#she just goes nah this is too much i can't do this anymore

[companion-showdown]

Who had the worst time aboard the TARDIS?

TOURNAMENT MASTERPOST

[spectral-phases]

I need people to stop getting so precious about Clark "not letting" Bruce kill the Joker after Jason’s death post-Crisis. Everyone acts like it was like this:

But it was more:

So, we all know the story. Actually. Wait. Maybe we don't. So. The story beneath the cut.

Jason got benched as being Robin because he was not dealing well with his parents' deaths, felt like he was no longer wanted because he was adopted specifically to be Robin (and Bruce is shit at making his kids feel loved a lot of times). Jason discovered the woman who raised him was his step mother, not his bio mother. He goes looking for bio mom. Finds bio mom, she hugs him and tells him she's missed him so much, Bruce contemplates letting Jason live with his family if that would make him happier despite being obviously cut up about the idea of losing Jason. Bio mom is being extorted by the Joker to let him ship out Joker Venom disguised as medical supplies because he can't just steal the supplies and sell them. Bruce has to go stop the shipment of Joker Venom, his portable chopper is too small for two, so Jason is left behind. Jason is told to wait, but The Killing Joke just happened and his bio mom is alone with the Joker (who is insane, capricious and evil), so, obviously he has to save his mother and could not wait. Bio Mom is outside, no guards, Jason says, "Hey, I'm actually Robin, I'm here to save you from the Joker" and she says "Nah, he's actually gone, so I'm fine. But let's go inside so I can grab my things and we can leave." Her things turn out to be a gun to point at Jason after leading him to the Joker. Jason is too stunned to move. The Joker and his goons beat Jason up and then the Joker uses the crowbar to finish beating him to a presumed death. His bio mom at some point couldn't bear to watch it anymore and turns around to smoke a cigarette. Once Joker’s done, bio mom asks what they're going to do about Batman, and the Joker is all "oh. Yeah, lol. Probably was a bad idea to kill his kid. Whoops. My bad." And then ties up the bio mom to kill her and erase any evidence he brutally attacked/killed Jason. The Joker sets a bomb on a timer and leaves. Jason uses the last of his strength to untie his bio mom so she can escape. He can't see well enough to try and disarm the bomb. She tries to get them both out. The door is locked. Jason shields her as the bomb goes off, but she dies just as Batman comes up and tells him the Joker did it, calls Jason a hero, says he deserved a better mother (he did) but does not/is unable to own up to her part in Jason’s death before dying herself. Bruce finds Jason’s body and is fucking devastated.

So after that, Bruce chases the Joker down to the UN because the Joker lucked into being a diplomat for Iran and is now meeting at the UN assembly in New York. Bruce is 100% set on doing a premeditated murder of the Joker for Jason. The US government is aware of this. They hire Superman to grab Batman to try and talk him down because the Joker has diplomatic immunity for past crimes. It does not go well.

"That’s the law, not Justice." Batman is 100% still going to kill the Joker. Everyone knows. Superman knows. Superman says the stupid thing is putting vengeance above the interests of the country, not killing Joker.

Batman sneaks into the Joker’s room, and the Joker (forgetting his earlier desire to not get fucking killed by Batman) is like "oh man, I wish I could have seen your face when you found his body" and further needles Bruce with a "Or are you here to thank me for getting rid of him for you?" Making Bruce triple down on killing the Joker.

"Your confirming it makes what I have to do a lot easier."

Bruce manages to get in to observe the UN meeting as Bruce Wayne. Superman is disguised as a guard. Bruce is seething, watching the Joker, knowing that is the guy who killed Jason.

"I should have terminated his vile existence years ago. But I didn't. I couldn't. His insanity gained him a stay of execution. But no longer. ... Jason’s dead."

They both know the Joker is too stupid and lacks the impulse control needed to not attack the UN and immediately lose his immunity, which is the only thing keeping him alive. Joker releases Joker Venom to kill the delegates. Superman super breathes to inhale all the gas, which he's immune to because he's Superman and then says this as he leaves to go find a place to release the poison gas safely.

"Batman, he's all yours."

Superman basically says "You can kill him now" because he knows Batman’s mind has not changed, and Superman had not once tried to say "killing Joker would be wrong" just that it couldn't happen before the Joker acted in a way that lost him his immunity.

And Bruce does go to do just that. He chases the Joker down, intent to kill, and jumps onto the helicopter the Joker is using to escape. One of the guys fires at Batman. It shoots the pilot, hits the Joker in damn near his heart, if not his heart, and Batman realizes the helicopter is going down and decides to jump and leave the Joker behind. He intends for the Joker to die in the crash.

Okay? Bruce was 100% going to kill the Joker for killing Jason. Superman said "hang on. Let him get enough rope to hang himself first and then you can do it." And then Joker only survived because comic books. And Bruce is unhappy about having to wait. Superman did not try to talk Bruce out of killing the Joker at all ever, or scold him for wanting to kill the Joker. (Don't say he was rescuing the Joker in that last panel. The next panel is Superman fishing Batman, who is shot in the arm, from the harbor, and Batman telling Superman to go find the body. Find the body! And Superman does go to do just that, but is unable to).

Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.

[salty-an-disco]

If you don’t mind can I ask what the backstory and extra scene for contrarian as a scarlet hallow town resident is I’m curious

ofc!!! thank you so much for asking, actually, I was just worrying whether it's a bit too self-indulgent to even post oakskskskssjjs (ridiculous, I know, but my brain can be pretty ridiculous at times)

SO!!

Contra is a local whose parents died in some accident (maybe something to do with the mines) when they were very young, and they kept running off every time someone tried to deliver them to child services.

Eventually, Duke took pity on this kid who keeps stealing from the diner and from squirrels in the forest and took them in. They weren't the easiest kid to deal with, but Duke's stubborn and was intent on teaching this kid some manners and how to survive on their own since no one else's willing to help them out.

cue some bonding and genuine family moments together with Bo and Duke's wife, and Contra goes from purposely difficult troublemaker to mildly annoying helper.

fast-forward to Pearlenne's death and a week away from her funeral, in comes Hiro Scarlet, Tabitha's lost cousin.

They adopted the name 'Contrarian' cuz it's what the townsfolk kept calling them all the time; but I think they could eventually reveal to Hiro that their name is 'Mikha' (was supposed to be Mikhael (or maybe 'Mickaelle', no one is sure what their agab was anymore), but the computer must've either eaten the last bit, or the doctor simply forgor).

When heading to town from the state, you can hear a flute being played somewhere deeper in the forest. And if you decide to follow it, you get to meet the town troublemaker themself :D

some more notes about their relationship with other townsfolk

– Stella: was often the 'cryptid' she was hunting for her videos, which kinda became a staple of her channel that sometimes the cryptid is just a scrawny fella playing a prank on her. Stella takes it all in stride, and even compliments Contra on their inventiveness and creativity, often telling them they could get big by making their own pranks channel (which they often reply with, "Nah. Too much work :p"). Contra was a tad bit frustrated when Stella incidentally embarrassed Duke on her channel, and then continuously refuses to take his word seriously; actually stopped pranking her for her channel because of that, which Stella just thinks it's them trying to give her and her viewers a sense of security before striking.

– Kaneeka: she's glad they got a home in the Holler, and all, but they're not exactly friendly. Polite, at best, as she still resents all the pranks they'd play on their school (when they didn't even go there themself!!!), and how they would always enable Stella's reckless stunts, and are doing the same now to Miles, who thinks they're so much cooler than any of the other young adults here. Not as much of a beef as she has with Tabitha, but would still rather to avoid their path and that they did the same to her.

– Oscar: never really crossed paths all that much, as they rarely went to the library, but did see them occasionally stop by to pet Pixel or on their way to do some delivery for Duke. Sure, sometimes their pranks go a little too far, but they can't be all that bad, right?

