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See, that’s what the app is perfect for.

Sounds perfect Wahhhh, I don’t wanna
princecharmingwinks
viperwrites

“Laura and Camden, sitting on a tree K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the ba–”

Cora’s delighted chant turns abruptly into a shriek when Laura pulls her from the ankles and leaves her hanging upside down. In a second, she’s dangling off her window, looking down at the backyard where Stiles and Derek are carefully tending to Stiles’ poison garden.

“MOM!” Cora cries out, but she’s laughing.

Stiles laughs right along with her. Derek doesn’t even bother looking away from the wolfsbane he’s repotting, he just sighs and ignores them.

“Not so fun now, is it, cub?” Laura grins widely.

“Let me down!” Cora yells between giggles. “Let me down right now!”

Laura’s eyes find Stiles, who hasn’t looked away for a second. They nod.

“Alright,” she says, at the same time Derek snaps his head up and says, “Wait–!”

But it’s too late. She’s already let their little sister fall off the second floor.

Cora shrieks, little arms flailing around. She’s halfway down when her descent slows down to a gentle drop, now more a leave in the wind than a rock.

Cora is giggling again. Derek looks like he’s having a stroke.

It’s a good thing they’re werewolves.

Stiles, who had caught Cora with his magic before she was ever in real danger, sets her down on her feet gently.

“I hope you learned your lesson!” Laura calls down the window.

“Do it again!” Cora demands.

“Or not,” Laura laughs.

“I hate all of you.” Derek groans into Stiles’ neck. He’s taken off his gardening gloves and is now clutching at his chest, which makes Laura snort.

Drama queen.

“Laura Hale.” Someone says from behind her and Laura yelps. “You better not have thrown your sister off the window again.”

Oh, shit.

She looks over her shoulder and, sure enough, her mother is standing at Cora’s ajar door. She’s got her hands on her hips, and Laura’s fight or flight instinct immediately goes off.

Naturally, she does what anyone in her position would do.

Laura jumps out the window and only feels slightly betrayed when Stiles’ ringing laughter follows her into the woods.

in-the-shadow-of-a-wolf
mumblytron

So I ended up with free time at the end of my first class today, so I was like "do yall wanna see a vintage meme?" and turned on "what does the fox say". Expected like. A laugh from the kids, or even just a "wtf is this mx?" which is. A reasonable reaction to What Does The Fox Say.

But instead of a reasonable reaction. all of my students watched the first 60 seconds with jaws agape. And then this one kids turns to me like the fucking eye of Sauron and literally goes:

image
mumblytron

My husband told me I also should share the next part of this story, where I, feebly trying to defend my honor against a child, said, "No, this video was just big when I was in college!" and he scoffed, rolled his eyes, and absolutely obliterated me by saying, "So did you go to furry college?"

the damage i would have taken
yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation
yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation

Lo'ak leaves Spider Scarred: Part 5

This part talks of suicide. Please if you or anyone you know is having suicidal thoughts seek help. Talk to someone, anyone.

Part 4 found here

image

Lo'ak couldn’t bring himself to move after Norm closed the door. The human's words repeated in his head, ‘You scarred him for life… you did that to him… scarred him for life… go home Lo'ak…’

Tears streamed down Lo'ak's face, dripping from his chin onto its hands. One of which had small scars covering the knuckles and back of the hand, scars made from broken exo-pack glass. The same broken glass that… that… With a yell Lo'ak curled in on himself, what had he done? The sound of feet growing closer pushed him into action. He didn’t want to be seen like this, crying and broken.

Moving at a speed humans could only dream of, Lo'ak fled the room. Running down the hall and sliding around a corner just before the pounding feet entered the room he had just left. Fearing the person in the other room would follow him, Lo’ak entered the first unlocked room he came to, closing the door behind him.

The footsteps moved further away and Lo'ak sighed, turning around to place his back against the door. He was in a room. A room with very few decorations or personal touches. The mirror was covered with a towel, and a handmade beaded bag lay on a desk at the foot of the bed. Lo'ak recognized that beaded bag, had helped patch it up enough times that he could never forget it.

This was Spider's room. In Lo’ak’s memories this room had always been filled with color, from pictures covering the walls to trinkets and knick knacks lining the shelves. The Spider that lived in this room was… lost… broken… different.

Turning to leave something caught Lo'ak's eye. A book, laying in the vent where a human would not be able to see it, they were too short. A Na’vi on the other hand was the perfect height to see into the vent.


