#burn coca-cola company

[thesharktanksdriver]

Through the bars of a cell do you see the stars are shackled too? (Platonic)

Welp yall, here it is! The 13k magnum opus I somehow wrote

Not sure if it’s any good but that’s for you guys to decide

Masterlist for this series 𝐓𝐚𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭: @peachsuka28 @emptynessinmyworld @badluckinfrench @j-s-l-m @tigerfang-rage @madokamagicaa @rymtea @angstylittleb1tch @badluckinfrench @emmbny @kenkenmaaa @yunho-leeknow @chibiduck @spqce-bun @coca-cola-fiend @Koifishpoond

If there was one thing Kaido knew about life was that it sucked. 

Day after day was a consistent drag of disappointment and bellowing sorrow.

there were only a few things that made it slightly bearable as he went from suicide attempt to suicide attempt as to finally end his own agony.

Booze

The company of a woman (alway Black Maria)

The thought of someone finally being worthy to kill him.

And the recollection of memories.

These four things made the time in which Kaido wasn’t actively taking a sword to his chest or gunshot to the head somewhat….ok. 

The first two of these were simple enough desires.

His entire crew indulged themselves just the same as him, though in relative moderation compared to Kaido’s ravenous appetite for both. They served as decent distractions, the buzz of booze and a pretty woman at just about anyone’s side was enough to at least raise someone’s mood. Kaido was no exception to this until that buzz went away and a woman’s touch faded to a lukewarm warmth that could never graze his heart.

The second was also yet another simple desire, a goal more to say. The thought of which made his blood boil in anticipation of someone finally being worthy of giving a finishing blow. His heart stopping and breath finally leaving his throat. Oden had been the closest to this, the scar proudly displaced on Kaido’s chest seen more as a badge of honor rather than a brush with death that many would look at in shame. 

If Kaido had been less of a man, perhaps he’d gaze at it the same way rather than something he often gleams at in a mixture of pride and melancholy.

But then there was that last distraction, perhaps the most effective of them all. 

Memory.

Kaido has lived a long life, one filled with various adventures that now make everything feel dull in comparison. 

He sometimes thinks of the Rocks pirates, the crew he was on all those years ago where he’d meet Linlin and Newgate.

Most times he thinks of Oden and their battle. The man he’d be willing to call an equal as they fought to the death before that dirt old hag pulled that underhanded trick. The bullet he put through the old Rulers head as he boiled.

Other times it's of the Boy formerly known as Alber in a lab. Fanning the flames that burned away at cracking test tubes and blindingly white lab coats. 

But of all memories he thinks of there was always one memory he found himself looking back to.

No matter how much he tried to drink and wash down the sorrow.

Nor the blood staining his hands that unlike the rest he tries to wash off.

He drinks and unfortunately remembers.

===

For as long as Kaido could remember he’s always been locked behind the bars of a cell and had the key thrown away.

Being born in vodka kingdom meant he was already drafted at birth for the sole purpose of being a cog in the machine of war.

The battle cries and burning villages served as his lullabies. 

Blood staining his hands at the ripe age of 5 like paint.

Club heavy in his hands as if it were a toy.

When you're born with shackles you don’t know the concept of freedom until you see it first hand. 

And Kaido saw it when the nobles of his kingdom sat down one night for a feast. They ate and ate as if it were the last thing they’d do, laughing at jokes and throwing the bones of chicken at the nearby stationed guards who stood and did nothing. Kaido was a part of that group, he stood as a 12 year old boy with a weapon in hand whilst having food he’d never been able to eat thrown at him.

He clutched his small hands readily made for crushing bones and splattering the innards of now dead fools.

But he was ordered to stand there and he did.

He stood there being mocked and having his horns tugged at.

A “tamed Oni”, one had cackled at him whilst grabbing his horns, pulling at them uncomfortably.

People used that term around him a lot. It had explained his horns that others did not have, nor the height and strength he had compared to other soldiers. They always treated him differently compared to the others, fear lingering in their eyes despite him accomplishing a raid.

Now he knows they were waiting for him to snap the leash curled in their hands.

To break the collar of “tame” they had bestowed him.

It would take a few years but ultimately they were right to be afraid.

Because no matter how much you domesticate a wild animal they with inevitably fall to instinct.

But unlike a wild animal who bite the hand that fed them they decided he’d be transferred to new masters.

It was more profitable that way. 

So instead Kaido became a bargaining chip.

His bunk with other soldiers was replaced with a damp dark dungeon though it wasn’t much different.

The invisible shackles became real and rubbed uncomfortably against his wrists.

And the slop he was already forced to eat somehow became worse.

In a cell Kaido sat.

And it was there he met a child a few years younger than him with eyes that caught his attention.

He could’ve sworn he saw the stars shine within their deep darkened irises.

It was there he met you.

===

“So what did you do to get thrown in here?” It’s a simple question but one that makes Kaido reared his head up from letting it hang down. A scowl paints his lips, keeping them in a downward slope as golden eyes look up from across the cell to you.

You sit there, head held up by your palm while you sit in a criss cross position. Bruises and dried blood paint skin, a sight he’s intimately familiar with yet like him you seemingly brush off the pain.

“They don’t like when their dogs rebel…so their selling me off”

It’s simple and to the point, he doesn’t want to talk further and his response should indicate that.

Yet you either don’t notice or ignore his tone.

“Ah…so you were a soldier right? How many years?”

“13”

“Wow” you tilt your head a bit at that, a mixture of amazement and disbelief along with sadness “13 years…when were you drafted?”.

Kaidō scowls, “at birth”

He watches confusion settle on your face. He quirks an eye at it.

“You're 13??” You sound exasperated at that, eyes widening a bit even as you say it.

“How old did you think I was?” He can’t help but ask.

“I thought you were in your 20’s maybe even 30’s”

Kaido in that moment suddenly felt that old as you said that. Did he really look that different compared to others? Guess it was that oni blood-

“Wow, you're even cooler than I thought! You can probably fool people into buying alcohol!” Saying this with a smile he can’t help but search it for sarcasm yet he finds none. Were you…really being genuine? Did you think he was “cool”?

Kaido didn’t really think anyone would describe him as that.

A monster, yes.

Demon.

Oni.

Devil child.

Beast.

But cool? That certainly wasn’t apart of the vocabulary spat at him by his superiors and civilians of burning villages.

“So wait, since you’ve been a soldier your entire life do you know anything outside of it?” It’s a stupid question, but one he guesses is still kinda nice to ask if only for conversation sake.

“What do you think?” 

You go silent and he thinks for a moment you stay that way, but after a minute you ask.

“Well, do you wanna know about the world then?”

With curiosity and maybe even a bit of hesitant crumbs of joy he nods.

You smile despite being in a dungeon chained to the wall adjacent to him.

===

Kaido had never once thought that the world could be so interesting until you brought color to it with all the knowledge you hold.

You talk of the islands where flowers grow and bloom, meant to be admired instead of crushed beneath military boots and razed into ash.

You explain the expanse of the night sky and the stories of constellations learned through years of travel. Stars he was taught to know the way back to the kingdom or to use as to navigate yet never appreciate their gentle light.

You tell of the burning sand between your toes and the expanse of crystal blue water that extends to the horizon, the sun setting over it in warm hues of orange, yellow and pink. He has walked across sandy shores but never truly felt sand beneath his feet, never truly stopped to enjoy the lapping of warm waves when the cold plunge and orders to swim are given.

You speak of freedom when all Kaido has ever known is of the chains and collar placed on him since birth.

And you breathe color into the monochrome world he once knew.

Kaido can’t help but imagine the world you describe to him, the sights and beauty of the sea.

Is it as truly free as you describe it?

Can someone like him who’s known the shackles of subjugation truly find peace there?  

Can he be free of the weight of chains just as you described?

Perhaps it was wishful thinking on his part (something very foreign to him) but he think he believed you.

Believed your words 

Believed your stories 

He’s left to ponder over them as you're dragged away by guards despite his protest.

He knows them well, worked with them once before and maybe had even shared drinks yet they look at him with disgust. With an apathy familiar and not foreign to him yet curls in his gut with disgusted anger. 

He tries to break free of the chains but cannot.

For hours alone in a cell he stares out the little barred window looking to the stars you taught him of.

And hours later you're dragged back more bruised and beaten than before but still keeping that damn smile. 

Still retaining the light and gentle air to you that makes you laugh off the broken arm that hangs limply.

“I never asked how you ended up here” Kaido finds himself saying as you rest against the cold stones of the wall, blood marring them a deep maroon as bugs crawl and cold water slithers down. You smile as you do for just about everything, it reminds him of the softness of fur that they had the grace to give in the coldest of winter “they keep asking how I ended up here, assume I’m a spy or something. They won’t take my word that I just ended up here by accident”.

“Did you?”

“Yeah, is guess you’d call it bad luck but I met you so it’s at least better than before” 

“How is me being here with you any better?”

“Having a friend in a cell to return to is better than nothing at all”

“You consider me a friend?” The word feels foreign on his tongue. He had colleagues, and his kingdom had allies made through treaties but never once has he heard that word applied to these relationships. There was always a hollow coldness to them, necessity over genuine companionship despite the same experiences of being born weapons.

“Of course I do” you say this as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world and it hurts his head. “I guess i never asked, but would you like to be friends?”     

Kaido doesn’t understand you, but maybe that’s why he likes you better than all the other recruits he was raised with.

 You actually think.

 You feel.

And you can create actual conversation about something other than the boring slaughter of more innocents. 

He could never call the razing of a village a war, not when they do not truly fight and just wait to be slaughtered to let the women and children flee. 

It does not satiate the craving for a true battle, a true foe, a true adversary for him to fight.

You do not scratch the itch of that fight but you do create a new one as he thinks of freedom beyond these bars.

Beyond the fate of being a pawn and soldier to master.

The itch gets stronger the more you talk, as does his urge to sit down and listen genuinely instead of mutely compute the drowning of orders.

Unlike commanders too caught up in their own pride you let him talk.

Let him ask questions.

Let him find different conclusions to morality even if yours and his budded heads.

But most of all you respected Kaido.

Respected him as a person rather than when you respect a monster because of fear.

And kaido finds himself returning the sentiment even if you're physically weak. But that’s ok, Kaido can make up for your lack of physical strength. 

Your mind is what’s more important anyways.

Your kindness he wishes to savor exclusively for himself even if in every other person he’d see it as weakness is written off. 

“Yes” he answers slowly, “I’d like that”.

===

Each day you're dragged out at some point and beaten within an inch of your life. Returning with more bruises budding into ugly purple spots as blood stains your white linen shirt a color he’s too familiar with. 

Cuts are crusted up as is old blood that keeps having more crust over.

More broken bones though now they aim for smaller ones, as to drag out having more to eventually break.

Each time you're brought back more broken than the last you keep greeting Kaido with a smile and it drives him mad. 

It also makes him realize just how strong you actually are though.

How resilient you are even in the worst of times.

They keep beating you for answers even when you repeat the same thing every time.

But you do not cry.

Don’t scream nor beg.

And that just seems to piss them off more and proves your resolve even further as to when they move to other methods like waterboarding and taking precise slashes.

You're determined not to give them what they want.

And that in turn makes them Determined to see you break.

To shatter into tiny shards that they’ll stomp into dust.

But even with that it’s nothing compared to you.

The burning look in your eyes rivals that of a thousand stars, and it burns Kaido to the core with how they shine.

How they do not flicker in the face of adversity.

Do not run out of fuel for the fire and just keeps burning to new intensity each time you come back.

Each time you stare at Kaido’s chains and the lock of the cell door.

In many ways you're weak but in others you are strong.

You're a contradiction in every sense of the word that Kaido wishes he could understand.

Because how can someone who has experienced such pain and cruelty of the world still smile as you do?

How can you still laugh with half a ribcage shattered and digging into your lungs.

How is it that despite it all you're laid back and calm even when a blade threatens to expose your innards to the world.

How can you be so soft and yet harder to crack than diamond coated on steel?

It doesn’t make sense (and it never will to him) but he wants to understand you.

Want’s to take the time to solve it like a puzzle instead of the regular way of solving problems via bashing it over the head enough times.

(He never gets the time to do this in the end though)

They don’t put your shackles on this time, it’s not worth the effort in their opinion when they’ve broken so many of your bones.

So they throw you on the hard floor, and lock up the cell once again.

You crawl your way to Kaido’s side of the cell, curling up next to him in a way that feels natural. He hikes an arm around you protectively as one would their own child, and while he doesn’t know what to consider you by (he now knows he considers you as one would a younger sibling) he knows he cares.

And while that’s a scary thought to him he can’t help but revel in it.

The fact that for the first time in his life besides pulling a trigger and watching the flames burn he cares. 

Cares for something of his own volition rather being ordered to. 

Despite being similar in age to him, you're so small in his arms. It’s mostly due to his Oni blood but a swelling of protectiveness wells up in him. He’s felt it before as they drag you off, yells at them to stop and leave you alone. But now settled in his arms so physically broken and battered it really dawns on him.

You're a child and so is he.

You only help to cement this in a small moment of vulnerability in his arms.

“I miss my home…even if I can’t remember it anymore.” He sees tears glistening in moonlight that peaks through the bars. You don’t cry from the beatings and torture like a skilled soldier, but you cry for home just as a child would.

 “I want to remember but I can’t and it hurts so much. It hurts so much Kaido, and I can’t do anything about it. I’d rather rip out my heart and burn my nerves to nothing or crush each individual bone to dust if it meant it could remember what home was like. I miss it so bad and I don’t even know what I miss” 

Kaido doesn’t know what to say, what to input and make you feel better because weapons are not meant to comfort others.

