#like i hadnt heard that name in like five years at this point

[sanstropfremir]

....I have to ask..... what do you think about gidle song nude? The Marilyn Monroe inspiration was definitely there along with that jazz age sound in a way?? But man... I'm not sure what to think of it. Bc I can see what they're going for. The different shades of blonde remind me of red velvet ice cream cake era. I can see the message maybe about embracing sexuality? Something that exid would do in terms of messaging but way more obvious. Idk. It feels like soye*n is trying to make impactful songs which chart wise and album sale wise she does but it doesn't ever hit for me.

i wish gidle would actually do something that was worth the 'hype' that they get. i don't like the song but i've never liked a song from them so. the mv........it's complicated. there are actually a lot of good connections and ideas happening there, but the problem is that they just don't DO anything with them. like 90% of the mv is references to different types of 'scandalous' media or cultural touchstones, and from which ones they've chosen i can see that they're trying to make some kind of comment on the judgement and policing women's bodies and sexuality, but they don't really follow that through to anything meaningful. they themselves don't actually do anything scandalous, which, in my instincts, would be the logical conclusion in my brain. they just make references and call it a day.

the base format for the whole thing is vaudeville, which is pretty much the ancestor of burlesque and stripping; the opening moment with the pink velvet dress is just a knockoff version of marilyn's diamonds are a girl's best friend number from gentlmen prefer blondes; the cone bra is obvs a madonna reference; the cartoon is jessica rabbit from who framed roger rabbit; the book she's reading is (i'm assuming) walt whitman's leaves of grass; obvs also the marilyn white dress moment; also inexplicably there's a banksy reference too with the shredding frame. which was a scandal, but it's not at all related to gender or sexuality so i have no idea why it was included, unless they're trying to make the conflation between the female body and art as a bought and sold commodity, which.................well. there's better ways to handle that that make more logical sense. like clearly there was a creative team that had relatively lofty ideas, but you have to do something with those ideas. and they kind of set themselves up for failure in this instance, because they were clearly trying to make some sort of intentional statement (basically it wasn't just a spectacle piece), but you can't just reference a bunch of media and call it a day. you have to synthesize something new out of those references. that's the difference between why something like 2 baddies works and why this doesn't; 2 baddies makes something new from a ton of source material (literally in the case of the custom porsche too). it also isn't trying to be deeper than it is, yea it's based in a bunch of weird niche research but the mv isn't expecting you to know about the history of car manufacturing or art deco in order to appreciate the neon vomit chaos. it's there in order to give the visuals an underpinning logic. but if you don't know any of the references in the nxde mv, the theme means literally nothing. it's incomprehensible. they literally have to name some of the references at the end of the mv so people get it. and that's a cheap shortcut, instead of actually doing the work to make something that has artistic merit on its own.

[stevie-petey]

Hear me out, Steve trying to win over mama Henderson. A blurb of Steve being a major kiss ass in every way possible. He earns quite a few brownie points and learns way too much neighborhood gossip. Just imagine bug coming home to Steve and her mom gossiping on the couch tews in his lap.

steve: i must make everyone like me

hes so real for that

enjoy !

"so, how do we really feel about jonathan?" steve has tews in his lap, so hes careful not to startle the young kitten as he leans in close to mrs henderson to whisper about the boy who has a bean bag dedicated to him in her daughters room.

claudia rests a hand against her chest and sighs deeply. she looks around, as if scared someone will overhear, before she leans over to whisper. "can i be honest?"

"always, mrs. henderson."

"i adore that boy. why, i even had a whole wedding planned for him and my y/n, but... well, youre just so handsome!"

steve gasps and places a hand over his chest as well, deeply happy with how this conversation is turning out. "mrs. henderson, youre a beautiful woman with wonderful children. this, well, its an honor that you think so highly of me."

claudia giggles, and steve winks at her. it's quiet for a few seconds as the two of them enjoy the smile on their faces. tews is purring steves lap and youre not home yet from picking dustin up from jonathans. he hadnt meant to be alone with your mom, claudia insisted he come in when he arrived and shoved a kitten into his arms and now hes here.

gossiping about jonathan byers as claudia henderson gushes over steve.

tews lets out a yawn and stretches lazily on top of steves lap. claudia watches fondly and coos at her cat. "i havent seen tews this comfortable around a stranger!"

