#grammas red and green

[sarahvilelaheart]

This is an art of Mario, Luigi and the Grammas Red and Green celebrating this year's Christmas Day while wearing Christmas hats and giving each other gifts. 🎁 So, Merry Christmas 2023… with the Mario Bros. and the Grammas Red and Green! 🎅 And enjoy this special drawing! 🙂

[southernsagestoryteller]

Devil's Advocate

We were staying at my Gramma and Grampa’s house in the front bedroom — Mama, Daddy, my baby brother and me.  I was about 5 years old.  My Aunt Mary and my 10 year old cousin, M.C., were staying there too — in the back bedroom.I liked it there because there was always something going on — my gramma cooking or bustling around in the kitchen or digging in her garden — my grampa telling stories or…

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

The Stranger 1

Warnings: non/dubcon, and other dark elements. My username actually says you never asked for any of this.

My warnings are not exhaustive but be aware this is a dark fic and may include potentially triggering topics. Please use your common sense when consuming content. I am not responsible for your decisions.

Characters: Destroyer!Chris

Summary: A stranger buys the farmstead nearby and disturbs your sleepy village life.

Part of the Backwoods AU

Note: My first time writing this character!

As usual, I would appreciate any and all feedback. I’m happy to once more go on this adventure with all of you! Thank you in advance for your comments and for reblogging.

Your nails are crusted in dirt as you kneel in the garden. You grunt as you wrestle the roots of weed from the soil and toss it aside. You wipe your forehead with the back of your glove as you hear the screen door snap shut. Your grandmother stands on the stoop, her hand on her achy hip.

“Did you hear, dearie?” She calls in her creaky voice. “Someone’s moved into Clyde’s old house.”

“Huh?” You catch your breath as you gather up the broken weeds, “it’s half ash.”

“Suppose they’ll fix it up,” she mutters as she leans on the narrow iron rail along the side of the backsteps.

“Suppose,” you agree as you stuff the green and brown foliage into the paper bag for the compost. “Who told you that?”

“I was just talking to Lynette on the phone. She also said Molly’s having her fifth.”

Five kids? You hide your chagrin at the thought. You don’t mind kids but that’s a lot to handle, let alone the pregnancies. Molly balloon’s up so big she can hardly move. Her last shower, she sat the whole time. Not much different than you, you guess. You sat in the corner and watched the silly games

“That’s exciting,” you say as you stand and dust off your knees, crumpling the top of the bag in your other hand.

“Ah, I’m sure you woulda loved to have four sisters? Maybe brothers? It’s a pity your mother never gave me any more grandchildren.”

“Mmm,” you suppress a frown, “yeah, well…”

“Anyhow, enough talk of spoiled milk,” she waves off, “I got a pie in the oven. You can take it over the Clyde’s once it cools.”

“I… why would I do that?”

“Oh my, don’t be ridiculous. We have a new neighbour, we have to be polite and welcome them to the village. It’s probably a nice family, or maybe someone your age. A friend?” She suggests, “I’d do it myself but I don’t think I’d make the walk…” she looks down at her hip, theatrically rubbing it. 

“Right,” you agree, the prospect of strangers making your tummy lurch. “Well, that pie will take some time.”

“Long enough for you to put on something clean,” she tuts as she looks down at your dirty jeans, “my lord, what would they think?”

“Yes, gramma, I’ll change, once I get this in the compost.”

“Good,” she smirks triumphantly and turns to swing open the screen door, the hinges whining shrilly.

You sniff and cross the yard. It’s not often there’s new faces in Hammer Ford. The village is a tourist trap at best and not a very lively one. Everyone calls each other by name and it’s second nature to stop and say hi. But that’s because you know each other; you have for years.

You lift the lid on the large bin and empty the bag into it. You could always lie and hide the pie in some bushes. Your deceit wouldn’t be hidden for long. Even in this sleepy place, word travels fast and someone always seems to be watching and waiting to pass it on.

🥧

You head out with the pie in a basket like some fairytale. You’re only short a red hood and a big bad wolf. You set off down the country roads, following the lazy curves towards the horizon. It’s after noon and the sun’s turning mild as it drifts across its pale canvas.

The old homestead is the second closest to your grandmother’s. The homes around Hammer Ford or sprawled out amid the plowed fields and green meadows. The cluster of old pines loom over you as you pass in there shadow and crest the hill that marks the edge of the property. Clyde’s tractor used to sit there, just by the broken down fence.

Ahead, down another stretch of road, this path unpaved, stands the decrepit house. The tragedy still singes the memories of the villagers. That night comes back to you in a blaze of orange and the smell of cinder. Poor old Clyde was buried behind Sacred Stave church.

You search the overgrown grass for a sign of life. There’s a black truck by the caved in garage but that’s about it. It might not be a family. It’s a lot of work to do with little ones around. If anything, it would only be the parents as they rebuild. Your mind wanders, wondering who would buy the old farm and why.

You come down the path, just along the ditch that dips behind a cluster of brambles. There’s a snap and a crack and you skid to a halt on the stones. You spin and look around, a heavy breath pluming into the air. Like the fire reawakened.

“Can I help you?” The deep timbre rolls through you and you step back on your heel as you face the man down in the ditch. He peers up at you above the scraggly top of the brambles.

“Uh,” you gulp and stare at him dumbly. He might think you’re lost. Or worse, trespassing.

His hair is short, only an inch on top and shaved even shorter around the sides. His beard is thick around his mouth, growing sparse across his cheeks, and two vibrant blue eyes beam back at you. The way he looks at you makes you want to shrink away. You can sense the city radiating off of him. He scares you.

“Hello? What’s up?” He waves as if trying to wake you up.

“Um, pie?” You say, cringing at your own speechlessness.

“Pie,” he repeats flatly.

You hold up the basket and blink. You never were very good at introductions. You were the only girl at school without friends. You were just sort of there.

“Pie,” you echo once more and hold out the basket.

He tilts his head, curiously, and huffs. He juts out his jaw and grunts as he pushes the brambles apart and climbs out of the ditchy. His denim jacket is streaked in dirty and pollen.

He takes the basket by the handle, his rough finger brushing yours. He peels back the cloth and to peek inside, “pie.” He utters the syllable a fourth time between you.

“Yeah,” your voice is wispy and small. “Bye.”

You let out a strained breath and spin, keeping yourself from breaking into a sprint. You stomp away frantically, smacking yourself internally for being so awkward. Well, maybe that’s a good thing. He’ll have no reason to talk to you ever again.

[weridpersonhelp]

Red phone

Wally x reader

next

warning: slightly scary, first-time horror writter, stalking, confusion, gramma and spell mistakes, screaming, getting up a horrible hour of night, neurodivergent reader, slow burnish? more fanfic then x reader, children, puppets, curse langue, music, be ready for cringe!

“What in the world?” I rub my eyes trying the get rid of the sleep as I am woken up by a loud ringing noise coming from downstairs, I groan loudly as the ringing continues. I cover my ears with my pillow in an attempt to stop it or at least muffle the noise but no! it just would not stop, it felt like it was getting louder instead!

The noise of a creaking old phone was the worst sound I have ever heard, that is after the sound of nails against a black board. It felt with each ring my ears were getting closer and closer to the ear drum bursting!  I Stormed down the stairs pulling up my silky shorts, so they don’t fall while walking down the stairs at night. Walking to the kitchen I pause at the sudden sense of danger; my gut was saying something. My body just froze in place, and the hairs on it stood tall. The red phone, it was the red phone that was ringing.           I had never seen or heard it in my whole life, yet their it was ringing on the kitchen counter. It stood out compared to all my grandmother’s appliances. The kitchen was a light minty green with the wood being the green and marble tops, My Grandma originally wanted wooden tops but explained how marble was cheaper back then.

