#sp (come say hi)

[alister312]

Summary

His mutterings are little more than mindless white noise. The price Christophe pays for free healthcare, or perhaps the price Gregory pays for free labor.

•

Christophe returns from a job, injured, and Gregory is upset.

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“— can’t believe you. How does one even have this much blood in them, Christ alive—”

Another yank as Gregory pulls the bandages tighter, cursing at the way red continues to seep through to the outer layer. “A bloody Sisyphean nightmare is what you are, literally…”

He could go on and on, and he does, but his mutterings are little more than mindless white noise. The price Christophe pays for free healthcare, or perhaps the price Gregory pays for free labor.

Christophe runs his hand over the towels he’s sitting on. Cheap, scratchy things, swiped from motels, destined for getting bloodstained and burnt; Gregory’s too fond of the sheets to subject them to such a fate. Christophe’s suggested doing this in the kitchen instead for easy clean-up, but Gregory insists on the bedroom. More privacy, less chance of table scraps getting into his first aid kit. Not that there are scraps. It’s just always been the bedroom, back when it was the only place they knew as their own. This makes it sacred, ritual; Gregory loves to heap such significance on things that don’t have any.

While Gregory is preoccupied with one arm, Christophe’s other fumbles in his pocket for a cigarette and lighter. It’s one of the many one-handed skills he’s mastered. He’s quick at it, a practiced, fluid motion of retrieve and light but Gregory has always caught on quicker than Christophe can act.

“No, no, absolutely not!” He snatches it directly from Christophe’s lips and tosses it in a glass of water on the bedside table. “Christophe Germain DeLorne, how many times have I told you—”

“You know it helps with the pain,” Christophe spits.

“Of course, how could I forget, the pain,” Gregory laughs humorlessly. “What about the pain of lung cancer thirty years down the line? Or perhaps more like five years down the line for a chimney stack like you.”

“Fuck you Gregory, save your soapbox for the masses. And why the hell did you throw it in the water, what if I wanted to drink that?!”

“What, the tepid water that’s sat there undrunk for three days? You didn’t even put a coaster under it Christophe! If that wood is warped or stained I swear…”

“Pah, of course a pussy like you would care so much about his wood.”

“Excuse me for valuing my possessions and not wanting to see them destroyed by torpor.” It’s a word Christophe doesn’t recognize, which means Gregory wants the conversation over. Christophe shuts up but makes sure to squirm and pull away and glare through the rest of the inspection. Making Gregory’s job harder is hell on both of them but the thrill of petty delight Christophe feels watching the man’s prim facade twitch in annoyance is worth it.

•

“There.” Gregory stands and puts his hands on his hips with a sense of finality. Whether this is because he’s used up all the gauze on hand or because the blood now only seeps through in trickles, Christophe isn’t sure. He flexes, frustratingly familiar with the way it grips his skin.

“You’re going to want to keep pressure off that arm,” Gregory says, “and keep it clean.” Like Christophe isn’t intimately acquainted with wound care. Like he wasn’t spitting on scraped knees and ripping shirts to make tourniquets when he was eight years old. Not that Gregory would consider that proper treatment.

Gregory’s eyes follow him as Christophe stands, narrowing in confusion when he doesn’t go for the balcony. He’s broken ritual, casting aside his single chance to smoke.

“Tell me you’re joking,” moans Gregory as he sees what handle Christophe reaches for. He scrambles to his feet and lets out an indignant “Ugh!” when the taps turn on. “Christophe, that was the last of my supplies on hand! You cannot be getting it all wet and soggy!”

Christophe struggles to toe off his half unlaced boots. “You’re wet and soggy.”

“And you’re a child, apparently.”

“I’m just doing what you told me, bitch.” The boots come off, along with the socks, heels threadbare from how often he does this. “Keeping it clean.”

“You’re doing this to spite me,” Gregory hisses. “I know you are.”

