#trauma flashbacks bro trauma flashbacks

[irisesforyoureyes]

online classes are such a bitch

[ursiday]

Doodles of Elsa and Viktor from a little while back that ended up going along with this small animation I did

[dragon-creates]

Just How Fast The Night Changes (Does it Ever Drive You Crazy?)

Chapter 1/Chapter 2/Chapter 3

Read on AO3

Trigger warning, this chapter does describe panic attacks and flashbacks of childhood trauma so again, always feel free to skip this fic. Again, this was written and posted on ao3 before the Mario Movie came out. Other than that, enjoy and feel free to leave constructive criticism!

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Present

Well, this was fantastic.

One minute, Luigi was just doing his job, fixing the pipes at an abandoned factory with Mario, their business had taken off ever since…Anyways, he was there one minute and then the next he was being chased down by some type of dinosaur skeletons, before hiding in an abandoned castle, then being tied up by some hooded figures and dragged along to someone that they were calling ‘King Bowser’.

When Luigi finally had a moment to process everything, he was then met face to face with the most terrifying thing he had even seen. Sitting of a throne was some sort of reptilian beast, he was absolutely large with sharp teeth that would devour Luigi within seconds. Luigi gulped; he really did not want that to happen.

Once the hooded figures untied him, the king slowly descended down the steps of his throne and made his way towards the green clad man. Before Luigi could even think about running, a blue aura wrapped around him and pushed him towards the beast, who was much larger up close. From what the beast told him, he was King Bowser of the Koopas, he wanted to rule the world and apparently was also looking for his brother. He had pulled at his moustache hairs, demanding if Luigi know about his whereabouts, to which Luigi replied pathetically with Mario’s exact description thinking that he could throw this king of his brother’s track…then his moustache got ripped out.

He had screamed at the top of his lungs, stopping when the little men in red hoods dragged him down to the dungeon. And now he was here, in a cage hovering above lava, next to a star who couldn’t stop talking about death and no doubt was going to be interrogated about his brother again soon.

Despite this being a bizarre situation, Luigi wasn’t surprised that it happened to him. Out of the two brothers, of course it was going to be him to end up in some type of hellish land. Maybe he deserved it after everything he did. Who was he kidding, he did, he just hoped Mario was safe.

.........

Luigi couldn’t tell how long it had been, he couldn’t see the sky, so he had no way of knowing how much time had passed. All he knew that the guards had brought him a few meals and that he did sleep a couple of times, but that was it. He was about to fall asleep again when his cage shook and vaulted him up in front of a koopa guard.

He unlocked Luigi’s cage as the plumber nervously walked out. “Is this yours?” the guard asked as he flung a bag to the ground. It was Luigi’s plumbing tools! “How did you know this was mine?”

“I didn’t,” the guard said, “You just told me yourself.”

“Oh,” dammit Luigi, you and your stupid mouth.

“Follow me,” the guard ordered, turning on his heel and away from the dungeons, Luigi following. The less he was near that cage, the better.

While he was led hallway to hallway, Luigi took the time to observe his surroundings. The ground was a polished red marble covered with soft red carpet, and the hallways had beautiful matching wallpaper embroidered with gold. Despite his circumstances, the place was quite lovely.

Finally, they had arrived at some type of shower room. “This shower over here isn’t working,” the guard informed him, “Since those tools are made to deal with these sorts of things, you can work on this.”

“Uh, why me?” Luigi asked.

“You’re a plumber, right?” the guard queried.

“Well, yeah but-”

“That you have the abilities to fix these,” he finished, “If you do a good job of this, then we’ll find more work for you to do around the castle. Its better than being in that cell of yours, isn’t it?”

Was this Bowser’s idea of interrogation, get one of his soldiers to make Luigi due free labour? “Did your King tell you to do this?”

The guard was silent for a second, seeming as though he wasn’t expecting for that to be asked of him. “Get to work,” he replied bluntly and turned away as he kept watch of the door.

Luigi shrugged, whether Bowser ordered it or not, he was just glad to be out of that cage. The shower was an easy fix, despite this being a magical land it still had the same pipes as the ones in his home. He did look over his shoulder once in a while to check that the guard was still there, though as he checked one more time before he finished the pipe, he saw that guard was shyly waving at someone. He looked to the door and saw another koopa guard waving back with the same shyness before walking away. The soldier sighed longingly as the other departed, like he was in…oh.

“So, who was that?” Luigi asked.

The guard jumped and turned to Luigi, his face beet red. “I beg your pardon?!” they squawked.

“Sorry, sorry!” Luigi giggled, “It just seemed that you knew them, that was all.

“Th-they’re no one,” said the koopa, “Just one of my companions.”

“Well, they seem to really like you,” Luigi smiled.

“Y-you’re in no way shape or form to make those statements! Get back to work!” the koopa yelled.

“Of course,” Luigi sighed, “Sorry,” He went back to the pipe, just a few more adjustments and he was done. Why did he even do that? It wasn’t like he knew the koopa, why was he talking like they were friends? That was so stupid, just so stu-

“What gave you the indication that they like me?”

Luigi whipped round, “Come again?”

“You said that they might like me, right?” said the koopa, blushing, “If courting is the same back at your world, do you think they might like me back?”

Luigi wasn’t really an expert in relationships, that was more Mario’s thing. Every time he tried to for romance, it always ended up in embarrassment, heartbreak, or someone expecting more than he could ever give. But he was a romantic and did see how Mario wooed the ladies.

“Well, seeing as they reacted the same way you did when you waved at them, something tells me that you might have a chance with them,” said Luigi.

“Really?” asked the guard, “Do you think that’s possible.”

“I can’t say for certain,” Luigi told him, “But I have a feeling that you should give it a shot, and if it doesn’t go well, you can blame me.”

“I’ll…keep that in mind,” the koopa straightened him back, “Are you finished?”

“Yup,” Luigi nodded, “Should be right as rain now.”

He turned the knob and just as he predicted, water came out of the head and onto the ground. “Perfect,” said the koopa, “Now that you’ve proven yourself, I suppose you-”

“What is the prisoner doing out of his cell?!” a loud voice rumbled throughout the ground, spooking the guard and Luigi.

“King Bowser!” the guard gasped and bowed as the king towered over him, “Forgive me your highness but I found tools belonging to the prisoner and found an opportunity to fix the showers. Forgive me my king, I should’ve informed you first, but my enthusiasm got the better of me.”

Bowser looked to the guard and then to Luigi. The man gulped, the king’s stare piercing right through him and making him sweat that he doubted was from the heat.

The king grumbled under his breath before turning to the guard. “You’re dismissed,” said Bowser, “But if you don’t inform me next time then there will be consequences, do I make myself clear?”

“Of course, your highness,” the guard agreed, “Shall I take the prisoner back to his cell?”

“No,” the king replied without hesitation, “I want to speak to him myself.”

Luigi felt like he was going to vomit, while he was glad the koopa didn’t get into trouble, he was definitely more worried about what was so important to the king that he wanted to speak alone with him.

The guard hurried out the room, giving Luigi one more glance before disappearing.

The king stared at Luigi, who in return tried to hold his gaze. While the king still looked abnormal to the plumber, there was something else to him that Luigi couldn’t explain, something that gave him a sense of warmth despite how startled he felt at the moment.

“So,” the king finally spoke, making Luigi jump, “You managed to fix the pipes,”

“Y-yes,” damn his stutter, “Y-your g-guard just w-wanted it f-fixed.”

“I see,” the king mused, looking at the pipes, “What else can you do?”

Oh, no one else asked Luigi that before, expect for Mario. All anyone really expected from him was plumbing or as a gateway to his brother, but that was fine, it was like Luigi had anything of value to offer like his brother, he wasn’t brave or outgoing or-

“Are you going to make me wait all day?” Bowser growled.

Luigi nearly jumped three feet into the air, “O-of course not! I-I-I-…. I can bake!”

“…you can bake?” the king raised an eyebrow.

Honestly, that was the first thing Luigi can think of. He felt embarrassed it out loud now, Mario always told him about how much he loved Luigi’s baking, but it never meant everyone else did, especially terrifying royalty.

“I see,” Bowser hummed as a smile curved on his lips, however it wasn’t full of malice or cruelty, more like amusement or curiosity. “Follow me,”

Since the king bigger than Luigi, really big, his steps were much larger, so Luigi had to run in order to keep up with him. It seemed that the king had noticed this however and stopped abruptly, making Luigi skid to a stop and slamming into the king’s leg. Now it was his turn to turn red as the king looked down at him. Luigi thought that he was going to be eaten until Bowser scooped him up and carried him with one arm. If it wasn’t for the situation at hand, this was almost quite nice, he kind of missed being held.

