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highly-opinionated-ramblings · 1 year

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Sanji usually got up an hour or two before the rest of the crew- it gave him time to prepare a decent breakfast for everyone. It was also a nice little piece of alone time, which was sometimes hard to come by when at sea. He kind of liked the quiet moments before dawn, just him and his thoughts alone in the kitchen. It was a nice way to start the day.

But today, something was different. As he approached, he made out the silhouette of someone sitting against the door to the galley. A few steps closer, and he could make out the additional silhouettes of three scabbarded swords at his side.

At first, Sanji thought he was just sleeping. It wasn’t unusual for him to fall asleep in strange places, after all. But when he got within a few feet, Zoro raised his head.

“Hey.”

“Hey. What are you doing? Go back to bed, and breakfast will be ready in a little while.”

“I need to talk to you about something,” Zoro said, unfolding his limbs and getting to his feet.

“Does it have to be now?”

“It’s important.”

Sanji sighed. “Can you talk while I’m cooking?”

“Fine.”

“Alright, fine. Come on in, then.”

Zoro stepped aside and allowed Sanji to move past him into the galley, then followed him in, closing the door behind him.

“Since you’re here, I’ll give you a choice,” Sanji said, heading for the fridge. “Omelets, or fried eggs on the side today?”

“I don’t care.”

“Pick one.”

“Omelets, then.”

“Ok.”

Zoro took a seat at the counter and waited quietly for Sanji to gather up his ingredients and the tools he’d need to turn them into a delightful breakfast.

“So,” Sanji prompted as he started in on the vegetables on the cutting board. “What’s going on? Did something happen?”

Zoro actually hesitated before answering. That wasn’t something Sanji was used to.

“Yes,” he said finally, “and no.”

“...What the fuck kind of answer is that? Did something happen or not?”

“Look, it’s stupid. But I just need you to listen for a second. Ok?”

Sanji frowned. He did not really like where this could be going. “Ok. So talk, already.”

Zoro took a deep breath.

“I had a dream last night. Everyone died, and you and I were the only ones left.”

Sanji blinked. That was not what he’d been expecting to hear, frankly.

“There was a really bad storm,” Zoro went on, avoiding his gaze. “The whole ship was, like, breaking apart.”

“It was just a dream,” Sanji said quietly. “There’s no storm that could take us out, let alone the Sunny. Especially while we have Nami.”

“I know that. I mean, I have those kinds of dreams often enough, I know it’s not real.”

“You dream about everyone dying, just, all the time?”

“Doesn’t everybody? Don’t you?”

“No,” Sanji said firmly, moving over to dump his diced vegetables on the griddle. His nightmares were a much more colorful variety of horrors. A lot of them involved his father in some way or another. Not that he would ever admit to that out loud, though, especially not to Zoro.

“Well, I do,” Zoro shrugged dismissively, apparently unbothered by that part. “But this one was different. Usually, everyone dies. But this time, you were there with me, after the storm.”

“Ok.” Sanji cracked the first of the eggs against the lip of his silver mixing bowl. “And?”

“And…And…”

Zoro paused, apparently struggling to put his thoughts into words.

“And, I feel like I have to ask, ok? I just wanna know-”

“What?”

“-if it was, just you and me…would you let me stay with you?”

Sanji froze, hand hovering in midair over his bowl. For a moment, the only sound was that of the vegetables simmering on the griddle.

Zoro still wasn’t looking at him. Sanji stared at him, sitting there across the counter, as he stared determinedly at the floor, clearly trying to pretend that having to ask that question hadn’t hurt.

God, it hurt Sanji, too, to think that he even had to ask.

The pieces were beginning to fall more clearly into place. Zoro had woken up from a bad dream and immediately went out and put himself in front of the galley, waiting for him. He could only assume that the Sanji in Zoro’s dream had said no, and it had spooked him enough to swallow his pride and sit there and ask-

He thought Sanji might say no? That he would really abandon him like that? After everything…?

Zoro was the protector of the crew first, and a human being with his own goals and ambitions second. Sanji had known that since they first met. Learning that he had recurring dreams of not being able to protect his crew- and that it was a storm that killed them off, not a person he could go out and take revenge on- made a sick kind of sense for him.

But it was another kind of gut-wrenching altogether to imagine him imagining the only surviving member of his crew in a situation like that wanting nothing to do with him. It was like his brain was challenging itself to come up with new ways for Zoro to fail.

Zoro, who had quite literally stabbed Sanji in the back at Thriller Bark, just to be the first in line to throw himself in front of Kuma. Zoro, who had come to Whole Cake with the rest of them to bring Sanji home. Zoro, who put his neck on the line for his crew all the time, to the point that he had shown up to their two year reunion with a missing eye, and thought next to nothing of it.

“Don’t be stupid,” Sanji said, and it came out a little harsher than he meant it to. Zoro glanced up at him, looking like he was preparing for the worst.

Sanji shook his head, finally reaching out for the next egg to crack. “Don’t be stupid,” he repeated, softer this time. “Of course I’d stay with you.”

“Oh. You would?”

“You’d get lost without someone around to show you the way.”

“Hey-”

“And you wouldn’t eat properly. Or take care of yourself. Don’t be a fucking idiot. We’re nakama, aren’t we? You know what that means, don’t you?”

“Well, I-”

“It means you’re stuck with me, that’s what.”

Zoro rolled his eyes, but even as he did so, Sanji watched him visibly relax.

“Hah. Thanks. I don’t know, I just…I guess I needed to hear that.”

“I’m sure everyone else would say the same, too.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am right. Now get out of my kitchen, go back to bed. Get some rest, and don’t let those dreams get to you, ok?”

“Ok, ok, I’m going. Thanks.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’ll wake you up when breakfast’s ready.”

#My writing #one piece #fanfiction #Zoro #Sanji #OOF #this one's kind of heavy and it feels oddly personal somehow...#I hesitated a lot to post it #but. I don't know. here it is anyway

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bean-chaointe · 1 year

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During a break in the storm.

