#the monkey's bookshelf

[zoanzon]

Continuing this from last year since it should maybe help motivate me...and otherwise my tag the monkey's bookshelf will help me keep track of what I read/finished and when. But yeah, I finally finished Harrow the Ninth!

I find it genuinely funny how I bodied Gideon the Ninth in about three days, then took more than six months to make my way through half of Harrow's 510-page count...and then I did the other half of the book in two days.

(Guess that's one upside of being sick and getting headaches if I tried to look at electronic screens for too long: it got me to actually sit down and focus on getting through the book lol)

But yeah, I went into Gideon and then into this with my A-Game 'Red String Brigade' goggles on, and had the time of my fucking life dissecting paragraphs and sentences and word-choices because, more often than not, they were setting up later stuff. I didn't always guess what was going to happen properly, but I guessed more than a few twists right and I'm so proud of myself for it.

Was not expecting how the book ended, but I've got to say...damn, yeah, alright. Lets see where the hell that's going!

Books finished in 2024 so far: 001

[passions-and-pupils]

Homemade journey to the west figures

based mainly off of LMK

[mainprotagonist]

oh my god i just remembered the aipom and grookey funko pops please someone buy me these monkeys!!!!!!

[emelinstriker]

{Eternal Servants AU} Ao Lie ♡ Adoration

Art drawn by me + the AU itself is mine.

Took way longer than the previous ones cuz my brain did not wanna stick to tryna finish this until recently fhgndfghnfhgd

[TL;DR] A dragon joins the team.

♡ ~ Fluff ~ ♡

A man in a green robe groggily woke up. He raised his head slightly from his position on the floor to take in his surroundings. He was in between two rows of large wooden shelves. There was text in bold reading "Interdimensional Geographics" on either side.

Was he... in a library? But why? Did he fall asleep while reading a book?

He sat up, groaning a bit as he held the back of his neck in pain, before he glanced at one row of bookshelves in confusion. He did hear talking coming from somewhere past all the bookshelves, but he was unsure whether or not he could trust those voices. He also wasn't sure why his neck was throbbing in pain. Given the way we was lying on the floor, he brushed it off as simply pain from his previous position.

While trying to stand up, he noticed a little note on the floor. All it had written on it was: "Find Master."

Raising an eyebrow at it, the man in green picked it up, turning the piece of paper and verifying that those were the only words written on it. Weird. He couldn't remember writing that down. Actually, now that he thought about it, he couldn't remember much in general. And it all just confused him even more, making him feel a slight bit of panic at his lack of memory.

The man in green had to think about what he did manage to recollect... He had more than one name, but he could only recall being called Ao Lie. He remembered traveling with what he believed were his friends, although he could only specifically remember a monkey's face from that group... Besides that, he could only faintly remember two people talking in a language he did not understand, followed up by a crow's caw. Every other memory seemed to have been pushed aside or blurred.

And assuming he wrote that note to himself... who was this supposed 'Master' to him if he had no recollection of them? Was he their disciple? Either way, since he had no idea on what else to do, he decided to try find this supposed 'Master'. Maybe they knew why he had been knocked out in the library.

Suddenly, Ao Lie had the urge to rush towards the voices he heard earlier. It was like some strong pull when he felt some form of internal panic. He didn't know why. He clearly wasn't in any danger, after all. But it felt like someone else was. Someone important to him. He dropped the note and decided to hesitantly answer to the call, moving around the many bookshelves. However, this sudden feeling of urgency left him as quickly as it came... But why?

Upon turning at another bookshelf, he stopped.

While he did take notice of the tall lion and the man on wheels, his eyes were mostly focused on the person who had their back turned to him, with a tiny black silhouette of a blob on their shoulder.

Mink already took notice of Ao Lie in return, letting out a groan. "You can't be fucking serious."

You hummed in confusion at the curse's comment. "What's wrong, Mink?"

Then your two other champions took note of this green stranger. Nezha was quick to take on a more defensive position behind you, his fire-tipped spear at the ready. Azure on the other hand simply looked intrigued by this guy across from them. Because the first thing he noticed were his void-black eyes. The exact same ones all of your champions had...

After realizing they were all looking behind you, you turned around to see the man with the long, white hair. You didn't recognize him at all since you've never seen him in the palace before. But he did seem to recognize you. Or, well, at least your title.

He moved a bit closer to you and the others as Nezha kept his guard up. Just in case this was another Celestial Hunter pulling some illusion trick again. Once the white-haired man reached Nezha, who was pointing his fire-tipped spear at the newcomer's chest, he looked over to you, past your pink champion... and he kneeled.

"You... You must be my Master", Ao Lie stated more to himself than you, his voice sounding like he was in awe at your presence. He then lowered his head a bit in respect, which made some of his hair move from his back to his front.

Blinking in surprise, you awkwardly scratched your head. Nezha hummed, seemingly contemplating still poking Ao Lie with a bit of fire. After all, he couldn't be too sure about him being another Celestial Hunter or not. But before he could hold his spear closer to the white-haired man, you stopped him by gently tugging on his cape.

"He seems to be real. I don't think you need to check", you commented as you raised an eyebrow at him, knowing full well of his and MK's stabbing tendencies. Your pink champion reluctantly lowered his weapon and gave you a little bow, muttering out a "Yes, Master" behind his mask.

You then turned back towards your apparently new champion, who was still kneeling. "Uh... You may rise- Uh- Wait- What's your name? And how did you get here?" At your questions, the white-haired man happily stood up as he gestured with his hands... or rather sleeves, because both of his arms were fully covered by his green robe's long sleeves.

"My name is Ao Lie! And I, uh, honestly have no idea. I just... kind of woke up on the floor here a couple of minutes ago, hehe", he confessed awkwardly. You knew almost all of your champions also didn't know how they ended up in the palace, but this was the first time you encountered one just after his arrival yourself.

Azure finally decided to speak up as he examines the newcomer. "Ao Lie, if I may ask. Do you remember anything from before waking up?"

The man in green opened his mouth happily to answer him, but then he realized... Why could he barely remember anything?

You couldn't help but watch in sadness as his smile turned into a frown as he spoke. "I... Well, I remember that I'm from a family of dragons... I turned into a horse, though I can't remember why... Oh! And I was carrying a guy around as a horse while being accompanied by... I think friends?" His eyebrows furrowed as he tried  his hardest to remember his past. But much like the others, he only seemed to recall specific aspects of it.

And knowing how pointless it was for them to force out out some kind of memory, Azure sighed in disappointment. "That's enough, thank you. No need to try to force your way into any potential memories, it'll just give you a headache."

Nezha grinned beneath his mask as he leaned against his spear, holding back a chuckle. "Yeah, we've tried. Especially MK. I feel like that just made his memory even worse than it already was. He only keeps doing it because he keeps forgetting that he already tried forcing his memories back."

You gave him a confused and baffled look, to which the celestial simply shrugged in response. MK having the worst memory of them all wasn't new to you, but you didn't know about his attempts to force his memories back. Though in order to ease your worries by just a bit, Nezha added, "He's fine. It's just more of an endless cycle of that short-term memory he has to deal with. And him trying to forcefully remember things just adds to all his confusion." Your pink champion then waved his hand dismissively. It wasn't a big deal to MK after all, just a confusing point about his own lack of memory.

You grimaced a bit at him, not exactly trusting his sudden dismissal of the topic. However, you also didn't want to pry further, knowing about how well your champions could dance around concerning things happening in the palace. They did avoid talking in-depth about their brandmarks, and they did seem to hide many other secrets you were curious about. Such as blood stains on them when they hadn't been on any battle missions.

"Um.. Anyway. Ao Lie was it, right? I... Uh... I'm... assuming you're one of my champions..?" You said, hesitantly trailing off towards the end as you weren't sure how you would be able to confirm such a statement. Because void-black eyes weren't exactly an accurate way of confirmation. It merely meant they were infected.

Ao Lie tilted his head a bit in confusion. "Champion? Does that mean I have to fight in an arena?"

"I mean we don't have an arena, but-" "No, no, no- No fighting in an arena-" You quickly cut Nezha off before he could suggest anything brutal.

Mink, still boredly sitting on your shoulder as a tiny blob, decided that it'd be a good idea to torment-check the green newcomer. Just to take a jab at him and see how much he can take before breaking. Because judging by his current looks, he really did not look like he could be of any use to Mink. He snickered as he grinned at Ao Lie. "So, you're a dragon, right? How about a test of wits and strength? You know... Just to prove to our dear Master that you're actually worthy of even calling them your Master." You gave Mink a little bit of a baffled look, not knowing what he was planning. But he did weaponize your title a lot, even when you clearly disapproved.

The man in green perked up at your black champion's words. He seemed oddly excited about the idea of doing something to show off what he can do. "What do I have to do?"

However, before Mink could say anything that would end up in some catastrophe, you quickly used a finger to bonk his small ken-doll-looking form on the head. It didn't hurt him, but it did catch him off-guard. "Ah- What the- Hey-"

You glared at him, unamused. "Could you maybe like, not trick the others into doing evil or concerning deeds for like five minutes?"

The small ink demon huffed as he shoved your finger away from him. "Oh please. Your definitions of evil and concerning are so simple-mindedly black and white, it's pathetic. I would've actually suggested that he duels me in the scroll. Take it as more of a test of his strength."

It was indeed true that a duel in the scroll was more of a psychological test. If Ao Lie managed to beat the ink demon, he would most certainly be accepted by your other champions as one of their own. But perhaps it was too soon to- "Alright, I'm down! Let's do it! That sounds like fun!"

You grimaced at the dragon's eagerness to duel the ink demon curse. Azure seemed more surprised that the man in green would happily jump into battle without any knowledge or questions regarding Mink's powers. Meanwhile Nezha was rather amused at the offer. After all, if he could get a front row seat of seeing someone else having a shot at eliminating the inky pest, that'd be great.

"Okay, how about we don't have you beat up the new guy? He literally just got here", you quickly intervened as you stepped closer to the white-haired man. It was odd to you how the others had a little bit of white in their hair, except for this one. He seemed to have fully white hair. So perhaps it wasn't actually a signifier that labeled one your champion?