Monsters aren’t meant to hold the hand of the child, they're meant to scare.

But he tries.

“What do you remember?”

You bite back tears, swallowing them down to smile once more though now he sees how it wavers. It cracks ever so slightly at the corners, no one notices because it’s so bright that they never look there to see how practiced it is.

“It’s really hazy…” you start, playing with broken fingers before he stops you by placing his battle torn ones atop your own “but I remember a garden”

“What did it grow?”

“Flowers mostly…maybe peonies? Oh! And lilies. But I also remember strawberries, well more like remember the taste of them”

“What did they taste like?” He’s heard of those berries before but has not tasted them.

“Sweet…tart and earthy. I think I planted them because I was alone for periods of time?”

“Why’s that?”

“I think my parents” for a second you pause in consideration and contemplation, he watches the tears run in your head. But then eyes light up with a hazed recognition “they had to travel for work sometimes. They’d stay for long periods at home and then leave. They didn’t want me to go with them…thought it was dangerous maybe?”. 

He nods at that.

That sounded like a fair enough reason, especially for someone like you.

Gentle and kind.

Showing Weakness even if it also seemed to be your strong suit.

The world has and would eat you up.

“Mom smelled of spices all the time. I think she came from a desert island, and liked to visit it. She would bring me back things”

“Do you remember what those were?”

“No…I just remember my sash came from that place. Made of special silk or something” you look down, but your sash is not there. Probably taken and sold already when you were initially dragged into the dungeon. 

“Your dad?”

“He…I think he liked helping people.” 

“So he’s like you then”

Your smile seems to become more genuine at that.

“Kaido my memory is really bad, I forget a lot. if…I can’t remember all of this then can you do it for me?” You look at him, those stars he swears he can see hidden in them shine once more. How can he refuse such a thing? Not when you’d made him feel like he isn’t just a gun to be held or a weapon to hold. “It’s like you said, we’re friends” he feels weird saying this but maybe in a good way “I don’t mind”.

===

The marines will be there for him soon, he knew it was a matter of time but despite that he can’t help but feel as if it has all flown away in a mere month.

What should have been a time in which he lamented alone,Cold and starved. It was filled with knowledge, warmth and fulfillment none of which he’d ever had the privilege in knowing. To his commanders he didn’t deserve it but you seem to think otherwise. 

You always seemed to think otherwise to what he was taught.

When they dragged you back one night he noticed your smile was wider than it usually would. There was something about it that was innately different. 

Once more they don’t lock you in shackles, just throwing you limply to the ground.

Your eyes watch as they slam the door and leave.

Something in them sparks up like a match in the dark. 

A chuckle escapes your lips and he watches you sit up despite the broken bones. Worry etches itself into him.

“Stop moving your hurt!”

“I’m fine, had worse” it’s said as if it’s something as casual as the weather. “Anyways Kaido, where do you wanna go first when we get out of here?” You have that gaze again, it feels like a trick question.

“When?”

The look in your eye gets stronger as cracked fingers caked in your own blood reach into your pocket and pull out a key.

It gleams in the moonlight like your tears once did.

You repeat the question again.

“Where do you wanna go first when we get out of here?”

Kaido thinks back to your tales and finds his thoughts of where he’d be most free and answers back.

“The sea”

===

The escape is not pretty, blood was shed and Kaido is covered head to toe in red. You don’t fare much better but that’s mostly due to the fact you were in the splatter zone of Kaido’s rampage, which while you didn’t agree with was likely the only way for either of you to get out alive after being spotted.

The salty breeze rustles his hair and drifts past his horns, the ivory is stained red until he’s able to wash it.

On the small boat the two of you stole he lays down beside you on the wooden flooring. It creaks lightly because of his weight, but does not crack. The two of you look up to the stars, he wonders if they are as free as he feels whilst he stares up at them covered in the blood of his captors and by (one of) the only person he’d call a Friend’s side. 

For the first of many few times in his life Kaido feels happy to be alive, if only for this moment of respite.

And it’s the first time he feels like he could take the world.

If only for you to grasp and hold for the freedom you gave him.

Because just for that, for breaking his shackles he’d give you everything and more.

(It’s a sentiment Alber would come to understand as well, many years in the future.) 

Kaido looks to the stars, he thinks they shine brighter than when he was behind that of prison bars.

“I…I think they shine brighter here than before” he mumbles, he hears you move slightly closer despite all your broken bones and bruises.

“That might be because you’d never truly had the chance to stop and stare”

“Maybe” Kaido feels himself grunting “but everything kinda feels different now that I’m free”

“How so?”

He pauses for a moment, thinking how to phrase it before saying “it feels like things have color, it isn’t monochrome anymore. I can feel the wood beneath my fingers and sand sticking to my feet instead of ignoring the sensation because of orders. Salt stays on the tip of my tongue instead of gray slop that drowned away all taste…things can just exist without a purpose in war”.

Kaido had never been one for metaphors or flowery language, but for this he isn’t sure how else to explain it.

It all feels different.

He feels different, like a weight off both his shoulders and wrists.

Like new breath in his lungs.

An icy cold plunge into new waters.

It feels exhilarating and unpredictable.

He feels alive. 

For the first time he thinks he can say he truly feels alive, rather than just surviving. 

Not scraping by.

Not simply living without thought or question.

But alive.

Laying close to his head one of your hands goes to his hair, gently weaving it between fingers so much smaller than his own. 

“Now that we’re at sea, is there any other place you’d like to go next?” You ask looking up to the stars yourself, he wonders if they reflect the ones in your eyes or if yours are their own little night sky.

“I haven’t thought that far yet.” He answers honestly, he focuses on the Big Dipper and Little Dipper, he thinks that they reflect both himself and you. “But so long as we’re free then I’m content in where we go” he says this Earnestly, turning his attention from that of the celestial bodies to you.

There's a look on your face he can’t place.

But he thinks it’s some sort of sadness.

It looms over you like a specter and soaks you to the bone in melancholy.

But you nod, and let the silence punctuated by waves take over.

He doesn’t get that look now, but he later realizes it’s the look of “I’m sorry”.

===

He realized too late your wounds should not look that way.

He knew they shouldn’t have in the beginning but it only sets in now after examining them himself. 

Kaido knew he was no Field medic. His hands were only used to destroy and Maim and kill. But Kaido tried. 

Because that’s all Kaido could do.

Try.

Try for you.

Try for you to be more than just an agent of destruction.

Of trying to do his best in treating the wounds despite the fact he does not know how to be gentle.

How to properly show care.

But nevertheless Kaido tries, he wraps your wounds and cleans them with water even if he has to hold your hand due to the sting of salt. 

His hope is that you’ll float by a marine ship, in which he’d raid it and find their doctors to fix your infections.

But for now besides that he had to stabilize you, which seemed to be a fighting effort considering you don’t seem to care all that much.

At least for yourself.

When it had come to Kaido you placed him over yourself much to his dismay. Even back in that damp and dirty cell you’d done that. Giving him half your scraps of food, pouring a good portion of dirty water into his cup. 

“You need it more than me” is what you had told him along with something like “you're bigger than me which means you need more food to power you” and “I’ve survived with less, I’ll be fine”.

He’d at the time hesitantly accepted it, but now as he dives into the ocean and catches fish to cook he doesn’t take those excuses anymore. Even if he has to basically force a large portion of Cooked fish in your hands and sit down in front of you glaring, telling you to eat.

But that is the least of his issues when it comes to you.

Kaido knows that for a 13 year old he’s mature, as are you despite being younger than him.

But he feels like a damn nurse trying to make you take medicine when it comes to the simplest things.

No, make sure you stay hydrated.

You can’t skip out on getting rest just cause someone needs to be on lookout. It's fine.

Stop poking at the very infected wound that’ll irritate it!

Stop moving around when half your bones are broken!!

At 13 Kaido thinks he has gray hairs already setting in. Because this makes him feel as old as what you first assumed him to be when the two of you met.

You're stubborn as a mule on this, practically forcing him to keep you bed ridden with the minimal supplies this small fishing vessel had. The couch you lay on is itchy as are the sheets used as blankets but it’s something and that’s all Kaido has other than you.

But even with your condition of what should be constant physical agony you keep insisting on getting up.

On trying to help around the small sea vessel.

Saying you had to look out for your own boat even if he doesn’t think that’s very likely but promised he’d look out for it in your stead.

Help trying to navigate even if he knew how to.

For some reason you can’t seem to sit still, mind always needing to focus on something even if the waves were calm and weather was fine. When he’d check in on you as you rested he’d alway find you staring out the small port window, eyes glazed over. 

The haze of memory clouding them.

You tended to do that a lot in that cell but telling stories seemed to make it go away for a while.

But now you do it more often and he isn’t sure if it’s just how you are or if the infection is getting to you.

Either or, it leaves him sleepless at night More than he’d like to admit.

“Oh kaido? I never asked but why do you have horns?” You suddenly ask as he places down the slightly burnt piece of fish. Cooking was a skill taught to him…but cooking good food wasn’t. “You ask that now?” He responds then making you shrug your shoulders.

“didn’t think it was too important to ask at the time”

At that he rolls his eyes, picking up a piece of fish for you to eat. “I’ll answer if you eat”

“Ok” that was a bit easier than he thought- “but only if I get to keep asking questions”

“Fine” it comes out as an exasperated groan but to be honest a small bit of pride swells up in him.

You take a bite of the fish he cooked, eating it without complaint even though the outside is charred to ash. You look at him expectantly.

“I’m an Oni”

He waits for a reaction, but all he gets is a “oh, cool”.

“Is…that really your reaction to learning that?”

“Am I supposed to have a different reaction?”

“Yeah” he grumbles “I’m an Oni. O, N, I.” 

He looks at your face, you have the most clueless expression he thinks he’s ever seen.

“You…you don’t know what that means do you?”

“Not really? But I was just wondering if they were fake or not. Either or it doesn’t change my opinion on you” 

“And what’s your opinion of me?”

“I think your cool…and your my friend who deserved better than what life gave you”

He pauses momentarily at that, but nods.

He thinks the same of you, that you deserve better than this.

“…thanks. What’s your next question?”

You take another bite, “oh! Here’s a good question!” You suddenly turn a bit serious “what’s your dream?”

“My dream?”

“Yeah! What’s your dream now that you're free? What do you wanna do? What do you want to accomplish?” 

“I want to change the world” he says after a moment of contemplation.

“Cool!”

But that wasn’t the entire truth.

He left out a part at the end.

I want to change the world for you.

===

You’ve been acting more off than usual, and that’s saying something since you always act weird. Always having an odd look in those eyes of yours that encompass the night sky itself even in all its expanse. 

But now those eyes seem…obscured in a sense.

You're half-there and half-not.

Because of the infections you’ve developed a fever and you're losing sight of things.

Sweat pours from your forehead and breath remaining stagard as you took in deep puffs of breath.

Chills have begun to rack up your spine leaving you a shivering mess. He lets you cling to him, leaching off the warmth he naturally produces as his blood stained hands try to rub comforting circles into tousled and sweaty hair.

He doesn’t mind.

He can’t when your in obvious pain and confusion.

Mind slipping back and forth between conscious and unconscious, past and the present. 

Today he tried to have you tell a story but you kept fumbling over your own words.Trailing off and suddenly going quiet for minutes on end and then asking him what you were talking about.

You apologize for this. As well as being an inconvenience.

For being sick.

For slowly losing yourself in the veil of loopiness as your body gets worse.

But that’s hardly something that’s your fault.

It’s his.

(Or at least that’s what he blames himself for)

After failing to tell a story you go quiet for a while. 

Eerily so.

It sets him off tilter since he’s used to your voice constantly being in the air.

You don’t seem to know what to say anymore.

So instead Kaido decides to fill the air instead.

“Apparently in Oni culture we let someone close to us make a mark on our horns” it comes out of nowhere and it takes a minute for you to compute but when it does he sees fascination light up your face. 

“How do you know that?” Your voice questions, the sound of it easing some of his tension. You're still there, still conscious and not lost in your own mind. “I thought you didn’t know much about your people, considering you were one of the only ones likely left?”.

“A commander mentioned it once” 

He thinks back to that particular memory.

Said commander looking at the small horns poking out from disheveled hair. They weren’t quite as big as they were now, just barely enough to be called proper horns. 

He remembers that man’s laugh as he roughly grabbed them and tugged Kaido along with them.

“He said that when they were big enough they should carve the kingdom's emblem into them. A sign of ownership and of its importance”

“To you?”

“No, more like how it was above me” 

Now thinking back he isn’t sure if that man’s words were true or not. He’d been so deprived of information about a people he’d never met nor traditions he’d never see that any crumb would be eaten up by his mind.

Maybe it was made up.

But even if it wasn’t it remained stuck in his head.

“I want you to carve something” 

For a money you pause, a look of confusion stuck.

“Why though? I don’t want to make it seem like mark of ownership, that’s wrong”

Lightly he smacks your forehead with his finger, he ignores how it’s too hot and the sweat that sticks to it.

“You idiot, did you not hear what I said first? It’s meant to be a thing of friendship between us. They wanted to use it as something else, I want to use it as it’s meant to be used” 

“But what would I even carve? I don’t wanna put my name. That would seem weird”

Kaido pinches the bridge of his nose, then looking at you once more.

At least he knew you’d be genuine about it.

But even then your being too picky about shit-

“Do a star then”

He gets the idea when for a brief moment his eyes connect with your own.

They sparkle even with the hazy look in them.

“Will it hurt you though?”

