#childhood memories in op

[voidevoyager]

I'm on a Whole Cake Island. Send Zoro. I repeat: send Zoro!

[sskk-manifesto]

And so the big sskk shortage begins (no sskk for the next 15 episodes) (and the sskk episode coming after kind of sucks)

[travelingtwentysomething]

Time is not linear for me.

Imagine your brain is storing all your memories like making a scrapbook. Most people have one giant book that's like a linear timeline of events, each memory gets added one after the other, maybe with footnotes that link events and things together so you can flip to relevant pages to see more memories attached to any given moment. But it's like a linear timeline you can say, this came before this, and then this happened, and so on.

My brain is like, "Oh birthdays? We have a whole book for that?" and as my brain adds the new birthday memory to the birthday scrapbook it looks at some thing in there and goes oh, you don't belong here, and rips a page out, and then turns around and goes into the labyrinthian library to find another book to shove that page into, and it's just like the Hogwarts library, books reshuffling themselves on shelves, pages floating around free, a restricted section that is too easily broken into, and sometimes books in there will just start randomly screaming.

[hell-heron]

Sometimes the fact that GRRM has, amid all his efforts to have nuance and a wide spectrum in his female characters and to deconstruct certain tropes, played the daddy's girl tomboy in contrast to the hostility or complete elimination of the female figures in her life trope completely straight over and over again, with basically every female warrior he wrote, from his female lead to two whole secondary POVs to one note extras (with the exception of the Mormont ladies yeah at least, maybe when we get more Alysane content I will be less grumpy about this), leaves me kind of bitterly shocked tbh

[clovernment]

i like watching old anime for the first time because it feels like meeting a friend of a friend

i know you, ive met you, cant wait to get to know you all over again

[kelsonius]

I just went through a lot of my old memories, stuff like photo's, report cards, and 'friend journals' which you'd have your friends and family fill in with basic information like favourite food and such. I've learned a few things:

If it doesn't have a date on it, put a date on it! Especially the year! Everything blurs together after a while and I have no idea what age I was when stuff happened and that's a shame when I'm trying to relate to kids (like my little nephew). For example, 8 and 14 year olds are basically the same to me now even though I know it wasn't when I was that age lol

Apparently I wanted to become a police officer at some point? I only remember wanting to become a surgeon as soon as I learned you'd get money and recognition for being smart that way. But thinking back on it, I probably wanted to be like our neighbourhood officer that would ride around on her bike and primarily give social support. They came to our primary school once to teach us about traffic rules and dealing with confused elderly/disabled people as part of their job and I thought that was pretty cool. Haven't seen police on bikes in a while though, so don't know if that's still a thing.

Everyone loves fries! It was universally included in the favourite foods of my friends and family. Dutch pancakes took second place and pizza third.

It's kind of sad to look back on the people and especially pets you've lost to time. But overall there's beauty in the challenges I've overcome and how much happier I am even though my body limits me more than ever.

Next up I plan to organise the photo's I've got on my various devices and finally find a good (privacy friendly) cloud storage solution. But that's a project for another time of year 😅

[kaesaaurelia]

Ahh, the social anxiety-inspired urge to review every single conversation after the fact and stew in self-loathing because maybe you didn't know what to say and were awkward and what if everyone thinks you're dumb or cringey or annoying.

[chickpea0]

vvvvent post

[tommy-288]

One of my obscure childhood fears:

When I was around four or five I watched a civil war movie (I think it was Free state of Jones). There was a scene where a soldier got shot and was bleeding out and another soldier was carrying him. It was obvious that he was going to die, and he said he was thirsty. (When you are experiencing blood loss you become thirsty).

So for the next few years I was terrified of getting hurt then getting thirsty. I played outside a lot and fell down an ungodly amount of times, every time this happened I cried my eyes out. Not that I was in too much pain, just the fact I was afraid of getting thirsty. This only ended when I was 8 years old.

[vldkeith]

nothing could have prepared me for the deep cosmic horror i felt when i turned on one of my childhood favorite cartoons, justice league unlimited, and saw “directed by: joaquim dos santos” flash on the screen in the first episode

[uncertain3teeth]

childhood

[illogicalvulcans]

does anyone else remember watching henrys amazing animals as a kid

[memoriescut]

feeling absolutely gaslighted by my dash right now /j

[hostilecityshowdown]

MAYU IWATANI IWGP CHAMP REAL?