"Anyway, Ao Lie was it? If you don't have your memories right now, you could stay with us and we can try figure things out with the others", you offered as you held out your hand to shake his hand. The white-haired man gave you a puzzled look for a moment before reaching out with a smile, shaking your hand rather strongly. Though, his hand felt rather sharp...

"That's so nice of you! Thank you, Master!" He had barely just met you and it already seemed like calling you 'Master' came naturally to him. Which was surprising, considering that Nezha told you it took him and Azure at least a little while to get used to addressing their personally first Master as such. The others also seemed rather hesitant at first. Though, he couldn't talk for the two simians as they were the first ones to pledge their allegiance and servitude. And Mink just plainly refused to call you his Master, unless it was to sway the others.

Just to make sure the newcomer was actually unharmed upon arrival, you decided to have him visit the medical bay first. You didn't have the tools or knowledge to do a full check-up, but you asked him for permission to check if he had any of those black wounds the others had. And he did. Right on the back of his neck. He then realized that must've been why his neck had been hurting a bit since he woke up. He just thought he must've been unconscious at an uncomfortable angle for too long.

While Azure went looking for the others to tell them about the new champion, Nezha decided to stick around in case the newcomer tried anything. He knew you were safe with Mink, but he couldn't take any risks. Not when he didn't know the full capabilities of the man in green.

And as you were assessing Ao Lie's neck situation, the pink champion's sight landed on the table next to him. Something caught his attention. It was one of those zip-up bags with a familiar black substance inside. Apparently it hadn't been picked up by an Overseer yet. The Oracle must've been busy.

His gaze then turned back and locked onto the green champion, watching you hand him new clothes to try out later.

"Tell me or a servant if you need a different size or want something different in general, alright?" The celestial heard you tell the dragon, to which the man nodded happily.

However, something else that caught Nezha's attention were Ao Lie's hands. He only noticed the way they were somewhat sharp claws and practically fully black when he held onto the neatly folded clothes... His hands looked suspiciously similar to a certain crow's hands... The pink champion furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't the only one who noticed as Mink crossed his arms, eyeing the white-haired man suspiciously.

You then turned towards Nezha, "Could you show him around, please? We would still need to figure out where he's gonna sleep, so just show him where everything necessary is." While it was technically a command, you couldn't help but make it sound like a gentle request. The celestial bowed his head before leading Ao Lie away, keeping an eye on him at all times.

Sighing, you rubbed your temple. So much was happening at the same time again. You also had to make sure the others were okay since there still were some Celestial Hunters they were disposing of.

"Hmpf. Are you done collecting immortals like trading cards now?" You heard Mink ask in annoyance as he still sat on your shoulder. Rolling your eyes at him, you gently bonked him with your finger again, making him whine once more.

"I don't even know how they end up like this in the first place, Mink. For all we know, the servants could have been going through a trial before ending up here-" "They didn't. None of us did", Mink said with a slight hint of annoyance, cutting you off. You raised an eyebrow at him in response.

The ink demon looked you dead in the eye. "Be happy they don't remember the infection process. Or you would have a bunch of immortals traumatized at the feeling of their body having been altered to a point of no return." He crossed his arms before adding, "And be happy I can't feel pain. Or I wouldn't be on 'friendly terms' with either one of you."

"What are you talking about?"

He was about to add to his rant, but then stopped himself. "...Ugh, nevermind." You already knew he was hiding a lot from you, but his responses just gave you more questions than answers. However, you knew better than to try get more out of him, considering he would just end up toying with you, dangling the answers in front of you, yet still too far out of your reach.

But for now you had to deal with your new champion.

Perhaps asking Mink another time would be more appropriate.

[ Masterlist ]

[maddie-dog-story-blog]

The Book Store

The familiar sound of the bell ringing as you entered the door along with the musty smell of books assaulted your senses as you stepped into your favorite book store. You couldn't help but smile as you were hit by the rush of nostalgia as you crossed the threshold into the cozy, little shop.

Each time you left the shop, you left with a new book, a new story, and, in a lot of ways, a new life.

You smiled at the shopkeeper, a lovely woman who had owned the store since you started coming here with your parents as a small child.

"Hello, Sweetie!" She called out cheerily, as you waved at her, "Can I help you with anything?"

"No," You say as you walk towards your favorite section, Romance, "Just browsing today."

You feel a strange tingling course through your body as you drew closer to the books decorated with steamy covers, a nod to the smut hidden inside. You didn't notice the shop owner standing behind you before you feel her hand on your shoulder as you reach for a particularly raunchy dark romance.

"And what do you think you're doing, Little One? I think these books are a bit too mature for you!"

You tried to protest as she dragged you away from the bookshelf, but suddenly felt something soft and rubbery filling your mouth, making it impossible for you to talk.

"Here we go, sweetie, these books are a little more your speed. Why don't you plop down on our magic carpet, and I'll find us a book to take us on a little adventure together?"

You wanted to protest that you were much too old to sit on the store's "Magic Reading Carpet," let alone be read to like a toddler. However, as the woman spoke, you felt your legs turn to jelly, causing you to sit on the carpet right where she indicated with a suddenly suspicious squishy feeling cushioning your uncoordinated fall.

Before you could assess your situation further, the store clerk came back with a copy of Green Eggs and Ham.

You tried to groan at the thought of being read such a childish book, but instead found yourself giggling around the rubbery object in your mouth as the women settled into the rocking chair on the carpet and began reading.

As the story progressed, you find yourself utterly entranced. You don't notice when you lean forward at start grunting, and remained oblivious to the horrid smell emanating from you the feeling of a lump growing under your bottom. You were fully absorbed in the story.

When the story ends, you foundd yourself suddenly wanting to cry. Tears start to fall unbidden to your cheeks as you softly lisp out, "More, more!"

The clerk smiled warmly as she closed the book and looked over your head.

"Oh, baby, that's all the stories you need for today," a cheerful voice rings out from behind you, "I think it's time to get you home though."

You turn to see a beautiful young woman walk up behind you, before she lifts you from the floor and into her arms with surprising ease.

You find yourself clutching her, almost as if out of well-worn habit, as she talks to the clerk.

"Thank you for the story! I think it's time I got my little monkey home though!" The new woman said as she carried you out of the store.

"Bye, bye!" The clerk said as bell on in the front door rang.

You waved feebly as you looked at the clerk over your new Mommy's shoulder, leaving the book store with yet another new life.

[aroacewxs]

rui facts that are common knowledge atp but i just feel like repeating

hates vegetables because of their texture, and dislikes anything that has similar texture to certain vegetables. example: he hates watermelon because apparently to him the texture is just like a cucumber's? he's not very fond of many fruits either, albeit he dislikes them less than vegetables

only eats at places he's a regular at and becomes distressed when the menu changes. he picks off all vegetables from his food and sometimes emu helps him and eats anything he doesn't like

preferred rivers and lakes over pools as a kid. he would search for shiny rocks and the like in these rivers and lakes and show nene his discoveries

he owned many encyclopedias as a kid. one of them being one about poisonous plants. it had a bright red cover that scared nene LMAO but he read it over and over so now he can recognize which plants are poisonous or not

favourite animal is the platypus because he finds the fact that they are egg-laying mammals interesting

owns three monitors. has a tablet (owned this tablet since he was a kid) and a phone

horrible at packing! he's always thinking about worst case scenarios and possible hypotheticals that could occur during his travels, causing him to overpack and not use half of the things he brings. he mentions that this was the case when he went to america with wxs, and he struggled with the same problem when he was trying to pack for his kyoto trip in pandemonium

his favourite show he performed with wxs was the little mermaid. the show that made him feel the most nervous was a pianist named torpe, and the show that left the strongest impression on him was the one tsukasa performed with the others to convince him to join wxs again

dislikes cleaning because he finds it pointless when his room just becomes cluttered again sooner or later

worst sleep schedule known to man. has been scolded by wxs for coming to rehearsal with horrible eye bags

he people watches a lot. very observant of his environment and uses anything that catches his attention as inspiration for shows and other stories. this can be seen in island panic, where he makes up an entire possible conversation between three monkeys he was observing and in the area convo where he views students fighting to buy bread at the tuck shop as a metaphor for human nature and survival

his role model and inspiration is a director named tom gray! he watched interviews of him and read his books over and over

enjoyer of sci-fi

eats his taiyaki by first splitting it in half to avoid burning his mouth with the hot bean paste. interestingly enough, it is said in japan that the first bite you take in taiyaki determines your personality. rui breaks his taiyaki first before eating, making him a "person of action."

he deepened his interest for shows as a kid by imagining how he would adapt his favourite books into stage productions

there's a specific stool in his room that has remained since his childhood. also an orange box of toys(?) It seems

on the other hand, several aspects of his childhood room have changed: his lampshades are in the shapes of flowers now, his couch is patched up in blue, and he has multiple streamers and balloons. the balloons have little faces on them btw. he also installed a clock. the step ladder near his bookshelf is gone too from what i can see

ok that's all i can think of from the top of my head, hopefully none of these are incorrect,, i'll be very sad if something is wrong. if you know any fun rui facts that aren't listed above PLEASE enlighten me

[lumidotexe]

THANK YOU @nanolitore FOR THE SWK AND MACAQUE MIRACLE MONKEYS SET!! i decorated my setup with all the stickers and added Mac to my key fob, these were so worth the wait! <3

ALSO I THREW WUKONG SO HARD IN THE VIDEO HE KNOCKED OVER STUFF ON MY BOOKSHELF

[haveatthee83]

Under My Skin (Monkey D. Luffy/Reader) 5/7

Inspo: Under My Skin by Jukebox the Ghost

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7

Word Count: ~2.0k

Warnings: Fluff, cursing, discussion of death and dead relatives, brief descriptions of peril.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。.

Time passed and it seemed that you and Luffy had turned over to a new chapter together, a new little dance. This was clearly noted by the other Straw-Hats, after all a tension was there, a new kind that was clear to them what it was, but it flew right over your heads, making all of them ready to pull their hair out at times with how oblivious you two were.

You all were docked at an island that was said to have been a rest spot for Gol D. Roger, hoping to find clues to where he may have hidden the One Piece. It wasn’t populated and it only had one little beachside shack that you and Robin were put in charge of searching.