They had passed a dining hall with a long table with a massive chair at the end, presumably for Bowser, and the king led Luigi into a kitchen. He gently placed Luigi into the floor as Luigi looked around. “Since you proven that you can be useful, you can bake for myself and the other inhabitants in this castle,” Bowser announced.

“R-really?” Luigi asked, someone actually wanted him to bake?

Your baking is amazing weegee, you need to let others see that!

No, no! Spike’s right, it’s dumb. Besides, they’re not even that good anyway.

“Make something while I’m gone and I’ll try it when I’m back,” said Bowser, “Just to make sure it’s edible.”

“O-oh,” Luigi fidgeted with his hands a little bit, “S-sure.”

The king huffed and turned to go out the door but stopped and turned to Luigi one more time, “Make sure you don’t burn the place down Greenie.”

As soon as he left and Luigi was left alone, all he could do was think about what he could possibly make. What would the king even like? Chocolate cake, apple pie, cookies? Luigi rubbed a hand down his face, he had to focus, maybe he could start somewhere simple. In the end he gathered up the ingredients and assembled a fluffy vanilla sponge cake, complete with a delicious buttercream frosting.

The king came back into the kitchen as Luigi finished piping the frosting. “Looks nice,” he murmured.

“Oh, you think?”

“First we need to make sure it tastes good as well,” said Bowser, grabbing a knife and cut a slice for himself and lifted it onto a plate.

Luigi held his breath as the king took a bite. Bowser paused mid-bite, his eyes widening. Oh no, he hated it, Mario was wrong he was a terrible baker, he should’ve listened to Spike and now he was going to be roasted alive and never see his brother again, all because he baked a stupid cake!

“This is amazing,” Bowser finally replied.

“W-what?” Luigi needed to hear that again, did the koopa king like his cake?

“This is the best thing I ever tasted!” The king beamed, taking another bite, “Its incredible, how did you learn to bake this this?!”

Luigi couldn’t believe it, someone liked…no…loved his baking. No one ever wanted to try his baking before, Spike had always told his that he shouldn’t bother with something so ‘mundane’ but yet here he was, standing in front of someone loved his simple dish. “Thank you,” Luigi whispered.

Bowser looked at him again, as Luigi’s eyes filled with so much joy and happiness that even he started to feel a bit affected by it. Bowser cleared his throat, “Since you’ll be helping out a bit more often there no point in sending you back to the dungeon. I’ll tell Kamek to set up your living quarters, while you wait the kitchen is free for you to use.”

Bowser turned and walked out the kitchen, cake in hand, leaving Luigi alone. Well, not fully alone, another guard was stationed outside the kitchen. Luigi didn’t focus on that though, instead he ran on the spot and squealed excitedly, what else could he make!? Oh, maybe he could make snickerdoodle cookies, Mario always…Mario. Was he betraying his brother by doing this for someone who wanted to destroy him? He was being stupid again, his brother was being hunted down by the king and all Luigi could focus on was making pretty cakes for that king, so fucking stupid!

Luigi sighed, getting out the ingredients anyway, he didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side, but he also didn’t want to betray Mario. Snickerdoodle it is, after all, no one here would know…right?

.........

Crack!

Boom!

“Mama!”

Crack!

“She didn’t deserve to die that night! It should’ve been you! Why wasn’t it you?!”

Luigi awoke with a cold sweat, another nightmare. He still had nightmares of that night when his parents died, but now his uncle had made his way into them as well. He could still remember the kicks, the punches, but most of all, he could never forget what he said the day when he finally left him.

His heart began beating faster as another ripple of sweat rolled down his face. He started panting heavier and heavier. He deserved to feel like this, he should’ve died that night, he was supposed to die that night, he wished he died that night, why didn’t he die that night?!

He was so wrapped up in his mind that he didn’t notice that light flicking on and a hand gripping his as another rubbed his back. “Breathe,” an old yet wise voice told him. Luigi found himself squeezing the hand and he looked around the room, eyes finally landing on a koopa with a blue robe and glasses. That was the one that did the magic on him, when he first met Bowser.

“Breathe,” he told Luigi again, “In for one, two three for and out, two, three, four.”

Luigi tried to repeat the breathing as best he could, even when he fumbled a little bit the koopa was incredibly patient and soothed him while they continued the breathing. Luigi felt his breathing become steadier, the koopa gently placed a glass of water into his hands, still rubbing his back as Luigi gulped down the water. He placed the glass on the dresser next to his bed as he rubbed sleep away from his eyes.

“How did you know I was having a panic attack?” Luigi asked.

“My job is to make sure that everyone in the castle is taken care of,” the koopa explained, “Including prisoners.”

Luigi slowly nodded, “I’m sorry.”

“There’s no need to be sorry dear boy,” the koopa explained, “Perhaps its better if I introduced myself, I am Kamek, and you are Luigi, aren’t you?”

“Yes,” Luigi blinked.

Kamek hummed, “If you’re comfortable, would you mind telling me what triggered this panic attack?”

“Just a dumb nightmare,” Luigi mumbled.

“Dumb or not if it made you react this way then there is something worth discussing,” said Kamek, “And even if it isn’t worth it, I do believe a discussion may help relieve some of the tension that’s there.”

“W-well,” Luigi looked to his sheets, back to Kamek and back down again, “I was having a nightmare about the night my parents died and…how my uncle told me that I should’ve died instead of my mom.”

Kamek’s face fell slightly “Oh.”

“But it’s fine, I have nightmares all the time and this happens a lot, I’m used to it,” Luigi tried to plaster a fake smile, but it doesn’t seem to fool the old koopa.

“I don’t think this is something you should be used to dear boy,” Kamek said, “Whoever informed you that this is something you should normalise is frankly very wrong.”

“I appreciate the concern but really, I’m fine!” Luigi’s smile was beginning to falter, “I’m fine, it’s fine, I’m fine…I…”

Tears rolled down his cheeks as his fake grin finally faltered. He bit his lip, trying to stifle his sniffles, but when Kamek wrapped his arms around him - in a familiar familial like that Mario would do for him – a loud cry tore from his throat as Kamek gently rocked him, shushing him as sobs wracked the small man’s body.

As his cries calmed down to whimpers, Luigi could fell sleep creep up on him again. Kamek laid the man back down onto his pillows and used the sleeves oh his robe to wipe away the remaining tears. With a wave of his wand, he refilled the glass of water on Luigi’s bedside and quietly made his way of the room.

When he shut the door with the upmost gentleness, he was met face to face with Bowser. “What happened?” the king queried softly, Kamek swore he heard concern with laced with his tone.

“A nightmare, although unfortunately for him, it seemed to be the ones where he's forced to relive the most tragic memories,” Kamek explained, his heart sinking a little as he recalled how Luigi stared up at him, like a frightened child.

“I see,” Bowser pondered, “He did seem a bit more nervous that the other prisoners.”

“You would be a fool not to notice,” Kamek nodded, “I fear that this poor boy might’ve been hurt in his past. Really, really hurt.”

Bowser’s eyes suddenly hardened, the only other family member that he knew that the man had was his brother, if was the one who did this to him-

“I can tell where your mind is,” Kamek spoke up, “Don’t go rushing into assumptions, from what our spies have told us I have a feeling that his brother isn’t behind that boy’s fears. I understand that you want to win this war, but I heavily suggest that you don’t do it at that boy’s expense. From what I’ve seen, he’s gone through enough.”

“What! Of course not!” Bowser bellowed, “Of course I want to win but I’m not sick enough to ever do that do someone!”

“Good,” Kamek nodded and smiled at his surrogate son, “And I hope you stick by that.” With that, Kamek made his way down the hall, leaving Bowser alone.

A million thoughts were rushing through the king’s head. What happened to the green man that made him react to a nightmare like that? Who was the one who made him react like that? His brother better hope he wasn’t the one who did, otherwise taking him down would be more deadly than he intended. Wait a minute, why was he thinking about the plumber this way? Sure, he felt bad for him but surely not to this extent, right? However, as he imagined those eyes, how they nearly filled with tears after he complimented his cake, and the excited squeals he heard once he left the kitchen, no one ever really gave that to him before, didn’t they? He knew that from this moment on that no one else was going to take that happiness away from the plumber ever again. He would make sure of it.

.........

Luigi awoke the next morning, feeling completely drained from the night before. It was to be expected though, it happened every time when he had nightmares. He stretched and swung his feet over the side of the bed and tucked his feet into the slippers on the floor. He felt quite flattered that Kamek had went out of his way to make him pyjamas and footwear his size, even though it was mostly done with magic, he still felt flattered.

