#3 closing brackets

[parentheses-posts]

Here have some }))({}{}]{{[]})({}}]}[[{{))

Yum Yum

[arsenicflame]

It's a time-honoured tradition- every time Sam comes across Izzy (and Ed) in their travels, he asks Izzy to marry him. And every time, Izzy turns him down.

At this point, Sam is asking more for the sake of it than any belief Izzy will ever say yes, a remnant of childhood dedication touched with 30 years of heartbreak and regret- though even now, a small part of him still holds out hope. Sam's promises have only got more extravagant over the years, from a job as his first mate, to a captaincy, a fleet at his command, a whole fucking island if that's what Izzy wants- but he knows it isn't though, not really. If Izzy was ever going to agree to marry him, to leave his life and go with Sam, it wouldn't be for anything Sam could offer him. Izzy never did care for flashy shows of wealth, for a ship or to be captain. The only thing that ever mattered to him was loyalty given, and loyalty shown in return. 

It all comes to a head after Stede left and came back, after Izzy lost a toe, lost his leg. Sam hasn't seen him since before things with Ed started to really slide off the rails, before stress permanently set into the lines of Izzy’s face. So, when he sees a dishevelled man with a hoof for a leg in a no-name port, he doesn't even consider the idea that he might know him. It's only when he turns towards him, and Sam catches a glance at those oh too familiar tattoos, he realises this is Izzy, his Izzy, that stands before him.

Knowing Izzy's discomfort with pity, he doesn't treat him any differently than he would in years gone by, positioning himself in Izzy's line of sight before approaching and sweeping him up into a bone crushing hug. 

“Israel-goddamn-Hands!” he exclaims, as Izzy grumbles back a begrudging “Samuel-fucking-Bellamy”, a tradition almost as old as their friendship itself. Izzy might not hug him back, but he can’t keep the corner of his mouth from twitching, just for a second.

(If Sam holds Izzy a little tighter and a little longer than usual, well. That's his business)

By the time Sam lets go, most of the crew has appeared in the town square, drawn in by the commotion. They may have given Izzy his leg and welcomed him as one of them, but still there’s an underlying tension, with nobody quite ready to set aside everything that happened before the Kraken. Seeing him cosying up to an unknown man sets everyone on edge, unsure whether to come to their first mate’s aid, or to assume that they've been betrayed once again.

When Ed sees that the yelling was Sam, his hand goes tense where it's held in Stede's. He knows the routine, has seen it more times than he can count, but as he watches them part he realises that this is the first time in a long time he's unsure of what Izzy's response will be.

Knowing that something’s different, knowing that Izzy's feeling vulnerable already, Sam doesn't go for the same flashy proposal he’s been giving for years. He doesn't promise Izzy the world, he doesn't cause a scene (or, any more of a scene than he already has, anyway). He looks at the fractured man in front of him, takes his face in his hands, and says the exact same thing to him he said when they were little more than boys. “Israel, I have to ask you. I know what you'll say, but I have to try. Come with me. Marry me and sail away with me. I'll keep you safe”

And Izzy… hesitates. He glances over at Ed, at Stede, and says to Sam “...We’re staying in port for a week. Ask me again then”

That's the moment Sam knows there is something deeply, horribly, wrong. He's not just looking at an Izzy who got seriously injured in a fight and is struggling to cope, this is something so much bigger than that- and that Ed has something to do with it. Izzy wouldn't even be considering leaving if he didn't. Whether it was negligence or something more sinister, Sam doesn't yet know, but he intends to find out.

[bl-bracket]

Most Unhinged Bracket

Round 1

Vegas (Kinnporsche: The Series) vs Ruan Lan Zhu (The Spirealm)

Ray (Only Friends) vs Fu Yong Jie (HIStory 4: Close to You)

Boston (Only Friends) vs Ichikawa Mitsuo (Double Mints)

Phaya (The Sign) vs Jan (To Sir, With Love)

Mew (Only Friends) vs Ye Zun (Guardian)

Tan (Manner of Death) vs Tin (Triage)

Nawin (Laws of Attraction) vs Ayan (The Eclipse)

Yok (Not Me) vs Tol (Triage)

Nick (Only Friends) vs Noey (I Will Knock You)

Han Ying (Word of Honor) vs Yai (Big Dragon)

Black (Not Me) vs Kim (Kinnporsche: The Series)