The phone was bright red, a red you don’t commonly see unless it’s on Tv or on a plastic toy. I stood they’re like an idiot or better yet a dear in head lights. Watching as it rung, and soon enough it stopped. The over whelming of fear, and danger disappearing in an instant. I stare at the phone, noticing how old it must have been. Probably made in the 1950’s? 1960’s? it didn’t matter anyway the ringing stopped and I could go back to bed, but now my brain was fuzzy and awake. I need something to help me sleep, I sigh and put the kettle on and make myself a coffee. Caffeine did the opposite to me, instead of waking me up it made me sleepy like my dad. And with one sip of that coffee, and a small waddle up the old stairs and into my room I went out quicker than a light bulb.

But sadly, I woke up not just a few hours later to the cries of my brother, I sigh once again turning over in my bed and hitting my pillow in anger. But I couldn’t be angry at Jim, this was the normal hour he gets up at. I’m surprised My mum hasn’t noticed yet, but I’m not Angry at them right now. Just at that dam red phone. Slowly getting up I get ready for the day, full of. Well, what ever my mother has planed for me to do.

I leave my new room, and walk down the hall to the stairs, only this time they creek. I physically cringe at the noise but try my best to get downstairs, Once I do and make my way to the kitchen I see everyone already up. Including grandma, I walk over giving her a peck on the cheek and she gives me a small smile and asks.

“Good morning my dear! How did you sleep?”

“not very well, I woke up to a phone ringing. And found it hard to go back to sleep.” I explain taking a seat next to her at the dinning table across from my brother who I waved hello too. The small toddler notices my presence and gives me a wave and a bunch of gibberish which I’ll take as a hello. Mum placed some scrambled egg’s and bacon in front of me before pushing my hair back and kissing my forehead gently and sitting down next to me.

“Good morning sleepy head, you slept in! normally your awake before now.” Mum wasn’t wrong, I would normally wake up and take care of Jim myself sometimes, or at least make him breakfast. BUT. Since this was a Family Holiday, I could relax.

“Yeah, you alright kiddo?” dad asks me as I grab the BBQ sauce and shrug.

“meh overall, probably just still adjusting from the car ride. Anything planned for today?” I ask my family stealing a piece of buttered toast from the centre of the table before my dad.

“no not really, so you can do what you like today. Just don’t spend too much time on that computer!”  Mum explains, I nod along and constructed my toast carefully, finally taking a bite it was like heaven, the sweet bacon, the salty eggs., the soft butter and toast with the crunchy crust! And the small amount of sauce. Just perfection I gobble it down and quickly went back for seconds, I can see from the side of my eye my mum shaking her head and grandma giggling.

“Gosh you and your father are so alike!” Grandma gushes and pinches my cheek gently.

“I know all she need’s in to be taller, different hair colour and more into the outdoors and we would have a female clone!” mum saying cracking up my nana even more, she almost sounded like a parrot with how loud she was.

“Yes, she gets her creativity from my Harrison! And her artistic talents come from both sides, right? Your mother was a painter, right?” The two continue their conisations and I take my plate up to the sink, I catch a glimpse of the red phone. Again, my gut was trying to tell me something, but it felt different as if someone was watching me. I shook the feeling off and continued to the sink.

‘Am I going crazy?’ I ask myself in my head as I wash up some of the dishes, dad drops his off along with Jim’s. Jimmy sat on his hip holding on to the 6’4 man who towered over everyone in the house, his height is something I wish I inherited.

“, honey I’ll tell you. Later, just remind me later to do so is that okay?” I raise an eyebrow at my dad who just smiles down at me, the question was what my dad wanted to talk about later.  I know I shouldn’t press though, or I may never find out, so I just nod my head continuing to clean. He turns away before snapping his fingers and spins back to face me.

“Oh! Me and your mum are leaving are going out so you will have to baby sit Jimmy with grandma for a couple of hours to night,” “yeah that’s fine dad.”

_____________________________

Wally hangs up the phone again sighing slightly, opening the morning paper. to read.

"When will that Old woman answer?"

[yankstrash]

could we get a board game night blurb?

amelia had a love/hate relationship with board game nights with gabe and his roommates. they were a TON of fun, but the guys were also wayyyyy too competitive and sometimes drove her insane

tonight was board game night at the boys apartment, and candy land was the chosen game of the night. the boys wanted to play monopoly, but amelia refused because of how they all acted last time they played.

"what color do you want baby?" gabe asked as amelia nuzzled in next to him on the floor with a blanket.

"yellow please"

gabe passed the yellow figurine over to his girlfriend while the other roommates got situated around the coffee table.

"green please babe" will said to gabe as he sat down

"here you go sweetheart" gabe said as he threw the green figurine at will

"thanks buttercup"

amelia laughed at the boys as everyone else got settled and chose their figurines.

"now please, for the love of GOD, can we not take this game too seriously? it's fucking candy land. there's no competition, it's purely a game of luck. so please, keep it together." amelia announced before they started the game.

"now, where's the fun in that meely?" ryan sarcastically asked.

"it's to keep me sane. i'm going first." amelia said as she picked up a card.

the game was going smoothly for a while, until of course someone, somehow, was accused of cheating.

"YOU CHEATER! MOVE IT THERE!" gabe pointed at the board and yelled as will moved his figurine to the gum drop after he picked up the cupcake card, which would send him allll the way back to the start.

"FUCK NO! BULLSHIT! that's a fucking gum drop card, i am not moving my shit all the way back to the damn cupcake!" will yelled back.

"are you fucking stupid? that's a cupcake, move it smitty." gabe said, but will refused.

"that's a gum drop, and i'm not moving it."

the two boys argued over the game for a few more moments before ryan yelled at them and will finally obliged, moving his figurine back.

the next few minutes went smoothly, before another problem arose.

"drew what the fuck, you can't use the rainbow trail, you didn't land on the spot for it!" ryan said as drew moved his figurine up the shortcut.

"yes i can! i landed on red!" drew argued back.

"you had to land on GREEN to be able to use it!" ryan said.

"NOOOO, red!"

"fuck th-"

"ryan, how did you end up on purple by gramma nutt? you were just stuck on licorice in peanut acres.." will questioned, interrupting the previous argument.

"wait, will, HOW are you in the lollipop woods already? you JUST got back to the cupcake." gabe questioned as he took a look at the board.

by now, there were 3 different arguments going on, but luckily for amelia, all it took was one card more to get her to the candy castle.

"HA! i won! you can all SHUT UP NOW, game over!" amelia announced, and all the boys went quiet.

"she probably cheated.." will whispered to drew, which earned him a smack on the head from gabe and a pillow to his face from amelia.

"shut up will you're the cheater here. good job baby!" gabe said as he squeezed amalias side.

"but not really because it's a game of luck, right meel?" ryan asked and grinned at amelia, causing her to scowl back at him.

"get monopoly out, now."

[knowledgetoken]

influx of smith family screenies...no johnny cus hes doing adult stuff with puck in pleasantview in their kickass yellow house...OLD PEOPLE CHESS!!!!

heres the two youngest smith siblings, jimmie and jolene!!! they stick together like glue, its so cute!! jimmie is close to a teen here.

they're coming soon?? PAWPAW IF YOU HAD'VE RAN GRIM WOULDN'T HAVE CAUGHT YOU GET IN YER DAMN SPACESHIP!!!

jimmie aged up into a teen (like, 2 rotations ago but nothing really interesting happened so don't even like, worry about it) and I'm OBSESSED WITH HIM. THEE SIM EVER.

pawpaw come back family dinner's just not the same :((

the teen-child interactions absolutely kill me it's not fair. i can't tell you how many times i've screenshotted johnny and jill dancing together or him swinging her around only for the pictures to fly into the void.

jolene aged up!! ran to play red hands with jimmie as soon as she could.

jill and buck smith are WED next to pawpaw's golf green...i cannot seperate them im sorry

WAHOO FIRST BABY!!! her name is daisy :) i'm done with the influx of j names that was jenny and pol's thing!!

this is jenny's fifth grandchild (puck and johnny have 4!!!! kids), but this is her first time being a live-in gramma.