You were sat on an old, dusty couch, sifting through an ancient, wooden crate full of notebooks when Robin spoke up from her position at the bookshelf. “So, you and Luffy, huh?” she said cheekily, flipping through an astronomy book.

You felt heat rise to your face, biting at your cheeks, “I don’t know what you mean.” You said, sitting a little straighter than before.

Robin smirked, eyeing you over the brim of her book, “You have a little crush on our captain, don’t you?” she sing songed, flipping the page. You spluttered and scrambled to try and find words to retort, but you came up short, “It’s okay if you do.” She hummed. “It’s not against any rules here.”

You felt red hot as you spoke, “It wouldn’t matter if I did or not, I highly doubt he’d even consider thinking about me that way.” You said simply, sifting through a notebook full of inventory logs.

Robin frowned, “How do you know?” she asked, affirmed by your shrug, “Exactly. He’s a very unique kind of man, very unpredictable. He may just surprise you.”

“Or I could be right, and if I ever made a move, it’d go horribly and he’d hate my guts again, he might even feel so strongly about it that he’d have no choice but to maroon me.” You muttered quickly, avoiding Robin’s piercing gaze.

“You have so little faith in him?” she asked pointedly. “No.” you sighed, “He’s so nice and great, and he’s just like the sweetest guy, but…” you trailed off until Robin urged you to continue, “I’m me. I’m abrasive, I’m way too brutal half the time for such a nice guy, I mean…Does someone with this much blood on their hands deserve someone like that? I can’t bring myself to think so.” You said, making Robin’s frown deepen.

Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji were scavenging around the island’s vegetation looking for clues, food, or an adventure. “So,” Zoro droned suddenly, “You and glass girl, huh?”

Sanji and Luffy stopped in their tracks, Sanji kicking at Zoro’s shin, “You have no tact.” He hissed as Zoro waved him off.

Luffy cocked his head to the side a bit, “What’re you talking about?”

Sanji sighed, “What moss head over here is trying to insinuate is that you and our lovely crewmate might…have romantic feelings for each other?” He said carefully, trying to find just the right words.

Luffy’s face went red, all the way to his ears, “I don’t think so.” He said, fiddling with his hat string. “She probably likes one of you.” Luffy sighed, kicking at the dirt under his feet.

Sanji and Zoro shared a look, breaking into deep belly laughs, remembering the conversation they’d had at your house, “Not a chance dude!” Zoro laughed out, clapping Luffy’s shoulder, “She made that clear since day one.”

“What do you mean?” the pirate captain asked, brows knit together.

“When we were all at her house, the cook tried to make a move on her like he always does,” Zoro started, “and she shut him down hard.” He managed through his laughter.

Sanji’s laughter had died down, now just a goofy smile on his face, “She says we’re too old and not her ‘type’.” He said, “You wanna know what her type is?” he asked.

Luffy shrugged and nodded, holding his arms close to his body.

“Funny brunettes.” The other two chimed together.

Zoro poked Luffy in the shoulder, “She specifically said like you.” He teased, noting the cherry red cheeks of his captain.

Luffy felt like the whole island just went up in temperature by like twenty degrees, “O-oh.” He muttered, shaking his head as he said, “I doubt it though, I mean I was mean to her for a while at first, I doubt she’d look past that.”

Sanji rolled his eyes, slinging an arm around his captain’s shoulders, “We saw you two dancing on your birthday, you know?” Sanji said pointedly, Zoro nodding along, “You both looked awful comfy all up on each other like that.” The cook said, watching Luffy hide his face in his hands, embarrassed. “It’s nothing to be all flustered about.”

“Yeah, I mean, you two have been making goo goo eyes at each other ever since.” Zoro chided.

Sanji nodded, “And she’s been looking at you like that for even longer.” He said, “I’m pretty damned sure that she really likes you.”

Luffy let his hands flop to his sides, his face still burning, “You think so?”

Sanji and Zoro shared a look, “We know so.” The chimed.

You continued looking through the ship logs in silence, Robin still searching at the bookshelf. Your eyes were starting to haze over when they landed on something. You gasped and snatched the notebook up, startling Robin. You quickly flipped through the pages with a wide smile, “This has their routes! It’s all verbal but it’s where all they docked and what channels and obstacles they encountered. Robin,” you exclaimed, shooting to your feet, “this might have where to find the One Piece, or at least the poneglyphs.” You said, your eyes sparkling.

Robin smiled, “Go find Nami or Luffy and show them. I’ll keep sifting through things in here, see if there’s any more valuable information.” She said, shooing you out of the rickety door.

You immediately tore your way over the sand, dashing into the thicket. You pounded through the trees, dodging stray branches and roots, “LUFFY! LUFFY, I FOUND SOMETHING!” you hollered into the trees. You heard a brief call from your left, so you immediately started rushing that way.

Luffy heard you yelling through the vegetation and called back out, trying to tell you where he is. The trio were all turning around, trying to see which direction you were coming from. “Oof!” Luffy landed straight on his back, only processing what happened when he landed. You had run directly into him and knocked him over, now you were hovering right over him, heaving with a smile.

“I found something!” You breathed out, sitting back on your haunches, a little black book in your hands, “This book,” you started as Luffy pulled himself up a bit, holding himself up with his arms behind him, “has Roger’s route through the Grand Line. This might show us the path to follow so we can find the One Piece!” You exclaimed, practically shaking with excitement. Luffy beamed, throwing his arms around your neck and pulling you into a hug.

“Holy shit.” Zoro muttered, turning to Sanji, “We might actually be close to finding it.” He whispered, an astonished cook nodding as the only form of acknowledgment he’d offered.

You pulled back from the hug, standing up, hoisting Luffy up with you, “Where’s Nami? I wanna get this to her as soon as possible.” You asked, dusting yourself off a bit.

“She’s on the ship,” Zoro muttered, “I can take it to her,” he said, holding his hand out for the book.

“Hold on, marimo!” Sanji exclaimed, snatching the book out of his grasp, “You’d get lost before you find her.” He insisted, starting to walk toward the ship.

Zoro scoffed, “I don’t get lost!” he exclaimed, following close behind the cook.

You and Luffy were left alone in the woods, “You ready?” you asked quietly, reaching out and grabbing Luffy’s hand in your own.

“For what?” he asked, eyes locked on yours.

“Are you ready to be king?” you whispered, a massive smile pulling at your lips. “Monkey D. Luffy, King of the Pirates.” You said softly, trying it out on your tongue.

Luffy chuckled, starting to play with your fingers, “I think so.” He muttered, “Are you ready to be on the crew of the King of the Pirates?” he jeered through laughter.

Your smile was blinding as you beamed up at him, “Absolutely.” You said firmly. “Now c’mon, let’s see what else we can find.” You said, leading him in a new direction.

“Maybe Roger left a bit of-Woah!” you were cut off as the floor dropped out from under you. The island had booby traps. You were dangling from your hold on Luffy’s hand, trying to find footing against the damp earth of the hole’s walls. “What the fuck?” you exclaimed, and you could feel your hand slipping out of Luffy’s.

“Hold on!” he said. He chanced a look to the bottom of the hole, looking for spikes or something, only to blanch a bit. It was a bit worse depending on who you asked. The bottom was filled with seawater, and he couldn’t tell how deep it was, “Don’t let go!” Luffy commanded, stretching his free arm up to wrap around a tree, trying to use it as leverage to pull you out.

You dangled, kinda useless as you struggled to find any grip on anything really. “Maybe you can just drop me then grab the others and help me out then!” you suggested.

Luffy shook his head with wide eyes, “Seawater at the bottom.” he said as he started trying to pull you up, every muscle in his arm straining. It was much less a struggle because of you, and entirely because his feet kept slipping out from under him. “Shit.” He spat under his breath.

You swallowed a bit of fear at the pool of water under you, you held firm onto Luffy’s hand and used it as leverage to swing your free hand up, grabbing tightly onto Luffy’s forearm. “Reel yourself in!” you exclaimed, letting out a slightly manic laugh at your captain’s confused expression, “I’m like a damned fish! Your arm is the line! Reel your line in!” you shouted.

Luffy tightened his hold and tried pulling you both toward the tree, just using his arm, letting his feet drag under him. Eventually, you were high enough to reach a muddy hand out and grip the grass at the top, helping Luffy drag you up out of the hole.

You landed on the grass with a huff, adjusting your hat and laying right next to where Luffy fell on his back. His head was at your hip and vice versa. You wheezed a laugh and clapped a muddy hand on his abdomen, “Thanks, Cap!” Luffy waved you off, trying to catch his breath. You both sat up after a moment, and you took in how muddy you both really were with a sigh, “God damn, we need baths.” You muttered.

Luffy had caught his breath, but his heart kept beating wildly in his chest, “Don’t scare me like that.” He scolded.

You smiled softly and reached your hand up, moving his hair out of his eyes before resting your palm on his cheek, apologizing, and in that moment, Luffy saw what the guys had been talking about. The way you two looked at each other. The realization struck through Luffy like a lightning bolt, and he couldn’t think before he was grabbing your face and guiding your lips to his.

You gasped, making Luffy pull back for fear of upsetting you, “Sorry, I just-!” you cut off his worried rambling with a beaming smile, drawing him back in for another sweet kiss, your lips moving together a bit awkwardly, but neither of you minded. Luffy reached a hand up and threaded it through your hair at the back of your head, drawing you ever closer, and you held his face in your hands, smiling into the kiss.

Luffy pulled away just far enough to rest his forehead against yours, looking deep into your eyes, “You ever wanted to be a queen?” he muttered, eyes only leaving yours to flit down to your lips.

You smiled wide and laughed a bit, “I can work with that,” you whispered, pulling him back in for a kiss.

That night, you and Luffy sat on the lawn deck, his head in your lap, you were playing with his hair, twirling it around your fingers. You were humming softly as you both watched the stars, and Luffy recognized it as the slow song you played him on his birthday, making him smile.

“Fucking finally.” Zoro whispered, Sanji and Robin watching the scene with him. “I was this close to locking them in a broom closet.” He said, pinching his fingers together.