"animals like me," steve shrugs. "plus, i think shes just happy i cleaned her litter box."

"i told you that there wasnt any need-"

"i wanted to help, mrs. henderson." steve reassures her for the millionth time. in this instance, he can see how much you resemble your mother. both of you too kind to ask for help.

claudia tauts at steve and shakes her head. she knows what hes doing, she saw jonathan do it for the five years he spent his childhood within her home.

claudia henderson knows what a boy looks like when hes in love with her daughter.

steve goes back to gently petting tews' head and claudia sighs. she knows she shouldnt intervene, but youre her baby girl and steve seems like such a wonderful boy.

the mother smiles softly at the teen sitting across from her. "jonathan is a lovely boy, ive watched him grow up and bring my y/n back to life after everything that happened when she was young, but i havent seen my daughter glow quite as much as she does when shes around you."

claudias eyes never stray from steve. he doesnt look up at her, but she knows hes heard what shes said by the way his breath catches, ever so slightly. she doesnt want to push him, but she can sense that hes a hurt boy who has been drawn in by your endless kindness. taking a breath, she says, "im happy my daughter has you, steve."

steves breath catches again and he coughs, trying to clear his throat of the shock he feels at your mothers words. in his startle, tews jumps out of his lap and returns to claudia, sending him a disgruntled glare as she settles herself into the womans lap.

"yeah, well." steve coughs again, eyes looking everywhere but at claudia. "im happy i have y/n, too."

claudia claps her hands, satisfied with his response. "good! now, dusty tells me your family is rich?"

a loud and unexpected laugh escapes steves mouth and his head spins at his bizarre the situation is. claudia snickers, pleased with herself, and steve once again sees so much of you in the woman. "dusty would be correct."

"even better!"

neither are sure how much time passes, but eventually their conversation transitions from a weird heart to heart to gossip about the neighborhood. before you arrive home, steve learns about the creepy neighbor down the street named dave, about the couple next door who just had a baby named penelope, and about the dog a few blocks down that once chased you when you were younger.

"the dog chased her halfway across hawkins! i swear, its why that girl now likes that insane hobby of hers." claudia huffs, stroking tews' head once more.

"she likes to run?" steve asks, amazed that he still has so much to learn about you.

"who likes to run?" you ask, stepping through the front door with dustin behind you. when you see steve sitting on your couch across from your mother, your shoulders drop. "oh, no. is my mom telling you more embarrassing stories about me?"

dustins shoulder knocks against yours as he walks inside. "did my mom tell you about the time y/n peed the bed last year?"

steves eyes widen and you jump on top of your brother, strangling him. "shut up!"

you wack at your brothers head and manage to bring him to his knees as you wrestle on the ground. dustin screeches and tries to claw you off of him, but youre still slightly bigger (though he keeps growing more and more every day). its a tangle of limbs and screams.

claudia and steve watch from the couch, both of them smiling fondly at the sight of the two siblings strangling one another.

"precious kids, mrs. henderson." the teen winks again at claudia, and she laughs.

[killeriknik]

Killer Fish #1:

2000s Christian Metal

cleaning out some drawers, i rediscovered this album today. unfortunately, the cd and front cover have been lost somewhere in my house (hopefully). but it reminded me of a subgenre, or really a movement, that i hadnt considered fully before.

i found this cd in the basement of an odd store, half of which is a Moon Pie General Store, where you could find anything moonpie related as well as typical tourist junk. however, the other part of this business is a christian book store. on the main floor they sold new books. past the selections of bibles and christian novels/self help/anything, past the surprisingly funny secular selections of diary of a wimpy kid and Five Nights at Freddys novels, and past the section of childrens entertainment, there is a GIGANTIC basement.

scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net

scontent-atl3-2.xx.fbcdn.net

im not sure where the basement items they sold at a discounted price came from. it was like flea market levels of unsold stock. im talkin odd sh*t. at points they had 18+ erotica from the 90s, some Star Wars Episode 1 merch i regret not buying, 14 billion copies of a political hate book about president Obama, and of course a shit ton of cds. ive found suprisingly obscure and amazing books there, but thats not what this is about.

sometime maybe 2020-2021 i found this cd for 3 bucks. being an edgy teen with a hatred of Christianity, i was enthralled to find such a cd with the album name "buried alive." at a time in my life where i had limited to no internet access but blossoming music taste (and an impressive cd collection), I listened to this shit SO MUCH. heres one of my favs.

