#Nearsighted just get extremely close if needed

[fuck-customers]

The other day, these boys (they weren't even teenagers) cane in to the cinema the other day and were trying to buy Deadpool tickets. They obviously didn't have IDs, so they were trying to get other people to buy it for them.

First, they said the guy in line behind them was their uncle and he was gonna watch it with him, only for the guy to butt in with "I don't even know you guys"

Then they were just standing next to the line and letting people go ahead of them in line and asking every single one of them, and eventually, one of them said yes. So my boss sauntered over to the guy as he was trying to buy them tickets and had this conversation:

Boss: "So... you're the parental figure?"

Man: "Yes."

Boss: "You know these boys?"

Man: "Obviously."

Boss: "So the boys are going to sit right next to you? And you understand that if they misbehave and have to be asked to leave, you'll have to leave with them, since you're responsible for them?"

Man: "... sorry guys, never mind."

And then he gave them their money back and went to watch his movie. Like, based on past experience and the way the boys were acting, we're all pretty sure they weren't going to behave during the movie (mostly because they couldn't even behave in the lobby where there's a bunch of employees watching them because it was a very slow day and they were being loud.)

Oh, and the youngest boy could not have been older than 10, at the absolute most, and he had a fucking vape hanging on a lanyard around his neck. Like, kid, you don't need to be fucking up your lungs and developing an addiction when you haven't even started puberty yet. Okay, my grandfather was smoking by age 10, but they also thought cigarettes were good for treating asthma back then. These days, we know better. (Obviously, I don't care if adults smoke or vape, as long as they aren't doing it in the building or too close to me. I do have severe respiratory problems and I like being able to breathe as much clean air as my lungs will allow. But 10, or however old this kid, is waaaay too fucking young. I know laws don't actually determine morals, but smoking/vaping under the age of 18 is illegal here too).

Also, I had not one but two groups of parents argue and throw a fit because I had to tell them they couldn't bring their newborn babies into R rates movies. Like, one of them was just reaching the stage where she was starting to look like a proper baby, but the other one was so young that he was still in the stage where he looks more like an alien than a baby. Like, the girl was maybe a month old, but the boy was maaaaybe two weeks. Yes, I understand that your tiny, tiny infants are probably not going to be traumatized by the new Alien movie. Newborns are extremely nearsighted, so they probably couldn't even see the screen. But you know what babies *do* do? Cry. And people buy tickets to a movie that is Age Restricted (which is what the R in Rated R stands for: Age Restricted 17 and Up) buy tickets with the reasonable expectation that there isn't going to be a screaming child in there. That's why company policy is that we don't allow kids under 6 to Age Restricted films, even with parents. Because if your baby is crying the whole time, people want their money back and we have to give refunds. Corporate doesn't give a shit if you're bad parents or not for traumatizing your 4-year old by dragging him to a Saw movie or whatever (and no, he can't just "play on his iPad the whole time", you're not allowed to have those out either because it's also disruptive to other guests). This has been company policy since around the time the first Saw movie came out, actually. It's not new.

The parents of the little boy were even like "he won't cry, he loves loud noises!" Like, he's two weeks old, he's barely popped out of the womb, you cannot possibly know him well enough to know how he's going to react to being at the movies for the first time (I see parents bringing their 3 to 6 year olds in for their first movie at the cinema, like multiple times a week, and they don't even know how the kid will react most of the time), and frankly at this point, I'm not sure I trust you to make the decisions that are best for your child rather than yourself, since that's a newborn fucking baby, there's a massive COVID surge right now, and the theater is very crowded. I *just* got back to work after catching COVID at the fucking urgent care when I had a concussion, and they had hospital-grade ozone air filters, and both I and the person in the waiting room who had COVID were wearing masks (AND I'm fully up to date on my vaccines). Your baby can absolutely catch COVID if you're going to be sitting in a packed room with a hundred or more other people for several hours, especially since none of you are masking. He can't even have been vaccinated for chickenpox or whooping cough yet.

Your baby in no way benefits from being here, but he could easily catch an illness and die. You know how many toddlers I see that are constantly coughing and don't understand to cover their mouths yet? So fucking many. At least be honest; you're here because you want to watch the new movie, and you're not willing to wait until you can get a babysitter for a few hours. You're not here because your newborn baby "likes loud noises"; if that's really the case, you can take him for a walk near a construction site or something, which is free and less likely to give him a potentially fatal illness. Or, you know, put something on the phone or the TV on for him. I know that being cooped up at home sucks, I really do, but even if you're willing to risk the health of your baby that's still fresh out of the oven, we as a business still do not allow him to be in here for that movie. You can pick one that's not Adults-Only if you really really want to watch a movie right now. Or you could hire a babysitter, or leave him with Grandma for a few hours, or something.

Not to mention the fact that our sound system is good enough to shake things through the sound-dampening walls; it's got to be fucking torture on sensitive newborn eardrums. I have a video of a time when a specific movie was playing right next to the bathroom and some of the sound effects hit just the right pitch that the fucking stall doors were unlocking themselves from the vibrations. (And yes, the sound-dampening walls do work, and we do actually replace the panels when they wear out, but they can only do so much. They're sound dampening, not sound-proof, and audio mixing in films has been all over the place for the last however many years. Movies are often much louder, or at least have a wider range of volume levels across the whole feature, than they did when this place was built decades ago.)

Sorry to get preach-y but have some fucking sense and learn to accept that you can't just do anything and everything you want. I don't even make the fucking rules, but it's going to be on my head if I let you bring him in there and we have to give out hundreds of dollars in refunds because he's screaming.

Also, sorry that this is an Ask and not a Submission. I didn't notice until I was done typing, and it won't let me copy and paste the whole thing since I'm on mobile, only one paragraph at a time.

Posted by admin Rodney

[shaunamilfman]

can u write jealous Jackie hcs? if u do, thanks in advance:)

you're welcome brooo. love jackie requests for sure don't even worry about it man

Jealous Jackie HC's

girl watches you like a fucking hawk whenever someone's talking to you. even if she's actively talking to someone else you'll catch her keeping an eye on the situation the whole time

walks up to you afterwards all like “so what were we talking about?? 😁😁” with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Jackie Taylor can be terrifying when she puts her mind to it. god forbid someone makes a serious move on you. she might even sic Shauna on them

Jackie will know someone's entire life story if she's jealous of them. walk into the living room to see her on her laptop looking at the layout of their house on a realtor website. be glad you left before she built it on the sims and set it in fire. it was… disturbing. 

she sips at her drink to distract herself and ends up getting fucking wasted every time. accidentally throws up on your shoes and still asks if you think she's pretty afterward

Jackie gets more insecure when she sees you talking to a man (even if you're obviously not interested in them), but gets extremely jealous when she sees you talking to a woman. lives for running those girls off. walks over to talk to them and is like “hey I heard a rumor that…” until they get so uncomfortable they leave

Jackie gives shauna a play-by-play of every single event in such excruciating detail that Shauna's tapping her head against the wall hoping she somehow knocks herself out. Shauna pleads with you to never talk to anyone ever again so she doesn't have to hear about it again. 

1996 Jackie taking notes from one of those teen magazine articles like “10 ways to keep your man from straying” like it's her fucking job (someone breathed in your direction). absolutely does not work for her. you ask her why she's been so fucking weird all week and she looks frustrated that you didn't fall even deeper in love with her like the article promised you would. somehow it's your fault, she knows it. 

Jackie tries taping their face on a dart board because she's seen it in movies but can't get a single dart to land on the board and ends up madder than she started. 

self-indulgent but thinking about Jackie knowing you're nearsighted and drunk Jackie stealing your glasses because “why would you need to see other girls further away?? 🙄🙄” 

Jackie Taylor is a master of pretending to drunkenly pour her drink on whoever she's jealous about. all wide-eyed apologies and slurring her words as she looks so genuinely sorry that you even start to believe her it it wasn't for that smug look that crossed her face as they walk off to change

she's all fucking over you. climbing into your lap, arms wrapped around your shoulders, faced buried in your neck, whispering little things in your ear. imagine how close you think two people could get. not close enough. Jackie's got that beat. 

doesn't like feeling jealous so she'll flirt with other people to get your attention because she wants you to be the jealous one instead. except she always makes the worst fucking choices. it's always like Shauna (which 🤷 is hot. let's be real. you're into it.) or someone she's visibly not interested in or someone visibly not interested in her. she just sees red and can't think straight I'm afraid

Jackie conspicuously reading a newspaper she doesn't realize is upside down with those mustache glasses in the corner of the restaurant while you're getting dinner with an old friend to catch up

[hey-hey-j]

... sorry to bother again but I just REALLY wanna know what's your FAVORITE HC of each brozone bros? Especially JD 👀

oooofgh a FAVOURITE headcanon for each bro...... there's so many but if I really narrow it down:

JD: that he's actually extremely nearsighted but he resists getting glasses for the longest time because they make him look old and he haaaaaates acknowledging his actual age, lol. Back during the BroZone days Bruce would often catch him leaning in super close to his desk squinting when writing songs and tell him seriously bro you NEED to get your eyes checked before you destroy your back.

Years later Clay finally convinces him to see an optometrist and it's actually a genuine bonding experience for the both of them

Bruce: constantly fighting against the troll instinct to carry his kids in his hair because they physically Do Not Fit in there. He can still carry them with his hair (usually for game purposes), just not in it. It frustrates him, but after 13 of these little gremlins he's found some workarounds.

semi-related: I like to think the first few kids came about from however vacationers reproduce so the first time they had an egg it caught Bruce and Brandy completely off guard and Bruce had to dazedly explain to her where troll babies come from. And then he had to explain it to the kids and follow it up with a stern lecture on how for the love of god do NOT toss the egg around it is NOT A TOY—

Clay: went through a jealous phase when Floyd was first born. He did not like having his status as the baby of the family usurped, lol. Literally his first reaction upon being introduced to Floyd for the first time was "No thank you." The image of teeny baby Floyd toddling after Clay while Clay tries his darndest to act like the aloof, disinterested older brother. Or as aloof and disinterested as a little kid can get.

He warmed up to Floyd after a bit, though. Probably little Floyd fell asleep in his lap one night and Clay was suddenly overcome with the realization of oh I never want to let anything bad happen to this kid. And from that day on he tried his darndest to be the best big brother he could be. Like JD.

Floyd: cut his solo career short because he realized that the celebrity life wasn't making him happy anymore. So he traveled around for a few years, bumped into the other troll kingdoms and tried out their music, and eventually rediscovered his passion through smaller gigs and busking. Floyd was essentially homeless for all of those 20 years, but it was the happiest he'd been since BroZone took off, going wherever the road took him and basking in the freedom of not being recognized and finally being able to pour all of himself into his music, unfiltered.

And then he made it to Mount Rageous.

Branch: post-World Tour and after the initial awkwardness of Barb's efforts to make amends, Branch finds that he actually gets along really well with the queen of Rock. She shows him how to channel all of his repressed anger into a couple of chords and a good SCREAM, and he in turn shows her some of the grounding techniques he's been working on as part of his recovery. They joke that they're only getting along for Poppy's sake, but after a while, they genuinely end up becoming really good friends.

what I'm saying is that I live for Branch and Barb as snarky besties with Poppy as their hinge I need it DESPERATELY

[isolde-illustrates]

Fintan and Bronte Headcannons

Fintan:

He needs glasses ever since the ever blaze incident. Fintan is neither nearsighted nor farsighted; his vision was mutually messed up in both ways. Incidentally, his hearing has gotten sharper because of how much he focuses on using it.

He refuses to wear his glasses despite having damage due to the bright burning light.

He also cannot smell anything except smoke faintly whenever he is near a fire. All of his nose hair has literally burnt off, so he gets a lot of sinus infections, too. The ice prison does not help at all, and he constantly has a runny nose (which he cannot stand).

Fintan sometimes walks into walls and somehow manages to pull it off so no one except the doctor who took care of him right after the incident knows how bad his vision is (the doctor was too afraid of fintan).