– Avery: as soon as Avery learned of another enby in this rural southern town, they immediately went to pay Duke's farm a visit, where they found Contra hanging from a tree pretending to be sentinel. They quickly bonded and started hanging out, and even dated for a couple of months before the novelty just kinda faded away, so they broke it off before resentment could build and continued on as friends. Contra still goes to the diner every so often to hear Avery's new synths and is a frequent appearance in their parties.

– Reese: one reckless and impulsive friend in her son's life is more than enough, so Doctor Kelly always tried to keep Contra from getting too close. Which only made them more intent on befriending Reese even after they got 'sick'. They eventually just lost interest tho, as staying in someone's room while they're too weak to move is pretty boring (and depressing), so they just kinda forgot about him and didn't look back. The Doc see it as a blessing.

– Tabitha: "Who the hell is that?" (despite their carefree and careless attitude, they stay clear from the mines)

[writing-whump]

Cold hands

This was supposed to be an intro to a bigger chapter and then it grew and then I had too much fun with Alessia and Seline figuring each other out. Quiet fluff, philosophical banter, and casual hand-holding.

Alessia leaned back in the chair. The restaurant was very low-stakes, just chairs and tables on the street tiles and sunshades, but the food was great and the sun was nice.

"It's so good to be outside," she said, head tipping back.

"I could have brought you two the food straight to the house," Seline said, hunched shoulders in the shade as if she was constantly cold.

"I know you are kind and willing, but I'm so glad you dragged me out here," Alessia said with a smirk. "I was dying stuck inside for so long."

"Kieran doesn't mind being alone?" Seline took a sip of the coffee.

"Nah, not really. He mostly sleeps all the time, then wants cuddles and then goes back to sleep again."

"Does it happen...often?"

"Him getting hurt this bad?" Alessia guessed, straightening back in the chair. "Not that often anymore. He's gotten really good. But when it does, it's a big hit."

"How are you not worried about him?" Seline's voice was disbelieving.

Alessia shrugged. "Me worrying won't stop it from happening. You never know what can happen. A car can hit you in front of the house while parking. Doesn't make you get out of the house."

"He is kinda throwing himself under the car to see if he can get out though."

"That's Kieran. I can't change him, only accept him."

"You are full of wisdoms," Seline said with a smile hidden by the mug as she took another sip.

"What can I say. I talk and talk and people either like it or leave it," Alessia said with a chuckle.

Seline leaned a bit deeper into her chair, mirroring Alessia. "I would be like that if I dared to."

"Dared to?"

"Yeah. I can be pretty overwhelming with my nerding out. I have been known to put people to sleep while standing."

"Who told you that?" Alessia said with a frown, her spoon freezing mid-air. "There is nothing wrong with being passionate-"

"It's a joke in my fam," Seline said, waving at Alessia's defense. It caught the gold-pink-haired girl off guard a little. Why was she so quick to anger?

"I don't worry about what they will think and just say my heart and mind out and it's very relaxing," Seline continued, brushing a blond curl out of her face. "But I wouldn't dare doing it with strangers. Not outside a lecture at least."

"Why are you so insecure about yourself, girl? You got plenty smart things to share."

"I'm not insecure, I'm considerate," Seline said, eyes sparkling. "It's intimidating to remind people of how little they know just by standing next to them and talking."

Alessia's eyebrow shot up at the darker dip in Seline's tone. Did she clock the girl wrong?

"It's funny how people think when you are polite, you must be weak and stupid. They try to walk over you that instant." Seline's shoulders relaxed and she threw her head back, the curls spilling over her back like a mane.

Alessia blinked. That wasn’t the girl she’d met in the hallway last week. That was something else—something with claws.

"So you put up a polite front?"

"If I didn't, I would scare them off. I'm being considerate and tolerant. It would be way too easy to be judgy and arrogant and closed off. It's reminds me of what a shadow is. This darker side in all of us, stronger in some. Then you have to try harder to control it."

"Aren't you spilling me your dark shadow secrets right now?" Alessia said in amusement. This was new and intriguing.

Seline shrugged. "You seem very honest and bold. I envy that. But maybe you can afford it. It's still in charming bounds. My dark side is...a bit heavier."

Alessia's smile widened. Interesting. Something about Seline's look suddenly gave her an intense flash of fear...it was like having the Executioner in front of her for a second.

Huh. Maybe they suited each other.

"They say the nice ones have a good reason to be nice. Masking the bad inside."

Seline regarded her thoughtfully. "Masking? Is how I act not who I'm choosing to be? Doesn't it say more about me than the thoughts and feelings I don't let take over?"

"So your true self isn't the hidden one?"

"My true self is telling me to be nice to people even when I don't always feel like it. And honestly I don't believe in knowing your deepest darkest thoughts. Why should I? Keep that hurtful stuff to yourself." She added a smile at the end, like a forgotten footnote to a too bold statement.

"So you think we can choose who we become?"

"Even better. We create ourselves," Seline said, eyes sparkling. "You know the trope becoming the mask in stories? How when you pretend to be something for long enough, you start to believe it?"

"Yes? The definition of betraying yourself by falling for your own lie."

"The opposite. It's how you can rework yourself into who you want to be. Who you can be, what feels right, what you are drawn to, all in one. When you write a story, the first one who has to believe it is you."

For a moment, Alessia just stared at Seline. The sun caught in the blonde of the witch's hair, but it was the steadiness in her eyes that felt bright. Sharp. Like someone had just turned on a light in a corner Alessia had been dancing around in the dark.

"Huh," Alessia said, smiling despite the heart drumming in her ears. "Alright, doc. Should I be taking notes?"

Seline winked at the tease. "Feel free. I do love, when people write down what I say at lectures."

"You are not the timid little witch I thought you were."

Seline shuddered at that. "No, thank you. I'm not some rare delicate little flower to keep on the desk."

"You would be a terrifying man-eating flower with spikes. Probably cursed," Alessia said with a grin.

The laugh she got out of Seline made her afternoon.

They sat in it for a moment—content, cups empty, shadows stretching longer across the uneven street tiles. A breeze threaded through the air, soft but persistent.

Seline's laugh faded into a soft sigh as she adjusted her posture, lifting the empty mug with both hands. Alessia noticed, then frowned.

"Hey—are your fingers okay?"

Seline blinked at her.

"You’ve been flexing them weird," Alessia said, sitting up. "Too cold?"

The witch hesitated, then smiled in that same too-polite way Alessia was starting to recognize as a warning.

"Just a little. It got colder rather quickly, hasn't it?"

Alessia reached across the table without thinking and curled her hands lightly around Seline’s. Alessia's was brimming with warmth while Seline's skin was cold as stone.

“Jesus. You should’ve said something. I’d have made you sit in the sun. How can you get this cold in 20 degrees?"

"It's all the blood going to the brain," Seline murmured dryly, pulling at her hands slightly away, but Alessia's didn't let go.

Alessia smirked, not loosening her grip. "Right. Genius tax. Forgot that’s a thing."

Seline huffed a quiet laugh, but her shoulders relaxed. She didn’t try to pull away again.

"You’re ridiculous," she murmured.

"And you’re an icicle," Alessia countered, rubbing slow circles over Seline’s knuckles with her thumbs. "I'm officially banning you from going cold around me."

[iris-sistibly]

I'm probably going to hell for this, but I don't feel any sympathy for Julio Borromeo at all.

Dude not only cheated on his wife but also impregnated another woman, and kept this as a secret for years until the death of Filipina.