Lo'ak knew he shouldn’t have read the book, shouldn’t have read Spider’s journal. It was supposed to be private, his innermost thoughts and feelings, but Lo'ak wanted to understand.

Lo'ak didn’t know what he had been expecting, but he could say he wasn’t expecting to read about Spider wanting to end his own life. Wasn’t prepared to read about the times he had tried but failed to end it all. The middle of the journal had been lighter, full of happiness and hope, thanks to the reappearance of Quaritch and Lyle in Spider’s life.

Lo'ak remembered when the news had come that the last two demons had been found and killed. His family had rejoiced, his parents had thanked the Great Mother for ridding the world of the demons. Yet Spider's journal told a different story. A story of a loving father and uncle that left everything they had known to be with Spider. A story of two lost souls that had learned to see and love this world. A story of the pain and anguish Spider had felt as he cried over their bodies, as he dug their graves and wished he could climb in with them.

Spider had described in great detail the clearing he had buried his father and uncle in. A clearing Lo'ak knew.

Max said that Spider had radioed to say goodbye and Lo'ak now understood what that meant. Heart pounding Lo’ak left the shack and ran as fast as he could to his Ikran. Radioing Norm and Max to tell them where to go as he flew through the air. Praying he would get there in time to save Spider's life.

He had failed his best friend once, Lo'ak couldn’t fail him again.


The clearing was quiet, when Lo'ak landed, peaceful. Atokirina gently floating through the air as they glided towards a small body laying in between two larger mounds. Spider had a smile on his face, one arm outstretched as if seeking comfort.

The Na'vi didn’t need to check to know Spider was gone.

“Norm” Lo'ak croaked, struggling not to sob. “I was too late.”

“No” Norms pain filled voice yelled in his ear causing the Na'vi to flinch. “No!”

“Keep him with them, it’s what he would want. Just read the book, you'll understand. But keep him with them.”

Removing his ear piece Lo'ak placed Spider's journal at the his feet before turning and mounting his Ikran. He couldn’t stay here, couldn’t face what he had done, what he had caused.


Spider was warm, comfortable and pain free. He had no idea where he was, but was happy to remain blissfully ignorant for a little while longer.

Last time Spider had felt this comfortable was after… after Norm had stopped him… after his dad and Lyle had died. That thought, the thought that he had been stopped again had Spider sitting up, eyes wide as he looked around. He was in a forest, a Pandoran forest. Reaching up to adjust his mask, Spider's fingers were met with bare skin. He couldn’t figure out what was going on. Last he remembered he was forcing himself to breathe in the poisonous air of the only planet he had called home, before everything went black.

“Hello” Spider called, voice unsure.

“It's about time you woke up kid.” Spider spun to his knees before climbing to his feet. He recognized that voice, had missed it everyday. Lyle lounged against a nearby tree, smiling from ear to ear. “Gave your dad quite a fright when we found you, unmoving. I had to explain that he was the same way when he first got here.”

Spider's eyes lit up. He couldn’t care less where he was of his family was here. “Dad? Where is he?”

“Spider!” A second voice yelled from behind him. Spider turned smile growing even bigger. One glance was all he needed to see of the Recom before he was moving, running to his dad. Quaritch dropped to his knees in time to catch Spider as he barreled into his chest.

“Oel ngati kameie, dad.” The human whispered. Quaritch kissing the top of Spider’s head softly before whispering back.

“Oel ngati kameie, son.”

yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation
yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation

Lo'ak Leaves Spider Scarred: Part 4

Couple of things before we get into the story.

  1. Talk of suicide. Please if you find this triggering do not read. If at anytime you or someone you know is contemplating suicide seek help.
  2. This is a short update today. I wanted to show Spider and tell a little more of his story without trying to bring anyone else into the chapter. Reactions will be next chapter in what I want to call the epilogue, but don't quote me on that.
  3. Part 3 available here.


Spider's face felt like it was on fire when he reached his final destination. Stepping through the last of the foliage he entered a quiet clearing, on one side a small stream murmured while the roots of a giant tree created a bordered on the other. It was towards this tree that Spider turned.

At the base of the tree sat a couple large mounds. At the top of each mound was a grave marker made from carefully bound pieces of wood creating a T shape. Spider never understood why they had wanted a T, or a grave marker at all, but they had asked and he had done it. Kneeling between the graves Spider reached out a hand and ran his fingers over first one of the names and then the other.

LYLE WAINFLEET

MILES QUARITCH

The two surviving Recoms from the Battle of Three Brothers Rock had been gone for nearly a year and Spider missed them so much.