AND THEN THEY HAD ANOTHER BECAUSE OF ACR!!!! YAY!!!! this pol reacting from the grave to baby ruby's birth, because family sims are gonna always be family sims.

with ruby, jenny has completed her aspiration of having 6 grandkids (which i don't think has ever happened for me, but jenny seems to be hanging on for a long ass time, thankfully). she is ALWAYS in the baby rooms, she's totally obsessed with them.

and that's basically it for the end of rotation 5 for the smith family!!! just a wholesome surban family, nothing weird here!!!

[emberapatow]

Jemma and Ember try to recreate one of Jemma's favorite dishes and chat ft. @ijemmaokafor

Jemma:

-finding Ember in the kitchen, Jemma stops by- Hey hon, I’ve got that recipe if you wanna run through what we’ve got on hand for it.

Ember:

Yes, I would love to! Come on, by now I've memorized basically everything we've got in our storage, so it should be easy to figure out if it is possible.

Jemma:

Nice thing is, it’s pretty versatile. My gramma always made it with goat meat, but chicken works, too. Or just veggies, if that’s what’s on hand. The key is the peppers, so…what kinda do we have on hand?

Ember:

We don't have the biggest variety, but there are some choices. There are bell peppers, mostly red, but there are some green too. Jalapeno though they are not as hot as I'd prefer, but I think it's best for a lot of people. And black and white peppers for seasoning, mostly whole. Is it more of a sweet or savory soup?

Jemma:

-as Ember pointed out each type of pepper in the pantry, she collected them up- Well I think we can make do. Probably best we don't use scotch bonnets anyway...soup made in bulk like this, I don't think most folks can handle the real real spice. spotting bullion cubes, she grabs a couple It's a savory soup, mostly. The real authentic stuff uses these seed pods that are kinda like black peppercorns, but they have a fruitier kind of aroma. Doesn't quite make it sweet...ours will have to be savory.

Ember:

Yeah, they probably cannot handle the heat. At this point I know how to cook without heat intentionally, but when I started learning to cook, that was kind of a struggle, everything just turned out hot. -she nodded and started picking up spices and veggies for the base and placing them on the kitchen counter- Savory it is. I'm assuming onion, garlic, salt is needed? Wish we could do the authentic version, but but black peppercorns it is. You said your grandma used to make this, right?

Jemma:

Onions and salt yes, garlic...I don't know, keep it out just in case. I don't remember gramma using it, but we'll taste along the way and see if it helps since we're ad-libbing anyway. Her family was from Lagos, West Nigerians go heavy on the spice, and this was about as versatile as keeping a bottle of tabasco on the table. You can eat it by itself, add rice or yams. The trick is how you prep the peppers.

-remembering a last minute addition- NUTMEG. Do we have any nutmeg??

Ember:

-thinks for a moment- Hold on, there should be some... -reached at the back of one of the shelves and pulled out a smaller baggie, grinning at Jemma- HA, victory! Yes, we absolutely have nutmeg. Alright, which of the peppers are we using? Cause the prep on them heavily depend on it. Have you ever been to Lagos, by the way?

Jemma:

Twice! A cousin got married and they turned it into a big family reunion. And then I went again when I studied abroad. -considering the ingredients in front of her- Let's do the red peppers and the jalapeños. I know they're supposed to be roasted before they're stewed in the soup. And to save one pepper that gets sliced as a fresh garnish. But that's about the extent of what I know.

Ember:

You studied abroad? That sounds really cool. What kind of places have you seen during it? -nodded- That was my assumption. And then cook it up with stock from the bullion, the chicken - oh, we have chicken, we can use that, I forgot to say. Do you wanna help or do you just wanna watch? I'm good with either version, I like figuring things out. -she already put her hair up into a ponytail and started to work on the prep work-

Jemma:

I needed an international law credit and I'd always wanted to see more of my grandparents' home, so I signed up for a six-week trip across West Africa. Lagos was just one of the stops, but I got to see family while I was there. As for helping out...I can chop onions?

Ember:

I know I said this before, but that's really cool. Did you have a favorite spot, or something that was outstanding you've seen that stuck with you? -she got the onions with a knife for Jemma- There you go, can you do small dices? Just make sure not to cut the tip of your finger off. I saw that once, and it's not fun.

Jemma:

The whole city was pretty dazzling. There was a conservation center with this canopy walk though…wish I had pictures to share, that place was amazing. What about you? What’s the coolest place you’ve ever been?

Ember:

Makes you think about the old days, when they printed out all the photos a couple of decades ago, right? For me it was Mexico for sure. The only time I've been outside of the country, but I'll never forget it. My abuelita grew up near San Cristobal. Walking through the streets there just felt magical.

Jemma:

 I've never been to Mexico...but some of my favorite actors and directors were from there. I always figured it must be beautiful to inspire so much art. -she stays quiet for a moment, considering the woman before her, and just how enthusiastically she's thrown herself into this community- Y'know, forgive me if this is presumptive--working in the kitchens like you do is so crucial, and you're already totally pulling your weight. But is there anything else around town you might want to do? I'm always trying to keep an eye out for folks who have a kind of...community spirit about them? That makes it sound kinda corny, but do you know what I mean?

Ember:

That's... -chuckles- That's very kind of you, I was just trying to integrate. And feel like a human being again, if I'm being honest. But actually, now that you mentioned it, I did want to talk to you about something related to this. How much do you know about people having substance issues in Redwood?

Jemma:

I know there are a few who struggled with it in the before times. I’ve not seen it be an ongoing issue here, but we’ve got access to vices, and addiction’s a lifelong thing, so I could see it cropping up. Why, are you concerned about someone?

Ember:

-shook her head- No, I am not close enough with anyone to see it as something of a problem, I was just thinking-- do you think some sort of group meeting, something where people could talk about stuff like this, know there's some kind of support system there for them could be something this place could be interested in? I'm sure there are people from even before the outbreak with problems and then this environment makes people reach for these kinds of solutions easily

Jemma:

Kinda like an AA? Maybe not so much of the religious stuff -a lot of people's faith had been flipped upside down anyway- I think that could be good. We'll reserve the main room for it. Start with one get-together to gauge interest, then maybe schedule stuff from there?

Ember:

Yeah, see if people would be interested in it. -a pause- I know I'd be interested in it.

Jemma:

-she didn't want to pry right now, but the pause told her something important about her new friend- It's a really good idea. You tell me when you're ready to do it and we'll make it happen. I don't have any official experience with AA or NA, but I've helped folks in that world before, so I'd like to help where I can.

Ember:

I have no experience with any of it myself either. It all kind of happened right after the outbreak so I've never did anything like this before, but we can figure it out. And thank you, for your help with this, it means a lot.

[bear-cubs-art-things]

OKI OKI YOUNG ZECHARIAH AU FANFIC GOO-

part 1 yeeeee!!!

★~🐸~★

It was a beautiful morning in Wartwood. The sun glowed warmly in the pale blue sky, clouds of shimmery white glided along wind currents seemingly so calm. The soil smelled of dew and previous rainfall, plants along every water-body edge they could find. Or really any patch of dirt. Along with the earthy warm smell of dirt, wildflowers and bakery goods filled the air. It truly smelled like home.