(sorry, wish i could find a better site to link their music, but the only site they seemed to upload to was myspace, and for some reason the site is broken, idk im not familiar with myspace)

The band Inhale Exhale was a semi popular american metal(core) group, hailing from Ohio. and like so many independent rock bands with the best music youve ever heard, they promptly disbanded with only a few albums under their belt.

R.I.P inhale exhale, 2005 - 2013.

its that yummy yummy mix of metal, emo, melodic hardcore, and probably countless other labels (can you tell i have a distaste for genres?) that rocked the scene in the 2000s to early 2010s, around a time when the Jesus Freak Movement had revived and infused its 70s hippie values into the grungey, edgy and dark undertones of the late 90s-00s, delivering the gospel with a unabashed punch. truly of another era, an era i wish i had experienced. i think this was the first "metal" music i ever listened to on my own, but i found out just today that they were in fact a christian metal band.

this year ive been really into metal related music. but ive also been really into the concept of christianity. my family, really my entire community ive been raised in is "christian". going to "christian" schools, having only christian "friends", adult role models who were "christian", its always been about salvation and damnation. as i became a teenager, i evolved into a creature who despised this religion, for many good reasons im sure ill talk on another time, but also pure teenage rebellion. studying the bible this year (as a part of my last year in.. you guessed it... a christian school) has been oddly eye-opening. maybe ive matured since i last cracked open the holy bibbel. but ive found myself debating the idea of it. at its core, it seems to my mind to be the best sounding religion out there. what i love most is the rich story and the themes of love, redemption, brokenness, true evil and true good; they resonate with me.

christian metal really hits the spot. the themes i have deep history with, pared with the aggression and beauty of the screams and rage filled melodic guitar riffs, as well as my personally over powering, nostalgic/anmoiac obsession for the 00s and early 10s creates a great mix. its a movement of music i wish i could be present in.

and why did christian metalcore decline in popularity into the 10s and 20s? im sure theres not an easy answer. i mean, look at popular christian music and culture today. its

so.

BLAND.

so void of life and culture, void of our beautiful human qualities. they speak the same, often hateful, script; they water down the thought provoking concepts and stories of their religion, and they try to remove what they think isnt acceptable. a lot of these christian metalcore groups have abandoned their roots, stating their disagreements with Christianity, which of course is valid.

hey, im still not sold on christianity, im still learning. everyone has their own free will to find what idealogies or lack thereof to believe in. so i mean no hate

i do feel though, in certain circumstances perhaps, this says something disturbing abt modern christianity. its mindnumbing. its boring. its really sad and honestly, with how perfected it appears to be, its f*cking ugly.

it also seems to connect with the way life today just dosent hit like it used to, and i know im not alone in my age group thinking this. there seems to be a blandness encroaching on our art and lives today. in the music, films, internet; a corporatization and general simplification of our art has been slowly killing us.

i long for a time when christians could death growl about god. but honestly, this can be done today if we really try. fuck modern christianity, fuck modernism in general; this isnt just for the christians. go nuts. scream, riot, portray your truths how you want to, dont follow some guideline.

i might have gotten out of hand with this post, i dont want to get to philosophical here. i guess thats what this blog is for though. christian metalcore is really cool tho, check it out. you might be surprised how many popular metal bands from that era had ties to christianity. ill include some recommendations, or you can search it out yourself.

have a punk ass day,

-nikki

(yeah i decided to use my current name, fuck it)

some bands:

 A Plea For Purging.

Shiver.

Heart of a Child.

The Fall.

Malevolence.

Underoath.

Norma Jean.

For Today.

Impending Doom.

Wolves At The Gate.

Phinehas.

Midst of Lions.

Demon Hunter.

killer fish.

[shxllxfx]

Family pt 1 || Daryl Dixon

Daryl Dixon x Reader

Summary: Y/N and her little brother meet Daryl and Rick.

