses frame. "Compared to her usual snide comments, she's being very polite. Now please, calm yourself."

Ezra crossed his arms, glaring harshly at Jane-Marie. How dare she? Christopher was a savior who no one was worthy of. Ezra was blessed with his presence, no matter what his sister-in-law said.

"See what I'm talking about," Jane-Marie said. "This is insane and I'm tired of pretending it isn't. I already promised not to call the cops, what more do you want from me?"

"How about not freaking out on my brother right after his fiance died?" Katerina asked.

"His fiance who has, excuse me, had a hobby of torturing people in his basement." Katerina gestured to Jay, growing more heated by the moment. "Which we were enabling. The same way we're enabling Christopher kidnapping people and Michael being involved with the Russian Mafia. Yeah, I'm feeling great right about now."

"Family comes first," Katerina snapped.

Christopher opened the door and walked outside, unable to bear listening to their argument any longer.

As soon as Christopher was out of probable hearing range, Ezra exploded. "What the fuck is wrong with all of you?!"

Katerina and Jane-Marie stopped bickering and looked over at him, wearing identical concerned expressions.

"Colt just died," Ezra said, now quiet, but still wrathful. "Christopher accidentally killed him. I am glad that you're all here, but you're making it worse. He's never done anything other than take care of people. And now, the moment he needs a little bit of help himself, it's too much to ask for?"

Jay plugged their ears, with their head down on the table. For once, Ezra didn't bother trying to comfort them. He wanted to stand his ground in this argument.

"That isn't what this is about at all," Jane-Marie said.

"Then what is it about?" Ezra demanded.

"You," she answered softly.

Ezra spluttered indignantly. "Me? You never asked me how I felt. Not even once. You didn't say one word to me. Why the fuck should you care?"

Ezra had kicked his habit of swearing while living with Christopher, who didn't tolerate such vulgarness and, in any case, didn't give Ezra any frustrating reasons to curse.

"Maybe the fact that you were kidnapped," Jane-Marie said. "This isn't right, Ezra."

"I got over that in like less than a week. I'm happy. Actually happy. I spent my entire life under late stage capitalism, with no hope and no future, trying not to kill myself. And now that I'm finally safe from being harassed, hated, hurt, raped, and maybe even murdered in some random racist or transphobic hate crime, you think my new life is so horrible?"

"Oh honey..."

"Don't!" Ezra snapped. His voice broke slightly, hot tears running down his cheeks. "You don't get it. I'm finally worth something, for once in my useless life. Someone loves me and I didn't have to do anything to earn it. I don't have to play the good Christian or Muslim girl, or pretend to be normal, or bend over backward to please him."

Ezra took a shaky voice before continuing, struggling to draw oxygen into his overworked lungs.

"I'm not a trannie, or a mutt, or a dyke or a terrorist- Oh yeah, you try being born as a biracial bastard into a half republican Christian and half traditional Muslim family the year before nine-eleven. It isn't exactly a walk in the fucking park. My mother became a Christian convert just so my father would help raise me. Her parents told her at every opportunity that she was going to hell, and whisked me away to mosques to get a proper Muslim education in faith. My father's side of the family hated my guts. I was the punchline of every joke, especially at family gatherings after the booze started getting passed around."

Ezra stared up at Jane-Marie, panting heavily, and waiting for a response.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," Jane-Marie said gently. "You didn't deserve that. But this isn't a healthy situation."

"I don't need your empty sympathy. I could tell you a personal horror story for every month I've been alive. I've only thought about suicide once since I got here a month ago. A personal record that I haven't reached since before I was ten."

"And that's a horrible tragedy. But you aren't being cured, you're just being given more issues that disguise the old ones."

"Get out!" Ezra shouted. "Just get out. You're ruining everything. What are you even doing in my home?"

"Ezra," Jay whimpered. "Please..."

"What is it?" Ezra cooed, completely changing his demeanor and running his fingers through Jay's hair. "Do you need more pain meds?"