His home. Zechariah Nettles.

Zechariah Phineas Nettles. 11 years old. 5 feet 4 inches. Lives with his grandmother Gretchen Basil Nettles and mother Juniper Autumn Yggdrasil. Has no siblings. Loves to read, listen to music, on occasion draw on scraplets of paper. Does chores more frequently than he thinks necessary. Works on his household farm (who didn't have a farm in Wartwood?). Green-grey with dark brown eyes, with a pale blue tongue. Kind and often shy, doesn't talk much.

You get the idea.

Often Zechariah would sit on the garden wall, looking off into the vague and unknown distance. Staring at the summer clouds, lost in daydream thought. He was a nice kid, they said. Soft spoken and well mannered.

And, some might say, a perfect target.

Wartwood, though a kind small town a ways from the capital, had its fair share of pricks and assholes. Unfortunately, older teens had it good with picking on poor 'Riah. Everyday it was the same.

"Staring off at the stars, huh, dreamerboy?"

"He doesn't have any friends, so he talks to the plants!"

"More working less dreaming farmerboy!!"

"I bet his mom hates him so he has to do all the farmwork."

"What's so interesting about the damn sky, huh?!"

"I bet his thoughts are his only company, and that isn't much company is it now?"

And everyday, Zechariah continues on. So deep in thought their sneers fly right between his ears (whatever passes as his ears). But even now and then, it gets bad.

Really bad.

Zechariah was just walking home from the market one day; a bag of assorted groceries for his grandma in one arm, a loaf of bread in the other. He was just a kid running another errand, minding his own business. Three big kids walked up to him.

"Whatcha got there?" asked the biggest one. A newt of dark fuchsia and slit eyes. At least that's what they looked like.

"Hm?" Zechariah responded softly, quietly, being brought back to reality from his daydream.

"I said," the fuchsia newt raised his voice, "whatcha got there."

"Groceries," once again Zechariah responded softly. Light words in the wind. Faint.

"What kind of groceries?" another sneered. A blue frog, high-pitched voice, short and stocky. Wore a newsboys cap. Kinda silly looking.

"Dunno" 'Riah shrugged. "Gramma gave me a list."

"Y'know young tadpoles like you shouldn't really wander alone without an adult," the newt chimed back in. "It can be dangerous."

"How so?"

"You never know," the newt swaggered closer to Zechariah, malice glittering in his eyes, "who might want to hurt you."

Almost as if it were rehearsed, the third one - a big burly red toad with no neck and a wide build - slugged a punch at Zechariah. Sent him straight to the mud.

And his groceries, which he was more upset about than his own physical wellbeing.

The frog joined in, kicking at Zechariah's face. The toad was still throwing punches, but at his sides. The newt stood there, arms folded, smiling and watching.

Zechariah merely trying to cover his head with his sticks-for-arms. Which, must be mentioned, was another part of him that Amphibians made fun of him of.

And when they were done with him, after Zechariah was beaten to a froggy pulp, the newt finally bent down to talk to him.

"Listen closely, little runt," he hissed.

Zechariah uncovered his eyes, looked up to meet the newt's.

Glittering with malice. Hatred. The need to hurt.

"You aren't welcomed here. This is OUR territory."

"Hnnnggh-"

The newt snapped (in a sense) and threw Zechariah up by the collar, so that he was dangling a good 6 inches off the ground. Battered and bruised, lips swollen and bleeding. He looked terrible, awfully terrible. He shouldn't even be in this situation right now... how have things escalated so quickly?

"If I see your dingy ass walking these streets again I WILL kill you." the newt hissed, foaming at the mouth. Insane. Bloodthirsty.

"Hnnngggghh" was the only thing to escape Zechariah's numb face.

The newt then delivered the final blow.

A merciless throwdown into the mud. Face first, if you will. And he laughed. So did the other two.

And they walked away, still laughing.

Zechariah, unable to feel much through the pain coursing through his veins and muscles, laid there in the mud. Groceries spoiled, his Gramma's copper wasted, his body battered in a lifeless heap.

He sighed. Didn't cry. Sighed.

He wasn't much of a crier. And for his age, he should've been crying at that first punch.

He just laid there. Still and breathing. Coping with the immense pain those teens had inflicted on him.

"They're jerks, huh?" an unfamiliar voice spoke.

"Mm hm..." was his muffled reply, quiet.

"I'm sorry they did that to you," the voice said again. "Really."

Zechariah felt his body being turned on his side and brought up to a sitting-up position. It wasn't hard because he was so light and thin.

What he was faced with was a royal purple newt with chin-length black hair curly at the ends, with a apologetic grin on his face. His eyes will filled with innocent brightness, hiding the apparent knowledge that he knew something about those teens that beat up Zechariah.

"My brother can be a pain sometimes, and I always have to clean his mess," he sighed. Sat in front of 'Riah. "I'm truly sorry he did this to you. Wrong place wrong time I guess."

"Mm hm..."

Purple Newt stuck out his hand. "I'm Brocky by the way. Brocky Fronds. That pink newt was my older bro Rasphy. He's always been a no-good."

"Hmm..."

Brocky glanced a long glance in the direction where Rasphy last went. He snapped his head back to Zechariah.

"So anyways, moving on from that, what's your name?"

"Hmh?"

"I introduced myself, and you have yet to do the same," Brocky pointed out. "In case you didn't hear me the first time, I said my name was Brocky."

"I heard that-" Zechariah replied.

"Woah he does speak!" Brocky snarked almost immediately, sarcastically. Zechariah chuckled a bit.

Zechariah stuck his hand out to meet Brocky's, and shook it. "I'm Zechariah Nettles."

" 'The Skinny-Legged Frog' they call you," Brocky jerked his head in Rasphy's direction. "My bro and his friends, I mean."

"They call me lots of things," Zechariah shrugged. "I never paid any attention to that much."

"Well, I know what I'm gonna call you, if you're alright with it," Brocky declared, standing up.

"What?" Zechariah looked up at him, bracing for whatever horrible nickname Brocky was going to give him. Not like he cared much.

Instead, Brocky gave him a goofy grin, ear-to-ear (whatever passed as ears) all-tooth smile, and offered his hand to help Zechariah up.

"My friend."

[angelmartinez2022]

What they mean to me..

I like rainbow high dolls. i have a lot.. This will update with time..  Violet Willow This pretty lil lady was my first rainbow high doll. The one that, with that pretty purple hair and sweet face broke through the, I refuse to buy these dolls wall. The moment I took her out of that box i realized how much i was gonna love these dolls. Her hair was amazing, her out fit so detailed. She reminded me why i loved dolls so much in the first place. She brought back that connection to my Gramma, as I sat there and thought about what Gram Mavis would have done if she could have had one of these dolls. I was HOPELESSLY HELPLESSLY hooked. Ruby Anderson She was the second doll to catch my fancy. I have always loved red, and shades of red. That pretty red hair of hers was what drew me in. Finding her on sale on amazon was a bonus. It made me want her that much more when i saw she was on sale. Contrary to popular belief in my family, No one GIVES me the money for these things. I get out there and bust my butt, working even when i am sick sometimes, when i should be home in bed to  make the ends meet. When those ends do meet and i have a lil left over, its nice to indulge in something sweet and innocent as these lil dolls. That’s what ruby means to me when i look at her, I made the ends meet for another week and she was my lil reward. Poppy Rowan She was the one i waffled on, i stared at the screen and tried to convince my self is it ok to get her? Will i be able to afford her? She is the one i held off on the longest, saving money  lil bit here, and there to make sure I had enough that Buying at 25+ dollar doll was not gonna  put a dent in my finances. It made me happy when i added that last five bucks to my amazon gift account and ordered her. Like ruby pop’s is a doll that shows not only can i make the ends meet but that I know how to scrimp and save to get what I want with out hurting my self, or anyone else.