[derangedfruitcake]

I’m so much to deal with that even the memories leave

[wandasaura]

YOURE ON YOUR OWN KID

summary — when boredom strikes in the absence of your girlfriends, you make friendship bracelets that will tether you together no matter the distance

warnings — fluff, the slightest indication of hurt but not really, mentions of lethal weapons and battle, minor mention of ohio but it’s a soft/happy moment

authors note — i am so high you gremlins better appreciate this, i got so carried away

Truthfully, you weren’t entirely sure when summer had lost its whimsical spark, but as you trudged through the halls of the compound searching wistfully for something to do that could even begin to fill a fraction of the time until your girlfriends returned home from a last minute op, the early days of August just didn’t feel the same as they did when you had popsicle sticks and sandcastles to look forward to. The endless days that had once been vibrant within your memory, defined by sleepovers and an assortment of frozen treats, were now bland and filled with earnest longing for company that was hard to come across when the entire world needed saving and that impossible responsibility fell on the shoulders of a few ragtag individuals. 

The height of summertime had befallen you if the scorching heat outside was any minuscule factor in the judgment that determined ever changing seasons, yet still you felt paralyzed in an eternal winter, pessimistically comparing the barren landscape of early February to the isolating interior of Stark’s state of the art compound. Pepper and Maria had become familiar faces since the Avengers workload had picked up again, becoming short lived intermissions to the reality you lived in permanently, but even with their infrequent trips upstate to visit with you and collect paperwork that probably could’ve waited until Tony himself returned home, persistent boredom was slowly becoming your worst enemy. 

Wanda and Natasha had been trying their best though it was hardly any consolation, sending nightly texts and assuring that although they missed you terribly, they were doing well, but it just wasn’t the same as having them home with you. They called anytime they got the chance, FaceTime’d whenever a hotspot managed to be secured, but it would never be enough to heal the ache of their physical absence beside you in a place that you so desperately tried to call home for them. 

Scrounging through the game closet, because as ‘tough’ as Tony attempted to appear in the light of the everlurking media, he still valued spending time with his wife and friends – as hesitant as he was to ever truly call the Avengers such a thing. It was something of a shock to stumble upon a bracelet kit in the madness of board games and extravagant card decks, but knowing the billionaire, it had most definitely been purchased in a haze of sleep deprivation and later been put away by Pepper who would’ve  ultimately been the one to unbox each package as they came. 

Shrugging off your initial surprise, a smile derived of childhood nostalgia pulled at the corners of your lips, and for a single second, that unreplicable spark came back to you just as  the August sun created a breathtaking sunset beyond the living room windows. Settling onto the couch, illuminated by the slowly ebbing traces of warm daylight, you pried open the plastic packaging and allowed that innocent child within you to have a single moment of joy. Intricately you weaved plastic beads onto thin rubber string, shifting through tiny sections until you found colors and letters that fit your wildest desires, leaving out no tacky charm whilst you were at it. Before you knew it, your wrist had become adorned with personality by three entirely cliche bracelets, all different colors and hues but perfectly cohesive as they mirrored the colors visible just beyond the large windows. You grinned down at them blissfully, caressing the ‘N’ on the highest one on your wrist, mesmerized by the simplicity of their appearance on your body. They were so effortlessly simple, weaved and tangled together by environmentally damaging globes of hollow plastic, but they’d healed a part of your being that you hadn’t even recognized was slowly dying as adulthood stole the joy of childhood. 

After cleaning up the house, although you most definitely did slip the bracelet kit into your shared bedroom with Wanda and Natasha instead of placing it back in the closet for communal use, you fell into the couch once more, this time with a lousy dinner of buttered pasta and a sitcom that just didn’t hit the same without Wanda’s amusement to drown out the laugh track and Natasha’s dry commentary. At some point, you had fallen asleep to Michelle Tanner stomping through the kitchen, but when you awoke, groggy and disoriented, you found that the sky had morphed into a deep shade of violet and the house was filled with echoes of shuffling. 

You frowned, rubbing at your eyes with balled up fists as you took in your surroundings. The room was painted in near total darkness, however the lamp nearest your body had been switched on and bright an ambient glow to the blackness that threatened to drown you within it. There was also the telltale sounds of quiet conversation, and though the thick walls did a lot to muffle the sounds of life existing beside you for the first time in days, you recognized the drawl of Wanda’s soft Sokovian accent instantaneously. 

