Modern Cartoons are something to be cherished!

Carl happily continues watching the show, enjoying seeing Finnen and their shape shifting gecko friend they grew up with called Onyx even though they were white and black striped like a zebra. A couple of episodes later and several smirks or tiny little nose exhales, "ooh! That was a good one!" Carl can't help himself as he bursts out into uncontrollable laughter. Onyx recounted how someone filled up on whip cream until they exploded, which was disturbing and awful, but when Finnen said, "so that's why you don't like whip cream," Carl couldn't take it. "Way to not register what was said, as your friend sits there traumatized!" It was like a comedic and warped parody of his fellow soldiers' PTSD. he doesn't know why it tickled him so much but he just couldn't stop himself, to the point his chest hurt. The pain distracts him from how he sounds weirdly young, all wrinkles absent as the amount of time his body has existed in this universe runs down to a solid thirty years old. His skin pales slightly, and his chest becomes a bit soft from the chest movements interacting with the magic. As he calms down, he continues to enthusiastically watch. Another episodes later, Carl is introduced to a strange, green, girl character who could suck the minerals out of things, with a weird afro and "limb extensions," and Carl instantly falls in love with them as a character. "How fascinating! If only something so crazy with such a fun personality and beautiful appearance actually existed...the world's so boring." Wait, what? Why'd he say that? The world isn't boring! There is so much to enjoy! That didn't mean there is a lot to do though, especially at his age. Maybe "dull" would be a better word for it? Yeah that sounded better and more accurate. If only the real world was so consistently colorful and weird: that's a more accurate hope. Whatever the case, this is the best cartoon he'd ever seen, he has to make sure to show his friends and family the show if possible!

It's strange, but he hasn't thought anything even remotely like this since he was in school, back when he was much younger, all ripe and full of spunk; back when every single teacher in his school sucked the color out of the world and made him despise learning. It was lucky that his high school and university had such fun people who undid the hatred for learning he had been growing, or he might have dropped out, though even then his parents pushed him...for better or worse. He remembered promising himself that he would be better than his parents, and he would like to think he's done a good job of that. His hands shake. Why...WHY?! WHY WAS HE CURSED TO MISS OUT ON SO MUCH OF LIFE AND THE LIVES OF THOSE HE CARED FOR?!?!! WAS THIS HIS REWARD FOR DEFENDING HIS COUNTRY?! He has to calm down, for some weird reason he hasn't had a heart problem yet, but if he maintains the blood pressure that these feelings must be giving him, he would have a stroke, then he would never see his loved ones again. He has to not be selfish and rage at nothing, it isn't like him, and he doesn't know why he was feeling such strong emotions in the past hour or so. He had become much more relaxed and emotionally calmer as he got older. Ignorant of his new, relative age now showing twenty five revolutions around the sun, he recalls something that happened the other day, when someone expressed road rage at him in traffic the other day. Carl simply took the high road, what had changed? If he didn't know any better, he'd think this cartoon show is youthening his mind, which at sixty is not healthy. Who is he kidding? "That's nonsense, I'm just feeling weird today cause its been far more exciting than anything else that's happened for the past half decade. I'm fine, we all have our off days, its nothing to worry about, besides I feel incredible! I'm just not used to feeling this good! Pain helped me control my emotions and dampen them, so its just something I will have to get used to, assuming this obvious daydream doesn't end by some miracle."