Everyone in the neverseen is waiting for him to admit that he can't see, but then Fintan does crazy stuff that makes them think that he actually has perfect vision and is just faking it.

Fintan does not wear shirts under his hoodies or vests because he can't stand the extra heat. (tw: scar) Fintan also hates whenever his chest is exposed because of a scar he has from the accident, so he always laces up whatever he is wearing really tight, or adds more buttons to his shirts and vests so that there are not any gaps that could show his scar if he bent forward.

His scar could have been healed, but he wanted to keep one of the scars from that day as a reminder of what happened. It's close to his heart, although the worst part is near his stomach. Bronte knows about this scar because he overheard Fintan yelling at the doctor for trying to heal that scar when Bronte was on his way to talk with Fintan about the Council.

He loves elegant clothing. That was the third thing he hated most about being kicked off the Council. Not only did he lose his ability and power, Fintan was no longer allowed to buy certain degrees of fancy clothes. As a result, he now knows how to sew very well. He still insisted on making someone else do the patchwork in the Neverseen while he was there. Alvar and Ruy normally ended up stuck with the work.

Fintan is killer in heels. He can wear those bright red kinky boots and run in them (unless there is a tree root that he does not see). Still, if the ground is visible to him, or if it is fairly level, then he will sprint in those boots. He would also kill song 6 of Kinky Boots. There is no denying it.

He and Vespera were besties and he started out borrowing Vespera's dresses, but then just went ahead and made his own. They are both fragil and frail creatures, so it definitely would have worked.

Fintan used to have hair down to his waist, but after it got burnt in the accident, he swore that he would never let it touch his shoulders again because that was the version of himself that died in the fire, the young pyrokinetic who thought that he had nothing to lose in a dangerous lesson. The only times his hair has gotten long again have been when he has been in prison, both in Exile and now ib the ice prison. In Exile, it was just past his shoulders. Fintan had cut it again, but his time in the ice prison has gotten his hair almost to his bicep.

Fintan has a thing for chickens. Besides tasting good (he can't help that he tried it when Atlantis had humans), chickens seem so trusting of him and recognize him. He had a couple at his house, and they helped with his gardening (fertilizer).

Bronte:

He has perfect vision, which annoys Fintan to the extreme, especially because Fintan sometimes has to listen to the voice before knowing who is nearby.

Bronte learned how to speak multiple human languages, which is how he was able to speak with Amy (I don't care what Shannon says about the languages being the same, why should English be the one that is exactly like the elven language and not Latin, Persian, etc).

He knows all of the human curse words that Sophie switches into when things are bad and does not call her out on it unless she forgets to switch and stays in Elvish (because he thinks it's funny when she apologies and immediately says a string of human curse words, mainly English and Spanish, but whatever she heard in a high school with the ability to hear human thoughts). She was fluent in those words before becoming a polyglot, and sometimes Bronte lets a word slip, forgetting that Sophie is there. It has become an inside joke for them.

Bronte loves layers. He will bundle himself up in longer capes and procede to almost trip on them.

He would not be caught dead in heels. (Bronte would have, however, been caught alive in heels if it was just around Fintan. Not anymore though, because he no longer trust him after the whole Neverseen thing. Bronte was the Charlie of the two, and Fintan was the Lola.)

Bronte started cutting his hair short because Fintan teased him. Originally, he and Finran both rocked the long hair. Bronte had a mullet that went to his shoulders. His cropped hair and short height reminds Fintan of a little chick (which makes sense as Fintan doesn't know if he wants to kill Bronte or keep him forever).

[bonefall]

I’m rereading Po3 and despite its flaws I really enjoyed the introduction to the three. Jaykit isn’t mentioned to be blind in the first few chapters and instead they chose to show how much MORE capable he is compared to his littermates; until at the end of chapter 3, he brings up his blindness on his own. It makes forcing him to be a medicine cat SO much more frustrating because it really feels like they’re setting him up to be a warrior and choose his own fate (note i haven’t finished the reread this is just my first impression)

I like how you seem to take that path in BB regardless! It makes his arc so much more enjoyable

His arc in canon is super frustrating because he's such an independent character who clearly wants to make his own decisions in life, but then he just gets shoved into the medcat den. I LIKE that he ultimately goes there and that he enjoys it; but it was still really fucked up that they stripped away his autonomy in the process.

Re: they are not real, they are writing choices. Taking away the choices a disabled character can make over their own life, forcing them into a celibate nun role, and then going "awwwww dont worry see? he likes it! This was the best thing for him :)" was fucked up.

And imo it didn't have to be that way! You wouldn't have to go the FULL route I did with big changes, he could just be more involved in the descision to stop being a warrior apprentice and it would be fine. Minor change that would make a world of difference.

I do also have to interject to say though... blindness should really not be an extremely severe impairment for a ThunderClan cat.

I'm dead serious.

Whiskers are built-in sensors that tell you the exact position of everything within several inches of your head, ears swerve to pick up sound, and the jacobson's organ provides a sense of smell so keen that I have an entire Clanmew expansion draft because I needed to make WORDS describing the power of this sense that humans do not have. I cannot stress enough how delicate their other senses are, felines do not rely on their sight like primates do

ThunderClan lives in a mixed-oak woodland, where sight is already often obscured by foliage, objects are close together (for whiskers to feel), and nearly every movement makes noise against the leaf litter. RiverClan and (moor-running) WindClan cats would have a harder time with this disability than Thunder or Shadow.

Cat sight SUCKS to begin with. It sucks BADDD. They don't have color vision, they're significantly nearsighted, and they can't track up-and-down movements well. WC doesn't write realistic cats (more like small fuzzy people really) and I also work with more humanesque eyesight, but the only thing Jay should really lose is an ability to rapidly track a small animal swerving fast. Blind cats are often still excellent hunters in spite of that!

So it's an extra big waste that they railroaded him into a position he didn't choose, saying he couldn't be a warrior. This is the perfect disability to write, if you want to explore how ableism can impact the characters in this society who ARE legitimately still capable of nearly full independence, but still need to find accommodations for what they can't do.

In the same arc they're doing the dumb Cinder Reincarnation Plotline, no less!! Where SHE is also feeling like she has no choice over her "destiny," and gets a conflict over a potentially disabling injury

"Oh nooo if cinderpaw breaks her leg she wont be a warrior!"

"What the f-- Im Jaypaw and im reporting live from the scene where a Category 1 Idiot Moment is taking place. Woman breaks leg, suddenly everyone believes she is a horse, more at 11."

One of these days I should really make "herb guides" just covering how various sensory disabilities impact the lives of Clan cats and some tips for writing them as warriors, especially between Clans. Stuff you wouldn't usually consider, like how much noise deaf cats tend to make, how RiverClan would get a ton of sinus infections and lose their sense of smell, being blind in Sky vs Thunder, etc.

[i-will-physically-fight-you]

What is that one scene that you’ve always wanted to write but can’t be arsed to write all of the set-up and context it would need? (consider this permission to write it and/or share it anyway)

I have very specific thoughts regarding Logan's backstory in Crescent/Gibbous but I'm unsure if I'll ever write a full thing on it. So have this out of context scene instead. Just a small aside, Patton's mother and Logan's great-great grandmother were sisters, so they are related in that way. Logan knew Patton as "Uncle Pat" who was present at a few large family gatherings when he was a small child (not that he was fully aware his uncle was actually his great-great-great uncle)

Warnings: Sickness, Angst

“Logan?” 

He knew that voice. He raised his head up, trying to focus on the blurry figure in front of him. Why were they blurry? What happened to his glasses?

“Lo, buddy are you okay?”

He swallowed, throat aching. No, as much as he hated to admit it, everything was not okay.

“Logan, please, tell me what happened.” 

He shook his head, whining from the increasing pressure stemming from his temple. He’d experienced migraines before, but nothing like this. He swayed, his body crumpling down on its own accord. 

“Logan!” Hands reached out, cradling his clammy face. Black dots scattered his vision like a thousand tiny blackholes. He fought through it to stare at the blurry face behind the bars.

“Uncle?” He croaked, the familial title unintentionally slipping out. He felt extremely disoriented and confused. Two things Logan hated feeling above all else. It harkened back to a memory of a child hopelessly lost in a snowy forest, so alone and so certain of death.

“Logan, I’m here, pup.�� Patton told him, a hand moving to brush Logan’s bangs away from his sweaty brow. 

“I’m not your pup.” Logan said vehemently. He was not a child–far from it. He was an accomplished man with several scientific accolades to his name. Most importantly, he was human, he was not a werewolf.

And if he was successful in his endeavors, he'd be not only human, but the first human ever to cure werewolf disease.

Patton did not respond. He kept silent as he gently pulled Logan’s glasses off his head, placing it on the floor. Logan’s vision sharpened, like a camera pulling into focus. This made complete sense–Logan was nearsighted so of course due to their close proximity he saw Patton much more clearly now that the glasses were removed. Patton must have noticed the lenses were smudged.

He refused to think long on it, not when he still hadn’t properly answered Patton.

“I don’t…” Logan trailed off, his eyebrows pressing together. When did he arrive at the facility? The last thing he recalled was crawling underneath every blanket he owned because he was so cold. Was this a fever dream?

“Patton, I’m afraid I am feeling rather unwell.”

“I know, Lo, I know,” Patton said, his voice cracking with some unidentifiable emotion, “how long have you been feeling this way?”

“Approximately two weeks.”

“Have you been more hungry than usual?”

“Ravenously. Nothing seems to satiate my appetite.”

“Any aches and pains?”

“I have experienced more muscle aches than usual, although it could simply be my body adjusting to a new exercise regimen–likewise that could be the cause of my new appetite. I have taken up an interest in running.”

“Why running?”

“Running is a good form of exercise. It has…also helped reduce my stress levels.”

“Do you feel more agitated lately? Snapping at things more easily? Felt overwhelmed in situations that you wouldn’t normally feel overwhelmed in?”

He didn’t like where this was going. He wiggled his head away from Patton’s hands, pressing his hands against the floor in an attempt to stand up. Nausea hit him instantaneously, forcing him back down again. Patton’s hands hovered over him, hesitating.

“What are you getting at?” Logan demanded, a growl rising in his throat.

Patton’s mouth opened, but no explanation came forth. He closed it, his lips forming a firm line. He stared back at Logan as if he should already know the answer.

Logan gripped the silver cell bars, shaking them with as much force as possible. “Tell me!” 

It would’ve been more intimidating had he been standing up. Much less, if he hadn’t jerked his hands back seconds later with a hiss. The bars had been hot to the touch as if he laid his hands directly onto a stove. His heart beat loudly in his chest as he stared down at the angry red blisters on his hands.

Silver was not harmful to humans. He should not have immediate abrasions from touching silver. There was only one explanation, but it was absurd–Logan would know if it was happening. He studied the phenomenon occurring in other individuals. But many diseases shared similar symptoms–everything that had been occurring to him could easily be explained away.

“Logan, I’m sorry,” Patton began, “I know this must be hard for you to accept, but you must accept it. You are turning.”

“No,” Logan said, nearly choking on air, “No, no, no you’re wrong, there are several other perfectly reasonable explanations–”

His vision spun, reminding him of the time he rode the Mad Tea Party at Disneyland as a kid. Colors danced about him, too indescribable to make out shapes. The contents of his stomach threatened to erupt from his throat like a volcano eruption of vomit. He whined again, digging his face into the cold cement floor.

“Logan,” A far-off voice called his name, “Logan?!”

His muscles spasmed. He clenched his jaws, restraining from screaming out in pain. Only a muffled wounded sound came out instead, something that did not sound entirely human.

“Shh, don't fight it.” The voice called out again, this time distinctly Patton. Of course, it had to be him, there was no one else around. Hands stroked his hair, so soft and soothing.

Everything inside of Logan urged him to remain by Patton’s side. He wanted to melt into the touch. To take the solace it offered him in the midst of the excruciating pain swelling up inside of him. It took every bit of him to pull himself away from Patton, backing up until he hit the cement wall with a thud. 