“What, a man can’t come home from a day of digging and getting shot at and treat himself to a nice, hot bath? C’est tragique.”

“You hate baths!” That is true. Christophe doesn’t see the point in making a soup of himself, no matter how often Gregory insists it would melt away all the tension in his muscles. Mercenaries need that tension anyway. Gregory can don gloves before he gets dirty all he wants; Christophe loves the dirt beneath his fingernails, the grey grit he gets scraping sweaty hair out of his eyes.

Pants kicked off, he pulls his shirt over his head and Gregory’s scowl softens to a frown. He approaches slowly, fingers ghosting over a large bruise, purple and splotchy. Christophe turns away before he can flinch away instead.

“That’s new, isn’t it?” Underwear off. Tub nowhere near full yet but he sits anyway. “Christophe.”

“It’s fine.” Pain stabs as he shifts to grab the soap. “I’m fine.” Christophe must not be hiding his grimace well enough because Gregory sighs and takes the soap from his hands. Not like he fought him as soon as their hands touched. He’s fought enough for the day; Gregory understands.

•

The washcloth is nothing like the towels on the bed. It is gentle and thorough. The man who wields it insists on every nook and cranny, though he is careful to avoid the freshly bandaged area on Christophe’s arm. The bruise is also handled as delicately as a baby bird, patted softly. Dead skin and dirt cloud the water so Gregory insists on draining, then refilling.

“What’s that?” Christophe eyes the liquid pouring from a bottle in Gregory’s hands suspiciously.

“Lavender.” He caps the bottle. “It’s relaxing.”

“It’s bubble bath soap. Gregory you prissy little bitch, you are not about to make me take a fucking bubble bath.”

“It was a few drops! It’ll hardly make any bubbles.”

The top of the tub water looks like cappuccino foam and Christophe punishes Gregory’s lies with a foamy beard. Several beards, as Gregory keeps wiping them off when his hands aren’t preoccupied with scrubbing at Christophe’s disastrous mop of hair. It would be smart of him to cut it short, maybe even buzz it. He likes the way Gregory’s slender fingers feel running through it though as it gets cleaned, and the few days afterward when he doesn’t think it's an oily disaster. Gregory always smiles when he does it, which is an added bonus. Says it's nice to get it out of the way so he can see Christophe’s face.

Gregory takes him by the shoulders and lowers him into the water to rinse out the shampoo. Christophe’s certain he wasn’t handled with nearly this much care by whatever fuckhead priest baptized him. It was probably in a grand chapel, stained glass pouring in technicolor streams of light while his mother and godparents stood by in their Sunday best. Gregory is bathed in bathroom fluorescents and he’s rolled up his sleeves and pant legs but they’re soaked at the ends anyways. Stained, too, with Christophe’s blood from earlier.

“Shit. The bandage—”

“Shh. I’m sure I have more supplies lying around somewhere.”

•

He does. Of course he does. Gregory redresses the wound and presses a cold compress to the bruise, eliciting colorful language from Christophe in his native tongue. He doesn’t shy away though. He lays down carefully afterwards, shifting pressure to his good side; Gregory joins him. His fingers comb through Christophe’s hair and his eyes stare but they’re not scrutinizing, or even studying. It’s a lost in thought look, the slightest crease between his brows, lips parted a mere millimeter.

Christophe could be enraptured by it forever.

“Désolé,” he says instead.

The crease between Gregory’s brows deepens, curious, but he pairs it with a smile and his tone is nothing short of tender. “Whatever for?”

“Not putting a coaster down.”

Gregory tuts fondly, caressing Christophe’s cheek. He is forgiven.

As he always will be.

[dvdkisser]

Monster Akeshi from last night. Gonna keep working on her design probably, either way watch out pidgey 👹

[cringelordofchaos]

"Kyle is a manipulative and sneaky liar -" you sound like cartman

[ask-marj]

Hi marj:) what was it like letting all the others know you wanted to STAY marjorine and that it wasn’t just a costume anymore ?