 Sunny Madison Yah this chickie was a real wild card, yet again a purchase on the ama of zons because i saw her on sale. I dont care if the box has a scuff. It was 10.00 off. I really didnt care much for her until i got her into my hands. OOOOOO BOY… never get them into your hands if you are waffling . That is the most sure fire way to loose the battle. The moment i looked into those sweet lil eyes of hers, I knew i was lost. I had to keep her and i loved her. She’s the one that I didnt expect to love but wound up cherishing. 

Jade Hunter Well folks.. This lil  lady was the one that I DIDNT want.. I have never been much a fan of green. (Unless your tommy oliver..back off man hes awesome) It’s one of those colors that i can take or leave. So i was on the fence about her for a long time. Eventually i had a lil extra cash.. And she was the last one i needed in the group. Much like sunny, once i had miss jade in my hands she stole my heart. There is something so sweet about her face. I’m not sure what it is, maybe its just her personality from the show as well. This is why i HAD to have winter break jade too!

Skyler Bradshaw Well this lil lady is a fun case. I have been at my current place of employment for a while. About three years. On regular basis they like to hand out 100.00 gift cards for I dunno reasons?  Well i had one that I had used for some groceries, but i had about 40.00 left on. Skyler and one of the hair mazing prom perfect dolls became my purchases with that left over fourty. She is just such a gentle soul when i look at her. I love the colors of her hair and the look of her clothing. And Everytime i look at her i will remember that silly gift card and how she was a reward from work. 

Amaya Raine I got the second version of this lovely girl first. I actually wound up with two of her because I wanted one for her cheer out fit and one for her every day look. Also she was ten bucks on amazon, so i found the second one just irresistible. She is indeed as lovely in person as she is in the cartoon. I love her sweet personality and demeanor, she is a lil cringy and awkward but i love her none the less. She reminds me of my self a lot. I was the awkward lil kid in high school and so i can totally feel that. Plus the rainbow thing, any other meanings aside i have always loved rainbows. They were always a symbol of hope to me, and looking at her just makes me feel hopeful ya know?

Ok whos next??? Ooooo… Bella Parker This lil lady was the one that I had a tiff over with a mom in the local target. I rare day that I was working first shift, and I got off early enough to go get her. Besides being one of the only ones i paid full price for, yah i wanted her THAT badly. I LOVE PINK. She was the one of the two that got a mom pissed off at me.  I went over to the home of  yea old bullseye and pulled this lovely lil lady off the shelf. Turned and found a woman with a “karen” hair cut glaring down her nose at me. I Looked at her, blinked and then asked her what her fucking problem was. Yah sorry lady, not on the clock, NOT being paid 14.00 and hour to be nice to you. I’m gonna swear at you if you piss me off. She went on a tirade about how awful it was for a grown woman to be getting dolls, and it was just shameful. I told her to go fuck her self and breezed past her and went to pay for my lil pink beauty.

[funkii4-blog]

I may have a had an impulse autism moment late the other night and listed a ton of interesting yet unrealistic ideas for new things that would be very cool to add in the next Animal Crossing installment;

3 New Flowers;

Orchid (w/y/r/pi/g/o/blu/pr)

Glory (r/pi/w/blu/pr)

Dahlia (r/y/w/pi/o/bla)

3 New Bushes;

Lantana (orange/pink)

Lilac (purple/yellow)

Paperbush (yellow)

3 New Villager Species;

Bat / Gecko / Aardvark

New NPC;

Takes sales and sends models of deep sea creatures

Species: Puffin

Visits home location just as CJ and Flick do

New Museum Collection;

Minerals/Gemstones

Old: 4 Fossil

New; 3 Fossil 3 Mineral

40 Total Minerals, Same Count As Fossils:

Clear Quartz / Rose Quartz / Citrine / Onyx

Amethyst / Selenite / Bixbite / Garnet

Opal / Goldstone / Zircon / Alexandrite

Malachite / Kunzite / Garnet / Bloodstone

Carnelian / Lapis Lazuli / Sapphire / Tanzanite

Peridot / Tourmaline / Jade / Charoite

Danburite / Red Jasper / Bumblebee Jasper / Agate

Topaz / Ruby / Emerald / Pyrite

Aquamarine / Beryl / Sugilite / Sodalite

Moonstone / Adamite / Dioptase / Druzy

20 New Fish, Bringing Total To 100;

Plecostomus

Kuhli Loach

Queen Parrotfish

Axolotl

Zorro Catfish

Royal Gramma

Mandarinfish

Paddlefish

American Shad

X-Ray Fish

Flowerhorn Cichlid

Oscar Cichlid

Firefish

Minnow

Discus

Shrimp

Kissing Gourami

Clown Triggerfish

Barracuda

Marbled Salamander

20 New Bugs, Bringing Total To 100;

Tiger Swallowtail

Monarch Caterpillar

True Katydid

Luna Moth

Hissing Cockroach

Earwig

Wheel Bug

Thorn Bug

Green Lynx Spider

Common Mayfly

Bee-Fly

Soldier Beetle

Steelblue Ladybird

Leopard Caterpillar

Giant Leopard Moth

Dragon Caterpillar

Red Orb Weaver

Giant Weta

Hummingbird Moth

Tent Caterpillar

10 New Deep Sea Creatures, Bringing Total To 50;

Cuttlefish

Blobfish

Lettuce Sea Slug

Sea Nettle

Tadpole Shrimp

Brittlestar

Chocolate Chip Sea Star

Leafy Sea Dragon

Longnosed Skate

Anglerfish

[weridpersonhelp]

Red Phone [7]

Previus - Next?

master list!

warning: slightly scary, first-time horror writer, stalking, confusion, gramma and spell mistakes, screaming, getting up a horrible hour of night, neurodivergent reader, slow burnish? , x reader, children, puppets, curse langue, music, be ready for cringe!

Ring-ring- ring- “Hello?”

“Hey is this Y/n?” Wally asks, I couldn’t help but chuckle at this guy’s stutter.

“The one and only,”

“Hello! Um, how was your day?”

“Good what about yours?”

“It was also good, though I didn’t do much I went to the store to get some more apples. Howdy had a sale, but he limited what I could buy.

“Oh, and why’s that?” “I may or may not like apples a little too much?” I raise an eyebrow at this but end up chuckling instead.

“Wait how many did you buy?” Wally was quite for a minute, leaving me suspect more than the usual.

“20.”

“You bought 20 apples?”

“Yes,”

“Are you going to make something with them?” I ask pushing myself on the bench now, I didn’t want my feet getting hurt. I was very curious of why he would by so many apples, that would last my family a while even made apples pie every day.

“No, I don’t really eat them.”

“Then why did you buy so many?”

“I like to just stare at them? I know it’s weird, but there just so shiny. They look very pretty; the red ones are my favourite honestly. But the green one’s are still alright, their also fun to draw and paint.”

“How long have you had this obsession with apples for?”

“Ever since I could remember? I know it’s weird but-“

…

“I know it’s weird but-“wally was cut off by the girls chuckles, he was currently in his Pj’s in his special red chair next to this phone. It was the only one that he could call her on, it was late at night for him so he had to remember to remain quite. But he was worried that she would consider his obsession with Apples weird.

“No, I don’t think it’s that weird, people can have things like that. I know I hyper fixate on Lego’s or movies!”

“What type of movies do you like?”

“I’m a sucker for romance and Comedy! But I do love a good horror!” Wally chuckles and pushes back his hair a little.

