we do this bc we are too old to be keeping up with CR pages these days

real

idk if the needle has moved on brains and brawn since last time but im here to support u regardless

i don't think anything's really shifted either..

CR pages are sooo hard, I tried and failed at keeping one for folkmore, lmao

comatoseroses: maybe a little; idr the last time i did this so some of this will probs be repeats but let's go (also I'm doing bolin too and you can't stop me)

RAPH ive said this before but even though i know that it OBLITERATES RAPH'S SENSE OF SELF to not be Thee Big Brother, i enjoy moving the needle between don and raph closer and closer to the median that grown siblings find with each other (esp those without many years between them)

to some degree raph is always going to be big brother, safety incarnate, reliable laorg man, but don is also starting to push back against that needle like no you can rely on ME this time. he's not quite there ofc, he's not mature enough and has emotional work to do to be TRULY reliable, but he's starting to express that desire

its why I'm a sucker for the "what a pair" dynamic we keep referencing in our tags; not just because they're very alike for being such opposites, but because i like to think that the pinnacle of brains and brawn is for them to be the protective bookends on the hamato shelf

i think also now that donnie is realizing just how difficult it is to worry about this brothers all the time, he's starting to get that sympathetic knowledge of how stressed raph is all the time (since empathy is largely out of his reach, he has to rely on sympathy and tough lessons to relate)

TLDR donnie is very messily trying to establish new footing with Raphael but doesn't have the emotional tools (or maturity) to do so gracefully. thankfully raph is literally overflowing with love and compassion, so even if they end up scraping against each other's hidden wounds in the process, donnie can forgive him immediately and snuggle with brother

baby boys. babies

i hope they do a bond and they think oh cool idt anything really changed except for the weird power balance stuff and it turns out they're just resource pooling their anxiety

DANI SHUT UUUPPPPPP PLEASE. WE CAN'T GIVE THEM AN OFFICIAL INFINITE ANXIETY FEEDBACK LOOP

as for BOLIN its obv still in the v early stages. bolin is a weird mix of silly billy confident himbo that donnie isn't very accustomed to, but bro trusts that he's a genius and he lets donnie yap, so he's ok so far. guarded but tentatively positive. bolin is the weird friend donnie hasnt told fam about bc why bother, that's just that built kid who-

-uses that annoying rock power BS that toph threatened his lab equipment with (donnie STILL dislikes her intensely for that)

runedwriting: don and seph no (i see that tag im get u) and not for present day cloud, but i am VIBRATINNNNGG about this past/memory thing. haha but what if they got crushes on each other in the past, wouldn't that be crazzyyyy

bb cloud is trauma bonding the FUCK outta this partnership, and then bb seph said "I'm glad you're here" and cloud was like HUH WHAT??? HM?????????

since I'm playing this like future cloud is remembering all of this and since cloud is....VERY weak to having muddled and displaced memories, he's very confused about how he's supposed to feel about this kid now. not crush wise, adult cloud won't have a crush on kid seph, things are just different IE being able to see him as a different/separate entity.

cloud told vincent before that he couldn't see seph as another victim of hojo because of his history and trauma with the grown man, and he just couldn't get past that. he even got pretty upset about it

but now cloud has....not a memory because it wasn't really, but KIND OF a memory because it KIND OF was real, of being himself (a better version of himself, an unbroken one in his opinion) where he DID empathize with sephiroth. it might be because he didn't know any better but it's still there, its something he felt, that is possible for him TO feel

he can't even be angry about his memory bb self being lied to, because who would tell the truth in that situation? if anything, cloud's mourning the memory for not being real

i have plans for cloud to accidentally call bb seph "luca" at some point in the future i just need a good opportunity

......as for sorey, he thinks seph is SO cute. reminds him a little of mikleo. let's get into trouble, dude

hhhhiiiiii u know

sonicsora: fr man its so much.....periodic sotcr is so much better

PETER not much has changed, but I'm really enjoying their more equal relationship. that donnie is comfortable enough to admit when he can't do something right away, that means ur in baybee. not as in as brothers but real close

he IS still going to be paranoid of retaliation for the whole kidnapping thing, because HE knows he crossed a line and PETER knows he crossed a line so wherein lies the hammer that will surely fall??? please throw a car at him and get it over with

kjdhas
Donnie: throw the car already
Peter: no. You're already torturing yourself worrying about it, that's punishment enough.