While I disagree with how Carmela treats Adelina, she has every right to be furious at Julio--this motherfucker had been lying straight to her face for YEARS. Telling Carmela and Teresita that they're the only women in his life, and him telling Adelina how his and Fina's ✨love story✨ began, how he wanted to make her happy after Fina was left by her ex boyfriend after getting her pregnant was like...pure cringe, like bitch who the fuck do you think you are? Some God's gift to women? Some knight-in-shining armour who ought to "save" every lonely woman in the country?

Some of y'all would probably be like, "Oh but he regrets it now, he has been asking for his wife's forgiveness, he's a good father, blah, blah, blah."

This pathetic excuse of a man, tried to deny Adelina when Amelia brought her to his theater (after Fina's death). Tried to lie AGAIN to his wife and daughter despite the truth being slapped on their faces, he's sorry and regrets it? Motherfucker was sorry only after he couldn't deny the truth anymore. Imagine being in Carmela's shoes and your husband, whom you thought was a good man turned out to be a horrible one?

And him not showing up to Fina's funeral to be there for Adelina because he doesn't want to see Fina lifeless is bullshit. He didn't go to the funeral because people will talk, rumors will spread which will eventually cause humiliation to his family, his business going bankrupt, etc. Adelina just loves her father too much.

He loves Filipina?

No, he's a selfish bastard who wants both Carmela and Fina for himself.

He loves his wife?

LIE. You don't betray the person you love. Cheating is a choice, those who cheat always have the excuse of "nagmahal lang ako," and "nagkamali ako," these are so overused. May utak ka diba? You know cheating is bad yet you did it anyway. It's a choice, it's always a choice.

In the show, it was implied that Carmela paid someone to burn the theater. I'm not saying what she did was right, but as the saying goes, "hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." She was deeply hurt, and betrayed by her own husband. She wanted to inflict the worst pain possible for Julio, to ruin him the way he ruined her. It was Julio who turned her into the villain that she is now, Carmela's only mistake was she projected that anger towards Adelina who is innocent in all of this, and in doing so she ended up resenting her own daughter, Teresita for choosing to have a sisterly relationship with Adelina.

"Oh but she can choose to forgive and move past that."

Yeah, because doing that is a walk in the park **insert sarcasm** you can't just tell someone to move on especially when they are still clearly hurting. Betrayal is the worst kind of pain you could inflict on someone, and when trust is gone it's hard to earn it back...chances are, you won't.

"But Carmela going as far as burning Julio's theater is too much."

I do believe it's too much. But Julio begging Carmela to save the theater by selling some of the properties to save their livelihood? And that being a performer is the only job he knows? Nah, he wants to save the theater to preserve the place that reminds him so much of his affair partner. The livelihood, the shows were not the main reasons. Carmela might have turned into a cold, bitter, resentful woman but let's not forget who turned her into this.

Moral of the story: Julio is a walking red flag and that he deserves the karma hahahaha! Also, divorce should be legal in the Philippines.

P.S. I hope the writers don't come up with the bullshit that the wife is a bitch to justify the man's affair. It's 2024, not the 80's.

[sunnyie-eve]

15 | Ice Bath

Series: Unexpected

Paring: (Matt Sturniolo x OFC Brock!) (Chris Sturniolo x OFC Brock!)

Word Count: 1k

Warnings: none

| MASTERLIST |

While Chris looks for the ice he wants, Dani splits off looking at the makeup then goes over to the snacks. "Dani, we're checking out." Matt goes over to her, "You getting anything?" He asks her.

"Nah," She follows him.

As they check out Chris asks the worker if they have anymore ice in the back so he goes to get him three more bags of ice. Chris wasn't satisfied with five bag of ice so they go to another store.

"That's not the freezer. We're walking away from them. They're going the wrong way." Nick watches Chris and Matt go down a different aisle from him and Dani.

"I bet they're speed walking." Dani laughs and sure enough the two were as they pass by the end.

"Dude, he's running all over." Matt says out of breath following Chris.

"Y'all gotta remember I'm 4'11." Dani tells them as they rush around.

"I need your finest batch of ice." Chris looks around

Dani laughs looking at Matt leaning over to rest, "Dude's getting a workout."

"Something just told me it was that way."

"What?" Nick asks Chris.

"Something inside of me." He answers, "I don't know it could've been the coolers too."

"You're driving me insane." Dani huff following the three.

"Take the Takis." Chris passes them to Matt to hold as he opens the cooler to the ice, "We need a cart."

"A cart, Chris?" Matt asks so Chris takes off to get one, "How much ice is he planning on getting?"

"Too much. A waste of money." Dani laughs looking at him, "Wanna hug?" She smiles.

"Eww," Matt jokes with her.

"Rude." She turns away.

"I'm joking." He puts the Takis aside so he could hug her.

As her arms go around his waste his goes around her shoulders, "Enough." Nick says as they hug long enough for him causing Dani to laugh.

"You know Dani never wants a hug from me." Matt says still hugging her starting to rock them side to side.

"Because you're not me." Nick tells him.

Dani looks up at Matt with a smile causing him to smile back down at her, "Just look at this little Tater-Tot." He cups her face in his hands.

"I hate you." Dani moves away from him.

"No more hugs?" He laughs as she ignores him.

When Chris comes back with a cart he gets five bags of ice to add to the other five now making it a total of ten bags of ice.

Back at the house they use Nick's bathroom to do the challenge and Dani didn't help set up, "Dani refuses to help." Matt tells the camera.

"Because I don't care to help." She says watching them from Nick's bed.

"You're still taking part though." Chris looks over at her so she gives a thumbs up.

"Oh my god, where's my Pepsi?" Chris freaks out looking at the tub.

"It's in there." Nick points it out sticking his hand in the water before pulling it out, "Oh- my- god. I'm gonna have to like get naked right away."

"I have to pretend that I'm a can of Pepsi." Chris talks himself up before he goes in.

"You basically are." Dani joins them in the bathroom so they all laugh at what she said.

"In a big cooler." He adds going over to the tub sitting on the side.

"With socks on?" Dani makes a face hating the idea of wet socks.

Chris makes a face just by putting his heel in the water, "I can't. I can't do it. I can't do that." He says before trying again, "You have to go with the flamingo technique first." He gets in the water on one foot before getting back out. "I can't feel my foot at all. At all whatsoever."

Once again he goes to try again sitting down on the side before trying to sit in the water. The three tell him to get in all the way but he couldn't even get both legs all the way under the water. Trying again he goes like a spider man pose hovering over the water before squatting in the water.

"Go come on. You're doing the same shit over and over." Nick gets annoyed.

Chris gets on his knees before bending forward trying to get his shoulders wet then gets out.

Up next was Matt and he sits on the side putting his feet in, "If I think my feet stay in here long enough. Then I can just..."

"Get numb enough to slide in." Dani says so he nods his head, " I think you'll do better than Chris."

"Thank," Chris slightly shoves her as Matt works his way in, "That's what I did. See you feel your nuts just get cold." He tells Matt who just looks at him before getting out to try it again and gets all the way down as Chris cheers him on.

At the moment Matt was the winner till it was Nick's turn, who just goes for it not wasting a second. He sits down crossing his legs sliding down till his shoulders went under too. He stayed in for a few good seconds before quickly getting out tuning the shower on getting in the hot water to warm off.

"Now I have to beat that?!" Dani shouts looking at the water than Nick.

"You would have to last a little longer than me." Nick tells her.

"I've learned she's competitive. So she's gonna fucking try. She's gonna kill us if she's last." Matt goes on a little rant.

"You bet I'm going to try to win." She walks closer to the tub.

"Get in." Chris tells her as she psyches herself out.

"Hush." She tells him before stepping in, "It's not cold. It's not cold." She getting in all the way.

"Just gotta out last Nick." Chris tells her as she lays there with only her head out of the water shivering.

"I think she's out doing him already." Matt keeps track of the time.

"How are you feeling" Chris asks as she was still in.

"Oh, I'm doing g-great."