“those are complete different genre’s! how do you even watch a horror?”  y/n gasps dramatically at him.

“Horrors are good! You need to give them a try okay! they’re not that bad.” She defends herself, Wally chuckles at how defensive she was over her precious movie genre.

“What’s your favourite then? Mr I’m too good for Horror’s”

“Hey now! I never said I was too good for them!”

“Oh? Then what’s so bad with them?”

“I never said they where bad, I just said how do you watch them! Their so creepy! My favourite genre is action and western! Though I also love myself a romance movie.”

“Ooh so your scared of them, are you? That it. And you’re a cowboy’s kind of guy huh?”

“Always have been, isn’t it cool how they ride their horses off into the sunset? With their true love.”

“Mmm, I guess, I never really watch many cowboy movies.”

“My favourite would have to be big jack! It’s good you should watch it sometime!” Wally suggests.

“Hmmm I’ve never heard of that movie before, I’ll have to watch it.” Just at the suggestion of her watching his favourite movie, just because he said it was his favourite movie. He kicks his feet a little out of excitement, what was going on with him? He never acts this way. Julie and Frank sometimes act this way! But not him! he was always to cool one! The calm, collected, charmer of the group!

“You’ll like it I promise!”

“I hope so, anyways. You never told me how old you where, or what you wanted to ask my- I mean Harrison and Maggie.” Wally eyes widen, what the heck was he meant to tell her? He was in puppet years 20, but in human years? Who knew! Hell, he didn’t even know what decade it was over their he could be 30! No maybe even 100! And what would he say about the question as well?

‘Oh yes! I just wanted to know if he we could complete the spell? To make us alive so we could continue the show! And why they were trapped in this world? Before all of this, they where in this world, but then Harrison completed a spell. One that made them come to life there was more to the story, but how the heck was he just going to info dump you like that? How could he?

He might scare you away, and he loves talking to you so far! Love it a strong but it truly it what he think this feeling was. a love of a friend? He wanted to get to know you more before he would say anything. Hell maybe even some how, some way bring you into his world? He didn’t know how it would work or how but it was something in his imagination.

“Wally you there?”

“Oh yes! Sorry I just dropped the phone HAHA! Um I’m 20, how old are you?”

“18 turning 19 soon”.

“Oh, when’s your birthday?” Wally asks, he was very glad you forgot the other question or had moved on from it.

“(date and  month of birth) 1996! What about yours?”

… Wally didn’t have a birthday. Well, the year of his birth doesn’t count, but what would his birthday be?

“Oh I don’t really celebrate my birthday-““WHAT! YOU DON’T CELEBRATE YOUR BIRTHDAY?!” Wally pulls the phone away from his face as she shouts into the phone.  

“No?” what he said was meant to be a statement, but really sounded like a question.

“I mean do what you want to do, but have you ever celebrated your birthday? Like in your life?” She asks more calmly, Wally pauses thinking back, they didn’t real do Birthdays here, no one had one. They Did Christmas, Halloween and easter! Heck even Saint Patrick’s Day. But never birthdays.

“No?” he whispers into the phone, it stayed quiet. The house was quiet, Home was asleep. So, Wally did not want to wake her up. Otherwise, he would have been sent to bed.

“Dam, Is it your religion?”

“What? Oh no! I just never have? Hehe sorry if that’s a little weird-“ “No it’s not weird! I just, well it just surprised me sorry.”

“Why are you apologising? you did nothing wrong.” Wally tries to comfort her. He honestly had no idea what he was doing though.

“I don’t know>” silence filled the call again. The air filled with so much tension you could cut it like a birthday cake. They both wanted to say something but what?  Wally wants to say something, but what? He didn’t have much he could talk about with her; I mean it was different from talking with the neighbours.

“So, your 20 and own a house?”

“Oh! Yes, it’s small but nice a house. It has a decent yard.”

“that’s nice, I’m surprised you where able to get a house in this economy!”

“well I inherited it, from a great grandma?” Wally was lying, he knew it was never good to lie. But a little white lie wouldn’t do too much harm do?

“did you know her?”

Son of a-

“No, not really! But I kept the house the same. Nothing really changed haha!” He says he hears the girl chuckle a little, but then a small yawn escapes her lips.

“sorry, I’m just a little tired.”

“no it’s no problem. You should probably head to bed, you got plans tomorrow?”

“mum’s making me go shopping with my baby brother, so I’m most likely Going to be warn out. But I’ll tell you if anything interesting happens?” Wally smile grew, she was the one who wanted to call again. And he was very happy she was enjoying it so much she wanted to call again, maybe a little too happy?

“sure, would you like me to call you earlier?”

“I don’t mind, thanks for the chat it was really nice.”

“Same, you’re quite the interesting person Y/n.” he loved hearing her giggle into the phone, and how she yawned again into the phone. UGH!

“Okay then, good night, Wally~” her tired voice sang.

“Night Y/n, sleep well”. When she hangs up, wally instaintly stands up and runs around happily jumping around. Getting all of his excitement out, that was until home woke up thanks to the noises he was making and caught him with the curtains.

“CREEEK!!!”

“sorry home, I just got excited! I’ll be quieter! Sorry home"

Tag: @quittingfortgebetter @egg1sblog @ice-cream-writes-stuff @thealreadyunsteadyteddynewpaper @narucore

[itsthebethblogever]

an ode to San Cris

The light placed at the tip of the plane’s wing blinks red. Looking down onto the quilt of ant-sized towns, I notice there is another blinking light that seems to be speaking to the one so far above. Something speaking to someone.

Aha!

A third light begins to blink, now in my own brain.

San Cristóbal de las Casas.

A town that speaks to me.

That’s what I wanted to do on the plane! Write about San Cris, the town fading into the distance as I make my journey back north to California. A town that I called my home for 3 sweet months.

Like the flurry of inspiration stirred up with a new beginning, I find that endings have the same effect. My soul has been buzzing, asking me to please sit down and get some of this soon to be nostalgia into words.

San Cristóbal de las Casas.

My Gramma recently told me I have a knack for making the reader feel like they are really there with me; so, in her honor, I will invite you to Blue Skidoo, We Can Too into one of Mexico’s Pueblos Magicos.

You land, stumbling slightly, onto a street that smells faintly of freshly made tortillas and gas. To enter your apartment, you turn your key into the slot of a wide garage door, painted yellow.

The door creaks open and your eyes are met with the sight of a little haven: on the left, there are tree lined lawns that border either side of the groundskeeper’s standalone house. On the right, there are more trees and enough space for five cars to park. Walking forward towards the apartment building, you find a set of stairs and follow them up until you reach a rooftop. From the top, you get your first glimpse of the town: like water running up and over stones in a river, the town has waves of hills that lift the buildings uphill in some areas and down flat in others. There seems to be a trend of placing churches on the highest peaks, casting a feeling of godly surveillance.

Bordering the town are pine green mountains, embracing the town in an earthy hug. You bask in the strong sunlight which is reliably accompanied by a bright blue sky full of puffy white clouds. San Cristóbal de las Casas, you observe, perhaps got its name from all the technicolor shades of paint on the buildings. They beckon you to explore. Ooh, what are those murals you see? Time to dive in and get a feel of these new waters.