Santa Cruz, California (1/5/23)

#california #santa cruz #it's been wild #capitola and carmel are flooded and being evacuated #a few piers have been taken out #natural bridges state park has lost one of its cliffsides #the local reports are saying ocean swells are 20-30 feet higher than usual #meanwhile those of us up in the mountains are hunkering down with camp stoves and lanterns #crossing our fingers that a tree doesn't fall and take out the cabin #i'm sure some folks out there are like 'ugh californians are overreacting' but like #we haven't had rain like this since 1847 #we don't have the infrastructure and also we've been in a drought for...idk like over a decade?#we desperately need this rain but oof it's gonna be a time and a half in the process #also our wildfires in the last few years have been so bad that whole swathes of land are still burnscars #which means no vegetation to hold the ground together #when you pair that with sudden heavy rain you get debris flows which can swallow roads and houses #so like...it's A Lot of different things. not 'just' rain.

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jazzzzzzhands · 8 months

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Omg omg I'm getting asks again!

Delighted! Enchanted!

Letting you know I did get them!

I want to answer them with a cute doodle!!!

I will I will!!

#i have just a few heavy long shifts at work!! oof!!#i have sketches planned #i want to draw so badly that it ACHES #just wanted to let u guys know that i have them!!#ty ty guys for loving my art!#it means the absolute world to me!!#lemme tell ya one of those asks i went wild!!#i stimmed so freaking HARD #had me grooving for HOURS #dancin man im dancin!!#i shimmy just thinking about it #uwaaaa uwaaaaaaaa!!!!#jazzisaspazz

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nostomannia · 11 months

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how do you best like to be loved?

craft me a cunning creation

the power of 'i made this for you' is enough to make your heart ache in the good kind of way. the knowledge that someone sat down, and, with you in mind, they Created. they painted, they knit, they sculpted, they folded. they Created for you. it is something tangible. something that will remain when they have to leave for the night. something that lingers. you can look at it, touch it, and you can know that you were cared for enough to inspire creation. you were the source of someone wanting to make. you were, and you are, and you have proof of it. you have proof that they think of you, proof that they thought. and you're worth it, love, you're inspirational. i hope you have an entire shelf or bookcase filled with proof of being thought of and remembered. filled with tangible evidence of consideration.

#Dash Games #i wasnt gonna post this one i feel like i do more romantically inclined ones than i like but #OW #FUCK OOF.#If I were to give Sol a love language outside of touch its definitely gift-giving #especially handmade gifts they just touch her in a special way #but also the knowledge that eventually she has to abandon these things that were made for her tear at her heart #the way she would accept them with a heavy heart #god. sometimes even give them back and ask for the person to take care of them for her

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mushroom-for-art · 1 year

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A non canon what if where May was never implanted with the synergy tainted megastone that'd become Darkness allowed to grow to her full potential.

Just a little different

Scientists checked their growing prices with morbid intrigue and slight boredom, the fetus they were growing were beginning to show features but growing far slower than they'd like. The lead scientist watched bubbles float rising in a growing tube behind the creation, looks like it was beginning to get pin feathers. He turned away in disgust of its appearance.

His judgements were cruel and harsh on each of those created critiquing the genetic splicing process and if the others had even done their job properly, snarled insults of what blithering idiots they must be. He stopped as he passed by some more disappointingly small bodies and took a step back to look between them at the tank behind. Passing past and towards the tank his footsteps heavy and furious.

"What is this?! Is this some joke?!" His voice barked as his subordinates flinched one of them anxiously approaching with a timid, "what is a joke sir?"

"THIS!" He grabbed their collar, yanking them forward and shoving the side of their face into the tank to look at the creature inside. "Now you tell me, what does that look like!"

The subordinate stammered face smooshed into the glass struggling to see as their breathing hitched in panic, "I, I don't know sir? It's! It's bigger than the others sir! Is that not good?"

The frustrated growl as the boss grit his teeth let them know they were indeed very wrong, wincing and letting out a whimper as their head was grabbed, hair tugged and once more shoving their face the front this time painfully into the glass.

"And can you tell me. Why. That. Is." His voice was harsh as he held his lesser in place. They struggled for an answer before swallowing in panic.

"It…it doesn't look like this one has uh, had any dna added or spliced into it, sir."

"And how exactly are you lot so stupid that something like this could've happened? Who signed off on this?!" His voice a snarl as he let go of his subordinate to storm off and check paperwork.

There was quite the uproar over it all that lasted a couple of days, followed by heavy debates on what to do with the undesirable subject. Some suggested leave it alive for spare parts, others said to keep and use, the rest suggesting to kill it off and start anew as it'd reject splicing now. One worker said to implant it with a mega stone with a known kill streak, free up the tank sooner add to the streak.

"No," the lead scientist finally decided, "we'll leave it to grow for now, it'll be a good example to show off and to buy us more time and resources if need be." And everyone went quiet to agree.

Inside a void unperceivable to most even other psychic types, consciousness' began to sense each other even as their bodies were small, stretching outwards in webs tapping experimentally curious floating prodding and wrapping tangling around each other. Energy shot across the wavelengths of consciousness that bloomed in different colors as time passed, bright spikes pulsating as they wove together until they started to finally take form.

They were clumsy, they didn't know what they were only that they happened to be. In the outside world a body jerked and kicked a little as in the psychic realm one of them began to create a foot. They swirled in a circle wanting to grab their own toes rolling around in the vast space as another began to make a tail. They copied each other as they formed picking up traits realizing what they all kind of looked like and then realizing the great differences as squeals of giggles and delight filled the once silent void, brainwaves spiking occasionally.

They flew around each other in a vast display of colors and features, they collided bumping and bonking into each other giggling as they flew around. A pale white one falling into a darker black one whose arms felt weird but they hadn't figured out why, an orange one spun around with her greener sibling. They played and laughed learning to communicate in their own special language of chirps and calls though sometimes they would bring words from the outside that they overheard even within their tanks.

The fusions continued to grow slowly, but their brainwaves were positive enough with how active they were they'd all be very powerful no doubt.