There was a knock at the door and the koopa guard that guided him to the shower rooms the other day entered the room. “King Bowser requests your presence for breakfast,” said the guard.

“Oh, did he say why?” Luigi asked, curious as to why the king wanted a prisoner to join him.

“He only informed me to take you to breakfast,” the koopa replied, “Please follow me.”

The koopa turned and walked out, Luigi following behind. The walk so far was silent, both not really knowing what to say since the king found out that the guard disobeyed him, he just hoped that Bowser wasn’t too hard on the koopa afterwards.

“S-so,” The koopa finally spoke up, “I took your advice the other day and…we both plan on sitting with each other during lunch later.”

“Really?!” a massive grin broke onto Luigi’s face, “That’s amazing!”

“I just, well, I wanted to thank you,” the koopa nervously rubbed the back of his neck, “If it wasn’t for you, I don’t think I would’ve been brave enough to ask them.”

Luigi’s steps faltered slightly before keeping back up with the guard again. He didn’t really think that his advice would help someone, all he wanted was to help someone with their own romantic plights but for someone to be happy with his help, it was a new feeling to experience on its own. “You’re welcome,” Luigi smiled, “If it’s alright, would you like to tell me your name?”

The koopa turned to him, looking up and down before finally answering, “Sam…my name is Sam.”

“It’s nice to mee you Sam,” Luigi replied, “I’m Luigi, oh wait, you already knew that.”

“Yeah, I did…we’ve arrived,” Sam stated, the two finally stopping at the dining hall. Sam opened the door for Luigi, where King Bowser and a smaller version of him were waiting, seated at the top of the table. “Enjoy your breakfast.”

“Thank you,” Luigi nodded, “Oh and one more thing!”

The koopa looked back one more time.

“Good luck with lunch later!” Luigi gave him a thumbs up.

Sam smiled a little bit, before shutting the door, leaving Luigi with the king and the small koopa that looked remarkably similar to the larger koopa. He was going to take a set at the opposite end of the table, away from the two, when the king suddenly said, “No, no, you’ll be eating beside me.”

Sit beside him? Why? Was this another interrogation? Did he want Luigi closer to him in order to scare him enough to get the information that he needed on Mario? Or maybe Kamek told him about the nightmare he had last night and wanted to punish him for it?! Great, his nightmares managed to upset the king and now he was going to get angry for him, why can’t he just deal with his nightmares like a normal person!

“Hey, Greenie, can you hear me?” Bowser’s voice broke him out of his internal rambling, “You’re gonna be sitting next to me and Junior.”

“J-Junior?” Luigi said aloud, was that the name of the smaller koopa?

“My son,” Bowser said proudly, ruffling the hair on top of the young boy’s head, “Hurry up, you’re gonna like what we have in store for you.”

Luigi nervously made his way up to the chair beside Bowser, across from Junior. Maybe it would be alright? Surely, he wouldn’t do anything brash in front of his child? As soon as he sat down the king pushed in his seat with ease, Luigi nearly blushed at the sudden closeness.

“I hope you’re hungry, cause I’ll bet that you’ve never had anything like this before!” Bowser boasted and a crowd of goombas wearing little chef hats poured into the room, while balancing trays on top of their heads before setting them down on the table.  Luigi’s mouth watered when they lifted the lids off, revealing many kinds of different breakfast foods. From pancakes to waffles, pouched to fried eggs and bacon to the many colours of fruits. There was more trays but the hunger that Luigi felt was starting to overpower him.

“Alright! I’m starving!” the young koopa cheered when the goombas left, immediately scooping up a portion of food from each tray and piling it onto his plate.

“Oh Junior, careful!” Bowser chuckled as his son started to make a mess with the butters and jams, he put on his meal, “I apologise, we were waiting for you to arrive before we could eat.”

Luigi paused for a moment and looked up towards the king, “Waiting for me? Why?”

“Well, Kamek told me about how you had trouble sleeping last night,” Bowser began to explain, sheepishly looking down at his plate, “And while I do want information about your brother, I don’t want you to feel like how you were that night. I’m not that much of a monster. So, I hoped that having breakfast with us could help you out a little bit.”

“You did this…for me?” Luigi’s heart fluttered a bit.

Bowser blushed, the little man was making those eyes again, those beautiful mesmerising eyes. He cleared his throat and smirked, leaning on his arm and he moved a bit closer to the plumber, “Yeah, why? Is it not enough for you little man?”

Luigi’s face had turned into the exact shade of a ripe tomato, covering in with his hands as he sank into his chair. “No, no its fantastic and I’m really glad that you had me in my mind while planning this!” he muffled into his hands.

“Your friend is strange Papa,” Junior stated, munching on some pancakes.

“Junior-”

“It’s fine,” Luigi uncovered his face, the heat slowly leaving his cheeks, “Yeah, I get that sometimes.”

“Oh…are you the red guy’s brother?” Junior asked, “Papa is planning on fighting him soon,”

Bowser froze. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to have Junior here, but he didn’t want his son to feel excluded from eating with him, he hardly spent enough time with him due to the war with the mushroom kingdom.

Luigi sighed, not at the boy’s question, but rather at the acknowledgement that yes, he was here for one reason and one reason only, knowledge about his brother. “Yes, I am,” Luigi nodded.

Junior seemed to have realised the error in his words, looking down at his food with guilt, “Sorry, sometimes I’m not that great with my words.”

“That’s okay,” Luigi gave the boy a reassuring smile, “I’m not good with my words either. In fact, when I was a kid, I had a really bad stutter whenever I spoke.”

“You did?” The kid looked up at him.

“Yeah, I still get it sometimes when I’m nervous but not as much as I did back then,” Luigi admitted, “But you’re pretty brave about speaking your mind, that’s something that I still struggle to do.”

“You think?!” Junior marvelled at the man’s words, his little tail wagging behind him.

“Yeah!” Luigi grinned back.

Bowser smiled at the two, it was nice that Junior was able to make a companion during all of this. Sometimes Bowser felt guilty about having his son here, instead of keeping him back home with his friends, but he didn’t want to take any risks with Junior’s safety, he never knew who could be lurking. Yet when he saw how Luigi interacted with his child, how he spoke with his son instead of down to him, nothing else filled with chest with the pride that he felt at that moment at seeing how happy the moustached man treated his boy.

“So, you plan on eating soon Greenie?” Bowser joked, interrupting the conversation.

“Oh, right, sorry,” Luigi giggled, taking a waffle and covering it with some powdered sugar before taking a bite, humming at the taste, “This is really good, thank you.”

He was making the eyes again, but this time instead of brushing it away, Bowser returned the soft look with one of his own, “You’re welcome.”

.........

A few days after the breakfast with Bowser and Junior, Luigi had formed his own little routine at the castle. He would wake up, join the king and prince for breakfast (as well as lunch and dinner), do a bit of baking with Sam as his assigned guard, if there was some plumbing to be done then he would immediately take up the job, spend a little bit of time with Junior the two of them played before Bowser joined them, maybe have a bit of quiet time, a stroll with Bowser before getting ready for bed. Though he did have those expected nightmares, Kamek immediately rushed in to help him through it until he was able to fall back to sleep.

However, there was one day when that routine was rudely interrupted. Luigi was just taking some cookies out of the oven as Sam watched, curious as to how Luigi’s delicious treats were made, until another koopa guard burst through the door of the kitchen with a worried look on his face. “The boos have gone rogue!” he shouted, “Take the prisoner and keep him in this room until they’re detained.”

Sam nodded, pushing Luigi in front of him as they made their way to his bedroom. “Wait, what’s going on?” Luigi started to panic.

“Have you ever noticed those ghosts floating round the castle sometimes?” Sam inquired.

Luigi nodded; he remembered those creatures whenever he was being led throughout the castle. He also remembered how they all looked at him with disdain, like dirt on a pair of shoes.

“Well, they only go against us if their king commands it,” Sam told him.

Luigi raised an eyebrow, “But I thought Bowser was their king.”

“Bowser’s just borrowing them, their true leader is King Boo. I’m not sure why he’s doing this, but we need to keep this place on lockdown until we’re able to handle the situation,” Sam responded, finally reaching Luigi’s room and led the man inside, “Wait here until I get back.”

Sam shut the door behind him, leaving Luigi alone. His stomach churned while his hands kept making fists, in order to help calm the rise of anxiety building within him. He was going to lay and try the breathing exercises that Kamek taught him when he heard a scream from outside. Rushing to the window, he saw Junior running from a group of boos, taunting the poor child.

“Look at how pathetic he is!”

“He knows that he’s just an unlovable bastard!”

