#I turned it into more than just a walk

[asheanon]

I'm not sure I'm doing this right, but this is for the ask box writing prompt!

Mina and Branson walking in a park. Can be an AU or not as long as it has a park!

(That'll do just fine! You're doing it right.) 💕

From: Ask Box Writing Prompt Game

📖 It's Story Time... And some tunes to accompany, if you like!

Spring was just making its way out the door as summer stepped in, lush greenery in tow. All was now warm and verdant within this temperate landscape. Cumulus puffs that dare stray before the sun were framed in ivory light, pleasantly picturesque, putting on quite the display for those who stopped to look. It was as if the pearly gates themselves lie in wait somewhere beyond them, really.

The sky had no right to be that beautiful for such a simple story! Alas, it was a beautiful day. And a perfect one to spend in a local park.

Walking hand in hand with a clement breeze were the strums of an acoustic guitar. Though gentle, its rustic sound gave life to the world around it and its owner just a small measure more (pun intended.) The tranquility was cut short by a sudden shriek, however.

Lifting his head in bewilderment, the very large and very rat (yes, very rat) gent glanced about him.

"Branson!"

The familiarly petite voice of a very small and very newt lady soon called out his name. As she ran up to him, her webbed feet slapped the pavement with the same eloquence of a duck frantically scuttling away from a pursuer.

"Branson, you have to come see the ducks."

Speaking of ducks... He sighed to himself. Thankfully, Mina wasn't hurt or anything. Or hurt too badly, rather... he took note of how she spared a moment to examine one of her hands, shaking it out briefly as she let out a small grunt.

"You were bitten."

"It was a for a good cause!" She retorted, sunny demeanor still shining ever brightly (despite now bearing what looked to be a nicely pinched bit of finger.) "C'mon.~"

Briefly, he scrutinized her before lifting himself up from the bench he sat upon, guitar in hand. He carefully packed the instrument away, reclaiming it once it was in the safety of its case. Seemed it would be joining him for even more unseen adventures today. For but a moment, he wondered what new stories the two would have to tell later on as he accompanied his little newt friend to... wherever it was they were going.

Mina sped ahead, her sense of urgency undeniable. Branson upgraded what was more of a lax gait to that of a light jog, still ever mindful of the guitar he carried with him. It felt as if he managed but a handful of steps all before coming to a stop once more as Mina let out a gasp.

"Look! There they are!" She giggled to herself before glancing back at her giant rat man companion, ushering him over (for what felt to be the fifth time, at least.) She was like a child on Christmas morning. Completely and utterly enchanted by the site before her. Branson closed the remaining distance between them, joining her side as he followed her line of site.

Lo and behold, there was indeed a duck. A brown speckled duck and... seven mottled ducklings, tiny as could be, waddling behind her. Shuffling out of some nearby bushes, the family of fowl crossed their path. They seemed to be set on making their way to the lake, which, notably, was still some ways away.

"Let's follow them.~"

"Mina..." One didn't even need to look at Branson to see him rolling his eyes. You could practically hear him doing it.

"I just saved that little one right there!" She attempted to point out one of the babies amidst the group. "The mama didn't understand, but... that's okay!"

Branson couldn't distinguish exactly which one she was referring to, but he'd take her word for it. Her little duck-bitten finger was a mark of pride for whatever heroic acts she had committed today on their behalf. That was enough confirmation for him.

"I have to see to it that they make it to the lake, okay? I'm too emotionally invested not to, now."

To be honest, she would have been "too emotionally invested" even if she hadn't saved that duckling, but true to his form, he kept quiet on the matter. Instead, he let out another sigh. He took up a leisurely stride as he trailed after the last few stragglers in the party of eight.

"Let's go."

Needless to say, at Branson's insistence, the sparkle in Mina's eyes was reborn. Beaming, she joined him in an instant. Party of ten, incoming...

And so began their monumental duck "escort." Which merely consisted of walking with ducks. That was it, really. If anyone would have asked Bran where he saw himself within the next few hours this morning, "walking with ducks" would not have been his first answer, much less his second. Or third.

One may be tempted to think Mina's enthusiasm often teetered along the lines of unreasonable over such matters, but... that was Mina for you! She saw the world through such a genial light compared to someone like Branson. Precious and cordial. It was a light worth protecting and even indulging on little outings such as these.

... Those ducklings were pretty darn cute, though, to be fair.