Until they weren't …

Scientist scrambled to stabilize the rapidly weakening form of the pale yellow creation, removing it from it's tank to perform surgery as its heart began to struggle. Within the void they started to seem so far away their voice a whisper despite being right with them, they started to cry.

"It hurts it hurts it hurts I'm hurting," they could only chirp in distress until their voice was gone too leaving the muted fading form. The others tried to comfort to find out what was wrong floating over. A green one tried to grab their hand only to phase right through.. That's not meant to happen. And, then they faded so much they were gone.

Scientists yelled clattering equipment and screaming at each other in rage and fury as the void felt so much emptier. They looked and searched, it must have been a game, their sibling couldn't be just gone!.... Right?

They couldn't find their missing pale sibling..

Soon more started to disappear too, sometimes it'd be over a few days weakening unnoticed or sometimes in a blink they'd just be gone despite seeming to be fine. The bright spectacle of their home becoming dimmer and dimmer as each light of their lives flickered out.

The scientists dissected and preserved each body as they theorized and ranted at each other.

The pure mewtwo outgrew her few remaining siblings but remained in her minds eye as small as they were as with time it was reduced down to only two left.

"I'm going to go soon," unprompted her sibling spoke as she looked at them.

"please don't.."

"I can't help it,"

"you can't leave me alone,"

"I don't want to..but it's getting hard to breathe.."

The orange hued one floated to her sibling as bubbles floated out their mouth as their organic lungs began to fill with fluids. Once more the scientists rushed to attempt to save the last surviving one breathing assistance and scalpels drawn.

"Please don't leave me alone I don't wanna be alone please please stay," she begged and chirped in their language trying to gently hold her siblings aware of her hands phasing through their weakening psychic appearance.

More bubbles flowing from their mouth and nostrils as they moved their mouth in soundless words. They wanted to speak but they couldn't they could feel the gunk filling their lungs they could feel their organic body suffocating.

"No one else is left but us!" The orange one continued to helplessly beg as her brainwaves spiked, she knew all her begging and pleading meant nothing that this wouldn't help, she moved her hand to gesture to the emptiness. "We need-" she turned back, her hands empty, "each other…" a faint droning in her ears as the void became near black once more save for the faint glow of her own body.

"No…." She opened and closed her hands, they were just here she just held them, "Nononono…" She moved frantic and panicked to search it must have been a bad joke of some kind no they couldn't be gone. The emptiness followed and consumed her as her glowing grew brighter brainwaves flaring.

"Someone stabilize that one!" the lead scientist snarled as a lower ranking went to administer sedatives.

The realization began to crawl into her mind, she stopped as her mind slipped floating in the void looking at her hands once more. Her organic body began to cry, beginning to weep as her mind screamed tank glass splintering.

"NOOO!!!" It was purely anguished as the scream ripped through her mind to the point it was projected outwardly as though screamed from her very throat.

Glass flew everywhere.

The force of the explosion knocking the scientists back into the walls of the room, glass scattered across the floor and some shards stabbed into the scientists soft flesh as their creation stood there before them. Her eyes were weeping and wide open. She stared forward at the dissection that had been occurring.

They watched her climb from her risen platform, and she was big, towering over the tallest staff member, a man of 6'2 as she slowly walked over to the tiny operating table on wheels.

She stopped and looked over the tiny body of her sibling, she tilted her head and leant down closer moving a hand and pausing to observe her palm before gently cupping the side of their unmoving face, more tears began to fall from her eyes as she started to wail in misery and pure heartbreak as she cupped their tiny face her other hand grasping the table as she rocked her head as she wailed and she screamed with her fresh vocal cords crying and screaming her heart out for the loss of her sibling the losses of all her siblings all her family gone as her tears splattered audibly on the metal table and the cooling skin of her baby sibling.

She brought her body closer and her forehead touched the cold wet forehead of her sibling nudging them softly unable to even know how to process everything that was happening when she finally lifted her head again to look she noticed the blood on the table.

Her eyes slowly moved from their face falling to their chest and stomach, skin cut open and pulled back, pale pink organs visible and stomach already partly pulled out as her hands started to shake. All she could see was tiny internal organs even as the blinked it's all she could see tiny lungs tiny heart as her ears buzzed with the drone of a machine.

She turned quickly on the first scientist she heard outside her state, she pinned them by their throat to the wall, a claw which previously had not existed summoned through sheer psychic will manifesting on the end of her finger pressing into their stomach with threatening intent to cut them from stomach to throat, snarling directly into their mind, 'WHAT DID YOU DO TO THEM.'

The scientist let out a cry of agony at the voice violently screamed directly into their skull that made their eyes burn as they desperately scrabbled to grab at her arm and hand to try to free themselves.

"We, they were choking, we were trying to fix that but they died." They choked as her grip tightened.

'Did you do the same to the others.'

"We tried to save all of them! We truly did. But none of them made it."

She watched them sternly hand slowly releasing.

The lead scientist glanced to a subordinate besides him, "try to get that body preserved and put it with the others quickly."

Red and brains splattered across the wall as Mays eyes locked onto the lead scientist who did so poorly at an attempt of subtle whispering. The body of the scientist she had been choking laying on the floor without a head.

'Show me the others.' The lead scientist doubled over at the sensation of burning in his skull at the voice inside him.

"Go go show her." He hissed through his pain to his subordinate handing them his access key as they stumbled to their feet stumbling for the psychic voice that probed their mind. They could feel her cold watch as they prepared the body carefully closing up the vivisection and carefully wheeling the table to the storage room sensing with neck hairs prickled the creature they'd made following.

Their hands shook as they swiped the access card to the lock and stepped inside with the lights coming on in rows revealing the preserved bodies of all the others each having been cut open and observed post mortem in some way leaving them with clear noticeable scarring.

The creature stood in the doorway looking in as their eyes began to pick out and stop each one giving them their names mentally fury rising at the number labels, she turned her head observing jars labeled with tiny organs inside a weird fluid. The lights hurt her eyes as she felt her hands and arms shaking.