“Doesn’t matter, I’ve been through worse”

“Well it matters to me-“

“Yeah well, you’ve used the same excuse before of things being worse. I don’t know what you’ve been through but I’ve been a soldier up till now, I can handle it”

By the end of the night as you lay asleep atop of him, head planted above where his heart would be (if he really ever had one) his fingers trace the indent of a messy carved star.

It’s slightly lopsided.

It doesn’t look even.

Or maybe even doesn’t look like a four pointed star to others.

But to Kaido it means everything to him.

(Something that even now years in the future despite being depressed and suicidal he fondly drags a finger over the carved notch. It’s one of the few things that can make him slightly smile about. A sight of which makes his commanders ponder of, though only King knows of its true significance to him)

It serves as an anchor or sorts.

A sign.

A motivation.

A determination for a dream.

A connection.

A symbol of freedom and a spark.

A sign of friendship to someone he feels is rapidly slipping from his grasp at each moment. Much like sand between his fingers or blood pouring from an open wound.

He cannot sew it up now matter how hard he tries,

He has to watch you bleed out slowly in pain.

And it kills him slowly on the inside.

Especially as you seem to be losing yourself bit by bit.

Kaido holds you closer, he hopes to not have to let you go.

But he knows at this point it is inevitable.

The fever isn’t going down and just seems to get worse.

The end is nigh.

===

A few years ago Kaido had saw a half dead rabbit in the camp near his bunkhouse with the others his age.

It’s white spotted fur matted with dirt and its own blood as it lay mutilated but alive. The small animal writhed on the ground, ants picking away at its flesh as it sat there still alive to be eaten. It’s a cruel fate for any living thing, but one that is not unexpected for a creature that was weak.

Or at least that’s what they told him.

His superior saw his gaze at the creature and scoffed when Kaido reached a hand to end its agony. 

He was told to let it writhe.

It was the rule of the world that the weak would die for the strong to survive.

The weak were meant to be eaten by the strong. 

And so the bunny was left to be taken apart slowly.

Dying in wheezing pain.

Left there to die in agony instead having its suffering ended with the quick snap of its neck.

Kaido didn’t know how to feel as it sat there in pain, he felt sort of sorry for it but he was given orders. 

And that was the way of the world.

He thinks back to that rabbit now and finds the similarity between you both too apparent.

Both small helpless creatures in pain.

You wheeze just as it did though now due to your feverish state.

You shiver as its body once did though instead of the chilling snow it’s now your body playing tricks on you.

And just like that small rabbit your fate is in his hands.

He has to decide whether to let you continue to a painful death just as it did or end it now. 

This decision weighs heavy on him now because he isn’t given orders to obey.

He has to make this choice of his own volition.

And for once he thinks there was one upside to being given orders to be a weapon.

Because morality and feelings never came into the mix.

He’d be given a task, do it and never have to think of how it made him feel nor the consequences of those actions on others.

It was survival.

Yet now decision weighs heavy in his mind, on his shoulders and most importantly in his hands as you are cradled by them.

He can’t help but notice once more that you're so small in them. He knows it’s mostly due to his oni blood but a part of him attributes it to how fragile you are. It would be so easy to hurt you by accident. So, so, so easy for the world to shatter you like glass. 

He’s surprised it hasn’t already or perhaps it did and you're a pro at picking yourself up back together.

Your form is held gently but close.

Kaido doesn’t want to let you go from his grasp.

Wants to hoard you to himself.

He doesn’t want you to go.

To leave him alone with this burning feeling in his heart at the thought of you going.

But Kaido knows that in the end he cares too much for you to let that part of himself overpower the right thing to do. 

No matter how much it’ll tear him apart and shatter him at his core.

You're worth so much more than both those combined. 

And he’s willing to become more broken than he already was just for you to die in peace.

His hands shake, you notice.

“ you ok…Kai?” The shortened form of his name was something you’d begun calling him a few days back. Speaking hurt your throat, so instead under his demand you’d stuck to short sentences. But at this point he’s unsure if you think he’s him or if you think your speaking to someone else.

“I’m fine…just” what does he say? What's he supposed to do? He’s 13 and he’s killed more than he could ever count yet this feels different. He’d never known his victim so well, never cared for them as he did with you. “I just need to know something” before he does this, even in your feverish state he needs to find some solace.

Tilting your head back to look up at him he sees your eyes struggling to focus. Squinting at his face almost as if drunk with uncertainty at who he was. 

“What is it?” Your words are slurred and slow, raspy and thin. The complete opposite as to what you sounded like before in that cell even with a broken set of ribs. You used to speak with such certainty and strength, joy and wonder leaking from each word. 

Your voice is but an echo of what it once was. Quiet and loosing its grasp before fading to silence.

“…even if we go our separate ways…will you still consider me your friend? Will you still care for me?”

You smile.

And Kaido feels the world shift ever so slightly.

“Course Kai.” Reaching up a hand you graze the ivory of his horns, a finger tracing the small star mark he let you carve “your my friend. I’ll always love you, always care for you even when gone. One day we’ll see each other again”.

Maybe you're more coherent than he initially thought.

Maybe you realized his intentions of putting you out of this misery.

Or maybe you genuinely think that you’ll meet once more.

In a way your right, you’ll one day meet in the realm of the dead.

(Something he now oh so desperately craves to go to)

Either way it’s all the motivation he needs to do this.

His hands shake as they shift grip to cradle the back of your head.

(A monster like him does not deserve your care, to ever feel loved as he did as your friend. But even then that’s an understatement, you were more like the family he never had. The annoying little sibling he never asked for but loved as if you were flesh and blood)

You stare up at him from your place, head leaning against where his beating dead heart is.

(Star filled eyes look up at him and they make it so that he can never look at the night sky again. Even in onigashima on the clear night skies with shining stars he cannot look at them. Only because he’s flooded with the guilt)

“Kaido?” You sound a bit more coherent than before, you look at him with a confused smile as your hands graze over the tears coming from golden eyes.

(He imagines the rabbit, if on that day he’d ended its misery. The flooding relief of death sweeping over its form that was left to rot and be picked apart by the scavengers. He promises you will not be left to that fate, that the world will not tear you apart as you die a slow painful end)

“What are you-“.

There’s a twist and then a crack.

The sound is quiet yet it rattles through his hands and into his core where sorrow roars its head for the very first time.

Slumping down to the ground he holds you, and doesn’t want to let you go.

He closes his golden eyes and falls asleep clutching a dead corpse (that unbeknownst to him began to fade away as he slipped into unconscious. He wakes up later on a marine’s ship and assumes they tossed your body, there are no survivors to tell the tale but himself).

Death is all that Kaido’s hands are good for, he isn’t ashamed of this fact but this time he feels genuine loss.

One of the few times he ever will. 

And just like the other time when he feels loss for a person he kills much later on in the future.

You and Oden smile in the face of death.

The sight haunts and transfixes him at the same time.

And it makes Kaido crave it all the more knowing the two people he misses smiled as death took them.

He wonders if the sight of the other side or complete and utter peace in the reaper's cold hands did it.

Either way he wishes to go out the same.

With content in his cold withered heart and a smile.

===

Kaido isn’t sure if he believed in ghosts and spirits, but he did believe that in some way you were still with him even in death.

Because you linger subconsciously in his mind and everything he comes across. 

When he joined the Rock’s pirates under Newgates offer he imagines what would have happened if you were still with him. Would you have wormed your way into the murderous crew’s hearts just as you did him?

He knows for a fact he would have had to fight Newgate for you. 

The man’s dream of a family aligning all too well with how he would have scooped you up the minute Kaido stepped on that ship.

Linlin talks about a childhood best friend that sounds a lot like you.

She reminisces about it quite a bit, no one but him actually listens (even then he only does this for his own nostalgia of you and how similar this friend of hers and you sound alike). That seems to help get him on her good side though with how young he was when joining that helped as well, she now calls him “little brother”. It’s an affectionate term, one that he isn’t quite sure how he feels about when she messes up his hair and slaps him on the back.

He thinks it’s then that he realized he viewed you the same way Linlin does for him.

Little sibling. 

It’s always after someone is gone do you realize the true extent of their importance to you.

It’s only when they're gone do you feel their loss in the world and your life.

He thought he had prepared for loss, for mourning and grief.

But they still hit him harder than any bullet or attack. 

It’s perhaps a true testament to you and your affect on him. 

Linlin at some point has him try a strawberry shortcake once he says he’d never had strawberry before. She enthusiastically hands him a piece, it surprises both him and everyone else on board. She never shared her sweets, let alone with anyone on board besides maybe Stussy and Gloriosa when they were on those weird weeks where they smelled of blood and were moodier than usual.

So he tries it.

The small red berry with bits of white frosting stuck to it, it hits his taste buds with an onslaught of sweetness.

It’s as you described strawberries to taste, sweet and earthy, its juice pools in his mouth and leaks from the corner of his lips.

But at the same time it’s bitter and dull.

He swallows it down though, and eats the rest as Linlin grins in delight. 

She asks him how it was and he responds that it was fine.

She does not know of how it leaves a bitter taste in his mouth even after trying to wash it down with sake and whatever booze was offered that night.

Only Newgate seem notices of how he tried to wash out his mouth.

Thankfully he does not ask.

And Kaido luckily does not have to tell of how the too sweet taste of icing and lingering bitterness of fresh strawberry stains him.

(When Linlin sends shipments of strawberry shortcakes years later Kaido bitterly eats them just as they leave a bitter taste in his mouth. King asks him why he eats them despite his clear distaste for the sweet confection. He just says it’s because it’s a gift and because he values the bittersweet of strawberry. King raises an eyebrow at this, but does not comment on it. Instead he join in on finishing the many sweet confections even if like Kaido he prefers more savory dishes) 

===

In a lab many years later after gods valley Kaido finds a white haired boy chained up to a table. 

Red burning eyes stare to that of gold ones.

Kaido knows his eyes are not like yours, they do not burn with the same intensity of Starfire but they do burn.

They burn like the flames that eventually eat up the rest of the facility as shackles are broken. 

He learns the boy's name is Alber, a last surviving member of the Lunarian race that had been slaughtered much like his own. Unlike horns he possesses wings and an undying spark. Both of which weakly cling to life after years of poking and prodding by people in white coats that are now marred by ash and blood. 

Kaido was sure of it after he had bludgeoned enough of them with his own bare hands or let the collapsing building take care of the few stranglers.

Alber in the escape is reborn anew in the ashes of a burning lab as King.   

A fitting name for someone who would eventually come to rule this forsaken world at Kaido’s side.

As King looks up to him, with widen ruby red eyes Kaido notices how they look at him. He looks at Kaido as if he had hung the moon and stars, perhaps in a way Kaido had for the young Lunarain.

King does not remember much of his home besides the scent of burning wood of a giant bonfire and the subsequent burning of their homes.

Fire had been important to their people, it symbolized that of the blazing fires of the stars. The eternal fire of their spark hung just behind them like the star that was hung above the red line. It was said to have been given to them as a symbol of home no matter where they flew.

The star was placed there to always show them their way back home.

That the ones touched by their elusive god would have their sparks changed to immortalize that star.

It is ironic then that fire is used to burn away their land to bring forth Mary Geoise. 

What had used to be the land of winged people as free as the sky is reborn as the place where so called “celestials” harbor hundreds of thousands as slaves.

The lucky few lunarians had their wings tethered in chains before being dropped into the ocean to flail and drown or just properly slaughtered in the massacre as they were shot down from the sky.

The rest who don’t share that fate are privy to something much worse. Either shipped off to a lab or dismembered into exotic pieces to be kept as a part of a collection as are the remnants of their culture.

Black wings are hung up as mantle pieces above fireplaces that burn in a crude irony.

Moon White hair was cut off and woven into decorations for dresses.

Red eyes plucked from skulls to be turned into exotic centerpieces to long tables filled to the brim with imported foods.

Kaido knows that Oni horns are similarly used as decorations. 

The ivory carved into statues or used as the keys to piano’s that are played by slaves or the few lucky musicians that are deemed good enough to be in the presence of self acclaimed gods.

Like King, Kaido also knows little to none about his own culture as well.

Both their people slaughtered for decoration, leaving them clueless to their own traditions.

Yet another thing that makes him and King feel somewhat connected. 

They are both the last of their kind.

Shackled and chained like property before being broken free.

Two connected with a dream to change the world. 

Both were freed and were able to see the moon and stars once again on a beautiful night punctuated by the blood of their captures.

While King does not remember his people he does remember the stars, stars he now gets to see again.

So it’s no wonder he thinks Kaido hung them.

He looks at Kaido just as Kaido did to you.

Once more Kaido ponders if you watch him from the world beyond.

If you're proud of him for doing just as you did all those years ago.

Kaido hopes so.

===

For a good while in his life Kaido feels aimless.

To be fair, in a sense he’s always been slightly aimless. Going from place to place, adrift before he was recruited to Rock’s crew and then had to jump ship when that went up in smoke. 

He has his right hand.

He builds his crew.

Is proclaimed a Yonko and emperor of the seas.

Has a blood child.

But the hollowness in his chest does not get placated nor fade.

It only ever seems to feel worse.

The world feels like once more that it’s back to monochrome, only stray bits of color only ever appearing when he’s drunk enough to forget.  Even then the world does not feel as vibrant as it was before even when in inebriated color. 

Everything feels faded out and sullied.

Almost as if it were drowned and pulled back out from the water.

Theoretically he should be happy, but he isn’t.

There were only a few times in his life that he ever was and it started with you before going downhill from then on.

In the back of his mind he wants to blame you for this unhappiness.

You who brought him a world of light and color before having it ripped away by his own hands as a mercy to you. From then on it never seemed the same, its color began to fade as did his eventual want to live. Back when the broken neck was cradled in his hands he wanted to go with you, but surmised that you wanted better for him.