Well it was... definitely hard. Just cuz I wasn't sure how they'd respond.

I told Kenny first, w-when I was still figurin' everything out, since he's my best friend. And cuz- well, I figured he'd understand the most, with the Princess Kenny stuff.

A-And turns out he did! So me an' Karen an' him all played dress up and it really help set things in stone for me.

Tellin' everyone else came all at once, when after a while he convinced me to get changed at school and show up as... well, myself.

That part was real nerve wracking. But it went over way better than I thought, cuz after the initial shock, no one really seemed to care.

I was mostly worried about tellin' the other guys... especially Eric.

Turns out they didn't really give a shit either. So everythin' has been normal since.

Sooo yeah! Now the only people I haven't told are my parents. Cuz I'm p-pretty sure they'll kick me out...

[sasukeless]

Seeing you reblog posts about things the anime added that wasn't in the manga, I wonder if the experience of consuming only the anime changes a lot of how people can interpret Naruto (both the character and the series)? I only read the entire manga at like 14 going 15, and bits and pieces since then, and always felt like I had a little different experience from my friends at the time that only watched the anime? Like just curious about what important messages/context were portrayed different on TV

the truth is that there’s just so much that is missed and changed in the anime but most people either don’t realize it or prefer it because.

the thing about adaptations is that the people that do them sometimes view the characters different than the actual author and their bias CAN affect how faithful the adaptation ends up. ig ppl assume this is not the case with anime because most of the time they just animate the scenes in the manga as they are but that’s not true, it might not be as extreme as comics adaptations in hollywood but there’s still changes. with naruto especially is jarring, i mean almost 50% of naruto anime is just filler.

i know ppl don’t know what filler is lately because they think some beach episode is filler or whatever when the point of filler is that it’s just not in the source material and you might think that’s not a big deal but unfortunately in naruto case it is. like i said ppl that make these fillers have different readings of the characters so the portrayal of said characters in those added episodes ends up being contradictory to how they are in actual canon and thus people that take fillers as canon end up having a completely wrong opinion in the characters. it doesn’t help at all that the anime doesn’t just keep filler to filler episodes they add also scenes in actual canon episodes so again ppl obviously get confused and it’s frustrating.

the amount of times i see people making anti sasuke meta based in some shit studio pierrot added is hysterical because that’s not his actual character why are you analyzing something he never did in the canon story?

aside for characters, there’s also dynamics that are butchered by the anime either by downplaying them or just making it seem more. and if we talk of specific message/context i will always point at vote2 episodes which is literally meant to only follow manga and yet still In the culmination of the story, the anime managed to add filler scenes that dilute it

yesterday i joked about this but truthfully the endings and openings with all the symbolism and metaphors did sometimes a better job at adapting naruto than the actual episodes.

i know ppl love the anime, i mean the nostalgia and everything it’s there. i would be lying if i said there’s not some bits i like. but i will always fight the manga is the only one that should be taken into account if you’re seriously discussing naruto’s story and characters

[ihatethiswebsite77]

So in defense of Ginger Cow.

I know people's big grip with this episode is Cartman's behavior, and I get it... To an extent.

We know Cartman likes fighting with Kyle because Kyle is usually the only person who is going to give Cartman the kind of reaction he seeks to be given.

But I think it's also important to remember that Cartman is a little sadistic bastard. Cartman doesn't enjoy ripping on Butters instead of Kyle because Butters just happily agrees with him. Cartman doesn't enjoy ripping on Kyle about basketball once the coach rejects him because Kyle genuinely agrees with what the coach has told him.

But in Passion of the Jew Cartman does enjoy hearing Kyle agree with him after watching the movie. Because in that moment Cartman feels as tho he won a round of their little game. He beat Kyle and he gets to enjoy the fact that he is the cause of his beat down attitude.