“It’s a good thing his parents are dead, who would want a miserable sack of shit like this!”

If Luigi was able to recognize anything, it was a bully. He knows the types of targets they go for, small, scared, weak. That was how he always found himself being chased by those who saw those traits in him, and now, those boos could see in the child that they were harassing. He couldn’t stand up for himself back then, but here, now, he could try for Junior.

He knew that the window was locked (he tried to open it before, but it wouldn’t budge) so taking a chair next to a vanity and threw it towards the window. Glass shattered into millions of little pieces, spraying across the floor. Luigi looked over the edge, trying to estimate how to get down. Thinking quickly, he pulled off the curtains and grabbed the bedsheets, tying the together into a makeshift rope and tied one end to the leg of his bed. He grabbed a wrench from his tool bag, sliding it into his overalls and carefully scaled down the hot wall, mindful of the lava pouring next to him.

Finally, he reached the ground, scanning the area until he found the young koopa trying to back away from the boos.

Luigi began running, running faster than he ever did in his life, faster than he did when he ran away from Wario and Waluigi. His only focus was helping that young boy and though he felt nothing but dread every time he saw those boos, Junior’s safety was his top priority.

As soon he reached them, he raised the wrench and slammed it against one of the ghosts, knocking it off balance and sending it flying backwards. Taking the opportunity while he had it, Luigi picked up Junior, placing him on his hip before running away again. He only got a few feet before the boos stopped him in his tracks. Luigi counted four as they circled around him and Junior, his protective grip tightened on the boy as he held his wrench out in front of him. “S-stay back!”

“Aww, look here fellas!” one of the boos jeered, “Little Bowser Junior’s found himself a little bodyguard!”

A second boo cackled, “He looks like someone picked a twig out of the woods!”

Luigi gulped, he would not let those words get to him, not when Junior needed him. “G-go a-away!” he yelled, “I-I’m n-not a-afraid o-of y-you!”

“W-w-what w-was t-that?” The third boo imitated the man’s stutter, “I c-couldn’t h-hear t-that!”

The fourth boo roared with laughter, the other three joining in. Luigi didn’t know if this was confidence or cowardice, but he lifted his wrench again and slammed it against the third boo’s face. “G-get o-out o-of m-my w-way!”

All four boos eyes darkened, creeping closer towards the man and koopa.” You shouldn’t have done that,” the first boo growled.

Luigi placed Junior down behind him, “R-run J-Junior, g-go f-find y-your d-ad!”

“What about you?” Junior wailed, his legs shaking.

Luigi heart panged for the poor boy, “D-don’t w-worry a-about-t m-me, j-just-t r-run!”

Junior glanced to the boos, then back to Luigi and nodded, turning on his heel and running as fast as he could towards the castle. The boos attempted to follow Junior again, but Luigi hit them with his wrench again. “L-leave h-him-m o-out o-of-f t-this!”

“Oh, is that how you wanna play then?” the second boo cooed, sarcasm dripping from its done, “Fine, you’re all ours,”

The next thing he knew, his wrench out slapped out of his hand. His raised his fist in an attempt to defend himself, but the boos knocked him to the ground before a could get a hit in, his head hitting a rock behind him. His head started pounding, and he could feel something warm dripping from his hair.

The boys started their attack, kicking him in the stomach, punching him repeatedly, screaming in his face. It kept going on and on to the point Luigi could feel it all blending together.

Punch

Kick

Crack!

“Mama!”

Punch

Kick

“Papa!”

Crack!

The rubble falling on top of him.

Punch

He couldn’t move.

Kick

Crack!

“Someone like you was born to take a beating.”

Punch

Kick

“Every second of your existence made my life a fucking hell!”

Crack!

“She didn’t deserve to die that night! It should’ve been you! Why wasn’t it you?!”

“GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

A roar pierced through the air, making the boos stop. Luigi couldn’t open his eyes, two swollen from the boos attacks and his ears were ringing a bit. What he did hear were the cries of the boos, loud thuds the something warm, like fire. The cries of the boos stopped, then the thuds were coming towards him, and a warm hand cupped the back of his head.

“Luigi, can you hear me?”

He was getting quite tired.

“Talk to me Luigi, please!”

Surely, he could close his eyes for a bit.

“Luigi, try to focus on me!”

Yeah, just for a bit.

“Luigi!”

.

.

.

Bowser nearly tore up the place when he saw that his son was missing, if anyone was going to touch one hair on his head, he was going to tear them apart. The relief he felt when he saw his son run to him was unlike anything he ever felt before, but panic rose again when he saw his son crying, and when asked all he could manage to say between tears was, “Luigi…boos...help!”

He kept him with Kamek, took a few guard with him and stormed out of the castle. His stomach sank when he saw Luigi, bleeding and helpless to the boos attack.

All he could see was red, he could barely remember what he did to the boos, only that whatever he did made them cower in front of the koopa king.

Once they were taken away, Bowser immediately ran towards the bleeding man, begging for him to hang on as he slipped in unconsciousness, before carrying him back into the castle.

Kamek and Junior gasped when they saw Luigi, Junior had burst into tears again while Kamek waved his wand and transported them into Bowser’s chambers. Kamek had recommended Bowser to take Junior, help him calm down while he focused on healing Luigi. While Bowser was hesitant with leaving him there, he knew Kamek was right, he wouldn’t be able to help Luigi enough if the room as too crowed and Junior desperately needed comfort.

He scooped up his son and walked out the room, sparing one last glance at the injured plumber before Kamek shut the door.

Bowser carried Junior to his room, cradling him and humming lullabies to him until the child had cried himself to sleep. He stayed with him for a few more minutes, then wrapped his blanket around him and tucked him into bed. He quietly closed the door behind him and made his way back to his own chambers.

Once he entered, Luigi was covered in bandages, from his head to his arms and across his chest, his eyes were swollen shut and bruised, his lip split and his chest was heaving heavily with laboured breath. “I did the most I could with my magic,” Kamek informed Bowser, “What he needs now is rest and for his own strength to help heal the rest of him.”

“Thank you Kamek,” Bowser whispered, not wanting to wake Luigi, “I can take it from here.”

“Are you sure?” Kamek asked, “I’m happy to stay and watch him, go get some rest my king.”

“No, its fine,” Bowser told him, “If his brother’s coming for him, it’s my responsibility to keep Greenie here in one piece.”

Kamek hummed, analysing the king for a moment, “Alright, just make sure to inform me if he’s getting worse.”

“Will do Kamek,” Bowser nodded.

When Kamek left the room, Bowser circled round the bed and gently climbed onto the other side, laying down gently next to Luigi and curled his tail around him. “I’m sorry,” he sighed, placing on of his fingers atop of the man’s small hand, “This wasn’t supposed to happen.”

Bowser took comfort in the fact that the man was still breathing, he listened to the soft breaths and let them lull him to sleep, hopefully in the morning the man’s health would progress a little bit.

.

.

.

Luigi stirred a little bit, his head pounding when he tried to open his eyes and his limbs were screaming in agony. His eyes scanned the room he as in, the small differences within it making him wonder if he wasn’t in his room anymore, it was confirmed when his eyes landed on the king laying next to him, snoring softly. He couldn’t move, not only due to his bruised body but at the fact that he was in the king’s room, sleeping in the king’s bed and was right next to him in close proximity.

He was about to open his mouth to speak when…

Crack!

No…no, no, no, no, no, please don’t let this happen right now!

Boom!

He turned his eyes towards the window and sure enough, there was a storm right outside.

Crack!

Please no, he can’t do this, not right now!

Boom!

He was in the rubble again, he wanted to scream for Mario, Mario, where’s Mario! He wanted to get out, please help him get out, he couldn’t breathe! It hurts, it hurts so much please help!

“Breathe Luigi,”

He felt his upper body being lifted and placed against some pillows in a seated position.

He just wanted to move, to see if his Mama and Papa were okay!

A large hand encased his own, “Breath in two, three, four and out two, three, four.”

Let him breathe! Let him breathe! Let him…

“In two, three, four and out, two, three, four.”

He did was the voice told him, his breathing, while shaking, was trying to copy the voice’s.

“You’re doing great, just keep going,” said the voice again, deep, commanding yet so gentle.

Luigi’s vision came back into focus, a noticed that a lamp was turned on, he was in the king’s room and was still next to Bowser as well. It was still storming outside, he hated storms, he hated thinking about-

Crack!

Luigi yelped, trembling from head to toe.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” the voice murmured softly, stroking the man’s hands, “I’m here, it’s okay, I’m right here.”

