#also since my sister said 'is that why she talks so much?' about pix being part malamute i started listening

[rhysintherain]

For a second there I thought Pixie might be developing separation anxiety, because she cried when Kita and I went for a walk the other day, and again today when I shut her inside to eat her food without Kita stealing it.

I'm now sitting on the porch, gate closed, and she's howling like a fucking creature.

Because Kita isn't here.

Kita, who doesn't even particularly like Pixie, who is sitting at the bottom of the stairs because she wouldn't stop pushing the baby out of the way and eating the baby food.

She's not even gone, she's just on the other side of the gate where Pix can't hassle her.

I have the weirdest dogs.

[lilcoffeecup]

Family Lost,Family Found

This is my entry for the fluff/angst Maribat April. This is the angst piece to @i-love-being-weird‘s fluff piece. Its not very long, I hope you enjoy it and if you have a chance go check out the fluff piece (it’s really good) :) @maribat-angst-fluff-april

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Life on the streets had always been hard for Jason, not knowing when his next meal would be or if he would have to endure another beatdown when he wouldn’t pay the ‘monthly tax’ to the two-bit criminal working for Black Mask. He hadn’t expected to have this weird feeling in his chest that made him want to protect her from all the bad things in life. In Crime Alley it was survival of the fittest and if you wanted to survive you were only supposed to look after yourself, only yourself. Somehow though, there she was, shivering in the rain and looking as thin as a twig which would break if simply touched.  

“Hey, its raining out, you should go back home, it’s not safe to be out here”

“I-I don’t ha-have a-a home or any wh-where to g-go”

“Well come on then, I know a place” “Wh-where?” “A lil’ up ahead, you’re shaking like a leaf so hurry up”

Upon reaching the building, Jason could see that the little girl was still shaking, it made sense though since unlike him who was only a little bit wet, she was soaked to the bone.

“Here, blueberry” Jason hands Marinette a blanket, “warm up, this place doesn’t have heating, so these blankets are all we got” gesturing to the pile of worn-out blankets which had definitely seen better days.  For the first time in a long time both Marinette and Jason feel asleep knowing that they were not alone.

Over the next few weeks, Jason and Marinette, who Jason had taken to calling pixie, became inseparable, things were somewhat good, running errands for some thugs got Jason money for food and he didn’t feel lonely ever since pixie came into his life. Jason should have known that it wouldn’t last, money was dwindling as fast as it was coming and the time for the monthly payment was coming up. He hadn’t realized how hard it would be when it wasn’t only him that he had to look out for, but also pixie, his little sister not by blood but by love.

Over the next few days Marinette could see that something had been bothering Jason, but every time she asked, he said nothing and tried to change the subject.

“Jay-Jay, what’s wrong, you seem so much more on edge for the past few days?” “Hmm, oh its nothing pixie, I scored this somewhat fresh loaf of bread today, here” Jason said, giving the loaf to Marinette and only ripping off a tiny piece. Marinette heard the rumble of Jason’s stomach and looked at him questionably, he had been getting thinner and she couldn’t help but think that it was her fault. Ripping off a big chunk of the loaf, she handed it to Jason, “Jay-Jay you need to eat, don’t think I haven’t noticed you giving me most of the food, you need it more than me” “No pix, I already ate, I brought this for you” “Bu- “. Jason cut Marinette off, “No buts pixie, you need to eat or you’re going to be a twig forever!” “Hey! I’m not a twig” “Then eat pixie” Marinette huffed then mumbled out a “fine”.

Marinette had been meaning to do something for Jason for a while now and she found her opportunity when she came upon a fruit stall, the owner was busy talking to someone, so she quickly swiped an apple. While walking away she beamed, “Jason’s gonna love it!” she thought. She was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice the two men looking at her with knowing eyes.

“Hey! Isn’t that the kid whose been hanging around with the Todd brat these days?” “Yeah, I’ve word on the street is that she’s his sister or somethin’” The taller man, Mark, smirks, “well, well, well, guess we found the Todd brat’s weakness now”. The other man, Bill, smirks as well “collection time is coming up soon anyways, why not send a lil’ reminder”

2 blocks away from her and Jason’s hideout, Marinette was sure to hide her loot so that no prying eyes would see anything, this was for Jason and no one else. All of a sudden, she heard a holler behind her and spun around, immediately on edge.