Jay shook their head. "You're going to get in trouble."

"With who? I already told you that Colt was dead."

"Her," Jay whispered. They trembled all the more as they glanced up at Jane-Marie, then immediately dropped their gaze to the table cloth.

After a few minutes of thought, Ezra realized why. Despite there being very little true resemblance, Jane-Marie's heavily tattooed body and many facial piercings could easily be reminiscent of Colt. Especially to an unstable mind like Jay's.

"She's just Christopher's sister-in-law," Ezra said soothingly. "She won't hurt us. Do you want me to go get Christopher?"

"No, it's okay." Jay sniffled quietly, burying their face in their hands.

Ezra helped them to their feet. "Come lay down. You'll feel better when you're alone and not so overwhelmed."

He led them down the hallway and shut the bedroom door firmly behind them. They curled up sobbing on the bed, and he sat beside them to provide a familiar, comforting presence.

"It's okay," he whispered soothingly. "No one has hurt me. And they're not going to hurt you either. If anyone tries, I'll wallop them."

Jay sniffled, a shaky laugh breaking through their tears and gasps for air.

While very aware of his being five feet and at most two inches, not to mention out of shape and twenty-three years old, Ezra meant every word.

No one was going to hurt Jay. No way in in the nine rings of hell.

"I'm going to go talk to Christopher. Do you need anything?"

Jay shook their head, muffling their crying in the soft pillow. Ezra kissed the top of their head, pulled the covers over their shaking body.

He walked straight through the living room, passed everyone in the kitchen without a single word, and entered the laundry room.

He paused with his hand hovering over the doorknob, remembering his first and only escape attempt. He fiddled with his left earing, unchanged since the piercing.

Going outside wasn't allowed.

But this wasn't an escape attempt. He wanted to talk to Christopher, who was probably sitting on his porch right in front of the door. It shouldn't be a big deal. And if he had taken a walk, Ezra would just go find him. He wouldn't leave.

Ezra put on his boots. After another tense moment of doubt, staring up at the small painting of the Holy Virgin Mary above the door surounded by unreadable Russian text, Ezra stepped onto the porch.

He found Christopher sitting on a wicker chair, and trying to keep his sobbing quiet.

"I'm sorry sir," Ezra said, sitting down on the chair next to Christopher's. "I didn't mean to cause trouble."

"You didn't." Christopher hastily wiped the tears from his eyes. "This is my fault. I jumped the gun on calling Katerina. I was so distraught. I should have asked her not to wake Jane-Marie."

"She a complete cunt," Ezra blurted out.

Christopher choked down a teary laugh. "Language, my angel."

"I'm sorry sir, but she just doesn't get it."

Ezra stared out into the night cloaked hills. Snow covered pines trees covered the landscape, obscuring any road or town that might lay beyond them.

Peace was such a blessed thing, and this was a different form than Ezra was used to. His usual peace was made out of steaming hot borscht, cuddling under blankets, and a soft voice reading old poetry. This new peace was made out of chilly breezes, wind stirred trees, and the stars shining high above the entire world, too vast to comprehend.

"I like being here," Ezra said softly. "I want to stay with you forever. I'm sorry that I ever tried to escape, or defied you even a little. I'm happier than I ever thought possible."

"I'm glad to hear that. You really are my favorite. I cherish your presence in my life."

"I'm sorry about Colt. I never liked him, and I can't pretend otherwise. But you're heart broken. I want you to be just as happy as I am, more than anything."

"Oh Ezra..." Despite his strongest efforts, Christopher's sobbing renewed itself with vigor.

Ezra stood up and went to Christopher, wrapping him in a tight hug. He was used to the quite the opposite, but didn't mind having to comfort Christopher in the least, still smothered by his lavender perfume.

"I should go back inside," Christopher said, finally regaining his usual complete control over his composure.

"Yes sir."