He looked up…Bowser. Bowser helped him out of that panic attack, he was being so patient, especially with the one thing that Luigi hated most. Tears welled up in his eyes, how could someone be so kind, so comforting, so-

Boom!

Luigi jumped again, this time, Bowser had wrapped him up into a hug, a safe warm hug. The damns broke and Luigi let out the ugliest sobs he ever made in his life, tears no doubt were staining his face and was making a mess. But the king wasn’t put off by it, instead, he pulled Luigi in tighter.

“I’ve got you, don’t worry,” the king rocked him, “Give your pain to me, I can handle it.”

Luigi let out another cry at his words, weeping for what seemed to be hours, yet the king never loosened his protective hold, both of them falling asleep in each other’s arms.

.........

Two weeks had passed since then, Bowser had let Luigi heal in his chambers, even after Luigi said that he could go back into his room when his window was replaced (despite not really wanting to internally.) But the king had insisted, saying that he wanted to make up for what happened to him. And so, the king helped him with his meals if his arms were a bit too weak, he listened as Luigi gushed about baking and his other hobbies (he learnt that the plumber also liked to do some gardening in his spare time), he would let Junior see him, the child apologizing profusely and Luigi telling him that he didn’t need to before the two would start coloring together, Bowser watching with fondness, and with everything else the two of them would just talk about anything and fall asleep together cuddled up on the same bed.

Soon, Luigi found the strength to walk again, and Bowser had suggested that the two take a stroll together, to help Luigi get used to his legs again. They were just strolling past the gardens, Luigi letting his fingers graze the flowers and he mumbled about each type that he saw. All of a sudden, he stopped in his tracks, making Bowser worry a bit. Was he still sore? Did he need to rest for a minute?

“I wanted to thank you for all that you did for me,” Luigi nervously gripped his wrist with his left hand, “You’ve treated me with nothing but kindness for these past few days, more than anyone ever did in my entire life.”

“Well, you deserve it,” Bowser grinned, “You’re kind to my people, Junior and Kamek adore you and you’re all around an amazing person. I hope that you can see that yourself one day.”

Luigi blushed, taking a few more steps towards the king and looked up at the king.

He was looking at him with those eyes again, only this time there was something a bit deeper, something that made Bowser’s insides turn into goo. He placed Luigi into his arms, the man gasping a little as he stared at the king. Bowser’s eyes flickered to Luigi’s lips, his eyes, then his lips again. Luigi leaned in with Bowser meeting him halfway as their lips were gently pressed together. Bowser lifted his other hand to cup Luigi’s cheek as their kiss deepened a little bit more.

They pulled away, their hearts beating loudly as they shared a giggle together.

“No one’s ever kissed me like that before,” Luigi admitted.

“Their loss,” Bowser tucked a brown lock of hair out of Luigi’s face, “They have no idea what they’re missing.”

Luigi squirmed slightly, making Bowser chuckled as he leaned in for another kiss. Luigi was about to do the same when a moment of clarity hit him and pressed his fingers against Bowser’s lips. “Wait!”

Bowser froze, his eyes inspecting Luigi for any damage, “What happened, are you okay?!”

“I’m fine it’s just…” Luigi sighed, fidgeting with his fingers, “You still want to rule the world, don’t you?”

Realisation dawned on Bowser, letting out a sad grumble as he looked away from Luigi, “Yes.”

“And you’re still after my brother, aren’t you?” Luigi asked.

Bowser nodded numbly as he placed Luigi onto the ground.

“I wish we could have this,” Luigi reassured him, “I wish that we could hold each other, bake together, have fun with Junior, sleep in the same bed, share kisses…love each other. But if there’s one thing I can’t do, it’s betray Mario. Ever since I’ve been here, you and everyone else here have been helping me realise that I have more worth than I could ever possibly think that I would have. But although I’m starting to see it now, Mario was the first one who truly saw me for me, I just never fully believed him until now. So as much as I want this, I am never, ever going against my brother, I can’t do that…I’m sorry.”

Bowser let his head drop, of course it wasn’t going to be that simple, but it wasn’t Luigi’s fault, it would never be Luigi’s fault. He suddenly found himself wishing that he didn’t start this war, he wished that he didn’t desire the stars to complete his mission, he wished that he met Luigi within another context that didn’t force him to choose.

Bowser didn’t want to become someone else that was going to hurt Luigi…and he wouldn’t. “I’m going to have my guards drop you near the borders of the mushroom kingdom. Mario will be there.”

“W-what?” Luigi gasped, his head snapping up, the force of it making it ache a little bit.

“I shouldn’t have kept you hear longer than I did,” Bowser admitted, “I won’t make you choose between your brother or me, and I certainly won’t keep you here against your own will. I want you to love me, selflessly and unconditionally, without feeling guilty for it, and I know you can’t do it like this. Sam will take you to the border, tell one of the residents of the kingdom that you’re a brother of Mario, surely, they’ll take you to him.”

Luigi’s breath hitched…he was free, he was going to see Mario again, he…he was going to leave Bowser. He felt conflicted, he loved Bowser, but he also knew he was right, if they wanted to love each other, it couldn’t be like this. “And you won’t follow me?”

“I don’t plan on breaking your trust any time soon,” Bowser told him, taking Luigi’s hand into his own, “You deserve to put your faith into someone without them tearing it apart, I won’t do that to you, not now, not ever.” He kissed the top of Luigi’s hand and pressed his forehead against his.

“I will never forget you,” said Luigi.

“Neither will I,” Bowser agreed. They stayed like that for a few more second before pulling away.

They held hands as Bowser led him into the throne room, Sam waiting with some more guards. Bowser gave the koopa his instructions, the guard seeming dazzled for a moment before saluting his king. A bag with essentials for his journey was then given to Luigi from Kamek, as well as a drawing from Junior that featured the child, Luigi and Bowser, with messing handwriting at the bottom of the page saying.

‘My Family’

Luigi let a tear slip from his eye, wiping it away and he gave everyone a final goodbye, sharing one more glance with Bowser before making his way with Sam for his journey to the mushroom kingdom.

As soon as the heard the castle doors slam shut, Bowser turned his head away, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried to prevent tears from leaking out. He felt Kamek’s hand on his arm and looked down at him.

“For what it’s worth your majesty,” he started, “I have never been more proud of you in this moment.”

Bowser smiled and looked back to where Luigi once stood. Maybe one day, once this battle was over, he could see him again. He didn’t care if he would win or lose, as long as he got to see those eyes again, that mattered to him more than anything.

[roetrolls]

Think about them.

[oversharer-that-overshares]

Oh no

This is why i just run away from That One Depressed Coworker

If anyone in my inmediate family is upset, the best is to leave them alone doing their own thing, the next time u see em they'll be fine

So

So

If someones sad

Just leave them to it

(And be really fucking careful on staying neutral bc it will come back to bite u in the ass and make u feel like an ass too)

[bigbroadvice]

this isn't really something to help out with or that I really need advice for, honestly I'm just kind of gonna be ranting if that's ok, cause that's important right? externalizing your emotions? (that's what my therapist tells me and it might work)

but i've had depression for my entire life, and i didn't know what it was until i was in my 20s, so i've just been used to it, i've always had it so i've always been able to go through the day to day, and like i left a cult within the past year, and at first it was so much worse because i had already been isolated because of the cult so i didn't know anyone outside it, and then when i left i lost my entire family and every friend i had, and so yeah it hit me hard, and i knew it was gonna hit me hard, but it was both worse and better at the same time

and it's been like a year now, and i have like 2 friends now that i talk to sometimes (not regularly, maybe like once a week or so) and one of my old friends left the cult themselves and we're dating now, and so for a little bit idk it was like, i wasn't depressed anymore. i was able to get things done, i did the dishes daily, i made tea and just wrote poems or worked on other creative things, i felt happy pretty much constantly and i would tell my girlfriend that my depression was in remission, that maybe my depression was actually tied to just life events and that now that i'd escaped the cult and that things were getting better that i was idk, cured i guess.

i'd hoped i was cured

but like it's been coming back in like pretty full force, and maybe the high of reconnecting with and dating my girlfriend has started to level out, maybe i want to be able to speak to more than just my girlfriend more than once a week or see them once a month, maybe it's seasonal, maybe i just misread, i don't know

but it feels like i was in remission and someone told me i have cancer again, because i was ok, i was doing things, i was idk being productive, i was happy, i didn't have any SI, i just wasn't depressed and i don't want to go back to living with it

i'm going to, it's going to be ok, i dealt with it for two decades i can deal with it again, but i don't want to.

i just want to be happy and i want to be loved and i want to feel ok

Hey friend. Rants are always welcome. Just laying out everything you’re feeling and sharing it with someone lets you process things in a way that can be really helpful. Sounds like you’ve got a good therapist.