Porsche (Kinnporsche: The Series) vs Taohu (The Miracle of Teddy Bear)

Ming (My Stand In) vs Kurosawa (Ossan's Love)

Zhou Zishu (Word of Honor) vs Kijima (The Pornographer Series)

Lhong (Tharntype: The Series) vs Meng Shao Fei (HIStory 3: Trapped)

Jang Jaeyoung (Semantic Error) vs Mo Yi (Stay with Me)

Charn (Laws of Attraction) vs New (Dead Friend Forever)

Xiang Hao Ting (HIStory 3: Make Our Days Count) vs Toh (Secret Crush on You)

Rain (Love in the Air) vs Aoyama (The Shortest Distance is Round: Noir)

Wei Wuxian (The Untamed) vs Nuan (Something in My Room)

Wen Kexing (Word of Honor) vs Way (Pit Babe)

Non (Dark Blue Kiss) vs Chun Sangwon (Love for Love's Sake)

Xue Yang (The Untamed) vs Akk (The Eclipse)

Todd (Not Me) vs Charlie (Pit Babe)

Hira (Utsukushii Kare) vs Prom (Playboyy)

Kiyoi (Utsukushii Kare) vs Nuea (Secret Crush on You)

White (Not Me) vs The Parents (My Eleventh Brother)

Lan Wangji (The Untamed) vs Ritsu (End of the World with You)

Bun (Manner of Death) vs Chalothon (The Sign)

Xie Wang (The Untamed) vs Ai Di (Kiseki: Dear to Me)

Tankhun (Kinnporsche: The Series) vs Prapai (Love in the Air)

Tsuge Masato (Cherry Magic) vs Karan (Cherry Magic TH)

[nostalgia-tblr]

odin: "...and so i brought him home from jotunheim and raised him as your brother."

thor: "oh. well that explains why he was so upset."

thor: "and where did you find me?"

[bestpolyshipbracket]

Best Polyamorous Ship Group 2 Round 3

[annoyingblondebracket]

Round 4 | Poll 1

~ Note: This poll is being done out of a genuine love and affection for these types of characters! Please keep that in mind when adding commentary.

[un-pearable]

KNUCKLES AND FRIENDS DOING A LITTLE EEPERS !!!!!!!!!!! SNORK MIMIMI !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the eepiest lads around….

[best-kirby-character-tournament]

The 'Submissions Closed' post didn't get posted?? It just. disappeared??

[darkshadowsshiptourney]

a few people have expressed interest in what's already been submitted / repeating answers, so here's where we stand with submissions currently:

the tally doesn't affect anything, other than when I narrow it down for a bracket the ones with multiple submissions will take first priority. plus I just think it's interesting what gets repeated the most!

[hearty-an0n]

OKAYY 2ND PERIOD HERE WE GO ^-^!!!!

[just-some-guy-joust]

the oc tournament is at 14 entries!! we just need 2 more to have the minimum amount to hold the tourney!

[bl-bracket]

Normally I don't like to offer commentary on the bracket while it's going on but I need to let y'all in on the absolute fever dream the past 24 hours have been

-prepping for the bracket, decides to throw in some more characters to make things more interesting

-still has dead friend forever on watchlist but remembers seeing gifs of the show and one of the characters seemed to be pretty unhinged

-goes to the dead friend forever tag, finds the guy, scrolls through the tags to figure out his name and sees a lot of people talking about how unhinged he is

-thinks: oh that's good that means he'll probably do well in the prelims

-he passes the prelims

-putting him in the seed: well he only has my one submission without any propaganda (because I have not yet watched the show) and dff doesn't have a ton of viewers logged on mdl compared to others so he's going to have a pretty low seed meaning round 1 will be rough but hey at least he still has the loser bracket to shine-

-he wins, beating the #2 seed out of 64, one of the most submitted characters, in ROUND ONE

-welp

anyways congrats to New from Dead Friend Forever for the biggest upset since I started seeding these things, knocking out one of the most submitted characters, and it was a character I added last minute without propaganda because I hadn't watched the show yet and was going off the memory of gifs I saw several months ago. you can see now why I've been losing my mind over this right

[onepiece-polls]

Sorting through all of the submissions is going to be hell (because almost no one writes names the same or in the same order).

Anyway, who's going to be the 250th submission?

[parentheses-posts]

{{{{{{}}}}}}}}}

eat up

This is only curly brackets! This isn't a balanced meal at all!