The second time Spider had wanted to end it all, mere months after his face had healed enough to wear a mask, he had been stopped. Not by any of the Na'vi or scientists, no, he was stopped by his dad and the man he would begin to think of as his uncle. The two Recoms had never returned to the RDA. Instead they had been keeping as much of an eye on Spider as they could… from a distance.

The pain Spider felt was nothing compared to the knowledge that someone care about him. Someone loved him and were doing everything they could to remain close to him. Spider had been happy for a few short years. He was seen, he had a family, life was good. He had made the right choice in saving his dad's life that day. Then tragedy struck. The two Recoms had been ambushed by a small Na'vi hunting party. Lyle had been killed instantly while Quaritch, body of his best friend held in his arms, had been able to get away.

Spider had heard about the ambush from some of the scientists, later that same day, and had rushed to the clearing to find Quaritch, barely alive, lying next to Lyle's body. Spider had tried to help his dad, tried to save him. But there was nothing he could do except offer comfort in his dad's last moments.

It had taken hours for Spider to dig both graves, and hours more to carefully carve the Recoms names into their grave markers.

The next night, after making it back to the human section of High Camp and as the Na'vi had celebrated the death if their enemies, Spider had tried ending it all for the third time. If only Norm hadn’t left the celebration early to check on him.

Everyone had tried getting Spider to talk to someone, anyone, but every time he got close to opening up all Spider could picture was the look on Lo'ak's face: the anger, the hurt, the betrayal, the rage. Spider’s fear, both of the reaction to his confession and of the pain he could remember so clearly, kept his mouth closed.


With a quiet sigh Spider laid down on his side, front facing his father's grave. Quaritch's last words echoing in his mind over and over again. 'Oel ngati kameie, son.’

“Oel ngati kameie, dad.” Spider whispered as he removed his mask. Taking a deep breath Spider could feel his lungs seize in his chest as they fought for oxygen. Forcing a deep breath into his lungs, Spider reached out placing his hand on his father's grave. A smile covered his face as the constant pain from his injury seeped away and his eyes closed.

Finally, it was over.


Part 5: coming soon

yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation
yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation

Lo'ak leaves Spider scarred: Part 3

Part 2

“What the hell happened to him?” Norm asked, sitting down for the first time since he arrived at Awa'talu hours before.

Jake ran his hand down his face. “I have no idea, Kiri brought him in saying his mask broke but…” Jake sighed. “I've been too busy to hunt her down and ask.” Both men sat quietly for a few minutes. “How is he? Will he be okay?”

It was Norm's turn to sigh this time. “I’m not gonna lie Jake, it isn’t good. His Zygomatic bone, um… the bone that runs from under the eye to the outside of the eye has been broken. His eye is damaged and I don’t think he'll ever be able to see out of it again. The tissue damage is… extreme. I stitched together as much as I could but he will always have scars, and pain.” Norm ran his hand through his hair, unable to rub his face due to his mask. “Max and I will be taking him back with us, to High Camp.”

“What? No, you can’t take him away.”

“Jake…”

“No, Norm. This is his family, his home.”

“Spider isn’t safe here.” Norm said knowing how his best friend would react to this statement.

“What are you talking about? Not safe here? Of course he is safe here this was an…”

“This wasn’t an accident.” Norm said cutting Jake off again. “Jake, the damage done is from someone hitting Spider in the mask… hard. If it had been a branch or rock the damage would be different.” Small, brown human eyes connected with large, yellow Na'vi ones. “This was deliberate, purposeful. Spider isn’t safe here. This is the second time someone has tried to kill Spider and I’m not going to let there be a third time.”

Jake looked shaken, pale. “What if we caught whoever did this? What if he was safe?”

Norm laughed. It wasn’t a friendly laugh but hard and cold. “Spider will never be safe around Neytiri and you know that.”

“Neytiri wouldn’t hurt…” Jake started, sounding angry, but Norm spoke over him as he surged to his feet, pacing back and forth.

“She already has! He carries the scar on his chest. Are you really going to tell me She wouldn’t have killed Spider if Quaritch hadn’t given up? Can you look me in the eye and tell me she wasn’t going to kill him?” Jake stared at the ground, head hanging in shame. “That's what I thought.” The human lowered his voice, speaking gently. “His best chance of surviving is coming home. I’m sorry Jake but this is the way it has to be… for Spider.”