I’ve never been completely isolated in a cult, but I did grow up in a very strictly religious environment and had to pretty much start over as a person when I broke away and left everyone behind. That big of a change comes with a lot of really big feelings. I’m happy to be out of there and be free to figure myself out and love that person and live the kind of life I could only dream of before, but not having all those familiar connections to lean on takes a good bit of adjusting to.

My second year away from home, something really strange happened. I was finally in a safer environment and things were going well, I even started dating someone which was a huge step after my history. Then all of a sudden, my mental health tanked. I started having terrible flashbacks and panic attacks and anxiety. It was like the flood gates that had been holding back all the trauma I’d been through finally broke and I was drowning in it. I thought I was past all that stuff but here it was worse than it had ever been before.

What I found out after starting therapy is that this is actually a thing that happens pretty frequently. When you’re in a dangerous situation your brain and body go into survival mode. You hyper focus on what you need to do to make it through and everything else gets thrown under the rug do be delt with later. This can last anywhere from a couple hours to years on end.

It’s a helpful survival mechanism, because your brain doesn’t have enough space and energy to work through complex emotions and stay on high alert during an emergency, but it’s not designed to last forever. At some point you’ve gotta sort through the stuff under the rug. It’s hard, and extremely stressful, but it means you’re finally processing things so you can actually start to heal and things will get better, not just survivable like before, but actually truely better and alive.

All of this is just to say that healing and emotional growth aren’t linear. I’m so glad you got out of a bad situation and are in a better place now. And I’m sorry the hard feelings are getting you down again. It doesn’t mean that happiness you found wasn’t real or that it’s gone forever. If you found it once you can find it again when you’re ready. No emotion lasts forever, good or bad. Just keep moving forward, holding onto what you know you love even when the feelings are running low and reaching for what you want.

[danandfuckingjonlmao]

ok some things i LIKED about tua 4 since we all have talked exclusively about what we hated (SPOILERS AHEAD):

idc what anyone says the baby shark bit was iconic every time it came on i jammed

klaus had a comic book storyline from hotel oblivion!! let’s go source material!!

diego and luther being himbos

allison and klaus friendship

the entire birthday party scene was hilarious and fun and so THEM ok

the road trip scene that was in the trailer such iconic sibling goofy clownery they’re fucking idiots

klaus. he was in it. any time i get to see my little freak is time well spent.

incredibly unpopular opinion but i liked the ending i think they need an end from the cycle of apocalypses and suffering like they deserve a rest they’ve earned it and it was sweet that they all went together and the “i love you guys………but you’re all such fucking assholes” and then “fuck you” and everyone laughing and crying and THEN AND THEN ALL THE CHARACTERS FROM THE VARIOUS SEASONS BEING AT THE END i was SOBBING

klaus having a podcast of himself giving himself affirmations like that’s so funny

they actually gave somewhat of a shit about each other like diego was so DAD my babies have grown up but not too much they’re still fucking toddlers

lila is so pretty and funny and hot and unhinged she means so much to me

lila and klaus friendship!! lila and allison!! bonding!!

gene and jean were SUCH classic umbrella academy characters. loved them.

viktor gets all the pussy

i cannot stress how much all of the group scenes were so fucking sibling i love them ok

NO LUTHER AND ALLISON INCEST THANK FUCK

THUNDERBOLT THE GHOST DOG <3<3<3

klaus and claire oh my god i love uncle klaus so much and he loves her so much

seeing sober klaus and how hard he tried and then the heartbreak when that went away because he’s KLAUS he’s gerard way’s trauma self insert. as much as i want klaus to be safe and content and free from all this bullshit it was just so consistent and i can appreciate that. and i cried like a little bitch it was truly devastating but it was just sooooo klaus. also getting to see him make it incredibly clear that he didn’t want his powers back—him being the ONLY ONE who didn’t want his powers back—was important to me idk. and he was LOVED like he has a family!! he is cared for!! ahhHHHHHH!! love it

claire was great and getting to see her and allison and their tumultuous relationship and their love for each other after all of these seasons of allison looking for her and just wanting to be with her daughter

klaus got dave’s dog tags <3

more flashbacks to brellie kids!!

getting answers to some series-long mysteries

the underground subway system between timelines was so fucking cool and mindfucky 100/10

klaus’s look being reminiscent of s1 sorry that was my favourite klaus look ok

their sort of evolved powers when they got them back

so many good one liners and comedic scenes

ben being a crypto bro is SO FUNNY

will add stuff as i think of it. this is incredibly out of character for me i am an eternal pessimist but i did enjoy s4 (mostly because, as an eternal pessimist, my expectations are always low) so here we are.

[ollycohens]

oh no you guys. i’m going to spew things i’ve realized while rewatching umbrella academy. I’m realizing were all being too sucked into fanon things after being stuck without canon content for so long. We have convinced ourselves Five acts like a mean mean dude to everyone but rewatching, i’ve realized he’s only stressed and is saying things out of panicked anger, especially in s1 with the apocalypse dooming over them. he acts soft to his siblings multiple times, he’s really not as mean as we write him in fanfiction. he is a little crap though, that’s for sure, and i love him for that <3

also realizing that the siblings don’t hate five. they just literally don’t know him at all. he came back a completely different person after 17 years for the siblings, they don’t know five, he’s a stranger so of course they’re gonna be cold to him. it’s like, “i don’t know you well, but you’re always going to be my brother in the end”.

ALSO. for those who ship some of the siblings, uhm… i’ve seen a lot of you guys try to prove that they don’t see eachother as siblings and more like academy students, but they very much say in just about every episode that they see eachother as siblings. they don’t actually SAY that word by word but they say things like “she’s our sister”, or “our dad”. if they say OUR dad… bro. i’m not even going to continue, you can put it together yourself. But, i do realize why people ship the siblings. I am not defending incest shippers but with umbrella academy i can see why people have resorted to it. only 3 of the characters in the main sibling cast has romantic partners. people like shipping people, people love writing romantic relationships, but with only diego/lila, dave/klaus, and sissy/viktor, (i’m not going to count five/dolores for now) people are desperate with the need to ship the rest of the siblings with someone, and since there are only a few actual canon characters in the show that interact with our main 7, people start shipping them together… yikes. anywho, that’s all for that peice. i blame the show writers as well for shipping luther/allison, they did not have to do that, but i’m hoping it was only to convey the severity of what childhood trauma does to people.

ALSO THIS HERE SHOOK ME. I actually think Reginald cares for the siblings. i hate to say it, but it’s true. caring for them does not mean being good, though. he was a horrible father, and person, but he genuinely did care for the siblings, in a like, “being the best is the best thing for you, i will make you better, for your sake, even if you don’t know it now, you will see that i am right” kind of way.

also why has NOBODY MENTIONED THIS. in season 2 when diego first reunites with five in the asylum, while he’s walking into the visitors room, he’s staring at five with this heartfelt, soft look, and then says “five…” in the most soft spoken voice ever 😭 your honor i love them

ALSO UGHHH THIS. IM GOING TO FREAK OUT ABOUT CAMERAWORK AND METAPHORS HERE SO BARE WITH ME. we as a fandom complain about the lack of flashbacks five has due to his ptsd. we’ve seen his first flashback since getting back to his family in s1 during the van scene when he gets triggered by those kids playing and starts thinking about his own childhood, i’m guessing. i ate that scene up, and was sad to see that be one of the only deeply vulnerable scenes he has in the season, and during my first watch i thought they’d never bring it back up. but they do!! i may be stupid for not realizing but whatever. in season 2, when five is trying to explain at elliot’s with all his siblings around that another apocalypse is coming, everyone starts talking about each other. as someone who studies film and camerawork, i love this scene. we see the camera focus on five as it slowly zooms in. it doesn’t switch scenes at all as the siblings voices overlap and echo over eachother. this whole scene conveys him getting overwhelmed and he starts to zone out, starting to think of the nuclear war he saw his siblings in. the scenes of the war start quickly switching through, showing many different scenes of it before it switches back to five, who says “guys, you all die. i want to forget it but i can’t” which just UGH its so well done there. if you think about it, he was starting to slip into another flashback. he was triggered by talking about their deaths in the war but was handling it well until the siblings started fighting, where we see the overlapping voices happen. it portrays him losing control and being unable to pull it back together with too much going on for him to focus on grounding himself. we DO however, see that five was able to pull himself out before he fell too deep into the flashback. i love how they show this through them still having the scene showing the war, but then fives voice starts talking over the scene which is still focusing on the war as if he was pushing it back and forcing himself to come back to the present.

thank you for reading if you’ve made it this far, i will continue to freak out another time <3

[shima-draws]

Still going through it emotionally btw. I've seen a lot of character death in anime but it's been a WHILE since I've seen one as brutal as Ace's, especially bc of Luffy's reaction to it. Character death isn't unusual but the trauma and PTSD that comes after it isn't really shown that often so Oda actually showing Luffy going through it is. Oof. That shit HURTS bro. And the fact that Luffy's immediate reaction is to just. Self destruct. To hurt himself and risk his own life?? Like it was never explicitly said but I could see the suicidal intent there and jesus CHRIST. Just sitting there watching him refuse to accept it and then mourn and grieve was absolutely brutal;; Not to mention the fact that like. We can see him having PTSD flashbacks. It was just written very well (too well bc I'm still a goddamn mess) and I gotta commend Oda even tho he's putting me through the fucking wringer

[sapphic-agent]

I REALLY hate the common theme in BNHA of pinning the blame on something or someone for an abuser turning out the way they did.