You always did.

Always put himself above you even if you were equally starving and cold.

Kaido doesn’t regret being alive, not when you fought so valiantly for him to do so and for having the opportunity in freeing King. but he does regret living to the point that he now considered it a prison in its own right.

Regrets that he now cannot look at the stars and when he does he wonders if they too are chained to their positions in the sky. 

perhaps you had known that as well.

The forlorn look you’d give when looking out to sea even in a fevered and hazy state. Eyes tracing the stars with a sadness that he could not place.

Perhaps you’d Known all of this, yet tried to keep Kaido in blissful ignorance knowing how miserable it would make him.

Even with all of this Kaido cannot hate you, nor have any ill will towards you.

Not even if he forced himself to try.

Never could he hate you.

He could hate the world and himself but never you.

Never because of the kindness you’d given.

And most importantly for the fact that he now believes you to be something else.

Kaido isn’t quite sure where exactly he first hears of the story of “Joyboy” but even with the scraps he is given it stays in his mind. It lingers and festers with curiosity. An itch that he cannot scratch until he finds more stories, then rinse and repeat.

Kaido thinks that in a way you were sent by Joyboy to him.

Maybe it was a coincidence.

Or something else entirely but you brought to him the liberation he had dreamt of.

Caused within him the spark of a burning star to create change to the world for you (one that now does not care if that change is for the betterment of the world or the destruction of it in your long forgotten name that he hordes)

But this first starts off as a stray thought as he learns more and more about the god. The small bits of information he’s been able to collect is varied and old but what the legend tells him is enough to create more similarities. Most of the stories have been covered up or collected by marines, luckily they can’t do much when he raids their bases and takes what information he wants.

More information is learnt.

And eventually he comes to believe that maybe you truly were some envoy sent by the perpetual smiling god.

You died with a smile like he would.

(As does Oden and Roger)

More of his mind makes connections probably not there but ones he so desperately wants to be true.

Because if you were sent by him that means it validates how you're a shining beacon of sunspot in the dark expanse of his mind.

Like a star in the sky.

Like the stars that match the innermost depths of your eyes.

Maybe if you were sent by JoyBoy it’s a sign of breaking free of the chains of the living realm.

Maybe he will break Kaido free since he’s the only one worthy and strong enough to finally end this.

Maybe Kaido can see you again.

Maybe Kaido will see a night sky with stars that are unshackled.

Maybe your death will mean something other than a tragedy and the turning point of how things have become dull and pointless.

===

Kaido did not have the capability to love.

Respect, yes. But love? No.

It had long died in his chest as did his heart when he was born and raised to be a mindless weapon. Maybe it had had a chance of beating once more (and maybe it was revived momentarily when on that small ship adrift at sea before a sobering snap rang out into the night and a body fell limp in his hands) but that had long been buried in the past.

In his chest sits a dead heart that lays in its coffin within the ground (he does not acknowledge that he had to rebury it or that it was for a short period of time reanimated) .

Kaido cannot love even if he tries (not anymore at least).

Kaido wants to love Yamato but he cannot on account of who Kaido is as a person.

Weapons are not capable of love.

Neither are Yonko’s (the strong ones at least. Shanks and Newgate can hardly be considered that when they show weakness in pride)

When Kaido was just Kaido, an escaped bargaining chip ready to be sold he might have (and he did, he had the love of a friend but that died when they did).

But now he is the captain of the beast pirates.

A monster like him does not deserve love in the first place, he should not crave it. (But Even if that’s correct your words of “your my friend. I’ll always love you” reverberate like an echo chamber within his skull. He tries to bash his head against a wall yet nothing is able to make it stop echoing. He didn’t deserve what you had given yet you gave it anyways)

He has no time for love.

No time to coddle Yamato. 

Yamato has to be strong to face the world.

Has to be strong as to one day kill and not let it haunt him.

To not let the crack of a neck ring in his mind when he thinks he finally has peace.

To not see the dulling eyes that reflect the stars fade out and burn themselves instead into his head.

To not realize the world has color before it’s taken from him.

(But that happens anyways, and like it happened to Kaido it is set into motion when someone smiles in the face of death. For Yamato his spark for his dream boils in intensity and for Kaido it’s a spark that now wants to fizzle out) 

===

Onigashima feels different for some reason and Kaido can’t place a finger on it.

Maybe not a bad type of different per say but it’s one that he notices in time as things progress.

It started off with Black Maria seeming more chipper than usual. The normally malicious smile hidden behind a careful mask momentarily satiated. Red painted lips genuinely up turned as she talks of her newest edition of a letter deliverer. A “cute little thing” her workers picked up from the streets battered and cold. 

Maria always had a soft spot for kids, evident from how she even coddled Yamato even when Kaido told her it would make the child soft. So it doesn’t make Kaido too surprised that she picked up one out of the many strays that wander the streets. Though, how a lone child ended up in Onigashima is beyond him.

She talks fondly of them, her “little messenger” that has seemingly captured the favor of the black widow.

Somehow getting caught in her web yet navigating it and the rest of lions den with ease.

She seems to be having custom kimono and Yukata made for her messenger. Something she occasionally mentions with a rogue tinged smile as her nails dance across Kaido’s bicep. She seems happy, genuinely. He respects her enough to nod along, content in that she is also content.

Next is seemingly Sasaki and Who’s-Who, there’s been less of their demanding fights with Queen, Jack and especially King. 

The two had seemingly befriended the young messenger Black Maria had employed (much to her displeasure because now their apparently “hogging” them from her).

This then extended to Ulti and eventually Page one as well. Apparently they had somehow worked their way onto her good side, even being able to somewhat calm her down which was a godsend for many of the other beast pirates. God knows the amount of times she’s sent a good chuck in grunts to the ER from a small spot of anger. 

But then surprisingly enough even Queen and King seem to take interest in this messenger.

For Queen it’s loud but transactional interest.

Kaido can hear the concerts he puts on but now with added guitar riffs and solos. The crowds cheer with such vigor that almost all of Onigashima shakes with excitement.

For King it’s quiet but personal. 

Kaido knows that his right hand has never trusted nor legitimately liked anyone but himself.

King has never formed friendships beyond that of Kaido and that was fine. 

King was a grown man, he could make his own decisions in life and that included who he (or in this case who he didn’t) talk to. But seeing his right hand for once actually made happy, well it created in kaido an inkling of relief.

For so long King had wallowed in a similar sadness to Kaido.

King had not enjoyed anything, even when partaking in activities such as drinking or partying he only did it for Kaido.

At first Kaido could understand. He finds no point in living, and can’t find enjoyment in much anymore. But Kaido had things, he had Onigashima and the love of thrill for battle and booze and the longing embrace of death.

But later he came to notice that King had nothing besides Kaido. 

King had no people he legitimately talked to beside Kaido.

He never attended parties if Kaido was not there.

He never even took enjoyment in fights.

He never walked with purpose unless Kaido gave him a task to achieve.

King had nothing.

Nothing but the belief that Kaido would bring change and his goal was to just solely help him achieve that change.

And while Kaido saw life to be a prison he wanted King to not see it that way.

He wanted King to live.

To soar just as his people once proudly did.

Wanted to give him what he had gained from his time with you.

To paint the bleak world in color for someone he broke from chains.

To make the bars of life not visible nor matter.

To never realize the stars were collard and held in place.

So hearing he was happy for once.

That he found someone besides Kaido to help fill the emptiness of his life.

Well it piqued his interest, especially since this same messenger had seemingly done the same for his Tobiroppo and one two thirds of his all stars.

(In the back of his mind he bitterly chuckles that it reminds him of you but he brushes it off. Your dead and gone, he’s the reason for that) 

So he arranges for the next meeting to have this messenger included. 

King seems almost eager for this. Wanting to introduce whoever this is to him.

For once Kaido hears King talk about his day in detail rather than simply stating that “it was fine” and leaving it at that.

(Kaido does not hear the small utterance of a name he hadn’t heard in so so long, too caught up in his drink to catch it. It slips through his fingers and he does not realize it, even if he did compute it he’d assume it was a sad coincidence)

===

Days go by as per usual though Kaido does have something to perhaps look forward to now with this meeting.

It’s not easy to thrive in Onigashima even as a decent fighter.

So a literal child somehow making allies with some of his top commanders is certainly something that has some amusement to look forwards to.

So he waits.

And drinks.

And waits.

And shoo’s away the weird crows that have made their home in Onigashima recently.

Something also seemingly attributed to this messenger. King had told him that apparently these were their crows, one they had raised themselves after finding the murder half dead. 

Could be useful for communication, less chance of having the den den mushi tapped or curriers intercepted. Plus…he didn’t mind the bird’s presence.

Something about them was odd, but not in a particular bad way. 

They sometimes circled the sky in a spiral, swirling in a mass of black feathers similar to King.

It was a sight to see.

What's even more of a sight to see was that one of them was bold enough to join Kaido in drinking. The small feathered fiend joining in on partaking in the enjoyment of booze. Its beak dipping down in the large sake cup, then incessantly squawking when Kaido had interrupted its sips when he too wanted to enjoy in the clear liquid.

A large scar paints over its wing, leaving a trail that the little thing seemed to take pride in.

Much like Kaido’s scar that he too takes pride in.

The little thing’s name is “Nobu” , something he learned from King. Apparently along with this messenger her also befriended their little feathered fiends as well.

Kaido jokes that it has something to do with bird intuition.

King rolls his eyes though through the creasing of leather it’s clear that beneath his mask he smiles. 

Not like King can say much anyways when on his shoulders perches several of the birds. All of which linger around his flame, seemingly trying to use it as a source of warmth and equally captivated by it.

Nobu beside him pecks at his arm, making Kaido look down at the twilight coloured bird.

“Caw!” 

Kaido’s eyes drift down to it, before the bird pecks at the now empty sake cup. It was not empty last Kaido touched it…did this small bird really finish the last two thirds of the cup that most of his beast pirates could never stomach. 

Hell, the sake cup Kaido used was custom sized to be bigger than just about any other sake cup. 

Well fuck. Looks like he had a drinking buddy? Bird? 

“I’ll give you this you little shit, your a good drinker”

“Caw!”

“Another round?”

The bird nods, pecking the cup again as if to say ‘hurry up and refill you slow bastard’. 

Kaido chuckles.

Now he feels even more curiosity as to who this messenger was.

Good thing for him that meeting was soon.

===

Typically Kaido did not care much for the meetings, not unless it was something really important or led to him possibly fighting someone (and then being disappointed that they didn’t meet expectations).

But for this one the curiosity curling in his gut is enough to satiate him of relying on the presence of Black Maria at his side and a few dozen gourds of sake to get him through. 

He wonders what this messenger will be like.

Will they be a cunning child? The one who spies the people with well made clothes and awaits to pick their pockets.

Are they scrappy? The child who rustles a raccoon on the street for stealing their food and isn’t afraid to play dirty. 

Or Are they perhaps the opposite?

(In some very distant part of his mind, perhaps buried in the cold grave that contains his heart a thought bubbles out. Like undead clawing out from a grave before being buried once more. That part of him wonders if their maybe like you) 

It swirls in his mind because the thought of a child (just a random child) that would be able to befriend his top confidants.

Worm their way into the hearts of someone like King or even Ulti and Who’s-Who. 

Well…It leaves an impression.

And a all consuming question.

Especially since before even meeting this messenger Kaido can’t help but feel somewhat charmed by them.

Them who has made King more happy and content than Kaido has ever possibly seen the man and create within the vicious Maria a kindness.

They who calms down Ulti’s violent temper tantrums and apparently party with Sasaki.

His thoughts whirl.

And then Kaido Freezes.

The unbeatable monster known for ransacking villages and crumbling a nation that he now uses as a den freezes.

He knows those eyes better than he knows the scars that mar his body.

For a moment Kaido thinks he’s piss drunk or having a hallucination when he sees you there.

He had some before, when tired enough or drunk enough he could swear to see or hear you.

Sometimes you’d sit atop his shoulder (in the corner of his eyes, never fully in focus)

Other times he’d hear your voice like a small whisper of encouragement (even though your voice feels almost unrecognizable from what it once was)

And there you are, sitting in content beside Maria who dressed you in silk. The woman’s usually cruel red smile is replaced by one of adoration and warmth instead of her biting cold.

Laughing at Sasaki and Who’s-Who as the two argue over some contrived bet they made when likely drunk.

Somehow calming down Ulti who nearly blows a gasket at Sasaki who accidentally bumps into her due to his fight with Who’s-who.

Having a paper slid over to you by Queen who looks all too pleased with himself before King burns it in front of him.

And most surprisingly of all King, his right hand also holding that familiar look of comfort and content that Kaido is too familiar with when associated with you.

And then of course there’s just you on your own.

You who sits there completely the same as when you met him in that jail cell and died by his hands minus the bruises. 

The same star speckled eyes.

Same smile.

Same calm and mild mannered disposition despite being in a room infested with monsters.

Kaido thinks back to the times he had pondered what would happen if you had lived, if he had been able to find a doctor or if you somehow miraculously healed from those infectious wounds. If the rusted blunt swords used on your flesh and slashed at by guards had impossibly not led to the discolored wounds that leaked with a disgusting mixture of blood and other fluids.

Maybe you would have joined him on Rock’s crew.

Would’ve met Linlin and Newgate.

Could have helped him Break King out of that cell just as you had for him.

If you’d get along with some of the few on his crew he had some likability for (which he now knows is possibly).

If like all those years ago despite all he’s done you’d still consider him friend.

And seeing you again he realizes that all of that could have happened.

That the future he dreamed of in the few uncrushed bits of optimism that lingers in the corner of his soul could have happened.