"Yes!" Nick cheers for her.

"Amazing Dani." Chris says as she gets out.

"I can't even feel myself shaking off." She shakes her body.

"Where did the other towel go?" Matt looks for it for her.

[beanghostprincess]

Your post about Shanks ‘babysitting’ Yassop is so cute 😭💕 This literally gave me a thought about Shanks knowing Zeff and his little precious eggplant (Sanji)

Like, the Red Head Pirates goes to the Baratie and meet the chef, Red Leg Zeff, who has his adopted son in the ship. The little boy is respectfull and always wants to help. And Shanks just- starts to talk and play with the boy. They come to the restaurant often because of how much good the food is and everytime, Shanks plays with the kid.

Zeff also talks A LOT about his son, pround of how he is good at cooking and fighting. The Red Head Pirates ends up don't going to the Baratie for like, 2 or 3 years, and when they come again, Shanks notice the boy isn't there, Zeff tells Sanji is in the crew of some rubber boy with a Straw Hat and Shanks is like "THIS BOY IS MY SON-!" and they start to talk about everything who happened.

Bonus: Zeff starts to talk about some boy who Sanji talks a lot in the letters and Yassop, who is near to them, just yells "THIS KID YOU'RE SAYING IS MY SON" and turns out they discover that the kids of all of them are in the same crew.

THIS IS SO FUNNY AND SO SWEET AT THE SAME TIME I AM DYING JKESBFSJKDBFKJDBF PROUD DADS!!!!!!! PROUD DADS!!!!!!!!!!!

Shanks: Where's your little cook? I wanted to have one of his dishes. He's getting better than you, old man. Zeff: Watch your words or I might kick you out of here. And he's not so little anymore, he's nineteen. Shanks: HE'S WHAT???? Benn: Sometimes, when years pass, people grow up. If you weren't sure- Shanks: Haha. So funny. Okay! So where is that young man? Zeff: Ugh- New pirate took him with him. See the world and shit. To find the All Blue, he said. Shanks: Look who's following his father's steps! You must be proud, huh? You'll never say it, but I know! A father always knows. And who's that new pirate around? Wouldn't hurt to know. Zeff: Strange kid. Says he wants to find the One Piece. Devil fruit user. Rubbery body. Straw hat? Reminded me of you. Luf- Shanks: LUFFY! THAT'S MY KID! Benn: He's not your son. Shanks: HE'S SORT OF SOMETHING LIKE MY KID!

And then they stay there for a long time, the Red Hair pirates enjoying the food while Shanks and Zeff have this conversation close to them. That's when Zeff talks about what he knows about his son's crew, because Shanks literally knows nothing besides the basics and what Mihawk told him about Zoro. (Making this about Sanuso because you can't say that Sanji talks a lot about Usopp and not expect me to write it like this).

Zeff: Kid got himself an interesting team. Green-haired guy that almost gets himself killed. Idiot. Eggplant hates his guts, or so he says, but he has never been too good at hiding shit so it's obvious he cares about the swordsman. He talks about a girl too. Loves her. Believes he's gonna marry her. Most precious thing in the world, he says. A treasure of navigator, apparently. Usually, he's annoying when it comes to women, but this is too much even for him. Shanks: Oh! Young love! Are you sure she isn't the reason why he joined them? Zeff: Nah, it was your kid. He's persuasive. And I wouldn't call it love. At least not with her. Shanks: Care to explain? Zeff: Lil cook talks about a young man. A sniper. He's... Fond of him. I don't know how to explain it, but I know him. There's just something about the letters... Heck, I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. But Eggplant and this kid, Usopp- Shanks: WHAT?! YASOPP! Yasopp: WHAT DO YOU WANT??? Shanks: YOUR KID'S DATING LIL COOK Yasopp: Wait what- (basically falls off the chair) WHAT?! Is he in his crew? Is he alright? Is he as cool as me? Of course he is! Wait, did you say something about dating? Zeff: They're not dating. Yasopp: Of course Usopp would date a cook, he has always loved food- Shanks: Yes, because when you left the only thing the kid could do was eat- Yasopp: Shut up! Is he alright, red leg? What does your kid say in the letters?

And they spend like, hours talking about them together, being all proud of their children <3

[haveyouseenthisskeleton]

How would the bros react to SO trying to cook dinner and failing horribly? (Big mess/totally burnt) Sort of in reference to that one Ink and Error say a lot where it was like:

E: Ink, what was the one thing I told you not to do?

I: Burn the house down

E: And what did you do?

I: ...Made you dinner?

E&I: ...

I: ...Aaaand burned the house down.

Undertale Sans - Welp. Like the good old days... Sans is not mad. He's so used to it he doesn't even blink. Maybe it's concerning now that he thinks about it but, you know... It's too much work to clean. He's not helping you. Have fun with that. Bye.

Undertale Papyrus - He immediately starts to scream at Sans for messing his kitchen, hysterical, and orders him to clean. You're hiding in a corner, behind the fridge. You're sure that if you don't move, you won't get into trouble. You're lucky Sans is not calling you out because he's too nice. He starts to clean, staring into your soul the whole time. You don't know how to breathe anymore.

Underswap Sans - Oh, he helped you make the mess. However, when Honey comes home and has a mental breakdown seeing the mess in the kitchen, Blue throws you under the bus and teleports out lol. Good luck with that! Welp. Honey is mad at you.

Underswap Papyrus - He doesn't want to be mean, but, uh. Your cake is the worst cake he has ever seen, and he saw a lot of cakes in his life. I mean, it's entirely black, inside and out. There's nothing to save there. He doesn't even know how you possibly burned the cake on the inside. Did it catch fire or something? When you say yes, he goes silent. You didn't burn your cake in his oven right? You don't answer. He opens the oven and falls on his knees, high-pitched screaming.

Underfell Sans - He gives you some flowers. "It's for me? Oh, thanks, you're sweet." "nah pal, you don't get it." "I don't get what?" "it's not a gift, it's for your funeral." The main door creaks open as thunder echoes behind Edge. Welp. That was a good run but you're dead now.

Underfell Papyrus - Edge is walking around. You can hear him whisper "PLEASE IT'S JUST A NIGHTMARE, WAKE UP" again and again, more and more distressed. When he realizes it's real, he apologizes, goes to the yard, and starts to scream insanities at the sky, so angry. He's pissed off. You're not leaving that kitchen before it's shining again. He swears he will knock you out if you do.

Horrortale Sans - Nothing too unusual actually. He is kinda used to trash the kitchen as well when he's looking for a snack. He even helps you to hide everything under the sink and shows you how to pretend nothing happened until Willow finds out later. He's your pal in this difficult time.

Horrortale Papyrus - When he realizes it's not Oak who did the mess, he looks at you with stern disapproving eyes. How could you. He had hope in you, but here you are. Does he really have to do everything in this house? He can't believe it! He's also mad you burn the food, actually. You ruined lunch, and he's not talking to you for a few hours. He's mad.

Swapfell Sans - He doesn't care. But the next day, his coffee machine is gone. He took it to his room. Safe from you and your unhealthy ways of cooking. What if she gets intoxicated? You can't hurt his coffee machine. It's his baby. Burn the rest of the kitchen if you want, but if you touch his precious baby again, you're dead.

Swapfell Papyrus - He's impressed with your cooking skills. Even hee never made that much mess in the kitchen before. You must have some hidden talents. He's not helping you to clean though. He's just here to pick a snack, making even more mess by doing so, then he leaves you there all alone lol.

Fellswap Gold Sans - He twitches seeing the mess, completely silent. He's staring for two minutes now, and you're starting to be concerned. That's it until Wine creaks his neck to look you in the eyes and tells you that you have five minutes to clean everything before he breaks down and starts to chase you around with angry blasters. This freaks you out enough, knowing he will absolutely do it, that you start frantically cleaning out of fear.