Bakugou? Oh he got a big head from everyone praising him or just Bakugou being Bakugou.

Endeavor? Oh he watched his father die saving someone.

Kotaro? Oh it was all Nana's fault for abandoning him as a child and should've kept him even though it would've put a target on him for AFO to get to!

I especially hate the last one because it was literally villainizing and pinning blame on Nana all for wanting to protect her child. Sure it sucks that they went through that, but that doesn't mean they should physically take it out on those they're supposed to love and justify it.

Bro the Endeavor thing pisses me off so bad you don't understand😭 Like so many other aspects of the Todoroki story (excluding Shoto's flashback) it feels like it's only there to make Endeavor more sympathetic.

But the worst part is, this doesn't even have to be a bad thing. Bojack Horseman had a horrible childhood (mentally/verbally abusive and negligent parents, generational trauma, substance misuse in his genetics and throughout childhood, toxicity of Hollywood, etc.) but the show goes out of its way to make sure you know that it doesn't excuse his actions. It makes sure you know that he is 100% at fault for not seeking help as an adult.

But for Endeavor, it was just something thrown together last minute to justify him literally participating in human trafficking. Like, WHAT??

(Would also like to point out that his father being killed by a villain does fuck all for his personality. Endeavor has never been about righteous justice like All Might. He's always been about being the best, like Bakugou. How in the fuck does that correlate to his father being killed? You can tell Horikoshi threw that together last minute because it's so generic and dumb)

And don't even get me started on Kotaro. It 100% feels like Horikoshi continuously bashes Nana for giving him up, to the point where she's barely a character outside of that. There's a lot of characters who deserved better, but Nana will always be so high on my list because of this

[argumentativeaxolotl]

Hey hey hey nerds I’m back at it again with some more CARS HUMAN AU HEADCANONS‼️‼️‼️ THIS TIME ITS ANGST 👹👹👹

Lightning McQueen:

- Bro 101% brushes off any concern he has for himself and uses all of that concern and worry that he’d use for himself on other people and his friends. He doesn’t think he really deserves to be cared after and looked after especially with how much of a dick he used to be- hence why he doesn’t care about himself as much anymore(still enough to keep up with his hotshot facade but if there’s actual danger or someone’s actually hurt he’ll ignore himself in favor of that person).

- I feel like this dumbass is an absolute MAGNET for trouble. Like even as a kid. Lil bro would get into trouble and somehow get hurt while being in a rubber room with rats. Him getting hurt all the time likely exasperated all the families that fostered him which would lead to him getting scolded by some of the… rougher families which led to Lightning being very reserved about himself, going back to the first headcanon above this one. He thinks he’s not worth the attention.

- Lightning was on his own as soon as he got to his Freshman year, this being his last foster family. They were pieces of shit and sort of treated him like he wasn’t there or that he was the cause of all their issues. This caused Lightning to lash out more than normal which is when he sort of came up with the persona of Lightning McQueen(the branding came from Harv later down the line). It was like a last line of defense which ended up helping him only for a little while(then radiator springs happened and blah blah blah).

- He was so used to being treated like shit that Harv’s horrendous treatment of him wasn’t a red flag until Mack came into the picture and stood up for him a few times, the truck driver telling Harv to piss off.

Chick Hicks:

- He never finished his education. In my AU I think Chick would have been forced into racing at a young age by his father after his brother’s death. Chick’s father would be so obsessed with one of his kids becoming a great racer, essentially living through that child, that he wouldn’t give two shits in what Chick or his brother would want to do. Chick’s father likely brought Chick to a bunch of races as a kid which led to him missing many many classes and falling behind his peers. This happened in seventh-eighth grade which led to Chick never going to Highschool as he became the next up and coming racer.

- His father was a pile of absolute, burning, human shit. The man would hurt both of his kids- physically and emotionally- while also sort of putting all his own traumas into his kids, living through them and making Chick into him. Young Chick would likely want to make his father proud and would constantly try to adhere to his father’s words and whatever the man said- examples being shit like “crashing is a part of racing” or “give them a little nudge out of the way” or some shit which would lead Chick into the madman we know today.

- His brother was the only positive “adult” figure in his life and his brother tried his damndest to get Chick to not be like their shitty father, yet the brother just wasn’t around long enough. Chick was absolutely fucking devastated when his brother died and didn’t respond to any outside stimuli for at least a week or two. Their father mourned before moving on and suddenly acknowledging Chick, acting like he was his only son.

- Chick is 100% still haunted by the dying light in his brother’s eyes, having watched him die after a horrific crash. Chick never wanted to push cars out of his way, having seeing what it did to his brother, yet something in Chick wouldn’t let him fight against his father’s shitty teachings. Chick can remember every detail of that day and sometimes wishes it was him instead.

Strip Weathers:

- One time when Cal got severely sick, like bedridden for a week sick, Strip got horrific flashbacks to when his mother passed away due to a terminal illness. Strip was so scared and terrified that he spent so much money on doctors alone. Lynda tried to calm him down, telling Strip that it was just a nasty case of the flu or something along those lines, but Strip just couldn’t lose another family member- especially not one he saw as his son.

- Strip wanted to be a doctor so he could help his mother with her illness and so he could try to find a cure so nobody else had to go through what she did. He put in so much effort and tried so hard, conducting research and studying hard so he could become a doctor. Then his mother passed away when he was still in med school, leaving him shattered and blaming himself for somehow not graduating faster. Tex was there for Strip.

- He dropped out of med school in favor of racing since he didn’t think he would be able to continue after his mother passed. He felt useless for a long time, drinking his pain away for a few years- never during a race- until he met Lynda and she helped bring him back to himself.

- After his crash during the tie breaker, he’s felt immense pain in his wrists and shoulders and neither he nor the doctors know why. It’s not killing him but it lingers and sometimes he just can’t move for a while.

Doc Hudson:

- Doc has a similar thing to Strip where after his crash he just had horrendous pain shooting all throughout his limbs and back. He’s not sure what it is, but either way it’s thankfully lessened over the years, now being dull aches or more joint pain than usual whenever it gets colder.

- Sometimes he’ll randomly have a flashback to when he was back in the Hornet or being wheeled to the hospital during/after the crash. Doc never really got over it and stupidly never saw a therapist about this. These flashes often make him feel worse than he already does, leaving him in a shitty mood and grumpy and more than a little scared to get into the Hornet. Over the years, these flashes have gotten less and less to the point where it’s once or twice every couple years at random.

- Him becoming an actual doctor wasn’t because he had so much time on his hands after the crash- also that was part of it- but it was because that was his sister’s dying dream- to become a doctor and help people.

- His older sister passed away sometime before Doc’s crash so when he was still young. She was much older than him- roughly ten-ish year age gap. They were still close.

Thank you for your time lmao now it’s time for me to disappear for like three months again <3 HAPPY HALLOWEEN‼️‼️‼️

[misslovasstuff]

In wano, episode 925, we are introduced to Sanji’s raid suit, aka stealth black, aka soba mask…

There was a short moment that really got my attention; when Sanji was talking about his dream of having the fruit that could turn him invisible.

Hopefully you know which moment I’m talking about. Now, if you guys remeber all the way to thriller bark, there we get to know that invisibility was Sanji’s dream. A lot, and when I tell you A LOT of people started despising Sanji after what he claims in that arc.

The thing is, although what he might be saying can be true to some extent, he’s (consciously or not) laying over the real reason why he wanted the invisibility fruit in the first place.