They walked into another argument.

"You can't just support your brother keeping him hostage like some kind of pet," Jane-Marie snapped, as her siblings-in-law groaned and muttered to themselves. "Honestly, have you even listened to yourselves? Ezra isn't a rehomed stray cat."

"Um, nice to see you too." Ezra crossed his arms. Christopher's hand on his his shoulder felt heavenly in its comforting reassurance.

"Of course he isn't a stray cat," Christopher said, the hint of a lugh in his voice. "The expression of being a pet is largely metaphorical. He is Ezra, my dear...friend."

Really, Ezra had never questioned the term pet all that much. It fit as well as anything, metaphor or no. But friend. Christopher really thought of him as a friend. He fought the urge to laugh giddily, restraining himself to a content smile.

"I didn't mean for the two of you to hear that," Jane-Marie said. "I guess Ezra just told you all about our little spat."

"Not a word," Christopher said. "Ezra?"

"I said that she's a cunt, didn't I?"

Christopher pinched the bridge of his nose.

Ezra groaned. "Fine, I'm sorry. All I mean is that she's...unpleasant to be around. And I want her out of our home. And I wish she weren't your sister's wife. That's all."

Michael and Lucille burst into laughter.

"That's all?" Lucille weezed.

"Just that?" Michael asked.

Christopher sighed. "Where has Jay gotten off to?"

"Jane-Marie really upset them," Ezra said. "I laid them down in our room."

"How did you upset them?" Christopher asked Jane-Marie."

Ezra and I had an argument. They had a panic attack, worrying that I was going to hurt Ezra for it. I really wonder what that's about, Christopher."

"How dare you." Ezra clenched his fists. "You can't just-"

Christopher cleared his throat, and Ezra fell silent. "Jay spent weeks being tortured for the slightest mistep. I have tried my best to prove that no one is going to hurt them, but to very little success."

"They seem unstable," Lucille interjected. "What's wrong with them? Is it mental illness, or just trauma and stress?"

"They spent the last few weeks being tortured by Colt fucking Spearing," Michael said. "Of course they're unstable. It's a wonder they're still alive at all."

"I am going to take care of them," Christopher said firmly. "Before Colt's untimely death, they were seeking out my help with assisted suicide. I don't see that as a possibility now."

Jane-Marie gasped. "You were really just going to kill them?"

"Good man," Michael said proudly. "It would have been the best thing."

"You're all insane," Jane-Marie accused.

"Then why did you marry our sister?" Lucille demanded.

"She's the only normal person in this mad house of a family, aside from your parents."

"That's enough," Katerina growled. "For the Holy Virgin's sake, Jane-Marie Rose Larson-Kotev. Those are my siblings. And if you can't fucking deal with them, what are you doing here? You insisted on coming along."

"I was trying to support you."

"I'm feeling really supported right now." Katerina sighed. "I'm leaving. Goodbye Christopher. I'll come to the memorial, without my wife. I love you and I hope you start feeling better soon."

She hugged Christopher, Ezra stepping away to allow it.

"Thank you," Christopher said. "And I'm not angry with your wife, so don't go hollering at her. She's still family."

"Goodbye," Ezra said, not bothering to keep the annoyance from his voice.

"Goodbye," Katerina said, breaking away from her brother. "It was very nice to meet you."

She hugged her other siblings, inducing light hearted groans, then pulled her wife out the door.

"So," Ezra said, pulling himself up to sit on the kitchen counter. "What now?"

"Get off the counter," Christopher ordered. Ezra groaned and hopped down.

"I could make space for you all to stay the night here," Christopher said. "Or you could return home. It's almost four in the morning."

"Let's stick around for another half hour or so," Michael suggested. "Then I have an appointment with my coworkers at seven."

"I'm not going to catch a wink tonight," Lucille said. "So, we may as well plan the memorial and talk through some more of your feelings without interruption."

