#but his brothers did their best

[wooziswonderfulworld]

But what if Bro Zone had successfully hit the perfect family harmony all those years ago?

Here’s my take on it:

Bro Zone: A band of 5 brothers ranging from the ages 18 to 5 years old, They where already the biggest music act in their village only having been together for about 2 years

At a time when the trolls biggest threat was Troll eating creatures called Bergens, which made them live in constant fear, Bro Zone brought a sense of relief and happiness, with their music and dynamic. In a way, Bro Zone was what kept most of their village from going grey

“When you’re people main source of happiness, there’s no room for mistakes” Their manager said to John Dory as the discussed future plans

“No room for mistakes” He would quietly mutter to himself throughout the days

“We would all be grey without you guys!”

“Listening to your music distracts me from thinking about Trollstice!”

“You guys are perfect!”

While the other brothers just took the comments as light compliments, John Dory took them more seriously

“Spruce! 100 more sit ups”

“Clay! Tell us a joke!”

“Floyd! Why do you look mad? You’re not the “mad one”

If he pushed them hard enough, then they would be Perfect.

Trollstice was only a couple months away, the brothers may have been “celebrities” but that didn’t mean the Bergens would spare them, in fact they might’ve been more eager to capture them, and eating the pop trolls most loved members, aside from their royalty

Which is why John Dory had an…idea

“TOUR?” Spruce asked baffled “Now??”

John Dory nodded “it couldn’t hurt, I mean, spreading our music further out in the world! Exploring new places like Um-mount rageous!” He said pointing to the map he had

“John-Performing at mount rageous would be IMPOSSIBLE” Soruce stressed “they’re like, giants that would easily crush us!”

“It was just a suggestion! If anything we’ll just go to other pop villages”

“Oh like, Timbre?” Floyd asked looking up fr his spot “my friend lives over there”

John Dory nodded “why is this one marked?” Branch asked pointing to the village named “Fugue”

The brothers glanced at each other, how does one explain to their 5 year old brother that the village no longer exists as the trolls that once lived there had either completely left or all been eaten “it a Um…”

“Old village! Yeah John’s map is a little out dated, silly John Dory!” Clay jumped in with a grin, Branch seemed to except that answer

“Why all of a sudden? You’ve always been content with performing in our village” Clay asked as Branch went to play “Well, with Trollstice coming”

Floyd covered his ears, he hated talking about Trollstice, they all did, but Floyd could never bare the hear that dreaded word

“I couldn’t help but think, what if one of us is next”

“JOHN!” Spruce snapped as Floyd looked like he would cry “IM SORRY! But it’s true okay?? and if it’s-god forbid-any one of us, then I at least want our names to be known by more trolls outside of our own village! This might be the only chance we get to go on a tour!”

His brothers where silent for a moment thinking

“Okay.”

The past couple of days leading up to the tour had been hectic, the brothers where already stressed, John had been pushing them even harder

Then he made a promise

He promised they would do something no one could ever achieve

The perfect family harmony

Right there, in their home village, the very first show they would achieve the impossible

“ARE YOU CRAZY!?” Spruce shouted “The perfect family harmony?? That’s impossible!”

“It’s not and we can prove it!” John Dory argued back “we just need to practice!”

“And how will anyone know we even hit it? We could use special effects” Clay asked, John Dory pulled something from his hair

A Diamond

“King Peppy gave it to me” John Dory said, Clay rolled his eyes “that’s fake” He concluded, grabbing it and smashing it on the ground

Or attempted too

Because it didn’t shatter, or crack, or anything

Clay picked it up and chucked it at the wall, nothing, accept a dent in their wall

“Huh-I guess it is real”

John Dory rolled his eyes snatching it back with a mutter of ��give me that” before tucking it back in his hair.

The days after John Dory made that promise to their fans, he’d become more and more strict when it came to their practices, everything had to be PERFECT

Unfortunately that just made the others (save for Branch) less eager to try

“John Dory, honey” Grandma Rosie Puff said motioning for him to sit with her at the table

“I know you’re eager to want to hit the perfect family harmony, but you’ll never succeed if you keep pushing your brothers away”

John Dory frowned, pushing his brothers away? He wasn’t pushing them away??

He looked at his grandma “what do you mean?”

Rosie Puff smiled “you keep pushing them and criticizing them ever since you made that promise but the more you push the further they’ll go, and soon you all won’t be in harmony”

John Dory sat silently thinking about his grandma’s words.

After that conversation, John Dory was better, his brothers began enjoying practicing, they had fun together.