“Logan,” Patton pleaded, stretching a hand out to him, “I know you’re scared, but please I promise you that I can help you.”

Logan valued rationality. He learned from a young age that emotions should be stifled unless he wanted to let their inherent weakness influence him. But there was no rational explanation for his next action. 

Only that Logan was human and humans have two reactions in the face of something they refused to understand: they either reacted in violence or reacted in terror. In this instance, Logan gave into terror.

He ran.

[roszabell]

💕, 🪞, 📚

HIIIII I LOVE LOVE LOVE ALL OF UR ART AND THE WAG YOU DRAW MATTHEW CHEFS KISS CHEFS KISS!!!!!!!

AAAAAAAHHHHHH THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!

💕- who's a character you love but never (or rarely) talk about? ROMANO. romano romano romano. he is everything to me possibly even more than matt and gil, but it’s so inherent that i barely think about it, if that makes sense???? when i do see things about him it’s so much feelings that i almost can’t handle it lmfao????? it’s probably even close to a kin tbh but it’s so strange the way idek why i never think about him. love him so much tho ugh what a wet fucking cat with his claws out

🪞- do you have any physical appearance headcanons for your favourite character? love this omg. MATTHEW. 1) his hair is really light pale blonde, with a bit of strawberry tint that comes from alasdair. 2) freckles from arthur, but only on the bridge of his nose and at his hairline (top, and back of his neck) and shoulders. 3) also, a BIG hc for me, is that both he and alfred have more stretch marks than they do scars. lots of stretch marks, big like the kind boys get when puberty hits them hard, all along their spine and lower back, hips, backs of the knees. they shot up in height sure, but it’s super representative of the way they grew into nations so fucking quickly, what sets them apart from the others. they were pushed into growing up as nations and people at an insane pace as the industrial revolution began, and not only did it take a toll on their minds, but it’s reflected on their bodies, in the way that sometimes nation’s scars are reflections of emotional tolls of their people. 4) matthew only needed glasses after 2nd battle of Ypres when he was blinded, and now is extremely nearsighted. al needed glasses way before him for some other reason, and is farsighted.

📚 - recommend a fanfic! UGH one that i read just this week that emotionally turned me inside out is Nightingale by MapleIncognitoMode. It’s a PruCan human AU during the Napoleonic Wars, where Gil is an injured soldier saved by the sweet son of a nearby French aristocrat. It’s very very tender, well written and immersive. 20/10 if u want a medium length prucan oneshot

[disabledtranshellagay]

Extreme Farsightedness

So, I'm going through something where my farsightedness is so severely bad that I kind of always need to wear glasses. The problem being that the glasses basically just make me nearsighted. Even with bifocals of computer and reading, its not enough. And even the computer side of the glasses works only to a point and then I need an even lighter prescription, or its more eye strain. I can look at a billboard, not be able to see it, not even be able to force myself to focus to see it, and then I back away and suddenly I can read it. Essentially it is harder for me to see at mid range vision than It is for me to see far away and up close (though up close involves strain). Does anyone have advice? My only plan is to get some form of trifocals. Probably two pairs, one inside one outside, with the inside one being 3 levels of reading glasses, and the outside one being 2 reading levels and one distance.

edit i just remebered progressive lenses exist. Im gonna go to the eye doctor and evaluate both options

[riverthebooknerd]

I LIED IT DOES NOT GET BETTER

y'all are in for a BIG FUCKING VENT (and by y'all i mean my octopus squishmellow and maybe one mutual)

so yesterday my family was planning on having a big thanksgiving dinner (because my brothers weren't able to on thursday, so we decided to have it yesterday instead).

i had to work yesterday, but i got off around dinnertime and my parents said that we'd have dinner when i got home.

and so i got off work, right? said adios to my coworkers, and i was actually off a bit early so all i had to do was drive home. easy.

except.

when i got in my car i realized that i was almost out of gas. i had enough to get home, but i figured since i was off early, i had enough time to stop by the gas station and fill up my tank real quick. hell, there was even a gas station on the way to my house! i had it all planned out nice in my head- grab some gas, get home right in time for dinner, annoy the shit out of my brothers.

...except.

listen. listen. i ain't the greatest with directions on a good day. so, even though the gas station was pretty close, i decided to pull up the directions on my phone. BUT my phone was fucking dead. so i was like yeah, okay, y'know what? i can probably find my way there without the map. it's not even that far, so i should be fine, i thought.

like a dumbass.

...i got lost. i got very, very lost. i took one wrong turn, and then another, and then another, and the next thing i knew i was in a completely unfamiliar area.

at night. with a nearly empty tank. and a dead phone.

and so i start freaking out, right? and so i decided to just pick a random direction and start driving, praying that i find a gas station or something before i ran outta gas.

also- fun fact about me! i am slightly nearsighted. not enough to the point where i legally need to wear glasses while i'm driving, but i usually wear them anyways because i can't see too well far away or when i'm driving at night. except, yesterday, i accidentally left them in my other bag. which was at home.

so, imagine you're me, right? you don't know where the fuck you are, your tank is dangerously close to empty, your phone is dead, you're driving in an area where there's nothing in fucking sight (not even a MCDONALD'S- just a bunch of farmland), your family is waiting on you to have dinner and they're probably freaking out since it's been over half an hour since you said you'd be home, and on top of it all you can barely see a thing (i could hardly see the street signs- probably part of the reason why i got so lost in the first place).

needless to say, i was close to fucking tears.

but i couldn't cry because that would make it even HARDER to see, so i just kept on driving. and thankfully, eventually, miraculously, i found a frys with a gas station!! still had no clue where i was, but i filled up my tank and then walked inside.

i tried to find a charger, but the place didn't have any, so then i just walked around aimlessly, trying to work up the nerve to ask someone for help.

finally, after like ten minutes of battling with social anxiety, i went up to the help desk. hands shaking, voice wavering, extremely close to sobbing, i looked at the lady behind the desk and said in one breath, "this-is-gonna-sound-kinda-weird-but-i'm-lost-and-my-phone-is-dead-and-i-don't-know-how-to-get-home-so-could-i-borrow-your-phone-real-quick-and-just-make-a-quick-call?"

the lady was understandably confused, and i started rambling and explaining what happened, probably sniffing and wiping my eyes a couple of times. after a few minutes, once i managed to explain my predicament in a comprehensible manner, she asked me, "oh, so you need a phone charger?"

and yes. yes i did. i needed to call my parents and look up directions on the map. i nodded and she took pity on me. she pointed to the starbucks inside of the frys and said, "the girls over at the coffee shop have a charger you can use. don't you worry, i trust them. here, i'll walk you over."

and so the lady walked with me, explained to the starbucks girls that i needed to borrow a charger, and then went back to the desk. there were two girls, and they appeared to be closing up shop. the taller one grabbed a charger that was plugged into the counter. it wasn't very long, so i basically had to lean over the counter to plug my phone in. i glanced at the other girl, and that's when i realized something. you want to know what it was?

i realized that that girl was my childhood friend that i haven't seen in years because we parted on unspeakably bad terms.

the horror was indescribable. we made eye contact and i swiftly looked away, veins turned to ice. i prayed she didn't recognize me. my appearance is vastly different from the last time we'd seen each other.

while i was waiting for my phone to charge, i had nothing to do except just stand there silently. the minutes ticked by unfairly slow. people kept staring at me- probably wondering why this random teenager with bright hair and watery eyes was just standing next to a closed starbucks all alone, tense as fuck and more awkward than a middle school dance. my ex-friend didn't say anything, barely even looked at me. she either didn't recognize me or was actively ignoring me- and i'm not sure which is worse.

i kept staring at her- which was creepy, i'm sure, but she looked... well, she looked like she was doing okay. i had actually been wondering about her a few days ago- just, like, what was she up to, whether she was alright. we may have parted on bad terms, but i didn't hate her. anymore, at least, i wasn't fucking twelve anymore.

but she looked okay. she no longer had constant bags under her eyes, and she chatted with her coworker as they cleaned the place up. i even heard her giggle a coupla times. it was good to know that at least one of us was having a somewhat decent night.

after what felt like an eternity of waiting, i checked my phone, and- it hadn't been charging.

the charger didn't fucking work.

i only had one option. i waited until my ex-friend had walked away a little bit, and then i timidly called out to the other girl and told her that my phone wasn't charging.

she grabbed another charger, one that actually worked, and i thanked her. and promptly returned to waiting for my phone to charge.

once it had enough battery to turn on, i called my dad. the cable was too short to bring up to my ear, so i had to put it on speaker.

ring.

ring.

ring.

ring.

ring.

ring.

ring.

ring.

i'm sorry, the person you're trying to reach-

it went. to fucking. voicemail.

so then i called my mom. i did not particularly want to call her. my dad would've been the better of the two for this kind of situation, but i figured i should let her know that i wasn't dead.

she picked up on the first ring. she wanted to know where the fuck i was. i tried explaining- it was difficult when she was interrupting me every two seconds, but i managed. the starbucks girls were kind enough to pretend they weren't listening.

"why didn't you just-"

"i know, i'm sorry, i-''

"you worried everyone! your dad left, he went out looking for you!"

"i didn't mean to get lost, i'm-"

"well, hurry home! we've all been waiting on you to eat! this dinner is really important to us, you know!"

my throat clogged at the sharpness of her words. i gave a weak response, something like a shaky okay. my phone was at four percent.

i jerkily unplugged my phone. as fast as i could, without looking at anyone, i marched out of the store. talking to my mom broke something inside me, and i started to cry. my mom was one of the few people who had that power- because most of the time, it's very, very hard to make me cry.

as i was walking out the doors, i passed by a family, pointedly not looking at them whilst trying to wipe my face. the dad said, "you doin' okay, kiddo?" and my lower lip quivered. i bit it, and nodded, walking even faster, speed-walking to my car with tears pouring down my face.

with a blurry vision and hands that were trembling far too much, it was difficult to pull up my address on my phone, but i managed it. turns out, i'd accidentally driven to another goddamn city. i started driving home, trying to breathe deeply to calm myself down. it worked, for about ten minutes. until, despite the map, i took a wrong turn.

that's when i started sobbing.

and i don't mean crying, by the way, not the pretty cryin that they do in movies. not the crying i was doing before.

i mean fucking sobbing.

snot running down my face, screaming, hyperventilating, the whole bitch ass shebang.

it was bad. and i was still driving.

i heavily considered not even going home. my relationship with my family is complicated at best, downright shit at worst. i love them, of course i fucking love them, but i knew that they would bring me no comfort. i really wanted a hug. i wanted to go to my friend's house- because she'd hug me and talk to me softly and tell me that i'm okay, and that it's okay to be scared.

because i had been scared. i'd been fucking terrified.

i knew that i couldn't, though- i was already over an hour late for dinner, and they were all waiting on me. so i drove home as fast as i could; my phone died again, but by the time it did, i was back in an area i recognized. i was sobbing the entire time, until i parked in the driveway and forced myself to calm down. i used some napkins i kept in the glovebox to wipe my face. glancing in the mirror, i looked like absolute shit. puffy eyes, red nose, snot stuck on my septum piercing. i rubbed my face, got out of the car, and walked inside.

i sat at the dinner table. everyone was looking at me. quickly, and with as little emotion as possible, i told them what had happened. they moved past it surprisingly fast. everyone was hungry. my dad said a prayer, and everyone dug into the dishes.

i made it as far as piling mashed potatoes on my plate before i quietly excused myself and went to the bathroom, where i promptly began sobbing again- quieter, this time, though. i'd mastered the art of crying silently years ago.

i don't know how long it took me to compose myself again. probably around ten minutes. nobody mentioned it when i walked back into the dining room. my dad started telling a joke, and then my brother did, and then we were all going around the table sharing riddles and it was a normal, happy family dinner.

i had a glass of wine, debated whether i could get drunk without my parents noticing before deciding it was probably best not to. then we ate some pie- my mom made pecan, which is one of my favorites. by the time dinner was done, i was feeling better.

my brother gave me a hug. i wanted it to last more than two seconds.