"I'll make sure our other siblings come to town for the memorial," Michael said. "Even if they couldn't show up tonight."

Christopher smiled. "Thank you. I'm going to make some tea, then your plans sound wonderful."

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#Whump #Emotional whump #Angst #Eden #Pet whump #Pet whumpee #Multiple whumpees #creepy/intimate whumper #Sibling bonds #Family whump #Stockholm Syndrome whump #Conditioned whumpee #Abraham original: Hot off the press

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paranorahjones · 1 year

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"in a room full of people, is there anyone who would look for you?" i don't know and i don't care. in a room full of people i will look for my brother. in a universe full of people i will look for my brother. at the end of the world i will look for my brother.

i need my brother.

#i miss my brother so much #sibling bonds

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zhangyulian · 11 months

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Guilt - Spider & Neteyam

Warning: Character death and survivors’s guilt

This is an idea I have in mind for a story I plan to write eventually. This would only serve as one part of it.

I love Spider and Neteyam being Team Older Siblings. That’s kinda where the following idea comes from. You’re welcome to share your thoughts. Enjoy!

…

The Sully family live hidden within the Amazon rain forest amongst indigenous human tribes in South America.

The RDA is a large global resource organization responsible for the deforestation of the Amazon to gather precious “resources” within the land. However it’s a cover up for something more sinister — the capture of Na’vi Pretenders (natural born Na’vi with Pretender (Cybertronian) mixed DNA and their human allies.

In the center of this war with the RDA is Jake Sully and Neytiri. Jake is a crippled marine who is recruited by the RDA after his brother’s untimely death and is given a second chance at life by becoming an “Avatar pilot” to his brother’s Na’vi Pretender-spliced-with-human-DNA Avatar body. He is tasked with infiltrating the Omaticaya clan and reporting intel so the RDA can take them down all in one fell swoop, led by Colonel Miles Quaritch. Jake gets close with Neytiri, a natural born Na’vi Pretender and she teaches him to see and activate his ability to take on different forms, such as transforming themselves from ten feet metal organic beings to six feet human version of themselves. (This ability helps them blend in with the indigenous tribes, who see them as guardians and blessed beings of Mother Earth, aka Eywa. Although they are of Cybertronian descent, they do not transform into vehicles, only other organics) Jake falls in love with Neytiri and betrays the RDA, the RDA attempts to wipe out Hometree village off the face of the Earth and every living being in its path, including the Tree of Souls. Quaritch betrays the RDA after learning what they had been doing to his unborn son while in the womb of his now deceased lover. Jake and the Omaticaya manage to fight back with his help and the RDA take a step back and leave. Upon Quaritch’s dying breath, he begs Jake and Neytiri to look after his son.

The couple end up adopting baby Spider. Spider is a product of an experiment to combine Na’vi Pretender and human DNA to create natural born human super species. As a side effect, he was born with underdeveloped lungs and can only breathe pure oxygen, rendering him to wear a mask at all times. Out of the many newborns created, he is the only one that ends up surviving after birth. He is the oldest Sully child and son.

Neteyam is born soon after, being close to Spider’s age. They become very close, the babies being over protective of each other and never seen a part from one another.

Kiri, Lo’ak, and Tuk come not long after, and the couple are outnumbered by five children. They’re all trained to be warriors and healers and are aware of their origins and are all loved by Jake and Neytiri. They take extra precaution towards Spider, much to the boy’s annoyance that he can handle himself and his siblings.

Him and Neteyam take turns keeping their siblings out of trouble, although sometimes they contribute too (more so Spider than Neteyam, but Spider’s very good at hiding the evidence 😂). Despite Neteyam being taller than Spider, he enjoys snuggling up against his older sibling and entrusting Spider with his own thoughts and worries. They are each other’s rocks. And Neteyam isn’t afraid to set anyone who sees Spider for anything less than the loving brother that he is ram-rod straight.