[vaguely-concerned]

on the one hand I think inner demons could stand to have a bit more romanced rook specific content, but on the other hand the underlying in-built implication that 'yours is the one true voice of comfort and safety in my inner world' is a sentiment and intimacy so way beyond the romantic or the platonic or any secret third thing you could care to name that it makes me lose my entire poor little mind a bit. it's so big and fundamental — near-existential — that in that exact moment at least the distinctions kind of seem irrelevant.

all the people lucanis' mind conjures up along the way are relationships he has that are unavoidably mixed and fraught in some ways even when they're also full of love (they are fraught BECAUSE they're full of love) — the good in them inseparable from things that hurt him at the same time. (it's about: the basic disorganized attachment patterns this poor guy is dragging around with him. careful with those, they're dellamorte heirlooms. what you love also inevitably hurts you and you won't be allowed to have one without the other, you have to surrender parts of your soul to hold on to what little you have left: this is the story up until now.) and the idea that rook isn't that to him — that beneath the fear of wanting them when romanced (which is more its own separate thing because within this psychology, actively wanting something and not just clinging on for dear life to even a meager status quo lest you lose it is in itself dangerous bordering on catastrophic), this is a relationship where there isn't resentment, or guilt, or shame, or dread, or rage, or self-hate, or any of the other emotions that keep him paralyzed, unable to move this way or that. no debts, nothing owed of yourself and your soul's substance except what you can freely and safely and happily give. love and freedom don't coexist — but, I mean, you're almost starting to make me think........... unless...👀👀👀. the unconditional and undramatic 'you are here and I am here with you, you can be exactly how you are right now with me and it's safe for us both even though you're afraid it won't be, I'm not going anywhere' acceptance rook shows him here that he returns to them in the big romance scene, when it's rook who needs it. the way he's just. standing there in the center of it all, like a child desperately helplessly waiting to be found, hiding in the place he hopes you'll know to look first. (rook does know. it's one of the first things they say in there.)

in short the most important room in his little mind palace for the romance is the very first room — the one where rook isn't. where, in fact, rook cannot be, because they disprove the entire structure of the place with their existence and presence in his life. with everyone else he's putting words in their mouths about what they think of him, and rook is the one who actually gets to come in to speak their own words to him — and have him listen. ('he'll listen to you, he always listens to you', 'your voice is a comfort'.) of course rook isn't present anywhere else in there — at the risk of stating the obvious to a tedious degree, they aren't one of the locks, they're bringing the key. in the very finest 'the messenger and the message' sort of way.

[m4rs-ex3]

callum feeling small and insignificant just being in the throneroom

vs callum practically kicking down the doors and waltzing in guns blazing

[boyfridged]

other people struggling to recognise jason post-res, sure. but-- jason coming back to gotham and keep walking into dead ends because some parts of the city plan shifted just a bit when it got rebuilt after the events of "no man's land." jason getting lost in the manor; jason opening the door to where his room once would be, finding it to be just a carbon copy of other guest bedrooms. jason struggling to read bruce's expressions because they used to be so much more open. jason surprised at the ruthlessness of minor villains who used to just stick to their gimmicks but now are dedicated serial killers and terrorists. jason being scolded by batman for not following a protocol that he does not know of during a rare team up... etc... etc... so what follows is not quite relearning; relearning assumes a certain level of previous familiarity he does no longer possess... the city got colder, and crueler. but it's his home. he can keep up. he can even be two steps ahead (the relativity of distance is a problem. ahead might look dangerously like behind. but trust him, he knows what he's doing.) the new rules can be broken before he finds out about them. he won't be surprised about his bedroom being no more if he never wanted to go back there in the first place. no need to read into bruce's expressions; they obviously convey the worst. minor rogues can be disposed of before they turn out to pose real danger. and that dead end, the wall? nothing an explosive won't fix when he's in a hurry.

[raventrigonsdaughter]

For reference about what i said about Enid's werewolf height the other day, this is how crazy her size is in wednesday's description in the novel and i hope SO MUCH they never change it cause it's both fun and funny as fuck

Example 1:

Example 2:

Example 3:

And now the side by side with my favorite werewolves one of them having until now the title of biggest werewolf

PLEASE NETFLIX THIS IS SO FUCKING FUNNY IT OPENS SO MANY POSSIBILITIES, KEEP IT, like, bring it into the show, also because the novelization as many others more likely than not was based on the show's early development and then still got approved in the end means that despite the weird ass golden retriver we got they were probably really going for a horror inducing werewolf in the finale, in the final side by side specifically if she was on all fours like in the show she would still be around Van Helsing's own height, this is insane, can my fellow werewolf nerds come talk about this we got a gold mine here on teenage show territory and i need more

[mionkings]

The Deep Lands 🏕

Amity Park is strange; even without the ghosts' destruction, the ectoplasm is enough to change and make things strange. The residents just as eccentric and weird. But they can be friendly when they want!