Warnings: none except for language? English is not my mothertounge

A/N: if you wanna be added to my taglist just let me know ;*

Taglist: @browngirldominion​  

"Ty I need you to climb up there and be super duper quiet, can you do that for me?" The y/h/c haired boy in front of you gave you a small nod. You looked around quickly, checking again for any walkers near you. Lifting him up you made sure that he was high enough. High enough to be out of sight of any walkers or people. You couldn't risk him getting seen. "Okay, Ty. Stay there. If anything happens, you yell for me, alright? Other than that stay up there and be quiet." Again he nodded. You gave him a small grin, before heading off. Quietly you made your way through the trees, putting one foot before the other, your bow and arrow raised high, when you heard a noise. A deer. It couldnt be too far away. Slowly you followed the prints on the ground, the bow in your arm ready. Never have you been happier that your dad was obsessed with the end of the world. He taught you everything. You were standing behind a tree and walked around it. There she was standing in the middle of a clearing eating grass. You pointed your bow and arrow at the deer, pulling the string back. Deep breath in and...

"Sophia!" The deer looked up and ran away. "Son of a bitch!" You muttered and tried to shoot your arrow to still hit the deer but it was gone. Rustling behind you made you turn and face two men. "Idiots! 'Cause of you my dinner ran!" One men was wearing a sherrifs uniform, the other one a plain tank top and some pants. They looked at you with surprise, your bow and arrow pointed at them. "Maybe try an' hold tha bow righ' for a start." The one in the tank said and you raised an eyebrow. He had a crossbow, easier than bow and arrow so what's he to judge? "Shut up, dumbass. You have to be nuts to sream some name through the whole forest. Tryna get yourselfs killed?" You lowered you bow and looked at them through squinted eyes. Turning on your heel you tried to make your way back to Tyler. "You all alone out here?" You looked at the sheriff over your shoulder. "Nah, cant you see, sheriff? Got plenty of company."

He followed you. Weirdly enough it didnt make you feel uneasy. At no point either one of them raised their weapons against you. "You gonna buy me dinner now, or why you following me, huh?" He laughed. "No. I'd like to ask you somethin'" You stopped, looked up the tree and to Tyler. "Its okay, you can come down." Both of them looked up. "So what did you want to ask?" You eyes were still on Tyler, making sure he doesnt fall down the tree. He was a good climber, always has been since the day he started to walk. When he jumped from the last branch you catched him. "You seen a little girl?" The one with the crossbow looked at you, eyebrow raised. You sat Tyler on the ground, kneeled down and got a bottle of water out of your backpack. You shook your head as you handed it to your brother. "Cant say I have." Tyler gave you the bottle back and smiled at you. "Have you got one? I am hungry." Shaking your head you searched in you backpack. "Sorry, buddy. Couldnt get a deer. But you want that?" You held out a granola bar. He nodded and took it with a smile. "Just the two of you, huh?" You looked at the sheriff. Giving him a small nod you put your backpack on again. "I am Rick. That's Daryl. You are?" Tyler raised his arms at you and yawned. He was tired. You were too, you hadnt slept in days. Lifting him up he clung to your front like a koala. "Y/N. An' the little koala bear is Tyler." Daryl looked at you. "Dangerous to be out on ya own." You nodded. "Well what am I suppos'd to do? Get me sum walkers as company?" Tyler put his head in the crook of your neck. At least someone can sleep. "You ain't got a group?"

"Doesnt look like it. Only the two of us at this point." Daryl and Rick looked at each other till Daryl nodded. "You could join us. We're a big group. Something like 10 people or so. Got other kids there as well. My sons one of them." You were surprised. Not only that they asked you to join but also that they were that many people left and near you. "I...I dont wanna cause any trouble." Daryl shook his head. "Cant leave you outta here with a kid. You a kid yourself." Your mouth opened and closed again. He was right. Atleast about Ty, you couldnt stay in the forest with a five year old. Not on your own.

You followed them back to the highway, Tyler still clung to your front. It wasn't a long walk, about 5 miles maybe, but having a 5 year old that weighs 18 kilograms on your front and a backpack on your back made things more difficult. You stopped next to a tree, trying to catch your breath. "You a'right?" Darly asked and you looked at him. "Having 'bout 25 kilograms to your torso and walking a steady pace is a bit difficult. Specially cause he feels 2 times heavier when he's sleepin'" He tilted his head. Rick stepped forward and put his arms toward you. "I'll take him for the last couple miles." You nodded and let him take Tyler from you. He immediately clung to Rick and you laughed. "Like I said he's a little koala." You took your bow off your shoulder and one of the arrows out of the side of your backpack, putting it to the string. Rick started to walk in front of you and you followed. "Need ta keep ya elbow lower, makes your shot cleaner." Darly muttered beside you and you side eyed him, lowering you elbow slightly. "Who taught you?" He asked and you turned your head to him. "My dad."