When word gets around that the RDA has returned to the Amazon, Jake and Neytiri get ready to battle them again, but do not want their children involved at all. They decide to send all the children and those unable to fight across the Pacific to the Polynesian islands of Awa’atlu to stay with their Metkayina allies. Spider refuses to go, wanting to stay with his parents but their answer is final. Right before they depart, Neteyam approaches Spider in secret and admits he will be staying behind to help fight the war. Spider is angry at his brother, demanding why he gets to do so. His taller yet younger brother reminds him that as a natural born Na’vi Pretender, his abilities are stronger and can be more useful in battle. Spider, despite some of his enhanced abilities, knows he can’t do the same things as Neteyam but it frustrates him to no end, especially since he’s the one who’s supposed to look after all of his siblings.

Neteyam makes Spider promise him that he’ll look after the others. That causes Spider to ask his baby brother if he knew who he was speaking to teasingly, but they sober up quickly, the gravity of the situation hanging heavily on their shoulders.

Spider then in turn tells Neteyam to look after mom and dad, knowing they were not going to be happy at all that Neteyam stayed behind, but his fighting skills will certainly help them. They share a tight embrace, not wanting to let the other go, and try to hold back the tears as they finally part ways.

In Awa’atlu the Sully kids and other Omaticaya settle in with the Metkayina and they learn their ways of life and adapt. Over the months of training and guidance under Tonowari, Ronal and their children, they undergo the Metkayina Iknimaya and fully integrate themselves into the clan. Relationships also begin to bloom: Lo’ak and Tsireya, and Spider and Rotxo. Spider and Rotxo’s courtship started off as mere friendship then developed into a deeper romance. They bonded over the love of their younger siblings and family, the love they have of Eywa’s creatures and love for the sea. He reminds him of Neteyam and Spider can’t help but think of his parents and brother back at home, not knowing if they were on their way here or not.

The Metkayina have shown them great hospitality upon accepting their uturu. Rotxo made sure Spider and his family and people were comfortable and attended to their needs. A year into their stay, Spider and Rotxo seal their relationship by mating before Eywa, connecting their queues together (Spider’s a smaller but that doesn’t hinder his ability to connect). They each earn a matching tattoo for their mating and another to mark the start of their new family.

All is well in paradise until Awa’atlu is decimated with missile bombs from approaching RDA ships. Blindsided by the attack, the Metkayina attempt to flee and fight back the attackers that breached their land. In the midst of the chaos, Spider and Rotxo are defending Spider’s siblings when Spider’s suddenly tased from behind and ripped from Rotxo’s grasp, unconscious and bleeding.

He wakes up not in Awa’atlu but somewhere else, gray and metal and confined with no escape. He’s questioned and tortured and beaten, and he doesn’t cooperate. He fights back. But it only worsens when he’s out through a machine that attempts to read his mind and he resists with all his power. He notices the black specs on the machine, and for a fleeting second thought it was dried blood. The days blur themselves mercilessly without pause - wake up, fight, machine, scream, thrown back in cell, sleep, repeat. He doesn’t know how long he’s been there but they move him one day to another cell and finds himself next to another prisoner he’s never seen before — a young girl, probably Lo’ak’s age, in the same condition he was in. She looked dead, unmoving in her slumped place on the floor. But the minute rise and fall of her chest indicates she was breathing and alive — and bleeding all over and in black. His mind clicks with the specks he saw in the machine before and he puts two and two together.

That was her blood. She must have fought too.

He finds out her name is Madi and she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She spoke of a world alien to him, and he comes to the conclusion she must be an alien from outer space, given she’d travelled on space ships and had been on other planets. How she ended up here was a total mystery, she didn’t remember herself.

Time passes — how much, they couldn’t keep track of. One time they tried to escape, only to be recaptured and bound. As punishment, Spider is forced to watch their captors tie down and drill into Madi’s bones to extract her marrow, ignoring her screams of pain. They don’t stop until she is in near critical condition and forcibly injects her marrow into him, stating that if she dies, they would at least still have him to work with.