I THINK THAT IF I AM UNDER ANY MORE STRESS I JUST MIGHT GO INSANE

BOY oh boy life sure is fun when you're nearly crying on a plane because you have to be at work in three hours and you have an essay due tonight and nobody is picking up your shift and you accidentally had a meltdown at your grandma's birthday party and your parents are trash-talking your relatives because thanksgiving was TENSE and you still have a million things to do and people keep asking you about where you want to go for college and your cousin was being creepy to your little sister and you really want to fucking quit your job but you need money for gas and christmas presents and you chugged two mountain dews and you think you have the beginnings of a migraine and your phone is about to die and you didn't sleep last night and aaceijciueanicneaimkxsmnxijasnidnu

EIGHT HOURS LATER: okay fam i wrote that on the plane and WOWZA ahaha don't worry i took a nap on the plane and then i ate a little snack and i called in from work and i got my homework done on time. still not doin great but hey life does get better. pain is temporary and all that jazz

bonus:

me, typing all of this while i'm trying not to cry on a plane: i can feel my bones and it's fucking nauseating

me, a few hours later when i'm feeling better: woah! that was kind of a lot. sorry guys 😊

[3wisellamas]

Giant Sweet Cap’n Cakes Headcanon Masterpost!

(Fun fact, I thought most of these up while on one REALLY long hike.  ^^;  You can tell I fell for these three pretty hard.)

Music:

-I like the idea that, while the three all share a love of hip hop, glitch hop, electronic music in general, and a little lo-fi for chill times, they all have different tastes outside of those.  (Meaning if you pass them the aux cord, they WILL argue!)

-Sweet's actually the biggest audiophile of the group, with by far the most eclectic tastes; he will literally put together playlists that go from dubstep to heavy metal to classical to rap to vaporwave to even country.  The others don't really get it, but they're cool with whatever he puts on, and learn a lot of new music from him!

-He also owns an electric guitar, which he just plugs into himself to use as an amp and plays early in the morning to wake the others up if needed (he's the early riser and the other two are night owls...)

-Cap'n's definitely got a more narrow focus than the other two; he likes rap and also R&B, jazz, and even a little swing/electro swing.  He's also been caught more than once listening to cheesy romantic pop songs, claiming he's just into them for their potential madamoizel-attracting uses but really he's just a sappy romantic.

-He can also rap, very well in fact, and gets Sweet to beatbox while he freestyles. 

-Heck, he's just got a good singing voice in general, helped by having a built-in autotune, and dominates at karaoke!

-K_K also has a really broad range, but stays more towards the electronic end of the spectrum -- melodic dubstep, synthpop, disco, trance, chiptune, DnB, even occasionally puts on straight-up ambient spa music to chill out to (the only genre the other two will NOT tolerate.)

-K_K has also, in the past, set up entire mini-raves just by themselves, complete with glowsticks and everything, while Cap'n and Sweet were out doing whatever.  They were...not pleased, when they got back, mostly because they weren't invited.  All three got to have one together eventually though.  

-Physical media is king in their shop; if it's not on a CD, cassette tape, or a vinyl record (or an 8-track, though they have to dig out their old player for it), they will refuse to play it, and might even ask you to leave.  "MP3" is an extremely dirty word to them.

-(In fact, they don't get along too well with the MP3 player-headed robots elsewhere in the city.)

-They are indeed always listening to music on physical media as well -- K_K and Cap'n are their own CD players (though Cap'n's one of those models that's also got a built-in FM radio), while Sweet has a straight-up Walkman.    

-(He's also the group's cassette champion, claiming his media of choice is superior to CDs because you can record music on BOTH sides of the tape!  The other two just don't have the heart to point out that each side only holds half as much music as a CD, and you don't even have to rewind those...)

-Jury's still out on Hit Clips.  Cap'n and Sweet think they're just toys, but K_K genuinely collects and appreciates them and treats them like actual music (it helps that they are only around four seconds long!)

-Believe it or not, the headphones are only decoration, all three actually just...listen to their music entirely within their own heads, though they can also switch to playing it externally on their speakers as well.  Perks of being robots!  Though, sometimes K_K has his internal volume up too high, and misses things that other people say because of it.

-Sweet also has an input port, and connects himself to his turntable to act as the speakers!  The other two are WAY too embarrassed to ask if they can use it as well.

-Sweet can play almost any instrument you throw at him, as long as it's not a woodwind (Surprisingly, he can do brass, since those work on vibration rather than air!).  He prefers his guitar or violin when he isn't spinning records on his turntable.  Where the other two just enjoy music, he's the actual trained musician.

Voice headcanons:

-Sweet:  Kind of deep, bass-y, lots of reverb, a slight tinny audio distortion to it like a low-quality recording that becomes much more pronounced when he gets upset or starts shouting.  And since he's a speaker, you can literally feel the vibrations he makes when he's speaking!

-Cap'n:  Scout from TF2.  I am sorry, but I absolutely cannot get that out of my head for him.  XD  However, he's actually putting that voice on as an "accent" of sorts, his real voice is actually super autotune-y like K_K's, and it comes out whenever he gets flustered, his pitch only getting higher and higher as it gets worse...

-K_K:  Pure autotune, he can just do whatever the hell he wants with his voice -- pitch, tone, whatever, and while he tends to keep it a little higher he can and does change it to fit his mood!  He often has a completely different voice every day, but the others are used to it.  He also just straight-up vocalizes sound effects (like, the kind that make you go "How did you just make that sound with your mouth?!") and can mimic other people perfectly (though the slight mechanical distortion does give it away).  There are absolutely no rules when it comes to K_K's voice.

-They harmonize perfectly whenever they sing together! 

Sweet:

-I like to think Sweet's actually the brains of the group; like, not SMART, he just holds their one collective braincell most often.  He does any technical work when they're building stuff, like soldering circuits or the occasional programming, and even handles a lot of the actual business operations and pays the bills.  The other two also like to follow his lead when it comes to rebellion plans, even if he’s not the official leader.

-That said, though?  It's balanced out by him being rather hotheaded and having the shortest temper by a lot.  There are REASONS why he's not usually out selling bagels with the others -- he's unfortunately prone to some more "extreme" sales tactics, like hurling half their stock at random passersby until they finally agree to buy some.  On the plus side, he's always the first to step up to defend the gang from anything that dares to harm them, and is always on guard.

-He can also hold a heck of a grudge -- don't ever get on his bad side!  Cap'n and K_K are mostly immune to this though, if he gets upset with them he works through it by the end of the day.  It helps that they can all hug it out.

-He's a bit of a perfectionist, often working overtime to try and get everything they build exactly right.  He can get really frustrated when things don't work out the way he plans, or when he can't make sense of a problem, or when Cap'n and K_K are goofing off instead of doing their part, and needs to go blast some loud music and blow off steam.

-He does have a really tough time keeping his balance, since his head is a bit heavier than the rest of his body, but he takes tripping over his own feet constantly in stride.  The biggest problem he has is with dancing -- while he'll join in with the others on occasion, he can't match their more acrobatic moves and sticks more to actually PLAYING the music they're dancing to.

-He's also really, really unlucky, just in general.  He actually considers the other two his good luck charms, since they help him out whenever he trips or gets into a bad spot!

-He's the fashionista of the group, surprisingly.  It's difficult for him to find clothes that fit his body, so he tends to get a little creative with it and has a whole closet full of different stuff!  And since Cap'n is roughly the same size they'll occasionally swap jackets.

Cap’n:

-Cap'n actually has managed to score a handful of dates with girls in the past!  However, NONE of them went well, and only one actually made it to the second date (only to break up right in the middle of it), so he always ends up returning home heartbroken and in tears.  Sweet and K_K, by this point just ready for it whenever they hear that he's going out that night, always dry him off before he shorts himself out, take him to bed and cuddle with him (platonically, I don't see them as brothers but I also don't see them as having that conversation until Cap'n's ready, which he clearly is NOT), remind him that it doesn't hurt forever and he isn't unlovable and that he'll find someone eventually, etc.

-They have sat him down multiple times to try and gently suggest to Cap'n that he might just not be into women?  And that he’s actually turning them off by trying so hard?  To which he's always just like "No, of course not.  I'm straight.  Love the ladies.  Totally.  Oh no they didn't catch me checkin' out that one dude earlier did they?  Is that what this is about?!"

-(Basically, Cap'n is just a hopeless romantic in love with the idea of being in love, but is absolutely clueless as to how it works or what he actually wants, and his best buds are always there to catch him when he falls.  ;v; )

-The glasses are prescription -- he's SUPER nearsighted, a hardware glitch he refuses to fix.  Sometimes when he's working on something close up he'll take them off, panicking when he can't find them afterwards, only to have the others point out that they're just on his head.  He’s also got non-tinted glasses, but you will not catch him DEAD wearing those unless it’s an absolute emergency.

-This dude is SUPREMELY insecure with himself.  Like, his rather questionable fixation on romance aside, he basically runs off of others' validation, the "cool" persona he's spent much of his life building up being how he hides the fact that he isn't really sure who he is, or what he wants to do with his life, or what he's even good for -- the others have learned to check on him now and then whenever he hides away in the back of the shop, since he can slip into some pretty dark places when left alone to sulk.  It took a long time for him to open up even to them to share his feelings, and sometimes still has doubts about whether they or anyone else really care about him as more than just The Smooth One...

-He's the only one of the three to actually enjoy the occasional silence, especially when he's trying to think, or whenever he's upset.  So, his headphones also serve a dual purpose -- they're noise-cancelling!

-He's the video guy, carrying around a small camcorder and constantly trying to record the group's activities, to put together into music videos!  He also just likes to record himself doing stupid stunts for posterity, though K_K just takes these and makes (affectionate) blooper reels.

-Cap'n is not his real name, similar to K_K.  However, unlike K_K, he refuses to say what it is, just that it's embarrassing.

K_K:

-K_K has a bad habit of just completely zoning out when he gets into his music, getting completely lost in the groove and needing to be pulled back to reality.  It's not a bad thing during jam sessions, but at work, or in the middle of a battle...not so much.

-He kind of needs to have some kind of music going at all times -- silence drives him absolutely CRAZY!  Though, because he gets distracted by his own music, he then misses out on entire conversations, only tuning back in towards the end.  Sometimes the other two have to repeat or summarize what they just said for him.

-He knows sign language, and taught the others to use it.  They're able to communicate reasonably well no matter how loud their shop gets, or on days when K_K isn't able to form words properly (he's just shy, and even when he isn't he gets tongue-tied a LOT).

-He's easily the best dancer of the three, and uses his extendable body to get really creative with his moves!  He even knows a little ballroom, somehow, which he'll pull out sometimes to make the others laugh.

-(Seriously, K_K CANNOT stand to see Sweet or Cap'n not smiling.  He'll do anything to keep the group's spirits up, usually cracking jokes during a scrap project or doing little favors, and they appreciate all his efforts!)

-K_K has the WORST sleep cycle, ever.  If you let him, he will stay up all night working or partying, finally going to bed at 6AM, and will then sleep until 6PM if the others don't wake him up at some point.  If they know he was up really late they'll let him sleep in a little, but he's often pretty sleep-deprived and running solely on sugar and caffeine, which doesn't help his natural loopiness.  

-He is a VERY physical guy.  Seriously, he will just scoop up and hold Sweet or Cap'n like a cat every five minutes; at first they were just like "Oh.  Okay.  We're hugging now I guess," but after a while they got more used to it and even anticipate when K_K is going to do it.  And he also initiates tons of snuggles and gives piggyback rides whenever one of his bandmates (usually Sweet) requests.  

-K_K actually scrapbooks, collecting pictures and little mementos of places he and the others have gone and things they've done.  After the library fountain is sealed, he pulls them out to show everyone else from Cyber City and reminisce about home.