Fellswap Gold Papyrus - He's so nervous for you. Are you out of your mind? Do you want to die? Why? You know Wine will kill you, why would you keep trashing the kitchen? Please, you're scaring him, stop! He doesn't want you to die... He's getting more and more distressed. Please, he's begging you!

[comradeboyhalo]

q!Bad has been trying so hard to burn his bridges so I consider purgatory a win for him! Though will say that I think it's nice that he and Bagi's bridge seem more or less the same? I don't think that his bridge with Bagi burned because she didn't have expectations from him like the others did from not knowing how Bad was before + she's heard him talk about wanting to eat/kill people and him being in the war before and still decided that was the guy she wanted to hang around her - even when they met up and she decided to go into her safe zone, she still gave him a chance to talk with her rather then going 'oh nah actually you're going to kill me so we won't meet at all' or she could have told her teammates on him, gave Bad permission to kill her and has been actively going 'hi Bad!!' when she saw him before the whole transferring team situation, just wanted to ramble that I appreciated the way their friendship works and how I feel like there's not gonna be a difference for them when they go back to the original island

yes! you are so right and i will now ramble!

i see q!bad's friends categorized in two areas: friends who can deal with his demon nature and friends who can't. bagi, despite her strong moral code, has seen bad at his worst, and is able to stomach all of it. she is able to forgive him (even if he may break her trust), understand the way he navigates his relationships, and continue to know that despite his actions, she has his back and he has hers. others who similarly take bad in stride are foolish, tina, aypierre, and etoiles. he may fuck them over, but they all end up shrugging it off and bouncing back. (this, of course, goes especially for foolish).

i would say phil and bad had a good friendship, but purgatory has effectively ruined it. they were just never close enough with each other for phil to understand who bad is at his core. cellbit (from what i observed) seems to hold more immoral actions (i.e cannibalism, murder) with a much heavier weight than bad. yes, he is a dark character, but notice how cellbit needed to be pushed in this direction via external circumstances? meanwhile bad always seemed to be holding off eating people and murder to just "fit in" with society, because these traits are just more innately part of him. and this is why i think bad won't hold a grudge against cellbit for purgatory, but cellbit could.

forever and baghera are a special case in which they became friends with someone who was nice and caring, were able to ignore the dark implications of his moral code, but then couldnt anymore once he began to spiral downwards. theyve both had their purgatory moment with him; they've already seen the lengths he'll go to. its definitely taken a toll on their friendship, but if they were able to move past his torture of ron, they'll be able to move past this too (and they already have: baghera may be opposing him but she's still happy to chat, and forever and bad's relationship has honestly improved in purgatory).

i do think, at the end of the day, bad is the kind of guy that is very easy to hate, but also someone you really want on your side. take tubbo or pac. he was by the far one of the most antagonistic characters to them on the island. but when you're fighting to survive, suddenly that bloodthirsty demon is real nice to have at your back. its why foolish is so careful to prod into bad's plans, to see if their motives line up. i do believe that, even if he burns bridges with majority of characters, he is still someone most characters would want to fight with, rather than against.

edit: i disagree w the point i made abt qphil now but i think everything else holds up.

[silverstormsxx]

frozen monarch route - part 1

A snowgrave route that takes more inspo off persona's snow queen route.

After going the wrong way with noelle like you usually do, you find a mask in one of the trash cans.

"Snowmask."

Used to belong to a queen of ice and frost.

"What's that you got there, Kris..?"

(Since when did Kris get into looking through trash cans..?)

(And why am I not all that surprised..?)

Upon equipping it to Noelle, she will say:

"U-um..K-Kris..?"

"Is it supposed to feel so..weird?"

(This odd mask..)

(It.. it feels like everything got darker all of a sudden..)

From then on, Noelle will have a noticeably bleaker mindset

For example, instead of thinking: "(At the same time, it's kind of nostalgic..)" at the trash house, she will think: "(...I hate thinking about the past.)"

Also, after the first battle you have upon equipping the Snowmask, Noelle will stay behind for a few seconds, just.. staring at the frozen enemy.

"Huh..?"

"Oh, sorry Kris!"

"I got distracted there for a second.."

"The ice.. it's so.. pretty, don't you think?"

❤ Yes No

"You get it!"

"Much better than all these.. bright lights, right?"

"... N-Not that they aren't pretty in their own way, it's just.."

❤ I understand Nah, the lights are prettier

"Yeah!"

"... We should probably get going now, shouldn't we?"

After fully exhausting the kill count in the first room, a light layer of frost would start to build up.. as if cyber city was being frozen over.

"(It's so much more beautiful, when the world is all still and perfect like this...")

"(Nobody can hurt anymore. Nobody can be sad anymore.)"

"(It's like.. the whole world is a snowglobe, spinning forever and forever.)"

"(Doesn't that sound like..)"

"(Heaven?)"

❤ Yes No

"..!"

"Kris.."

"Did... did you-"

"(Noelle, what are you thinking?)"

"(They were probably just..)"

"(Talking to themselves! Yes, that's it!)"

"...Nevermind, Kris. Let's keep going."

So about the ferris wheel scene..

"Oh.. a Ferris Wheel?"

"It looks.. fun, I guess?"

"(Gosh, why did I ever find the one at the festival so amazing?)"

"(It's so.. shiny.)"

"(It hurts my eyes.)"

"(..Speaking of the festival..)

"..Hey, Kris?"

"The festival's gonna be at night, right?"

"The sky's so much easier to look at when it's night."

"This might seem weird.."

"But..sometimes, I wish it could be dark all the time."

"...I-Ignore everything I just said, okay?!"

❤ I can help you It's okay

"...Huh?"

"What do you mean by-"

"Oh, I get it!"

"You're just joking with me, aren't you?"

"Ha ha, very funny Kris!"

❤ I will help you It's okay

"..I.."

"..O-Okay, Kris.."

"Thanks."

Instead of offering the Freezering, the Pink Addison offers something called a: "Mirrorshard."

"Maybe I could interest you in a Mirrorshard?"

"Huh..? A piece of glass?"

"How's something like that gonna help us?"

"C'mon, Snowflake! You can't get what you what without good equipment!"

"What I.."

"(Do.. do they know-)"

❤ Get it We're fine

"H..huh? Kris, you'd really.."

(Is this what they meant by-)

"S-sure.. how much does it cost?"

"Just a small fee of $2006!"

"(There goes my dream..)"

"I knew it was too good to be true."

"Let's go, Kris-"

❤ Get it We're fine

"I..What?"

❤ Get it We're fine

"Kris, I know that you wanna help me but-"

❤ Get it We're fine

"You're.. you're aren't asking me to-"

❤ Get it We're fine

"Kris, please - it's just a fever dream-"

❤ Get it We're fine

"...I.."

(You got the Mirrorshard.)

"(Did.. did I really just-)"

"(Get ahold of yourself, Noelle.)

"(They.. they deserved it.")

"(They were condescending, and heckling, and just like mo-)"

"(Kris wouldn't tell you to..to do that to a good person.)"

"(Besides, you did them a favor.)"

"(Don't you like the cold?)"

"Th..thanks, Kris."

Mirrorshard.

A piece of glass that reflects a world much better than the one you find yourself in now. One shrouded in endless darkness.

--

[mocacheezy]

Moca watches: Fox's Peter Pan & The Pirates, Demise of Hook

Listen. There's making a fashion statement of your prosthetic, or building a whole theme of it, but docking your ship under a rock formation that resembles a hook has to be the biggest compensation I can imagine.

Ofc it's the Lost Boys. What did I expect? Kind of funny Peter isn't with 'em though.

Spoke too soon, here's the fucker.