LEO SENSEI peepaw is a convenient target for donnie to unleash all that rage and upset he still doesnt know what to do with, bro was 100% right about that. that he said it RIGHT AWAY like that made donnie want to rip his throat out with his teeth tho LMAO

Leo Sensei pissing donnie off speed run completed

donnie is in the very awkward position of viewing older leo as both his worst enemy and also the culmination of his twin when there aren't enough people to keep him from killing himself for some noble cause. he wants to keep this leo alive at all costs almost as a threat; you don't get to die just because your twin isn't around to stop you, motherfucker

ITS REALLY MESSED UP ACTUALLY LMAO!!! i was thinking about this a lot, how sacrifice should be up to the person making it but how donnie is like TF??? do u think u only belong to u??? no you are MY brother, and if u won't consider my feelings then I'll do it for you by force WHICH IS SO BAD. BUT OH WELL HE'S JUST KINDA LIKE THAT

so peepaw being like "i was already dead" when he wasnt no breath, no heartbeat, facedown on the ground when Casey went thru that portal, donnie is like LIAR. YOU DIDN'T TRY TO STAY ALIVE BC U WANTED TO DIE and that is not acceptable, ever

kdkjhs oh my god, Donnie

at the same time he's also like this aint my brother, mine is over there 'accidentally' overwriting my stardew valley save file for the 4th time. and then he looks at HIS twin and leo is like "i made the straight jock gay for me, lmao. poggers" and then he looks at peepaw leo with all his wrinkles and agony and willingness to be dead asap and he grabs his-

i love this weird fucky child, what is wrong with him (where the list at)

-twin by the face like, "if u think for even one second I'm gonna let that fly, I'll just kill you first" and then leo is like "shit damn man ok I'll revert the save u can kiss all the girls you want u hetero" and don is like. I'll kill u if you die to older leo, who is like i thought we got thru this before but i gotta relive this again? i can't do this

its very messy and it is VERY fun for me so far. donnie hates older leo and will kill anything that lifts a hand at him, on principle. we will see how that progresses

I am glad its fun so far! I am genuinely enjoying the fucking rager Donnie is on and Leo going 'this kid needs a nap, god damn' to himself

peepaw leo, who has seen way worse than death for many years: its just dying, what's the big deal
donnie who has developed a blackout rage response to his brothers making light of their suffering over the past 3 years:

kldhsk fuck

miniroth over in his corner going 'yeah no i kind of get why i'm obsessed with this guy in another 10 years'

Donnie has decided you will live, old man

you have been assigned LIVE AT ALL COSTS by the CREEPILY CONTROLLING TWIN BROTHER

runedwriting: i love their obsessions with each other narrowly missing lining up by years every time

probably for the best. we don't need mr 'I'l break entire realities just because you might be in one' getting TOO focused... probably..

why that sounds like fun writing to me

fontech: I'M COMING FOR U WITH OUR TANGLED WEB OF CR WITH MULTIPLE CHARS SHORTLY, DON'T U WORRY

sometimes u gotta obliterate alternate realities simply because there's not enough cloud in them

also he's kind of getting a similar feel off sorey that he gets from the encantado river. things are moderately more ok /right there/.

sometimes you have to twist ur crush's brain into relying on you to do all the thinking and that way you can save (and rule) the world together

(with mom ofc)

OK

i want casey to think for half a second donnie is protective of him for HIS sake for half a second before reality clicks

there's an element of that in there, but Donnie isn't emotionally savvy enough to realize it

if someone he trusted took his hand and walked him to the conclusion "do you think you might also be upset that you saw yet another instance of an adult forcing the weight of the world onto the shoulders of their child and leaving them alone?" then. MAYBE

he is kinda like. HE'S UR KID??? AND U DIDN'T EVEN WANNA TRY TO LIVE SO YOU COULD LIVE WITH HIM??? guess u didn't like him that much BUT HE'LL GET KILLED IF HE SAYS THAT

say it donnie bc casey never will

/places all that in cads to do list somehow

donnie and power, if anything has changed since their latest thread!

I'M BACK FROM LUNCH BREAK so here i come

fontech: you

we will start where i know akai wants to start

DONNIE >> CASEY they are in a. VERY awkward stage rn, which is so very, very good

most stages of relationship with donnie are on the awkward side anyway, but the reasons why it's so awkward is because for the first time, both sides are purposefully speaking very frankly and deliberately with each other. THIS IS CRUCIAL. there is no future in which these two would truly get along without going through this stage

donnie still isn't sure if he actually likes casey, but he has recognized and accepted that the guy is entangled in his family's life and not going anywhere. this is also a stage he had to reach with peter, too

does he want a positive relationship with the guy? not for himself personally, but it would make things easier on he and his family in the future so he'll make an effort. this means making sure he understands what casey means when he says things and making sure HE'S understood when HE says something