-It's very hard to make K_K angry, since he tends to stay super chill and brushes off almost everything.  But, on those very, very rare occasions when something does get under his metal outer casing, he'll go full-on silent treatment, not speaking to anyone for up to a week as he sulks and stomps around the junk shop, and even refuses to play any music!  And no amount of sweets or hugs or cheering up will bring him out of it, either; the other two have learned to just wait him out and let him have his space, letting him come to them when he's finally ready to talk about it.

Misc:

-Though all three love everything sweet, K_K's the only one who really goes overboard with it, making whole meals out of candy.  Sweet, ironically enough, actually prefers more salty/savory snacks, while the less is said about Cap'n's hot sauce addiction, the better.

-Okay, actually, I will say more about it.  Cap'n loves spicy food in general, and literally drinks tabasco sauce right from the bottle.  However, he's got a bad habit of daring himself to eat hotter and hotter stuff, ESPECIALLY if someone is watching, and can easily get in WAY over his head before begging for milk.

-They also all totally drink battery acid like Queen.

-Heck, being both Darkners and robots, they can really eat literally anything.  Normal food, milk, oil, batteries, gallons of pure sugar, toothpaste, moss, glitter (NEVER let K_K get hold of any though, he gets lost in the sauce), broken glass, etc, and of course their own deep-fried CDs.  Only thing they can't do is water, since, you know, robots.

-With a lot of the aesthetics of Cyber City being close to turn-of-the millennium and early 2000s (CDs and boomboxes, popup ads, wired mice, Queen theorized to be one of those see-through iMacs, EVERYTHING about Spamton), I like the idea that the boys DO NOT have smartphones, and if you handed them one they'd have no clue how to use it or what to do with it.  But they do have cell phones:  Sweet's got an old flip phone covered in stickers (courtesy of K_K), Cap'n splurged for one of those that slide open and with a camera (he set his background to a tiny, grainy photo of the three of them!), and K_K has one of those indestructible Nokia bricks, that Sweet got him after he kept breaking all his other ones.  They can all text, but that's about as high-tech as they get.

-Same with tablets or newer computers in general, they might share one tiny netbook at most.  Cap’n never remembers to log out of his Dark World dating profile, so the others will snoop or post embarrassing things to it.

-They're really, really durable, even without milk -- they're made of 90s plastic and electronics, so it takes a LOT to take one of them down!  Plus, they regularly repair each other back at the shop (it took a LONG time for them to gain enough trust to physically open and work on each other), so as long as at least one's left to drag the other two to safety they'll be just fine.

-However, if they get splashed with water, caught in the rain, or worse, drowned, they will short out, or shut down on the spot to prevent damage.  Once they completely dry out, though, they'll start right back up, no worse for wear.  When only one of them gets waterlogged the other two will break out the hair dryers to dry them out faster, or even pop them into the oven in a pan of rice like an iPod that got dropped in the toilet...

Finally, backstory?

-Cap'n and K_K met first -- maybe both as new recruits to another, much less savory gang of music equipment robots, and bonded as a result of being put upon by the more established members (Cap'n probably even had to defend K_K more than once when his inattentiveness got him into trouble!)  But, they both had enough one day, and decided to break off and form their own thing, making music and selling CD bagels to support themselves.

-Sweet, meanwhile, has the complete opposite background, coming from a rich and important family of musicians in Cyber City who regularly entertained Queen in her mansion (hence why he always used to get sweets from her!)  But, he was kind of the black sheep, preferring his own style of music, and decided to strike out on his own as a street musician instead.

-They met when Cap'n and K_K accidentally set up to sell bagels on Sweet's usual corner, and he battled them to reclaim his turf.  But, they were evenly-matched (even two-to-one; Sweet's definitely the strongest of the trio!), and impressed each other with both their fighting and musical skills, so Sweet decided to join their tiny group, and thus Sweet Cap'n Cakes was formed.  

-After the whole situation with Queen is resolved, SCC turns their rebellion into an anti-DRM kind of thing?  Nobody can hold back the music, man!

[dngrcpckwithmurdericing]

i'm tired and i have brain fog really bad today but i want to talk about this.

i learned yesterday that at age 40, your eyes start to change. apparently this is scientific. so when i was 40, and complained to my eye doctor about a bunch of stuff, he should have taken it more seriously.

i went to a new eye doctor yesterday and she explained some things to me. i want to share them in case someone else has the same stuff happening.

my eyes are really different. they both have astigmatism, but at different levels. one is extremely far sighted, and the other is extremely nearsighted. apparently, most of the time when eyes are like this, the brain SHUTS OFF ONE EYE, so even if i'm wearing glasses, when i look far away, my near sighted eye would just shut off inside my brain and not interfere with the signals.

MY BRAIN DOESN'T DO THAT.

my eyes are desperately trying to work together to see, even though they should not be, because they are so different nothing will ever bring them together. this is why they FEEL wobbly, even though they aren't actually moving physically - they are moving IN MY BRAIN, and that translates into my eyes feeling like they are crossing.

additionally, their attempts to work together make my migraines worse, and cause double vision.

the eye doctor recommended that if i am doing close-up work, or finding it really difficult to see signs when i'm driving, i should put a patch over the eye that isn't supposed to be working. it will change my depth perception, but help my brain figure out what my eyes are supposed to be doing.

the previous doctor told me NOT to do that because i would weaken my eyes, but this new doctor said this is BS - i'm 42, not 4. my eyes are already where they are going to be.

this is why i started studying pharmacology, you guys: because every psychiatrist and doctor gave me different opinions on medication and i needed to understand and be able to make informed decisions about my own pharmacological care. I CANNOT BECOME AN OPTOMETRIST.

i've decided to believe yesterday's doctor, because closing one eye makes both eyes feel relieved.

ADDITIONALLY, fyi, if a doctor ever says that they are going to deliberately overcorrect in one eye to help your eyes see together, GET A SECOND OPINION. i have been uncomfortable in my glasses for two years, and it's because the doctor overcorrected my far sightedness instead of just prescribing reading glasses and distance glasses. so i have had a hard time seeing everything, instead of the minor inconvenience of switching when i sit down at my desk to work on my computer.

i am SO tired, but in two weeks i'll have new glasses. one of them has purple frames. neither are cat eye shaped, which is a huge bummer, but i was told extremely firmly that when your lenses are SO different or your prescription is SO strong, getting glasses off the internet isn't a great idea because you can't have your prescription adjusted for free if it isn't quite right. additionally, the place i went to yesterday told me that once i have my glasses, i should stop in regularly to have THE GLASSES THEMSELVES ADJUSTED - the frames. so that i am always looking out of the center of the lenses, instead of my glasses getting slowly misshapen over time and causing me to look out of the wrong part of the lens. (this is why pupillary distance IS SO IMPORTANT. if you're not looking out of the right part of your glasses lenses, YOU AREN'T SEEING CORRECTLY.)

i hope everyone with bad eyes has a good day today. <3

[starlit-lion]

2, 8, 11, 14 for the D&D asks?

I’m gonna do Bellona for this one and she’s impossible to talk about without spoilers so friends that play in the game with her and are by an off chance here: Don’t look!! 2. When you were creating this character, what was their original draft? Are they the same character you intended to make? So Bellona has changed dramatically from my original idea for her! I knew I wanted to make her as soon as I read the UA for Swarmkeeper Ranger and had an intense need to play it. But originally she was going to be a Kenku that looked like a bee eater or a honeyguide and learned to talk at a farmer’s market while selling honey. And I was tossing around putting a lot of humming/buzzing noises into their speech bc they hear everything filtered through their beehives buzzing around them. This version was also going to go a lot more insect-like with morality and mannerisms as they copied from their hive. But then... Her concept changed dramatically when I saw a picture of medieval beekeepers and knew I had to make her look like that instead. Especially when I talked about it with dnd friends and one of them joked ‘Haha the party might never know what your character’s face looks like in that outfit’. I didn’t want to let go of being a Kenku right away, but it was a little much to hide the specific bird design under the cloak and the beak wouldn’t hide under the mask well without everyone going ‘well that’s either a weird plague doctor or an actual bird’ so I decided to go back to a more human-ish race, especially after drawing a design for her that would look best as that. And then I came up with the name ‘Bellona Bumblefoot’ which sounded like a Halfling name to me! But I still sort of wanted to do an unusual race so there would be a surprise to reveal... So I ended up with a Goblin being taken in by Halfling beekeepers, but using their gear as a disguise when she leaves home to become an adventurer! 8. What’s one weird personal headcanon you have for the character that’s not addressed or that you haven’t found a way to share yet? I have revealed she wears glasses under her mask with some offhand comments in character! Partially, I just think it’s funny for a ranger that spends at least half of her time using a longbow to be nearsighted. But also... My headcanon that ties this trait into her character is that Goblins (from her clan at least) are very commonly nearsighted. It’s not typically a problem since they live in tunnels where they don’t have to see far into the horizon. But being taken into a landscape of flat, open farm fields, Bellona and her brother both ended up needing glasses to help them see.

11. Who or what was your inspiration when creating this character? How does it show? This can be visual, backstory, personality, anything.

As stated above, the Swarmkeeper class UA and images of medieval beekeepers!  Mothman is also an inspiration for her design, in adding two crow feathers as antennae in her hood, tails to her cloak to look like folded insect wings, and the fact that her eyes glow red in dim light.

14. Have you made any aus for this character? If so, what? Which is your favorite? Which is most developed? Which deserves more development and attention?

I haven’t done any AU’s per say, but I have a few slightly different versions of her backstory written out. If I bring her into a campaign more focused on that kind of thing, my plan is to pick whichever one best fits the setting and how the DM wants to handle Goblins in their world. Pretty much the most developed/current version of her story is, her Goblin clan is chased out of the tin mine they peacefully operate by misguided adventurers. In the chaos, they abandon Bellona and her brother Bart as infants in a barn where it seems they’ll be safe. The Halflings that own the barn (the Bumblefoots) find them, but no one ever comes back so they adopt the children as their own. Bart takes to tinkering, crafting, and fixing things around town, while Bellona takes to caring for animals and is the only one of the current Bumblefoot children that is willing/able to bond with the magic Feywild bees the family have been keeping for generations. Being extremely inquisitive, Bart eventually uncovers what happened to his and Bellona’s blood relations, becomes angry and runs away to think about it. Meanwhile, the Bumblefoots ironically try to hire the same adventurers that flushed the Goblin clan out of their mine to help him. The adventurers pretty much laugh at the idea of saving a Goblin and tell them they should get rid of Bellona too. Which of course they are not doing because these are their children and the tiny Halflings shoo these assholes out of their house. But that hasn’t fixed anything, so Bellona dons her beekeeping suit, takes the feywild bees, and finds Bart by herself. She helps some people along the way, and in the end decides she can be a better adventurer than the ones that hurt them. But she soon realizes people like her better when she keeps her mask on. After everything, shyness and fear begin to get the better of her, so she becomes secretive about her identity to everyone but her bees. In an alternate, darker version, the original Goblin clan fell apart or left their mine for other reasons. Bellona doesn’t find Bart when she sets out alone to find him. It gets assumed that other Goblins kidnapped him (actually he’s gone with them willingly but no one knows this). Bellona is much more vengeful in this version and comes to hate other Goblins and Monsters for hurting her family and the other Halflings in the region, which she considers herself more a part of. She keeps her mask on because she doesn’t want others pointing out the contradiction, even as she has nightmares about hurting Goblins that end up being herself or her brother when she looks at them too closely.

[fire-fira]

Some headcanons for the Dark Turtles and Cody

(borrowing the names for the clone turtles from @onthespectrumwriting‘s fic [Progress], because hell yes).

So, Dark Leo = Len, Dark Raph = Ray, Dark Don = Tello, and Dark Mike = Angelo. (And because this is long as heck, a large chunk of it is under the cut.)