Jake watched, ears and tail drooping in sadness, as Spider's shack was carefully lifted into the air by the gunship Max was flying. Norm waved from the window of the shack causing Jake to lift his hand in reply, a hand that hung in the air before lowering to hang limp next to his side.

Jake's heart ached. First he lost Neteyam, his oldest, to the hatred of the RDA and now he was losing Spider, his new son, to the hatred of his own people.

Quiet footsteps sounded behind Jake as another joined him. “Spider finally gone?” The voice of his youngest son, Lo'ak, asked causing Jake to look at his son in shocked confusion. “About time He left.”

“What?” Jake asked turning to his son. He couldn’t believe his ears, what had happened?

“Spider betrayed us, dad.” Lo'ak sounded angry. “You may not want to hear about it but he saved Quaritch.”

“Lo'ak, I know.”

That threw his son for a loop. “You know?”

Jake sighed, “Yes, Spider told your mom and I the day before he was hurt.”

“He told you and you let him stay? You let a traitor stay, let him put us in further danger?” Tears welled up in Lo'ak's eyes. “Spider was my best friend; a part of our family and he did that. How could he do that to us?”

“Did Spider not explain why he saved him?” Jake asked, still feeling confused. Lo'ak shook his head.

“It doesn’t matter why he did it, only that he did.”

It felt like a stone settled into Jake's stomach as a thought entered his mind. He prayed he was wrong. “Lo'ak, do you… um… do you know what happened to Spider?” He tried to make eye contact with his son but Lo'ak wouldn’t meet his eye. “Lo'ak?”

“He saved Quaritch and I was just so angry.” Jake felt his heart break.

Tears filled Jake's eyes and he had to swallow a few times before the lump in his throat cleared enough for him to speak. Lo’ak had to know why Spider did what he did and since Spider couldn’t do it, Jake would do it for him.



The words Spider had shouted at Lo'ak repeated over and over again in Norm's brain. ‘I can’t tell if your proud of your handy work or disappointed I survived… disappointed I survived… disappointed I survived.’ Jake had never told any of the scientists who had attacked Spider, and now Norm knew why.

A sob broke from Lo'ak's mouth, shoulders shaking as he sunk to the ground.

“It was you?” Norm felt numb.

“Yes” Lo'ak said, the word turning into another sob.

“You did that to him!” the numbness was wearing off, being replaced by white hot rage. “You scarred him for life. Physically, mentally, emotionally. He hasn’t… he doesn’t… Why?” So many thoughts and emotions raced through Norm’s mind that he couldn’t focus. “Why!?!”

Lo'ak opened his mouth to answer, not that anything he could ever say would be enough, when Max ran into the room in a panic.

“Spider just radioed saying goodbye, now Jamie can’t reach him. Everyone available is heading out.” Norm was moving before Max had finished speaking. “Do you know what triggered him?” The shorter human asked as he tightened the straps of his mask so it fit properly.

Glaring at Lo'ak, as he opened the inner airlock, Norm replied. “I have a pretty good idea.” Before the inner airlock door closed Norm pushed it back open, staring at the Na'vi still kneeling on the ground. “You should go home Lo'ak. Tell Jake I’ll radio him in a few days to take care of things.”

“What? Why?” Lo'ak asked.

Norm and Max both ignored him as they raced off, praying they would make it in time to stop Spider from hurting himself… again.


Part 4 now available

yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation
yesthisismycurrenthyperfixation

Lo'ak leaves Spider scarred: Part 2

Part 1

WARNING! Suicidal thoughts/intentions at the end. If this is triggering to you, please do not read. If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts please, please, please get help.


“SPIDER!” Kiri screamed in horror as she watched the boy fall like a branch that broke off a tree. Had she taken a second to look she would have noticed the look of betrayal and anger still written on her brother’s face. “Lo'ak, help me get him back to his shack.” She cried, but Lo'ak didn’t move. Looking up at her little brother, Kiri tried again. “Please Lo'ak, help me.”

Lo'ak looked down at the unconscious boy, blood pouring down the side of his face. He then looked at Kiri's tear-streaked face. “I'm sorry Kiri.” He whispered before turning and walking away.

“Lo'ak? LO'AK!” She screamed. Her brother didn’t reply and didn’t look back. Struggling to lift Spider into her arms, Kiri half carried and half dragged him as fast as she could.

Stumbling into the village, Kiri saw her father. “DAD!” She screamed. “DAD HELP!”

Jake turned to look at his daughter and his eyes went wide, taking in the sight of her carrying Spider. Blood coating both of them.