“Hey kid! you’re with that Todd brat aren’t cha, his sister?” They didn’t wait for a response, just barreled into her, knocking her to the ground. “See, ya brother usually ends up comin’ up late on payments so we thought a lil’ incentive would nice, saves us the hassle of having to track the brat down and him a beating, ya know”  

Before she could get up and run, she felt the wind get knocked out of her by a kick to her stomach, then her ribs, she curled into herself as tight as she could, but they kept on kicking her. She hadn’t even realized when they had stopped and left, she hurt all over and farther ahead was a mushed apple with a section bitten off suggesting that someone had taken a bite then crushed it with their shoe.

Crying, bleeding, and defeated, Marinette limped back to the abandoned building she and Jason had huddled up in. As soon as she got in, she was faced by a worried Jason. “Pixie!! Where were you, I came back and you weren’t here, I was so worried something had happe- “Jason cut himself off. “Pixie, what happened to you? Where did all these bruises come from, just give me the name and I swear they won’t ever touch you again”

“I don’t know their names, but they said something about beating me up as incentive for them not having to track you down for payments and for you to avoid a beating”, Jason felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He had been worried about this month’s payment date was creeping closer and closer and how he didn’t have enough, again. He had heard that the tires business had been doing well in the Black Shack, the place where most stolen things were fenced. He would have to make sure to try and score some, and cash in a few favours to try and scrounge up the money. Batman usually stuck to the city and here, in Crime Alley, there was no Batman that was gonna swoop in and save him or pixie if he wasn’t able to pay up in time.

Jason spent almost all of the next day trying to scope out any potential places he could hit and while he was able to get some loot, it wasn’t enough. It was already after dusk and the night had set in, and he knew he better get back soon since the later at night, the more dangerous it is. Just 1 or 2 buildings before his destination, he saw it, the bat-mobile, basking under the moonlight like a gift from above, and just by looking at it he could tell that they were custom. This would easily be able to cover the rest of the payment and he could get that plushie pixie had been staring at the other day.

He first made sure that no one was nearby, it wouldn’t do for someone to try and claim his prize before he could. Confirming an all clear, or as clear as it could be for the time of night, he got to work on the tires. He was almost done taking out the 3rd tire when he heard someone around him and whipped around so fast, he was sure he would feel it in his neck later. He couldn’t see the person but definitely felt someone’s eyes on him.

“Whoever you are, beat it, I found this first so it’s mine, go find your own!”.  The response startled him, as the person came out of the shadows, “This is my car, so I don’t think I’ll beat it”, it was the Batman, and Jason felt as if those white lenses were piercing into his very being. “Ho-Holy shit, you’re the Batman!” “Yes, yes, I am, now could you put the tires back on my car?” “I-I can’t, I need the money, not all of us can afford to live lavishly like you, judging by your custom tires” “Why do you need the money, kid?” “None of your business” Jason sneered, he was getting sick of this, he had hidden the other tires well so he could come back for them tomorrow, he needed to get out of here ASAP. “Where do you think you’re going kid?” Batman asked just as Jason was about to turn and make a run for it, Jason didn’t bother to give him a response just made a mad dash for it.

He didn’t get far when Batman caught up to him, “Kid, I need you to put my tires back on” ‘this isn’t worth it’ Jason thought and decided that he would put the tires back then get back to pixie straight after. As soon as Jason had finished putting back all the tires, he was just about to get the hell out of there when he heard Batman “Get in kid” and knew that he couldn’t leave pixie all alone.

“No, I’m not going with you, you sicko! I already fixed your tires, what else do you want from me!” He struggled “The streets aren’t a safe place for kids, you’re coming with me” “No, let me go! I can’t leave her alone! You don’t understand! Let go!!” “Who her? Is there someone living with you?” Jason mentally hit himself, ‘how could he expose pixie! No, he couldn’t tell him about her!’. “No-one” Jason said as he was huddled into the bat mobile.

It was a few weeks until Jason was able to get out of the Manor and back to Crime Alley to check on pixie. When he reached the abandoned building, there was no pixie in sight, and almost nothing that would tell that anyone had lived there. Finding out through the grapevine, it turned out that pixie had been sold to a tourist couple in the façade of an adoption to pay off the debt that had built up in Jason’s absence. He had failed to protect her, failed to keep her away from all the bad things and now because of Jason’s mistakes, she was paying the price. He swore that he would find her and that when he did, he would never let her go, ever.

It had been years since that fateful night, Jason missed and thought of his little sister every day, he had given up hope on finding her after the first 2 years. Lost in thought, he didn’t realize bumping into a petite black-haired girl carrying a coffee walking out of a café that he and pixie would go to on special days if the had enough money. “Sorry mister, didn’t see you there, would you happen to know where the Wayne Enterprises building is?” “Don’t apologize, it was my fault too, lost in thought, I was just heading there myself, I can show you”. “Thank you so much!”