The life he longed for on those dark nights where memories haunted him like screaming banshees.

It could have happened.

And it didn’t.

Kaido without thinking says your name, it echoes out and reverberates. The room quiets down, so much so that it feels as if his call to you was the only thing ever spoken between the 4 walls.

Starry eyes look to him.

They feel as if they peer into his very soul. Golden burning embers searching the now dull yellow pits of his eyes.

Searching and searching for something.

Anything.

But there’s nothing. 

Not even an inkling of recognition slithers its way onto your face nor into your mind. Instead horror fills it.

Perhaps just as horrified as Kaido that you forgot. 

And like before, on that night all those years ago Kaido feels something in him break.

He lost you once, perhaps in a way you’ve even lost yourself.

But Kaido will not let you slip away again.

Will not grant mercy as he did all those years ago when he was a naive boy.

Maybe it’s because of his Zoan tendencies or because of his fear (the world feels foreign in his mouth let alone to feel anymore. Because Kaido did not fear anything, not even death) but Kaido feels something swirling in him.

Protectiveness.

And then possession.

He does not want to let you free of his grasp again, will not let you lose yourself once more. 

Even if he knows how hypocritical it is to lock you by his side when you had freed him of such a fate of a cage.

But the world is not kind and neither is Kaido.

All those years ago you lit a spark in him that grew to become an inferno.

He swore that he would create change in this world even if you wouldn’t see it.

He would create change in this world for you now with you to watch.

…He’s hardly surprised when you run.

===

He finds you when it’s too late, already crumpled up and bloody in Maria’s palm. King is overhead still in the air, though the flame behind him is less of a burning red mixed with oranges and yellows but now a blindingly shining gold that scorches the sky.

Broken and bloody you clutch something.

It shines through hands that clasp at it tightly.

Light slipping through your fingers as you clutch it closely to your chest. 

Sparks are sent off roaring as it collides against the bloodied cloth of your kimono.

It sinks through the material and into a kind and compassionate heart.

A heart that cracks into golden dust he can only aquaint to that of stardust, your body is painted in cracks. It’s reminiscent of old statues, crack lining stone though now it bleeds a glittering gold instead of cancerous white lead dust.

The words that fall from your mouth like all those years ago come out like a pained whisper.

It’s almost lost to the sobs of Maria.

But Kaido heard it like thunderclap roaring in the sky.

“Oden?” 

And finally the cracks strain and you quite literally break into pieces. Becoming the stardust that leaked into the endless oblivion of the night.

In that flurry of dust momentarily you reform, if only for a moment. You're in different attire, much better for seafaring as well as a familiar captain's coat atop your world carrying shoulders. The kimono once worn now lays on the barren ground, blood also disappearing into the fine golden powder that drifts upwards.

And then there is someone else there in that dust.

For the slightest of seconds Oden lingers.

His form made up of that dust as you drift up past him, an outreached hand reaches to your own and you grab it. Eyes for the first time opening while in this form, staring into that of the man who was born to boil.

Golden eyes shine intently as a smile stretches across both yours and his face.

And then the dust settles into the night leaving nothing of proof of your existence if not for onlookers who mourn, a kimono and hairpin meant as gifts yet you never knew were and the burning flames of a star ignited over midnight black wings. 

The air settles and the silence echoes for several minutes on end.

It’s only broken when King finally descends down, feet numbly hitting the ground as the starlit flame on his back burns oh so brightly.

The shape of a four pointed star hung upon his back.

It’s then that Kaido realizes that perhaps you were never an envoy of JoyBoy at all but your own entity.

Perhaps one more elusive than the titular liberator. Someone mentioned in those tales yet he ignored in favour of JoyBoy more.

But in the end that’s fine.

Because Kaido now knows better.

But does not know better than to try and catch a shooting star or rope one from the sky.

[probablyasocialecologist]

In 2012, Dutch teenager Boyan Slat presented a TED Talk on his concept for cleaning up the ocean with simple mechanisms to sweep up all the trash. While scientists and plastics experts cautioned that his ideas were ineffective, Slat’s non-profit the Ocean Cleanup, founded the year after his talk went viral, has gained millions of followers and big-name backers, including Salesforce, Maersk, KIA, and PayPal’s Peter Thiel. But the venture had one major problem: its first two designs didn’t work, despite the group burning through tens of millions of dollars over the course of a decade. The Ocean Cleanup has since pivoted to work with upstream river “interceptors” that are much more efficient at capturing garbage, but its website still prominently features its latest ocean debris “solution”—essentially a trawl fishing net dragged between two boats that has, to date, collected a comparatively miniscule amount of trash. Tech projects like these are more of a curse than a blessing. Even if the Ocean Cleanup one day somehow beats the insurmountable odds and removes all surface-level traces of plastic marine pollution, it’d still be missing the vast majority of waste that sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor, or breaks up into tiny microplastics. While companies like these bring increased attention to the plastics crisis, they’re ultimately flashy gimmicks that lull our public consciousness into thinking a clever gadget can solve a collective-action problem. These projects also allow consumer brands—like Coca-Cola, an official “Global Implementation Partner” of Slat’s group—to greenwash their continued massive plastic production, while lobbying behind-the-scenes against regulations that would actually help the world break its plastic addiction.  “We now know that we can’t start to reduce plastic pollution without a reduction of production,” environmental scientists Imari Walker-Franklin and Jenna Jambeck write in the introduction to their forthcoming study, Plastics. To meaningfully address this crisis and others like it, we need to look upstream, invest in reuse infrastructure, and mandate biodegradable packaging and high material recyclability. At a minimum, we need to start making producers bear the cost for the collection and disposal of their poorly designed goods.

[mal-urameshi]

I want some more step dad attuma for mama okoye and daughter riri 😭😭 maybe even baby riri !!!!!!!!

Chronicles of Mama Okoye and Riri! XII

Yuum Attuma!

Even though in the past Riri had tried to set her mother up with someone, albeit unsuccessfully, she never really thought of how another addition to the household would affect her. It had been just the two of them her entire life. Mama and Intombi.

And given that her mother always had an aversion to getting into relationships, she never dwelled on the possibility.

Until now. Riri couldn't complain though. Attuma treated her mother really well and she couldn't help but enjoy the big blue guy's company as well.

Attuma was currently at their house and her Mom couldn't stay off of his lap. Every time Okoye had to go check on something in the kitchen, she hopped off his lap, did what she had to do and then found her place nestled against Attuma's chest once more. They were cuddled up on the couch as they were watching one of the local TV stations after Riri insisted her mother stop being such a busy body and stay cuddled up to her mans.

Riri walked out the kitchen with a tray of Koeksisters her mother had promised Attuma she'd make for him to try. She carefully set down a tray of the golden-brown plaited dough and her mother quickly plated one of the pastries after dunking it into the dip.

"Here Attuma, try this." Okoye offered as she placed it near his mouth to feed him.

Attuma carefully removed his rebreather and opened his mouth to be fed by his woman. He took a big munch out of it and closed his eyes with a grunt in appreciation of the flavour.

"It is sweet like you, In yakunaj." Attuma complimented before biting the rest off of Okoye's hand, licking her fingers in the process.

Riri grinned as she cracked open a can of Coca-Cola before handing it to Attuma, "You ain't never had none of this before, right? Why don't you try it?"

Attuma accepted the drink from Riri and scrutinized the red aluminum, "What is this called?"

"Coca-Cola: it's a brand of soda. It's like water...you drink water right? Breathe it? Huh." Riri rubbed her chin, "It's not like we eat air, so it's not like it'll translate the same for you since water is your air. You know....diffusion and all."

Attuma stared at Riri as she rambled before she loudly clapped, "Ah ha! It's like the juice from the fruits you eat but it's in a can! Boom!"

Attuma dripped some of the liquid into his palm to inspect its colour, "This is black, like the oil that pollutes the oceans."

Riri waved him off, "Well that ain't oil. C'mon! Just drink it already so I can see how you like it."

Attuma looked at the can again before taking a gulp of it, but the immediate burning sensation in his throat had him coughing and sputtering, which made RIri double over with laughter.

"It burns like acid!" Attuma smacked his chest to try to alleviate the sting.

Riri pulled up a chart on her Kimoyo beads and adjusted the data, so you like Arizona, think Perrier is absolutely disgusting, Chocolate milk made you get diarhhea..."

Attuma stomped his foot down, "No, it was clearly poisoning. A child's drink can never affect me in such a way."

Riri side eyed him before laughing as she finished inputting her data, "Suuuure big guy."

Okoye clicked her tongue as she caressed Attuma's cheek, making him face her again before she pressed a loving kiss to his lips. "Don't terrorize him like that, Riri. I don't want him going belly up in the river should he try to return home."

Attuma scoffed and haughtily puffed his chest out, "I have faced almost every danger the deepest bowels of the ocean has to offer. Land-dwellers' food shall never do me over."

"Attuma, how are you with spicy food?"

"Riri!"

"He likes a challenge, Ma! Let me give the man what he wants! You agree, right 'Tuma?" She held out her fist.

"I am no 'Pussy' as Riri says." Attuma fist bumped her before transitioning into the handshake she taught him.

"That's what I'm talkin' bout!"

Okoye rolled her eyes before playfully glaring at Attuma, "Don't come whining to me when you have bellyaches."

Attuma pressed a kiss to Okoye's lips, "I would never succumb to such a thing. But should a fate like that befall me, I trust that you won't allow me to suffer."

Okoye blushed and hid her face in Attuma's neck.

"Ohhh, Mom you folded so hard!" Riri taunted while Attuma peppered kisses to her neck.

Riri trailed behind her mother and Attuma as they walked hand in hand. Riri set her kimoyo beads to start recording as she cleared her throat, "As you can see, I am third wheeling on a date under the guise of a 'family' outing. I'm being left out while these two love birds can't stop making googly eyes at each other." Riri dramatically sighed as she flipped the camera to her face. She pressed the back of her palm to her forehead and sighed again, "Woe is me, having to witness my mother's escapades- AHH!"

Riri was swiftly hoisted off the ground and seated onto the crook of Attuma's arm. Riri had wrapped her arm around his neck for extra stability.

"Nobody is being left out on my watch." Attuma loudly proclaimed.

Riri giggled and flashed her kimoyo beads on Attuma, who gave the bead a wink, as they continued walking, "As you can see, my Mama's boyfriend is an amazing family man. Out here making me feel included and shit!" She pressed a kiss to Attuma's cheek as he kept her in his grip while he simultaneously had his free arm wrapped around Okoye's waist.

Riri flashed her beads over her mother, Attuma and then herself, "Don't mind us, just a regular shmegular family having a nice family outing."

Okoye hugged Attuma tighter as they walked while she observed her daughter telling Attuma a joke to which he let out a gutteral laugh.

"Bruh! You fake as hell! Laughing at the chicken going to the other side?"

"I am genuine! Those feathered things walking when they have wings? It sounds idiotic." His chest vibrated as he laughed again.

Riri rolled his eyes, "Man, you mad corny."

"My two favourite people getting along." She rubbed Attuma's arm affectionately where he gently squeezed her side in return.

When Attuma found out that Riri often sparred with her mother, he excitedly queried Okoye if Riri would be be interested .

"Do you think Riri would like to spar with me? She usually makes technology, I never guessed that she fought in the same style as you." He held Okoye's hand firmly as he was practically buzzing with excitement.

Okoye smiled and softly nodded her head, "Riri wouldn't mind, I'm sure she would be glad that you have an interest in bonding with her in that way. "

Attuma scooted closer to Okoye on the couch, "How did she start off training?"

Okoye crossed her legs, "Hm. She was about four years old. I was a Dora for quite a while and had seen a lot of things in my profession. Children being abused. Sex trafficking. And so, so much more. I didn't want that for my baby. Bast forbid." Okoye took a calming breath, "I know that she'd always be safe in Wakanda, but you never know and I like to be prepared. I may not always be around to protect her forever, so I figured I could train her from young to be able to defend herself."

Attuma slowly nodded along as Okoye explained herself. He loved that way of thinking, "Warrior offspring is only natural when you are one."

Okoye chuckled and patted her hands, "Not a warrior, necessarily. Only if push came to shove. I never expected her to follow in my footsteps to be a Dora Milaje. I always allowed her to do her own thing, whatever her calling may be. And it so happened to be engineering."

"And how did she first react to you deciding to train her?"

Okoye chuckled, "She was very excited. She swung around the wooden spear like a sword at first, mimicking one of her cartoons, then immediately challenged me to a duel to the death."

"Ah, so she's always had a valiant spirit."

Atttuma closed his eyes as he envisioned Riri's fighing style, "Does she fight like you?"

Okoye took a deep breath, "You should find out for yourself, darling."

And find out Attuma did.

"You ain't all that, Big Blue!" Riri circled the Talokanil General with her spear in attack mode, "You gon' be fish fry when I'm done with you."

Attuma chuckled, this was not what he was expecting, "You definitely speak more than your mother."

"Oh, what? You saying I'm not about that action?" Riri charged but tripped over nothing, falling in front of Attuma with a groan.

Attuma, caught off guard by the display of clumsiness didn't react fast enough to Riri's foot hitting him square between his legs. The attack swiftly brought him to his knees before Riri stuck her fingers between his gills which caused him to yelp in pain.

He cupped the offended area while wincing, "You cheater..!"

Riri smirked and crossed her arms, "Man you're just a sore loser. You call it cheating and I call it strategy."

Attuma turned to Okoye who was sitting on the porch and pointed at Riri petulantly, "Dishonor!"

"Nah! Nah! You just hating, man! Anything goes in battle!" Riri grinned as she braced herself on her spear while Attuma found the strength to right himself.