Robin chuckled softly, but Sanji frowned and shook his head, “I’m glad they figured things out,” Robin said, “Even if it took explicitly telling them.” The men laughed quietly, “Should I ask Franky to make them their own room?” she asked cheekily.

Zoro glowered, “If I walk in on them doing anything I think I’ll jump overboard.” He said, Sanji nodding along.

“I’ll tell him to make some plans, but I won’t have him do anything until they ask.” She decided, nodding resolutely. “Why don’t you and Franky have a room?” Zoro asked bluntly, ignoring Sanji’s kick to his shins.

The boys were surprised to see a very slight blush rise to the woman’s cheeks, “Who needs one when he has his own workshop.” She said bluntly, walking away immediately after.

Zoro and Sanji looked at each other in horror, “I’ve definitely gone in there without knocking before.” Zoro muttered.

“Am I the only one around here who can’t get any damned action?” Sanji whisper yelled.

Luffy stirred in your lap, reaching up a hand to thread his fingers with yours, “You make me happy.” He muttered, holding your hand over his chest.

You smiled and looked down at him, “You make me happy.” You said, drawing his hand in yours up, pressing his knuckles to your lips before letting them fall back to where Luffy had held them. “Now,” you said cheekily, biting back laughter, “Which one of us is gonna acknowledge your brother definitely celebrating in whatever pirate heaven he ended up in.” you said, the giggles leaking out, “And how pissed mine probably is right next to him.”

Luffy laughed quietly, reaching his free arm around your torso, still holding your hand with the other, “I swear, if he got any of his other stupid guesses right, I’m gonna freak out.” He warned jokingly.

You flushed and bit your lips, “We’ll just have to see.” You chimed, drawing Luffy’s face up to yours, whispering against his lips, “I mean, he can’t be all right. After all, you don’t have three years till you find that One Piece.” You said cheekily before pressing your lips together. Luffy chuckled into the kiss, tangling his hand into your hair.

[monkeythefander]

Sanders Sides Angst Headcannons 2

A lot of people liked my angst headcannons from a while back, so here’s some new ones.

Content Warning(s): Virgil angst, Character Thomas angst, anxiety, being called ���too sensitive”, Roman angst, nightmares, mentioned injuries and fights, Logan angst, destroying things. Let me know if I missed anything.

Click below the cut to read the headcannons

——————————————————————

- When he was younger, Virgil would cry whenever he got super overwhelmed/anxious. As a result, (Character) Thomas would cry during these times as well. As (Character) Thomas got older though, he was called “too sensitive” for crying over seemingly small things/worries, which led to Virgil unconsciously deciding he wouldn’t cry in front of people anymore. So whenever Virgil gets super anxious and upset, he’ll make sure he and (Character) Thomas aren’t around anyone else so nobody can see them cry and call them “too sensitive.” If they happen to be around people at the time, Virgil will try and have himself and (Character) Thomas suppress their tears until they’re alone.

- Since Roman is creativity, nightmares can become very vivid. He will often wake up in a panic from them, confused about where he is since the nightmare felt so real and like it just happened. Sometimes the nightmares get some vivid they he’ll wake up with injuries that he got during fights/attacks in his nightmares. Roman will then try and hide these injuries from the other sides, not wanting to worry them. After all, he’s creativity, he should be able to control how intense his nightmares are and if he can’t, then he should have to face the consequences of his failure alone.

- Logan suppressing his emotions in order to have the others listen to him leads to a lot of anger and sadness building up inside of him. To release all of these emotions, Logan ends up destroying things in his room. He’ll put on a fan or something to block out the noise of his destructive behavior, and start knocking things off his desk and bookshelf. He’ll also break his glasses. If he breaks his glasses, then he doesn’t have to see the tears starting to fall down his face. Once Logan’s tears stop and he feels like he can be just logical/unemotional, he’ll grab a new pajr of glasses (he has a bunch of replacement ones) and put his room back in order.

——————————————————————

End Notes: Thanks for reading! As always, if you liked any of these headcannons and want to make fanart or fanfiction based on them, you can do so as long as you ask me first, and then credit/tag me in the post so I can see it.

-Monkey💜

————————

AO3 link to these headcannons: https://archiveofourown.org/works/58261513

[apricot77-tum]

ベースゲームのみ、50K以内で建てたファミリーハウス。 20×15で小ぶりながら、夫婦2人+小学生2人まで対応しています。 ライムのような明るい緑でコーディネイトしました。

NO CC！ bb.moveobjects on 区画名：lime Family Home -Base 区画サイズ：20×15 区画タイプ：住居 価値：49,429

ダブルベッド、2段ベッド、おもちゃ箱、アクティビティテーブル、テレビ、PC、スマートスピーカー、本棚、イーゼル、植木鉢、うんてい設置済み。不快家具なし。

Base Game Only Under 50k ♥ Double Bed／Bunk Beds／Toy Box／Activity Table／TV／PC／Smart Speaker／Bookshelf／Easel／Flower Pot／Monkey Bar ♥

Sims4 ID：apricot-orange

[vosh-rakh]

“What is that?” asked the visitor, one of his dangling arms pointing at Spoons-her-Sugar, who crouched in a corner he had hoped was shadowed enough to conceal him. “One of the Akaviri monkey-men? You really are an eccentric one, Tevethri.”

Sugar shivered, his fur pricking and his tail, which had already been swishing back and forth in the library-dust, straightening out in mild panic as he was acknowledged by the odd stranger. The visitor was supposedly a dark elf, although Sugar couldn’t see much of him beyond his shriveled arms hanging from the insectoid mass that surrounded him. Heavy chitinous plates enveloped him completely, like the armor on a giant kwama warrior. Sugar had heard whispers that this wizard rarely left his shell-carriage in his old age, and that his legs had atrophied as a result. The entire assemblage of shells floated about a foot in the air, suspended by faintly-glowing runes etched deep into the rims of the chitin. It had been a struggle for him to squeeze into the doors of the library. 

Master Tevethri chuckled, glancing at Sugar. “No, Moldayn. That’s just Sugar. She’s my library assistant. My brother-in-law – yes, Sevasi married a Dres for some reason – sold her to me when the Pact formed and outlawed the old tradition.”

All things considered, it had been a blessing and a curse. A blessing because Master Savethi was beyond cruel; a curse because, assuming Savethi hadn’t also sold the others to Telvanni, they had been freed by the Pact, either made citizens or sent home to Elsweyr or Black Marsh. Sugar missed most of them – especially Hears-No-Lies, an Argonian boy a few years his elder whom Sugar was very fond of – but things could be worse. Tending Master Tevethri’s library and fetching books for him wasn’t all bad, and Sugar was fed well enough, and Tevethri’s temper was much more manageable than Savethi’s.

“So it’s not a monkey-man?” Moldayn asked again, his weak, rattling voice magically amplified to be heard from within his shell.

“I believe the term you’re looking for is ‘Tang Mo.’ And no, she isn’t.” Tevethri waved Sugar over. “Come, Sugar. Out of the darkness, and by my side.” Sugar obeyed, slowly walking into the dim lamplight casting grotesque shadows across Moldayn’s shell. 

Tevethri laid a poorly-manicured hand on Sugar’s shoulder. “Savethi told me that she was a breed called…’dog,’ or something to that effect. Something about the moons, some astrological nonsense. She does favor an ape, though, doesn’t she? But rest assured, she is a cat. Smile for me, Sugar.”

Sugar obeyed, parting his lips wide and baring his fangs. No slave in Savethi’s plantation had good teeth, but Tevethri had different tastes. He had Sugar undergo more rigorous dental care and magical procedures to ensure healthy, white teeth.

“Impressive, impressive,” said Moldayn. “But you said she was your library assistant…how?”

“Well, you see, I taught her to read.”

Moldayn’s shell seemed to rattle in a terrible shiver. “What blasphemy, to teach a slave to read! Remember ye not of the Pocket Cabal and its wickedness?”

Tevethri scoffed. “You read too much Tribunal nonsense. There’s no harm in it. After all, she still bears a bracer. We as a race learned long ago to forbid magic to the enslaved.” He grabbed Sugar’s bracered wrist and held it high. “Besides, all she reads is book titles and authors. No harm in that.”

“Time will make a fool of you, Tevethri, I swear of it.”

“But see how useful she is! Sugar, fetch for me…hm…the ‘Compendium of Arcano-matrices,’ volume four, by Mistress Ghenima.”

Silently Sugar nodded and went about his work. With a long arm he reached up several rows of a nearby bookshelf and hoisted himself up. With simple fluid movements he shimmied across the arrayed books, stirring up dust as he scanned their spines. Dissatisfied, he lifted his tail to catch a horizontal rod hanging above the aisle, and swung backwards, letting go of the first bookshelf and catching the one behind. He followed the alphabet down to the geths and slowed down, hunting down his prey. Finally he found the set: an entire shelf lined with Ghenima’s Arcano-matrices, their dull-green leather spines etched with her name and the volume number. He plucked volume four from the row and hopped down to the soft fungal floor.

“Excellent!” said Tevethri as Sugar brought him the book. “Well done, Sugar.” Sugar, though not exactly pleased by the praise, smiled thinly with small satisfaction.

“Pah!” rattled out Moldayn from his floating shell. “Memorizing the arcano-matrices is child’s play, and Ghenima got half of them wrong.” He waved Sugar over. “Come, slave. Let’s test the limits of your master’s library, shall we?”

Sugar looked to Tevethri, the fur on his tail and neck standing on end. But Tevethri just smiled and nodded. So Sugar approached the levitating chitinous mass that was Moldayn and said, “Yes, muthsera?”

Moldayn clapped his frail hands together and chuckled. “She can speak! How delightful. See if you can find…Oh! This is a good one. ‘Daedron Field Fluctuations of the Lower Dragontails on the Second of Sun’s Dawn under Stormy Weather’ by Anonymous.”

Sugar paused to think, pressing his lips together. Had he seen that one before? Well, an order’s an order; he had to look.

The ayems were on the other side of the library, so Sugar scampered down an aisle a few shelves over before clambering up the shelves. There was an extensive section of books with anonymous authorship in the far corner of the room, stacked against the wall. He perused their spines, hoping such a lengthy title might stick out, but he struggled to find it. A rainbow of variously-dyed covers dazzled him as he shifted his eyes from volume to volume in his search, many faded from decades – no, centuries – from either constant use or simple abandonment.