I adore that each of the crew has a clear role; Cookson tries to be helpful by bringing a WHOLE BARREL of gunpowder on the deck, and is promptly told get back and stick to the galley (kitchen). Jukes is the one who knows the amount needed (just a scoop!)

Hook, you did not kill him. You DID however needlessly destroy part of the ship.

Ah yes, everyone just keep laughing and forget about the gaggle of children that were charging at you. Nothing bad can possibly happen.

Hook, for FUCKS SAKE!

Long Tom is busted, and I am pretty sure it's beyond repair

Here's the thing though. Hook's actions track with his single minded goal of killing Pan. He himself said Cookson would blow them up to smithereens with that much gunpowder. Losing logic and critical thinking skills because of his need for revenge wouldn't be farfetched. If I didn't know there were more episodes to come, I would 100% believe the man ended up dead because of this.

Small monday island got wreeeecked

Peter being in disbelief over Hook's death is also really good. The pirates leaving Neverland isn't just wrong because that means no more fun and fighting them. It's wrong because Hook would never stand for that.

The pirates are also not celebrating their departure... And Mullins assuming the boys are there to gloat & wanting to shoot them to bits in the memory of athe Captain is kind of sweet.

"The finest pirate who've ever sailed the briney!" 😭

THEY ACTUALLY FOUND A WAY TO TAPE LONG TOM INTO BEING FUNCTIONAL AGAIN

"Who cares. It's not the same anymore." well he really is bummed.

Man really left him a will just to make sure Pan will never be rid of him.

Peter experiencing grief and sulking angrily was not on my bingo card, and yet...

No such thing as ghosts, just a very dedicated theatre major

Why do they keep leaving Michael behind, he's the youngest, TAKE CARE OF HIM DAMN IT

… I have to admit, no idea how he's walking on air like that

WELL GEE WENDY, THANK YOU FOR COMING BACK DOR YOUR BROTHER

… Okay he is LEVITATING now, did he actually die and his spirit is going to end up being shoved into a corpse or something???

Peter is just so happy he can play with his best friend sworn enemy again😊

Poor Tinkerbell, good thing those wings aren't too delicate

SO HE WASN'T COMPENSATING, THIS IS JUST WHERE HE WAS GOING TO EXECUTE HIS PLAN? Buccaneer's cave *looks it up* ... pirates cave. It's a fancy word for pirates.

Ah yes, ghostly footprints.

"Reports of my demise have been greatly exagurrated" and it seems the crew was also in on it.

Smee actually caught her! 8D

Aaaand there she goes

Peter had perfected Hooks voice to the point where I think he'd be able to play pretend if Hook was actually dead. A very depressing play pretend, but beggars can't be choosers.

Oh? Ghostly scares in retaliation?

He is soooooo smug. It is also very impressive that Peter is able to carry that boulder.

A trap door! Ugh, that should be obvious, the oldest trick in the book.

Jukes is soooo pleased to know how the whole magic happened.

Hook. Get off that plank. You are standing over what is said to be a bottomless pit and I don't think block and tackle would lift you outta that one.

"Well, not quite bottomless, but I'm sure you'll get the point" on top of those stalagmites you mean XD

They all have great coordination to be able to pull this off.

Daaaaawwwww they're at it once again <3

WAIT A MINUTE NOW, THERE'S NO WAY-

Yeah nah, Hook caught himself and however it is that he'll get out of this will not be thanks to any of these kids.

[aleksa-sims]

RL Story

Philip came to us today. He heard I was sick and just wanted to stop by.

I took the opportunity to talk to him about Ana. I asked him why Ana wanted to make a false statement for him in court? Ana wants to pretend she’s Philip’s partner, so he can get custody of Annabelle.

To my surprise, P. never asked Ana to make a false statement for him. He also told me, that he & Ana were/are just friends, which Ana also said. But as it looked, my sister had some dates with one of P.’s lawyers, who was 10 years older! 😯😄

A little later, N., P. and I wanted to head out for dinner. So I went to change quickly. I was no longer than 5 minutes upstairs in the bedroom changing. The two probably thought that I would need longer? Because when I came back to them, they were talking about something I shouldn’t hear?....

Philip: I just - I've had a lot going on. Sometimes I wonder why I do all this? I’ve almost run out of money. Lawyers aren’t cheap and Isabella’s fucking parents use it to their advantage. I’m going to lose Annabelle.😞

Nico: You need money, dude?... She’s your little girl! You’ll get Annabelle back!!

Philip: Having a Baby is.... a never-ending challenge. At first, I didn’t want to believe that Annabelle's my kid. Now that Isabella’s parents have taken her away, I feel......broken. Taking care of her wasn't easy. Tbh.... I hated it! Why am I always worried about her or afraid of losing her? I just want Annabelle to have a caring home, a mother, but she probably never will... I have to get her out of there.

Nico: Whatever Annabelle needs, I'll help!

Philip: Thanks, dude.... It’s crazy we’re talking about our kids.

Nico: Yea. I’m having a son, that sounds.... so fucked up, man. 😟

Philip: A. looks cute with her belly. She's happy!.... I never really saw Isabella when she was pregnant. But she never looked cute or happy. She was just....pissed

Nico: A.'s super excited about the pregnancy. Yes, she looks really cute. So beautiful and she's damn hot. Constantly! 😏 That's.... a nice side effect of pregnancy?.. Sorry you missed that. 🫤

Philip: Yea, I missed a lot in that asspect. Nevertheless all too much I do not regret it. I do not think that Isabella & I-..... well, yk? Nah, kind of gross 😄 .... But yk, what I don’t understand? Your serenity about Daniel. Why hasn’t she divorced yet?

Nico: Trust me, I'm not relaxed. She went to him. She wanted him, so she explained it to me. That totally got me down.😞 But I did everything I could, to pull myself together. I don't wanna lose her. I almost forgot how it feels to have someone you really love. Still, I don’t hate D., honestly. He’s been through a lot of shit. He told me himself that he’s fucked up and can no longer. I also know why he took off. It's.... though.😞

Philip: No joke, you have to end this shit! She can't do it herself.

Nico: What should I do?.... I just hate to kick somebody when they're down. He lost everything! His best friend, his home, his marriage, all gone. For the latter, it's on me! I'm responsible for that. 🤦‍♂️

Philip: I still can’t believe that guy Dominick passed away... Horrible. ... Listen, if the divorce doesn’t go on, you have to acknowledge paternity. Official!

Nico: What do you mean? The Baby's mine! She knows that! Everyone knows. So???

Philip: As long as she’s married to Daniel, he’s the father of your child! You have to make this official, report to the authorities and clarify it or let them know. Also, worst case scenario: A. leaves you and goes back to Daniel. Imagine she forbids you to see your little one. You wouldn’t have any rights!

Nico: She would never do that to me! And Daniel, he wouldn’t pull a stunt like this! I talked to him about that! He wants to talk to A. again about the divorce, but he can’t be with her anymore. These were his words!

Philip: Why did she even go to him?

Nico: She saw him with someone else and..... Idk? She went nuts?That's what I got. I just can't believe she was gonna shag him. She's pregnant with my kid! 😠

Philip: Did she?

Nico: She wanted him. Bsut she couldn’t cheat and backed out. Maybe... she was mad at me?... I wasn’t entirely honest with her. I didn’t tell her who I met in Italy. I wanted to avoid unnecessary drama and we weren't together anyway.

Philip: The twins, huh?😏

Nico: Shut the hell up! It was nothing exciting, ok?

Philip: Sure.... You couldn’t say no, could you? Those girls were crazy!

Nico: I’m not into her! Those bitches overplayed it. Too much for me. All fake. Idk why I met her? Maybe I was mad at A., too. She stayed with Daniel. I-.... I wasn't sure anymore? 🤷‍♂️

Philip: It's okay, man. You did nothing wrong.

