#it sucks that she won't talk about her family and my dad doesn't know much either so it's the part of my family we know the least about

[jackredfieldwasmyjacob]

I GOT ANOTHER MESSAGE FROM A POSSIBLE RELATIVE

[luveline]

hi can i request girl dad!aaron 🥺🥺 i am such a sucker for him, anything would be amazing thank you so much <3

hope this is okay!! —you have big news for your small family. 1.5k pregnant!mom!reader

When you first married his father, you weren't expecting Jack Hotchner to like you very much. Losing his mom so young, you wouldn't have blamed him for resenting you, or even hating you. You were like a stranger in his home. 

Things are different now. Jack lays in your lap with his head on your shoulder, and maybe he's a little too old for such a coddling cuddle, but who really cares? You love him and you love holding him, and if he wants some extra comfort tonight you're happy to give it. Plus, you have something you've been meaning to tell him.

“He doesn't have real headlights, did you know?” Jack asks. “They're just stickers.” 

You raise your brows at the car on screen. “No kidding.” You brush your fingers through his hair. He's blonde like his mom, though that blonde has turned brown the older he gets. 

“Race cars don't have headlights.”

“They don't need them,” you say. Jack smiles at you shyly and leans into your neck, clearly pleased. 

You're very, very glad that you ended up being someone he loved. It's a privilege to get to look after him, and to be his step mom. In the same way you're lucky to be Aaron's partner and Jane's mom, too. 

“Think dad's made dinner?” you ask. 

“No, he's probably just talking to Jane.” 

Yes, well. You can't blame him, nor would you want him to stop. He talks to Jane like she understands, and Jane, not even two years old, nearly brand new to the world, soaks him in. You can hear him if you strain, the dulcet cadence of his voice under the steady hum of the dishwasher. 

“That's okay, sweetheart, don't get upset,” he's saying, “it's okay. Come here, I've got you.” 

Jane starts to cry. You and Jack give one another the look, apprehensive in hoping it won't turn into a full blown melt down. 

“Honey?” Aaron calls. “Sorry, where did you put her other pacifier?” 

You kiss Jack's hair. “Sorry, bub. Wanna come with me?” 

Jack wants to stay and watch Cars. You wrap him in a throw blanket and make your way into the Hotchner kitchen, where Aaron rifles through the drawers and cabinets with Jane held snugly to his chest. “I know,” he says, “I know. I'll get it.” 

You nudge him aside. You only know where the spare pacifier is because you put away the wooden spoons last night and pushed it back. You fish for it, a ladybug made of glittery red plastic, and Jane's crying slows as soon as you pull it free. She grizzles while you rinse it, but she settles when you hand it over. 

“This is not the best, is it? The pacifiers?” you murmur. 

“She dropped her other one and it rolled under the oven. And no. Not ideal.” He pats her back gently. “As long as she stops before she gets her big teeth, she'll be okay.” 

“Do you think it's a comfort issue?” you ask. 

“No,” he says. You worry about stuff like this constantly, but he knows kids are more hardy, and he isn't worried. “Sorry for making you get up.” 

He hates when she cries; he may see his kids as a hardy bunch, but he takes their upset as a personal failure half the time. His concern for her overrides his concern for you, but in a few weeks that might change. You can't imagine him calling you to find something again when your stomach is round as a honeydew. 

You've been meaning to tell him about that, too. 

You're not secret-keeping immorally, he does want another baby, but you've been having a little bit of fun. He's gone on cases so often lately that he hasn't been able to keep track of you, or your doctor's appointments.

You watch him with Jane, and you think about him with Jack, and you know he's going to be happy. He's told you as much before. 

“My poor girl,” he says, covering the back of Jane's head with his hand and pulling her under his chin. He looks as fine as ever, tall, dark and handsome to a fault. Jane's lips smack as she sucks and digs her teary cheek into his chest. 

You can feel his gaze on you. “Is now a good time?” he asks. 

You shrug. “For what?” 

“To tell me what you're not telling me.” 

“Oh, busted,” you croon, aiming for his shoulder. 

You do as Jane had and press your cheek to his front, your eye forced shut. 

“What do you think it is?” you ask. 

He makes a strange noise. You can practically hear the possibilities for your secret running through his head. His birthday is vaguely soon, so that's what he'll settle on first. But Aaron likes to disregard the obvious as most people do, only circling back to it when there's no other lead to follow. 

“How big of a secret is it?” he asks, rubbing Jane's back diligently. She makes a happy sound, and for a moment he forgets his plight to kiss the top of her head. 

You speak quietly, carefully, because it is big, huge news. “The pamphlets say it’s about the size of a strawberry.” 

He puts his cheek to Jane's head softly, looking at you in confusion. A second, another, and his eyebrows start to relax, rise, a smile on his lips like it's too good to be true. “You are?” he asks in surprise.

Jack appears in the doorway with the throw blanket trailing behind him. “Y/N, when are you coming back to watch TV?” 

“Jack, lovely, come here. I have something to tell you,” you say. 

Aaron grabs your wrist. When you meet his eyes, he squeezes gently. “You're sure?” he asks. 

“The doctor seemed pretty certain, handsome.” You lower your voice as Jack comes to stand in front of you. “Are you happy?” 

“Happy about what?” 

You put your hand on your stomach cautiously, worried about Aaron and how quiet he's being, and if it's as okay to tell Jack as you'd thought, but that action is what gets him. “I love you,” he says quizzically, as though his being happy is totally dependent on the fact. “Of course I'm happy. This is the best secret you could've kept.” 

“About what?” Jack asks, patting your arm. 

You bend down just a bit to see his face properly. “It's a secret you can't tell anyone for a while, okay? The only people who can know for now are me, you, and dad.” 

“Can I tell Jane?” he asks. 

“Yeah, buddy, you can tell your sister,” Aaron says. 

You peer at him from the corner of your eye, both concerned and pleased to see the wetness ringing his waterline, and the tenderness with which he holds Jane close, his thumb rubbing little circles into her back. 

“I'm going to have another baby,” you say. 

Jack's jaw drops. “Right now?” 

“No, not right now! You still remember last time?” you ask with a laugh, taking his shoulders into your hands. 

“You were crying and shouting for dad to hold your hand.” He pokes your stomach. “So it's like Jane?” 

“Maybe one day, sweetheart. For now, it's just a tiny baby.” 

Jack wants to see your stomach. He's expecting a much bigger bump than you have to offer, but you explain that eventually it'll get bigger again, and he seems quite pleased. Aaron makes sure to give him a hug and ask him if he's okay, to which Jack says, “Yes, but can we have a brother this time?” 

You rub the soft top of your stomach. “I'll see what I can do, Jack.” 

Aaron commandeers your attention, kissing you more times than you can count. You don't think you've ever seen him this happy now the reality has truly set in, asking Jane in his murmur, “Do you want to be a big sister?” 

She gurgles around the pacifier, leaving drool in a line down his chest. 

“I know, honey. I'm excited too. Let's clean you up, mm? And make mommy a cup of hot cocoa…” He narrows his eyes at you. “Would you sit down?” 

“I'm only ten weeks, I'm fine.”

“She's keeping secrets from me, and now she won't do what I'm asking,” he says to Jane. “Can you believe it? Anyone would think mommy doesn't like me as much as she claims.” 

You kiss his cheek. “M'having your baby, Aaron, again.” 

“That is a compelling argument.” He wipes Jane's cheek. “What do you think? Should we forgive her?” Jane laughs. He smiles at you, lovesick. You're not sure who for. “I guess we're letting you get away with this one, sweetheart. But no more secrets.”

“None,” you promise. 

[mdhwrites]

Thoughts on this analysis of Odalia possibly being physically abusive to her kids?

https://old.reddit.com/r/TheOwlHouse/comments/1b8cxqf/the_case_that_odalia_was_physically_abusive_to/

One of the easiest ways to spot bad character analysis is when someone won't talk about context. Literally NONE of these scenes are actually gotten into depth with. It's entirely body language... Without why that body language might be provoked. They gloss over it much of the time.

Their second example with Luz is a really easy one for this. They talk about her acting scared, upset and bracing for the worst... When she literally just erased someone's mind. They acknowledge Amity knows she fucked up but then don't act like that has any bearing on her behavior. She's FOURTEEN. The main reactions to being outed for a fuck up at that age is extreme denial or panic. This is where you get teenagers who have perfectly reasonable parents losing their minds when they make a major fuck up, or a minor one because HEY! getting into trouble sucks. I still remember some dumbass hitting the side of my car in the school parking lot and hating having to call my dad and tell him it had happened when it wasn't my fault even because I knew it was still a problem and my parents have never physically hurt me.

Literally all of these are exactly like this. She's already stressed out with Willow and someone getting in your face while acting aggressive is, I dunno, maybe enough to trigger a bit of fight or flight because by all means, they seem ready to fight. Amity was not happy with Luz in the Adventure in the Elements and is still a very guarded person mostly at that point so is probably not comfortable with Luz getting into her personal bubble (which btw, they fail to mention that Luz leans in at the point they're mentioning, which makes Amity backing away actually just a natural back and forth for this sort of exchange). The fucking Hunter fight has them ignoring how calm and collected Amity was as she smoothly punches Hunter in the face and then they act like bracing for a blow, in a FIGHT, is unreasonable? Like there's a difference between "I have these barriers to protect me" and "Something is coming straight for my face and I can't stop it." That's going to garner a different reaction but they don't give a shit.

They're looking to prove a hypothesis, not using the hypothesis as a question. This is most bad analysis and a LOT of analysis I see in the TOH fandom. It only proves their point, not the whole picture. I mean, this person fucks that up in their FIRST POINT. Amity doesn't normally do the presentations after all. Explicitly in that episode, it's a deal she's made because she's been fucking up. The punishment wasn't getting physically abused... It was you need to work a night helping out at the family business because we need an extra body. There's no sign of pain in anything that she is presented to be doing and the attempt to go "Yeah, she would have totally put her daughter in the same sort of harm as someone she actively wants DEAD" is pretty laughable. But again: They aren't including context for a reason.

Context should reinforce your point. For the point they're making specifically, it should make these reactions appear entirely egregious. It should not provide a reasonable explanation every single god damn time. The only one I can't explain is Edric ending up more hurt but even they admit that Edric has a penchant for that. Not only that but he has dirt on him. Literal dirt which isn't there at the factory, making me think he tried to get out and potentially face planted before the scout and abomaton guarding the house escorted him back to his room. That's about as reasonable a situation as they present and also helps explain why ONLY Edric is hurt because if him being hurt was a punishment from Odalia for this, why is it ONLY Edric?

This sort of very simple, obvious sort of contradiction that makes clear how much of their argument is conjecture is why I decided to respond. This wants to look like good analysis. It has a lot of evidence after all, or at least looks like it does. However, it's evidence that only works as presented and doesn't hold up to scrutiny at all. It only works if you already agree with the conclusion and are just looking for something that makes your version of reality appear more reasonable. If you have a conclusion and are trying to make it fact.