"Not only are you large and powerful, you're super fast too. A triple threat! So I had to catch you off guard to end things quickly. You lucky this ain't for real. You woulda been toe-tagged already."

Attuma walked over to Okoye and plopped down beside her, sulking.

Okoye harumphed, "No no. Don't do that. You're the one that wanted to spar with her. She gets very creative when she wants to win. You brought this upon yourself."

"I didn't even get to trade blows."

Riri raised an eyebrow from where she was standing, "I never said I was done. You're the one that ran to Mama to lick your wounds. She can't save you! Let's go!" She picked up her spear and twirled it. "Unless you're scared."

Attuma silently stood again, "This time I shall show you no mercy, Shrimp."

"Bring it, A'Tuna!"

Attuma squatted next to Riri as she messed around with her latest suit, which she dubbed the Mach 5. Attuma quietly observed as she tinkered with the suit's legs, "Pass me the pliers, please."

Thanks to spending time with Riri, Attuma had learned quite a bit about the tools the land-dwellers use.

Riri gestured for Attuma to come closer to her as she pointed at the sole of the Suit's feet, "See, I've applied a graphene-infused composite matrix to reinforce the exhaust drive's structural integrity, enhancing its thrust capacity while minimizing energy dispersion."

Attuma nodded along, "I see."

"Additionally, I've fine-tuned the plasma ionization frequency to maximize propulsion efficiency, optimizing the balance between power output and thermal dissipation."

Attuma strokes his chin at the explanation, "How does the incorporation of the composite matrix contribute to the reinforcement and improved performance?"

Riri's eyes lit up, "I'm glad you asked! Basically it makes it more resistant to stress and impact. It improves the thrust capacity of the boots, allowing greater propulsion while minimizing energy dispersion, resulting in more efficient and controlled movement. Because trust me. You're gonna be flying into walls if shit ain't in order."

Attuma nodded again, "Soar high, Plankton."

Riri patted his shoulder, "Thanks, A'Tuna."

Riri covered her face as Okoye and Attuma were quite literally trying to eat each other's face off not even five feet away from her. She didn't expect to walk in on her mother straddling Attuma while he was palming her ass.

"Bast, can't you guys get a room? You're like horny teens. Is this how you felt with me and Shuri, Mama?" Riri couldn't help but laugh.

Okoye huffed and made a shooing gesture to Riri, "I thought you and Shuri were going out?"

"Oh, oh! Man, I didn't mean to cockblock. I ain't wanna ruin the mood. I just came to get something." She gestured to her bedroom.

Okoye whispered something into Attuma's ear and he quickly stood up, swiftly making his way to Okoye's bedroom.

Riri sighed as the door was practically slammed behind them, "Ah, young love." She wiped a fake tear before going to get what she came for.

"I'm telling you, Shuri! I never thought I'd have lived to see the day where I'd hear my mother have sex! That's trippy as fuck. I never wanna hear that shit again."

Shuri pressed a reassuring hand on her stomach, "You're getting normal child experiences. Welcome to the club."

Riri laughed, "Nah, that shit ain't normal man! I don't need to hear that."

She slowly blinked her eyes as she looked at the drifting clouds from her resting place on Shuri's lap, "But I'm really happy for her, you know? Attuma treats her really well. And even though he ain't my Dad or nuthin', he treats me like I'm his kid. And I really like that. It's comforting."

Shuri hummed while looking at Riri, "Well, if things keep going at the rate they are, you might have a little sibling." She teased.

"Ha, who knows. Maybe." She grunted while getting more comfortable on Shuri's lap.

Over a year into Okoye and Attuma's relationship had passed and he had popped the question during a quiet picnic with the Mother and Daughter.

Riri's jaw hung open as her mother had nodded as tears danced in her eyes. She looked on as they both had hugged each other and shared a kiss.

Riri pulled her knees to her chest as she looked at the exchange, making sure her beads were still recording.

It was sweet and she was happy for her mother. She found love and she's going to spend the rest of her life with a man who adored her more than there were grains of sand on the beds of seas and shores of beaches alike.

Riri swiftly wiped a stray tear that had slipped down her cheek.

Attuma then turned to Riri and closed the distance between them, "Because I'm marrying your mother, I now have an official duty to uphold to you. I love you just as much as I love your mother. And I am very happy that I had the honor of getting to know you, Riri. I'm grateful to you for allowing me to be in your mother's life as well as getting to know you on a personal level as well."

Riri sniffled and pinched her her arm as Attuma continued, "I see you as my own child and I care for you as such."

Attuma looked over at Okoye for reassurance and she gently nodded.

"In my culture, one refers to their father as Yuum."

Attuma held out an open palm to Riri, "I know that I'm not your real father, but if you are comfortable, you can call me Yuum." He glanced at Okoye again before making eye contact with Riri again, "I'd like it if you called me that."

Riri's eyes prickled all over again, she licked the corner of her mouth as she looked at his open palm and then at him. He really wanted her to call him Baba? Dad? Was this real life right now?

"Are you sure, Attuma?"

Attuma nodded, "Yes, I'm sure, Riri."

Riri threw herself at Attuma and crushed him into a hug, "Yea, I'd like that...Yuum."

Attuma grinned as he returned Riri's hug and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "I'll do my best to make you and your mother happy."

Riri chuckled and squeezed her arms tighter around his neck,"You already make us happy."

Okoye held her heart to her chest as she watched the interaction between her two loves, "Bast, the both of you are so precious. I'm so happy to have you both in my life."

Attuma dragged Okoye into the hug with the two of them before he dropped backward onto the blanket, puling them down with him, which caused mother and daughter to laugh.

"To the first day of forever." Riri mumbled.

"To the first day of forever." Okoye repeated.

"And many lifetimes after that," Attuma concluded.

A/N: Hm. Dunno how to feel about this, but Attoye n Baby Riri compels me now, haha.

Taggies: @somethingcleaverandwhitty @karimwillia @neptoons1998 @pantherheart

[fuckedeath]

𖦹•°. miguel o'hara being jealous ?!

( a/n : hii!! i haven't written in a while so i apologise in advance if it sucks ass 💀 oh! and english isn't my native language so bare with me!! )

"new recruit?" you asked, looking up from your food tray. you sat at the table for lunch at hq with the rest of the band of idiots you work with.

"yeah," peter b. parker coughed out, still forcing a whole burger into his hatch. "heard it from lyla, said jess found him on her last mission."

bits of food flew out of his mouth as he spoke, leaving the rest to contort their faces a bit from disgust. pav didn't seem to mind it, though.

"oh yeah, hobie and i saw him walk into the big man's office earlier!" pavitr prabhakar nudged an elbow into spiderpunk's side, causing him to choke on the drink he was chugging down.

"oi! watch it!"

"oh my god, are you seriously still drinking that shit?" gwen scoffed.

"come on, guys. his d.i.y coca-cola isn't all that bad! we gotta support him and his political views! is that what you call it? either way, i'm with you all the way, hobie." miles morales spoke up, defending one of his closest friend.

hobie brown claimed that he didn't believe in any large cooperate companies, the coca-cola company included. so he took it upon himself to make his own version. like that time he attempted to craft an xbox from scrap metal he found lying around (he stole them from miguel's office while he was out on a mission).

"yeah? why don't you take a sip then, miles?" you pushed the tin can hobie placed down on the table towards miles. he squirmed in his seat, forcing out a nervous laughter as hobie raised an eyebrow.

"nah, nah, i can't. i'm... on a diet! yeah, ma-maybe next time!"

as the whole table laughed, suddenly lyla appeared out of thin air.

"hey guys! so, i think you all know we got a new spidey on the team. miguel wants you all in his office to meet him asap." she glitched into various different poses as she spoke.

★

you all waited for the elevator to take you directly to the office's floor.

"make sure to make him feel welcomed. don't say anything intimidating. i'm looking at you, hobie." peter said before hobie let out a scoff towards his comment.

at last, the elevator doors finally open and you all stepped out. you began to notice a familiar figure standing in front of a larger figure, which you already identified as miguel o'hara.

miguel let out a dreadful sigh as he noticed peter b. exiting the elevator first, eager to meet the newest member of the spider society.

"heyyyyy! new guy! welcome on board!" peter b. said, placing a hand onto the new recruit's shoulder. "you're gonna fit right in- oh, meet the rest of the gang,"

you were the last to exit the elevator, still trying to make out who it actually was. all while miguel was staring at you, as he usually does.

the rest of the team joined in on peter b's warm welcome and you finally realise who it was, resulting in a loud gasp echoing the office.

all heads turned to face you as you exclaimed "is that really you?!"

you and the new recruit, also known as the amazing spider-man from earth-120703, are finally face to face with each other. his face immediately lit up upon recognising you.

he shouted out your name before immediately pulling you into an embrace. "peter! i didn't expect to see you here." you said between chuckles.

"what? you're saying i'm not good enough to be apart of you guys?" you both went back and forth joking with each other. the others were left dumbfounded by the situation unfolding before them.

what they didn't notice is how miguel was practically burning holes into peter's body. there was a rage rising inside of him, almost uncontrollable anger. he hated how you were embracing that random spider-man over him. he's the only person you're allowed to touch in any way. in fact, you're also only allowed to talk to him and no one else! is that toxic? maybe. but he just wants you all to himself! he would rather die than admit all of that, though. his hands were clenched into fist, holding the strong urge to punt this person across the room right then and there.

you began to explain to everyone how you met peter on one of your solo missions and even after the anomaly was caught, you still slipped back to his universe to hang out with him time to time.

"say that again?" miguel snapped his head towards you.

"i go to his universe to hang out someti-"

"and who allowed you to do that?"

the others began to tense up, immediately picking up on the anger in his tone.

"everyone else, get out. you, stay." miguel commanded, pointing his index at you.

the rest looked at you, worried. but you gave them a reassuring look back so they began to shuffle back into the elevator. "let's give you a tour, shall we? the frozen yogurt at the cafeteria is to die for." peter b. guided the recruit by the shoulders before closing the elevator door behind them.

you took a deep breath before turning around to face miguel.

"okay, about the sneaking off to another universe without letting anyone know thing, look, it's completely my fault and-"

"you should've known better! what if something happened to you? what if you died and no one knew?"

"relax, you know i can handle myself! you don't have to worry about me."

"that's the problem! i do worry about you. all the fucking time. i get anxious when you show up to work 10 minutes late, frantically asking lyla to check on your location which she refuses to do because she thinks it's creepy,"

"when you come back from a mission with your suit torn up and blood seeping out, it makes me just want to keep you here where you're safe with me,"

"and when i see you hugging some lousy peter variant, i-" he stopped himself. he pinched the bridge of his nose before making his way back to his platform.

"just forget it." he dismissed, sighing as he sat in his chair.

"miguel, i-" you were cut off by lyla, who alarmed miguel of a new anomaly on earth-652.

[entre-image-blog]

OK-NESS, Charles Burns, The Coca-Cola company, disponible sur entre-image.com

[latay7]

Just in case you can’t find your way back there, gridley:

Only a child is stupid enough to call anyone a retard, you asshole. And your “blog”? Honey, Coca~Cola won’t go broke because you don’t buy their products. In fact, your whole twat country can burn in hell and no one will miss it. Oh yes, go be sure you’re older than me, you little dumbass.

🙅🏻‍♀️💜😈🙌🤮🎶🤣🤣🤣

See ya, you pompous, judgmental, juvenile loser. Oh. And fk off; I don’t speak to children online.🙄

🤣🤣🤣🤣

1st of all , i can tell you just discovered emojies , i mglad you made that discovery.

2nd , you're coming to my blog chanting your drunk- like messages and being a cunt in comments and then you say you don't speak to me.

You just made the effort to come to me bitch😁

3rd , companies like mcdonalds and starbucks ARE going broke w the boycott, are you living under a rock?

You probably jerked your whole brain off so i'll spare you , get your broke ass to e-bay and find an affordable dick or a pussy suitable for a bitch like you so you can ride enough of the IDF's dicks.❤️

[reiverreturns]

[sending you multiple asks if the inspiration hits for any of them <3] 37 + rooster

liv i am SO SORRY it's taking me an age to fill these prompts but i will finish them eventually! thank you for sending them!!! Send me a prompt and some characters/ships for a ficlet or drabble

Rooster + Rosy

“Mav, you’ve gotta stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?”

Bradley jabs his fork across the table, accusing. “Like that.”

Maverick only smiles, a gentle thing, all lines around his eyes and a humble crease of the jaw. He pulls his hands off the sticky table with a noise like ripping velcro and holds them up. “Sorry kid. I just… it’s been a long time since we’ve done this.”

Bradley shovels more eggs into his mouth and doesn’t say anything. The diner’s been here for longer than the two of them have been alive, and probably longer still. The Coca-Cola sign above the door has bleached pink from years in the sun but the menu’s still the same, the coffee is still the wrong side of bitter, the chairs are still unbearably loud when scraped across the floor and the music still stutters after every other song.

It's been a long time. Doesn't feel like it.

“Last time we came here I think I was still picking you up from baseball practice,” Maverick says with a nod. “Yeah. I’d wait outside and you'd jump into the backseat like a cannonball. Cheeks all rosy from the sun, hat turned backwards. Always thought you were gonna hit your shins on the door since you were growing like a weed. Assumed you’d misjudge it once, but you never did. Then we’d come here, we'd eat, and I’d take you home.”

Maverick's eyes have gone misty and the past swills unpleasantly in Bradley’s gut, as it always does. He understands now what those days were. Maverick buying him time - time away from sickness and strange people in Bradley’s house. From conversations he wasn’t ready to have. Time to feel like a normal kid with sunburn on his nose and scrapes on his knees. Like a kid not on the precipice of losing everything. 