She looked down at her hands the room beginning to blur and stir uncomfortable hands practically trembling uncontrollably as a faint glowing illuminated from her burning her skin with how powerful it felt. Through her blurred vision she could see tiny colored hands grasping and holding hers with a sensation of company and extreme loneliness.

And the room began to burn.

Storm clouds blackened outside rapidly winds picking up to threatening degree as lightning started to beat down into the ground with cracks and shocks breaking away chunks of the building with each violent assault.

Flames whipped off of her body that quickly turned dark purple before shooting out from her body, scorching walls and erupting from the ceiling as the energy screamed into the growing storm. The scientists didn't get any chance to escape as flames began to engulf the whole lab rapidly.

The only thing safe from the blaze the orange hued mewtwo who floated slowly into the air, they twirled and the air picked up beginning to spin and warp rapidly growing in speed as they swallowed some of the flames and wielded the lighting. The twister spun and ripped up everything in its path picking up and throwing the large slabs of concrete as though they were nothing.

Inside a protective ball in the center of the tornado the two curled in on themselves as destruction roared around them, it was only when the building leveled and burnt to nothing but ash and some charred bones did the storm begin to dissipate. Clouds parting and wisps of twister fading she observed feeling no satisfaction as she turned and flew away.

#My writing #My oc #May the mewtwo #Tw infant death #Tw infant mortality #Tw organs mention #Tw dissection #Tw death #Tw violence #Someone gets their head exploded #This May just even more problems actually meets her siblings doomed to perish #The overstimulation of just being 'born' seeing all her siblings preserved physical forms and trauma just making her choose murder #This May is powerful on purpose #And big! I kinda want her to be 7'4 just for the funs #Shows she was meant to be massive and powerful but got hella stunted by darkness #Me @ Syn and Riven 🔫 stay back from this one she's traumatised enough ya don't want #This one is kinda heavy May is wailing and crying in it #So beware it is a kinda dark fic #Also her oof moment of being huge while her sibling is still relatively tiny unable to grow properly for fucky bad genes #Definitely realised in that moment none of them would've lived and she's different and hated it

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the-kipsabian · 1 year

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yeah no. writing isnt really happening tonight

#i mean. i did finish the first half of this one shot but it was like. 200 words #im just not vibing hmm #i just hate that cause im so afraid of losing my motivation and inspiration for writing now that its finally back and i. i dont want that #like im already having heavy issues with drawing i dont need this kind of drama in my life too. you nnow #*you know #like brain pls let me have at least one (1) good creative outlet pls #i think i should just go to bed oof #night is an absolute mess on main

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burymeinblack2022 · 1 year

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Sleepy girl at the vampire mansion 😴😴💤

#It's 4am and I was finishing some chemistry shit oof....#I decided to eat one of those caffeinated bars at 3am and now I'm awake but also sleepy #My eyes are heavy but I'm not that tired it's weird lol time for bed #I need to wake up for my ochem tutoring in 5h lmaooo #wow anna said something #Mood always tho #anna's shitposts #I'm going a mimir now <3

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pleasanttaleexpert · 2 years

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pretty man, very pretty- give him all your food or he will take it by force.

#my art #digital art #demon slayer #demon slayer fanart #inosuke hashibira #inosuke #kimetsu no yaiba #I need more practice with his boar mask and its angles #I did a second with his mask but I'm not happy with it so I'll just leave you with this one #Still a little heavy on my lightight. Oof

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daydadahlias · 1 year

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I come to confess that I just read subject line for the first time, I'm a big fan of your fics, but I had been "avoiding" it because I'm not a big fan of cashton.

I read it because you just recommended it and I said "let's see".

I FEEL BAD FOR NOT READING IT IN A LONG TIME 😭😭.

Another recommendation for something similar to what I just read?

the funniest part about this ask is just how long it took me to figure out what this second ask is referencing. I was going on tumblr and twitter searching this @ trying to figure out who tf it was until Detective Ashley went "jess it's a person you made up" and LO AND BEHOLD!

i will say, of all the fake tweets in this fic, I don't think this is the one I would have had the most beef over lmfao. me and @/irwinshands would have thrown down the most i think

also not a big fan of cashton!?!!!?!? gasp!! but they're so cute!!! just look at these little soulmates 🥺

as for recommendations uhhhh i dont know honestly!! sorry!

#im so bad at reccing y'all #im glad u enjoyed!!!#i think this is really the only super angsty cashton fic i have #unless u count Will Be but #that's like #a very heavy fic #and i dont honestly think i would recommend it :)#ive got other hurt/comfort fics tho #but if u dont mean by me and just... h/c in general #oof i just dont even know lmfao #im so bad at this #sorry bestie #pigeon #anon #thank u for being a fan!!! that's so sweet!!!!#i hope i can convert u to a cashton fan one day

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couronnez · 1 year

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//@udovaintomyheart Thanks AGAIN <3

Now I want to write Medical Drama featuring Vasily. Anyone up for roleplaying that? I promise I WILL write a canon and modern fic about it, too!

#♔ —— ❝ the queen’s court 》 ooc #ASDAHAHAKEKGJR #I might have an alternative version of Vasily's canon death sitting in my drafts #AND ONE IN WHICH HE FIGHTS ZLATAN AND DIES #UHM #Also in the modern au he dies to his heart disease #I figured he collapses at Nikolai's birthday party #and Nikolai is his emergency contact #and ultimately the one who decides to pull the plug on him because he's comatose and his heart is just too damaged #OOF #some heavy shit #crawl into my inbox if you dare I have more #I HAD ALS TRAINING TODAY #8 hrs of CPR + Case training #loads of heart attack cases #I am prepared #my hands are sore lmao

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inkykeiji · 1 year

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whew (*´ο`*)

#clari chatters #this is just me rambling on about life hehe (in a good way!)#we totally thought we wouldn’t get any more basket orders because like we’re pretty far into december right #we just got an order for another *50* baskets lmao #i just spent the last hour bringing in all of the merchandise with the boys #who were laughing at me n teasing me for my spaghetti arms by the way #me: ‘oof that’s a heavy one’ him: *picks up three* ‘aw come on no it isn’t!’#i am just a small babie okay i am not strong i cannot lift heavy things i am BABIE #they were like ‘aw with all that running you do you can’t lift a few boxes?’ and i was like !!!!!! running is CARDIO my heart is totally fin #fine #ugh 🙄 boys 🙄🙄🙄#‘the boys’ being my boyfriend’s brothers and father jsyk <3 #who are family and like to playfully tease me like that #i am delicate and feminine i am not built for living boxes of olive oil #LIFTING*#ahahahahaha #anyway i am sore n tired #it’s really crunch time now!!!!!!!#lots of work to be done!!!