Unfortunately for them, analysis starts with a question so this hardly qualifies because it screwed up step one and you can see the cracks from that flow all the way through.

======+++++======

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[shelbgrey]

Jack Hodgins Having a little sister:

Paring: Jack Hodgins x Little Sister!Reader

Summary: having Jack Hodgins as an over protective big brother and being 'queen of the lab'

A/n: this is short and kinda sucks. Request are open for bones.

💚MasterList 💚mood bord

Jack practically raised you, your parents did love you very much but they were always working and that's just how it was.

Intentionally or not your parents missed the little things, like school concerts or marching season when you were in the band, Jack didn't miss one and always there chearing you on.

Your just as, if not smarter than Jack, and like your big brother you showed interest in becoming a Forensic Entomologist like him. You always looked up to him and wanted to be like him.

The only difference is your more interested in the animal/reptile aspect than the bugs like he is.

Your office/lab is full of lizards and turantulas, and you've named all of them.

Your terrified song snakes though, you hate them with a passion and jack of course knows it and tries to keep the ones he has in the Lab away from you. It doesn't work sometimes.

“Jack there's a snake in my office!” you shouted standing on your wheely chair. Jack came running in to get ride of it. “it's just a black snake, he's more scared of you than you are of him”

He didn't say that to tease you, he just genuinely trying to reassure you so you won't panic all the time. “I beg to differ”

Your the youngest on the team putting you about 20 years old when you and team first started to work together.

With that, Jack is very protective of you and makes sure your shown the same respect he and the team are.

People and other people of science might underestimate you, your young and have tattoos and have a more goofy personality. Jack and the jeffersonian team will always have your back if it comes to people disrespecting you and your always proving the snobby scientists wrong.

You always feel safe with your brother, even in the most dangerous situation. When you and him were buried in the car by the Gravedigger you had absolute faith you'd get out of there, no matter how scared you were.

“We're gonna be okay...i promised mom I'd always protect you” he said.

You both got out with your friends family's help. Angela and Lance were waiting for you both and relieved to have you safe.

Speaking of Angela, she just like a big sister to you. You are both close and you feel you can always go to her for help.

Angela's dad, Billy is also loves you and is like a father to you. While he was putting the fear of god and tattooing Jack, he was showing you how to play guitar.

Even if you and Angela are close, Seeley is your best friend. While he teases Jack and calls him 'bug boy' he genuinely love you like a sister and doesn't mess with you.

Jack wanted to give an over protective big brother talk to Lance when you started dating, but he couldn't. He liked Lance to much and trusted him.

“just don't hurt her”

He walked you down the aisle at yours and Lance's wedding.

Your always involved with his experiments and it drives Cam crazy. She loves you usually let's you get away with it.

Since Jack is 'king of the lab' your the 'Queen of the lab'.

He's literally the coolest uncle ever and your like a second mother to Michael-Vincent.

You've always got each other's backs, you were there when he got put in his wheelchair and helped him learn how to deal with it.

Sometimes people don't understand how you two can be so close and not find each other annoying.

Jack could never get mad at you and if he does it doesn't last long.

Sometimes his over protectiveness gets annoying, but you know he means well.

“Hodgins have each other's backs no matter what” You guys always say.

[androgynousblackbox]

How I Met Your Father. 1 [Appleradio, Raddioapple]

A03 link

The knocking on the door was unexpected. After the total fiasco that they just went through in live television, more unexpected events was the least than any of them wanted. Angel was happy enough continued to suck on his popsicle at the couch, while Vaggie was nursing a incoming migraine.

Leaving Charlie to be the only one to go open the door.

"Hello!"

The resulting scream of the princess of hell was enough for Vaggie grab her spear and go to the entrance, where she stood in shock at seeing the infamous Radio Demon trapping Charlie on his arms, so tight that her feet didn't even reach the floor anymore.

"Charlie!" yelled, going straight to press her spear against the neck of the demon. It was angelic steel so it could do some serious harm if she wanted it. It was the only good thing she had kept from her past life. "Let her go RIGHT NOW, cabrón come mierda!"

The Radio Demon just tilted his head, furrowed brows. To her surprise, Charlie just giggled and turned to her. Her sitched out smile was just as wide as ever and her big eyes, one yellow and the other red, sparkled happily.

"Vaggie, it's okay!"

"No, it's not!" Vaggie took Charlie's hand and put her behind her, still pointing at the demon. Maybe he had casted an spell already and that is why Charlie was confused! A pang of guilt twisted in her gut. She would have attended the door instead! "That is the Radio Demon, Charlie. He is not here to register, he doesn't care about redemption. I won't let you harm anyone in this place, hijo de perra, did you hear?"

A moment of silence passed between them. Alastor raised an eyebrow.

"He... he is also my dad" pointed out Charlie, making now Vaggie and even Angel from the couch to look at her. "Um, surprise!"

"What" Vaggie was so taken aback she almost let her spear hit the floor. Then she looked over at Alastor, whose smile had only gotten bigger if that was possible, and then back at her girlfriend. "When you say dad you mean..."

"I mean..." Charlie slidded over the floor to stand in front of Alastor again. This time Vaggie could not miss the way the expression of Alastor soften up when seeing at the blonde demon. He was positively beaming with pride, which made everything all the more confusing. Not in a million years she would have bet that she would see something like that. "This is the man who contributed to my creation and raised me. Dad, this is my girlfriend Vaggie. Vaggie, this is... I guess you already know, huh? Alastor, my dad."

"Oh, so this is the girlfriend you have been talking to us about?" Alastor perked up, going to grab the hand of Vaggie and shaking it so vigoriously that her spear made a audible clank noise when falling out of her other hand. "Pleasure to be meeting you, sweetheart, quite the pleasure. I am glad to see that my daughter is with someone looking out for her wellbeing, indeed!" The man brought her closer, pretending to hug her as a low whisper reached her ear. "Don't ever point your nasty little weapon in my direction again or we are going to have a problem, understood?"

Vaggie found herself paralyzed. That was still the demon she heard so much about, Charlie related or not, no doubt about it. When she realized that she couldn't utter a word, she managed to just nod her head. If he was really Charlie's dad, then surely he couldn't be trying to harm her or their project, right?

"Good!" said Alastor, recuperating his jolly tone and petting her head like a dog that finally was starting to behave. "Nice to meet you at last, my dear. We hear so many good things about you."

Despite everything, Vaggie couldn't help to blush at the comment. This was absolutely not how she imagined she was going to meet Charlie's family.

"Uh... nice to meet you too, sir" said, brushing her hair back and looking to Charlie for some reassurance. Her girlfriend seemed ectatic to see them apparently getting along, giving her a thumb up from behind the back of Alastor. "Sorry for... threatening you."

"Oh, please, water under the bridge! What is a little bit of violence between friends?" Alastor looked at his red fingers as it was just a casual comment for him to say and turned to Charlie, forgetting all about her. "Charlie, my little fawn, aren't you going to give me a tour through your hotel? I saw your little presentation on the picture show and had to see it for myself. Your father send his best regards, of course."

The eyes of Charlie turned into stars.

"Sure! Oh, dad, I know you are going to love this place!" said, dragging the radio demon with her to show off every portion she could.

Vaggie moved to the couch and sighed, rubbing her temples. This day couldn't get any worse now.

"That was some good first impression you did there, toots" commented Angel, throwing the now clean popsicle stick without caring where it landed. It wasn't his job to clean it anyway. "I am sure it will do for a cool story to tell the kids."

"I didn't know that was her father!" Vaggie prefered to ignore completely the kids comment part. Charlie and her haven't talked about that yet. "I just saw a dangerous infamous demon grabbing Charlie so I reacted."

"Haven't you two been dating since like... forever? And this is the first time you knew about her dad? Wow" Angel chuckled to himself. "I am surprised you aren't more pissed about that."

"Charlie did say that one of her dads was a overlord, but wasn't really allowed to talk much about it because it was dangerous for people to know so I didn't pressured it" Vaggie sighed, contemplating Alastor nodding to every word Charlie was seeing. Once the shock wear off, when they were the both in a room he could see the resemblance. The little black horns on top of Charlie's head were an exact replica of the Radio Demon, along with the red tips of her fingers. Her own little blonde tail was wagging everywhere while speaking and moving the demon with her as it costed her no effort at all. She wondered briefly if that was also a Alastor thing, but she couldn't tell with the coat he was wearing. Probably was. If it was half as adorable as Charlie's, then at least she could understand why he would hide it. "I just never imagined it would be... him. Everything I ever heard about him doesn't really scream Charlie's father to me."

"What is so especial about smiley face, anyway?"

"Nothing at all!" said Alastor, manifestating from his shadows in front of them suddenly. He was looking at Angel particularly, saving Vaggie from the embarassment that he could have heard her too. "And who is this pink fluffy fellow? Charlie?"

"Oh, that is Angel Dust, our first resident!" explained Charlie.

"Ah, nice to meet you, my good friend!" This time Alastor didn't bothered offering his hand to him, more likely because Angel didn't had any weapon for him to disarm. "I trust you have read your residency contract to it's full extent?"

"Of course, I am not an idiot" Angel relaxed on the couch. After the first time signing his soul away, one had to be prepared to not do the same thing again in hell. "I even had my own magnifying glass to search for the fine print."

"Marvelous!" Alastor's smile grew bigger and lifted his hand, taking up the rolled up paper that his shadow passed to him. The shadow was smiling too. "I trust then that you are aware about the clause hidden on the corners?" said, opening up the paper and holding up with magic as green highlighted the words hidden on what Angel had assumed was fancy decoration on the side of the paper. Alastor read from memory. "The person who signs this paper is forbidden to ever talk about the origyns or familial relation of Charlie Morningstar without express permission of said Charlie Morningstar, Lucifer Morningstar or his spouse Alastor Abbadon. If this condition is broken, then the person who signs this contract resigns his ability to talk ever again. This includes non verbal communication like sign language, writing, texting, morse code, etc, etc.."

He finished with a satisfied look as Angel kept staring at the contract, ruffling his own hair.

"Hey, what the fuck?! I didn't know about this shit!"

"What!?" Charlie got closer too, reading the letters that were so intrinsically hidden on the decorations that it was almost impossible to notice unless someone was looking for it. "Dad! I asked you for a normal contract, not this!"

"Oh, relax, my dear" explained Alastor, calmly adjusting his posture. "I just added a little something to ensure that neither of us would have to worry about whoever decided to stay on your hotel. The clause will have no effect at all as long they know to keep this bit of information for themselves, so there is really nothing to worry about. You both can read it again if you like, there's nothing else forcing your residents to do anything they don't want" added, seeing as Angel was doing just that, after taking out a magnifying glass from who knows where. "I had prepared a similar contract for your staff, but seeing who that is, I assume you don't find it necessary?"

"Of course not" said Charlie without hesitation, making Vaggie to blush again. "Vaggie would never tell anyone."

"Very well. I trust your judgement, little fawn. I just wanted to make sure that we were all in the same page. For you see, my effeminate fellow" said Alastor, inclining his head to look directly at Angel as the dark energy gathered around him. Magic symbols floated around him as his horn crew and his eyes turned into radio dials. "I will spare no effort to protect my family and ensure that they are safe. If I ever detect anything that would happen to threaten any of them, I will personally make sure that person knows the meaning of eternal punishment. Are we clear?"

Angel just stared at him.

"You know, that is kinda hot" replied, not minding the way that Alastor pulled back or the scratching record noise that accompanied the movement. "You said you are married too? Figures. The good ones are always taken."

An awkward silence extended for a second before Angel pulled up his phone, throwing the contract to a side.

"Whatever, I don't care anymore. I wasn't aching to tell anyone either."

"Good" said Alastor, clearing his throat before addressing Charlie again. "So, Charlie! Your father and I had a little chat after your presentation, and we both agreed that it would be best if I helped you out."

"Really?!" Any anger that Charlie had about the contract dissapeared as quickly as that as she took the arm of the demon, practically squealing. "Oh, dad, that is so great! It will be so much fun with you around. Does that mean that you changed your mind? Do you believe sinners can be redeemed?"

"Oh, my dear, of course not" Alastor still patted gently the hand that was holding onto him. "Souls that ended up here do it because they deserved it. Some of us more than others. We made the choices we made in life and now it's time for the consequences. Me, for example, came to know your father by being the worst sinner that I could be. There is no redemption for that."

Charlie sighed deeply, moving to take the hand of the radio demon on her.

"You say that, and I know you did some bad things in the past..."

"I have slaughtered countless souls for entertainment, my dear. I literally killed someone on the way here because they annoyed me."

"But" emphasized Charlie, ignoring him, "you are also the best dad I could ever ask for. You make papa so happy too. How can I believe that a soul can't improve if I have the best proof in all of hell right in front of me?"

That seemed to completely disarm the radio demon for a second. Vaggie didn't want to intrude, but she also had to wonder how many people have ever seen the infamous overlord so entranced by something else. If that was the effect that his daughter could have on him, then it made all the more sense why he didn't want people to exploit it.

"You always had a way with words, little fawn. You took that after your father" recognized the man, lifting a hand to craddle her cheek gently, something that made Charlie to giggle happily. Alastor sighed. "I am afraid that things aren't that simple, my dear. But if this is truly what you believe in..."

"Is it, dad."

"Then I have no other option but to ensure you succeed whatever way I can" Alastor snapped his fingers, opening up a void full of shadows that started working on the hotel, repairing holes, opening the chimney and whatever else it was needed.

When it came to new staff, Niffty was a new addition that Charlie tried to greet before she was off to chase some cockroaches. But when it came to their new bartender, Charlie perked up as if he knew him already.

"Uncle Husk!" she said, hugging the confused humanoid cat that appear right there.

"Uh, what? Who... Charlie?" Husk looked around, patting the shoulder of Charlie confusedly until his eyes landed on Alastor. "Oh, fuck off."

"Hello, Husker. Nice trip?"

"I hate you so much."

"I am so glad to see you again!" said Charlie, squeezing the winged demon, maybe also in an attempt to distract from her dad. It was obvious she knew about the animosity between them and was used to it. "When was the last time we saw each other? On my birthday when I was 16? Aww, you are still as soft as ever!"

"Kid, we talked about this" said Husk, just tired now, and Charlie finally stand up, attempting to apologize profusely until he raised a hand up. "No, no, it's fine. I know you don't mean anything bad by it. Just saying. You, on the other hand..." added, pointing to Alastor, "where the fuck have you dragged me now?"

While Alastor was informing Husk about their new locations and new unvoluntary job, Angel and Vaggie got close to Charlie, who seemed conflicted because she couldn't get them to get along more.

"So you know whiskers?" asked Angel suddenly, making Charlie jump.

"Oh, Husk? Yeah, he is like... Uhm...." Very clearly she didn't want to say he was one of the many souls that Alastor owned. The whole owning soul thing never sat well with her", an associate who works with dad. For dad. He is really nice when you get to know him."

"Do you think he purrs when you scratch him behind his ears?" Angel was scratching his own chin, as if the question was of a high scientific consideration.

"I... I don't know? I never tried it."

"Mmm. I will have to do my own investigation into that then. Is he married?"

"No that I know of. I don't think so."

"I will take that then."

Once Husk resigned himself to his fate behind the bar, Angel went to talk to him as Alastor returned to the side of his daughter.

"So, my dear, what do you think?"

"This is amazing, dad!" And it was, really. For the first time since they had started building the place, for the first time it was starting to look more well put together. Vaggie could sense that there was still something that was bothering her, so she took her hand and squeeze it firmly. Charlie smiled to her before looking again at the radio demon. "Don't get me wrong, I am really happy that you are here. But... I kinda wanted to do on my own too. I shouldn't be relying on my parents to do everything for me alll the time."

"My dear, I am just merely giving you the tools that you need. This whole business is still fully yours to do as you please" Alastor came to wrap an arm aroud her shoulders and rub her arm. "I promise, I will do nothing but to make sure that this building keep standing for as long as I can. I won't interfere with anything else unless you asked me to."

Charlie visible relaxed at that, right before she frowned again.

"No more secret words for people to sign without knowing."

"Except that."

"Dad!"

"Charlie" Alastor pulled his daughter by the shoulders to look at her. His smile was still less sharp than usual, but his tone was serious now. "I will not argue about something that concern your safety. There is a lot of people out there who would love to have anything to use against me. I won't let them use you. That is not a risk I am willing to take."

It was clearly a losing battle, one that Charlie had already lost many times before.

"Fine. You could have still told me about it."

"You should have read the fine print too, dear. Remember what you father told you, don't take any shit from demons. That includes your very own old man" Alastor squeezed the red cheek of his daughter and chuckled when she pouted in response. "But you are right. If I ever decide that any changes is neccesary, I will talk you about it."

"Thank you" The expression of Charlie still didn't change for a moment as they saw the shadows work, but gradually dissolved as she looked at the floor. "Is... is papa ever going to...?"

"Not right now, dear" said Alastor. "You know how hard is for him to come out to new places."

"Oh. Okay" Charlie tried to not make known how much that answered dissapointed her.

"But he promised that he will, eventually." Alastor lifted her chin up and kissed her cheek. "That was from his part."

Charlie laughed, softly, and got on her tip toes to kiss his other cheek.

"That one is from me then."

"I will be sure to pass the message along."

Alastor took her outside to see the rest of the changes they were making. First of, the name "Happy Hotel" had to go. It made it sound like it was a kindergarten more than a center of rehabilitation. After a bit of back and forth, they agreed that Hazbin Hotel had a nice ring to it. Since Alastor would be spending a lot of time there, then he needed his radio tower to keep with his broadcast as well as to communicate with Lucifer back at the palace safely until the man was comfortable enough to move as well. Even with all the renovation finished, the place still looked chaotic and all over the place but they liked it all the same. Nobody could say that it lacked personality.

"It's almost dinner time" Alastor looked on his pocket watch, as the shadow workers came back to dissolve on the crack of the floor under him. "Your father is going to open a portal any moment now. Are you sure you don't want to come in, dear?"

"I am beat now" said Charlie, looking like it. Having a screaming match and fist fight with a reporter in live television could really suck someone's energy. "I think I am going to eat something and head to bed earlier today. But I will definitely go tomorrow. Maybe Vaggie can come in too?"

Vaggie smiled when Charlie searched for her hand, confirming with her if she wanted to come with her.

"I would love to" said, because she would, and maybe she could actually cause a better impression on the other father of Charlie than she had with this one.

Charlie always spoke the world of her parents, even if she could never really tell her who was one of them. If they were so important for her, then they were important for Vaggie too.

At least Lucifer wasn't a deranged sadistic murderer, so that should make things easier. Although, now that she thought about it, she didn't really know much of anything about the king either. Nobody had see him in many, many years, so up until now there were only rumours about how he looked like or his personality. She still trusted that if anything Charlie had said was true, then he couldn't be that bad either.

Alastor looked at her and then Vaggie standing at her side, squinting his eyes for a second before he shrugged.

"Of course, dear. I will tell your father about it. Speaking of the devil..." said with a short laugh as a portal opened up right behind him, "That is my cue for leaving. If you need me, dear, use the radio or call your father. Will be seeing you tomorrow."

"See ya! Thanks for everything!" Charlie waved her hand as Alastor crossed the portal. She was still waving when it closed right after him.

[room-surprise]

Dungeon Meshi Anime Review, Season 2, Episode 19 review

Izutsumi arrives! And Marcille has a nightmare.

This is an interesting episode but I know my spouse and I had desperately hoped that they would re-organize things somehow. Marcille's plot in this feels painfully tacked on and unrelated to Izutsumi's introduction, and the concept of the nightmare is so good, it could have easily been expanded to be an entire episode on its own. I wish they'd done that. They could have paired Izu's intro with the ice golem story to have one all-Izutsumi episode and then one all-Marcille episode... alas.

Those are changes I would have LIKED to see, but here's some changes I didn't like:

(MAJOR MANGA AND ANIME SPOILERS BELOW THE CUT!!!)

Trigger removed Laios' mother's only speaking line in the manga. It would have taken SO LITTLE to have someone read this single sentence, and removing it, in my opinion, has a negative impact on the story as a whole.

It SOUNDS like a generic thing when she asks Laios "When will you give us grandchildren?" But this is actually really important. Laios is afraid of being forced to make a family and participate in society. This is unusual because he's a man, most men in a historic time period of this don't really care about such things, but Laios is so afraid of it, it's a recurring nightmare!

This is also why he acted so weird seeing a loving father/baby scene in the magic paintings chapter. He hated seeing a father talk about how much they love their baby.

Laios is named after a story about murdering your children before they can hurt you. Like an Oedipus Complex supposedly means that a son wants to have sex with his mother, a Laios Complex means a man wants to kill his sons. Kui did not pick this name and then have Laios repeatedly be uncomfortable with children, marriage and fatherhood for no reason.

Obviously Trigger didn't make any of these connections and so they didn't think it was necessary for Laios' mom to speak this line out loud, but I vehemently disagree.

This is similar to my beef with them removing Yarn Floke's only dialog in the story and removing her from the scene with the Island Governor. That moment told us that Mr. and Mrs. Floke were equal partners, and now anime watchers assume she's just his wife who doesn't do anything. That sucks.

The addition of paintings of Marcille's father in the nightmare. Woof. I really don't care for this, if they wanted to do it i would have preferred it if they'd obscured the paintings somehow so it wasn't obvious that Marcille's father wasn't an elf.

I think this makes the later reveal of her half-elf status WAY less surprising.

Also, in the manga, the complete silence around her father created a strong subtext that Marcille's mother was her only parent that mattered. They could still accomplish this but I think it won't be as shocking.

People reading the manga probably thought "her dad was an elf and he died young and that traumatized her" (this is what Laios assumes I'm sure)

People watching the anime will think "her dad was a tall-man and his natural death of old age is what traumatized her" which is true, but they aren't supposed to actually know that yet...

Overall the episode was good aside from these issues. I liked that the nightmare sequence was in black and white, and the transition to color at the end was spectacular and very impactful... But part of me wishes they had done something else to differentiate the nightmare state from the normal animation. The black and white was good, but almost too subtle because the DM palette is already so desaturated.

[geekthefreakout]

The GaaNaru Letters (part 3/?)

Part 1 Part 2

Dear Gaara,

I'm back in the village. You were right-- it was Tsunade that Pervy Sage was talking about. She's an old hag, but really strong. Oh, and Pervy Sage's name is Jiraiya. He's the one who taught me how to summon toads! He's supposed to be a legendary ninja, but he's really just a pervert.

Orochimaru-bastard was trying to get at Granny Tsunade too. We had to fight him, and it was my second time almost getting eaten by a giant snake. It was so gross!! But on the bright side, I mastered this awesome new jutsu that Pervy Sage taught me. It's called 'rasengan'. The old hag thought it was too tough for me to do, but I bet her I could master in in a week AND I DID! How awesome am I right now? I want to try it against your sand next time we see each other.

What I didn't have time to say last time is that your dad sucks. A lot. I know he's dead and everything and you're not supposed to say bad things about dead people, but what you said about him just makes me so angry!! How is it your fault that your mom died when you were born? Babies can't do anything about stuff like that. And it's not like you signed up for Shukaku either. What a jerk!

Bushy Brows is doing better now that Granny is here. She's doing a surgery for him, and then he can really get back on his feet. Everyone is doubting that he can be a shinobi again, but they're wrong. He won't stop until he's back in fighting shape, I know it. Sasuke woke up today, but he hasn't said anything yet. That bastard better fix his attitude soon, because he's upsetting Sakura-chan with his sulking.

I don't know why those guys are after us. Were you able to get your sensei to look into it? Also, how are things going with your siblings? It's good that they don't want to hit you. Family shouldn't hurt each other. You asked if they could be blamed for resenting you and I think... I don't know, kinda? I think they should know that your dad was so unfair to you. Even if you were scary, they're still your family, and if they weren't gonna give you a chance then why should you give them a chance, you know? But it sounds like they're giving you one now?

Sincerely, Naruto Uzumaki

PS: It doesn't count as you kicking my ass because you're the one who backed down! :p

Naruto Uzumaki,

I would like you to elaborate on the giant snake.

It is astounding to me that you refer to two of the measurably greatest ninja of our time as "old hag" and "Pervy Sage." I suppose the saying that familiarity breeds contempt is true-- though you don't seem to regard them with contempt. Tsunade has reached out to the council here in the Sand, and work is underway to repair the relationship between our two villages.

I am interested in this new jutsu. Your repertoire seemed somewhat limited when we fought, though it does not seem to be a problem for you with the amount of chakra you have. And, of course, I should not speak too much- I use my sand almost exclusively in battle.

I do not know Uchiha well, but I know his eyes. I know what silence means with them. Be careful with him, Naruto.

My siblings are... well. Giving me a chance, as you say. Kankuro has made a point of asking me to train with him. Well, he says train with him, but it is more him demonstrating his puppets to me. I have smashed many of them in the past, but I no longer wish to do so. He is very proud of them, and he should be-- ninja puppets require fine chakra control, and he is very skilled. I never noticed how skilled before. It is as though I am seeing him with new eyes. Temari has introduced me to her ferret summons, and has taken to preparing juice for Kankuro and I when we return from training. Kankuro complains that she is treating us like children, but is always happy for his juice. He contradicts himself like this often, I've noticed.

I am strangely grateful for your sentiments regarding my father. It is probably best that you do not speak them to my siblings, however.

Does Rock Lee hate m I had Temari tell Baki that she'd heard rumors about the Akatsuki, and the council is investigating. No one will know where she actually heard the rumors from. Now that our villages are collaborating, hopefully we will be sharing information freely as it comes.

I went for a walk as the sun set last night, and came to a noodle shop. The owner saw me and closed the windows. I have frightened her before. A child's ball landed at my feet. I saw him looking for it. I kicked it back towards him, and he thanked me. His mother pulled him away, but did not stop him from waving goodbye. Is this hope? I do not want to keep fostering fear within my village, but even my presence terrifies most of them. I cannot help but wonder- what would you do in place, Naruto Uzumaki?

Sincerely, Gaara of the Desert

PS: What does " :p " mean?

Dear Gaara,

The giant snakes are from Orochimaru. He's a FREAK with them. The first time was in the Forest of Death during the Chunin exam- that evil bastard had snuck in and attacked us. That's when he gave Sasuke that curse mark on his neck. The second time was when I was with Pervy Sage and Granny Tsunade. I broke a bone that time-- the snakes were so, so, so big. Like bigger than buildings! And slimy inside.

Sasuke has been acting kind of weird since the curse mark thing, and now he's acting even weirder. I guess it kind of makes sense. This isn't classified or anything so I can tell you- one of the Akatsuki that attacked me was Sasuke's brother, who also killed his whole clan! Having that happen when he was little is a big part of why Sasuke is such a jerk. But I understand him, you know? He was left alone. And Itachi's sharingan eye is different from Sasuke's and scrambled his head and that's why Granny Tsunade had to help him.

Sasuke is angry about Itachi, is what I'm saying. Even more than usual. If I can get him to sit and talk to me, I think maybe I should tell him about why his brother was after me. Sasuke and Sakura-chan don't know about Kyuubi, no one my age does. I guess I'm kind of scared to tell them. Even though they're my teammates and I trust them, I just don't want them to look at me different. But Sasuke is so angry. Is that what you meant by being careful with him? Sasuke wouldn't ACTUALLY hurt me, you know? Not any more than I would hurt him if we fought!

You use a lot of big words-- I had to look up "repertoire". Also- hey! There's lots of different uses for shadow clones, you know. I don't think it should count as limited. Also learning new jutsu is kind of hard for me, so I just try to get really really food at the ones I am good at. Besides, you also saw my summoning jutsu! And you didn't see my Sexy Jutsu.

Also, I don't feel contempt at all. I just tell it like it is. I had to look that one up too.

About people being afraid of you- I think a lot of the time, people are scared of things that are bigger than them, or things that they don't understand. People hate that sometimes. Lots of people in the village hates me, and it used to be lots more when I was younger. But little by little I'm getting people to see me. It all started with Mr. Ichiraku at the Ramen stand. Then Sasuke and Iruka-sensei. Just show them that you're not a monster. And to show them, you have to let them see you. I guess if I were you, I'd be pretty hurt. But I would go back to the noodle shop and buy noodles. Or maybe go find another place where they let me in and eat there. Then people can see that I'm not so bad! If you're not so mysterious, there's not a lot to be scared of.

There are some people who like mysterious. Like all the girls who think Sasuke is cute because they aren't around him enough to know that he's an asshole under those cheekbones.

Sincerely, Naruto Uzumaki

PS: :p is me sticking my tongue out! I wanted you to know since you can't see my face. I hope I can see your face again sometime!

Part 4

[tmrwds]

Translation to 19.07. Eura gig stream under cut (10mins)

Banter starting from 01:40

You guy there, were you going skiiing? You have the glasses on your head, or did i see wrong? You're a good-looking crowd. (girl screaming JEREEE) what do you want? I'll give attention to you too. It's like a fucking kindergarten. Pikku Silja is there like (raises his arms) Are there underage ppl here? Hopefully not. You came with your dad's ID? Did it truly work?

You're wearing a Käärijä shirt, lovely. It's like kindergarteners, "look I have a new Gogo figurine" I don't even know what's a gogo-- Have you been eating sausage? The stall, full of sausage. How much is 3x3, sign it for me. How much is it? That doesn't make sense. I'm not going to become a teacher.

Hey, people on the back. Is there a reason you're over there and not on the front row? The man was like (nods) women. -- What do you have there? Your own [smuggled] drinks? No? Fuck, you drink a lot. Huh? For me? I don't drink. I'm an absolutist. Think about it, I've never touched that. Bess was performing today, right? Let's not tell her, but Bess was like "remember to drink water" no, just drink booze. At Käärijä's gig the rules are different, 2%/per mil at least when you're here. My show is so awful I don't want anyone to remember anything about it. Just kidding.

From 3:52 : I have this super fan here - am I allowed to tell? I will. You're not going to be offended? She has been on some 31 gigs this year. That's fucking sick, I don't understand why. But, she sent us an email, think about it, I have an email too, you don't- she sent that..what was it? That I shouldn't mock myself. Something like that. Think about it, how sympathetic. I'm mocking myself and she's like "don't do that! You're really a good, lovely person" I'm not! But I appreciate it, we talked this over with the band. Because of her, we've been going to therapy.

One thing that's fucking awesome about this place is that the internet isn't working. The guestion is, the TVs probably don't work either, so how the fuck did you watch Eurovision? How? Was there a shared TV? (points on the sky) "Oh, there's Käärijä". Do you guys even have phones?! Nokia 3510i, you look like you have that. Or do you? - You came from Tampere? You should've at least said you're from around here [Eura]. How many of you are from here? You know, one day- (dude shouts Urheilujätkä) Shut the fuck up. -when I have the money, I'll buy everyone who lives here a phone, I'll buy an internet here, some fucking tower right there. On the phone there will be apps, you can watch por-, Käärijä's instagram, it's an app too. -- Okay, let's continue, this thing doesn't make any sense.

Paidaton riehuja starts: How many will take off their shirt? -- (cute bit of the front row girls lol "It's coming off! For real? Yes, you're supposed to take it off! I didn't know that you have to take your shirt off!")

I'll do a little bit different speech because we have the superfan here. And sometimes I was like, I didn't compliment my own body. So do you know what I'll say now? Fuck, I'm in a good shape. Before the eurovision shit, I was like this (sucks belly in), but after eurovision when money started coming in… But the saddest thing is, I've drank all the money and I got nothing but the belly left. But at least I got some memory. Let's go.

After paidaton riehuja: Think about it, for the first time I saw boobs. I won't say if it was a man or woman's boobs, but I saw them anyway. And they were great!

[our-transmasculine-experience]

Sorry this is a bit of rant, but I hate toxic masculinity and gender norms so so so much because now I'm subscribing to them, and I cannot stop myself. Sometimes I want to wear a dress, but if I do, or even so much as think about it, my body shudders or I want to vomit. Because the idea of being seen as feminine even in the slightest way physically hurts me, and its all because of the way I was raised. I'm in an extremely conservative household, and there is so much toxic masculinity. My brother has fucking curls for gods sake, he is a cis man and my dad makes remarks about how its gay (otherwise sayings its feminine) to take care of his curls!

Now me being a closeted trans guy, every time I hear my dad talking to my brothers, or talking to other men when women are around there is such a stark line between the two groups. My dad and his friends and my brothers are MANLY MEN AND WOMAN CANNOT BE IN THE MEN GROUP while the women around me kind of drag me into the stereotypical womanly position and giggle and joke around and there's so much internalised misogyny. I had my mother the other day berate me for not shaving my own damn legs, her big point was that it was 'unhygienic' even though my dad is covered in hair. Then the real point came out, apparently not shaving my legs makes me look like a lesbian!

It sucks man, it just sucks. I love my brother though because even though he also as equally as transphobic as them, he doesn't subscribe to their weird toxic masculinity and honestly he's the closest I'll ever come to being out of the closest.

I used to think my sister might be in the closest but as we get older and she conforms more and more to my parents ideologies I realise I was just fooling myself. And I hate being like this, because my family are good people in general and their not unkind to me, or treat me poorly, they treat me really well, I'm really well off and I'm grateful to them. But if I ever came out, I would be cut from this family so quick it would make my head spin.

Being around all these stereotypes just feeds my insecurities because sometimes when I listen to the things the men around me say I know its so misogynistic and I know I should strive to be better than that, but I can't help but really want to fit in with them because all I want to be seen is as a boy. But I never will be. I really really fucking hate it (excuse the language) when the women in my family try to pull me into their side. I hate that my older brothers just see me as my dad's daughter from his second marriage, I love them so much and I just want to be friends with them but I'll never get that, my younger brother will though BECAUSE HE'S A CIS MAN!

Its selfish, I'm really selfish for thinking like this, because I live really really well, I have parents who love me even its not for who I actually am, and we have money. Seeing how bad others are living compared to me and then complaining about my household is selfish I know. I just wish these stereotypes would go away, I wish I wasn't trans, I wish I was a normal girl, but I'm not, I'm a boy, I'll never be a girl and it's the worst thing in the world. It doesn't help either that I'm bisexual and got outed by my so-called best friend and had to pretend it was just a phase that I grew out of. I want to scream, but I can't, and I won't. Because if I ever want to succeed in this world, I need my family's support.

I hate this, because I do love my father and my mother and my brothers. I just know they only love the girl they see. That's what I hate. My mother keeps telling me to dress like a girl, to be a normal girl, and honestly her acknowledging that I am not like your average female is the closest I'll ever get with her acknowledging that I'm trans. But I still love them, I love them so much, please don't think that they are bad people because they really aren't. I just cannot fucking stand how they continue to think that trans people aren't really trans or that being trans is 'demonic' its screwing with my head. I know they would never utter a bad word against a gay or trans person they met in real life but god the things they say when the curtains close.

Not to mention that all the stereotypes have ruined having children for me. I want children, I want to get married, but I can't! I can't get married! I can't have children because all I can think about is how that is the 'WOMAN'S POSITION' EVEN THOUGH ITS NOT! But if I ever have kids or get married, I will be shoved right into the 'I told you so' 'You're a woman!' I will be put in the feminine box, and I hate it! I will just be another woman who got married to a guy that pretends to be nice in public but is not so nice at best and full on abusive at worst behind the scenes which seems to be the constant with every woman I know. God forbid I ever married a woman!

Sorry that this was long, I really needed to rant. I'm honestly so grateful that the internet exists because I can't be out in real life, but I can be out online, even if no one actually knows who I am. Thank you for listening have a great day! I love your page so much it brings me so much comfort and joy!

i would get tf out of that environment as soon as you can. never apologize for feeling unhappy with that situation because most people would be, too. that sounds horrible, and i’m really really sorry that you have to go through that.

best of luck, brother.

[keyh0use]

Chapter 2

I swear I'll get around to actually writing this soon, but have some parts of the outline for Chapter 2

♡ When Rafe and Barry decide to make things official, and then go public, no one is surprised.

♡ They say I love you to each other right off the bat, because they felt it way before it was okay to admit

♡ Sarah claims she's the reason they came to their senses

♡ Ward was already well acquainted with Barry, but started requesting the two spend time alone like he does with John B.

♡ The Cameron Patriarch brings up marriage a lot, just to see if Barry will squirm

♡ Wheezie claims Barry as her very best friend

♡ Both siblings, though they always loved their brother, find him much more tolerable to be around, not nearly as high strung and angered as easily.

♡ Once Barry had approval from both Ward and Rose as a suitable partner, he was awarded a key to Tanneyhill.

♡ Barry does disgusting, degrading things to Rafe all over the mansion.

♡ Rafe had been living with the dealer for almost a year prior to the relationship, so it seemed silly to not make that official, too.

♡ Only Ward was absolutely against it. He hadn't been able to win over John B. and Sarah, but Barry fucked around with some dangerous people in the past, so he was willing to let the real estate expert find them a home close enough to the south side to make the man's commute to work not suck, while still allowing the kook prince his status.

♡ Rafe never thought of himself as the type to be so particular over interior design, but he and Topper go to the mainland and spend forever picking out the perfect furniture.

♡ And then the kooks make Barry and his friends unload the truck and build everything

♡ Barry lives to take care of Rafe. It's his favorite thing, knowing instinctively what the boy needs and doing it before he even needs to be asked.

♡ Rafe's counter argument everytime Barry brings up having kids is: "Spend some one on one time with Wheezie, you'll change your mind."

♡ But Barry loves Wheezie, and he won't change his mind and secretly Rafe doesn't want him to, starting to feel ready to sit down and really talk about it.

♡ For now, Rafe's baby is his boat, graciously signed over to him from his dad. The boy spends countless hours fixing things before they break and sailing and forcing Barry to join him, which he always does because he likes how pretty Rafe looks in the glow of the sunset while bouncing on his lap, both of them damn near breaking longue chairs by being too rough every single time.

♡ It's mandatory for the couple to attend all sorts of kook events. One night after the two stumble into their cute home after a few too many expensive drinks, Barry admits he loves when Rafe forces them to match outfits.

♡ There's not a single anniversary or engagement party or family dinner or anything else where Rafe hasn't snuck off to get fucked in the bathroom, Barry's hand clasped over the boys mouth to muffle the slutty moans he's not even trying to hold in.

♡ Rafe will try to tame his sweaty hair and use cool water to get rid of the flush to no avail. John B. will fist bump Barry just as Sarah clues in with ew, gross.

♡ Both men are big fans of PDA, jealous and possessive despite having no reason to be.

♡ Rafe likes being told who he belongs to, whether it's while the older man is buried balls deep inside him or sleepily mumbled against his neck before bed.

♡ Some guy comes in to buy a ring for his soon-to-be wife, asking for Barry's advice. Barry has a lot of thoughts regarding jewellery, and when the customer asks if he's married the man says, "Nah, but my boyfriend's into all this stuff."

♡ After the guy has left with a dainty ring, Barry spends the rest of his shift pacing the floor trying to think of how he'll possibly grow the balls to ask Ward fucking Cameron for his only sons hand. Stupid kooks and their traditions.

♡ But then some lady makes a comment about someone like Barry being with someone like young Mr. Rafe Cameron at Midsummer's and Ward is the first to jump to his defense.

♡ "Don't listen to people like that, son. Some of these folks are too stuck in their ways," Ward says reassuringly, arm slung casually around Barry's shoulders.

♡ Topper and Barry fight like brothers, Rafe always having to break them up

♡ They have a "guest room" which Wheezie has made all her own, some of her stuffed animals on the bed and posters of Taylor Swift on the walls

♡ Barry enlists Sarah's help to find a ring, the girl squealing and grabbing onto him in excitement every few minutes for literal hours

[thehollowwriter]

Vent

I need to talk to the psychologist again bc last time I nearly blew a blood vessel because she kept insisting that everything my mom acted, well, like herself I must "fall back on my dad so he can deal with situation" NO GOD DAMN IT I DON'T CARE IF HE SAID HE'LL DO SOMETHING HE NEVER DOES. HE JUST GOES "I'LL TALK TO HER" AND THAT DOES FUCK ALL. MY SISTER WND I ARE STILL MAKING BREAKFAST, LUNCH ON DINNER AND GETTING MY BROTHER READY FOR SCHOOL AND BATHING HIM AND HELPING MY DAD EAT AND GO TO THE BATHROOM AND CLEANING THE KITCHEN AND CLEANING MY PARENTS' ROOM AND MAKING MY MOM COFFEE, MEDICINE, FOOD, AND SWEETS AND HELPING MY DAD IN AND OUT OF BED AND CHANGING HIS CLOTHES WHEN HIS CARER ISN'T HERE-

AND YET. AND YET THEY STILL HAVE THE FUCKING AUDACITY TO TELL ME THAT I AM "STILL A CHILD"! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE TELL ME THAT WHEN MOTHER DEAR SPENDS ALL DAY ON HER PHONE OR WATCHING TV AND THREATENING TO NOT TAKE US TO SCHOOL BECAUSE WE DIDN'T MAKE HER COFFE FAST ENOUGH, OR THROWING A BITCH FIT BECAUSE WE DIDN'T GRATE SOME CHEESE OVER THE DINNER SHE DIDN'T EVEN FUCKING MAKE AND WAS JUST EATING IN BED OR THREATENED TO LOCK ME OUTSIDE FOR HAVING AN "ATTITUDE"

AND YET... AND YET I'M TOLD TO RELY ON MY DAD TO DO SOMETHING? WHEN HE HASN'T DONE JACK SHIT OR EVEN ENCOURAGED MY MOM FOR YEARS. DOES SAYING "I'LL TALK TO HER" "JUST LEAVE IT" "STOP IT" "BE QUIET" "STOP ARGUING SOUND LIKE FUCKING "DOING SOMETHING" TO YOU?

AND ON TOP OF ALL THIS I MUST GET GOOD GRADES! "OR YOU WON'T GET INTO UNI, QUINN" WELL SORRY FOR NOT HAVING STELLAR GRADES WHEN MY SISTER AND I DOING BASICALLY EVERYTHING, ESPECIALLY WHEN THE CARER ISN'T HERE, AND ANY HOPE OF HELP OR OUTSIDE ACTIVITY WAS SHOT DOEN BECAUSE A CERTAIN LAZY POS REFUSED TO TAKE US TO SPORT OR GYMNASICS OR BALLET BECAUSE SHE'S "TOO TIRED" OR INTERROGATING US ABOUT WHAT WE SAID TO THE SOCIAL WORKER OR BEING ANGRY AT US FOR SEEING A PSYCHOLOGIST "WITHOUT TELLING HER BECAUSE YOU CAN'T TRUST THEM" OR- OR INSISTING "WHAT HAPPENS IN THIS HOUSE STAYS IN THIS HOUSE, YOU DON'T GO TELLING YOUR GRANDPARENTS OR OTHER FAMILY STUFF THAT DOESN'T CONCERN THEM"

LET'S NOT FORGET ARGUING WITH THE DOCTOR AND INSISTING HE'S WRONG AND DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT FOR THINKING I HAVE ADHD. IT COULD HELP ME, BUT WHO CARES, LET'S INSIST IT'S NOT THAT AND THEN GET ANGRY WHEN QUINN FORGETS THINGS, GETS DISTRACTED, MAKES MISTAKES, OR GETS POOR GRADES

LET'S INSIST QUINN HAS DEPRESSION BECAUSE "I'VE BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH I'M BASICALLY QUALIFIED TO BE A PSYCHIATRIST, AND I KNOW THE SIGNS". LET'S SAY THAT'S WHY SHE'S TIRED ALL THE TIME, AND NOT BECAUSE SHE'S LITERALLY BEING THE PARENT OF THE HOUSE. EVEN THE FUCKING PSYCHOLOGIST SAYS THAT THERE'S NOT MUCH THAT CAN BE DONE ABOUT THE SITUATION AND I'M GOING TO HAVE TO BE "THE PARENT"..

"WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO UNHAPPY" "WHY DO YOU HAVE LOW SELF-ESTEEM" GEE IDK MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE AN ABUSIVE POS WHO SLAPPED ME AND LOCKED ME OUTSIDEAND THREW A PLATE A LT ME AND WOULD CONSTANTLY THREATEN US WITH STUFF LIKE "I'LL BREAK THIS BOWL OVER YOUR HEAD" "I'LL PUNCH YOU" "I'LL THROW THIS SCALDING COFFEE AT YOU" ALL WHILE RELYING ON US TO DO EVERYTHING AND WHINING ABOUT HOW MUCH YOUR LIFE SUCKS EVEN THOUGH YOU SPEND ALL DAY EVERY DAY DOING WHATEVER YOU WANT WITHOUT A JOB AND AT EVERY OPPORTUNITY YOU WOULD TEAR INTO MY APPEARANCE OR CALL ME A BITCH OR CALL ME CANCER

AND THEN YOU FUCKING EXCUSE IT ALL WITH "IT WAS BECAUSE I HAD A SPIRIT ATTACHED TO ME" AND EVERY TIME WE BRING UP WHAT YOU DONE YOU EITHER BLAME IT ALL ON THAT OR SAY "I'M SORRY YOU'RE MADE AT ME FOR BEING SICK" "OR I'M SORRY THAT'S HOW YOU FEEL" OR "HOW YOU PERCIEVE THINGS ISN'T ALWAYS THE TRUTH"

I'm so tired. I'm so so tired.

[bots-and-cons]

Need to complain... again

School is starting next week, 5th of September. I finally got my summer courses done a few days ago. It's kinda sad that I had 3 months of vacation from school and during that time I'm only going to have this one week for myself before school starts, when I don't have to do anything. I'm so not going to take summer courses next year, holy shit, it was such a mistake. On the brighter side, I got my teacher to agree that I don't have to do practical training this fall, and I can move it to next spring. I honestly would have burnt myself out if I'd had to do the practical training too. I was so fucking exhausted last spring with just the five weeks of 5 hour days. The next practical training is supposed to be 6 weeks and 7 hour days. The first one was supposed to be 3 weeks, but I got to do it in a longer period of time, due to my various problems with mental health and stuff.

The school stuff is all handled though, that's not really what I wanted to complain about. Since I moved away from my home town my best friend who still lives there keeps telling me I abandoned her and I hate that she uses that specific word. "Abandon", like I left just to spite her and leave her alone. I'm not saying she can't feel lonely or annoyed at me for moving, but I can't stand that she keeps using saying "What do you think it's like for ME ever since YOU abandoned me?" She still has her family there and people she knows. I moved to a completely new town, where I don't know anyone and all my family is a couple hours away. I literally have no one here. My school acquaintances/friends/whatever don't live here either, and I'm not going to be able to see them either because almost all my lectures are remote this fall and from now on. The few lectures I do have on campus, are not the same courses as my friend's so I won't see them then either.

My "best friend" has not asked me once, if I'm lonely. She just keeps saying if I make new friends, I'm gonna forget about her and "abandon" her. So I haven't really made the attempt to socialize because it makes me feel so guilty, because all I can hear is her voice in my head. Then she tells me how she spent 7 hours talking with someone on discord, even though she couldn't even answer my texts that day. She also doesn't come to see me, and I'm always the one who has to go to her. She could get on a train or a bus and come here, my apartment is literally about 800 meters from the bus and train stations. She absolutely hates driving here, she came to get me once during December 2023, and she has absolutely refused to drive here after that. This is a much bigger town than our hometown, but still, it just fucking sucks. It's like I'm not even worth a train ticket.

I'm fucking dying here, honestly. I hope it's gonna get better when school starts, but I also want to actually see the people I love. I suck at making friends and I'm so fucking anxious about meeting new people and this whole thing is fucking terrifying. I want to talk to the people I know. I want to see the people I know. Some of you have offered to talk with me, but what I really want, is someone who already knows me and to talk to someone I love. I appreciate the offer though.

I miss my mom and my dad and my younger siblings, and one of my brothers might be coming to see me in the next month, but that's a long as time away most likely. I also miss my best friend, even if she constantly makes me feel like shit.

I feel like nowadays I never get what I need from my BFF. She doesn't focus on me like she used to when we talked, and I feel like she's never there for me. I know I'm not entitled to her time or attention, but I would at least hope she'd reciprocate what I give her. We've been friends for about 18 years, but I feel like she's the one abandoning me. I always have to initiate conversation, and I'm pretty sure if I didn't text her, I would never hear from her again.

Am I really worth that little to her? Am I not worth a phone call or even answering my texts in the same day? I'm I not worth even a train ride here (which I would probably pay for)? Did I do something wrong? Is it my fault? Am I not enough? Makes me feel fucking bad man...

On top of all this, I keep hallucinating more and more, (mostly cats) and the intrusive thoughts are getting worse and worse. I'm overwhelmed all the time and I basically live with my headphones glued to my head, because it makes all the noise and shit a bit more bearable. I don't want to shower, or wash my teeth, the dishes and laundry keep piling up and making food is a fucking pain in the ass. I'm turning to candy and sweets for comfort, which also isn't good. I don't understand what the fuck is wrong with me...

[anthropwashere]

I've gotten two letters from my mom since my aunt died last month and they've both been just. So, so aggressively manipulative. Y'all can skip this post. I'm not looking for sympathy likes/replies. I just need a good rant and sometimes it does pay to yell into the Tumblr void.

Still—still!—she insists I have never told her why I refuse to speak to her anymore. She has the receipts on this, going all the way back over a decade ago to my early 20s when I conceded to communicate to her solely through e-mails. That avenue of communication ended with me blocking her pretty much everywhere online after she called me a sociopathic bitch on a public platform family, friends, and coworkers followed me on. Very cool of her, very mature.

(If memory serves she was arrested shortly thereafter. Pity it wasn't for something more serious than, jeez, I can't be assed to remember. Something to do with her driver's license? I know she asked me for a couple grand about it and cussed me out when I told her my baby Airman ass literally did not have the money even if I were inclined to help her.)

Every single letter she sends me includes a brief tangent about how she's been watching YouTube videos about estranged families (both sides! she always includes the both sides!). She always says she wants to understand but she can't because I've never told her why I refuse to talk to her anymore.

How many phonecalls, how many HOURS, have I wasted crying in rage and despair as I try to tell her all the ways she hurt me, physically and emotionally and mentally, before I realized she'd never accept it? That she would always, always try to gaslight me like this? That she'd give me that guileless, wide-eyed and furrowed brow anxious stare and that high, plaintive goddamn voice. That she'd convince me time and time and time and time again that maybe, maybe I'm overreacting?

This most recent letter was a real treat. She went out of her way to say she wasn't trying to guilt trip me, really, but she's JUST lost both her sisters AND her parents in the last year and she's terrified she might die soon next so WHY won't her ONLY DAUGHTER just TALK to her? 😭

So, firstly. I can only speak for myself and my interpretations of what my extended family will feel, but I'm pretty goddamn sure we're all gonna CHEER when she finally fucking kicks the bucket. Ain't nobody gonna miss her when she croaks. Even if her sisters outlived her that'd be the same. My only complaint when she does die is that I'm gonna insist on paying for all of the funerary expenses because she's already leeched too goddamn much from the rest of the family. No way is anyone gonna pay for her bullshit one last time, even if that means paying folks back with interest after I fly back to California. And you can be sure I'm gonna go out of my way to take the cheapest route possible at every opportunity out of spite. This woman doesn't deserve better than the bare minimum. That's all she's ever given everyone else after all.

Secondly, I will concede the fact that yes, she's lost both her sisters in the last year, not even a full year apart from each other. And that sucks! It's extremely fucking sad! My aunts raised me as much as she did, and they both sure as hell paid for more of my childhood needs than she ever did. I was able to afford to go to my younger aunt's funeral last year, but even with the surprise disability backpay I got this year I've been dealing with a lot of owning-a-100+-year-old house expenses (such as replacing the entire goddamn original roof) this year, so I genuinely couldn't make the trip for my older aunt's funeral. Two family members offered to pay for my flight and I just couldn't accept that kindness because I grew up watching my mom take and take and take and take from the family.

THIRDLY HOWEVER.

Her mom, my maternal grandma, died TWENTY YEARS AGO. Her dad, my maternal grandpa, died THIRTY YEARS AGO. And she hated her parents! She fucking loathed them! I spent more of my childhood being her psychologist instead of her goddamn child; ALL I HEARD ABOUT was how much she hated and resented her parents. This is THE first time I've heard her trot them out since I lived with her back in the 00s, and it might damn well be the first halfway-positive mention of them since long before that? This is so transparent an act I can't help but be insulted that she'd think I'd take the bait? Using the LITERAL DEATHS of others to try to goad me into talking to her?

Like. Jesus. Last year at my younger aunt's funeral just about every single member of the California-centric family pulled me aside to ask if my mom was being too much. My aunt's CHILDREN, damn near non-functional with grief, asked if I needed help handling my mom. And there were a couple occasions where I damn near admitted yeah! She's being too much! She won't stop fucking touching me! She won't stop making her sister's death about herself! And here she is, a year later, doing the same goddamn thing again with her other sister's death!

She's a manipulative, gaslighting abuser who refuses to grow up and accept responsibility and/or repercussions for her actions despite being in her late-60s. She gleefully twists the knife into whoever she can get her hands on and acts SO distraught and SO betrayed when people find fault with her actions and behavior. I don't know a single person who knows her to like her anymore once she's shown her true colors, and somehow she's still convinced she isn't the problem.

What a waste. What a fucking waste.

[am-i-the-asshole-2]

AITA for not apologizing to my mom after she deeply upset me?

I'm 23F and still live at home (🏠HOUSING CRISIS!!🏠) with my parents and 3 siblings. I've had a pretty rocky relationship with my parents, but DEFINITELY moreso my mom. She tends to never apologize for things, leaving me to be the one to apologize to *her* just to keep the peace in the house.

I just got my first job and have been really struggling with the fatigue and time constraints that come with it. Recently I had a particularly rough week with 3 incredibly busy and disastrous shifts on my own back to back, and was really looking forward to using Sunday to sleep in and try to relax and take care of myself.

My mom is Mormon, and insists on bringing us all to services with her, but we'd been going so irregularly lately and she hadn't said anything about it that I just assumed we weren't going (I always hated going and she was well aware of this, I've been trying to get out of the church for years now but because she won't let me stay home from services I literally cant). I got woken up on 5 hours of sleep with an announcement that I had to get up *right that moment* if we were getting to church on time. Sleep deprived, still sore after my shifts, and having been woken up literally 2 seconds before there was nothing I could think to do but yell a "no, I don't want to" at her while rolling over to face away from her.

She got Mad, yelling at me for "whining like a baby" and "you *never* want to go so this isn't any different". After it was clear I wasn't getting up, she opened my door to leave the hall light shining directly in my eyes and turned off the fan to my room to try to get me up, two things I have specifically told her in the past not to do because they *really* fuck me up and make it impossible for me to even attempt to relax.

It was at this point I told her that she can't *actually* force me to go and her only response was "yes I can" and that she wouldn't drive me to the store later that day like she'd promised if I didn't get up (I have severe anxiety that keeps me from driving, a time sensitive project I needed supplies for, and another family member was relying on me to get supplies for them too so it wasn't even my own shit on the line (she didn't even end up taking me for reasons farther down))

I did get up eventually, and spent my entire shower crying because of how exhausted I was. I will admit, I actively did not try to be quiet because a small part of me knew she'd be able to hear me and maybe she'd know how deeply this hurt me. Every time I'm dragged along I feel like she doesn't respect me as an adult that can make their own choices and that she should still have this much control over my life.

I ditched services halfway through because it was too overwhelming and when she called me after they were done, I impulsively decided not to pick up the phone. There was nothing I wanted less than to talk to her at that moment. When my sister called me moments later I immediately picked up to find out we were leaving early and it turns out this was what made her snap. My dad even asked me what was going on and my only response was "I don't think mom respects me as a person" to which he replied "she doesn't think you respect her either" (we Have had our fair share of arguments in the past that always tend to go this way. I genuinely don't think I really do respect her anymore)

It's been a week now and my mom still actively refuses to talk to me and avoids me whenever she can. It's obvious what she's doing because she's perfectly kind and happy when speaking with everyone else in the family, but hasn't said 2 words to me since and the times she *has* spoken to me have been short, passive aggressive digs at me. I know at this point she's probably waiting for an apology from me but I'm tired of being the one who has to make peace. I don't think I did anything wrong, and I'm tired of being treated this way, but I can't tell if I should just suck it up to make it easier for the rest of the family.

So. AITA for how this has gone down? Should I just apologize and try to get her to move on?

[lunar-years]

do u think keeley has daddy issues? considering jamie’s dad is an abusive prick and roy’s dad is implied to be neglectful & “traditional”/toxic

I actually think Keeley has far more Mommy Issues than daddy issues, lol. But I don't think she's particularly close to either one of her parents and yeah she probably doesn't get on super great with her dad, either. Everyone on this show (minus Sam ily Ola <3) has to have a least a lick of daddy issues, it's like an entry level requirement, isn't it!

I assume neither of her parents were particularly thrilled at her going straight from school to topless-jumping-from-a-plane modeling. But I also imagine her dad as more of "sit back and let my wife do the talking" checked-out kind of parent, whereas Keeley and her mum were having full-on screaming matches when she was a teenager.

Just from that one line we get re: her mum in canon, I imagine Keeley finds her mother very frustrating, in how she refused to stick up for herself at her job where her hard work was constantly being claimed by the men around her. Keeley can't understand her mum and her mum can't understand her.

And this is venturing fully into headcanon territory apropos of nothing, but... I envision her parents as divorced, and so that kind of frustration extends to Keeley's views about their relationship as well. Maybe Keeley felt her mum should've left her dad ages before they actually divorced, because here her mum was working a full day and coming home and doing his laundry and cooking their meals, and Keeley for the life of her cannot and could never understand why her mum would let herself be treated like that. Like, I think she views her mum as a little spineless. And ultimately I think it was her dad who did the leaving, because her mum would never, and that frustrates Keeley even more.

I also have this idea that her dad divorces her mum and very shortly after goes off and finds a new family, wife and stepkids and that, and Keeley is fuming at how he could do that to her and her mother but her mum is just...apathetic. It's like, Keeley keeps wanting and searching and hoping for a commaraderie with her mother that simply isn't there. And the same goes for when she goes on to her modeling career, and she's facing all the sexism that comes with that and struggling and working her ass off just to get a single ring up the ladder, which SHOULD be something her mum can relate to. Keeley is a little desperate for that support, but her mum just won't give it. All she has for Keeley is constant criticism about her life choices. “You know you’re not going to be able to rely on your good looks forever, Keeley, you need to find a real job” type of shit, you know.

So like, basically I think Keeley as an adult can be polite and have more pleasant interactions with her dad than with her mother, because her dad sucks but it's in such a straightforward way, whereas she has a much more complicated relationship to her mum, whom she doesn't like, but loves, and who she pities but also admires in a way. And she actually wants a relationship with her mum (that simply doesn't exist no matter what she does or accomplishes or tries), or did at some point at least. So Keeley takes a lot more out on her. Which, yeah maybe isn't very fair of her, but such are mothers and daughters. She cares more so it hurts more, etc.

[duhragonball]

JoJolion Ch. 71-76

This is the "Ozone Baby's Pressure" arc, but there's also a flashback to Yasuho's childhood hair clip. What dark secret could it possibly hold?

If you guessed "It's another Rock Animal," then congratulations, I guess.

To be fair, Rock Animals are still a new-ish concept, since we've been dealing with Rock Humans all this time, until Ryo Shimosato brought a Rock Animal to the last arc. Now that they've both been defeated, Yasuho realizes that she's encountered a similar creature before, and she tells Rai Mamezuku about this hair clip she bought when she was 13. She thought it would make her look cute for when her dad came to see her. Her parents were divorced, you see, so she takes these weekend visits very seriously.

Unfortunately, the clip was actually a weird parasite that somehow made her see all these terrible misfortunes. First she thinks all her friends hate her for forgetting a classmate's birthday, then she starts having terrible dandruff and flaky skin, then she thinks she's lost her hair clip when it seems to have been hidden in her hair the whole time. Then she sees her father, who tells her he won't be visiting her anymore because he wants to spend that time with his new girlfriend.

I'm not clear on how much of these things were truly real. Her "father" is clearly shown to be an illusion or dream produced by the creature. The dandruff and flaky skin might have been genuine, since Yasuho went to the pharmacy to get salves for it, and they seemed to have an effect, but I don't know. The same with her getting hate messages from her classmates. The Rock Animal couldn't have been responsible for that, but I don't know for sure that it could make her see that sort of thing. My guess is that it just triggers anxieties in Yasuho's brain, and her mind fills in the details from her own doubts and insecurities. I assume that whatever was going on here, the Rock Animal was feeding on this in some way.

Yasuho became so despondent that she attempted suicide, but she was saved by none other than Dr. Holly Kira.

Then Holly says some cryptic stuff about Yasuho needing to keep an eye out for what's important in her life. If she only looks inward, she may not be able to see it. What could this possibly mean?

Well, as soon as she leaves, her son Yoshikage steps in to apologize for anything weird she might have said earlier. According to him, this is Holly's last day practicing medicine, and it's pretty clear that her mind is beginning to experience the symptoms of her disease. Kira also apologizes for stepping on Yasuho's hair clip. I'm guessing this is a pure coincidence, since Kira doesn't know about Rock Humans or Rock Animals either, but he inadvertently saved Yasuho from the source of her troubles.

The point of all of this is that Yasuho had forgotten Holly and Yoshikage before all this JoJolion stuff started, but she now realizes why she pulled Josuke up from the hole he was in. She hesitated at first, worrying more about the dangers of touching a nude stranger, but she remembered Holly's words. "I grabbed onto his wrists, but the one who was pulled up was me." Yasuho declares that her motives are the same as Josuke's and so she's as much a part of this case as the rest of them.

This convinces Rai that she's not a liability to their cause. Yasuho knows what's at stake, and she understands the priorities here. She had already earned his respect for helping Josuke figure out how to defeat Ryo, but now he's convinced that she won't be in the way.

Meanwhile... whatever this bullshit is. The Higashikata Family sucks. The biggest gripe I have with JoJolion is how the story keeps trying to play this family off as basically good and worth saving, but then we see them doing vapid shit like talking about whether fish sausages are getting smaller. Jobin is actively a villain in this thing, Joshuu and Daiya are creeps, and Hato is barely even in the story at all. If they all died at the end, it wouldn't bother me at all. Josuke could attend their funeral and then go off to start a new life with Yasuho.

By now, Jobin has buried Poor Tom's Stand, Ozone Baby, in the family orchard. Poor Tom is a Rock Human who contacted Jobin and proposed this plan to keep Josuke and his father from getting the Rocacaca Fruit. But why? Well, we get this flashback to when Jobin and Norisuke went to a baseball game together, and Jobin can't enjoy it because he wanted better seats. He thinks the stadium should have arranged this for him, just like that restaurant they went to the other day. Norisuke doesn't get it, since all you have to do is make reservations ahead of time. Jobin thinks that's bullshit. Their fruit parlor is a big friggin' deal--at least the way he sees it-- and their contributions to society ought to be acknowledged with special treatment.

So I think it's pretty clear that Jobin is an self-entitled sonovabitch. He already gets to eat at fancy restaurants and take in ball games, but that's not good enough for him. He wants to do those things whenever he wants. Like, just walk up to the stadium and get a great seat automatically. Or just have a table at the restaurant always on standby for when he shows up. And if he can't get those things, then that must mean the fruit parlor has lost its power and influence in the community.

Jobin has ideas to "restore" the fruit parlor's standing, but these involve importing other products that have nothing to do with the core business, like dressings, oils, and less-expensive processed fruit. Norisuke flatly refuses, since the whole point of their business is to sell premium fruit, the kind that people give as gifts. If you dilute your wares with cheaper or unrelated products, then it weakens the brand. Put simply: "A fruit shop doesn't need to be powerful." Jobin's ideas are only to boost his own ego, not their business.

Norisuke leaves Jobin to stew in his own bitterness. Did he just leave the game, or is he only getting up to take a whiz? This is how much I despise baseball: When I went to games, the piss breaks were something to look forward to, because I could get up and do something anything else. Baseball stadiums are boring, wretched places where fun goes to die, and the fact that Jobin turned to the dark side because he can't attend baseball games harder is probably the thing I hate about him the most.

Like... does he even care about the games anymore? He seems way more annoyed about not having a better seat. Maybe the problem here is that Jobin's in his mid 20's or so in this flashback, and he's lost interest in baseball, but he can't quite bring himself to admit it. This is where nostalgia-fueled bitterness stems from. The game didn't change, you changed. The novelty and wonder of it is lost to time, and rather than recognize that, you try to find some way to get back that old feeling you had as a child. "Well, I'd enjoy this more if I only had better seats". That kind of thing.