The day of the concert came, the trolls had all been talking about the perfect family harmony, some even doubted they could do it, actually most doubted they could do it

Bro Zone where on stage, this was it

“ And it’s so perfect perfect perfect “

Colors surrounded the brothers as they sang and dance together, it was working! They couldn’t mess this up

“You’ll never ever wanna let it go”

The brothers harmonized together, in front of them, the Diamond placed in the stage had began to crack more and more

“Perfect Perfect Perfect”

The Diamond shattered, sending a wave throughout the crowd

They’d done it

They actually did it

The crowd cheered and went crazy

The news spread quickly and Bro Zone went from being a local band to be known world wide

Everyone knew about the brother band that successfully shattered Diamond

The brothers held concerts for crowds bigger then they ever dreamed, they where world famous

They where also heavily protected, by order of the king, they could risk their biggest source of happiness being eaten, so they where moved from their pod somewhere safer

Body guards accompanied them everywhere

During Trollstice they where conveniently sent away

Everytime they came back after Trollstice, they noticed more empty pods. Some trolls didn’t understand why they got extra protection, but when the brothers returned, the trolls seemed happier.

This was the common routine, Make trolls happy and stop them from going grey.

This was their purpose, no matter how far the ventured, them being a band kept their village alive and happy

This would be their lives, they couldn’t disband, not now.

Not with all the trolls that relied on them

Not with the king implementing special protection amongst them

Not with their promise to never leave forever.

Shattering that Diamond was only the beginning,

But it led them becoming so much more then just some boy band

They where Bro Zone, and no matter how tired they become of the boy band look, they couldn’t walk away.

Sometimes, just sometimes, They wished that perfect family harmony hadn’t worked all those years ago

[egophiliac]

Hello ! I positively adore the running joke of Idia unknowingly finding Lilia to be the coolest guy ever whenever he doesn't know it's him, like when Silver described his father, or obviously with muscle red. I can't say what'd be funnier, Idia finding out his online best friend is actually Lilia, resident spooky hyper fairy; or them both never finding out, and it'd become even more ridiculous as time goes on. How do you think it'll play out ? You're always so on point

(Also, though it makes sense, I'm still devastated bat boy didn't get a ticket for the Halloween skeleton train : ( does anyone mentions him at some point ? Like how he'd have fit right in with all those Halloween town little freaks, and how he'd have impressed them with his spooks and scared techniques; after all he's been every Briar Valley's children worst fear on Halloween for centuries. I'm on the eng server and I didn't wanna spoil myself by watching the whole thing on youtube)

Have a nice day !

you and me both, Idia and Lilia being oblivious online BFFs (+ Idia being incredibly intimidated any time Silver brings up his jock gamer dad) is my favorite running joke/subplot. 🤝 it's SO good, to the point where I also am unsure if I actually want it to ever be resolved or not...maybe, like, as a post-canon stinger or something? everyone's standing around covered in overblot ink, and Idia and Lilia's phones go off at the same time...

(legit I do think this is part of why Idia couldn't be present for Lilia's dream, because for some reason Lilia decided he was going to just. embody his past self online. he probably quotes his own battle strategies or whatever in the middle of boss fights. Idia didn't pick up on the whole "oh how weird that we both live on a super remote island" thing, but he would spend thirty seconds listening to General Lilia describing siege warfare and be like "w-wait")

all that aside, however it does end up happening, I do see Lilia being very blasé and all "oh! cool!" about it. y'know, taking it very much in stride! and Idia...very much not.

(can't tell if tumblr is going to chew this into illegibility or not, this will be a fun surprise ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ)

as for Lilia sadly missing out on Halloweentown shenanigans...he does get one little mention as part of an offhand reference to the light music club, but so far no one has brought up how this basically is just Lost In the Book of Liliatown (Sebek's been too busy yelling about not getting to be in the same group as Malleus). 😔 honestly though, it's probably for the best that he got left out, because he would just settle right in and refuse to ever leave. canon would shatter. we would miss out on all the delightful angst of episode 7 because Lilia is too busy eating poisonous shrubbery inbetween practicing his very best screams, and no one can pull him away from it.

(I can hope for a sequel next year though...)

[nerdy-hyperfixations]

My mom (and my sister) said that both baby Stan and Ford are adorable but Ford is cuter and she likes him better and I think my heart is shattered.

This post is dedicated to my favorite kid Stanley panels:

My mom didn’t even like him when I showed the one where he murders those two kids 😭😭😭 that’s the best part!!!