However, the national parks near or in Amity Park are terrifying.

People disappear mysteriously to never be seen again without explanation or are found eventually either dead or alive in the most unexpected places ands strange circumstances.

Those that do come back, become different. There is no true explanation.

Amity Parkers or Ghosts take notice that there is just something— ancient and primal deep in the mountains, where stone and trees older than humanity bleed with energy of even the most deepest parts of the Infinite Realms. It is enough to ward ghosts to indulge in their obsessions away from nature and into Amity Park, something familiar.

Has the land changed with them? Or has it always been there, untouched until now?

For when Phantom flies by the large vaste land, he takes caution. Entering in with the respect one would have towards a home, or rather a haunt.

It calls to him.

[voiider]

fake psychic Tim but its just. its just psych. Jason dies and batman goes off the deep end so Tim (instead of becoming robin) starts going ham on the 'tips to the police' bc if the police can deal with the smaller crimes then Tim doesn't have to worry about batman killing a petty thief.

Except he's running himself into the ground and he starts getting sloppy bc he's giving the local police info, and bludhaven info (bc dick) AND probably giving Nightwing info when he can and someone catches him or he leaves a paper trail and then Officer Dick Grayson apprehends him and takes him in for questioning and Tim is like "you can't talk to me without my parents or a lawyer present, I'm a minor. And my parents are in Guatemala, so you better call my lawyer."

and Dick is like "kid you're not in trouble i just need to know who's giving you this information." Because there is NO WAY this kid isn't working with someone. Someone who is using a child to drop off information, which while noble to help the police, is putting this child in danger and tim is like, pretty offended actually. That it's being implied that he COULDN'T do this himself.

So he's like "im not working for anyone."

and Dick is like "you have to be getting the info from somewhere. I just wanna help."

and Tim is like AUGH ADULTS "I just- i figured it out on my own" and its CLEAR that Dick doesn't believe him which is, first off, super insulting, never meet your heroes, and second he shouldn't be talking anyway or admit that he goes out at night or Dick will do something stupid like try to make him stop. So he's like (rolling eyes) "I'm psychic. Are you happy? Can I have my phone call now?"

[might-be-a-potato]

something something prepare for trouble...

[solidwater05]

Hyperfocus messed with my time perception so bad omg

Have you ever experienced non-linear time? Like half an hour went by in half a minute and then it stopped. Entirely. Logically I know that it's been around 15 minutes, but I can't even say that it felt like forever because it didn't feel like ANYTHING [PT: anything. /End PT]. It's been hours but not the 60 minute kind of hours y'know? It's been a while. Not really

[icewindandboringhorror]

"We can get through this by working together, reach out to your friends, community is all we have, a social network will be your security in the world, now is the time to lean on others!"

I do agree, and it's scientifically sound (pretty sure there is data about how people with better social networks live longer and etc) but also....augh..... what about the severe social issues, difficulty to leave the house, physical issues which lead to like zero socialization energy a majority of the time, etc. etc. Social support can be a replacement for structural support, but.. I guess I just wish it didn't have to be. Community is extremely difficult to build, even moreso if you're someone who has issues with social cues or group conversations or even just being around others in the first place. And blah, nuance, of course I'm just complaining or maybe being too negative or maybe misunderstanding, but, I hardly have the energy to brush my hair once every 2 months.. how am I supposed to maintain a wide social network and be active in a Community and Join Groups lol... sometimes it kind of feels like "er.. well if thats my only option then...... ruh roh". It's overwhelming

[geddy-leesbian]

on top of this being the anniversary of the most traumatic day of my life which was followed by 6 weeks I was homeless and had a variety of traumatic things happen, we also got

me being due for my depo shot which means I will cry over things that are not worth crying about (the best example is probably the time I thought we had a frozen spaghetti meal in the freezer and started sobbing when it wasn't there)

finding out my estranged sister violated her probation (it's a long story) and even though I wouldn't have expected to have strong feelings about it it's still somehow like

my mom's dad might be dying (I haven't seen him since I was very young so I don't view him as much more than "my mom's dad" and saying he's my grandpa wouldn't feel right to me even if it's technically correct) and it's like the thing with my sister where it's not something I would expect to have feelings about but still do

We went into our apartment complex's office to renew our lease and they said they'd email us all the lease stuff to sign online earlier this week and it's probably nothing but anxiety brain go brrrrrrrr they're not going to renew it and you'll be homeless again!!!!