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fruit-teeth · 2 years

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Chronicles of Love and War (chapter 15)

“What time do you think you’ll be back?” Angelica wanted to know, slipping her shoes on and fixing her hair in the mirror.

Spy cleaned his gun with a handkerchief, saying, “It depends. It could take anywhere from a few hours to the rest of the day. We are not entirely sure what’s going to happen this time…”

Angelica walked up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tightly. “God, this makes me nervous…you stay safe, and for the love of God, keep Jeremy outta trouble!”

“Of course, dearest, of course,” Spy assured, and he turned around to embrace her in return. “It’s very kind of you to spend your day with the children…”

“Oh, it ain’t any trouble,” she smiled up at him. “It’s been forever since I took any of my boys to the movies! Taking these girls is gonna be a great time…”

Spy stepped back, though he reached forward to tuck Angelica’s hair behind her ear. “Mm, I know…you are amazing with children, you know that?”

“Always have been!” Angelica giggled, before reaching for her bag. “All right, I’ll get the girls and we’ll drive into town…you boys stay safe!”

“We will,” Spy assured her, and the two shared a kiss. “We will, mon petite…”

Outside, Olivia and Lucy were reading a toy magazine Helen had given them while sitting side by side on the base's front stairs.

“Look at that one!” Olivia pointed to a giant stuffed swan. “It looks really pretty!”

“Yeah,” Lucy agreed. “But the beak is pink! Real swans don’t have pink beaks…”

The door behind them swung open, and Angelica stepped out. “Hey, girls!” she announced. “You two ready to go?”

“Yeah!” Olivia quickly closed the magazine and stuffed it in her bag, standing up. “What movie are we gonna see?”

“Hmm, I dunno!” Angelica smiled, taking the hands of both children and leading them to her car. “We’ll go to the theater and see what looks good, okay?”

“Okay!” Lucy piped up in agreement. She looked over her shoulder, waving towards the base and shouting, “Bye, daddy!”

Merasmus stood near the cars, waving goodbye to his daughter as she climbed into Angelica's car with Olivia. He tried to push down the wave of anxiety he felt about being separated from his child, but he reassured himself that she would be fine if she was with a motherly woman like Angelica.

He shook himself and turned around to look at Helen. “Tell me what we’re doing next.”

Helen pointed to where the mercenaries were equipping their vehicles with weaponry. “We will be driving over to the Applegate Mansion in separate cars. I have divided us into separate groups, and we will each be taking different routes to the mansion. I figured you and I would be leading the way, since you seem more familiar with the wooded areas than I am.”

“Oh,” Merasmus thought about it. “Well…all right. That sounds fine by me.”

“Good,” Helen gave a nod and stepped over to her own car, where Miss Pauling was already waiting for her. She opened the door and asked, “Do we have everything?”

“Yeah!” Miss Pauling nodded, checking her clipboard again. “Engie’s got the hydro-pump all strapped to his truck, so I think we’re good to go.”

“Wonderful.” Helen got into the driver’s side, and she watched to make sure Merasmus got into the passenger side all right. “You may need to crouch…you’re a bit too tall for my car.”

“Your car is just too small,” Merasmus grunted, but he managed to get the seat belt on without a problem. “Zelda is really going to get it this time…”

However, what they didn’t know was that Zelda and Bea were not at the Applegate Mansion at all. In fact, they were miles away in a quieter, emptier area of Teufort, visiting a run-down tavern.

A storm had begun to roll in as Zelda pushed open the tavern’s door. She gestured for Bea to follow and the two entered, letting the door close behind them.

Bea was instantly struck by the establishment’s gloomy atmosphere, and she shuddered. “Is this really the place?”

The lighting in the bar and dining area appeared dim, but this could have been due to the outer darkness caused by the approaching clouds. The dilapidated seats and tables, as well as the decade-old election leaflets hanging on a bulletin board in the back, gave the impression that it had not been updated in a long time.

“Yes, this is it.” Zelda confirmed. She strode to the bar area, where the bartender, a portly old woman in her later 60’s, cleaned a few drinking glasses.

The woman glanced up in surprise when she saw Zelda approaching. “Why, Miss Zelda! I have not seen you in months!”

“I’ve been quite busy,” Zelda informed the woman, before gesturing for Bea to come closer. “Cynthia, this is my sister Beatrice.”

Bea reached across the bar to shake Cynthia’s hand. “I go by Bea. Nice to meet you,”

Cynthia accepted the handshake but cast a quizzical look towards Zelda. “You told me your sister died! Was that a different sister?”

“No, it was the same sister,” Zelda informed her, clearing her throat. “Cynthia, we have a favor to ask of you.”

“A favor?” Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “Well…what is it you need?”

Zelda checked to make sure the few remaining patrons of the tavern were busy conversing with one another before speaking in a hushed tone, “Do you still have that magic mirror of yours?”

Cynthia’s eyes widened, as if Zelda had asked her something unthinkable. “Whatever for?”

“We’re looking for something,” Zelda replied. “And we believe your mirror may help us find it.”

“I…” Cynthia glanced at Zelda, and then at Bea. “I’m not sure. What is it you are looking for? Are you sure a simple tracking spell wouldn’t work in its place?”

“This is very important, Cynthia!” Zelda grit her teeth a little in frustration. She reached into the pocket of her dress and handed Cynthia a wad of cash. “Will this suffice?”