One book struck him as odd. It was pitch black, the creases on its spine almost completely imperceptible in its darkness – and no letters were visible, either, neither title nor author. Sugar pulled it from the shelf to examine the front. No writing there, either. He flipped it over and found its black surface perfectly blank and unmarked. He hopped down for a moment, freeing up both hands so he could look inside for more information.

There seemed to be some mild resistance as Sugar tried to pull the pages apart, almost like it had been glued shut by its ink. Finally, he pried the papers apart and looked inside. He caught a brief glimpse of a densely-scrawled script he couldn’t recognize – no Cyrodiilic letters, no Daedric sigils. 

But then the runes started to glow a bright, garish green, sparking ever brighter, flooding the pages with a sickening vibrant light. Then tendrils of inky blackness swirled, flat on the pages at first, but then emerging into the third dimension and rising like smoke, like seaweed from the ocean floor, reaching upwards towards Sugar’s face until they completely blotted out all light and consciousness.

- - - - -

Sugar awoke standing upright, his eyes already open. Their pupils dilated immediately in the dim light, stretching from slits to wide circles. He was surrounded by books, but this wasn’t Master Tevethri’s library. The walls weren’t lined with bookshelves; the walls were books, bricked with tomes, running black ink their mortar, held down by the sheer weight of knowledge. They were crookedly assembled, the walls uneven and jutting with loose papers half-undone from their bindings. Some of the stacks reached upwards, tilting precariously as if to form a dome above his head, but never meeting in the middle. Yet somehow they didn’t collapse – something else stabilized them. Sugar couldn’t tell if the space above him was a distant, shadowed ceiling, or a dark sky, devoid of stars. 

Blast, she shouldn’t be taking that long. I was nearly certain I had that one. You win this time, Moldayn. Come back now, Sugar. No need to waste time searching.

On the floor – even this seemed to be made mostly of books – was a circular stone platform, ringed by a faintly-luminous green etching, surrounding complicated circuits of strange runes, each glowing and humming ominously. At the center stood a pedestal almost as tall as Sugar himself, and a single black-bound tome rested upon it…beckoning.

Sugar? I said you can come back now. Don’t keep us waiting overlong.

Strange, Sugar thought, that I’m not afraid. He began to approach the pedestal. 

Fine, I’ll just go and get her. She must have gotten distracted.

Just as his claws had almost captured the tome, there was a booming sound above, like a peal of thunder. Sugar looked up, expecting the half-arches of books to tumble down and drown him in paper. Instead he beheld dark masses undulating in the hollow above, barely visible against the blackness. They were moving, not just independently, but in a single direction collectively. Finally, the movement stopped. 

By the Three! She’s…Moldayn! It’s got her, the book, it…it’s in her eyes! It’s in her damn eyes!

Then an enormous eye, seemingly bigger than the world, opened, dull green but intense, its pupil dual-lobed. 

Don’t be silly, Tevethri. You can’t trick me. “In her eyes.” Come back now, you two.

The eye spoke directly into Sugar’s head. “Mortal. You have been summoned.” Sugar could feel something, like an inchworm, exploring the depths of his mind. “Yes…this curiosity without fear. A suitable trait for my purposes.”

Moldayn, for Mephala’s sake! This isn’t a game! I need her! It’s impossible to find good slaves anymore! Get out of that ridiculous thing and come help me! It’s in her…eyes, mouth, ears…By Azura…

“Who are you?” said Sugar.

“To your people I am Hermorah, the King of Tides…the Watcher.” A laugh reverberated throughout Sugar’s skull, like a hollow knocking at the gates. “But you know nothing of your people, of course. Wouldn’t you like to? To be free, to go home?”

You know I can’t leave this shell! Just…pull them out!

“I don’t have a home.” Sugar’s fingers still twitched in the air over the tome.

“Oh, but you could. A real home of your own. A people of your own. Wouldn’t you enjoy that? And more than that. Power. Dominion over those who seek to steal it. Wrath for the slavemasters.” A long black appendage descended, writhing in the air as it approached, until it rested above the tome under Sugar’s hands, pointing. “Within this tome is your freedom. Within it is your power. Within it…is a new service. Service to me.”

I’m trying…they’re too strong! What in Oblivion is this?

Sugar looked down at the black tome. He could see now that it wasn’t completely featureless – there was an implication of meaning, of runes etched for the sole purpose of each individual reading.

He looked back up to the eye. “Give me one more thing.”

The same laughter in his head, but there was a wicked angle to it. “You believe you have bargaining power. Interesting. But I shall entertain your request.”

“Make me a man.”

I think I almost have it…call the healer, Moldayn! She’ll need her!

Hermorah fell silent for a moment, the pointing tentacle stilling. The inchworm probed deeper. “You wish for a new body. One which suits your…disposition better.”

“Yes. I will serve you only as a man. Never a woman.”

“...Very well. When you awake, you shall be born anew in my service. Claim your tome, arcanist. Your new life begins now.”

Sugar’s fingers were aching to finally lay hands upon the book. He snatched it from the pedestal, and the darkness returned…

- - - - -

…and abated. Tevethri was looking up at Sugar, having fallen somehow. His eyes were wide as the moons.

“Sugar…Sugar, what has happened to you? Moldayn! Call the damn healer!”

Sugar looked at the book in his hands. It was no longer the book he had taken from Tevethri’s library, but the book he had claimed from Hermorah. He opened it again, and the runes on the page danced a moment before settling. Somehow, he knew their meaning.

He reached up an arm – larger and more muscular than before, he noticed – and pointed it towards Tevethri, uttering the incantation.

Sickly green eyes burst open across Sugar’s face, spreading down his neck and shoulder. Oily black growths rippled across his fur, surging down his arm until they came to his slave bracer. They pried underneath it until it shattered.

“Im…possible…” muttered Tevethri.

But the growths were hungry. They lurched forward as inky tentacles, and each impaled Tevethri, piercing through his feeble wizard’s body, and before he could so much as gasp, the light faded from his eyes.

“Tevethri!” called Moldayn from beyond the rows of shelves. “Tevethri, what in Oblivion is going on?”

Sugar emerged from the tangled aisles and confronted the chitinous monster. “Who…who in the blazes are you, cat?” bellowed Moldayn

Sugar smiled. “The cat who knows.”

The tentacles roiled forward again, tearing apart the floating shell piece by piece, until Moldayn, too slow in his old age to react, collapsed to the floor, helpless.

“Wait…wait…” Moldayn whispered, his voice no longer magically amplified. “I have…gold. Skooma. You like skooma, don’t you, Sugar?”

Sugar wrapped around Moldayn, straddling his decrepit form, and pulled his head up by his sparse white hairs. Without another word, he sliced Moldayn’s throat with a single extended claw.

[zoanzon]

Lol technically I finished this a whole week ago, I'm just bad about uploading these on time. All the same, now I finally get to climb on my soapbox and bitch~

Just covering it from the get-go: if I'm reading a history book and there's no citations of any kind, be it footnote or endnote, I want to eat that author's face. I can't help it, this is a bone- deep urge: if you publish a history book and I don't know how to follow up on any particular sentence or paragraph or even page, I'm mentally going Hannibal Lecter on you.

Norman Cantor, get in my fucking stomach.

In Wake of the Plague was overall rather interesting (part of what infuriates me more when I can't follow up on material I liked). It looked at the context of the population boom that led up to the Black Plague, raised a theory (ft. evidence) on how said boom helped prime the plague to be as bad as it was, covered how much of a shitshow inheritance law was when ~30% of the population is dropping dead, pointed out how the Black Plague was accidentally responsible for the War of the Roses a generation or three later...it was all rather interesting.

Cantor did ramble a bit more than I'd have liked -- he maybe could've done with subheadings in his chapters -- and the last chapter 'Serpents and Cosmic Dust' was a bit too pseudoscience for my taste. I will give him the caveat that he wasn't obviously into it and was just... more accommodating to listing research/believed-causes on the Black Plague with a neutral tone than I'd have taken. ('Viruses are caused by dust falling to earth from comets', like holy shit lol)

Otherwise, the most bewildering part of this book was...I've seen books have critical bibliographies before. (Essentially, the author(s) grouping works into categories if you want to follow up on specific content, usually with an opinion-blurb on each work.) This book is the only book I've ever encountered that had a critical bibliography...but not a general bibliography? Like, normally if you have an 'academic' book that doesn't use in-text citations, you at least have the general bibliography so you know what works were drawn from, when if you don't know what work in the bibliography accounts for any particular paragraph of material.

This book... just didn't give a general bibliography? Presumably some if not all the books in the critical bibliography were ones Cantor drew from writing this book, but...yeah, this really threw me off.

Like... this man was apparently one of the most widely-read authors of medieval times? So the fact he just... doesn't cite anything, in this book at least...yeah. Kinda...fucking annoying, that. I don't care if a book is a layman-oriented coffeetable ornament, it should have citations goddammit.

Anyways, rant over.