Nico: Try explaining that to her!... She doesn't trust me.

Philip: Do you trust her?

Nico: Strangely enough.... yes, I do! More than ever before.

Philip: Just be there for her & keep doing what you're doing. After a while she’ll forget this thing.

I was a little disappointed in Philip. Why didn't he talk to me about D.? And I would never forbid my son to see his Dad, even if I had stayed with D.! But he was right about the authorities. I’ll have trouble registering our Baby. Those damn officers thought Daniel was my Sons's Dad. Bcs after I married him, I took his surname. I'll explain this mess later, once my baby is born.

Back to P.! I didn’t want to start a fight with him. I just wanted to help Annabelle. Nevertheless, I let him know that some of his statements got me sad. Well, he apologized. He just didn’t understand why I still didn’t divorce Daniel. I wanted to, but Daniel hesitated. Anyway, D.'s gonna talk to me soon.

And I wasn’t really aware that I hurt Nico so much.🤦‍♀️ However, it was a mistake what I did! I had to make it up to N. I was really upset to hear how he felt. 😞😢

Previous/Next

[theresnoturningback]

YEAR ONE - MORNING FISHING

A/N: As I was writing this, I noticed I was getting to 2K and for me (as a reader) that's too much, so I tend to upload short bits so it's not so boring. I finally could write a little more Sam and how he interacts with Dahlia. I don't think it's a secret they feel drawn to each other. Only time will tell how that goes.

Word count: 1209

Dahlia was never bored with her life at her new farm, despite how tough it was to manage it. There were always different things to do every day. When weeding and clearing rocks made her too weak to continue with her chores, she’d go back to her cottage and turn on the Queen of Sauce and write down a new recipe to learn it another day. Other days, she’d focus completely on her growing crops.

Once per week, she would dedicate her morning entirely to practicing her fishing skills. A man named Willy gave her an old bamboo rod during her first week and taught her the basics. It certainly had a learning curve, but Dahlia’s easy-going nature helped her take fishing as an opportunity to relax.

During one of those early mornings, she was fishing in the river while sitting under a tree, when she saw Sam walking by.

“Hey, Sam” She waved to him

“Hey, Dal, how’s it going?” He responded as he walked closer to her.

“It’s a slow morning, can't complain” She shrugged nonchalantly “What are you up to?”

“Oh, I was just taking some fresh air before breakfast” He turned and pointed to a two-story house nearby “That’s my place right there”

Dahlia looked at the blue wooden building. A big timon above the door completed the beautiful front adorned with delicate pink climbing roses. The more she looked at it, the more details she found and ended up being taken by the idyllic picture.

“Wow…This is just incredible. I’ve walked by this place so many times and I’ve never stopped to see its beauty”

“Heh, I know, it’s really something. My mom works hard to keep it like this. She never says it, but she takes great pride on her roses” Sam explained as he sat next to his friend.

“I take it from nautical theme that your dad is a sailor?” She guessed. He slowly shook his head with a weak, almost mournful smile.

“Nah, my dad’s a soldier. He’s fighting the Gotoro Empire, that’s why he’s not here” He turned to Dahlia. His smile hadn’t changed, but his eyes showed hope “He’ll come back someday”

“I see…” She smiled back at him and gave him a reassuring pat on his arm “I’d love to meet your dad when he comes back. I bet he’ll have amazing stories to tell”

He chuckled, a bit impressed that a single gesture and her friendly grin managed to lift his spirits.

“Thanks Dal” he said while he absentmindedly rubbed his fingertips and clutching his left hand.

“What’s wrong with your hand?” She said, noticing some redness in his fingertips.

“Oh this? Last night I practiced guitar for four hours straight. My fingers hurt like crazy”

“That so?” She raised her eyebrows “I didn’t know you played… Have you tried stretching before playing?”

“Not really, I just play. Once I get in the zone, I forget about everything else”

“I get that is a passion, but you still have to take some precautions, so it doesn’t turn into torture. Maybe I could teach you some exercises, so pain isn’t a problem anymore”

Sam looked at her rod with the reel still the water “I don’t know, I wouldn’t want to interrupt you”

“Nah, it’s okay. Nothing was biting anyway” She reeled back and put the rod on the ground “Here, give me your hand”

Sam put out his hand. Dahlia started softly pressing his palm, going from the wrist to his fingertips

“If you do this before and after playing, you’ll see you’ll have less pain…” She explained, too focused on pressing and stretching to notice his discreet winces

“How do you know all this?” He asked to deviate his attention from the pain to literally anything else

“My dad used to take me to piano lessons… I hated it, my teacher was so boring but he knew a lot. Now that I don’t play anymore, I kinda miss it” She moved her gaze from his hand to his face only to notice it was burning red. Amused, she let out a giggle and gave his hands a last gentle squeeze “All done”

Sam was frozen. Neither of them dared to let go. He opened his mouth, unsure of what to say.

“Bye, I’ve got something to do” He blurted out before standing up and running back to his house, leaving her sitting under the tree.

She looked at her fishing rod and decided to try once more, relying on her newfound confidence. At least one fish bit this morning, she thought with pride.

Around 4PM, Dahlia was getting ready to give the mines a try. She was preparing everything for her task when she saw a familiar figure at the entrance.

“Hi, Sam. Forgot something?” She greeted from a distance as he walked to her.

“I—uh, I think I left without a proper excuse. Honestly, I don’t know what came over me. I’m very sorry. It was rude of me”

“Don’t sweat it, I figured you had something burning in the oven” She giggled

“Speaking of, I had this idea, but if you’re too busy, then, maybe—”

“Spit it already”

“Would you like to come to my house tomorrow? We could have breakfast and maybe walk around town after…I mean if you like”

Dahlia raised her eyebrows, but was quick to disguise her excitement

“I think it’s a lovely idea”

“Awesome. Tomorrow at 10 AM. My mom will be in her aerobics class and my little brother will be with his teacher.”

“So, you’re saying… we’ll be alone?”

He nodded confidently before realizing the implication of that setting.

 “I mean—we could not, uh, do that and just walk around, maybe go to Seb’s…”

“No, no. I’ll be there. 10 AM sharp”

“Cool” He noticed she was all geared up and ready to leave her farm “I won’t steal any more of your time. See you tomorrow”

He gave her a quick peck on the cheek and left running, as he did earlier.

She wanted to ask him to walk with her to the mountains but seeing him leave in such a haste made her realize he was way more nervous than her about their growing friendship and decided to give him space.

----

On her way to the mines, she tried thinking about something else that wasn’t Sam, but his face appeared from time to time in her mind. After an hour of breaking rocks and killing bugs, she gave up. With a tired sigh, she decided to cut her labor short and head for a quick shower and a cup of tea.

She trusted her feet to guide her back home, since she was too busy drifting away back to Sam’s. In her mind, he was still standing there. The beautiful blue front contrasted with his blond hair. His eyes smiled along with his mouth, and she could swear she heard his laughter echoing softly in the distance. She didn’t even dare to pretend she didn’t like him. She tried to find something, anything that she didn’t like about him but just like her mining, it was a lost cause.

Before she could notice, she stumbled upon the steps to her house.

[anjumbai]

What can I remember? - Zankyou no Terror

Created by: Shinichiro Watanabe

Probably an anime I watched in 2020. Covid-19 had me watching all sorts of anime back then. There was always a need to feel different back then too. I still have that now, I guess. So I'll be writing a lot about elitist anime choices I made and have never regretted to this day. Zankyou no Terror doesn't fall under the elitist anime category I guess. It doesn't have much of a popularity but it sticks with some of the viewers. I happen to be one of those viewers. The title is basically what this post is about. How much do I remember about shows I have watched years ago, or at least a year ago. You forget most of the things. Most of it- pointless. But the little bits that remain remain for a long time coming.