Because what Cartman really enjoys the most about his interactions with Kyle, is that Kyle puts up a fight. So the only time Cartman can enjoy a lack of "resistance" from Kyle is when he feels like he has personally beaten Kyle in a round of the game that is their rivalry.

He doesn't want Kyle to happily agree with him (Like Butters does) . But he also doesn't want Kyle to give up (like he does when the coach tells him he can't play basketball). Because that would mean that he hasn't won, because what is winning if Kyle isn't acting like he lost?

He wants to fight with Kyle, and he wants to beat Kyle in those fights of theirs. The same way Kyle wants to beat him. So it's not crazy to think that he would act this way after finally having "beaten Kyle". As long as he beat a Kyle who put up a fight and not one that didn't, and as long as that Kyle is actually acting like he lost. I think it's safe to say that he would get pretty bored of this farts thing relatively quickly and they would go back to "playing another round" of their game/rivalry.

Viewing their entire dynamic like a game where Player 1 and Player 2 compete in an endless amount of rounds feels pretty accurate to me. Because as much as either of them like that moment of triumph that comes with having won a round, they still want to go back to playing the next one.

I think the only place where this episode does mess up a bit is in the way it's plot requires Kyle to not say anything in protest to Cartman. So it's not unreasonable for people to see this as mischaracterization of Cartman, and his dynamic with Kyle at first. Because you can't tell immediately that the thing Cartman is relishing in is the fact that his "victory" is immensely pissing Kyle off. But If you look deeper into, and reframe your view it really does make sense for Cartman to act his way.

TL;DR: Kyle doesn't verbally push back on the things Cartman does and says in this episode. But it's not really out of Cartman's character to enjoy the type of dynamic him and Kyle have in this episode, because Kyle is very clearly not ok or happy with what is happening. And that in itself is another part of their dynamic that Cartman, as evident in many episodes (see tags for another reference too), finds amusement in. Cartman does want Kyle to talk back to him, fight him on his statements, but Cartman also wants to beat Kyle, and have Kyle be humiliated by that loss. Cartman is one sadistic person. And I have seen a lot of people say that him enjoying Kyle's "submissive attitude" in this episode is out of character for him. And I say that's wrong, because what he is finding amusement in isn't that attitude. Because the kind of "submissive attitude" Kyle presents in this episode is not the one Cartman hates and has shown to hate. He hates Butters' submissive attitude in Smug Alert. The one with a cadence of facing ridicule and insults with acceptance and positive attitude and little to no negative reaction or emotion. What Cartman finds amusement in here is that he knows Kyle hates what is happening. Even tho Kyle has to behave as tho he is happy with eating his farts. Cartman knows that's not really the case. They're fundamentally different.

[victimized-martyr]

As awful as Cartman is, his true desires are simple. He just wants attention and praise— and it’s not only important to Cartman that he gets that praise, but also by whom it’s being said. (there’s a reason Jimbo is one of the people to say good job)

[plugnuts]

Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no

Profile Kyle has entered the ring

[fear-ze-queer]

clyde is that one cishet dudebro who's supportive but asks incredibly invasive questions because he just. doesn't understand that it's offensive.

[ladykennymccormick]

I have to be real and speak my truth for all the south parkers tonite. The cis one w the least amount of gender fuckery is Kyle. I know I love him and I hear the rabble but some of you are mistaking cartman, an antisemite, doing the antisemitic thing of taking away Kyle’s masculinity because he is Jewish and equating it to Kyle himself being a gender fuckup of his own accord.

[acaesic]

if yapping in the tags were a job id be jeff bezos

[alister312]

wanted to practice some fun expressions so i drew some of my next gen kids

[shhh-secret-time]

I woke up today and saw my collection of silly stories got 100 kudos on AO3. That number may seem small, but it means the world to me. This year alone I've been inspired to wrote more than I ever have in my life. We hit 50 followers here too!

I say we because from the bottom of my heart I mean it when I say I couldn't have done it without you guys. I wanted to make this post to talk about you guys.