Books finished in 2024 so far: 003

[putschki1969]

2024/06/10 Blog post by Wakana おしゃべりガーデン第10回目‼︎〜みんなのお父さん話と梅雨対策！横須賀ジブリ編その１〜

❗This is Fan Club EXCLUSIVE content❗ ❗PERSONAL USE ONLY❗ ❗Do NOT SHARE on other sites❗ ❗Join her FAN CLUB! Check out my detailed TUTORIAL ❗

Talk Garden Vol.10‼︎〜Stories About Your Father/Rainy Season Precautions! Yokosuka Ghibli Edition Part 1〜

Vol.#10 of Wakana's Talk Garden has been uploaded~😊We have successfully reached a big milestone, the 10 episode mark‼︎ It's all thanks to everyone who always listens and sends submissions…✨I am very grateful😊 I would like to continue posting my podcast at a leisurely pace, so please look forward to future episodes‼︎‼︎＼＼\٩( 'ω' )و //／／

One of the topics for this episode was "Measures against the rainy season". Here's my favourite umbrella which I talked about in the podcast☂️💕It's very cute. I want to use it a lot during the upcoming rainy season🙄Someone mentioned in their message that "the air pressure during the rainy season is tough." I feel the same. During this time of year, the air pressure and humidity are likely to make you lose your energy. Don't forget to stay hydrated and it's best to do some light exercises to get through the rainy season in good health! 🥺

And since it is also Father's Day, I wanted everyone submit "Stories about your father" as a second topic for the podcast. By the way, I had completely forgotten, but my father was really into magic 😅He liked to do magic tricks with cars ♧♤♡♢Here is his very own card set. He would always bring out playing cards and perform some tricks wherever he was. He would even do little performances in front of my friends 😂He never let me in on the mechanics behind his tricks but he was definitely really good. Now I really want to see my dad's magic again 😊One day when I get to see him again, I'll ask him to show me~💫

So, for the next episode of "Wakana's Talk Garden" on July 10th, there will be no specific talk topic. You are free to submit anything you want me to talk about or you want to ask me･:*+.(( °ω° ))/.:+ The deadline is June 30th!! Please send your submissions!! ＼＼\٩( 'ω' )و //／ Thank you so much to everyone who sent messages this time!!!

Now, I would like to talk some more about my trip to Yokosuka‼️⛱🏄🌊I already talked about it in my podcast so in this blog post I want to share some photos from the first big part of my trip when I visited the "Toshio Suzuki and Ghibli Exhibition" held at Yokosuka Museum of Art! (I'll post about my experience in Sarushima=Monkey Island in a few days!!) Speaking of Ghibli, some people were curious if I had gone to the Ghibli exhibition so yes, you finally have your answer😊 You are greeted by Chihiro at the entrance. My excitement skyrocketed right from the start😊The curtain leads to an exhibition of 8,800 books displayed in a huge bookshelf. Each book is believed to have influenced Suzuki in some way. Another source of inspiration is his collection of movies which contains a whopping 10,000 films. I was surprised at the number of movies, he must have absorbed so much information from all these works. I want to become a part of the Suzuki family. It's cut off, but at the top of the photo there is Teto's beautifully drawn paw. I also really liked the drawing at the bottom center signed with "Miya-SAN on the Cliff by the Sea". Then I I met Totoro and his friends surrounded by a starry sky♡ I should have taken this photo with an umbrella~😭Here I am looking up at The Bathhouse with Chihiro. While I was there, I imagined Haku getting mad at me and telling me to get back right away because I shouldn't have come! Next I got myself one of Yubaba's fortune telling slips. What an impact😂 You pull out a numbered tag from Yubaba's mouth and then take your fortune slip from the drawer according to the number. It looked like I was trying to floss Yubaba's teeth. I got a half-blessing related to tidying up and becoming clutter-free. Last but not least, I enjoyed the wide and open sky on the rooftop 😂

This time, I bought a file, a letter set, a keychain, and postcards at the souvenir shop 😊 I love the keychain of San's mask😍 I will send one of these postcards to everyone whose messages I've read during the podcast😊 ...And with that my Ghibli story comes to an end. Or not!! Actually, my Ghibli adventure isn't over yet😇 I still have a few Ghibli photos and stories left so I will post a Part 2 some time soon!! I also have a story about a crazy stamp rally that felt like a sports competition😂

All right, I'll leave it at that for today!! Until next time~☆( '▽')/

＊＊＊Wakana＊＊＊

2024/06/07 Instagram post by Wakana 2024/06/09 Intagram post by Wakana

Wakana’s Talk Garden #10

❗This is Fan Club EXCLUSIVE content❗ ❗PERSONAL USE ONLY❗ ❗Do NOT SHARE on other sites❗ ❗Join her FAN CLUB! Check out my detailed TUTORIAL ❗

Episode #10 »»—— CLICK ME 🎁 CLICK ME ——««

・Stories about your father ・Measures against the rainy season

For next month’s episode which is scheduled to air on July 10th, the following topic has been chosen:

・Anything you'd like to ask Wakana/Anything you'd like Wakana to talk about

The submission deadline is 06/30.

[medusasbush]

read april 2024

Beyoncé Knowles-Carter and the flip-flop, flippy flip flop and ass bitches.

Unlikable Women Like Me: On Being a “Bitch”

How therapy-speak ‘processed’ its way into pop-music

This is not a COWBOY CARTER review

Elon Musk Didn’t Want His Latest Deposition Released. Here It Is.

Which Kirsten Dunst movie are you?

Who needs state surveillance when we're willingly surveilling each other?

When Everyone's the Main Character, We're All Alone.

Optimization Will Not Save You

Terror & Mundanity In A Makeup Bag: On beauty products, local politics, and Palestine.

I Have My Father’s Eyes and His Temper Too: A Personal Commentary on Mainstream Media’s Portrayal of Father-Daughter Relationships

Why Women Pay the Price for Caring for and Understanding Men

Wife Sentences: Lisa Selin Davis’s confused history of homemakers

Sex Positivity Was Fake, But We'll Miss It When It's Gone

The Myth of Writer's Block: and the importance of shutting the fuck up

The Tyranny of Stans

Exposed Bra Straps Exposed: Post-feminism, Mean Girls the Musical and the lore of visible bra straps.

what can we expect from friendship?

On Finding the Freedom to Rage Against Our Fathers

Don’t Call it Girlhood

Romance & Rivalry By Proxy: When vicarious experiences deliver the dollars.

Is It Ok To Dislike Children?

What Does Your Bookshelf Say About You?

‘Monkey Man’: Welcome to the Action-Movie Pantheon, Dev Patel

The problem with fan studies: Are we entrenching stan culture instead of dissecting it?

maybe we should all call our friends more

Ambiguity & Delusion: Lessons Learned From Pop Culture Worship

An Academic F*ck You to Chip Wilson's Fatphobia

Just call it jihad

[wormthing]

Taking commissions for some Animal Jam items:

I've been playing Animal Jam Classic lately, and drawing in their Art Studio, and I cobbled together a wish list of random items I want. I'll draw a piece of art for you for some of those items; it doesn't specifically have to be for an in-game Masterpiece item. Check below the Read More for the list of items I'm looking for.

(And of course my commissions for $ USD are always open still!)

Please trade me at least one item off the list below in exchange for a piece of art.

Please message me about your proposed commission and what items you'd like to trade! Let me know if you want this drawn as a Masterpiece item, or if you just want a regular image file in exchange, probably done in MS Paint in a similar style above.

Give me a few days to get the drawing done!

If you want me to draw your avatar, I am not going to draw culturally insensitive items. I'll let you know if I have an issue with your proposition.

I can take payment when the art done/approved and we can trade, but I can also do half-payment up front.

If you want a Masterpiece item:

A Masterpiece Token included in the trade is appreciated, but not required.

Give the art time to be approved. If it isn't, I'll see if we can work something out.

Please keep complexity down, especially in regards to colour schemes.

Click below for my wish list! I'll cross things off as I get them (or add to it if I see stuff I really want).

Check out the Animal Jam Wiki (link) to look up these items (or other related pages). (I also said what event they were from if applicable.)

Den items:

Painter's Palette ("Let creativity fly" collection) [Got it!]

Fancy Pottery Wheel (same) [Got it!]

Cosmo plushie (2023 scavenger hunt) [Got it!]

Peck plushie (same) [Got it!]

Rare Wavy Bookshelf (2013 rare item monday) [Got it!]

Rare Giant Panda Plushie (promotional) [Got it!]

Rare Giant Tiger plushie (Lunar new year prize)

Art Camp Bead Station (2021 Art Camp collection) [Got it!]

Mira Tapestry (2017 Mira v Zios event)

Mira Banner (2017 MvZ event, not to be confused with the Beta mira banner)

Glowing Spiked Phantom (2019 box prize)

Clothing:

Phantom Beanie (2017 Fall box prize)

Slime Green skullies (2022 trick-or-treat event)

Cursed Hypno glasses (2021 spooky sale)

(I'll also take the Rare Hypno Glasses with the similar colour scheme instead!) [Got these ::-)]

Classic Werewolf mask (2022 spooky sale)

Classic Creature mask (same) [I got a bunch of spooky masks from someone!!! ::-D]

Huntress hat (this is the only members item here)

Low priority:

Any other* promotional plushies (for non-members)! I love them ::-) [*Note: I now have: Rare giant panda, Rare giant raccoon, Rare monkey]

Any Slime Green clothes (for non-members)

Non-member Halloween masks from 2022 (Classic Vampire Mask, Wicked Witch Mask)

A green spiked collar for non-members [Got it!]

My Den has other art I've done, some of which is from 2024 but some is from 2017! My username is 113457.

[v-era-18]

HoneyBee

(Bumblebee x Black Reader)

Prologue: Bittersweet

‘The driver doesn't pick the car, the car picks the driver’-Bobby Bolivia

“Please! Please! Please tell me the story again! I even brushed my teeth without you asking!” The young girl hopped on her bed, the bedsheets were a print of stars while the soft blankets were black in contrast to the white. Her smile showed the missing tooth in the top front, hair styled in twists with barrettes adorning the ends. “You promised if I was good you’d tell me again!”

An older dark skinned man walked in, his hair gray with strays of white. His smile was straight and genuine, pulling up at the corners of his eyes. He seemed to have come home from work, tie undone with brown slacks and suspenders over his dressed shirt.

The room itself was something to behold, a treasure chest filled with teddy bears were at the foot of the queen bed , the frame was metal, old style in white. By the window in place was an old bronze telescope, the girl had a habit of staying up at night looking at the night sky. Not only was she able to identify all the constellations, she was able to tell you how far each one was. The room was decorated in astronomy paraphernalia, for a moment you’d think all of this was for a teens room at first glance. However one look to the left and you would see the array of child drawings that belongs to the ten year old.

“Hold on, I’m coming hold your horses,” the man went to the bookshelf by the other window and pulled out an old notebook, withered and torn. “I’ve told you this story so many times, I’m sure you could tell the story to yourself in order to fall asleep.” He teased.