Madi ends up living but isn’t faring well. They begin a new experiment with her, this time using a shard of metal they called an Allspark fragment. Something goes horribly wrong the moment they start. An explosion rocks the facility and unknown to everyone there, that explosion triggered the Autobots’ radar.

The Autobots launch a search and rescue mission to Mount Weather, the explosion leaking dangerous amounts of radiation across the mountain. The nearby towns are all evacuated. They excavate and find Spider and Madi unconscious, barely alive. They’re shocked to find them emitting weak newspark signatures despite the fact that they were humans.

Taken back to Diego Garcia, the pair recover slowly and painfully, hostile to their rescuers at first before slowly learning to trust them enough that they wouldn’t be harmed. Spider calls them demons, much to Madi and the Autobots confusion.

Spider and Madi venture the island after their recovery. Spider recognizes a specific plant that is used in signal fires and with the Autobots’ permission, light one up in hopes of making some type of contact. Unbeknownst to the Autobots and NEST soldiers stationed with them topside, there is movement in the water as shadows travel through the night.

The encounter that occurs between the newly arrived Metkayina Na’vi and the Autobots is tense, like a strung bow about to be shot. None of them attack, the Metayina especially given how tight Will’s grasp on Spider’s arm was, guns pointed at them.

Spider feels something flicker and twist inside him. Scanning the figures he searches, recognizing the two that approach — Kiri and Aonung — and attempts to call out something the Autobots nor NEST soldiers couldn’t understand. Everyone goes into a panic when suddenly he starts seizing and collapses, blacking out.

Spider manages to recover from the episode with the help of Ratchet and Kiri working together to save her brother. When he fully reawakens, he’s greeted by the sight of his sister Kiri and brothers Aonung and Lo’ak. And lastly, he gasps, Rotxo. They’re both speechless, full of tears, their bond broken for so long yet the moment they’re within one another’s presence, Spider feels it snap back into place. Ah, that’s what he felt earlier. He can’t stop crying as Rotxo holds him, gentle yet firm as if afraid he’s disappear.

They take their time healing and recuperating and rejoicing the founding of their brother, thanking Madi and the Autobots by safely harboring him. In the midst of catch up, he notices Kiri is wearing a familiar looking armband — one that Spider had made for Neteyam before they separated and asked if they heard anything from the Omaticaya. He learns that the situation has worsened, their people targeted and their homes destroyed. Word of Neteyam’s fate came with the arrival of Jake and Neytiri to Awa’atlu about a year ago. It was supposed to be Neteyam and Neytiri, but that didn’t go as planned. Neteyam took the shot meant for Jake and died bleeding in his parents arms, wanting to see his brothers and sisters again. They came by ikran, perhaps with a dozen others, a quarter of who they left behind to defend Hometree village.

Spider spent the next few days walking aimlessly on the beach of Diego Garcia while the others made talk for wartime negotiations. His baby brother lay with Eywa, dead. And it was all his fault.

Neteyam had followed Spider’s orders to the letter, like he did with everything in his life. He knew he would because Neteyam didn’t want to let anyone down, especially Spider.

Spider felt a dull ache and numbness in his chest. He couldn’t feel anything, half-alive, and wished he could take his words back, fought harder to stay, to protect his taller yet younger sibling who he confided everything to. His rock.

Spider promised he would protect all his younger siblings. Yet he failed to protect Neteyam.

He failed Neteyam. Tears slipped down his face, pooling at the bottom do his mask.

And he dared to asked Eywa why she took his baby brother away when it should be been him.

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grimm-goblins-blogins · 2 months

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I love having an older sibling who loves writing and art like I love writing and art and encourages me.

I love having an older sibling who listens to me go feral over my charaters and their story I'm working on.