So yes, Zankyou no terror. What can I remember about it?

It was produced by MAPPA. I don't remember which year, but I can find out by just one google search. But MAPPA back then was only starting to gain popularity- it wasn't the massive studio producing JJK, Aot, Chainsaw Man all at once we know now.

The soundtrack was made by Yoko Kanno. And it is one of the best soundtracks I've ever heard, even to this day. Is, Von, Birden are still tracks of lonely nights. Can't find em in YouTube anymore, but I had their mp3s downloaded back then.

The characters had numbers for names. They were sad. It sounds laughable that they were victims of child experimentation due to the overused trope, but they made it serious enough. They were child geniuses, and their friends died. And at one point, they escaped. And like geniuses, caused chaos all throughout Japan so that they can bring light to the illegal experimentation.

There was a girl. She didn't belong anywhere. The two protagonists took her with her for some reason. Just one of em, if I remember correctly. One said she'd be in danger, and the other wanted someone else to remember them. So that's what she did. She remembered them. She went on to face life with her head up high. Good for her.

Do I remember them for their outer world genius brains or their massive stunts destroying infrastructures in Japan? Nah. They were humanized profoundly. They miss their friends, they want to avenge them. They wanna bring their deaths some sort of meaning. They want to be remembered, and they want connections. The final episodes were so sad. I love remembering it.

"Is" by Yoko Kanno has such serene lyrics that can make your heart ache while soothing you and telling you that "Life goes on, and people sing their songs." It's what you wanna hear. It's acceptance. It's contentedness.

So yeah, that's what I remember about Terror in Resonance. It's not as highly rated of an anime, nor was it memorable to too many. It's those short bits, those moments of humanization, and the calming nature of acceptance that you remember. And they take a couch in your brain and say that they are here to stay.

I enjoy writing about stuff, I guess. It's much easier to write about myself. And writing reminds me of how beautiful a lot of these mediums are. Anime is a beautiful medium for creativity and story telling- stories that you hold dear to your heart and no matter how much time passes, you can always dig it up in some corner of your mind.

[aita-blorbos]

WIBTA for leaving my family?

My siblings and I are involved in a sort of… family business, you could say. We each have a specific job. These jobs are majorly influential— I don't think I can overstate the impact they have— but here's the thing I've figured out: they don't actually need to be done. That is, they need to be done, but they don't actually need someone to do them. If I just walk away, my job will do itself perfectly fine.

And I've been seriously thinking about walking away.

I've been doing this for my whole life, and by this point it's just too much. This isn't a good situation for me or any of my siblings. It's not a good situation for anyone. (Well. One of my sisters actually seems to have learned to cope pretty well, but the rest of us…) So… yeah, I don't think I can keep going like this. I need out. I've pretty much decided. I'm just worried about what it would do to my family.

I'd say goodbye, of course, but then I'd have to cut off all contact with them. I think my oldest brother (Y) will be okay. He already knows, though I don't know if he's come to terms with it. My older sister (H) will be upset, but she'll manage— like I said, good at coping. And she'll try to hold the family together, too. I'm just not sure how much she'll be able to do by herself. Two of my siblings (A and E) are always at odds with each other— I do my best to keep the peace between them, I don't know how far they might go if I'm not around to interfere anymore. And I'm especially worried about my little sisters (R and U). R needs someone to drag her out of the house every now and then, and if I leave, that person is probably pretty much always going to be E. Trust me when I say that would not be good. And U… honestly, if anyone will understand why I'm doing what I'm doing, she will, but she's the one I'm most worried about. She's still a kid, and she's less stable than the rest of us. I genuinely don't know how she'll react. The others will take care of her if it goes too badly, but… she's already been crushed under the weight of our reality. I don't think me leaving will be enough to break her again (or enough to break her further, at least not permanently), but I don't know for sure.

I don't want to leave them. (Frankly, it would be best if I could convince them all to leave this whole thing behind, but that's not going to happen any time soon. My sisters might be swayed eventually, but my brothers define themselves by their responsibilities so completely that I don't know if they could ever stop.) I just can't do this anymore.

So… WIBTA?

[lucius-morningstar]

Guy Talk

Takes place after episode four. Lucius was obviously not happy when hearing Angel had made his sister cry but he takes a different approach this time around. Anger won't help here, besides Charlie wouldn't be happy with him if he made it worse. So he tries to be as gentle but firm as he possibly can, things turn out.. Differently then he expected but not bad. -------- Lucius: Angel, you got a minute. Angel: For you baby, I got two. Lucius: Outside, come on. Angel: Ooh want a crowd do ya? Lucius: Not a joke, this is serious. Angel: ..Great. ----- Angel: So what'd you want to talk to me out here for. Lucius: It will stop Charlie from getting involved and doing what I need to do. Angel: What's that suppose to mean? Lucius: I heard about what happened at the studio yesterday. Angel: Fuck-.. Look I had to do it okay, you don't know Va- Lucius: Hush, Look Angel I may not know you well but I know the Vees enough. I get why you did it but that doesn't mean I'm happy about it. I can't begin to tell you how much I fucking hate it when people make my sister cry, especially when she goes out of her way to help them. Angel: I didn't ask her to help me ya know. Lucius: I know.. But that's who she is. I can't stop her anymore then you could. Believe me, meaner demons in hell have said worse and she still comes back kicking. Angel: So what, you gonna threaten me, yell at me. Knock my ass to the curb. Lucius: The yelling bit was my original idea and threats well I throw those at everyone. Knocking your ass to the curb, I only do that if they lay hands on my sister. It's a deal I made with my mom, I can't use physical violence if it wasn't used on us sorta thing. Angel: Great so can I go- Lucius: No because I'm not done. I'm not here to yell at you but empathize I guess. Angel: Empathize? Lucius: Yeah.. I had a friend who use to work with the Vees, she was real new ya know. Val basically tore her up and spit her out. She was like a hallow shell, no getting through to her and believe me. I tried, Charlie tried and in trying she lashed out. It was all she knew.. Same with drugs and alcohol, eventually she told me it wasn't working anymore. What she did next though, I wish I had seen coming. Angel: What'd she do? Lucius: During the extermination, I usually stay with Charlie because she hates it and I get nervous she'll try to go out and stop it. According to reports though that I got from Clara, she was on the list, someone reported seeing her just standing in the open. Just waiting.. Angel: ... Lucius: So as much as I want to be upset and angry, those feelings don't work on those who are.. Well use to it. You're use to being yelled at and told to do better, so what good would it do me to do that to you as well. I know you we're protecting her, in your own way but you have to understand as her brother I just-.. Seeing her in tears breaks me and knowing I can't help hurts even more. I don't know if you get it but- Angel: I have a sister.. Well I had one, so yea I get it. Lucius: She down here? Angel: *Snorts* Nah, she was a good gal. She's probably up there. Lucius: ...What's her name. Angel: ..Molly. Charlie reminds me of her a lot actually. I think that's another reason I lashed out. Molly-.. She's tried helping me too and a lotta fuckin good that did her. Lucius: Not your fault man- Angel: She felt like she could help me!, how's dat not my fault?! Lucius: Would she have stopped, even if she knew what would have happened. Angel: ..No, I-I don't think she would have. Lucius: Do you think she'd want you blaming yourself over something like this. Angel: No-No but who else can I blame, she got mixed up in my shit Lucius. Lucius: Then blame the people who hurt her, not the one who tried to protect her and before you start thinking about that, she doesn't hate you. Angel: And how da fuck do you know? Lucius: You said she's a lot like Charlie right. Seems pretty obvious to me. Angel: ... Lucius: Don't blame yourself, Molly would want you to get better so you can reunite with her. So how about it, do it for Molly. Angel: And for Charlie..