(Y/n) stuck out her tongue at the man playfully, letting out a yelp when he casted her a warning glare before sitting at the side of the bed. She made herself quick to be situated under the covers, her lamp illuminating her brown skin in honey hues as her smile never left. These were the nights she looked up to the most. After a long day at school annoying the english teacher about the galaxy, she'd eat dinner and listen to her favorite story.

She glanced down at the leather ripped book, “Can I have it?,” Her question was a bit hesitant, afterall her grandfather told her the notebook had been with him since he was eighteen.

Each time he pulled the book from the high shelf she felt a bit of jealousy yet curious as to why he always had it out of her reach; It wasn’t like she hadn’t glanced in the book before. There had been many times where she sat back and looked at the side notes outside of the lined margins. It was a shame it wasn’t in english. The letters-or what she assumed were letters-look weird from what she was used to.

She guessed it was either French or Japanese, since her grandmother spoke fluently in both. Nana taught her the basics of the languages with writing and speaking, but not reading, it would take her a while to learn. So for now, she'd have to leave those notes unread.

Her grandfather looked at the girl, a soft look taking on his features, “(Y/n), there's so much I will leave you besides this dear book,” He took his time to run his thumb through the pages with a quick move of the wrist, “It holds a lot of history. Stories have history that must be told so that they are never lost, and the life lessons that it brings along with it.” The smile was gone, instead replaced with a grime expression as he looked down at a certain page he never read from, it was at the very end.

“It’s best to never read an ending. After all you can determine your own ending if you so desire.” He said that so many times to her when reading this story, not only did he do this with this one, but the larger notebook as well. The larger book was one for occasions when she felt down or out of place at school.

It was hard being different at her school. Not only was she not interested in certain aspects girls liked most of the time, but she was outcasted after expressing her love for robots. The teacher was even a bit concerned, calling her Nana after noticing she started to show ‘boyish’ tendencies instead of hanging around the girls. It wasn’t like she didn’t try , she was only expressing her love for the unknown. Not only that but the stories she would tell had the kids on the edge of their seat-that was the time her classmates loved her; The stories stopped abruptly the teacher said they were too violent and stopped the evening story times she had with the class. Talking about war in a story wasn’t something a kid should be telling, especially when it came down to a planet possibly dying due to destruction.

Her grandparents didn’t yell at her, in fact when they left the office they took her out for a nice dinner; and instead of her grandfather telling her a story, for the first time her Nana did. Instead of the book she was used to, her Nana held a larger thicker leather bound book with weird lettering on the cover.

The story was different hearing it from her Nana, it was empowering to say the least. It was at that time she wondered how her parents might have read to her if they were still alive.

“History is boring!” The childish demeanor was back again, a frown placed at how serious everything seemed, “Especially since it happened in the past, how could it really impact our future?”

“It can in many ways. I hated studying history growing up, but over time you realize how important it really is in everyday life.”

He grabbed her nose, cutting off her full exhale of attitude. She giggled and tried to swat the hand away at the teased punishment. Once she settled down the book was placed in her lap for the first time. She gasped in excitement, hesitant to place her hands on the worn leather, she looked back up at him in surprise.

“Let's try something different tonight sweetpea,” he scooted her over a bit in the bed and sat right beside her, gesturing to the book. “I've read this book to you enough times by now for you to read it back to me with no problem-hell you even-”

“You said a bad word-!”

“I did?! PopPop is sorry.”

She bubbled a laugh as he looked at the door hoping his wife didn't hear.

“As I was saying, this story is your favorite amongst the others I've told you. And I'm glad as this story is very important to this family,” He rubbed her head with endearment before gazing back down at the book, “It's time for you to be the next storyteller, let's start practicing now.”

With an encouraging smile from her pops (Y/n) placed her hands on the book, it felt wonderful against her small hands that would soon grow accustomed to the feel as if it was second nature. At last she opened it, the words of the first page were unreadable, all scripted in a different language, she took notice of the letter-like sleeve on the left side against the book's backing. Ignoring it for now she turned the page finally seeing the fist of letters that she could read. She looked back up in excitement, her grandfather matched her smile, a look saying ‘go on’.

She did, saying the first lines of the book that would change her life forever.

“There once was a planet by the name of Cybertron-”

~✯~

The class was silent for a moment, listening ast the girl finished her story with great suspense. It was one of the stories about a knight falling in love with a woman who resembled his late wife, the time period was one that resembled King Arthur. Since it was fantasy and only gave off an allegorical narrative she really couldn’t provide an actual period of when it took place.

The tone was filled with sorrow and despair as she read the final lines. After all, she wanted this A. They asked for a geology report of her family, and so she gave it with pride.

“His breath was taken with the wisp of the cold cold air, as Anna's cries could be heard on the battlefield. The cries were short, a man who dealt the blade within her lover's chest would soon succumb to the same fate. A butterfly landed on the decapitated head of the red haired girl, the soldier muttering one thing , ‘pretty’” (Y/n) looked up, closing the brown leather storybook with the letters ‘(L/N)’ engraved. “This concludes my report on my grandfathers-”

“You can’t end it like that!”

Her head shot up at a girl's statement in the back, she wanted to shrink under the popular girl's stare. She clearly enjoyed the story, but did not like the ending. The girl had her arms on the desk, long hair cascading down her shoulders with a tank that showed off a bit more than what (Y/n) was confident enough to show in a school setting.

Ah, Mikaela. The girl everyone found to be a mystery.

“You killed both of them-!”

“It's based on historic events,” Y/n got down from the desk she sat on top of, adjusting her lowrise jeans and harley davidson shirt she thrifted not too long ago, it was cut into a crop top that rested right along the waist, “Not everything back then was fine and dandy. Many people-including lovers-died horrendous deaths due to suspicion and fear. When me and Pops decided on the plot it started to make more sense to end with the lovers in a tragedy, after all-,” she looked the girl in the eyes, gaze never wavering, “the best stories are ones to learn from.”

Mikaela sat back in her seat, a bit of a pout laying her lips, “You do have a point, if Layton never told his friend about Anna they both would have never been followed by the groundskeeper-”

A cough cut off their conversation, (Y/n) looked back at her teacher who was clearly trying to get the last presentation over and done with.

“Thank you so much Miss (L/n) for the amazing presentation as always, I would prefer however that you try to keep the stories to the very end of class to avoid so many questions about the characters you've created,” He was giving her that look again, scanning over her posture before landing direct eye contact with a smirk. She instead looked away and tried to focus on the applause she received for her presentation, “Not that I mind them though, I encourage you to bring them and read to me-me and the class more often when your not as busy-”

“Well sir that would be possible if this wasn’t my last class with you since we’re graduating this year-”

“Ah yes, I forgot for a moment,” The class erupted to a fit of whispers and giggles, it was no secret, this man had no shame. He had a habit of flirting with the girls in the class and unfortunately she was one of them. She hurriedly grabbed her notebook and beat up sling bag before heading to her seat.

“Witwicky! You're up!”

(Y/n) smiled as her childhood friend walked passed in order to get in front of the class. She took the time to adjust her scarf on her head positioning the high afro puff to sit nicely. It took most of the morning to look this good, sometimes she'd just let the afro be and cover half of her face, but since today was the last presentation before graduation she had to look as good as possible. Although she did get some unwanted attention, Trent was basically gesturing to his friends about her the whole time she was speaking.

Usually she wouldn’t care, however the way his girlfriend and the class took notice had her on edge. To be honest (Y/n) hadn’t expected Mikaela to even acknowledge her existence after gaining her boyfriend's attention, but instead she seemed genuinely interested in her story.

Maybe Sam was right to like her a bit, she was being too overprotective of her friend, afterall out of the two of them; (Y/n) was always the responsible one to her dismay.

(Y/n) watched as Sam dumped the contents on the desk in front, “Sorry I have a lot of stuff…” she sighed a bit anxious as she watched Trent whisper something to Mikaela before flicking Sam in the face with a rubber band. A scowl made its way on her face, leaning back in the seat.

‘How old are we?! Six?!’

“Who did-who did that?! People. Responsibility.”

Sam took a breath, looking around the class before landing his eyes on his friend, “Um-so for my family's geology report I decided to do it on my great-great-grandfather-” a few chuckles could be heard as he looked around again, hands sweaty and all, “He was a famous man-Captain Archibald Witwicky. Very famous explorer-in fact he was one of the first to explore the arctic circle, along with a young man by the name of (GG/n) (L/n)-which is a big deal!”

Many people including Trent and Mikaela looked at her in shock. (Y/n) simply stared back with a coy smile edging it’s way on her face. It was no surprise that Sam included both of their grandparents in the report, after all that’s how their friendship began, through family relationships.

Sam shot her a smile as he grabbed the map and showed it to the class, “In 1897, he took forty-two brave sailors to the arctic shelf,” (Y/n) remembered when she was eleven-Sam twelve- as her grandfather told them about how both their great grandparents tried to get through the ice. The way he put it about hers is that he simply hated being in the cold ,but since Archibald treated him so well as his assistant he managed even in the worst times, “That’s the story right?”

(Y/n) nodded her head, internearly pleased that Sam summed it up pretty well from what they practiced. “-And here we have basic instruments and tools used by nineteenth century seamen-“ the class broke out into laughter, even though she tried her best not to indulge in the immature nature of her classmates-a hit of a smile wobbled on her lips.

The teacher flashed a ‘stop’ sign silencing them, “- And this here is the quadrant which you can get for eighty bucks-this is all for sale by the way! L-like the sextant here-“ another round of laughter, this time she let out a giggle, “-this is a bargain, everything is pretty cool. These are my grandfather's glasses, I haven’t quite got them appraised yet-but they’ve seen many cool things-“

“Are you going to sell me his liver? Mr Witwicky, this isn’t ‘show and sell’ in the 12th grade. I don’t think your grandfather would be particularly proud of what you’re doing-“

“I know I’m sorry-you know this is all towards my car fund. You can tell your folks it’s on ebay! I take PayPal, hard cash works too-a-and it makes a g-great gift for Columbus Day-“

“Sam!”

(Y/n) held her hand over her mouth, trying so hard to stop the eruption of laughter to spill from her throat.

‘He can’t be serious right now! This wasn’t the plan!’