Cynthia cautiously took the money and leafed through it, before looking back up at Zelda. “All right,” she conceded with a nod. She placed the money into the cash register and gestured for Zelda and Bea to follow her. “Come with me.”

Zelda and Bea followed Cynthia through the tavern’s kitchen and into a small wine cellar. Past the rows of wine bottles and between the shelves sat a small door, which had a sign that read, ‘DO NOT ENTER’.

Cynthia removed a key ring from her pocket and unlocked the door for the sisters. She then explained, "I have to go back to check on the clients. The mirror is in here – just say, ‘Mirror, show me...’ and then ask for whatever it is you wish to see. You understand?”

“I am familiar with how this works, yes,” Zelda nodded. “This should not take terribly long, Cynthia. Thank you.”

“Not an issue,” Cynthia nodded at the women, before stepping out of the cellar. “I hope you find what it is you’re searching for.”

Zelda stepped into the small room gesturing for Bea to follow. The room was tiny, windowless and dark, and the only piece of furniture in it was an antique writing desk. On top of the desk was the mirror – it was a large, grand, gold-rimmed mirror that emanated a soft glow of blue light.

Bea couldn’t take her eyes off the mirror, approaching it slowly. “Wow…it’s beautiful. Why was it so hard to find one of these mirrors?”

"During the witch hunts, the majority of them were destroyed," Zelda explained as she stepped up to join her sister by the desk. "And King Alcabath, the first sorcerer to create these mirrors, has been dead for centuries. There haven’t been new mirrors made ever since.”

Zelda reached over to touch the mirror, and instantly, the light glowed a pale white. Taking this as a good sign, Zelda cleared her throat and declared, “Mirror! Show us The Corrupt!”

Bea watched the mirror's reflective surface as the light became whiter and some images began to swirl in the reflections. An opening to a cave was soon visible, and as the view deepened into the cave itself, something else became apparent. Several cocoons, glowing red and hanging from the ceiling of the cave, quickly came into view. Light pulsed through the cocoons, and deformed creatures sat motionless behind the translucent covering.

“What are those?” Bea wanted to recoil in disgust at the sight of the cocoons. “Insects?”

“Not insects,” Zelda stared at the cocoons, mesmerized. “That’s The Corrupt itself! There, there is the Kingpin!” she pointed to the biggest cocoon, which was in the center of the others.

“Where is this, then?” Bea asked, leaning in towards the mirror to get a closer look.

The view changed to the outside of the cave again, showing a sign which labeled as ‘COLDWATER CAVE – DO NOT ENTER’.

Zelda smiled wide, leaning up and away from the mirror. “Coldwater Cave! That’s not far from here…if we get on one of the tour buses that frequents that area, we will be there in no time. Come along!” Zelda turned on her heel, heading for the exit.

Bea stared at the mirror for a moment longer, lost in thought. She yanked herself out of it, though, trailing after Zelda.

The dark clouds dissipated soon after.

Three of the mercenaries' cars and Helen's own car took different routes through the woods to Zelda's house at the same time. Sniper had driven through the woods in his van, crossing an old bridge that was thankfully wide enough for the camper.

Scout shuddered as he peeked out the window. “Ugh! I’m getting’ splinters just looking at this bridge…I swear, if this bridge snaps and we get tossed in that lake—”

“It won’t break,” Sniper assured, focusing on the trail ahead. “Looks pretty sturdy to me.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever…” Scout sighed. He undid his seat belt and stood up. “I’m gonna go in the back and get something drink.”

“Sure, go ahead,” Sniper affirmed. Scout opened the door to the rest of the camper and stepped in, closing the door behind him. Sniper reached for the cup of coffee on his dashboard, taking a sip and focusing back out on the trail.

Moments later, he heard the door open, and as he assumed it was Scout, he said, “Solly and Demo didn’t spill any jars, right? ‘Cause I swear if Soldier did—”

“Jars?” a feminine voice questioned. Sniper turned around, seeing Bronislava standing there.

“Oh!” he exclaimed, sitting up. “Sorry, I thought you were Scout for a second.”

“No, just me.” Bronislava smiled at him, sitting in the passenger seat. “Hope you do not mind that I choose to ride with you here,”

“No, I don’t mind at all,” Sniper assured. “You didn’t wanna ride with your brother and sister, though?”

Bronislava shrugged. “Well, I could ride back with them. But I have never been in…” she looked around the driving area, and into the door of the rest of the camper. “What you call this?”

“A camper,” Sniper replied, smiling over at her a little. “It’s small, but its perfect for me.”

“I see…” Bronislava nodded in agreement. “Would have been useful to have in Russia,”

Sniper laughed a little. “I bet. It doesn’t do too well with cold weather, though, my heater’s bust and broken—”

Before he could finish, Scout shouted from the back, “Hey, there it is!”

Bronislava and Sniper both turned to look, and sure enough, the mansion was close by. They had arrived before everyone else.

Sniper got out of the van first, followed by Bronislava, Scout, Soldier, and Demoman. Right away, they all noticed how eerily quiet everything was.

“You think she’s home?” Sniper asked, approaching slowly, rifle poised.

Scout bent down, picking up a stone. “One way to find out!”

“What are you doing, lad!?” Demo hissed, prying the stone out of Scout’s hands. “We need to wait for the others!”

“Aw, c’mon! We got here first!” Scout protested. “And besides – they won’t care if we get a head start, right?”

As the two bickered, Soldier suddenly got very quiet and stared out at the mansion, his whole body very still. Bronislava noticed, and she started to get an uneasy feeling.

“What?” she asked quietly, concerned, approaching Soldier.

Soldier’s face twitched, focused on something in the bushes behind the mansion. “My father is back there,” he informed her, his voice strangely shaky.

Bronislava paused, wondering if she misheard him. “What?” she looked towards the bushes, but there was no one there.

All of the sudden, Scout started shouting, “Oh, hell, no! The hell are you doing here!?” he pulled his gun from its holster, beginning to shoot wildly into the trees.

Alarmed, Sniper ran up and yanked the gun from him. “What are you doing!?”