I truly feel like Luis Serra in this moment:

the bear trap is last years trauma, the ganado is everything more recent

[cakesmelons]

The harem discovers MTTs tongues

They're just shocked don't worry :)

(Hey, psst, devil on your shoulder Sunny speaking, they may not admit it but they're all totally into it, should put them tongues to use if you know what I me- **gets hit by a truck and fucking dies)

[bueris]

ppl saying isha was a pointless character as if isha wasn't the reason why jinx became more selfless (and suicidal) as a person and both of those are important because without that she would've never helped in the war effort (as shown by the dedication to isha with the airship's decorations looking like isha's helmet) like the reason isha was killed off was symbolic of the difference between piltover and zaun's freedom to grieve (like cait's mum was) and also to push jinx back into being reckless but also willing to fight again (good for plot with fighting against noxus being presented as the morally correct thing and character development, "self-centred" out of insecurity -> fighting for other people out of grief instead if just trying not to fuck up again AS WELL AS IN HER OWN INTERESTS ie vi not dying/her home not being taken over) isha wasn't pointless. yes it would be nice for isha and jinx to run off together and live a peaceful life somewhere else or isha being alive and jinx fighting for a world for isha to live in but isha dying has merit too. isha dying made her not want to lose her other sister or her home as well

this probably isn't worded well pls forgive me

[telesodalite]

Sort of a ramble, sort of me just writing my thoughts out while I'm stuck with writer's block, but I keep thinking about how Fulcrum was in stasis for roughly 3 million years??

Like, that's a long time, even for Cybertronians. Not a really long time, not an entire lifespan. But still, it's a large chunk of a normal lifespan just gone. Poof.

One second you're crawling across the pockmarked terrain of an alien planet, surrounded by the sound of gunfire, and the shouting and screaming before and after each earth shuddering impact of another k-con hitting the ground. And then it's quiet. You're not there anymore. You're drifting somewhere between not alive and just asleep. Preserved somewhere in the background of a doomed body, ignored by time and space, still here, but also not.

And then there's sound. Not gunfire. Not shouting or screaming. Not the sounds that'll haunt you till your dying days, your own death sentence pounding in your head. No. Just voices, talking, standing out against a silent, dead world. Wondering. Joking. Bickering. Familiar. Just, not familiar to you. And you're awake. Pulled back from the nothingness you've been frozen in, consciousness tugged forwards with the yank of a fuel pump and the nearness of life.

These two moments are roughly 3 million years apart, but only minutes, maybe even seconds, to him. From a hectic harrowing battlefield, to an old silent graveyard in one blink.

How long did it take to really sink in? I mean, he seems to just roll with it. He doesn't seem particularly bothered. But like, what happened outside of what we see? How did he really feel?

Also, his body aged without him. While his mind preserved itself, freezing him as he was right then, his body was left to weather Clemency for all those years. No wonder it crumbled to dust when he jumped off the world sweeper. It's probably a miracle of some kind that it didn't just fall apart each time someone leaned on him.

And even after they rebuild him, give him a better, newer body. His spark, it's casing, all the irreplaceable core bits that make up their inner bodies, it aged in the time without him. Does he feel it? Does it make his body even more foreign to him?

Then he's also a technician with information that's 3 million years out of date. Lucky him that the scavengers probably weren't working with top of the line material. But still it's gotta be weird when faced with anything brand new, because a lot can change and progress in 3 million years, and now some of the knowledge he once prided himself in is obsolete.

Besides those things, his view of the galaxy, of the war, of their kind, of other kinds, is one of the few things actually pointed out when it comes to him being stuck in the past. So, how often were his old views challenged? Facts of life he held close proved to no longer true? There's 3 million years worth of new science, new beliefs, new words, new terms, new views.

And sure, some of it can be familiar, because they're an ever evolving kind, and they have patterns, core beliefs, repeating behaviors, but a lot of it's gonna be unfamiliar at the same time, because it's 3 million years worth of catch up, it's not like missing last week's trend.

In a way, it makes him a living relic of a bygone era for Decepticons. It would've been really interesting to have had that explored a little more.

[blujayonthewing]

really cool to open my messges and all my family and friends are texting each other like they're on a plane that's going down but thank FUCKING CHRIST we didn't get harris, right?

[leyyvi]

love romantic soft dom levi but also love clumsy awkward stumbling over his words because he's so flustered levi aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa