#like i definitely didn't get the worst from my parents (my siblings admit to having bullied ne the most as kids‚ so i specify) but isn't-

[squid--inc]

....

[an-indecisive-nerd]

Sibling Questionnaire

Tagged by @the-letterbox-archives here and @paeliae-occasionally here

Gonna respond with Alexander and Melantha, and I'll do a bonus answer including Lucia and Phoebe.

1. Who looks most like their father?

Neither of them look much like either of their parents, but Mel's facial structure looks closest to her father, and she acts the most like him.

Out of all four of them Phoebe probably looks most like William, but Mel still seems the most like him if that makes sense.

2. Who looks most like their mother?

Again, neither really look like their parents, but Alex probably looks closer to their mother. No one who knows their family situation would ever say that though.

Lucia looks very similar to Eleanor, but again, no one would ever say that to her.

3. Who eats the most?

It depends on what part of the story we're in, but most of the time it would probably be Mel, even with all four of them. She does a lot of physical stuff and needs the calories.

4. Who has been in the weirdest situations?

Ooh, honestly? It's probably a tie between the twins. Their lives are kind of insane.

5. Who sleeps the most?

Out of the twins, Alexander. He's the more responsible one.

Out of all of them, Phoebe, because she's the youngest and hasn't had anything happen to ruin her sleep schedule.

6. Most stable romantic life?

Oh my God the twins both have such weird love lives. Like their partners are great and they're very happy, the instability comes from various forms of magic bullshit and plot shenanigans. So yeah it's a tie.

Out of all four of them, the winner is Lucia. She’s happily married with kids and has no shenanigans going on.

7. Worst habit of each?

Oh boy they have so many bad habits lol. Alexander is a perfectionist. Melantha neglects her personal health for the sake of others. Neither of them are good at asking for help.

Lucia bottles her emotions. Phoebe is naive, but she's also literally a small child so that's not her fault.

8. Who's the most dramatic?

They all have their moments, but it's definitely Mel overall.

9. Who had the weird phase?

Mel is currently in her goth phase and has never and will never get out of it, so I'd say her.

10. Who's the best cook?

Alex is the only one who can't cook, because in his time men didn't really cook and his mom was low key sexist so he was never taught. Out of the four of them Lucia is the best cook.

11. Best memory together?

Ooh, tough one. For Alex and Mel it's probably when they first started their training. For all four of them, probably the months after they found out Mel was going to die soon so they tried to get as much quality time together as they could.

12. Worst memory together?

When Phoebe got sick.

13. Dream trip together?

Honestly, they would love being able to go anywhere all together, as long as their mother wasn't coming with.

14. Would you rather not be able to shower or change clothes?

They would all die if they had to go too long without showering.

15. Who's older?

Lucia is the oldest. Alexander and Melantha are four years younger than her. Mel is slightly younger than Alex. Phoebe is six years younger than the twins.

16. Describe the others in 3 words.

Lucia: "Alexander is smart, responsible, and social. Melantha is strong, protective, and reckless. Phoebe is sweet, cute, and kind."

Alexander: "Lucia is responsible, reserved, and thoughtful. Mel is a reckless stubborn idiot. Phoebe is an adorable little sweetheart."

Melantha: "Alex is an annoying perfect princess. I agree with his descriptions of Lucy and Phoebe though."

Phoebe: "Lucia is smart, nice, and like a mom! A good mom! Alex is friendly, smart, and awesome! And Mel is pretty, strong, and super cool!"

Mel: "Awww, thanks Pumpkin."

17. Role model?

Lucia doesn't really have one. Alexander's role model is Melantha, but he'd never admit that. Mel's role model is her dad. Phoebe’s is all her siblings and her dad.

18. Who has the worst ideas?

Mel has plenty of good ideas, but she definitely has her fair share of bad one too.

19. Who kills the bugs?

Alex would kill the bug with no issues. Phoebe would befriend the bug and cry if anyone killed the bug. Mel would pick up the bug and chase Lucia around with it.

Tagging the taglist (if you want to be added, interact here)

@thelovelymachinery @unforgettable-sensations @littleladymab

@megamijadeheart @my-bright-legacy @ominous-feychild

@thecomfywriter @wyked-ao3 @anamelessfacelessnerd

@differentnighttale @mysticstarlightduck @the-letterbox-archives

@leahnardo-da-veggie @paeliae-occasionally

[rubylarkspur22]

Questions and answers below the cut.

1: (AMSG/🌙 version 2) Tanjirou; How did you meet Kanao and fall in love? And what's your opinion of the other 12 Kizuki.

2: (MS/🔄) Ume, Gyutaro, and Douma; How did you meet the Kamado siblings?

I don't remember what exactly led to us meeting, but I remember seeing her. She was a servant girl for another clan. Something just... drew me to her. Eventually, I found a way to take her home, and we kept getting closer. And then I proposed, and the rest is history.

As for how I see the others of the Twelve Kizuki?

Douma's annoying at times, and his lack of emotions sometimes makes him unpredictable. But we only really interact at meetings.

Akaza is a good fighter. I'll admit, I'm a little curious about his refusal to harm women. And if I needed to step in less when it came to him and Douma, it wouldn't be the worst thing. But aside from that, he certainly earned his place.

I make a point to avoid Hantengu. He's only among our ranks because of his kill count and his power. If it weren't for that, I doubt he'd even be a Lower Moon.

I also avoid Gyokko. The scent of blood, decay, and fish gives me a migraine. Not to mention his... "art" projects.

Daki and Gyutaro are quite the team. Many dismiss Daki because she's technically weaker. However, as someone who once had a little sister, her strength shouldn't be diminished. Especially with seven Hashira dead by her hand. Yes, Gyutaro is the stronger sibling, but that doesn't mean Daki is weak or undeserving of the Upper Moon Six rank.

I don't usually pay attention to the Lower Moons. They're Lord Muzan's domain.

Douma and my brother went for a meeting with Michikatsu, and I happened to tag along. I was the first to meet them! You wandered off, and stumbled across them. Still met them first! It's true, Ume was the first of our little family to meet Nezuko and Tanjirou. Though, Tanjirou was still asleep. Yeah, but we've met up since he woke up. Still can't believe you stumbled across a demon, and didn't react. It all turned out okay in the end, didn't it? ... Yeah, I guess it did.

3: (BR/🎀) Kotoha; How's handling Kaigaku, Inosuke, Ume, and Gyutaro, and do you have any other parents to help you out?

Well, it definitely isn't an easy task. Inosuke is usually at safer places like Wisteria Houses, or my trainer's house, or the Butterfly Mansion, but I visit him whenever I can get a little time between missions. Wrangling Kaigaku and Ume is another story. When they're not trying to rip each other's throats out, one's trying to provoke the other, and it isn't easy to keep them and Gyutaro from lashing out. Luckily, I do have some help in the form of Shinazugawa Shizu. We've only really spent significant time around each other after she helped Ume and Gyutaro in the Swordsmith Village, but she's lovely. And she's been a massive help, I can tell she's had to deal with rowdy children at least once.

4: (MPCS/🌙 version 1) To the Tsugikuni Twins; How do you feel about Uta and Ranhime[the name I gave Michikatsu's wife]?

They're lovely. Uta can talk for hours, and it's nice to listen to her. She has a wonderful voice to listen to for all the time she speaks. And Ranhime has been very kind to both myself and my brother. Mm-hm!

[the-resurrection-3d]

@edoro

oh my good golly gracious lmao

Yeah, like Hunter has a scene where he tells his grandmother/Hopkins's self-insert that he feels really bad about not hating his bio-dad once he's actually met him, and he acknowledges that he says shit to his mom just to hurt her, but still. The fact that this is never brought up again is really jarring. I think it would have been a lot more interesting to explore how Hunter is willing to "forgive" / believe his bio dad because it makes it easier to judge his mom and be resentful towards her, but the book ends VERY soon after this scene. Basically it ends with all of the three main characters, who are half-siblings, meeting each other/their mom, sometimes for the very first time, and her having a little crying fit over being a colossal fuck-up. I see what Hopkins is going for, since the last poem is all three characters acknowledging that they see parts of themselves in her, but from a structural perspective I don't think it works because only Summer's plotline has any real build-up. All throughout the novel, she's been the one who actually communicates with her mom (albeit over the phone) and actually /does things/ to move a plot forward, whereas Hunter and Autumn have maybe three or four scenes each that are actually worth caring about. It feels like their stories stop right when they might finally be getting interesting, especially since Autumn fears she might be teen-pregnant with a boyfriend whose mad at her for lying about her parents being dead.

@discoursed-dracula

She's still writing those poetry books???

Gods. It no longer exists but she used to have a very Holier Than Thou author site where she admitted to using the experiences of her daughter and friends (without permission) to fuel her novels

Fallout was published in 2010, but it does still look like she writes in verse. I remember being really disgusted by Crank back in high school precisely because I felt it crossed a lot of boundaries to write things like rape scenes in her fake-daughter's POV. Fallout makes the pretense of fiction even thinner-- the actual last part is a newspaper clipping that reveals her self-insert has written books about her fake-daughter also named Crank, Glass, and Fallout. There's also one flashback where Hunter describes a girl being so obsessed with his grandmother's books that she literally sucks his dick for an autograph.

So Hopkins didn't pull a full Vonnegut, but she came pretty close.

My copy also contains a short essay from "the real Kristina" about her experiences and some of what her mom got right/got wrong, which makes me feel a little bit better ?? I dunno -- I definitely understand wanting to write as an empathy exercise, especially since your daughter becoming a teen mom and meth addict is pretty much every parent's worst nightmare. And I myself have written open nonfiction about my family members/friends and their problems -- some of which they know about, others they don't -- so I don't want to sit here and act like I don't also walk an ethical line with my stuff.

But I still think it's fucking weird. The aforementioned newspaper clipping mentions a cancelled co-author memoir between self-insert and fake-daughter, so that + "Kristina's" essay implies there might be more going on behind the scenes, but still, Bad Vibes.

I don't feel like finding my thread right now but I finished the book and it was pretty underwhelming #free my girl summer + this part made me laugh at how bad it was

[kagakuoniryu]

Hey welcome to Tumblr! I'm glad to see more people writing for league of legends and I'd love to read some headcanon for Draven in a romantic relationship ❤️

Synopsis :

General relationship headcanon of draven with a gender neutral s/o

Type :

Headcanon

Warning :

None

A/N :

Hi ! Thank you! I wanted to write for league for a while but never dared to, but now that I started doing it I don't regret anything! I kept the reader as gender neutral as possible so it could suit everyone since you didn't specified gender, I hope you don't mind!

I tried to correct any possible error with a translator since english is not my mother language, so I apologize if there is any big mistake

~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have, to be honest, no idea how the two of you met

But I can tell that it's probably draven who confessed first

After all he is really confident in himself, he probably even flirted with you before developing real feeling, just to see you flustered

And after you accepted his confession he won't let you go

He was an orphan, he didn't have any parent, and, when his life was at the worst part he was in a conflict with his older brother, lost his fame in noxian pits and was just drinking and gambling his life away

But now you're there

You're his sun and his life

He has enemies, and even if he'll never admit it, he'll prefer dying than seeing you hurt

He'll probably invite you to see him in the fighting pits

Just to show off

And sooner or later in the relationship you'll meet both darius and swain

Darius is easy to get along, sort of... He don't mind your presence but is grateful of you for taking care of his brother while he can't for multiple reasons

Swain just respect you as draven's partner, but he isn't grateful, or especially kind, he just treat you with the same respect he does with draven

Draven isn't really into PDA, people see him as a strong man, and he believe that if he show himself softer around you it will ruin his reputation

Unless he feel threatened by an other man/women who try to flirt with you, then in this case, nothing an arm over your shoulder or around your waist can't fix

He won't deny any form of affection you might give him though, he just won't initiate it

Draven probably want a family of his own, maybe adopted children, to be able to give a child who had nothing just like him a good life, bonus point if it's two kids and they are siblings

And he will definitely train them to fight, whether they're boys or girls or whether they end up to fight in pits or in swain's army, he don't care

He can be pretty domestic at home, if he really feel you need to rest he might do your part of the chores or try to cook dinner

Overall he is a good boyfriend, it's just the noxian mentality who prevent him from being as soft in public as he is in private

He want to be known and recognized around the world, a way to get revenge for his miserable life he had when he was younger

And he definitely plan to make you rise to the throne of glory by his sides

~I hope you'll like it~

🌸Request are open🌸

[doyelikehaggis]

Ok your Ben/Lol idea is making me wanting to do ships from the TSOTB and I thank you so much! Any suggestions?

Oooh, okay, I have a few ships from TSOTB!! Ben/Lol is obviously one of them, but my absolute favourite is Tracy and Crash. They just had a really special dynamic and the movie definitely confirmed some not-totally-platonic feelings.

I'm also here for Justine/Rebecca? Like, they could just have a nice enemies to best friends arc but I also like the idea of them finding more in each other, you know? Especially if they don't reconnect until after the events of "The Beaker Girls" when Justine has her baby, but she's raising him alone because Sean Godfrey is just kind of the worst (I know they got back together in the show but I'm still on the fence about their relationship), and they initially bonded over both having to take care of their little siblings, so I'm absolutely here for Rebecca helping Justine co-parent little Steve Jr and then them falling in love with each other and it is okay because they're already living together, raising a kid together, etc.

You will also be prying Lol and Wolfie from my cold, dead grasp because Wolfie was most definitely in love with Lol, which was a big reason for his jealousy over Lol constantly abandoning him to spend time with Bouncer instead. Wolfie would absolutely have been Lol's queer awakening as well, like he's never felt the way he does about him with anyone else, not even when he had a bit of a crush on Louise and Tracy.

Once again, pry Crash and Rio away from me, I dare you. I don't hardcore ship these two in an OTP sense like I do with Lol and Wolfie, but I can see them having a few moments of queer panic around each other, trying a relationship but having it not last long-term but remain really good friends because they're young and just really care about each other. Like when they bonded over their dads and got really close, I feel like they just kind of understood each other in that episode better than any of the others in the DG have understood them? So yeah, I see them having one of those relationships where you get together with your only other queer friend because you think it makes sense, but it's just not really meant to be, but you're still the best of friends.

Tracy and Jackie. Beautiful ship. They love each other deeply. Do I really need to say more? Like, I don't even care if they're romantic, platonic, queerplatonic or what, I just love them, okay?

I will admit, I did genuinely ship Tracy and Wilson. They were just really sweet!! They're probably the only canon ship I'm actually on board with.

I know you didn't ask for my reasons for shipping these characters and were only looking for suggestions but I couldn't help myself ksdjhfksj so I hope you enjoyed this little ramble! I now really want to write so many fics about, like, all of these pairings. I hope this was kind of helpful!

[mistaeq]

nijimura okuyasu: half and half

tw // hospital things at the beginning, angst, flesh bud

contains: have you ever wondered why is okuyasu's hair half black and half gray? and what about his facial scars? NO reader insert.

dora's note: this comes from my mind entirely. but i found this interesting, and i care a lot about it. i was scared of sharing it, but i think it's worth a read. i hope so. thank you in any case.

word count: 2.4k

"so, sir... what you're saying is that you have no clue of what happened to your baby?" the nurse asked. the adult held the older son's hand tighter, to prevent him from telling the lady what had gone down during the previous hours. he knew the child enough to imagine keicho wouldn't have stayed silent about it.

"not at all. i left the two of them in the kitchen and moved to my studio for a while. i heard screams and a loud cry, and when i went back to them, the little one was bleeding and... crying. i got so scared." listening to his old man's lies, five year old keicho left the place, running off of his father's grip, because he didn't even want to be touched by him. 

the man obviously made sure he had left the bloody ring at home, that one ring that originated two deep, symmetrical scars, the youngest nijimura would have never forgotten. and all nijimura mansaku could do about it, was lie, and say it was an accident. okuyasu, keicho's little brother, was in need of blood because of that injury, and it's meant to give you goosebumps, to know his only parent doesn't feel even remotely guilty about it. he's just ready to do anything in order to hide what really happened. in order to save himself over his baby.

the truth is, that not even dio himself ever trusted nijimura mansaku. it was clear from a mile away, that a man like him had no interest in the vampire's plan and intentions, rather than in the money he could earn from that alliance. that's why, to keep himself from being betrayed, dio brando made sure he gave him the flesh bud, a disgusting octopus-looking thing, that carried all of dio's will and dna. no wonder, the presence of that made his attitude as a father even worse than it was before. he was already used to hurting his sons, it more or less began when nijimura juuno, his wife and mother of his children, died. but the flesh bud worsened it, at the point that he didn't know when to stop.

at this point, both him and keicho had taken a blood exam to check the compatibility with okuyasu's body, and at the end of the day, the closest one was mansaku's one. how does it feel to save the son you almost killed with your own hands? how did you expect a three year old baby to endure that wrath? and the best part, is that all he could offer was dirty blood. dirtied by the flesh bud, dirtied by dio. but it's always better than nothing.

as he was running around the hospital after the blood exam's result, keicho looked for his little brother's room everywhere, and successfully climbed over a chair to take a better look inside of the room from the small window on the door. okuyasu was quiet. bandaged, connected to a bag, full of transparent liquid keicho couldn't quite identify. poor baby wasn't sleeping, his eyes were halfway closed. the blonde one blamed himself. that should have been him, not his little brother, he thought. if he could take the pain from okuyasu, he would have done that.

that was, until he felt the strong arms of a sweet nurse picking him up from the chair and putting him back on the floor. "be careful there, little one... who's your guardian?" oh keicho, he felt the impulse to go on and tell the lady that his father had lied. okuyasu's injury was no accident, rather domestic abuse. but all he could do was stare in the nurse's eyes. she looked like mom. she really looked like mom. the child pointed towards the door with his chubby finger. the sweet lady's breath gently hitched. "is that your brother? then your dad is looking for you. we'll take good care of him, he'll be fine."

so... it was okay, right? keicho trusted the sweet nurse. he even accepted to hold her hand as she guided him back to his father. and in his mind, when after a bunch of days of hospitalization, okuyasu was allowed to come back home, keicho thought the sweet lady had cured him directly. after such a concerningly narrow escape from guilt, mansaku didn't touch his sons for a week. it was the best week of the babies' lives. somehow.

"aniki..." the blonde's heart broke, everytime he heard that weak voice in his ears. he was combing okuyasu's hair, he always did. a lot of black, dark hair. the brothers were pure opposites. keicho's eyes were green, a really beautiful green, at it. they looked like two fresh apples. "...why won't these signs disappear...? i am ugly..."

okuyasu's eyes, on the contrary, were gray. as gray as a cloudy day, when it threatens to rain. and sometimes, it rained a lot in them. "they will disappear, eventually." keicho lied. "they're called scars. they make you look strong, not ugly." he knew what to say. it was a lot, for a six year old who had grown too fast. yes. six year old. he had his sixth birthday, during okuyasu's hospitalization. it wasn't celebrated. none of the children's birthday ever got celebrated, after juuno's death. but the biggest present had been the return of his little brother from the hospital, and it was more than enough.

"mama was b-beautiful." the little one mumbled with a short giggle. keicho moved a lock of his own golden hair away from his shoulder. he liked long hair. his father always forced him to keep it in a bun or in that weird hairstyle he used to have when mom was still alive. she used to style her son's hair with a braid when she had the chance, though. and keicho loved the braid too. "am i beautiful too?"

okuyasu's hair, on the contrary, was shorter, and pitch black. the elder brother liked to dip his hand in it, and it would just disappear in a dark cloud. "yes, of course you are." keicho's hair came from the fatherly part. mansaku's mother, the children's grandma, was blonde. on the contrary, okuyasu definitely looked more like mom. everyone on her family side was dark haired. and always tried to make others happy. keicho started to comb the younger's hair with his hands, and took the chance to check out the black again.

black on the front, black on the sides. black everywhere, every black hair around the house was okuyasu's. black were the eyebrows, black the eyelashes. the little locks of hair sprouting from the top of his head were black. the whole soft center of them was black, and just like the rest, his nape hair was... gold? no way. okuyasu was black haired, come on. keicho's hands trembled, as he touched those unusual locks. they were warm, and gave him negative feelings. but he couldn't quite understand how could it be possible. it didn't even look like human blonde. it was just... gold.

how do one's hair just turn blonde? nobody in history had ever had his hair to get blonde, no, gold, all of a sudden. nobody, right? right after that one operation, right after that one blood-giving thing. five year old keicho, smart but naïve, as kids are, just thought, that since father's family side was blonde, getting mansaku's blood could lead okuyasu to get blonde too. little did he know dio's dna was running around that blood because of the flesh bud on his dad's forehead. and that such a thing, injected in a three - almost four, in october - year old was no joke.

every morning since then, keicho would wake up in the middle of the night to go check on his little brother's new golden hair, and couldn't admit he was rather jealous, at this point. okuyasu's hair color was much brighter than his. soon, the pitch black cloud was gonna turn into a golden wind. that's how keicho was gonna call it.

the golden wind had started to spread more in okuyasu's nape, and reached the sides of his head as well. all that was left, was a bunch of black hair at the top. for a while, that one issue with the younger's hair had been an amusement for the both of them. "what if aaaaall of me turns gold?" the baby often asked, and keicho had an answer, under the form of "dad would sell you if you did, sweetie", but he never dared to really say that.

september came, okuyasu's birthday was always closer, and keicho waited for it patiently. every morning, he woke up earlier than usual, to comb his little brother's hair and get to school in time. on okuyasu's birthday, the kid couldn't help but notice the golden wind was a little paler than usual, but he'd just laugh it off with his little brother. "see? it's because you're turning old."

"but i-i'm... i'm not that old." god, okuyasu was an hilarious baby. and they laughed even more. now that they could. now that they had a reason to. because just a week later, their life would have been doomed.

keicho would have come back from school, he would have greeted his small sibling and caressed the golden wind with joy. add a prayer to make sure dad would have been used to hitting them less than he usually did. or better, not hit them at all, if possible. or at least, this is what he had planned. but he came back to an awful scene. the worst he could see. as soon as he opened the door, he was greeted with his little brother, crying right in front of him. for a second, he thought mansaku had beaten him again. "okuyasu!"

everytime he would beat them, before he stopped doing that after his little brother's operation, there was something weird about the man. like he hurt them without ever attacking. little did the children know, that he had a stand they couldn't see. "did dad hit you again?" he ran to okuyasu. "that scum!" but the little one kept saying no, and holding onto keicho as if something was scaring him to death. mansaku's screams could be heard from the other room, as if he was in pain. and it was looking down at okuyasu, that keicho noticed...

he didn't know what it meant. but dio had died. and with him, mansaku's flesh bud had gone berserk. and with that, okuyasu's golden wind became a gray cloud. dio was dead. it was over. the golden wind was over. "your hair..." keicho mumbled, caressing his little brother's hair. "what's happening..." he asked himself, as followed by the little one, he looked into the kitchen to see what was up with mansaku.

we all know what happened next. the man turned into a creature, not worthy of being called a man. the vampire had died, and the effect of his existance...

"...and the effect of his existance marked you for life."

the teenager's lips started trembling, as he pushed the tongue on his cheek's inside to prevent himself from crying. "okay, fine, it's a nightmare, after all. i'm gonna wake up in some minutes... and go to school... with josuke."

"i'm sorry, okuyasu." jotaro tightened his grip on the papers in his hands. the temperature in the nijimura household was dangerously cold, and the atmosphere caused by the topic they were talking to each other about was even worse. the marine biologist could swear the air was warmer, before he had finished explaining. "the foundation's been examinating all of your brother's childhood diaries. along with the testimonies josuke and koichi gave us about what your brother told them before his death."

"so, jotaro-san... i have these scars because the flesh bud made my father go mad." okuyasu stood up. "and i have this..." he pulled his hair in fury. "...this fucking hair because of dio's blood." jotaro started to feel not so much at ease. would have it been better for him to shut up about it? in josuke's opinion, it was the best choice. okuyasu deserved to know. "what is it, did that... scumbag mistake me for a customizable doll?" tears couldn't be held back anymore. kujo took his hat off.

"the hair thing happened to his son too. giorno giovanna, my... great grand uncle. but his hair changed from black to blonde when dio was dead, already. i think it's because it's a matter of parental genes, while you just had a direct injection of them when you were three, causing your body to react immediately."

"great granduncle..." okuyasu repeated, looking at the ground. "it's amazing you still have a great granduncle... and josuke is your uncle... you have your parents... and you have mr. joestar... and... a mrs. joestar, i believe...? and your daughter..." a couple of heavy tears fell on the ground from okuyasu's jaw. "you have such a big family, jotaro-san... i'm so jealous..."

how many families had dio destroyed? jotaro remembered of jonathan, even if they never met. jotaro risked seeing his mother die when he was seventeen. he witnessed friends die, when he was seventeen. and could, somehow, understand how would it feel for a teenager to lose his family. but maybe, he couldn't imagine how was it to come home to nobody. in his life, he used to come home to his mom and to his wife and daughter for a brief time. the kind of relationship he had with them is unrelated.

how does it feel to come home to nobody but a creature that barely remembers who you are? "josuke told me you would have probably said that." the marine biologist stood up, and in front of okuyasu's shocked gaze, he hugged the teenager. the younger one didn't even know what to do. did he have to hug back? did he have to stay still? he was hurting, but any kind of contact could make him melt. he trusted jotaro, he was a man to admire, in okuyasu's eyes.

"josuke told me so. and i agree with him, okuyasu. you're part of our family."

"family... t-thank you." the teenager finally hugged back.

he felt happy.

it was a painfully new sensation.

[yirrah748]

Chapter Two: To The Seaside (Part Two)

NOTE TO SELF:

I may have forgotten to include this, but our home (where we're from) is in the middle of the country, and our hometown (where we're going) is about north, the very edge of the north. So just to get to those pristine waters is long, hard work. That's why we rarely go there. When I was a kid, I didn't really understand, but now, I kinda do.

I definitely understood more about it when my parents told me that when I was three and we went there (when we had no car yet), I threw up on the bus, and Dad was drenched in my vomit. They learned about two lessons there. One, don't bring a baby on a long trip. Two, if you want to bring your baby, make sure you feed them antihistamine first, and bring an extra set of clothes too, for the parents and the baby.

1 PM

We passed by a tollgate and listened to the podcast on the radio, so I turned my music off. The content they were giving was ok, not something I would really like very much, but also not something that I would hate. The people were talkative and lively. I couldn't remember what they said but it was really entertaining to listen to.

During that time, wide meadows were beside the tollway, on the background were rows of mountains. Higher above, the sky was made of refreshing blue, with white clouds scattered like wisps of cotton.

We didn't know an hour had already passed and the podcast had ended.

3 PM

Not much had happened during 2 PM, it's mostly traffic. With the sun high up, it was very hot, and most of us were sweating. My stomach had calmed down so I ate what we had.

Bored after eating, we passed by a cemetery. A couple of graves have a cell room made for them. I asked what use those roofs were anyway, since their bodies were already inside a coffin. But it was not in my place to interfere. They do what they like, and I do mine.

Surprised on the sight, my uncle and mom talked about it. Listening to their chatter, I had to restrain myself so hard to not say:

"Uncle don't worry, you'll also have your own room when you die. I'll make sure of it."  

It was a bad joke.

4 PM

We later arrived at the entrance of the province. We were still quite far away, Dad had to admit, but we are only a few dozen kilometers away before reaching Dad's hometown. He was quite excited at that fact and decided to take a picture of us near the welcome arc of the region. I did not hesitate to take a picture, I was not welcoming to it, but I did not hesitate. I don't like taking pictures, but I like looking at pictures of others. I see myself as someone ugly, and my looks shouldn't be saved and shown to others, probably to laugh at. And for every picture they take, my self-esteem lowers. I guess it's because I was conscious that they were observing me and I was concerned about what they think of me.

After the picture, my parents both told me to smile more. They said I should try smiling in the mirror more often. But how could I practice and stare at the mirror when I would look away from it every so often. My looks were unbearable, and my fashion tastes questionable. If the mirror had a face, it too would probably look at me in disgust.

Enough of this self-pity though, I don't like it, it just makes me feel like the situation I am in is the worst when it isn't. In that thought, my cousin's family came to mind. During this summer, she has to take care of their store, tutor her siblings, take care of the youngest, try to find work, and even nurse her mother sometimes. And she's fifteen! I worry and admire her sometimes, whenever I go there, my mood lifts up, since the people around me are able to fight such tough battles, I just get inspired and feel their energy in the wind and get it too. Sometimes after I just get home from my cousins' home, tired and all, I'd clean my room even if it's already 7 pm and Dad is watching a movie after picking me up.

After overcoming my self-pity and got bored of my thoughts, I turned to my side and took a nap.

6 PM

We passed by another welcome arc and I was woken up to take a picture. I did the usual and tried to get back to sleep. Suddenly, my mom laughed out loud after inspecting the pictures.

In the picture, my eyes were drowsy, my clothes unkept, and there was a wet stain on my left shoulder made out of drool. It's disgusting but lol.

6:30 PM

Glancing outside, we passed by a market. Dad, Uncle, and Mom started discussing our consumables like water, shampoo, soap, food, etc. We didn't bring much of those and only for the trip. So they went shopping and Mom dressed me up. She told me I was to meet my new relatives and I had to be polite, well fuck. I was not exactly a polite person, but I was also not rude, I guess. I was just awkward. Like, after saying the usual greetings, I'd stay silent throughout and just listen to them. I was afraid that they would think that I was not contributing to the conversation, but it was really because I had nothing in my life that was notable about. Most of the time, I was playing online games with friends, doing some research and caring for my plants. Not doing traveling and going outside!

[TBC, Updates every Friday]