Maverick isn’t looking at Bradley anymore. His gaze has turned to the street, eyes quietly watching passers by. The smile has weathered. 

“We can come more often if you quit the trips down memory lane,” Bradley offers. He reaches over and stabs a waffle Mav’s been picking at for the last five minutes, because if he’s going to have to endure Mav's recollections of his teenage years, he’s sure as hell going to remind the old man he’s gotta be quicker on the trigger if he doesn’t want his food stolen. 

Maverick’s face brightens, more luminous than anything in this faded old place. “Yeah?” And falls when he looks at his plate. “Oh come on. Seriously? Remind me to order double next time.”

The things that put colour in Bradley’s cheeks are different now. Less found on the baseball pitch, more in the skirts of a blue and cloudless sky. The sympathetic looks from strangers that once had him flushed with indignance have turned into a pitch and swell of heat across his chest when he’s at the piano, riding the waves of a chorus he's orchestrated. Compliments oftentimes have him burning under the tan. Going hard at the gym with company, because no matter how hard he tries, he's never been able to fully let the thrill of competition go.

He eats slowly in front of Maverick as the old man rolls his eyes and traces a crack in his coffee cup.

Bradley’s in no rush. Their time, for all it has cost them both, is finally free.

[sleepykittypaws]

2022 Christmas Ads

What the Super Bowl is for U.S. commercials, Christmas is for most of the rest of the world, particularly Britain, where holiday ad campaigns are so highly anticipated they have teasers and drop date announcements.

These mini-movies provide the perfect bite-size dose of holiday joy, as much or more than so than selling a product. Clever, often tear-jerking sales pitches, sure, but also so much more.

It’s long been an annual part of our seasonal viewing to rewatch favorite ads from year’s past, as well as explore the new batch. To make that a little easier for my family, and yours, I’ll do my best to compile the best holiday adverts here, just as I did in 2020, and 2021, too.

Unlike my TV and theatrical listings, not trying to catalog every single Christmas commercial out there, just the ones I feel are worth a watch, for a little bonus dose of the festive feels.

In alphabetical order by company name

Updated: December 13, 2022

Aldi “Feast of Football” - Now-classic character Kevin the Carrot returns in this preview ad

Aldi “Kevin’s Home Alone” - Kevin’s main appearance for Aldi this season involves being left behind from a Paris vacation…sound familiar?

Aldi Australia “You Can’t Overcook Christmas” - A holiday politeness battle.

Amazon “Joy is Made” - A snow globe inspires a father in this musical Amazon ad.

Amazon Australia “The Playmakers Save the Holiday” - Stop-motion animated short, starring Charli Robinson and a staff of kid toy reviewers, promoting Amazon AU’s top 100 toys and helping to raise money for the Starlight Children's Foundation

An Post “Send from the Heart” - Sending love at Christmas in this Irish postal ad.

Apple “Share the Joy” - Stylish dance-filled holiday.

Argos “They’re Coming” - The joy and horror of holiday guests.

Asda “Have Your Elf a Merry Christmas” - People are going nuts for this Elf ad, but I found it super creepy. There’s also a “Making Of” for those interested.

Barbour “One of a Kind-ness” - Paddington Bear offers a grumpy neighbor a gift in this classic clothier brand’s annual animated ad.

Belvedere Vodka “Belvedere Presents Daniel Craig” - The former Bond channels director Taika Waititi for this not specifically holiday, but very fun, ad.

The Binge “Christmas with the Cat” - The pets celebrate the holidays.

BMW “Holidays are Here” - One of those ridiculous luxury-car-as-gift commercials, with a fun twist.

Boots “Joy for All” - Upbeat holiday happiness.

Burberry “The Night Before” - Shakira and Burns Boy rep the luxury line.

Cairngorm Coffee “For Those Who Care” - This one is sad in a way, I’m not the makers actually intended. 

Celebrations “Bring Back Bounty” - The Lonely Bounty is back.

Chevrolet “Mrs. Hayes” - This extended ad is effective at stirring sentiment and how memories can be tied up in things. 

Chick-Fil-a “The Snow Globe” - Long form animated ads set in the fictional “Evergreen Hills” have become a tradition for the fast food chain and this one is a much more serious, direct sequel to 2019′s “The Time Shop.”

Clogau “Christmas” - Simple holiday story of giving.

Coca-Cola Brazil “Christmas Always Finds a Way” - Sweet story of memory and holiday tradition

Coca-Cola France “Les Petits Mondes De Noel” - An estranged couple finds themselves reconnecting thanks to holiday cheer

Coca-Cola Mexico “Alma” - A worker at a holiday decor factory must rediscovery her own Christmas spirit

Coca-Cola U.S. “Christmas Bites” - Santa Claus squares off against a vampire with a grudge

Cole’s Christmas 2022 - Celebrating the return of gathering together again for an Australian Christmas

Debenhams “Christmas Starts Now” - Rhyming department store holiday ad.

Dior “The Atelier of Dreams” - Anna Taylor-Joy takes you on a luxe holiday journey.

Disney “The Gift” - It’s Disney, they know what they’re doing, and you’re bound to cry. (Or, at least I am.)

Erste Group “Believe in Christmas” - This insurance group’s animated ads have become an annual must-see.

FOX Soccer “’Tis the World Cup”  - Jon Hamm, Mariah Carey, Ellie Kemper and Tom Brady headline this star-studded ad series.

FOX Soccer “’Tis the World Cup”  - Another Jon Hamm as Santa trying to compete with the World Cup.

Frito-Lay “Soccer or Football” - Another World Cup ad, starring Peyton Manning and David Beckham, directed by Michael Bay.

Fussy “Deck the Halls” - The deodorant brand gets, umm, creative for Christmas

Gucci “Gift” - Stylish holiday journey.

Heathrow “The Gift” - Heathrow has put together many memorable ads and this one is simpler but just as sweet.

Hobby Lobby “Christmas is What You Make It” - Sweet, wordless story of cooperation

J&B “El Ruso de Rocky” - Touching Spanish story about a grandfather giving his granddaughter the ultimate gift—acceptance and understanding.

JD Sports “King of the Game” - Holiday fantasy fun

John Lewis “The Beginner” - The John Lewis Christmas ads are a holiday tradition in the UK, and while this one is more simple than most, its touching, unexpected ending hits you in the feels.

Kroger “The Magical Cookbook” - An Up style tear-fest that accurately embodies the connection between meals and memories.

LEGO “Build a Playful Holiday” - Imagination runs wild with Katy Perry

Louis Vuitton “The Holiday Season” - A bear and a Beatles cover from the luxury brand

Lidl “The Story of Lidl Bear” - A furry star is born in this very charming ad.

Manscaped “Season’s Groomings” - Pete Davidson is very…Pete Davidson in this ad with his mom.

Meta Quest 2 “Wish for the Extraordinary” - The VR headset has a clever Christmas ad touting its immersive abilities.

M&S “Fairy is Back” - Jennifer Saunders returns and is joined by Dawn French in this big-budget extravaganza.

M&S “Gifts That Give” - Musical ad promoting M&S’s charitable giving

Manor “Cosmic Christmas” - Bouncy, musical holiday one-up-manship from the Swiss retailer.

Matalan “The Christmas Cupboard” - Be prepared for the holidays

McDonald’s “The List” - Sweet, simple story of a little boy’s holiday wish list. One of the best of the season so far.

Morrisons “Farmer Christmas” - Exploring where your holiday treats come from.

The National Lottery “Just Imagine” - Extremely sweet mini-movie about strangers falling love and trying to find each other

O2 “The Snowgran” - Animated ad that somehow makes cell phone data charming. 

Old Navy “Matchy Matchy” - Jennifer Coolidge stars in a fun series of ads for the retailer.

Old Navy “Gifting” - Jennifer Coolidge stars in a fun series of ads for the retailer.

Paddy Power “Gareth Southgate Christmas Jumper” - Inside baseball ad—or more accurately football—but still sports-fan-relatable worldwide.

Paddy Power “Where Were You in ‘22″ - World Cup meets Christmas

Paddy Power “Crouchy Conducts the Classics” - Another funny, very English football (a.k.a. soccer) ad.

Penny “The Rift” - Very emotional and powerful mini-movie. Follow-up to last year’s equally moving, “The Wish.”

Pepsi “That is One Dirty Soda, Santa” - Lindsay Lohan channels her inner Laverne.

PETA “Toby the Turkey” - Effective animated ad.

Phil Beastall “A Little Help” - “alternate” John Lewis ads have become a thing in recent years with filmmakers offering short holiday films to tug hearts and make a name for themselves.

Planters “Whittle Nut Bowl” - Brief, but cute.

Posten “Father Christmas and Mother Earth” - The Norwegian Postal Service is back with an ad that looks at the impact of Christmas on the environment after their ground-breaking Santa romance last season.

RSPCA “Join the Christmas Rescue” - Bring all the tissues.

Sam Teale “The GoKart” - another of the “alternate John Lewis” offerings.

Sainsbury’s “Once Upon a Pud” - The grocer puts a medievally royal spin on the classic British Christmas dessert.

Shelter “Brave Face” - Touching charity appeal.

Smyths “We Really Want to go to Smyths” - An original, catchy jingle that feels very retro.

Spam “We Wish You a Figgy Christmas” - The Hawaii-favorite canned meat offers up a very cute stop-motion ad for its own limited edition holiday offering.

Spar “Finding Christmas” - Folksy, lovely holiday feel that shows Christmas is all a matter of perspective.

Sports Direct “Football Starts Here” - Celebrate the holidays with soccer stars 

Teleflora “Leave No One Out This Holiday” - Does anyone ever think about how Mrs. Claus spends all her Christmases alone.

TK Maxx “Christmas Nailed” - The British version of TJ Maxx dances through the holidays.

Tesco “The Christmas Party” - The British grocery chain tackles the “happiness shortage” in this campaign that’s a literal political campaign spoof.

Waitrose “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” -  Celebrates the all-year work that goes into Christmas

The Warehouse “Nigel’s Christmas Wish” - Charming story of holiday triumph.

White Stores “Norbet the Nutcracker” - A signature design

Woolworths "Get Your Woolies Worth” - A down-home Australian Christmas 

[moon-light-entertainment]

profile background personal style mic & in ear solo discography representative emoji

relationship with BTS relationship with idol friends relationship with company

ships

yejin yegi yeoseok yejoon yemin yae yekook

Writings

masterlist

SNS:

instagram twitter weverse vlive

Broadcasting

variety shows lives interviews articles

Performances

(tours, music shows, etc.)

award shows united states performances inkigayo m countdown music core tours

Filmography

summer package (2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019) winter package (2020 | 2021) memories (2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021) in the soop run bts gayo burn the stage (the movie) burn the stage (docu-series) bring the soul (docu series | the movie) break the silence (docu-series) bon voyage (season one | season two | season three | season four)

most beautiful moment in life trilogy wings you never walk alone love yourself trilogy map of the soul duology dynamite butter permission to dance proof japanese singles

Endorsements/brands

puma lotte duty free lg electronics coca cola hyundai lemona tokopedia fila baskin robbins korea lotte chilsung korea mcdonald's (global) xylitol korea louis vuitton coway

magazines

(covers)

gq vogue time rolling stone esquire anan billboard burdock entertainment weekly

[domlarkin]

No Mention Of Genocide: ( Sonnet)

Mass media still whitewashes atrocities

In Gaza. There is no mention of genocide.

Sometimes, it seems that horrific realities

Are replaced by snug, air-brushed dreams or just outright

Propaganda. Coca- Cola is juxtaposed

With News items. Its original taste soon turns

Bitter in the cold light of what we all now know.

No mention of genocide: burn Hollywood burn!

O boycott those corporations and companies

That sanction war and its myriad discontents!

Despite this genocide, Palestine will be free

From the river to the sea. We must not relent

Until Mercy, Justice and Truth merge into one.

No mention of genocide under God's bright sun.

[russrollins]

I have always really liked Carlos. Sometimes people you like can cause you damage. You’re trying to take people to the top, that don’t want you on the top. I believe a person can be 97% good but anger/ego problems can make them 3% toxic. Add one drop of pee pee to a nice glass of Coca-cola , you have a beverage you don’t want to drink. It’s toxic.

It's sad and disappointing when relationships deteriorate to the point where bridges are burned. Such actions often reflect deeper anger issues a person has. Issues of trust, respect, and mutual understanding. When someone repeatedly harms or betrays me, especially after I’ve forgiven them once before, it can feel like a deep personal attack. This is the second time Carlos has been let go by our company. The first time he burned the bridge with me and everyone he left behind at the radio station. After several years, I not only accepted his apology, I allowed him to build a bridge again, but I met him more than half way. I had to go to management to make it possible for Carlos to get hired back on the station. I had to beg management to give him a second chance. I convinced them that his anger/ego issue was a thing of the past . I told them that I thought he had been humbled and he understood the value of being a member of the show, a team member. I was wrong. 7 years later I was dealing with the same issues and Carlos was burning the same bridge for the second time. In this situation vailed threats on social media (punching bags and making comments like “now I’m gonna break your face”) , personal attacks (#itookitpersonal), quotes from personal arguments we had (“someone screamed in my face “nobody wants to hear that Carlos) , supporting competitors ( praising “Bubba the Love Sponge” 4 days after being let go) and blatantly ignoring requests of restraint when it comes to my workplace are direct attacks to me personally. Not to mention the total lack of respect he had for me the month before he was fired. Yelling at me in front of other cast members that it was okay for him to cut me off while I was talking , because he was trying to make my stories funny. As if every motivational rant and story he told was comical. It's a tough but sometimes necessary realization that not everyone has the same regard for relationships or handles conflicts constructively. Some people have deep seeded anger problems.