Shooting up from the couch, barely acknowledging that someone had thrown a blanket over top of you, weaving through the hallways that didn’t seem so barren anymore until you found your girlfriends bent over the countertop, still dressed in their tactile uniforms and covered in dust and dirt, but happily snacking on the left over pasta that you had placed on the highest shelf in the fridge. You didn’t give them a moment to react to your abrupt presence in the kitchen, certain that Natasha had heard your feet pattering against the floorboards and Wanda had felt your energy shift and grow closer. The Russian happened to be on the side of the island closest to you, and without hesitation you embraced her in a tight hug, wrapping your arms around her midsection and digging your face into the center of her back, effectively pinning her arms to her sides, though she could’ve easily escaped you if she wanted. 

“Hi, malyshka.” She cooed softly, her voice hoarse from smoke inhalation and a long stretch of yelling over bombs and active fire, but you paid it no mind, happy just to have her back in your arms miraculously in one single piece. “You gonna let me go so I can hug you the right way?” She teased when your grip remained steeled, not wavering for a second even as you nestled your head farther into the back of her spine. 

“No.” Your voice was small as it fell into the air, drowning both Wanda and Natasha in your tender softness. “Never letting you go again.” 

“As endearing as that is, malyska, you refuse to be in the bathroom when I pee. You’re going to have to let me go at some point.” Her humor was dry, blunt enough to have your cheeks twinging a shade of pink they hadn’t been since the day she and Wanda left, but you didn’t hold back your strained laughter like you would’ve had she not just been gone for nearly a week, instead, you allowed the sound to tear through your body and vibrate hers. 

You only loosened your grip because Wanda had rounded the corner of the island and pulled you back into her chest the minute you were in reach. Natasha took that to her advantage, shimming out of your loosened grip to turn around and embrace you fully, one hand cupping the back of your head whilst the other looped around your waist over top of Wandas. You sighed contently, laying your chin against Natasha’s shoulder while your hand slipped down to grasp firmly onto Wanda’s. 

Only when curious fingers brushed against your wrist did you remember the bracelets adorning your arm, and passionately you wiggled away from them to snag the lowest bracelet off, extending it to the Sokovian with an admittedly sheepish grin. “I made you this.” You offered simply as an explanation, awaiting Wanda’s reaction as she took in the sight of the bracelet, the lone bead in the center the first letter of your name. 

Wanda’s mesmerizing green eyes wrinkled beneath the kitchen lighting, and tenderly she stroked her finger across the beads that framed your single letter. “I love it.” You smiled shyly beneath her tender stare, cheeks heating up as you shifted your attention to Natasha, pulling off the bracelet that just as simply as the first, bore a black inked ‘W’. “I thought we could wear each other's names. That way when you're off saving the world one Hydra base at a time, you still have a little part of me with you, and I have a little part of you.” 

Natasha couldn’t contain her endearment, and for a single second as you glanced at her tearful expression, you were worried that she hated it, that she thought it was stupid and childish, which it most definitely was. A spluttered apology was on the tip of your tongue, hot and loaded as it formed in seconds, but it was pointless, because once she had taken a few seconds to collect her reserve, she slid the bracelet onto her wrist, fitting it comfortably over the sleeves of her sleek black uniform that desperately needed a dry clean, and smiled at you. 

“Yelena and I used to make these in Ohio. They weren’t as pretty, and they didn’t really mean anything significant, but it was the one thing that we could do that made us feel like real kids; me more than her. I love it, detka.” Natasha mumbled insightfully, though you didn’t have a second to unpack her whispered admission, because she was pulling you into a kiss that tasted of vodka and pasta the second words stopped forming on her tongue. You didn’t whine about the taste of her tongue, or how her lips were painfully chapped against yours, simply melted into the touch and shuddered as Wanda came up behind you to kiss a soft trail down your neck. 

Two weeks later, they were called away on another mission, this time in Nigeria where a Hydra base had apparently popped up out of the blue, but this time, amongst their tactical uniforms and lethal weapons, were two bracelets crafted by you. When they returned six days later, those same bracelets remained, looking dingy beneath the ambient glow of sunset, but entirely perfect as well.