Truly I can't express enough. Thank you. It took a very long time to get where I'm at in life and sometimes it is exhausting. But everytime I see a kudos, heart, reply, or even a reblog with tags talking about how much you liked it; my heart soars.

I love you guys very much. If you need me I'm a DM away. Take care of yourself for me, because you mean something to me. I promise it does get better, even if it's small things like this.

[chotachica]

CRAIG IN BOTH THE PANDEMIC EPISODES LMFAOOOJHKTDKK

[boy-armageddon]

Whenever people write about the blood brothers or just whatever whitney does musically, it sort of feels like that, whenever they describe whitneys vocals or just the guy in general, they're trying their hardest 2 call him faggy without saying the word. it's kind of evil

[incurable-bookkl3pt0]

I understand that, I really do. It's just. What bugs me about this situation is that they walked away, but then tried to insert themselves back into Branch's life like nothing happened. My sisters have brought up that point, and I get where they're coming from, but I see Branch's pain and can't just dismiss that. Yes, they were well within their rights to leave, but in doing so, they lost the right to be a part of Branch's life. They got their freedom, at the cost of their relationship with their youngest brother. There is no such thing as a free lunch. They can't have their cake and eat it too.

And that's what bugs me the most about this movie. They gave BroZone what they wanted at the expense of Branch and his mental health, but they also wanted to insert BroZone back into Branch's life as if NOTHING happened, and that's the part that really bugs me. On top of that, the entire bus scene is just horrible. Not only were (Sp)Bruce and Clay being unnecessarily petty towards John Dory (and yes, he was bossy, but not bossy enough that warranted that argument; I say this as an eldest sibling) but they were completely dismissive to what John Dory said in his defense. 4 little brothers was a lot of responsibility. Add that to the pressure of the band, and it's no wonder he was the first out that door. I don't blame him for that.

What I do blame him for is being dismissive and completely insensitive to Branch's feelings. There was NO reason to make fun of the fact that Branch wanted to have them back in his life. Maybe he wasn't expecting to live together and roast marshmallows, but he at the very least expected SOMETHING to come out of this adventure. But the way the bros were talking made it seem that they were coming together for Floyd and then immediately going back to ignoring each other. That's the vibe I got from that conversation, and I bet that's the vibe Branch got too.

I'll give credit where credit is due. John Dory ADMITTED to have gone back to the tree, but found it abandoned. He thought Branch was dead the entire time. My guess is that he tried to look for the trolls via the tunnels, but since they were collapsed, didn't have much luck and wrote him off as dead, believing himself to be the last (Pop) Troll left. That is, until Rockpocalypse. So if ANY brother has a right to be in Branch's life, it's John Dory. Because from the looks of it, (Sp)Bruce, Clay, and Floyd didn't even attempt to go back, or at least it wasn't mentioned in the movie. And that bugs me more. (Sp)Bruce and Clay didn't even bother with a goodbye (JD's goodbye was generic and over-the-shoulder, but at least he said one) and didn't seem like they ever attempted to go back (in Clay's defense, the Putt-Putt Trolls thought they were the only survivors, but I don't know if that's worse since it implies he was at the Troll Tree the entire time and just never bothered to go visit his Grandma and baby brother; which is just cruel) and we never got details on just WHAT Floyd was doing all these years.