After the original turtles and Splinter went back to their time and things had settled down, everything hit Cody like a ton of bricks. He finally had time to process. He went from “Everything is fine, they’re back home, it’s all great, and it’s only a matter of time before Darius is caught— but now that I know what he’s really like I know to be on the watch and I’m great” to “…Everything is not fine.” - Everything was the opposite of ‘fine’. - Did Cody develop a huge case of paranoia? Maybe, but it wasn’t entirely unjustified. - Then there was the fact that the clone turtles were out there, and they’d been put through worse than he had. - Cue Cody suddenly worrying that the clone turtles were going to wind up killed, and him developing a gradually increasing conviction that he needed to get them away from Darius. - Which also brought up the question of where they could go if he got them out and kept them out of the hands of the authorities. - Cue Cody nearly giving Serling the robot equivalent of a heart attack when he up and decided that if he got the chance he’d invite the clone turtles to move in with him. - Serling was not pleased with this. AT ALL. - When Darius and the clone turtles got caught, that’s when the first hints of Cody’s vicious side started showing up. (He was ready to actually bust into the place where the clone turtles were being kept in order to get them out if they weren’t released to him.) - Yes, Cody was seriously contemplating breaking into a prison and making a jailbreak if he couldn’t get the legal system to cooperate. - Fortunately he managed to get the legal system to work with him after Darius’s trial, even if it took a threat or two and pointing out that the clone turtles were kids and that keeping them imprisoned was child abuse. - Cody Augustus Jones does not play around where his little brothers’ freedom and safety is concerned.

In the course of taking them in, Cody adopted the clone turtles as his little brothers and wound up naming them (since Darius is an ass and couldn’t be bothered). - The fact that Cody adopted them horrified Serling. - The fact that they adopted Cody right back almost horrified Serling worse. - Serling gradually got over it once he was finally convinced that none of them were going to kill Cody. And accepted the fact that Cody was helping them become more functional and less violent. - Serling still doesn’t appreciate the random instances of things accidentally getting broken, or the kitchen getting turned into a wreck due to the boys not yet knowing how to cook (or decently work the stove). - Serling has temporarily banned the clone turtles from touching the stove at least once due to an incident where it somehow caught fire. (It’s a work in progress.)

All five of them have massive trauma and various triggers that can easily be tripped, but they all are making painstaking efforts to be better and help each other be better. (It’s not always easy, but they do better together than they do apart.) - By mutual agreement there are words that DO NOT get said to avoid having buttons pushed. - They also do their best not to startle each other or move fast in the periphery of each other’s vision without forewarning. (There have been several close calls where one of the five of them almost got seriously hurt because of incidents like this. In one Angelo stopped himself just before his claws would have met Cody’s face. It took several hours to calm him down and for Cody to convince him that he wasn’t mad at him.) - Cody usually tends to act as the mediator and gets the others to talk things out after a blow up. Over time Ray starts picking up the habit (when he’s the calm one in the situation) and starts gently ‘feelings policing’ the others to nudge them into thinking things out over whether or not they’re being fair. - Nightmares have a way of resulting in Cody getting glommed onto.

All four of the turtles have physical problems because they were speed-grown, to different levels of severity. - Len had his left eye removed and completely replaced before he and the others were woken up for the first time because that eye was blind; the metal bands on his scalp are part of the structure keeping his cybernetic eye and its housing securely attached to his skull. With his cybernetic eye he can see normal wavelengths of light, infrared, and night-vision, and he can switch among the three at will; but because of one of the fights with Leo an internal part is prone to sliding out of place and causing the vision in that eye to glitch. He is very twitchy about having his cybernetic eye opened and worked on, and is extremely leery of the idea of possibly having to go through surgery to get it fixed. His knees and ankles are mildly iffy at him without support, but the main issue for his legs is blood flow; his ‘pants’/stabilizers add just enough pressure to improve it so it’s almost not an issue. Without, his feet get cold fast. The bones of his left forearm are prone to shifting out of place without the sleeve-stabilizer (which can wreak havoc on his elbow and wrist), so he rarely takes that one off. (The armor on his left shoulder is there to compensate just in case that arm does have issues even with the stabilizers, so that way he’s not entirely defenseless on that side.) - Ray’s knees don’t like him, but he can get by with mild support for them; however his left ankle and right hip are both heavily prone to slipping out of place without his stabilizers (which is really not a good thing since he’s walking on the balls of his feet and is carrying around so much weight). His right shoulder, elbow, wrist, and ribs all have issues and easily dislocate, but the sleeve and rib stabilizers keep things in place. (Also, while the series doesn’t show him taking off his gloves, the ‘talons’ on those gloves are protective metal sheathes for the talons/secondary ‘thumbs’ he has underneath.) -Tello has a weak neck and a jaw that would easily pop out of place without the metal pieces fused to his cheekbones to provide guidance and support. Without his leg stabilizers his ankles are iffy, but his knees absolutely hate him; he will not risk trying to stand or walk anywhere without his leg stabilizers unless he has absolutely no other choice. Like the strips of metal attached to Len’s head, the metal stabilizers on Tello’s ribs can’t be removed (at least not without surgery)— but since they keep his ribs from moving in ways they’re not supposed to, he has zero complaints about keeping them. The stabilizing sleeve for his tail isn’t entirely necessary but acts as armor and shock absorption and decreases the chances that he’ll wrench any of the vertebrae of his tail out of place in a fight. He’s also nearsighted and needs glasses (though he won’t wear them in a fight or during sparring sessions, because he doesn’t want them getting broken). - Angelo’s left knee was bad enough that he has two stabilizing metal strips anchored into the bone to keep his knee moving correctly. His right knee, ankle, and foot are all prone to having the bones shift without his stabilizer, but it’s at a mild level compared to the state his left knee was in. The rest of what he wears is purely armor, so in one sense he came out the least ‘messed up’ of the four, but he’s also the only one with visible ports embedded in his neck (which he has to make sure stay clean or risk possible infection—fortunately he has a good immune system).

Len is a grumpy child who largely wants peace and quiet while being surrounded by his garden. He’s also a snarky hothead who’s full of sass and is really not good at putting on a polite public face. While Cody tries to make sure none of his little brothers ever have to deal with the media, Len is the one who is ‘forbidden’ by his brothers from saying more than a word or two in a single sitting to any media or public figure. (He’s good with his family and when it comes to being honest, but most of the time he doesn’t see the point in public social niceties and that’s something that could easily get him into trouble.) Any mention of the scorpion story puts him in a bad mood that can last as long as a day, and sometimes even longer. The same can be said for him getting called ‘Fearless’ (yes, Len getting called that has been privately banned within the family). He has also been dubbed one of the two members of ‘The Grumpy Brigade’ by Angelo.

Tello is also full of snark and sass, but with a flavor of Science!™, and has a much better public face than Len. When he wants to, Tello can be downright charming and come off as just a pleasantly sociable tech nerd— which means he’s ready and willing to lie through his teeth to increase the chances that his family will just be left alone (and he is not afraid to leverage that pleasant façade to explain away the various explosions he and Cody are at fault for). There are two things that, if he is deprived of, will provoke him to cause absolute hell: his glasses and his coffee. Like Donnie, once he picked up the habit of coffee, he doesn’t do well without it. Unlike Donnie, if he goes too long without his glasses, he starts giving himself migraines due to trying too hard to bring the world into focus. He’s the second member of ‘The Grumpy Brigade’, and one of two members of ‘The Mad Scientist Brigade’ (also a name Angelo came up with).

Angelo is the dramatic theater kid of the family (he really takes after Mikey that way) and is— in his own way— a bright ball of sunshine. He is also abnormally skilled at squeezing himself into spaces that he shouldn’t be able to fit into (none of his brothers know how he does it). He’s charming, he’s funny, and he’s usually ready with a quip or a way to casually mouth off without stepping on any toes. Where he and Mikey really differ is that while Mikey always wanted more friends and company, Angelo is much more cautious about getting close to others. He’s good at putting forward a bright and confident façade, but he doesn’t trust easily and is hesitant to be anything close to vulnerable around anyone outside his family. (He especially hates hearing cop sirens, because it forcefully reminds him of when he and the other three turtles got caught.) If anyone asks him, he’ll insist that he’s the cute one, but if he starts to feel like he’s getting too much attention he’s quick to come up with an excuse that’ll let him nudge Cody into the forefront so he can fade back.

Ray, despite his horrendous temper to start with, has become the voice of reason out of him and his brothers. Soon after Cody took him and the other three in, he became thoroughly aware of the fact that he could do some serious damage as the biggest and strongest of the brothers (to say nothing of the massive talons on his hands), and as a result he has worked his ass off to gain control of his temper and to be as gentle as he possibly can. He still has his moments and flares of temper, but he’s put in enough effort and work that sometimes he’s even more sensible than Cody (though Cody has his reasons for giving into his anger more). Through a lot of effort Ray has become gentle, thoughtful, quiet, and highly inter-personally intelligent. He’s become the sort of person to carefully think things through before he responds (when warranted) and has developed a habit of being deliberate when he speaks— though he tries to be honest when he’s at a loss and doesn’t have an answer for something. He’s a giant teddybear, a complete cuddlebug, and he loves curling up with all four of his brothers in a big pile whenever he gets the chance (though sometimes it’s still a little hard for him to bring himself to ask for it and affection in general). To the public he seems to have a shy disposition, but that’s because he prefers to hang back until he feels like he has a good enough grasp of a situation and the people involved. He’s not comfortable with large tightly-packed crowds or sterile rooms with a single door that’s locked. (Like Angelo, he did not take their confinement well.) Angelo has affectionately dubbed him ‘Sir Snugglesworth’.

Cody is the one who most people think is the responsible and reasonable one— and to be fair, he is up to a point. He’s also absolute hell-on-wheels to anyone who dares to threaten him or his little brothers. When the original turtles were in his home, Cody started out fairly subdued and sheltered, naïve to the trap he was living in. Over the course of finding out exactly the sort of person Darius was, what he’d done to him and his brothers, what he would have done, and the fact that there were people who wanted to keep his little brothers caged after everything was said and done, it isn’t all that surprising that he went from 0 to 60 quick. He has gradually shifted from stuffing down all expressions of anger like he used to, to carefully wielding his anger to maximum effect when he needs to; and because of this it’s led him to prove just how much he absolutely is April and Casey’s great-grandson (both in his careful use of tech in his bouts of moonlighting as a vigilante, and his growing fondness for explosives). Cody may be the smallest of the brothers, but he is protective of his brothers to the point that he will not hesitate to put himself between them and any threat that may come for them. He’s patient and gentle with them, softly leading the way and coaxing them into more fully becoming themselves. He doesn’t hesitate to be a source of comfort for them, and he doesn’t think twice about being the ‘older brother pillow’. (Because of this it’s become a regular thing for all five of them to crash in the living room on bad nights.) He’s also the most skilled at maintaining his perfectly polite, cheerful, and upstanding public façade for the media, and does his best to keep the attention to his brothers as minimal as possible. He’s the other member of ‘The Mad Scientist Brigade’, and Ray actively tries to forbid him from using exploding pucks (thanks to the limo incident). - Yes, Cody blew up an old limo with an exploding puck that had been packed with too much explosive force, resulting in raining shrapnel for several minutes. Yes, Tello is also technically at fault, because he and Cody worked together to design and test the exploding pucks in the first place. No, neither of them regret it (even though Ray took to calling them pyromaniacs afterward).

(Also posted on Ao3.)

[aliceslantern]

Beyond This Existence: Counterpoint, chapter 14

Summary:  After being recompleted, Ienzo vows to do everything in his power to atone for the atrocities he committed in the past. But this life hasn't been easy, and he's plagued with memories and nightmares. When Demyx suddenly reappears, the two discover that they have more in common than they thought, though the secrets in their past might tear them apart. Zemyx (Demyx/Ienzo), post kh3

Read it on FF.net/on AO3

---

Denial was always the quickest and easiest way to ease cognitive dissonance. “...I’m afraid I don’t understand whatever it is you’re implying,” Ienzo said.