[cintiri]

Thinking about my big brother ghost Yuan au again, specifically the relationship between Shen Yuan and Yue Qi, because you know there's no way Shen Jiu doesn't tell his Qi-Ge about his tag along.

At first, Yue Qi was probably somehow MORE suspicious of Shen Yuan than Shen Jiu was, because who's this freeloader in his Xiao Jiu's head!!! What does he want with poor Xiao Jiu? You can't have him, evil ghost!!!

Eventually, he and Shen Jiu get used to Shen Yuan though, and Yue Qi starts to actually really appreciate Shen Yuan's presence. There have been multiple times where Shen Yuan has convinced Shen Jiu to seek out Yue Qi for help with things he otherwise would have hidden, and clearly SY is keeping SJ safe with his interference, as SJ has been getting caught less, getting hurt less, and getting into less fights than usual.

What really ends up solidifying the bond between Yue Qi and Shen Yuan, though, is when their Si-Jie was sold. Wu-ge had died the winter before, and Liu-Jie had run away, so after Si-Jie, Yue Qi was the oldest, and therefore it was his job to protect the younger slaves like Wu-Jie had. Xiao Jiu was inconsolable, having retreated into his mind and leaving Shen Yuan most of the control, and Yue Qi didn't have time to mourn or anyone to hide behind.

He was only ten years old.

Yue Qi was limping back to the building and surrounding alleyways the slave masters had claimed as their own, carrying the Bao he had run on his twisted ankle to get for the other slave children. They needed to eat in order to stay healthy, to stay healthy in order to survive.

It was getting dark, but if he hurried now he would be able to slip out and go beg in the red light district. He knew some ladies who had taken a liking to Xiao Jiu and himself, they wouldn't chase him away, and then he could make up the money from Shiba missing today because of her sickness, and from Shiwu who was too busy mourning Si-Jie, and-

"Xiao Qi?" It was the familiar too-soft version of his Xiao Jiu's voice. Shen Yuan, then. He paused, turning towards him. "Yes?"

"You've been gone since before morning, Xiao Qi. And what happened to your leg?"

"it's alright, Shen-Xiangsheng. I've just been getting food for the others, and I'm going to go to the red light district-" he heard Shen Yuan tisk, before stepping forwards and putting a hand on Yue Qi's shoulder.

"Not on that leg you aren't. Come sit down, I'll bring the Bao to the others and help you with that leg."

Yue Qi felt his face scrunch up, his brow furrowing as he looked down at the man in the body of his closest friend. "If I don't, then Shiba and Shiwu are going to get beaten! And maybe even you too! And then Shiba won't recover from her sickness!" Yue Qi shouted, balling up his fists.

"Is that what you really want? To ruin the lives of some slave children while acting nice? Cause if that's true, you're a really pathetic ghost!"

Yue Qi froze. He just yelled at an adult. Sure, maybe that adult was in Xiao Jiu's body, and so he was little, but Xiao Jiu could be really strong when he wanted to, and Xiao Jiu had been so sad when Si-Jie went away, would he even notice that his tag along was beating up his Qi-Ge? Or maybe even if he did he wouldn't intervene, because Yue Qi was an awful little brat who raised his voice and barked like a dog at someone who was better than him, and-

And Shen Yuan's face didn't twist in anger like the slavers or the men in the markets might have. Instead, his face was filled with pity. No, not pity. Sympathy.

Maybe Shen Yuan was an adult, but he was also a ghost. A ghost that was stuck in the body of a little street kid like Yue Qi. So maybe he wouldn't beat him. Maybe Shen Yuan would just be sad for him, because he knew how bad it was out here, and maybe he wouldn't make it worse. Maybe he would just leave Yue Qi alone.

So caught up in his thoughts, Yue Qi didn't notice Shen Yuan had moved until he felt the warm arms around him. He froze.

Shen Yuan's hugs didn't feel like Si-Jie's. They weren't as warm and gentle, his hand didn't run over Yue Qi's back gently with shushing sounds coming from his mouth. They didn't feel like Xiao Jiu's either. Xiao Jiu was all sharp knees and elbows, chipped nails digging into his skin as if at any second Yue Qi would disappear if he didn't hold on.

Shen Yuan's hug was tight, and though he was shorter, he used a hand on the back of Yue Qi's head to tuck his face into his shoulder. The other hand rubbed gentle circles on his back, slowly pulling Yue Qi's mind back into his body.

Distantly, he heard Shen Yuan speaking. "That's right, breathe in, and out. You're doing so well, Xiao Qi. It's okay, I have you, you'll be alright."