“-S-sorry um, unfortunately my great grandfather-the genius that he was- winded up going blind and crazy. He ended up in the psych ward saying he saw strange symbols, and going on about some giant ice man that he thought he saw-,” The bell cut him off before he could finish much to her dismay.

Her grandfather never told her that part, he always told them about the travel through the arctic, but not Witwicky seeing a ‘giant ice man’. She’d have to ask more later about that and the symbols on the papers he held up that she was all too familiar with.

“Okay! There might be a pop quiz tomorrow! Might not! Sleep in fear tonight!”

The class started to clear out, she got a few murmurs of compliments about her family’s history as she packed at her desk, throwing the bag on her shoulder as she watched Sam still trying to sell those damn glasses.

‘Give it up Samuel, you know no one is going to want that damn thing.’

To be honest she found it disrespectful, especially since he knew she basically incorporated most of her grandfather's clothes into her everyday life. She even made her own quilt out of his shirts for her Nana not so long ago. The patches on her old bag were one of his dress shirts.

Sam stood in front of his teacher, an awkward smile playing on his face, “Okay? Pretty good right?” (Y/n) slowly came back up to the front, but not too close to give them enough space with their conversation.

“Uhhh, I’d say a solid B minus.”

Sam dropped the act, “A B minus?!”

“You were hocking your great-grandfather's crap in my class-“

“Kids enjoy-look could you do me a favor please?! Look out the window for a second and see my father. He’s the guy in the green car,” The brown skinned girl followed the teacher's gaze outside where Mr. Witwicky was waiting for them, “okay-let me tell you about a dream. A boy's dream, and a man’s promise to that boy. He looked him in the eyes and said ‘son imma buy you a car, and I want you to bring me two thousand dollars in three days’. Okay? I had two thousand in two days.”

“Now here’s that two thousand and here’s that B minus-“ Sam made an explosion with his hands, (Y/n) trying her best not to clown him and decided to leave . “Dream gone.” The teacher looked back at Sam after he watched Y/n close the door behind her.

“Sir, just ask yourself. What would Jesus do?”

(Y/n) made her way towards the green car outside, her notebook in hand ready to jot down the new symbols she saw from Sam's report today. She looked up and saw her friend's dad, arms crossed as he sat in the driver's seat. “Afternoon, Mr Witwicky!”

Ron let out a sigh at (Y/n)’s greeting, “ (Y/n) how many times have I told you? Please call me Ron?”

“Sorry sir-Ron, how was work?”

“It was alright, not too busy today, I’m ready to go home and lay around on the couch. Unfortunately for me if my boy comes out with an A my bank account is gonna bleed.”

The girl laughed lightly before shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the entrance where Sam came bounding out with a big smile.

“Looks like it’s gonna need stitches”

“ Yes!” Sam hoped in the car, (Y/n) following suit in the backseat, she made sure to put her pencil and book away. Last time she let her pen out she accidentally scratched the leather seat, Ron said it was okay but she felt like he was only trying to be nice since he saw how much it scared her.

“I got an A minus!” He showed his dad the paper as he looked at it in confirmation, “good?”

“You’re good.”

Sam pumped his fist into the air in triumph, he looked back and flashed her a smile. She gave an encouraging thumbs up. “Finally, you can drive me around, so I won’t bother your dad anymore-“

“How many times have I told you, you’re not bothering me young lady!” Ron glared at her through the rearview mirror.

“Right, sorry!”

“Didn’t you say you’re looking for a car with me?” Sam questioned.

It was true she saved up eight thousand dollars for a car so far. She was really proud of herself and the amount of discipline she had to endure. However she was hesitant due to Nana growing older, she wanted a form of comfort for her grandmother while she was away. She thought of getting her a service dog with a low temperament, and not too big. But they always seemed so expensive, especially to get them trained. So she wanted to work some more, but if she saw her dream car today? She’d drop the check on the salesman’s desk.

“I am. I’m just thinking about saving a bit more, but if I find one today that’s good too.”

The drive wasn’t that far, in fact (Y/n ) wanted to exhale the moment they didn’t stay at the expensive dealership. The joke Ron pulled earlier was hard not to laugh at, she knew first cars weren’t supposed to be a luxury. However, taking a look at the car's disheveled appearances at the one they pulled up at, she understood Sam's frustration.

“Here?! No no no, what is this? You said half a car not half a piece of crap dad!”

“When I was your age I’d be happy with four wheels and an engine.”

(Y/n) looked around, spotting a black and yellow camaro pulling into one of the parking spaces. She looked on in envy, whoever had that one was so lucky.

“Okay let me say something to you. Have you seen a forty year old virgin?”

“Yeah.”

“That-that’s what this is,” he gestured over to one car, “and that’s fifty year old virgin”

“Okay.”

“You want me to live that life? Hm?”

“To be honest Sam these cars are not that bad,” (Y/n) spoke up, he looked at her in frustration, “They just need a bit of tlc. Plus if the girl doesnt even have her own car, what right does she have to complain about yours?”

“You're supposed to be on my side! None of these are going to get me any girls-“

“Look at all of them before drawing that conclusion. No sacrifice, no victory. ” Ron cut in.

“Yeah yeah, the old Witwicky motto.” Sam waved him off.

“Gentlemen and my dear sister! Bobby Bolivia, like the country except without the runs!” The African American male laughed upon his greeting shaking Ron’s hand, “How may I help ya?”

“Looking to buy his first car, and she’s looking around as well.”

Bobby turned his attention to Sam, “You came to see me?”

“Had too-“ He jerked his leg back after (Y/n) kicked his ankle, a silent ‘don’t be rude’.

“That there makes us family. Uncle Bobby B baby! Uncle Bobby B!,” he held out his hand, Sam took it and told his name.

Bobby looked at her , “And you sister?” She took his hand in a firm handshake, “(Y/n)”

“Aight, let me talk to ya! Sam, (Y/n), your first day of freedom is right there underneath,” the girl focused on the cute yellow beetle in front, missing the black and yellow camaro pulling in right beside it , “Let me tell you something son-sister; the driver doesn’t pick the car ,the car picks the driver. It’s a mystical bond between man and machine.”

‘Can I befriend a robot PopPop?!’

‘You can, there’ll always be a bond between man and machine’

“Son-sister, I’m a lot of things, but liars aren’t one of them.”

“I believe you.” The three men looked at the girl, her gaze excited from the words he’d spoken. How could she forget something her grandfather expressed frequently when she was younger? She was practically waiting for this moment.

She looked from the beetle as she saw Sam head towards the black striped car with a yellow base. (Y/n) left the beetle, the adventure she once pictured long forgotten, and a new picture emerged with her reading and writing in the black leather seated vehicle.

“This one got racing stripes.”

Bobby sounded confused at Sam's words as the two of them examined the car. The boy looked over at her, cocking a brow. “What do you think?”

“I love it.” She whispered, peering her head through the open window. The interior was a bit dirty, but she knew how to get stains out and a good day of washing will do them good.

(Y/n) opened the car door and got in, ignoring how Sam listened in on Bobby’s and Mannys conversation about it. She gripped the handles of the car, running her hands up and down, getting a good feel. Looking up, a signature disco ball and bumblebee hung over the rearview. It was fitting for the car, the colors were practically the colors of the insect adding character. She paused looking at the logo in the middle, rubbing her thumb over the horn she gasped.

(Y/n) shot out of the car as if it was hell itself, her breathing was labored, eyes frantic as she stared at the wheel through the car door. She’s seen that symbol so many times, her lips wobbled as if she wanted to cry. It was a wave of nostalgia that scared her to hop out of the car. There was no way the old owner had heard the story before, unless they had and wanted the car to remind them of it each day.

‘the driver doesn't pick the car, the car picks the driver’

Sam looked at her for a moment, before getting in himself , getting a feel before asking the winning question, “How much?”

Bobby put his hands up on the roof in thought, “Well considering the semi classic nature of the vehicle, with the slick wheels and the custom paint job-“

“But the paints faded.” (Y/n) interrupted.

“Y-yeah but it’s custom.”

“It’s custom faded?” Sam questioned backing her up.

“Well this is your first car so I don’t expect you two to understand.” Bobby looked at Ron then (Y/n), “Five grand.”

“Naw I’m not paying above four sorry.” Ron responded.

(Y/n)’s heart soars, sure she’d want a smaller price ,but she had the money. She dove in for her checkbook in her backpack .

“Kid, comm’ on get out the car.”

“No no no, you said the car picks the driver!”

“Well sometimes they pick a driver with a cheap ass father out the car.” Bobby went over to the beetle she was looking at earlier. “Now this one here for four gs is a beauty!”

She felt a little bad after seeing Sam's dejected expression. He saved up and tried so hard for a car and the one he liked she might take home. She eased her hand from her bag, there had to be another shop that could customize her steering wheel the same way.

‘No. It’s not fair to leave with it, especially if he clearly wanted it first. Let’s look at the cute beetle again.’

Sam angrily got out of the car.

“There’s that fiasco with racing stripes over there?” Ron tried to joke.

“No I don’t want a fiasco racing stripes”

“This is a classic engine right here. I sold a car the other day-“

(Y/n) shot back in shock as the camaros car door hit the beetle a second after she came over to look at it. She looked at Sam and Ron seeing them hold the same expression.

“Jesus! Holy cow, are you alright?”

“No no no worries! I’ll have Manny bang this right out! H-hey Manny! Get your clown cousin and get your hammers and bang this stuff out baby!” Bobby laughed it off.

Walking back over to the camaros window she watched as the radio started to change between stations. She watched in fascination, her lips curving up to a dorky smile.

“Whoa-“

“Now this one’s my favorite! Drove all the way from Alabammy-!”

None of them could’ve prepared themselves for what happened next. An ear piercing sound erupted from the car, glass shards from windows blasted everywhere as they got down to take cover. (Y/n) was the most unlucky as she was right by it, ducking right against the car door trying her best to block out the sound with her hands.

The sound stopped, all of them got up looking at one another. Bobby was the most devastated, she was pretty sure they’d be banned from coming back however the next words that flew through his mouth left her stomach twisting.

“Four thousand!”

‘I guess the car really does choose the driver after all’ She looked back at the camaro, it seemed to be staring back at her, ‘and I guess I’m not that driver’

It was bittersweet.