I love listening to my older sibling go crazy about the Good Omens Pirate AU fanfiction that they're working on with Aziraphale being in the Royal Navy and Crowley being a pirate even though I don't really understand whats going on in it.

I love having an older sibling who listens to me ramble about my hyperfixations and lets me know when they're uncomfortable with a part of it because I don't realize when they are.

I love having an older sibling who rambles about Loki and Good Omens and their tech theater stuff and listens to me when I ask them questions about the them and tries to give me an answer.

I love my older sibling a lot.

Recently I've been made more aware of how different our relationship is to most siblings that share such a close age.

I didn't realize that most siblings didn't have compete to finish a book that we only had one copy of as a kid. Then again most kids didn't get grounded from reading because they were forgetting to eat or use the restroom.

Me and my older sibling have always shared a room, ever since I was adopted. We've always got into arguments and fought just like siblings do.

Perhaps its because we're so close in age, being only eight months apart. Or because we didn't have lots of friends who shared the same passion for writing and art for most of elementary school. Maybe it's because we both share being queer and transgender.

I love my older sibling, even when I hate them. That will never change. I won't say they're my best friend because they're not, they're my big sibling. I love them and I will forever.

#sibling bonds #i love them #text post #long post #Sibling appreciation #appreciation post #transgender #bisexual #If you see this Raven #no you dont #I love you but how dare you find my tumblr #Guys please don't make this post big #I don't want my older sibling to see this #Gods forbid they find my blog

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ianabanana22 · 1 year

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Sleep

Tags: Angst, Yearning for departed Loved Ones, Sleep, Dreams Pairing: Belphie & Lilith & Beel

To Belphie, sleep was a solace. In sleep there were dreams, and in those dreams there was paradise, a paradise built just for him, Beel and her.

Her with her sunny smile, her sparkling eyes, her pure white wings that glowed with purity and light.

Her laugh that tinkled like soft bells whenever he or Beel said or did something funny. Her mischievous nature that often got her in trouble but what everyone loved about her the most. Her, his precious Lilith, the one who showed him a brand new world beyond that of angels and the gilded gates of the Celestial Realm.

Her with her odd fascination with the humans she often sought out. He loved her more than anything else. And he treasured those moments between the three of them the most.

Moments that spoke of a gentler, more peaceful time filled with joy and laughter. Belphie cherished these dreams and clung onto them with every fiber of his consciousness. Alas, there was but a thin line between dreams and nightmares.

In an instant, the once beautiful memories filled with warmth fade away into icy fragments. Icy, painful fragments that nip at his skin and chill him to his core. Over and over, they attack with piercing ferocity and suddenly he can’t breathe because…

Lilith.

Lilith whose bell-like voice called out sweetly to him was screaming in desperation. Lilith whose immaculate white robes were stained with crimson, her gentle face streaked with tears as she fell, down down down to the Human world she so loved, her hand outstretched to him.

Lilith. Lilith. Lilith.

Like an unsung hymn her name echoed in his mind as his subconscious warred against itself, hovering between consciousness and delirium, wishing that the nightmares would end and he would wake. And yet… he stops himself. And he endures.

He endures the nightmares because there was no greater nightmare than the reality of living without her. Endures them because then he would see her again and his loneliness would end just for a little while.

Endures them because he feels like a living being again, rather than the empty husk rotting away inside his prison. He sleeps. He dreams. He suffers. He endures. But still he wakes.

To Belphie, sleep was a solace. And it was… until it wasn’t.

And that’s what hurt the most.

-fin-

#obey me #obey me shall we date #obey me belphie #obey me beel #obey me lilith #sibling bonds #dreams #death #angst #ficlet #drabble #old work #reposted from twitter #its my birthday #i should stop posting angst on my birthday #its supposed to be happy #sorry

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wondereads · 1 year

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Personal Review (04/24/23)

Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken

Summary

Ever since being abandoned by their guardian seven years ago, Tamsin and Cabell Lark have struggled to get by as Hollowers, thieves of magical artifacts. It doesn't help that Cabell is cursed with a particularly violent spell. When Tamsin gets wind of the location of the Ring of Dispel, a ring capable of removing any curse and the item her guardian vanished looking for, she decides she'll do anything to get it. But the competition is fierce, and soon she ends up with her long-time rival and a naive sorceress on the island of Avalon itself.