His hands tightened into little fists in Shen Yuan's clothes and he felt himself lean against him, letting out a sudden sob he hadn't even realized had been caught in his chest. Before he knew it, he was sitting down, laying on Shen Yuan's chest and sobbing into his shoulder, holding on for dear life and shaking like a leaf in the wind. Shen Yuan was speaking, and it sounded soothing, but Yue Qi couldn't tell what he was saying through his sobs.

"Yuan-ge-" he whimpered, his voice cracking as he tried to burrow further into Shen Yuan.

"Shh, It's okay, it's okay, your Yuan-ge is here."

Yue Qi cried for a long time, until the sun had set and he had fully exhausted himself. Yuan-ge pulled him onto his back, somehow managing to carry him despite his small stature, and carried him into the alleyway where he and Xiao Jiu slept. He placed Yue Qi down, before pulling out the bricks that they hid their straw mat behind, pulling it out and laying it on the ground.

He watched as Yuan-ge placed one of the bricks at the end of the mat, before pulling Yue Qi onto it and pushing his sprained ankle up, placing the foot onto the brick.

"Keep your foot elevated, like this, okay? I'm going to go to the red light district. I'll get the money that Shiba and Shiwu need. You just rest, alright? He said. Yue Qi opened his mouth to protest, and suddenly found a warm Bao bun pushed into his mouth. At the taste, he couldn't help but grab it and begin to chew, but as he ate, he looked up and complained, "These were supposed to be for the others!"

Yuan-Ge sighed. "You're a growing boy, eat it. I'll get another Bao to make up for this one, okay?" Yue Qi could only glumly nod, and continue eating his bun.

Soon after Shen Yuan left, he felt himself slip into sleep, exhausted.

-

"Qi-ge, Qi-ge wake up!" He heard a familiar voice whisper shout in his ear. "Xiao Jiu?" He murmured, still hazy with sleep.

"Yuan got us some stuff, but he told me I should be the one out here to give it to you. Here." He blinked, as half a stick of tanghulu was shoved in his face. Squinting in the dark, he could make out a few bits of crystalized sugar stuck to Xiao Jiu's cheeks.

"Hmmmkay." He murmured, taking the stick and going to have a bite, when he felt a sudden rush of cold on his ankle. He yelped in surprise, but strangely, his ankle felt much better. Looking down, he saw Xiao Jiu using cloth scraps with a strange blueish paste on them to bind his ankle.

"Wha-"

"Yuan says it's called the winter's night lily of ice pack. Or something"

"Everwinters night lily! It's just basically an ice pack." Chimed Shen Yuan, making little sense as usual, before he faded away once more."

"Okay, that. The colds sposed' to help with your leg. Somehow. And also keep it elevated or something."

"It does feel better than it did before." Yue Qi agrees.

"Good. Keep it that way. Oh, also Yuan made a deal with some courtesans. Made a whole bunch of posters for some brothel called the Autumns Iris. They gave us some coins, so he said not to worry. Oh, and he got the Bao."

Yue Qi let out a long breath, as Xiao Jiu climbed onto the mat, flopping halfway on top of Yue Qi and accidentally elbowing him in the ribs. "I'm going to sleep now." He said, before curling up like a hissy cat.

Yue Qi stayed awake for a while longer. Yuan-ge did it. He did exactly what Yue Qi needed, maybe even better than Yue Qi could have. He didn't get mad when Yue Qi yelled at him. He helped him fix his ankle, even though it really wasn't that bad.

He cared. He wanted to protect him. And he was older, and smarter, and stronger than any of the other slaves had ever been.

Maybe, even though Si-Jie was gone, with Yuan-ge here, he and Xiao Jiu would be okay.

[turtleblogatlast]

Imo the most impressive thing Leo’s done is hold this pose for as long as he did while covered head to toe in gold paint:

[treef-greef]

[luck-of-the-drawings]

EDYN TIDESTRIDER, CHALLENGER OF THE UNDERSEA, RIVAL OF THE DEEP. WHAT WOULD YOU DO IF YOUR BROTHER WAS CHOSEN TO BE A WEAPON OF THE GODS? HOW WILL YOU UNDO WHAT THEY HAVE DONE TO HIM?