"Did you find her?" A woman with short, grey hair ran towards you, looking at Darly with big eyes. Rick put Tyler on the ground and he walked to you, hiding behind your leg. Daryl shook his head and the woman started sobbing and another one with long brown hair stroked her back. "We will find her tomorrow." Then she looked at you. "Who's that?" You smiled at her. "Hi. I am Y/N, that's my little brother Tyler." Everyone was looking at you now. She smiled but looked st Rick. "Couldn't leave her out in the woods alone with that kid." He shrugged and she looked at you again. "I'm Lori. How old are you?" Daryl was talking to the gray haired woman and Rick to an older man. "He's....he's five. I am nineteen." She introduced you to everyone else. They were nice and welcoming, gave you food and told you about themselves. You sat by the fire, knees pulled to your chest when Rick sat next to you, Daryl standing behind him. "How you feeling?" You stretched out your legs and looked at him. "Havent been around this many people in months. I have food, water, a fire right infront of me and I dont have to look around every second to make sure there ain't one of this things, so pretty good i guess?" You smile and he nods. "I have to ask you some questions, is that alright?" Now you nodded. "You have family except for Tyler?" You took a deep breath. "Another brother and my fathers somewhere out there, but they not together. My father left once all this shit started and Jack is 15 years old and somewhere out there, I lost them." Rick nodded. "Wait, them?" Daryl asked and you looked up. "Yeah. After my father left we...we were 4. Jack, Ty, my ex-boyfriend and me. Ty and I lost them when a group of walkers chased us." Rick put a hand on your shoulder and smiled. "Is Jack dead?" Shocked you turned to Tyler who was sitting next to you. "No, Ty. You know Jack. He's strong, he'll be fine." Tyler gave you a small smile and leaned into you. "I'll go and help Shane look out." Rick got up and left you alone with Daryl and Tyler. "Do you think we will see him again?" Ty muttered and you took a deep breath. "Hey, ya kno' what? My brothers out there too an' ya kno' what they'll be a'right." Tyler looked at him. "Do you think?" Daryl nodded and looked at you. You kissed Tyler's head and ruffled it softly. "Thank you, Daryl."

[bowtied-pasta]

Soulmate Marathon part 7

Writing that says what your soulmate is most interested in

Character: Nina

Years. Five years, in fact. Thats how long your soulmate was interested in Jeff the Killer.

The writing on your wrist did not change for five whole years. So of course you do what any other person would do and look up details about just what the fuck it is your soulmate is getting into.

Of course, the obvious is confirmed. Your soulmate is obsessed with a serial killer. Your soulmate.... is obsessed..... with a s e r i a l k i l l e r. Why?

A combination of why’s, really. Why did you get someone like them as a soulmate? Why were they so obsessed with a serial killer, of all things?

And thats what it was, an obsession, really. An interest would be fine. Everyone was interested in gossip, and crime goes hand in hand with gossip. But five years in being interested in a killer definetly qualifies as an obsession.

As far as you were aware, your soulmate could stay far away from you. If they were that obsessed with a serial killer, you dont want to know what they themselves are doing in their free time.

Or at least, those were your thoughts. During the sixth year of your soulmates obsession, a very odd occurance dragged you into a life of rather.... odd fashion.

You had become... different. In many ways. One of those ways was that you were currently the newest member to join a group of inhuman individuals. Your thoughts on killing and the like had shifted, but not much. Only in self defense, and most certainly if your new “boss” called for it.

A proxy. The newest member to a fucked up little found family in the woods. You had yet to meet everyone, and quite frankly wasnt sure if you wanted to. Brian and Tim were the warmest with you, Cody being rather closed off and cold in a way that made you wonder if he would ever warm up.

Brian and Tim were not close to you however, so it left you with very little to do aside from stay in your room doing nothing. Tim had the decency to warn you about certain other members of the household though.

Important information that would help you in the long run, like... Ben. Ben is a liar. A very good one at that. So everything he said was to be taken with more than just a grain of salt. Jack eats humans, but he isnt a danger to anyone that hold residency in the place. Best not to piss him off though, he is a rather touchy individual and to test him would probably lose you a organ that was less than vital.