Choosing to not rebuild a bridge isn’t about holding grudges—it's about protecting one's peace and well-being. It's important to remember that guarding your emotional health is not only wise but necessary. It’s okay to walk away from relationships that are harmful or one-sided. You deserve relationships that bring positivity and growth, not anger and manipulation. I don’t hold grudges, but I choose to protect myself.

You have burned a bridge for the second time Carlos, I have to learn to let you stay on your own side.

RRR

[kanisema-blog]

The fluorescent lights of the canteen buzzed overhead, casting a sterile glow on the frantic faces hunched over textbooks. It was exam week, the air thick with the stress of deadlines and the desperation for understanding. I, Amelia, sat amidst the chaos, my brain a jumbled mess of formulas and historical dates. My stomach grumbled, a traitor in the midst of my academic battle.

"Coke ba ulit, A?" Maya, my ever-reliable best friend, asked, her voice laced with concern.

I shook my head, letting out a sigh. "Hindi. Parang wala na akong mapasok kahit anong formula." (Not Coke again. I don't think I can take in any more formulas.)

Maya chuckled. "Sabihin mo na kasi kay Leo na samahan ka sa pag-aaral." (Just tell Leo to join you studying.)

Leo, the boy with eyes the color of strong coffee and a smile that could melt away any exam anxiety. We'd been classmates since elementary, a constant presence in each other's lives. But lately, something had shifted. The way his gaze lingered a beat too long, the nervous way he'd brush against me in the hallways – it all pointed towards something more than just friendship.

"Ewan," I mumbled, fiddling with my pen. "Ayaw ko namang istorbohin siya." (I don't know. I wouldn't want to bother him.)

Just then, he appeared, a silver can of Coke clutched in his hand. "Hey, Amelia," he said, his voice warm like a summer breeze. "Maya. Nag-aaral pala kayo dito." (Hey, Amelia, Maya. Studying here, huh?)

"Oo, Leo," Maya chimed in. "Nakaka-stress na, 'di ba?" (Yeah, Leo. It's getting stressful, isn't it?)

He nodded, his gaze flicking towards me briefly before landing on the messy equations scrawled across my notebook. "Parang kailangan mo ng bagong diskarte, Amelia," he said, a teasing lilt in his voice. (Looks like you need a new strategy, Amelia.)

"Ano bang meron ka?" I challenged him, a playful smile tugging at my lips. (What do you have in mind?)

Leo took a slow sip of his Coke, his eyes twinkling. "Hmm, baka mas mabisa ang strategy ko kung kasama kita." (Hmm, maybe my strategy would work better if I was with you.)

My heart skipped a beat. "Paano ba 'yon?" I asked, curiosity overcoming my nervousness. (How's that?)

He leaned closer, his voice barely a whisper. "Ayoko ng Coke, Amelia. Gusto ko ikaw mismo." (I don't want a Coca Cola, Amelia. I want you yourself.)

My breath hitched. The canteen, the fluorescent lights, Maya – they all faded away, leaving only him, his words hanging in the air, a sweet confession amidst the stress of exams.

"Seryoso ka ba, Leo?" I stammered, my cheeks burning with a blush. (Are you serious, Leo?)

He grinned, his eyes radiating sincerity. "Seryoso. Kasama ka sa formula ng pagpapasa ko ng exams, Amelia." (Absolutely serious. You're part of the formula for passing my exams, Amelia.)

His words were a playful mix of studious intent and genuine affection. My heart soared. Maybe this wasn't just a study session, maybe it was the beginning of something more, a love story born from whispered formulas and stolen glances in the fluorescent glow of the canteen.

And so, amidst the anxiety of exams, we found solace in each other's company. Studying became a shared adventure, fueled by laughter, coffee breaks, and the blossoming of a love sweeter than any sugary beverage. We learned, we laughed, and we fell in love – a perfect equation for surviving exam week and everything life would throw our way.

[porhomme21]

What is currently fashionable for men?

Supreme Arabic Hoodie

One of the standout pieces from Supreme‘s Spring 2012 collection is this red pullover with Arabic writing on the front in white. Not sure what it says but what I do know is that I’m buying it when it drops later this week. The entire supreme hoodie arabic collection’s set to drop in the New York, Los Angeles and London shops beginning February 23, and the Japan locations on February 25. Online availability will be offered starting March 

Edit: hat-tip from Maria Al-Sabah on Twitter — “Pronounced ‘Sobhan’, it usually is said as “Sobhan Allah”, meaning hallelujah. Sobhan alone really doesn’t mean anything.”

The Best Classic Sports Cars Under $20K

Sometimes, new isn’t always better. And if timing and luck are on your side, you could really hit a home run by picking up one of these best sports cars under 20k at bargain prices. They’re iconic, they’re timeless, and they’ll still turn heads of car enthusiasts no matter where you go. If we had $20,000 to play with and were in the market for a car, these are the ones we’d go after.

And when looking to buy a used car, remember to double check everything before making a purchase. Observe the car for any obvious or hidden damage, and ask for full ownership and service histories. And don’t forget to run the CarFax. For an idea on what to look out for, check out Harry Metcalfe’s advice.

Check out our favorite classics under $20,000 below.

As the summer’s winding down, there’s still time to get in one or two BBQs before we put on our pea coats.  Put the burgers on the grill and relax on the patio with your family and friends and talk about how fast the summer went by.  When you have dead Presidents to burn, you’re not going to light up just any cigar.

How about you go with a cigar company that is known for making exclusive high-end smokes catering to collectors.  Gurkha is the company known for their “Black Dragon” which was released in 2006.  There were only five case available and came in a hand-carved camel bone box.  The price?  A not-so shabby $1,150 each.  Not per case, people.  It was by each case and when one case has 100 world's most expensive cigar, we did the difficult math and figured out that it cost $115,000 per case.

Nestled within the captivating Dubai Desert Conservation Reserve, Al Maha, a Luxury Desert Resort in Dubai, emerges as a beacon of opulence and exclusivity. Just an hour’s drive from the vibrant city of Dubai and an hour-and-a-half from Abu Dhabi, this hidden gem offers a unique blend of luxury, sustainability, and awe-inspiring desert landscapes. In this Conde Nast Review, we unravel the distinctive features, accommodations, dining experiences, and activities that make Al Maha a must-visit destination for those seeking an unparalleled escape.

The culinary journey at the Mandarin Oriental Al Faisaliah Riyadh transcends borders Luxurious Oasis in Riyadh that range from the chic Joud Lounge to the exclusive Asir Lounge, which offers mixology and cigars with a view, each space is crafted for a sophisticated dining experience. La Brasserie Cafe focuses on specialty teas, coffee, and desserts, while the contemporary La Brasserie offers a multi-cuisine feast. The Globe, located in the spectacular golden sphere atop Al Faisaliah Tower, provides a unique dining sensation with panoramic views of the city.

Bugatti Residences by Binghatti Rises in Dubai

Bugatti, a name synonymous with fast luxury cars, has entered into a partnership with Emirati developer Binghatti to build its first-ever branded luxury residential building in the heart of Dubai. The Bugatti Residences by Binghatti was revealed last May 24th at the Coca-Cola Arena in Dubai.

To be constructed in the financial district of the city’s Business Bay area, the Bugatti Residences Dubai by Binghatti offers access to Dubai’s key highways, Sheikh Zayed Road, and Al Khail Road. Its location is 10 minutes away from Downtown Dubai, 15 minutes from Dubai International Airport, and 25 minutes from Dubai Marina.

The 42-story tower banks on the rich and diverse creative heritage of both brands. The Bugatti Residences by Binghatti project takes the oasis and the French Riviera as inspirations to bring the residences to life with a distinctive organically flowing sculpted façade and well-appointed interiors.

The Bugatti Residences will have 171 2-4 bedroom Riviera Mansions and 11 Sky Mansion Penthouses, with each one getting its own bespoke layouts, floor-to-ceiling windows, high ceilings, and open-plan living spaces. The luxury residences will also offer amenities that include a Riviera-inspired beach, private pool, jacuzzi spa, fitness club, chef’s table, private valet, private members club, two garage-to-penthouse car elevators, and bespoke chauffeur, butler, bodyguard, and concierge services

[kkoprovideo]

Business Video Production Services: What If You’re on a Budget

Creating branded video content is one of the easiest ways to capture your audience’s attention. In the past, it used to be something that only Nike, Coca-Cola, and other bigger companies could afford. With the rise of business video production services, however, any company, big or small can choose to create this type of content

No Heavy Sales Messages with Business Video Production Services

With video, you can entertain your audience without providing them with a heavy sales message. Since it is branded content, your audience would expect that they will not see core value propositions or the usual things that they would find in a corporate video. Thus, branded videos are now gaining a reputation.

Investing in Branded Content

Many familiar brands are investing in this type of content. They know that this content works really well. However, it is not only reserved for large brands. Smaller companies, like yours, can embrace it too. At KKO Pro, we believe that any B2C and B2B companies will have equal opportunities to use this type of content. That is, they are brave enough to embrace it.

The Power of This Content

It does not matter what kind of business you have. You can wield the power of branded content to reach a wider audience and to open more new markets that you cannot reach through traditional sales marketing.

Huge Budget Not Required

If you think that you need a huge budget for it, you are wrong. However, you still need to spend money on it. You may reach out to find out how much you are going to spend on branded video content. We ensure that the campaign will provide a huge impact and make a social difference without burning your budget for nothing.

Creative Development

As part of the process of creating branded content, we need to understand your goals for the project. From there, we can work out how we could meet your goals without spending too much. Knowing your goals will also help us create a powerful piece of content that could increase awareness about your brand and products.

You may consider video production when launching a new product or a charity fundraising event. Our team of experts can help you find an authentic and exciting way to tell your story that would definitely capture your audience’s attention.

Creating Documentary One of the videos you can try to create is a documentary. But not the usual corporate documentary, though. Instead, it will be a narrative that will tell your story and interview people who got involved in the project. During an interview, we might find something that we can use and highlight. Depending on your goal, the documentary can be full of fun and character.

Generating Excitement The goal of any branded video content is to generate excitement around an event, product, or service. This is one of the reasons video content can give you the ROI of brand recognition. It could uplift your brand and use the footage online.

Get in Touch It is our hope that your brand could feel inspired. Start creating your banded content now by using our business video production services. Get in touch with our team today via email so we can discuss how we can help you.

[worldofwardcraft]

How long can they hold out?

June 19, 2023

For people who complain endlessly about "cancel culture," the MAGA bobbleheads sure enjoy shunning anyone and anything they think betrayed their bigoted beliefs. Which constitutes a surprisingly large number of people, products and companies.

For instance, a boycott was declared against NASCAR in 2020 after the organization banned the Confederate flag from its events. And when the clothing company Carhartt required employees to get vaccinated during the COVID-19 pandemic, many conservatives burned their Carhartt clothes and called for a boycott. Plus, only last summer, MAGAs were boycotting Walmart because the chain went “woke” and stopped carrying Mike Lindell’s stupid pillow.

In April, Bud Light beer partnered with trans activist Dylan Mulvaney to encourage customers to enter a promotional contest. And MAGA lost its collective mind. Has-been musician Kid Rock posted a video of himself firing an assault rifle at cases of the beverage. Country music's Travis Tritt said he was banning the brand from his tour. And Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light's parent company, received threats that bombs had been placed at various company locations.

But this year's Pride Month, celebrating the LGBTQ community, seems to have especially triggered the Magadonians. Walmart is once again being boycotted, this time for its Pride & Joy collection of gender-inclusive t-shirts, accessories and home decor. Facing threats for prominently displaying Pride-themed merchandise, Target moved those items to the back of its stores. Kohl's was also subjected to the hate campaign, but unlike Target decided to stand by its Pride merch.

Upon discovering the company's tolerance of the hated gays, conservative commentators are even calling for Fox News to be boycotted. Fumed outraged pundit Matt Walsh, "Fox Corp is celebrating Pride."

Then there's Chick-fil-A, the fast food chicken sandwich purveyor beloved by right-wingers for its public anti-gay marriage stance. That is, until they learned the company had a vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion (all of which are anathema to MAGA). Calls to embargo the franchise ensued.

Companies boycotted over their criticism of Georgia's racist anti-voter laws include Citigroup, Merck and Home Depot, as well as Georgia-based Delta Airlines, ViaComCBS and Coca Cola. And in recent years, Keurig coffee makers, Kellogg's cereal, M&Ms, Oreo cookies and Cracker Barrel restaurants have all been the targets of anti-woke boycotts. In Cracker Barrel's case, because (among other sins) they posted online a picture of a rainbow-colored rocking chair.

But all this boycotting creates a real problem for the maniacs of MAGAland. Without beer, clothing, high-calorie snacks, Walmart, Fox and fried chicken, how are these people ever going to survive?

[history-today]

Today In History:

A bit of January 29th history…

661 - Rashidun Caliphate, then the largest empire in history, ends with the death of it’s leader, Ali; succeeded by Umayyad Caliphate

1595 - William Shakespeare’s play “Romeo and Juliet” is thought to have been 1st performed; officially published in early 1597

1845 - Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “The Raven” is published (pictured)

1850 - Senator Henry Clay drafts the Compromise of 1850 to diffuse tensions between slave states and free states over territories won during the Mexican - American War

1886 - Karl Benz patents the “Benz Patent-Motorwagon” in Germany, the world’s 1st automobile with a burning motor

1892 - Coca-Cola Company is incorporated

2002 - US President Bush in his state of the union address describes “regimes that sponsor terror” an “Axis of Evil”, which includes Iraq, Iran and North Korea