As soon as you start your walk, you begin to notice: Why does a town full of wide open gardens and ample rooftops have the most narrow, unpredictable sidewalks in history? Walking down any given block in this magical town will put you up against:

- slippery s

l

o

p

e

s

- surprise Stairmaster sets

- a forced surrender down from the serpentine slither of a sidewalk due to a surplus of strollers streaming through

- which subjects you to step down to the street

- while you’re adjusting to your new lower elevation, you hear the chain of a boy’s bicycle: him and his mobile fruit stand are suddenly a lot closer than you predicted! But, he maneuvers around you with effortless ease

- then, you think you’re in the clear, until a loud call for “AGUA! AGUA FRESCA!” meets your ear drums - the sound spouts from a loudspeaker perched atop a curious vehicle. It is a truck whose bed features a metal structure supporting 20 liter jugs of water, stacked on top of each other in the shape of pyramid

- activating your entire lower body strength, you propel yourself back up the high curb to give room for the water bearing vehicle to squeeze past

-you survive!

- and take a grounding breath of the 7,200ft/2,200m elevation mountain air

After the reliably short burst of traffic dissipates, you are left with a calm, cobblestone street. Set along the edges are… Well, actually you can’t tell. Are they shops? Or are they restaurants? Actually, they could be hostels? Or was it someone's family home converted into a combination of all three?

Ok, you walk into one - Ah, alright, it’s an upscale clothing shop.

Or, wait… is it?

Are they marketing to well off embroidered dress seekers, or Seekers wishing to peer into the next realm? Beside the racks of clothing, there are shelves displaying glass jars of every shape and size, offering promises of lucid dreams, lucious Macadamia butter, and ancient Mayan plant based remedies. Whatever you were looking for and twelve things that you weren’t have now ended up in your backpack. Those twelve treasures somehow materialized from the farthest corners of your imagination and turned up at an accessible price, of local, fair trade, organic origins. Obviously they were just waiting for you to walk in and buy them, thereby supporting this women-owned collective.

In one week, you’ll realize with dread that you accidentally left the amber bracelet you paid for at the store. No need to worry - when you return, they’ll have it stored safely under the counter, patiently waiting for you to retrieve it.

After a surprisingly fruitful shopping trip, you express gratitude to the shopkeeper, accept a farewell hit from the joint that she just rolled, and leave. Ah yes, those small sidewalks again. You enter the Tightwalk Tango and meet your dance partners:

- three workmen, each one seeming to belong to a different generation, lugging a ladder

- a woman and her young daughter: the mother wears a long, black sheepskin skirt, and the pair both carry babies swaddled snugly to their sides, secured with striped dark purple and royal blue cloth

- one thoughtful traveler: you

To live up to your thoughtful title, you quickly realize there is not enough space for even the most graceful ballerina to plié around them all, so you again yield down to the street by jumping from the toweringly tall curb. Rule one of the Tightwalk Tango: always let the locals lead.

Three minutes into your eight minute walk home, you run into your Irish friend that you met in Mazunte, another Pueblo Mágico. Simultaneously, you realize you forgot to respond to their text from yesterday, inviting you to a live music event. But, no problem, it’s usually easier to find someone here physically rather than digitally, due to the fact that foreigners tend to not have data plans. Plus, there’s only two main roads - chances are, if you’re running errands at the same time as your friend, your paths will cross. This is a Pueblo Mágico, after all.

A bear hug, a toothy grin, and a look into the windows of our souls begins the greeting ritual. You find out that this morning, you both made French toast from the same loaf of integral bread, purchased from the same Argentinian bakery. There are no coincidences, and you smile as you recognize the Universe is reminding you you’re on path. Next, as you exchange inventory of the day’s hunting and gathering, you are reminded that you that you’re actually missing one item: something fermented. You share this with your friend who asks if you know of a shop called La Fermentera. No, but you’re only one block away, so your friend offers to walk with you there, as they are friends with the owner and it’s on the way to the music venue.

You arrive just as the owner is packing up his truck to leave to make a delivery. Today is not Tuesday nor Friday, the only two days the shop is open; however, since your friend is an acquaintance, the owner invites you in. His name is Ingo, like Bingo without the B, originally from Germany but has called San Cris home for 14 years.

Moments after completing introductions, you suddenly find yourself immersed in a full blown astrology discussion. Turns out, Ingo is a professional astrologist, a subject that both you and your friend are studying. Time ceases to exist as the owner spins a cosmic web with his words, bringing to life aspects of your personalities in a mix of English, Spanish, and German.

Once achieving planetal and probiotic nourishment, the moment for the owner to remember his delivery commitment arises. You try to pay for the 90 peso bottle of beet kvass with a 500 peso bill, but since

Nobody

in San Cris

Ever

Ever

Has Any Change

you promise to return on Tuesday or Friday to pay.

Speaking of remembering plans, your friend’s ears are yearning for tunes, so you bid your friend Adeu and head back home. You swing the yellow door open and greet two of your neighbors that are having a smoke on the lawn picnic table. They ask how you are and you share that you have a slight headache. One of them knows a breathwork technique that is useful for pumping oxygen into the brain and offers to teach it to you. Gratefully accepting, in five short minutes, you now have a new, natural cure for headaches in your toolkit: Breath of Fire. Feeling refreshed, you put your things down in your apartment and head to the rooftop to watch the sun descend behind the mountains.

It has been a long day full of spiritual enlightenment so you feel like grounding yourself back down from the stars. You strike a match to light a candle, a stick of copal incense, and the stove to heat up some coconut milk and stir in cacao. As you wrap up in a wool blanket, your nervous system relaxes further as the deliciously warm, fragrant cacao enters your body and opens your heart.

This is All You Need.

A small town full of friends on every corner, shops stocked with locally made goods, nature a stone’s throw away, and a peaceful home to nurture your soul.

Thank you, San Cristóbal de las Casas, for casting your enchanting spell on all those who enter. Physically, we have parted ways; but internally, your tranquil spirit is forever present.

[talking-about-bug-snacks]

GREEN CRAPPLE

The first Bugsnak from Boiling Bay is Green Crapple! This is an interesting decision to make, I think. Do I like Red Crapple or Green Crapple more? It really depends! I like green more than red as a color, but red APPLES more than green ones. I haven’t eaten a green apple on its own in a while, but I sure can say that sour does not go well with peanut butter! The consensus, then, is a nice one. Each is good in its own way! Just like Mario and Luigi!

As a green apple, Green Crapple has the honor of being the apple that most apple-flavored things are ever based on! Probably because there are so many other red fruits that they have to fight over who gets the honor of being The Red Flavor, and also because the yellowish-white of apple flesh isn’t a very Fun color. Speaking of the specific color, Triffany notes that Green Crapple is the exact color her gramma was, and that is such a good joke. I wonder if that is part of the reason Triffany is green.

Green Crapple’s behavior is somewhat distinct from that of regular Crapple! Green Crapple prefers to stay underwater most of the time, and indeed, its lair is underwater as well! This mostly means that if you want to lure it somewhere with sauce, you are going to have a hard time, but you don’t really need to do that, since Crapples are non-aggressive and there aren’t any Pineantulas around.

In fact, whereas red Crapples dominate the Simmering Springs ecosystem, poor little Green Crapple is outclassed by nearly every other Bugsnak in Boiling Bay! This is a pretty dangerous place, full of freezing, flaming, and aggressive Snax, and Green Crapple doesn’t have what it takes to make it on the shore... but that’s okay! In the warm water, it’s safe from both frosty AND spicy Snax! Green Crapple has adapted in a way that allows it to thrive, and that is really all a creature needs. It’s just as capable as the others!

And Green Crapple’s humility has led to some nice little rewards! For example, it has its very own key art, and the name of the song that plays in Boiling Bay at night is called Crapple’s Lullaby! A song just for Green Crapple to feel comforted by.

As part of the Snax Pack Pin Set, there is even official Green Crapple merchandise! An introverted little crab apple is a wonderful thing to be, certainly!

[chrishoughton]

What was your favorite cartoon growing up?!?!