[baalzebufo]

honestly the funniest gideon to me might be immediately post-show. where hes fresh out of jail on parole and trying to be a better person. my headcanon is they commuted his sentence to a mixture of therapy and community service (they uh. had no choice after the decision to both ignore weirdmageddon and also the prison got destroyed) and he accepted this in his attempt to Be Nicer

but also it means hes walking around town like this for a while

[solargeist]

I love how over time kid xelqua has become less just baby grian and more grian's kid who he found in the woods/somehow created and now the kid represents all of grian's childhood trauma and Catholic guilt and grian is just trying to break the cycle bc there's this magic fucking baby who is the best thing in the world

JKAGJKD yes Exactly, see evo Grian has a lot of family issues, from being an orphan, to the Watchers, he has ISSUES, so raising a version of himself is..... definitely odd, but weirdly healing.. He sees how he was as a kid, he wasn't that bad, he was just a kid ! He didn't deserve to be abandoned or anything. He sees all of his ache in Xelqua, he's very much breaking the cycle.

[mumbo: You alright mate, you have that look in your eyes. grian: no yeah--i'm good, i just.... its easy to raise him, y'know ? i mean, i know he's literally me, but.. it makes me wonder about my own parents--before the watchers, if i was anything like him, i don't know why they left] (-me)

[skimmingmilk]

*Spoilers for the end of Sonic 3 (2024)* Tails had seen that look before. He knew what it meant. Rejection. He'd almost let himself forget. Almost didn't have to remember. Every day since he'd come to this planet, the memory faded a little bit more. Even if it would always be there, it couldn't share the spotlight when the intoxicating feelings that came with living in this place, in that house, with that family overwhelmed him with their potency. It had all been so bright… so warm… There was no warmth in Maddie's eyes when she looked back at him. She looked at him like he was a stranger. - A post-Sonic 3 movie fic based on the last look Maddie gives them before they go to stop the Eclipse Cannon and what it means to Tails in particular. Lucky for him he has two big brothers always looking out for him.

Risking Rejection (For a Chance at Acceptance)

Tails had seen that look before. He knew what it meant.

Rejection.

"Freak!"

He'd almost let himself forget. Almost didn't have to remember. Every day since he'd come to this planet, the memory faded a little bit more. Even if it would always be there, it couldn't share the spotlight when the intoxicating feelings that came with living in this place, in that house, with that family overwhelmed him with their potency. It had all been so bright… so warm…

There was no warmth in Maddie's eyes when she looked back at him.She looked at him like he was a stranger.

"That thing is not my son!"

She'd never asked for this. For them. For him.

Especially him.

This had all been Tails's plan, after all. Tails's gadgets that got them into G.U.N. Headquarters. Tails's gadgets that failed to get them out. Tails's gadgets that got Tom…

That got him…

…hurt.

"Get it out of the village! It's not what we need!"

Not what we need. Not what we need.

"—'s not what I need."

Tails flinched as Sonic's cold voice swept through him like the most brutal winter wind. He'd only wanted to help.

He knew Sonic knew what it was like to be alone—they all did, all three of them—but he didn't know if Sonic had ever faced that look of rejection. The distant dismissal. The regret of ever knowing them at all.

He couldn't imagine he had when Tails thought of the bright light in Maddie's eyes when she laughed at their dinner table shenanigans. Or the warmth in them when she tucked each of them into bed and pressed her lips to their foreheads, as if to say, "I'm here. You're safe. You're not alone anymore."

Without any words at all.

She moved her hand out of his reach when Tails tried to hold it before the medics wheeled Tom away.

He'd only wanted to give her the same feeling, remind her that she wasn't alone either. But she didn't want it. Not from him. It wasn't good enough if it came from him.

And now Sonic didn't want him either.

His first friend… his best friend. His big brother—

The ambulance doors had shut with an empty stare.

The ring portal had closed with a disgusted glare.

And they were gone.

[Continue at AO3]

[cowardlykrow]

“don’t lose it now, old boy.”

With @ratb4stard3

[13x02]

throwaway lines in supernatural implying the saddest shit like dean going out and hiding easter eggs at a shitty roadside motel and telling sam that the easter bunny visited up until sam was eleven and a half and naturally stopped believing in it.

[ali3nboyfriend]

whyyyy do so few people actually put consideration into their dog's breed when assessing unwanted behaviors

[midnight-drip]

i look into your eyes, and i

think back to a friend of mine

you're as old as he was

when we left for war

[frobby]

I think it would be really funny if rin was the more helpful one around his house. Like u would think rin would be the disrespectful one who always bails on housework or mass but its actually yukio who would always have an excuse not to go or forget about chores to the point that rin just does them instinctively now

[whatacatch]

When I say Naruto is the only one who fully understands Sasuke this is what I mean