“It’s mine,” Demyx said. The pain cut his voice in two. He sat completely rigid, his eyes empty and haunted.

Ienzo took a deep breath. A shaky anxiety bloomed in his chest. Demyx’s lack of memories--recognizing the phrase “Daybreak Town”--it wasn’t poetic language. It was a place. Xehanort had understood time travel more than the rest of them. Could he possibly have--? “No, it can’t be. That means that somehow you’d have to be hundreds of years old. Surely you would have recognized it before now. No. I’m sure whatever connection you feel to this musician is just that.” He waved his hand dismissively.

“I wasn’t fully human before.” He hissed the words. He breathed harshly. He touched the score, hand trembling. He squeezed his eyes shut tightly and pressed his hands over his ears.

Ienzo was numb with panic, the revelations throwing him badly. It was not possible. How could it be? And yet. This was exactly the sort of thing Xehanort would do to get a move in edgewise, to pull from the past to subvert the present. Even though he was dead, playing with innocent lives had a cost--

Demyx cried out. It was an agonized, all-too-human sound. Ienzo reached for him and shook him, but he was deep in some kind of trance and would not rouse. He took out his gummiphone and made the call.

“Even.” His own voice was ragged and utterly unlike his normal measured diction. “Even, I need help.”

“Whatever is the matter?”

“It’s Demyx--” He could not verbalize what was going on. Their connection had grown so deep, so quickly, that seeing him in so much pain was nearly incapacitating.

“Is he hurt?”

“Not physically.”

“I think I understand,” Even said. “I’m on my way.”

Demyx was whimpering, small involuntary noises. It was possible he was seeing his own memories, and the psychological and physiological impacts of that were no doubt extreme. Ienzo pulled at his wrist and found it was rather limp. He took Demyx’s pulse. High. Frightened, and impossible to maintain. If they didn’t stabilize him his heart could give out.  

Even threw open the door. “What is it? What’s happened?” He was breathless.

“I’m not really sure--he--this score… he insisted it was his, and then he went into this weird trance, and I think he’s remembering something . Even, I don’t know.”

Even crouched down next to Demyx, checked his vitals. “He’s clearly in pain, and cannot maintain a heart rate that high for very long.” He pulled a syringe and a vial out of his pocket. He stuck Demyx in the arm. Demyx started to relax as the sedation took hold. Ienzo eased him down so his head was resting in his lap. Even continued to monitor his pulse. His expression was wistful--but not at all surprised.

“You know what this is, don’t you?” Ienzo asked.

Even did not respond right away. He looked to the score, still on the piano bench. “It was not my secret to share.”

“Even,” Ienzo said a little more sharply.

“Xehanort had more than one trump card up his sleeve.” He sighed. “Didn’t you find it strange how we all arrived in groups? Us apprentices with Lea and Isa, and then the four neophytes. There was some degree of time between each arrival, but not nearly enough to justify what were were told. If we were to believe it, that humanoid Nobodies were rare, shouldn’t it have taken a lot longer to find the original thirteen?” He brushed his hair out of his face. “I’m not sure how exactly, but Xehanort pulled four Keyblade wielders from the age of fairy tales and made them Nobodies. Obfuscated their memories too, from the looks of things. I have no idea why it is he did this. But Xemnas told them at some point before the war, and Demyx asked me to investigate. I’m guessing this connection between you two only furthered his progress to humanity, and that when presented with a trigger, the memories came back.”

Ienzo looked down to Demyx, who was deep in the grips of artificial sleep. “So it’s true then.”

Even nodded. “...Yes. It’s true. I’ve studied his DNA myself. You positively would not believe it, Ienzo--”

Cold, anxious sweat gathered under his arms. “And you didn’t think it prudent to ever mention this to me?”

Even’s eyes softened. “Would it have changed your mind?”

“...No.”

“Precisely. I assure you he hasn’t experienced that passage of time.”

“...He said he’d remembered something from his past. I did not think it was this . So that means he’s really a--” Ienzo thought of Demyx’s deep distaste for fighting or violence. In this new context, it made sense. The horrors of war could have planted that seed deep into his subconscious.

“Yes.” Even smiled, aware of the irony. “I worked so hard to make replicas who could wield Keyblades, and we had four wielders right under our noses.”

“But will he be all right?”

“Hard to say. All of those memories, some doubtless very gruesome and traumatic, his heart just healing… we must be patient.”

They brought Demyx back to his room. Even started an IV, gave him more medication. Ienzo couldn’t help, only watch. Once this was all through, Even led him to the kitchen and made him some tea. Cool tears which were oddly emotionless slid down his face. Even handed Ienzo a clean handkerchief.

“It is… a lot to process,” Even said. “But we’ve seen Roxas and Xion in spells like these and they both came out on the other side. Have faith.”

“Why is healing so dangerous?” Ienzo asked.

“It’s only as dangerous as we delude ourselves,” Even said finally. “Unfortunately, the spell he was under was a strong one.”

“Do you think he’ll be different?” His voice was a whisper.

Even considered this. “Perhaps,” he said. “But no different than you yourself are. But the boy loves you, Ienzo. You can tell by the way he looks at you. I don’t think that will change.”

Ienzo looked down at his hands. “Is it typical, to feel this amount of shock?”

Even touched Ienzo’s forehead. “Like many such reactions, it’s a stress response.”

“It is so… strange.” He did not meet Even’s gaze and instead traced the woodgrain of the table with his eyes. “With all that’s happened in the past month or so, I find myself wondering if it is good to allow such vulnerability.”

“I admit the situations have been… extreme.” Even flinched. “But we’ve spent long enough closing our hearts and minds off to others, don’t you think?”

“You’re one to talk,” he retorted. “You’ve been holed up in your lab all day every day, barely speaking to anyone. You seem to be the most hesitant of us all to accept humanity. Atonement aside.”

“I don’t deny it.” Even sighed. “But I have not spent my time experimenting.”

“What are you doing, then?” Ienzo asked dryly.

“Writing. Reflecting, mostly. Things always were the most tangible to me when they were on paper. If I can record my thoughts as data, perhaps I can make sense of them.”

“Is it working?”

“Heavens, no,” Even said. “But if I do not tread these tides of emotion, then I am more foolish than I thought.”

“What is it you feel?”

Even frowned. “Mostly--remorse--” He admitted. He shook his head. “As scientists, one of our duties is upholding a moral code. Needless to say, we broke it. Xehanort was manipulative, yes, but while you were a child, I was an educated man who should have known better. I did know better. But I figured the gains I made would offset the costs. They have not. And now I want to use my skills for the greater good.”

“Do you think the replicas could have anything to do with that?”

“Perhaps. Perhaps not.” Ienzo waited for him to elaborate, but he did not. “I must apologize to you, Ienzo.”

It took Ienzo’s dazed mind a moment to process whatever for. “Even--”

“We can blame Ansem’s utter lack of paternal instinct all we want, but ultimately it is my fault that this all happened to you.” For the first time, Ienzo noticed glints of gray in Even’s blonde hair--gray borne of age and stress, not from his time as a vessel. “I should have understood Xehanort’s machinations and taken you out of that mess, but I was selfishly nearsighted. Things are always clearer in retrospect. Are they not? You deserved a normal childhood, a normal adolescence, and got anything but. And years of fear and trauma on top of it.”

Ienzo sighed. Despite the real truths in what Even said, Ienzo did not find any bitterness or resentment within himself. “I forgive you,” he said.

“You’re a kind young man,” Even said. He smiled sadly. “I will try to make this up to you.” He stood. “I’m off to do some reading. There might be a better way for me to help Demyx after all.” He squeezed Ienzo’s shoulder.

Ienzo went to bed.

His mind felt oddly devoid of thought and for a long time he watched the light change on the ceiling. He must have fallen asleep, because the next thing he became aware of, it was the middle of the night and he was dreadfully cold. He burrowed under the covers.

It’s time to make sense of things, Ienzo.

Really this was something like heartache and he was struck by just how unfair the whole situation was. Xehanort was dead and he was still tormenting them both, jerking them back and forth on his omniscient puppet strings. Ienzo had lost his childhood; Demyx had lost all his memories. Xehanort had manipulated both of them, molding them like clay, while they remained none the wiser.

Ienzo sat up. He was livid. More aptly, really pissed off. What was the result of all this manipulation? And why did it feel so meaningless? If it weren’t for Xehanort--

If it weren’t for Xehanort…

Ienzo’s anger cooled as quickly as it had come, hardening into a sour pit in his stomach. So much suffering. There had to be something else he could do, and not just for Sora. What about the others who had been lost, killed or worse by their experiments?

He stood up, put on shoes, and started walking.

In a sort of haze, he passed by the usual lab and over to the door to the containment cells. Nobody had come down here in a long time; least of all himself. The air down here was even colder--he could see his breath--and the crystal sconces didn’t penetrate the gloom. This was dangerous. He was weaponless, powerless, and in distress; no doubt bait for Heartless. Ienzo remembered the keycode for the door. He reached towards the keypad. It was so much lower than it had once been. It was a simple number--all he had to do was punch it in.

He could not catch his breath. The air smelled faintly smoky, a precursor to the darkness no doubt contained within. He sank weakly to his knees.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I’m truly…”

“Ienzo? What on earth are you doing down here?”

Ansem’s voice startled him. The flashlight he carried cast peculiar shadows across his face. “I could say the same,” he said. He forced himself to his feet.

Ansem had a tablet computer tucked under his arm. “Data recovery,” he said. “I had to wait for the download to complete.”

“Data,” Ienzo said numbly.

“I suppose you’re wondering what I want with it.” This basement was so deathly silent that Ienzo could hear his own breathing. “Come. I’ll share my story if you share yours.”

Ienzo followed after Ansem, icy curiosity replacing his previous rage. Ansem took him down hallway after hallway, some of which were familiar, some of which were not. Ienzo knew a lot of this castle was unexplored, and had a lot of secrets that even they did not know about. Its weight seemed particularly heavy.

They did not return to Ansem’s quarters. Instead, these infinite hallways trailed out into, of all things, a large greenhouse.

Many of the plants that had been in these pots and planters had long since withered and died. The crystal walls were dingy with years of dirt, scratched and eroded from the weather. Power cords snaked from a hole in the chipped marble floor to a small console computer. Floodlights and a space heater made the room brighter than it would be otherwise.

Ansem cleared papers off of a folding chair and gestured for Ienzo to sit. He turned up the space heater.

“A strange workspace,” Ienzo commented. “Stranger still, your decision to hide.”

Ansem plugged in the tablet and began uploading the files. There was more silence, weird and flexible. “Why were you in the basement?”

Ienzo blinked. He felt an odd shiver of distrust, and it sat poorly in his throat. “Xehanort’s parade of suffering is still rippling through this castle,” he said. “Demyx and Luxord, Elrena and Lauriam--they’re Keyblade wielders. He pulled them from the age of fairy tales, hid their memories, and tried to use them as vessels.”

Ansem shook his head.

“Xemnas told the four of them during the war. Demyx had Even parse his DNA, and sure enough, it’s true.” He spoke rather numbly. “There was a sheaf of papers in one of your bookcases. It was a musical score from that time. I don’t know if you knew about it, or if it just ended up there, but it turns out Demyx wrote it. Now that he’s human… well. His memories are all coming back.” He drummed his fingers on the edge of the chair. “And seeing him experiencing that--”

“It’s always harrowing to see a loved one in pain,” Ansem interrupted.

Ienzo felt a flush of frustration. Why were they all feeling the need to comment on their relationship all of a sudden? “Yes. I got to thinking about the legacy of suffering Xehanort had inflicted on us. I started to wonder if there might be a way to help the people we hurt find peace.”

“I am not so sure about that. There are no bodies, Ienzo. And I’ve no idea if whatever lurks down there has existed since the experiments, or if it’s drawn from a greater pool of darkness.”

“Then why were you recovering the data, if you’re not sure it can be of use?”