Jason couldn’t help but be reminded of his little pixie when looking at this girl, he felt his chest tighten up at the thought. “Hey mister, are you okay? you seem to have spaced out a bit” the girl asked. “No, I’m fine, you just remind me of someone who I miss a lot” “Funny enough, you remind me of someone I used to know and cherish a lot when I used to live here”.

“You used to live here?” Jason asked, he would definitely not have been able to tell had she not pointed it out. “Yeah, but it was a long time ago, I used to live in Crime Alley with my brother but got separated and haven’t seen him since” the girl said with a sad and pained face.

“We’re here!” Jason said as they reached the building, “Thanks for all the help mister!” said the girl and was about to walk away when Jason’s had realized that they had never introduced themselves, “Hey! What’s your name?”. The girl turned around and smiled “Sorry, I totally forgot to introduce myself, Hi, I’m Marinette” Marinette stuck out her hand, Jason shook it and said “Hey, I’m Jason”. Both thought ‘that’s her/his name! It can’t be thoug-‘ they didn’t have time to finish their though before a teenager about the age of Marinette with a coffee cup in hand and a younger child came into view.

What the younger said, shook Marinette to her core, not going unnoticed by the rest, “Todd! Finally, you show up Father and Drake have been waiting for you!”. “Marinette? What happened? You look like you’ve seen a ghost”, Jason looked concerningly at Marinette, “You-you’re na-name is Jason Todd?” “Yeah…why?” Jason was getting worried now but felt as if the word has stopped when he heard what Marinette said next.

Her voice cracking, Marinette spoke so quietly, almost as if whispering “Jay-Jay? Is that you?” Jason almost broke into sobs right in the lobby of W.E., could this really be happening? “Pixie, that you?”. Marinette immediately threw herself into Jason’s chest, and nodded “Ye-yeah it’s me, oh my God, jay-jay I thought I would never be able to see you again, are you really here, tell me this isn’t another dream because I don’t ever want to wake up if it is”. Jason started rubbing soothing circles on her back while shedding his own tears, “Shhh, it’s okay Pixie, it’s me, I’m really here, this is real and I thought I would never see you again either” “God pix, I’m so, so, sorry I left you all alone, I looked for you everywhere but never found you”. “Please don’t leave me again” Marinette sobbed, “I don’t want to lose you again”. Jason felt even more tears pooling and dripping from his eyes, “Never pixie, I will never leave you, ever.” 

Jason tightly hugged Marinette, “I missed you Jay-Jay” “I missed you too Pixie,  I missed you too”. 

~fin.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 6/19/20

A Centaur’s Life, Vol. 18 | By Kei Murayama | Seven Seas – If you enjoy the way that the series can turn on a dime and drop you into any genre, this volume may disappoint. There’s very little of the weird sci-fi horror aspects of it, and they’re mostly gathered towards the end. Instead, we get the kids, and a lot of the kids. They’re cute! They’re bratty! They’re learning how to be better centaurs and sheep people and other types. We get to see Himeno be impressive and yet also a bit of a dimbulb, there’s more yuri text and boob jokes, and there’s some other fun gags. It’s sweet, but it also feels rather sparse. After taking the series into dark places, it now feels wrong when the series isn’t going there half the time. Balance it better in the next book. – Sean Gaffney

Faded Picture Scroll | By Fujitobi | Futekiya (digital only) – I have no clue how this earned a rating of two chili peppers (Futekiya’s system for indicating a title’s steaminess) because it is one of the cutest, most wholesome boys’ love stories I’ve ever read. When Ryuta was little, he was saved by a young exorcist named Izumo who promised to take him adventuring when he got older. When they meet again, Izumo regrets his promise but Ryuta proves he can be useful by helping to save an incredibly adorable fox spirit named Yamabuki. Over time, these two lonely guys grow closer and ultimately fall in love. Their journey to domestic bliss is sweet and the many comedic moments (mostly Yamabuki, but not always) have a distinct Rumiko Takahashi feel to them. I was utterly charmed and am looking forward to reading the other Fujitobi title on the site. Very much recommended! – Michelle Smith

Komi Can’t Communicate, Vol. 7 | By Tomohito Oda | Viz Media – Romance is not particularly important in this series right now—we’d need a strong rival character for that to happen, and we don’t have that at this point. Plus Komi, while she has improved tremendously, still has issues just communicating with others from day to day, so it would feel mean to throw a love life on top of that. That said, while we can see all of her newfound friends do their best to get her involved in their fun (even Yamai… ugh), it’s Tadano who clearly understands her the best, knowing her likes and dislikes, and also clearly having a crush on her but knowing not to push at it too hard. This series can be quite funny (Komi’s mom is a stitch), but works even better when it’s heartwarming. – Sean Gaffney