Jobin's frustration here is embodied by his like "How is that fun? That's no Summer Vacation!" And I'm like... what does summer vacation have to do with not having to pre-order ballgame tickets? Jobin's like a big dumb kid, that's his whole motivation, so he's always trying to have as much fun and be as carefree as possible. The whole point of summer vacation is that you don't have to go to school, and you have the whole day to do whatever you want. Maybe Jobin's problem is that he's had that luxury for so long that he no longer knows how to enjoy it. Or maybe he's just gotten old enough that the charm of "summer vacation" no longer exists. I mean, I'm 47 and I sure don't give a shit. I'm taking a day off from work as I write this and it's great, but it's not some funderful experience like it would be for a little boy. I think Jobin wants more than a day off, he wants to recapture the way a day off must have felt when he was a kid. And it doesn't really work that way.

Anyway, this was the day he first met Yotsuyu Yagiyama, and presumably this was how Jobin got involved with the Rock Humans' Rocacaca smuggling business. He saw this as a way to improve the standing of the Higashikata family, although it's still not clear just how he expected this to work.

In the present-day, Rai and Josuke are on the Higashikata property, where Rai points out the branch to Josuke and applies some moth larvae that will improve the branch's health. They'll wait a few days to harvest the fruit, I guess, and that'll be that. Yasuho isn't with them, but that's just because she's gone home to investigate the Rock Animal that used to be her hair clip. Rai tells Josuke that she kept the pieces after Kira stepped on it, and she thinks analyzing the remains will give her some insight into how silicon-based organisms work.

I don't think this ever gets paid off later in the story. I'm pretty sure we don't see Yasuho show up with a computer printout and she breathlessly tells Josuke that the Rock Humans are vulnerable to Dijon mustard. Part of the problem here is that the characters kind of already know everything they need to know from the last seven Rock Humans they've defeated. Their main power lies in their Stand abilities, and fighting Rock Human with a Stand really isn't any different from fighting any other Stand Battle. Poison, fire, drowning, getting hit by a bus... all of these things will kill a Rock Human or a Rock Animal, so what more needs to be established?

I could see Yasuho wanting to confirm that the hair clip really was a Rock Animal, since all she has right now are suspicions, but it's been dead for six years. What difference would it make now?

So I think this was just a way to write Yasuho out of this next leg of the story. Before, she would get pushed aside by circumstance, or because other characters didn't want her involved, but now she's fully committed to seeing this through, so the only way to keep her away from whatever Josuke is doing is to have her pursue a different lead. That's a good thing, but this lead is pretty much a dead end.

I think the idea here is that no one saw Josuke and Rai on the orchard because Jobin was burying Ozone Baby in the orchard at the same time, and he had turned off the security cameras as a precaution. If he'd just refused Poor Tom's proposal, he might have been able to find the branch when the cameras caught Josuke and Rai fooling around with it.

As it is, Tsurugi saw Jobin anyway, and he wasn't even trying to spy on him or anything. He just wants to know if his dad did anything bad, since he knows Jobin was once in league with Yotsuyu Yagiyami.

Jobin tries to justify his actions as being for the good of the family, but he doesn't really explain what he's done, probably because he doesn't really know himself. I mean, the Rock Human smugglers probably made him a nice offer, but he had no idea what the consequences of that would be, and they've already tried to attack the family twice. As for Ozone Baby, Poor Tom assured Jobin that its ability would keep everyone away from the orchard, but Jobin didn't know how it would do this, or what its effective range would be.

Turns out, Ozone Baby affects the atmospheric pressure within a 100 meter radius. If you're indoors, the pressure gradually increases until it becomes deadly. Outdoors, the pressure is decreased, so if you go outside, you experience decompression, which will kill you that way.

This is kind of a bullshit ability, but not anywhere near as bullshit as Urban Guerilla, which only instakills people when it's convenient to the plot. Ozone Baby's problem is kind of a baseline issue with JoJo, where characters will experience some effect like fire or cold temperatures or rapid aging, and the effects are depicted as drastic and intense, but the characters will still be able to cope with it like it's some gradual problem, and they have time to endure it while they seek out a solution.

I mean, it makes sense that the pressure changes would hurt the characters, and you can just take it for granted that the pressure change is just enough to be dangerous without being immediately lethal. But Jobin's bleeding from his eyes, so things look much, much worse.

Jobin uses Speed King to heat bleach, which produces oxygen bubbles for Tsurugi to breathe. I don't understand why that's helpful, since Tsurugi experienced rapid decompression when the door was open. Also, the pressure inside the garage is increasing, so he's got that much more oxygen to breathe.

I'm nitpicking, but what makes this arc much better than the Urban Guerilla fight is that the Stand abilities are secondary to the story of Jobin's folly. In his desire to keep Josuke away from the branch, he teamed up with the Rock Humans one more time, and once again his family is put in deadly danger. Poor Tom's Stand will keep everyone out of the orchard, but it'll also kill everyone who's already there, including everyone in the Higashikata house. Tom's plan is to wipe out everyone in one stroke, so that way he can search for the branch at his leisure.

At this point, Tsurugi is genuinely trying to understand whose side his dad is on. Jobin assures him that all he wants to do is to get the Rocacaca and cure Tsurugi. If that was his true objective, though, then why wouldn't he just cut a deal with Josuke? Oh, wait, I just realized, that'd be like pre-ordering tickets to a ballgame. Jobin doesn't want to share the Rocacaca fruit with Josuke or anyone else.

Anyway, he convinces his son to team up with him, but they can't leave the garage, and Poor Tom must be miles away waiting for his Stand to finish them all off. So Jobin resolves to defeat Poor Tom without leaving the garage. He does this by combing his heat powers with Tsurugi's origami powers, and they set the orchard on fire. Then he calls Poor Tom to tell him, so he'll have to come to the orchard to save the branch.

This probably says a lot about Jobin's character, where he keeps digging himself into a hole and his only solution is to dig deeper. For all of his high talk about doing whatever it takes for the Higashikata Family's prestige, his big plan is to burn down their property. And just like Poor Tom's Stand, the fire isn't going to magically spare the house.

So where are Josuke and Rai in all of this. Well they were inside the bunker near the mansion when Ozone Baby's power kicked in, and when the fire starts, Josuke decides his only choice is to go retrieve the branch before it burns. That might give away its location to the enemy, but it's the only way to save it. He can't leave the bunker, though, because the pressure differential, but he reasons that if he surrounds himself with a Soft and Wet soap bubble, that will maintain his "indoor" pressure while he steps outside. Rai agrees with his logic, but insists on being the one to secure the branch, since he's better qualified to protect it from further harm.

But along the way, he spots Poor Tom, who's just arrived to dig up his Stand so that the fire department can put out the fire before the branch burns up. Rai siezes him and the branch, but...

Tom reveals that he can control his Stand more directly now that he's dug it up and holding it. That means he can increase the pressure inside Rai's bubble, and kill him before Rai can break his neck. See, this is what I'm talking about. Rai is literally being crushed to death by the pressure, but he's still alive and conscious.

But Josuke counters by launching bubbles containing yew berries. These are extremely toxic, and Josuke knows this because apparently Rai was telling him about this earlier. Apparently the orchard has yew trees, and Rai is relieved to find that Kira and Kujo didn't graft the Rocaca branch onto one of those trees, since it would lead to the fruit becoming toxic as well.

Why do the Higashikatas have poisonous fruits on their orchard? Well, Rai pointed out that their leaves and branches are used in Shinto rituals, so maybe it has something to do with this. Remember, Norisuke's business model is about selling fruit as gifts, not necessarily as food.

Anyway, once the bubbles are close enough, Josuke lets them pop, and the explosive decompression sprays the toxic contents into Tom's mouth.

But Poor Tom manages to defeat Rai before he can succumb to the poison. He does this by using the sheath of a knife, which he closes around Rai's cords, and that makes them "inside", which allows Ozone Baby to apply even more pressure. I guess it kind of makes sense that Rai could survive this, since his powers allow him to turn his whole body into wires, which is sort of like Jolyne Kujo's power to turn into string. I mean, how do you crush a rope?

Tom grabs the branch, but he still has to get away from Josuke (and the fire), so he can get medical attention for the yew juice he swallowed. Josuke launches this series of bubbles, one inside the other like a nesting doll, and that worries Tom because it must be some cool new application of Soft and Wet's powers.

Ultimately, Tom gets desperate enough to cancel his Stand's effects. I think the idea here was that Josuke's multiple layers of bubbles would allow it to get closer to Tom and still withstand the pressure changes, so Tom canceled Ozone Baby to keep the bubble away. But it turns out it was just a bluff. Josuke continues to advance toward him, and Tom tries to make a break for the nearest ambulance, which has arrived along with the fire trucks.

Tom believes that his allies are aboard the ambulance, because they know about his ability and they wisely kept he windows closed when they pulled in. That seems kind of specious, since most people would keep the windows closed while driving. I mean, for the air conditioning, if nothing else.

It doesn't really matter, because he gets shot before he can make it.

Well, at least I think he got shot. The thing is, it looks like someone would have had to shoot him from inside the orchard, and that seems unlikely. This might be another Stand that hasn't been introduced yet, but we're getting close to the end, and there aren't many Stands left for that. We'll see.

Anyway, a pair of shadowy figures are inside the ambulance, and they were Tom's comrades, and they do grab the branch before they drive away, but it turns out it's not the right one. How the hell did Tom screw that up? And what happened to the real Locacaca branch?

Jobin and Tsurugi have it. Jobin's plan was to use the fire to draw Poor Tom out and cancel his Stand ability, but it also forced Josuke and Rai to reveal the branch's location. Soon after, Tsurugi used his Paper Moon King power to confuse them all so they wouldn't be able to tell the real branch from a phony.

As we see in this flashback, Tsurugi was able to send origami cranes into the orchard, where they managed to touch Josuke and Tom without their noticing. The Stand took effect and made them both mistake a common pear branch for the Locacaca branch.

Presumably, once Ozone Baby was disabled, Jobin could just stroll onto the grounds and claim his prize. Tom is dead, and while Josuke and Rai survived, neither of them know what became of the real Locacaca branch, which gives Jobin the inside track. All he has to do now is graft it to a cactus (?) and keep it hidden from everyone else until it's time to harvest. Jobin convinces Tsurugi that he can't tell anyone about this, not even Norisuke, whom Jobin considers too weak to succeed in this venture.

So... Jobin wins? If it seems unlikely, that's because it is. The remaining Rock Humans are frustrated, and Josuke is despondent over his failure, but it won't take them long to realize who tricked them. Jobin's plan, much like his other schemes and goals, are too short-sighted to pan out. For all he gripes about his father's weakness, Jobin's hubris will be his downfall. I mean, he thinks he can just grow this graft in a flower pot for two weeks, in his house, with no one else finding out about it? This stupid mansion has been infiltrated three times already. They still haven't exposed Kyo Nijimura, as far as I can tell. It's all just wishful thinking. Jobin wants to believe he's a big deal, but he just doesn't have what it takes.