this does mean OVER communication and can be aggravating to deal with (on both sides), but it's the easiest way for them to make honest determinations about whether or not they can get along, in his opinion

treating the repair of a relationship like a project he has to get through can likely come off as cold, but it's the most sincere gesture donnie has available to him. at the very least, he feels like giving it his best try is the best indicator that he thinks casey is worth the effort of repairing (or even building from the start tbh) what they had

yeah tbh casey halfway expected donnie to not want to bother anymore

that's usually what donnie would do, too, so it's not a strange assumption to make

he's also curious after what happened with the soul reading. his brothers get protective over any random wet dog they find in the street so he wasnt surprised to see them attached to casey's soul like that, but the FIRST presence that got in the way was HIS. or another version of his, anyway

he's not curious in that "how/ why did that happen i want to pull you apart to figure out why" way, but in a "what's so special about HIM" kind of way

he couldnt comprehend a sensible world in which he could imprint so strongly on someone he didn't very much like until he was slapped in the face with the evidence of it, and now he's like "well if I'm endorsing this person....in a way........ maybe i need to re-evaluate???"

(shhh he's admitting he was wrong about stuff without actually doing that, sh don't bring it to his attention. shh)

DONNIE >> CAD this is a scary man. donnie has NO IDEA how he thinks and yet this man seems to know how HE thinks. this is the worst possible scenario. he still goes to see cad because bro will still listen while he yaps and he always likes that

occasionally cad asks him a question about what he's thinking and then he can expound upon a thought! that part isn't so bad. (nobody tell donnie that this is just what talk therapy is)

congrats on acquiring a...... listening guy, donnie

and oh man i am so quietly hype for the moment the ninpo thing comes out with donnie fjfjjf

oh cad is for sure helping him, donnie probably just doesnt pick up on it

like oh no IT REALLY WAS LEGIT

ngl i would love if after casey's done all his ninpo stuff with everyone else, made his connections with them, etc...if he and donnie like, got into real trouble or something event-wise and they've been working on understanding each other, and they just both made HUGE FUCKING ROCKET LAUNCHERS or smth and had fun together

yes yes yes omg

SOREY >> MIKLEO girl you alrEADY KNOW!!!!!

they are soulmates, they are ace lovers, they are best friends, they are everything to each other. sorey is slowly getting used to mikleo being much older than he remembers; in a way sorey kind of viewed mikleo as "seraph but also like me" because they both grew up from babyhood

maybe sorey is a weird and unusual human, but mikleo is also a weird and unusual seraph. they were an oddball pair and they belonged to each other

mikleo's over two hundred years old now; now he's more like other seraphim than he is like sorey. so maybe he feels a little left behind (like it was a choice either of them could have made), but he's getting over it pretty quickly the longer mikleo rides around in the sorey taxi service

(he will however start thinking about what it would be like to kiss mikleo now that katie brought that up)

hehehhe thanks katie

SOREY >> CASEY he likes casey! really sweet, really friendly guy. knows SO MUCH about technology stuff. CAN CREATE LIFE FROM NOTHING???

however it seems like he isn't used to taking his time on things that hurt him, or of examining how he feels before feeling like he has to take action. sorey doesn't have the life experience needed to be able to tell why that is, but he can see what its doing to him

he knows he's not learned enough to be able to help casey in a more meaningful way, but he's hopeful just listening to him can help. someone who's that eager to just drop everything to help a stranger can't be a selfish person

sorey is SO good with casey im happy two of ours can be easy friends lmao

belated shoutout to donnie being like yeah he's ok we'll see meanwhile bolins going "thank god. an emotionally stunted introvert to latch onto" and started making friendship bracelets vital to his psychological ecosystem tbh

SCREAM, PLEASE DANI

fontech: hey!!! plenty of our kids get along

getting along is good!! but im so keyed in on casey thats what i meant specifically

ohhhh ok

he is a simple unburdened himbo, egg, this is the vibe he will bring to any function

/crawls out of bed and waves a hand

I BACK

where was i

SOREY

SOREY >> CAD nice cow man!!! they just met but even with just what he's heard about the guy, he's really glad he's here. sorey knows that when it comes to the gentler, wiser aspects of being a shepherd, he definitely falls short. his education has been slapdash, at best; cad seems like he's got all of what sorey doesn't, and in spades

very much looking forward to see how this relationship proceeds, i think it'll be so cute if they got kind of a master/apprentice thing going on (even if sometimes it seems a little more equal than that)