Let’s Kiss in Secret Tomorrow, Vol. 3 | By Uri Sugata | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – I was expecting this series to end with Saya and Yuto’s secret relationship coming to light amongst big drama, but instead, that moment is treated as almost an afterthought, as Sugata-sensei is more interested in delivering a moral about learning to love yourself, forgiving yourself for past mistakes, and having the courage to try again. The end result is optimistic rather than preachy, and I loved that the final image is not some swoony embrace between our two leads (who are, it is gratifyingly emphasized, also each other’s best friend) but a smile from the girl who instigated some shit and whom Saya has opted to befriend. This series surprised me and I would definitely be interested to read more from this mangaka! – Michelle Smith

My Hero Academia: Vigilantes, Vol. 7 | By Hideyuki Furuhashi and Betten Court | Viz Media – Long time since the last volume, and therefore I was initially a little grumpy that it focused on Captain Celebrity, who’s basically a shallow American All Might. But then we get to see his past, showing that while he’s a ‘dumb jock’ he’s still good at heart, and his ex-wife, who’s terrific (and also, as it turns out, pregnant). We also see, after his farewell event is hijacked by terrorist bad guys and their raptor monsters, that he can be a good guy even if it’s not winning him fame and fortune. Unfortunately, he may not survive into the next volume, though given that’s he’s currently with our hero, I think he’ll be OK. This remains a good, somewhat darker prequel to the main series. – Sean Gaffney

Natsume’s Book of Friends, Vol. 24 | By Yuki Midorikawa | Viz Media – This volume is a gift to me. I’ve long said that I love the friendship between Natsume, Tanuma and Taki (OK, yes, I ship it too), and here we get a Taki-centric story followed by a Tanuma-centric story. The Taki one involves her college-age brother returning home. He’s more of a skeptic, but is also avoiding their house for some reason. And there’s an “I entrust you with my sister’s safety” gag that’s great. The Tanuma chapter is a bit more serious, and involves possession, but it also touches on one of the running themes of this series: two yokai who want to talk to each other and are unable to do so due to death, separation, or what have you. This comes out infrequently, but I always adore it. – Sean Gaffney

Queen’s Quality, Vol. 9 | By Kyousuke Motomi | Viz Media – The arc wraps up here, with those who have died going to a more peaceful rest and those who have not died going back to cleaning really hard. The best part of the book is where Fumi is given the choice: she can save the girl Kyutaro loved as a girl, but lose her memories of everything since then… or she can save herself, and kill the memories of the girl Kyutaro loved. It’s one of those choices that seems hard until you think about it, which is why it’s slightly frustrating that most others before Fumi made the wrong choice. Fortunately, Fumi makes the right choice, and doesn’t even need the help of her boyfriend. Oh yes, they’re dating now, and get in some good kisses. An excellent shoujo series. – Sean Gaffney

The Quintessential Quintuplets, Vol. 10 | By Negi Haruba | Kodansha Comics – This volume is a LOT. Ichika is still being amazingly aggressive, Miku is being aggressive whether she wants to be or not, and Yotsuba just wants everyone to get along like they used to. But that’s not going to happen, as Futaro points out—picking one thing means not picking the others, and that applies to life as well as romance. The romance ends up with Miku as the seeming winner here, though there’s minimal forward progression, and Futaro revealing he’s not as ignorant of everyone’s feelings as he pretends. That said, the reason this volume is a lot is the cliffhanger, where we finally found out which of the quints has been dressing up as Rena… and which one was Rena from the past. This is terrific romantic comedy. – Sean Gaffney

Sweet Time | By Weng Pixin | Drawn & Quarterly – Collecting comics that were originally created between 2008 and 2017, Sweet Time is Weng “Pix” Pixin’s graphic novel debut. Pix is an artist from Singapore who utilizes a variety of media and methods of expression. The fifteen comics in Sweet Time demonstrate Pix’s striking colorwork, providing examples of both drawings and paintings. While the individual works aren’t necessarily directly related to one another (although there are several series of diary comics), the collection as a whole explores themes of longing, desire, and impermanence. Some of the narratives are more abstract while others are more linear in their portrayal of changing relationships and human connection. Many of the selections included incorporate autobiographical elements, providing the collection with additional layers of realism and reflection. Pervading Sweet Time is a sense of intimacy and melancholy, beautifully rendered in colors that are sometimes surprising but never jarring. – Ash Brown

By: Ash Brown