“That guy who shot my brother Joey!” Scout spat, furiously trying to get the gun back. “He’s here! I gotta kill him! Bastard, you almost killed my brother!” he sprinted away into the trees, chasing after someone, though the others could not see anyone.

Demoman frantically gave chase, shouting, “Lad! Lad, get back here!”

At the same time, Soldier looked back toward the bushes and charged, shouting, “Pig! Pig, you should stay dead! You call yourself a father, you’re just a criminal!” he threw himself onto the ground, wrestling air.

“What the hell!?” Sniper exclaimed, feeling very worried, and he ran up to Soldier to stop him. “Soldier! Soldier, hey!”

However, it was then that a familiar voice stopped him dead in his tracks: “Now, what do you think you’re doing!? Didn’t I tell you to do push-ups with everyone else already? What, can’t you hear me, runt?”

Sniper’s blood ran cold in a way he hadn’t felt in over a decade. He turned around slowly, mumbling, “No…it can’t be…”

Standing behind him was Mr. Farber, his high school gym instructor. Mr. Farber prodded Sniper and grunted, “What’s the matter, runt? Dingo got your bloody tongue, huh? How ‘bout we call your dad and tell him you’re being a little weakling again?”

Sniper took a step back, gripping his rifle. “No…back the hell up, you bastard, I’m warning you…”

“Bastard?” Mr. Farber repeated, snarky as always. “That’s how you talk to adults, is it, Mr. Mundy? Oh, your parents are gonna love hearing about this! We're all aware that they need to stop making excuses for your scummy, runt behavior..." He trailed off, then grinned broadly at Sniper. “But, of course: they’re not your real parents, now, are they?”

Sniper screamed, "Bastard! " As he immediately lost all restraint, he rammed the gun's nozzle into Mr. Farber's jaw. “I’ll kill you!”

Bronislava was startled when she heard the gunshot and spun around to see Sniper looking around in a frenzy. “Where’d he go!?” his voice cracked, and he ran for the bushes. “Farber, get back here, you rat bastard!”

Bronislava glanced back towards Demoman, her heart racing, and noticed that he had given up trying to control Scout. Instead, Demoman was circling while yelling obscenities and appearing to be racing after someone while brandishing a sword. However, like the others, there was no one there.

Something was making them hallucinate. Bronislava came to the conclusion that this place undoubtedly contained a bizarre power, but she was unsure of how to stop it.

She turned around just in time to see Medic's ambulance approaching, and she dashed towards it, flagging it down. Right at that moment, though, someone stepped in front of her.

“There you are,” the man spoke in Russian, towering over Bronislava. “You really thought you could get away from me?”

When Bronislava saw Oleg, one of the soldiers who had tormented her family, she stumbled backward and collapsed to the ground. Oleg stepped closer, and he smirked down at her. "Oh, dear...what are you now that your big brother isn’t here to protect you, hm?”

Bronislava's inner child briefly wanted to flee and hide in fear, but she did everything she could to fight the urge. She staggered to her feet, holding her ground. “You’re not real!” she spat at him, teeth gritted.

Oleg only stared at her with disdain. “Piteous child…you’re not even worth a beating. I should just strand you and your siblings in the snow and leave you to starve. We would have more resources to go around that way.”

“You’re not real!” Bronislava screamed at him again, and she pulled out her knife to slash it across his face. However, the instant she did that, he disappeared.

Heavy dashed to Bronislava's side and grabbed her by the shoulders. “Sister! What is wrong!?”

Bronislava paused for a few deep breaths before turning around and frantically gesticulating to the others. “Something—something makes us see things! People that are not there!”

As Medic moved closer to join Heavy, he stared in bewilderment as Sniper continued to hack at nothing in the grass with his knife. “Hallucinations…but from what?”

“We have to stop it!” Bronislava urged. “You will see things, too!”

Yana leapt out of the ambulance as well, rushing to her siblings. “Is it the witch!?”

“We do not know!” Heavy told her. “But we stop this!” he looked towards the bushes, where Soldier was writing in the grass and screaming, and he ran towards him.

“I’m not a failure! I’m not! Stop saying it!” Although Soldier fiercely threw his hands out to try to crush the illusion of his father, he was sobbing.

Heavy ran up behind him, restraining him. “Soldier! Is not real!”

“Let me go!” Soldier screeched, trying desperately to throw Heavy off him.

In a frenzy of wrath, Scout ran straight into the ambulance, banging his head against the car and instantly losing consciousness. Medic ran over to him and knelt, feeling his head. “Oh, dear!”

As Lar-Nah quickly stepped out of the van, Medic directed her to Sniper. “Go tranquilize your child, there’s some kind of magic making everyone lose their minds!”

Lar-Nah ran over to Sniper, getting a syringe of full of a light tranquilizer ready. But when she got close to her son, he suddenly started crying and fell to the ground screaming.

“You bastard…” his voice cracked, his lower lip quivering. “What did I ever do to you!? Am I just too different? Is that why you hated me, because you knew I wasn’t from here? That it?” he sobbed again, covering his eyes.

Lar-Nah set the syringe down and knelt down next to Sniper in the grass, placing a hand on his shoulder. “None of it’s real,” she told him quietly. “Whoever you think is there is not there – its some kind of magic.”

Sniper caught his breath, sniffling, and he looked up at Lar-Nah. “Huh?”

“It’s a trick, Zelda is probably tricking every…” she trailed off, hearing a twig snap nearby. Slowly, she turned around to look, and just a few feet behind her stood her aunt Ree-Lan.

“What’s the matter, Lar-Nah?” Ree-Lan took a few steps closer to her, staring down at her with dead eyes. "Why don't you just flee if you're so worried about a trick being played on you and your unwanted child?” She came in close to Lar-Nah, so close that she breathed on her, yet her breath was chilly. "You've never done anything but run away from challenges," she said. “Just like you ran away after you poisoned me, you ungrateful coward!”

Lar-Nah was silently staring into nothing, and Sniper noticed that the others were either doing the same or battling what they were seeing. He then recognized that she was right: they were being tricked.