MOVING ON. sad boy hours

CLOUD >> CASEY we need to thread them again, that's all

CLOUD >> CAD to nobody's surprise, cloud has latched onto yet another person who has shown him genuine love and affection. he was pretty suspicious of cad at first, but as the dude proceeded to treat him as gently and honestly as HE can determine, at least, ever since

and cad's advice is also pretty good

so cloud's come to trust his analysis of situations, especially in relation to HIM, and confides in him in a way he doesn't with just about everybody else. he can talk about his anger and rage with friends, his insecurities in vague terms, but cad's the only person where he plainly talks about hating himself

i definitely wouldn't call them friends, but only because personally i think it's bad to be friends with your therapist. FRIENDLY, yeah, but friendship is a different thing. he and cad are definitely not pals but i like to think they have a rock solid therapist-client relationship

that makes sense yeah

naturally, if cad asked him for a favor or needed help or anything like that, cloud would be there in a heartbeat. but he probably would not go over there for tea and gossip or just to hang

im pretty sure cloud is not even the most "i hate myself" person hes ever met, or at least cad doesnt think so. but its a thing he takes very seriously

yeah there's some folks who hate themselves and don't realize that it's not something you should do, at least cloud has a leg up on that

thank u lifestream dip with tifa

i dont think their personalities blend in a way that WOULD make them close friends and cad is cool with that

v true

CLOUD >> ZACK as always, they're in love, even if cloud is being a freek about it since they lost aerith. he is at once terrified and angrily possessive and it's tbh not a great look, even if zack is handling it well (or not well depending on who you ask, given he's just as clingy right back). just before that tho

not that cad dislikes him just they would have very different ideas about "hang out with friend" time

cloud was also obsessed about zack. i really love playing up the "zack has done nothing wrong. you don't have all the facts which are i love him"

aspect because i think it's hilarious that cloud is so critical of everything but then someone is like "y'know sometimes zack is too loud in the library" and cloud's like have you tried shutting the fuck up. who do you think you are. someone that beautiful is allowed to be loud in the library

but then someone else is loud in the library and cloud goes if you don't quiet down i'm putting you through the bookshelf

cloud loves that zack has big shoulders and dark hair and gorgeous sharp eyes with dark long eyelashes and also thinks he, cloud strife, looks good. like lol in comparison u are wrong dude but cloud will TAKE it. you're so good looking. want to be you and be IN you, giggity

one day cloud will let zack tap that because he deserves it

WHO IS NEXT

IT'S MOLLY

sonopants: OH BOY HAS SOMETHING CHANGED

unfortunately, donnie once again thinks he has a chance with power. bro is so pathetic. like at least look her in the face and confess properly and get rejected definitively instead of pining and being like "it could happen" and then not making a move bc you know it actually can't

we're getting embarrassed for you, man

donnie standing in the waves and staring out at the ocean like i am cringe but i am free

you aren't free you're just cringe

at this point tho, donnie's crush on power is more or less superficial. i think if he DID confess and she laughed in his face and was like never in a batrilliion years. anyway, mario kart tomorrow he would tearfully be like "yeah ok" and just be pathetic for a few days and get over it

which would also be funny but i want to ride this out a little longer, honestly it's really hilarious to me THANK U MOLLY FOR THIS GIFT

who next

KJ

Kayjayyy: DONNIE >> APRIL well. OBVS. bestie still, now and forever. he still thinks she's DUM DUM STUPID for insisting on having the bond when, as far as he's concerned, all it's done is hurt her. is his word that he'll try to be honest not enough? (don't answer that because he knows it's not bc he lied by omission and that started all this)

ohhhh my heart doin the dokidokis

she loves you, moron, get over it

he's still leftover guilty about everything that's happened so now is the time for april to get away with things/requests she thinks he'd refuse otherwise. unless that request is to not look for a way to break the bond, in which case shut up

he has also continued to see cad even after april said he could stop (she only specified two) but has so far not done anything like tell april "oh man you were right therapy is great" because as far as he's aware, he is not doing therapy. he is talking with this cow man about stuff he wants to talk about. soemtimes conversation gets a little sticky but

that's normal for him. april where are you going why are you getting that bat a

LMKSDFSF honestly I get the feeling she probably knows and is very very carefully Not Mentioning It Ever

dudhbkkgvj

someone: oh are you seeing him for therapy too
donnie: haha what? no. this is our bi-weekly scheduled talk session
someone: ...isn't that j

april: /holding a knife to their throat/ it's not it's just a regular talk session donnie go ahead hun

april like DON'T RUIN THIS FOR US pointing at cheddar meme

goes to add donnie to cads regulars list

THANK U......

LKSDFSDF perfectt