Plot 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The plot at the beginning of this book struck me as a little meandering and aimless. Tamsin is seemingly pulled in all sorts of directions—Cabell's curse, the Dispel Ring, Nash's disappearance, her own lack of the One Sight, all kinds of things are going on. However, once the characters arrive in Avalon, things get a little more streamlined. There's one major issue: the island is overrun by the Children of the Night, and priestesses of Avalon have dwindled to a truly miniscule number. Once the real conflict is revealed, I was properly pulled in.

The final 100 or so pages were very strong. There were all kinds of reveals going on, and it had me on the edge of my seat. Tamsin's own connection to the curse is incredibly interesting, and not all the questions have been answered by the end. The twist at the end was insane, and it was a little vindicating since I'd suspected one of the reveals. Also, I knew who the traitor was from the start; they almost made me doubt, but then I was right, which is always fun.

Characters 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

The main character, Tamsin, was at first a little typical. The grumpy, rude, disillusioned protagonist abounds in YA today, and I wasn't really into her at first, but she got better. I think it really helped to have Cabell there; Tamsin's care for her brother balances her prickly personality well. By around halfway through, it's clear that Tamsin is disgustingly pessimistic but by no means an asshole. By the end of the book, especially after seeing how she came to be this way (and then have it happen to her again and her choose to be better this time), I was thoroughly attached.

Cabell is a character I'm torn on. From an analytical perspective, he's quite interesting, but I kept getting annoyed with him. I feel like it's just a side effect of relating so much to Tamsin, who definitely has eldest sister syndrome. Honestly, despite him being such a major character, he wasn't around as much as the other side characters, Neve and Emrys. Neve was sweet, and I think she was good for Tamsin, although I'm hoping to get more information on her backstory. We got a little peek of it, but then it was pushed to the side in favor of the other things going on. Emrys, however, really got me. First, he seems like a great love interest for Tamsin. Second, I thought I had him figured out towards the end, but then everything went off the rails and now I definitely want to see more of him.

The other side characters were pretty good. I particularly liked the priestesses, Cait, Olwen, and Flea. I think that Cait especially was characterized very well, and despite them really only 'joining the group' towards the end, they all were great.

Writing Style 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

While I really like Alexandra Bracken, it's more for her plot and character work than writing. There's nothing wrong with it, I just don't think it stands out in the grand scheme of things. It does what it's supposed to do, and that's about it. I will mention that the pacing feels a little off in the beginning; it feels like Bracken knew where she wanted the characters to end up, but she wasn't sure how to get them there. Once they're in Avalon, everything smooths out, but before it's a little jerky.

Overall 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Initially, I was having some trouble getting through this book. I think part of it was just how busy I've been, but I do think the beginning just doesn't do it for me. However, it was necessary for the most part, and I really liked the rest of the book. Tamsin grew on me, I was invested in the romance, and the side characters are quite good. The actual plot is full of all kinds of twists and reveals, and it ended on such a good cliffhanger—it definitely makes me want to read the next book! I'd say that even though this book isn't perfect, it's a great read, especially if you're an Arthurian nerd like me.

The Author

Alexandra Bracken: 36, American, also wrote The Darkest Minds, Passenger, and Lore, and she's a Star Wars nerd

The Reviewer

My name is Wonderose; I try to post a review every week, and I do themed recommendations every once in a while. I take suggestions! Check out my about me post for more!

#books #review #silver in the bone #alexandra bracken #ya #fantasy #magical realism #arthurian legend #king arthur #retelling #avalon #rivals to lovers #sibling bonds

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