“Hey!” Sniper snapped, and he grabbed Lar-Nah by the shoulders, turning her around to face him. “We need to find Merasmus, he’ll know how to stop this!”

Lar-Nah blinked a few times, trying to shut out the demanding prescence of Ree-Lan, and she just nodded. “All right…all right,”

Sniper got up and grabbed her by the hand, they ran towards the front lawn. Helen's car arrived, and Merasmus only had to look once to realize something was seriously wrong.

"Stop the vehicle!" Merasmus barked, and as soon as Helen did, he slammed the door open and dashed up to Sniper and Lar-Nah.

Sniper instantly began to try and explain, “There’s something making us see things that aren’t there—”

Merasmus yelled in annoyance, instantly realizing what was happening. “I know what this is! Stay here and try to keep everyone out of trouble!” He dashed towards the front garden, where he began searching through the overgrown flowers and weeds.

Engineer’s truck pulled up later, and the moment he stepped out, Miss Pauling ran up to get his attention.

“Okay, don’t panic,” she began. “But something really weird is going on! There’s some kind of magic that’s making everyone see…people, I guess? I don’t know, I just got here! But, uh, know that if you see anyone or anything you wouldn’t expect to be here, it’s not real!”

“Jesus!” Engineer breathed, thinking this over as Pyro came up to join him. “What kinda psychological warfare is that!?”

Spy looked out towards the ambulance, and with a start, he noticed Scout laying down in the grass next to it. He swore under his breath and rushed over, immediately checking his son’s pulse. “What happened!?”

“He ran into the ambulance and fell unconscious,” Medic informed him, approaching Spy. “He’ll be fine – I’ve hardly had any time to tend to him, everyone else is being terrorized by these horrible visions!”

Spy turned to look at Medic, struck by how disheveled he appeared already. “What happened to you?”

Medic waved him off. “I know they are only deceptive illusions, but whatever it is, it made the apparition of my former headmaster seem amazingly genuine. I'll be alright.”

Merasmus ran up to the front garden of the mansion, which seemed to have fallen into disarray. Using a light beam, he scoured the soil, until he found a disturbed patch and dove his hand straight into it.

Within moments, he yanked out a creature – it was a small, pig-like animal, with dark black eyes and smooth pink skin. It squealed in alarm, writhing, and everyone’s visions suddenly fell away.

Demoman caught his breath and put down his sword, looking around in confusion, realizing he was no longer chasing after the man who had stalked him many years ago. “What…what happened?”

“This happened!” Walking to the middle of the lawn while holding up the beast for everyone to see, Merasmus declared, “A Brainpig!”

Panting, Miss Pauling staggered to her feet. “A what!?”

“A Brainpig!” Merasmus repeated. “These creatures have potent magic which delves into the minds of its victims. They then use the information they learn to create apparitions of people who caused harm to you in the past! Zelda must have gotten a hold of one of these and used it to ward us off!” he turned the squirming Brainpig around to look in its face. “What do you have to say for yourself, hm!?”

The Brainpig shrieked in a high-pitched voice, “Turn me loose! I apologize! Had I known there was a wizard, I’d have never agreed to watch over Zelda’s domain!”

Spy adjusted his mask, squinting at Merasmus and the Brainpig. “Is…it that pig talking?”

Merasmus ignored him and asked the Brainpig, “Where is Zelda, now?”

“She went to see a magic mirror!” the creature squealed. “To a tavern!”

“Magic mirror…tavern…” Merasmus’s eyes widened, and he threw the Brainpig to the ground with disdain. “I know where Zelda is! I’m going to go stop her!”

“Wait! What about this mission!?” Helen demanded, having found both her heels in the tall grass and slipping them on.

“Forget the mission! She’s not even here!” Merasmus grunted, and he looked to where the Brainpig was slinking off. “You had better run far away from here, you little vermin!”

The Brainpig wailed in agony and scurried off into the woods, never to be seen again.

Merasmus sighed in relief and turned back to the others. “There, that should take care of that little problem. Now…we need to get to that tavern!”

Medic stared at him in disbelief. “You...you just let the Brainpig get away!”

“That’s not the concern at the moment!” Merasmus snapped. “Listen to me: Zelda went to the Blue Bell Tavern, which is owned by the witch who has one of the last magic mirrors! She’s going to find the location of The Corrupt, and we need to stop her, now! I will teleport myself there if I have to!”

“Teleport? You could have done that the whole time? And you had someone drive you here?” Sniper asked, annoyed.

Merasmus cast a glare in his direction. “Teleportation is not as easy as it looks, mortal!”

"Get a head start - we'll..." She looked around, wincing at how disheveled everyone was from this one experience. “We will catch up to you!”

Merasmus gave a nod, and he soon vanished in a flash of light.

Scout finally came to, his head spinning. “Ugh…what the hell, man?”

Spy sat down next to him in the grass, offering him a sip from his water bottle. “Here,”

Scout took a few swigs, letting out a sigh. “Did I get shot?”

“No…you’re all right,” Spy assured him, patting his shoulder.

Demoman approached the others, dragging his sword behind him, still huffing and panting. “Lord…that blasted, bloody Brainpig made me see that bastard who stalked me…”

Soldier, recovering from the ordeal, turned around and hugging Demo tightly. “If I see that hippie, I will beat his face into goo!”

Demoman smiled a little, and he hugged Soldier in return. “Absolutely, lad…”

Heavy sat in the grass, both arms around his sisters as they all took the time to recover. Medic approached, sitting behind Heavy and resting his head on his shoulder.

“How is everyone?” Medic wanted to know.

“Fine,” Heavy assured, opening up his arms to let Medic slip into the hug. “Hate that pig…hate him.”

“Me too!” Medic huffed. “Shame Merasmus let it run off…I would have loved to study it…”

“Misha?” Bronislava looked up at her brother. “Did you kill Oleg? Years ago? I do not remember…”

Heavy thought about it, and then said, “Yes. I wrung his neck.”

“I helped!” Yana added proudly.

Bronislava smiled, and she took both their hands into her own. “Good.”

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