Ansem looked briefly to the screen. “I had thought such knowledge should be destroyed,” he muttered. “I had gone down there with every intent to rip apart the console if that’s what it took. But then I realized. The lessons we’ve learned since those experiments can be a cautionary tale. People should know what we did. If we’re careful, we can help everyone else learn from our mistakes so that it won’t happen again.”

“I want to see it.”

“What was that?”

“The rest of the data. I would like to see it.” Ienzo could feel the idea blooming within him. It was a reckless, exhilarating feeling. If he was right about this, he could help everyone.

“Of course you may--once it’s all downloaded.”

Ienzo nodded. Even the volumes he’d read those weeks ago had only been part of their records. Soon it would be time to dive deeper. But for now, he had another task.

----

Before he went further, he checked in on Demyx.

He was asleep. He breathed a little too deeply and evenly, his form immobile. Ienzo wasn’t sure if Even was still dosing him, or if this stillness came from the memories recovering from a more subconscious place. These things were so hard to tell. Ienzo kissed him on the forehead and left.

Even, too, was asleep when Ienzo found him on the cot in his lab. Of course he was; it was still rather late at night. Ienzo wondered if he were a tad manic. He should go lay down himself, wait until a reasonable time to ask for this favor. He turned to leave.

Even had always been a notoriously light sleeper. “Who’s there?” he snapped, grabbing a scalpel from the table beside him. “Oh… Ienzo? Is something wrong? Is it Demyx?”

“No, he’s still stable--it’s fine. It can wait until morning.”

Even scowled. “Clearly not, if you felt the need to come to me at this godforsaken hour.” His expression softened. “Whatever is the matter?”

“Do you think it’s possible to regain our powers?”

Even considered this. He rubbed sleep out of his eyes. “Why on earth would you want that?”

“Illusion let me see memories. If I can gain control over it, maybe I can help purge the darkness in the basement and help whoever’s stuck down there find peace.” He bit his lip. “Demyx is likely to be shaken up. Perhaps I can help him too. If I can make order of his memories, perhaps he will wake up without too much damage to his heart.”

Even thought a long moment. “Have you even tried casting a spell?”

“Once,” Ienzo said. “It… did not go well. I had a terrible migraine. I was wondering if you might have some sort of medicine that might let me work through the pain.”

Even shook his head. He stood and crossed over to a bookshelf near the cot. He pulled out one of the volumes and started riffling. “You see… the thing is… such elemental power comes from the will, typically as a manifestation of some psychological trait or another. Hence why, in the absence of a heart, we were able to use it as Nobodies. But now that you are human… you’ve no need for such defense mechanism. Your being is whole. Trying to invoke it could be disastrous. The entropy of it alone would, in the best possible scenario, induce sleep.”

“Sleep?”

“Sleep akin to death,” Even said darkly. “They must lie so closely together. And you must hope you find the strength, fast enough, to save your life before you’re claimed by the other side. Ienzo.” His gaze was tense, frightened. “Would the risk be worth it? Is there not another way you can atone?”

“What about the reward?” Ienzo asked.

“Ienzo--”

“Please, Even. I’ll be careful.”

He crosses over to a cabinet and opened it. Bottles and bottles of pills lined the walls. Even considered several before he picked up one. “Take halfof one of these,” he said sternly. “You’ll feel no pain. But should your nose start bleeding, drop everything instantly and rest.”

“Is that a side effect?”

“No. But that’ll be entropy wreaking havoc on your body.” Even pressed the bottle into his hand. “Let me watch over you.”

Ienzo traced the ridged cap. “I think this is something I have to do on my own.” He’d be going to a very painful place.

Even scoffed. “You children always think you know what’s best. Fine. But if you do not text me within three hours I will hunt you down.”

“Very well. Thank you, Even. This means a lot to me.”

“Don’t thank me yet.” He smiled tiredly.

[silverluminosity]

some eye care tips from an ophthalmic surgery scheduler

hey, everybody! as some of you know, I work for an eye care office as a surgical scheduler. for those of you who didn't know... now you do. but I have a couple of things to say about eye care, because I never see it talked about! just a couple of PSAs:

- dryness of the eyes can cause blurry vision. if you suddenly find that your vision is blurry (only blurry! not dark, or spotted, or otherwise impaired) in a way that your vision typically isn't, try some over the counter artificial tears! (if you would like brand recommendations, hit up my inbox.) your eyes have a thin outer layer of oil and water that keep them lubricated, but cold weather, dry heat, and many other factors can dry the crap out of your eyes. if that film is drying out too quickly or not forming properly, it can affect your vision. if you feel you have particularly dry eyes, see an eye doctor! they can prescribe Extra Thick eye drops that can help with dry eye. 

- if you're diabetic, keep a close watch on your eyesight. the less control you have over your blood sugar (and the longer you’ve been diabetic), the more likely it is that you'll develop what's called diabetic retinopathy, which causes damage to the blood vessels in the retina (a skinny membrane-ish thingy at the way back of the eye that allows you to see). diabetes can cause bleeds back there, which can affect your vision (and in extreme cases can even cause blindness). if you have blurry vision, spots, darkness, or "strings" in your vision, you might have a bleed, so see an eye doctor! preferably an ophthalmologist. bleeds like this can be corrected surgically.

- retinal detachments are pretty uncommon, and are especially rare in people under 50 years of age, but they do happen. I personally schedule for our retinal specialist, and I see retinal detachments all the time. a retinal detachment is considered an emergency and should be addressed as soon as possible. if you see flashes of light, black spots, or a “curtain” or “shade” over part of your vision, you may have a detached retina. if you experience any of these symptoms, see an eye doctor as soon as possible and make sure you tell them it’s an emergency. retinal detachments can be corrected surgically, but the sooner you get in, the better your odds are for fully correcting the problem. (if you’re super nearsighted, like I am, you have a higher risk of retinal detachment.) 

- if you’re over 50, make sure you have regular eye exams. ideally you get your eyes checked regularly regardless of how old you are, but as you age your risk for ocular problems increases. if you’re a youngster, remind your parents, family, and older friends to get their eyes checked. cataracts and glaucoma are very common problems. retinal detachments are, once again, uncommon but very possible. all of these things can be fixed/managed with regular examinations and care, or prompt intervention. unfortunately, all of these conditions are more common for nearsighted people, so if you’re nearsighted, PLEASE get your eyes examined regularly! 

- any discharge, pus, swelling, or pain in or around the eye is not normal. this is probably obvious, but don’t put off going to the doctor if you have symptoms like these! most eye infections, like pink eye or styes, can be easily cured with inexpensive medicated drops or other types of antibiotics. but the longer such infections go untreated, the more problems they can cause. if you think you have an eye infection, make sure you get it checked out! 

this is only a brief overview of some common issues, so if you’re experiencing something I haven’t mentioned and you’re concerned about your eyes, the best bet is to see a doctor as soon as you can. if you have any questions, please send me an ask!

best wishes, 

your friendly neighborhood eye care worker

P.S. (almost) everybody has eyes. even our blind friends need to take care of their eyes. please reblog!

[therhythminwriting-blog]

Haha! Okay so last post! I was really hoping to find a homestucker to roleplay with, not sure if I should make a group chat or not, but for now I have completed my bio and would love to talk plot!))

Name: Esppan Cowler

Species: Alternian

Gender: Female

Age: 8.3 sweeps

(Derse or Prospit?); Derse

Fetch Modus: Pick-Pocket; The user must solve a puzzle to get an item from anywhere in the deck, if the user fails to solve the puzzle that item is locked and inaccessible for 30 minutes.

Strife Specibus: Throwingkind

Weapon: Kunai

Game Entry Item: Wooden Target

Sprite: Pre-entry Eyetopus sprite and post-entry Eyetopus-pull-string pal sprite

Exile: (Their name and function pre- and post-exile)

Server Player: (Not sure)

Client Player: (Not Sure)

Title: Sylph of Rage

Active or Passive? Active

Medium: Land of Light and Rain

Denizen: Cetus

Blood color: Lavender

Symbol: Caduceus

Lusus: A mutated octopus not much larger than a yoga ball with 1/3 of its body being just a large eye with a catlike pupil. Its sharp beak looking as though three beaks had been placed together to make a triangle shape below the flesh that protected all octopi’s mouth that could be located underneath the beast. (Eyetopus)

Ancestor: Darion Cowler

Hive: (Appearance and general location) A large poorly constructed dwelling, edged onto a sea cavern so less would have to be done to make housing. The Hive was much more structurally pleasing inside as rooms are divided by stalactites and stalagmites fusing together, it was like bamboo dividers but lazier and the ground was a deep grey stone that did not the tan colored stone that made up the cave, showing she’d put a little initiative into making a habitable place for herself as Eyetopus Lusus. Her room had the essentials a rather large recuperacoon with its warm green glow, some clothes, a few large eyed dolls, a desk and her trusty maroon desktop computer resting comfortably atop the desk.

Horns: Resembles gazelle horns that branch off like a tree

Trolltag: SilentSagittaruis

Quirk: Extends vowels to emphasize words (Ex; oooookaaaaaayyyyyy! Leeeeeaaaaaaaveeeeee-uuuuuuuuhhhhh!), types in her natural stutter (Ex; S-so? H-heh totally. N-no wh-why?) and does not use contractions.

Matesprit:

Kismesis:

Moirail:

Auspistice:

Do they need to wear glasses or contacts? Wears thin tan frame Willkie style glasses.

If yes, are they nearsighted or farsighted? Nearsighted

They should wear their glasses, but do they always? Not when sleeping and they are tucked on collar of her shirt when swimming.

Weight: 115

Height:5’0

Notable features: Wide hips, Large eyes, pointed teeth, fin-like ears and gills (these gills have a richer pigment than the rest of her body; battle scars)

Hair: Extremely long wavy, frizzy locks of pitch colored silk.

Disabilities/Health Concerns: Has a little difficultly breathing due to severely burned gills. Emotion/Mental state is deteriorating

Favorites and Least Favorites;

Color: Favorites are all colors except black and brown. Least Favorite is brown and black.

Music: Favorite is classical and gothic jazz, least favorite is R&B and Pop.

Movie: Has never had the time to watch a movie, maybe someday?

Book: Shamefully, she is not much of a reader.

Food: Tuber paste

Clothing: A sleeveless, spandex black shirt with a lavender Caduceus resting just below the collar of her shirt at the center, with long blinding yellow overalls that were very tight, form fitting with a bathing suit like texture that was unaffected by water. Finally rainbow socks, because deep down she truly loved colors and a lavender choker with a bottle cap at the center to conceal where it had been stitched together.

Prized possession(s): Lucky overalls that are an ugly mustard yellow and likely too small for her, despite her legs being too short for the pant legs. Lavender choker made from an old pair of socks, but using the elastic in the tops shown together with a few frills and a yellow bottle cap.

Alchemized item(s):

Other likes/dislikes: Prefers meaner personalities as it reminds her of her Lusus, is uncomfortable with small talk and people who are overly excited about literally anything.

Biggest goal: Become stable and happy or close to it.

Greatest fear: Being alone for the rest of her life

Darkest secret: Sometimes she hears things, like crying and screaming and footsteps when there’s nothing there

Does anyone know? Not yet.

If yes, how did they find out? N/a

Greatest strength: She is entirely non-judgmental, honest and understanding. She can also throw knives, forks and pretty much anything like a professional assassin, not to uh…brag of anything.

Greatest weakness: She is terribly insecure, indecisive, paranoid and awkward these things tend to show very obviously as she overthinks and overshares. She tends to handle her own problems in very unhealthy manors and genuine feels towards her temporarily stun her.

Greatest accomplishment: uhhh…

Biggest regret:uuuuuuhhhhh…….

Are they more aggressive, assertive, or passive? Passive

Are they emotional or stoic? Stoic most of the time, with moments of emotional explosion.

Which do they trust more, their head or their heart? Their instincts, so I suppose heart.

Are they an introvert or extrovert? Introvert