Coming back to wano, Sanji realises that (ironically) his dream of turning invisible can become a reality through the raid suit. Then is when we get a flashback to when he was a kid. To his childhood…

Sanji had that dream since he was A CHILD. So, it comes naturally to assume that of course a kid would not dream of having the invisibility fruit to look at women. There is another reason, a bit more dark that perhaps Sanji hides under this grand and overly exaggerated regard and admiration for women (this is not the first nor the last case he does that fyi).

I don’t know if he wanna appear more tough by pretending and putting this facade of a desperate imitation of masculinity but nevertheless, this is a call to stop taking Sanji’s gag seriously because as I see it, although it does not question the genuine love he has for women, he does use it as a tool that sometimes gets out of his control because of the principles he has nailed down in his life. A tool for the obvious reason of being a gag, and also to throw a bit of dust over his own insecurities and unresolved issues.

This instance that I mentioned, among many, are proof that (using Shkrek’s analogy) he is like an onion with many layers, and the superficial layers are just a basis to convince himself of being somewhat worthy of whatever validation he’s seeking. Like bro would never state that he dreamed of having the invisibility fruit as a kid because he wanted to ACTUALLY become invisible to those around him, to his abusers who inflicted trauma that years later is still fresh on his skin. Like the other time where he would never admit to others that ‘oh no you guys are in danger I need to save you’ Sanji would rather say ‘oh no Nami and Robin are in danger’ and then literally worry for every single one of them.

my man, being caring and loving and showing vulnerability will not get you in trouble anymore.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

Aita for getting my ex abuser/rapist jumped?

Im 17f and back when I was 14 I was in an extremely abusive relationship with "R" who was 16m at the time, the abuse left me extremely traumatised and really impacted my life I can't even be with a guy without having flashbacks and I get nightmares about him and I get horrible tactile flashbacks and even like small reminders of him cause me to have panic attacks and bolk. i got diagnosed with c-ptsd a few months ago and talking about what happened and just thinking about it really triggered me to the point of breakdown, anyways i was venting to one of my best mates about it (19m) and hes been through sexual trauma himself so he understands what its like, but he made a joke about calling up some of his older mates and jumping him and (jokingly) said something like "bro i wish", anways about a week later i get a text from my mum (she works in the a&e) saying that R's in the a&e unconscious and i called my mate bcos i was shitting it bc i didn't realise he was fr and he admitted to it thankfully they where wearing shiesty's. I don't feel bad for R becos he fucking deserves that and more but he could've fecking died

TLDR- my mate jumped my abuser bcos he thought I wanted him to and now my abusers in the hospital unconscious

What are these acronyms?

[konigsblog]

YES OMG ITS SO FUCKING STUPID BUT YES - there's so many moments in that movie that are so konig-coded like they "destress" the patients in the therapy with painting and he steps back to revel the creation of adam painting with him and the lady running the group. bro drives a tank and literally just grunts the whole time. i think in his bio it said he witnessed something traumatic in childhood and vowed never to speak again.

HAHAAA

he probably also gets stared at like he's a monster because of his large size, just like könig! he probably comes across the wrong way, his large body being threatening and intimidating to most. since könig has social anxiety, he can come across as cocky, creepy, or just weird in general—just doesn't know what to do with himself when all eyes are on him.

i mean, both are big and large, and könig doesn't seem like the type to be talkative. i can see könig having some form of trauma, or at least he experiences flashbacks to his childhood. könig's trauma stems from loneliness and abandonment (could see könig having abandonment issues and fears being alone forever, leading to him being controlling, overprotective, and clingy of his beloved.)

[thegirlwhowatchedeverything]

Pete Appreciation Post

Pete and Nat:

As her partner, he not only handles but actually and actively loves her family.

He goes to Al-Anon meetings WITH her (1x2).

He doesn't show up to Christmas empty handed (to steal Carmy's words that'd make him an asshole). He continues to be joyful and make small talk while being ripped to shreds for his attempt at a funny, genuinely considerate tuna casserole (2x6).

One of Nat's biggest traumas (flashback to 2x6 of Donna grabbing her by the face while threatening to kill herself) is juxtaposed with her greatest joy - ending the day with Pete on the couch watching TV (2x8).

Everything Pete does and says in 2x10. I don't even know where to start. Him so beyond proud and supportive and excited and happy for Nat. Him trying to convince Donna to come inside by playing to their shared pride of Nat (and Carm). His reaction after the conversation with Donna. Chris Witaske you talented actor and Pete you beautiful, patient, loving, understanding, forgiving man.

Pete and Carmy:

Pete makes such an effort with him (to steal Mikey's words he gives like the biggest fuck). He genuinely embraces Carmy and wants so desperately to be embraced by Carmy in return:

He brushes/laughs off an unexplained past incident involving Carmy (and presumably Michael) that sent him to urgent care. Very bro siblings roughhousing behavior (1x2).

He lets Carmy use his and Nat's freezer even though he knows she'll be mad at him for it. Very brothers ganging up on their sister/two siblings scheming against the third (which I imagine happened between the Berzatto siblings so much and in so many combinations) (1x5).

He was so hype and adorably complimentary about Carmy's homemade ecto cooler and ugh I wish Carm had given more credit there because they are clearly just both big nerds at heart (1x4).

He defends Carmy for being called a loser at the catered party by bringing up his career as one of the most lauded chefs (as I've said before, he and Syd were the two members of the Chef Carmy club). And he does so in front of a large and intimidating assortment of friends and family (to paraphrase Carmy paraphrasing Marcus we see that Pete can throw down huh). Very protective big brother vibes (1x4).

He then individually compliments Carmy's courage for leaving home and making an incredible career for himself. He also makes a point to tell him that Nat is proud of him. Emotionally supportive brother behavior (1x4).

He thanks Carmy for letting him be a part of his family! It's beyond sweet to say that to your in laws, but when your in laws are the Berzattos (1x4)?!

Pete And The Berzattos:

He still gets ribbed more than not, but at the end of the day he's accepted.

Carmy saying I kind of like Pete now (1x5).

Stevie saying his heart was in the right place after the tuna faux pas (2x5).

Fak saying he'll be a great daddy (2x10).

Donna congratulating Pete about the baby thus signaling her approval (2x10).

Pete Is An Only Child:

I've been convinced since S1 and S2 only confirmed.

The genuine love and effort he puts into each family member (blood, extended, and honorary) of the Berzattos not only shows Pete is truly a nice guy, but it speaks to his deep desire to be a part of a family - to belong (see all examples above).

We learned Richie and Sydney are only children (It must have been nice to have Nat and Carm. Yeah, now you do too. *sobs*) so another proof point that all partners to the Berzatto siblings are onlys.

Stevie. In his speech, he says You guys have been so kind to me. You let me hang out with your every holiday. I don't have a family like this and I'm really grateful you make space for me at this table and you make time for me on the holidays. You can imagine an exact speech coming from Pete. And like Pete, Stevie genuinely loves and gets along with each of the Berzattos (2x6). A last parallel between these two: Donna speculates if he's gay and that is totally something I can imagine her, Mikey or Richie saying about Pete at first meeting.

Something about not knowing Pete's last name or anything about him outside of his relationships with the Berzattos signals to me he's not from a big family and/or is not close to them and really just exists in the Berzatto cinematic universe.

Takeaways:

Pete is the MVP of The Bear. We better get more of him in S3.

The Berzattos attract only children and strays like moths to a flame.

[thychesters]

i’m watching the asl bros flashbacks episodes now (and finally met sabo! there he is!) and people really did not hesitate to pass him off onto someone else. they don’t want to look after him so someone else can do it now. the only would-be parental figures he has have essentially played hot potato with him or just full on left, so this kid went from dragon -> garp -> dadan. (even shanks left. which, yeah, pirate.) there has to be residual trauma from that too, even if it’s been buried and he’s adjusted or viewed everything as a new adventure, there has to be a deeply rooted part of him that’s waiting for the other shoe to drop. no one wonder the guy hates being alone, and looking back at it that only adds another layer to his meltdown post-sabaody after he’s lost all of his friends. but these are people he has chosen and who have chosen him! they are friends, they are a crew, they are together, and they aren’t leaving him behind.

and watching the first few eps the only real physical form of touch luffy knew was violence, huh. people really did not hesitate to strike him, from adults to other kids. hell, ace essentially left him for dead a few times. then when he’s captured by bluejam’s guys and refuses to give ace and sabo up because “if i did i was afraid you wouldn’t be my friend” and “i don’t have anyone else” and this guy put on spiked gloves to beat him with. he spent enough time hitting him that another pirate said don’t you think this is a little much? it hurts and he’s scared and then ace and sabo bust in.

ace said “you want me around? you want me alive?” and the first thing luffy did upon waking on law’s ship was scream “where’s my brother?”