“What happened?”

“Mask broke, please” Kiri gasped as Jake scooped the human boy from her arms. Not waiting for Kiri to explain further he sprinted to the boy's shack, praying it wasn’t too late.


Spider was not having a good day. Even after five years of having sight in only one eye, his depth perception was still off. It started that morning with him reaching out to grab his toothbrush and instead slamming his hand into the counter, bruising it.

By the time Spider had made it out to collect samples he was ready to call it quits with the whole day. Just to realize he had forgotten the damn specimen jars. Tears of frustration blurred Spider's vision as he returned to High Camp and the science shack. He had gotten his emotions under control by the time he made it back so no one would worry about him… more than usual.

Opening the inner airlock door Spider was surprised to hear Norm. “You’re back early” he said sounding slightly strained.

Spider removed his mask. The rubber of the seal pressed on his scars causing them to ache, yet another way his life had been forever changed. He couldn’t wear a mask for more than a few hours at a time without the damaged nerves in his face making themselves known. It was agony. “Forgot the specimen jars, how dumb is that?”

“Spider?” A shaky voice asked. That voice featured in Spider’s nightmares, it yelled at him when he was struggling to keep going. It was the last voice Spider wanted to hear.

Drawing his shoulders up to his ears and lowering his head so his hair would hide the fright in his eyes, Spider willed his heartrate to slow as he struggled to control his breathing. The last thing he wanted was the owner of that voice to watch him have a panic attack. He didn’t want Lo'ak to see how much effect he had even all these years later.

“Spider, bro? Is that you?” Lo'ak sounded hopeful, happy. Like he hadn’t destroyed Spider's life in the blink of an eye.

Anger coursed through Spider's body. How dare Lo'ak act like nothing had happened. “Don’t call me that.” He said, still struggling to breathe and causing the words to sound like a whisper. Spider wanted to kick himself for sounding so weak.

“Call you what?” The Na'vi sounded confused, though Spider couldn’t understand what he would be confused about.

“Bro. Don’t call me that.” His voice sounded stronger this time, much to Spider's relief.

“Why not? You’re my brother.”

Spider was floored by the audacity of this statement. How dare Lo'ak say that! How dare he believe they could ever be like they were as kids!

Spider's anger boiled over and he spun on the other young adult, not caring that Lo'ak would be able to see how much damage had been done. Not caring about the look of horror that crossed the Na'vi's face as he took in the true extent of the damage.

“We haven't been brothers in a long time, in fact we never were.” Spider spat, his voice like venom as he stared the others straight in the eye. Five years worth of pain, five years worth of hating himself and the person he saw in the mirror everyday exploded out of Spider. He wanted Lo'ak to suffer. The feeling was new to the human and it frightened him a little. “I can’t tell if your proud of your handy work or disappointed I survived.” He said before he could stop the words.

Spider bit his tongue, turning to Norm before he said anything else he would regret. “Radio me when he is gone and I’ll come back.” Reaching out to grab his mask, Spider misjudged the distance and smacked his hand into the table top. The pain from his already injured fingers didn’t stop him from putting his mask back on and storming out.

Spider didn’t know where he was going, he just knew he had to get away. Miscalculating yet again, Spider whacked his shin against a box. Causing him to trip and fall, barely getting his hands up in time to catch himself from face-planting into the dirt.

Tears burned as they filled his eyes as sobs tore through him. He couldn’t do it anymore. Everything hurt, everything was a struggle. All of his friends abandoned him or, in Lo’ak’s case, tried to kill him. Despite the best hopes of Norm, Max and the other scientists, the nerve damage was permanent. What did he have to live for? Why did he keep trying?

Reaching up Spider removed his ear piece before hitting the talk button on his radio. He knew all radio signals were recorded so even if no one heard him now, they would hear what he said later.

“Norm, Max… thanks for always taking care of me, worrying about me, putting up with me and everything else. You wont have to deal with me anymore but I still wanted you to know I appreciated it. I also want you to know that I’m sorry… well… I have to go now, so goodbye.”

Removing the microphone from around his neck Spider could hear yelling come through the ear piece on the floor. He couldn’t understand what was being said, not that it would have mattered if he could.

Mind made up; a calmness overcame the human. It would be over soon and that’s all that mattered, maybe he would be lucky enough to join Eywa's embrace, though that was doubtful. Eywa didn’t take Demons into her rest, and if there was one thing he knew and had known since he was a child… It was that he was a demon.


Part 3 now available!