That brings me to why I believe that Floyd was ironically the cruelest. Unlike the rest, he PROMISED to be back, and he said he'd be back SOON. Yet, he never did. How much do you want to bet Branch held him up on that promise; based on the fact that he wore Floyd's old vest constantly? He doesn't even have the Velvet and Veneer excuse because they had him for a couple of months at most. He was gone for 20+ years. And somehow everyone is just letting him off the hook because he was the only brother that gave Branch a personal goodbye after a quick talk, and the only one that didn't immediately baby him the second they reunited; and also he almost (momentarily did?) died. That bar is so low that the devil is tripping on it. That is literally all it takes for people to go easy on Floyd, and immediately turn around and crucify John Dory, the only one that ever gave an actual legitimate reason for leaving, and admitted to trying to come back. (Sp)Bruce's only problem was the way John Dory treated him, so him leaving makes zero sense since John Dory was the first one out the door. Clay's reason for leaving wasn't much better. He wanted to be taken seriously. If he had stayed home, with John Dory and (Sp)Bruce gone, he would have been the oldest, so being taken seriously would have come naturally. Finally, Floyd. Honestly, I think he had the worst reason. He wanted a solo career. Could that not have been accomplished at home? BroZone seemed to have been doing fine growing from home. Could he not have done the same with a solo career? Especially since the only brother at home was a literal infant, there wouldn't have been anyone to disrupt that solo career; at least not until Branch grew old enough to have his own music career. So what exactly was his reason? If he had said he wanted to travel the world, that maybe would have clarified why he needed to leave. It wouldn't have made it any better, but at least his leaving would make sense.

So okay, yes. They were teens who wanted to live their lives. Yes, they weren't in any way obligated to raise Branch. But they could have at least kept in contact. Based on the fact that (Sp)Bruce sent a postcard, and the whole thing with the ransom letter, there is a mailing system. How hard was it to write a letter to the one brother that they probably had no beef with (on account of him being a LITERAL INFANT) and their grandmother?

Also, I would like to point out that Rosiepuff dying would have made them Branch's next-of-kin, hence making raising Branch 100% their responsibility, so in the end, the whole Branch-wasn't-their-responsibility argument is moot. Before anyone argues against that point, I would like to direct everyone's attention to the movie Lilo & Stitch. I rest my case. And before anyone says it, judging by Branch's age when his grandma got eaten, they (minus Floyd probably) would have definitely been old enough to take care of him by then. So age isn't an excuse here either.

In conclusion, I forgive and (mostly) don't blame Branch's brothers for leaving. What I'm mad about is the lack of contact (JD gets a pass because he at least tried to come back but thought everyone was dead) and how they treated Branch upon reuniting. Floyd treating him as an adult and not the baby they left behind does not garner a pass because he never apologized for not coming back despite promising to do so. Clay also does not get a pass, even if he WAS the only brother that (barely) apologized for missing out on (practically all of) Branch's life. They had the right to leave, but they had no right to act that casually and dismissively towards Branch and reinsert themselves back into his life just like that. Especially since they practically missed out on his whole life.

Honestly I'm surprised Branch even remembers them at all.

Okay. So I'm doing this now, I'm playing devil's lawyer with fucking BroZone...

s i g h

Welcome to...

✨Branch's brothers didn't do anything wrong✨

(First part)

Quick disclaimer, english is not my first language. Oh! And this is going to get a little psychological

Let's remember the context of the characters, 'key?

When we get to the story, seeing through little Ramón's eyes, we see four boys who seem to hate each other. We don't know why.

Some may think that the reason they left was because their hatred for each other was greater than their love.

But let's think for a moment! About the family situation these kids were living:

Their parents are gone. They work doing something they haven't enjoyed in a long time. Even if their grandmother is there as a loving caretaker, she is juggling. Raising five kids of different ages, with different needs. She has to deal with the two teenagers, there's also one that is entering adulthood and other who is leaving childhood AND ON TOP OF ALL! She has. A. Fucking. Baby.

So the family situation was shitty, right?

And in that last fight he just- left because if he didn't, he was going to kill those three idiots or was going to kill himselve.

These were four angry, hurt and desperate for freedom teenagers.

And they did what angry, hurt and desperate teens do best. Run away from home

They didn't thought that they were abandoning their little brother, they thought that they wanted to live their lives. And, sorry, but I think they had the right to do so. Just as they also had no responsibility to take care of their baby brother.

Because, plain and simple, Branch's brothers are. NOT. His. Dad.