I watched a ton of cartoons as a kid (ABC kids was my Saturday morning jam!). I think my favorite kid cartoon was probably the Fox Kids series, Life With Louie. But it was The Simpsons that I always tuned into the second I'd see my parents leave the driveway. I bought a small handheld B&W TV from a garage sale and I used to watch the Simpsons on that thing in my room. Once, while watching an episode on this little contraption, I opened up the side panel of the TV and touched my hand to the pokey green circuit breaker and YOW! ...got quite the zap. Lesson learned: if you want to touch your hand to a circuit breaker because those little pokey soldering bits are so enticing, be sure to unplug the dang thing.

We didn't have cable so I kinda missed out on the Nickelodeon/Disney 90s shows. But I do remember watching Cartoon Network whenever I was at my grandparents house. I'd watch Looney Tunes, Flintstones, Jetsons, James Bond Jr (ha!), Johnny Quest, etc. I remember once convincing my gramma that it was "ok" that I was watching Swat Kats, haha. She thought it was inappropriate and even though I didn't particularly like Swat Kats, I defended it with my life.

My grandparents also lived out in the country but had a massive satellite dish (mounted on a concrete slab!) behind their barn. This big honking dish would pick up Cartoon Network, but it was a roll of the dice if the signal was in english or not that day. So I'd just be sitting there disappointed with my brothers watching Dexter's Lab in Spanish. PowerPuff Girls was also fun. And I fell hard for Cow and Chicken. That lil red devil was funny.

Good times!

[katnissmellarkkk]

what childish shenanigans do the toastbabies get up to? drawing on stuff they shouldn’t, etc?

This is literally because I told you my niece was drawing on the walls yesterday, isn’t it?

For this ask, I’m gonna use my personal names and made up personalities for the Everlark toast babies.

Edit : after typing this up, I’m really sorry, this is probably not what you wanted but ... here we go 🥳🥳🥳🥳

Indigo, the dancing girl with the dark hair, is an artist, through and through.

She’s got so much Daddy in her.

She starts walking at 9 months

Which is wonderful

Until her parents soon discover this means she is mobile now.

And she is the most curious little baby there ever was.

From birth practically, she knows who she is and exactly what her interests are.

Her biggest smiles were always when Daddy put her in the baby carrier while he painted

So it’s no surprise that when Katniss and Peeta leave her alone for a short amount of time

Because they got ... sidetracked

Making her brother

That Indy’s go to place was Daddy’s art studio.

Where she proceeds to get into every paint color her tiny, baby fists can reach.

She pushes red and blue and orange and green and purple and pink and yellow and gold and silver and black and white and bronze all onto the walls

When Katniss’ mothering instinct just suddenly alarms

And her and Peeta rush upstairs as fast as they ran from the mutts in the games

They find their baby giggling happily and pointing to her wall art.

Sage, the blonde boy with the chubby legs, is a different story from his sister.

He’s more quiet than her at home

But more outspoken in public.

Right from birth, he’s smart and insightful

Well as much as a baby can be 🤣

But the one person who can really rile him up is Sissy

By the time he’s three, she’s already challenging him to do things when their parents aren’t looking

“Steal a cookie! Daddy won’t notice, Sage! You’re too little to get into trouble! Hurry up!”

So when he gets into things, Katniss and Peeta know who’s the mastermind.

But it doesn’t make it any less cute when Sage is found in the kitchen

Red-handed

Well actually, chocolate-cake-batter-handed.

Indigo shakes her head, feigning oblivion behind her parents

“I can’t believe he did that!”

Sage doesn’t love baking or hunting or painting (and especially not dancing like his big sister).

What he actually loves besides wrestling like Daddy is reading.

And collecting herbs with Momma.

Collecting healing herbs.

Katniss finds Sage, at three years old, in the garden

He walked later than his sister because of his fat little leggies

Sitting beside the primroses

Picking them apart

And she immediately scolds him, reminding him he knows those flowers are off limits.

But then he murmurs that he just wanted to heal Mommy’s cut on her arm

And he learned from the bedtime story she read him

Which was a medicinal plant book Gramma Everdeen sent from Four

That evening primroses are healing plants.

And from then on Katniss teaches her son all about medicinal plants and herbs

Teaching herself more about healing than she ever wanted to know 😆

“This could have been useful knowledge in the games.”

“Peeta, go tuck Indigo in please.”

And then she allows him to get into whatever plants he desires

As long as they’re not poisonous

“Mommy, what’s a nightlock berry?”

“Nothing you ever need to know about.”

[puppyluver256]

[Image Description: A digital illustration of Azalea Bora (a Smile For Me OC) walking with her children Jasmine, Heather, (both other SFM OCs) and a young Kamal (from Smile For Me) down a hall in a building. Azalea is a tired pregnant woman with medium-brown skin, long dark brown hair with lighter streaks in a ponytail, and green eyes with yellow sclera. She is wearing an aqua green shirt, a green jacket, and teal pants. She has a purse hanging from her left (our right) shoulder. Jasmine is a girl that resembles Azalea and is wearing a pink collared shirt, a pink jacket, and a grey skirt. She is holding Azalea’s right (our left) hand and sobbing. Kamal is a boy with dark blue eyes and wavy dark blue hair, and is wearing a turquoise turtleneck and a teal jacket. He is holding her left (our right) hand and appears worried. Heather is an older girl with brown eyes and shoulder-length red hair and is wearing a green sweater with orange trim/buttons and red pants. She is walking behind her mother and brother and appears worried as well. The wall is a pale blue and the carpet is blue. A sign on the wall reads "Dr. Joseph Booker, OD. Optometry Clinic" and has an arrow pointed in the direction the family is walking. End ID.]

-----

“NOOOOO!!!” Jasmine wailed as she and her three siblings were brought in to see the optometrist. “I don’t wanna get my eyes poooked!!!”

“They’re not going to poke your eyes, Jazz,” a very tired Azalea said. “They’re just going to have the four of you look through a thing and say what looks clearer to see how good your sight is.”

“How come Papa and Gramma don’t have to come?” Kanti grumbled.

“Because they’re adults, (Kanti),” Azalea reminded her. “They can make their own appointments, and Papa would need to schedule his around work anyway.”

“Is it gonna be scary?” Kamal asked. “No, wait, it’s already scary...(Kanti) should go first, (she)’s brave...”

“It’ll be okay, baby,” Azalea said. “They’re just gonna look at your eyes.”

“Besides, I think I should go first,” Heather insisted. “I’m the oldest so I gotta look out for you guys. And I think I really need it most anyway.”

+++++

Mooooore 101 Smiles with scary optometrist time! One Bora kid needs glasses, all the Bora kids are getting checked just in case. Kanti should be here too, but 1) I couldn't fit her in the frame and 2) even if I could, this is around a decade before she came out and I don't know if I could draw her with a "boy" look, and by that I of course mean "presenting as a boy" and not strictly "stereotypical boy clothes" because her general style at the time of coming out really doesn't change much and also kids' outfits were apparently more likely to be gender neutral in the late 60s from what I've seen. (also given the time frame this one takes place in, I don't think Azalea looks like her fifth kid is due in two months moreso than just looking like a standard fat lady, does she... in my defense I was working on this at the same time as the one for Cake and might've messed up the stages as a result, idk ^^; )

💖🐶 Check out my pinned post for ways to support my artwork, among other things! 🐶💖

~If you like, please reblog to show your friends! Likes are appreciated, but reblogs let more people see my content! If you have something to say, feel free to give feedback in tags/comments/replies as well!~

Kamal Bora © LimboLane Azalea, Jasmine, and Heather Bora © @pollyannam3​ Artwork © PuppyLuver Studios