There was one individual that he warned you about that made you want to never leave your room. Jeff. THE Jeff. Jeffery Woods, as you had uncovered in your sparse research all those years ago. He lived here and was still very much an active killer.

Your soulmates interest hadnt changed until about three weeks ago. Almost six years of your soulmate being obsessed with the guy, and only now that they had stopped, you finally get to say you could meet him. It was rather odd to you. A strange kind of timing that almost seemed like a bit of fate on your side.

Of course, your soulmate hadnt changed for the better. Their new interests included killing, though it did tend to change quite often to other little time consuming interests like puzzles or creative writing or a few different videogame titles. But killing was still prominant.

You had wanted to ask any of your fellow proxies if they knew of someone here that was possibly obsessed with Jeff at one point, but you didnt want to start asking weird questions as soon as you had joined the group. Your connections to the men had only just begun, and you didnt want to compromise those bridges from being built before they were even your friends by asking weird questions.

So you decided to keep it to yourself. Bravely venturing out into the rest of the massive place to do your own discovering.

You met a few different people. Meeting Jack by pure coincidence, and you found he was indeed good at giving off that cold exterior. You doubted that was all he has to him, but you werent abot to play with demons. To say you werent interested in more details would be a lie though.

Your next couple of incidental run-ins were seeing Tim and Cody heading out the door as they waved at you in acknowledgment, and a woman named Jane. 

Jane had stopped you and asked quite a few questions. Asking who you are, what your status was, how you got here, and even asking what your soulmate bond was. Of course you gave her as many answers as you felt comfortable, you were still getting over the mental strain of the actions that landed you here, but she seemed intrigued when you said your soulmate bond was the interests bond.

She seemed especially interested when you told her in a low whisper that your soulmate was obsessed with Jeff for almost six years. So interested that when you confided this to her, she grabbed you by the wrist and told you that she had someone you needed to meet.

She dragged you up some stairs, being accommodating in her pace but still in a hurry, and stopping when you reached your destination. There was nothing special about the door, it looked the same as all the others in the hall. Brown wood with a brassy handle. Jane seemed very sure of which door she had though, knocking on the door and then opening it without hesitation.

“Jane! What the fuck, I was going to open the door... Who is this?”

The girl in front of you was... odd. Pinks and purple damn near anywhere she could apparently get it. She kinda looked a little scene, reminding you of high school memories that you pished to the back of your mind for now. Her blue eyes caught yours as Jane explained the situation. 

“Well, Nina, I just thought you might be interested to know that I have found your soulmate for you, so a thank you would be very nice.”She picked up your arm and shoved your sleeve up to reveal that your soulmates interest was currently ‘the new proxy’

Nina gasped as she shoved her own sleeve up to reveal that her soulmate, you, had the interest of ‘Nina’

“I’ll leave the two of you to it.” Jane makes her way out of the room, closing the door on her way out. If you werent so shocked, you might have heard the smirk in her words.

You and Nina stared each other down for a bit, not really sure what to say, before she spoke up. “So.... I guess this is where we talk about ourselves..... right?”

[bridgyrose]

So that Falling Out AU, can we get like a happy reunion with the team? Like Ruby's hurt and still recovering but she's just genuinely happy to see Yang, Blake and Weiss again?

Ruby hesitated for a moment as she walked up to the old cafe she and her team used to come to during their time at Beacon. It had closed down a few years back, but ever since Weiss bought the land, it was used more as a storage shed for various equipment the team needed back then. A couple work benches, tools, any supplies they needed to repair weapons on the way back to campus… it had everything. But coming here now after so long, after everything that she said to her teammates in the past… it all still felt wrong. She no longer felt like she belonged… 

Ruby walked into the old building, the chime going off like normal, bringing in a few memoires. The smell of freshly baked sweets and coffee, the quiet music that played in the background, Weiss and Yang arguing on how to pronounce the names of certain pastries… she smiled a bit as those happier memories played out in front of her. She could almost reach out and touch it all. She shook her head and looked at the tables, now covered in dust. It was evident that even her team didnt seem to use it much anymore.Ruby walked into the back, the actual workshop that was set up. Even here, the workbenches and tools had started collecting dust after a couple years of non use. 

The chime sounded once more from the front as another person walked in. Ruby slowly peeked out to the front, nervously swallowing as she thought of what to say. “Hey… Weiss…” 

Weiss looked over to Ruby, seeing the state her old team leader was in. Even in the dark building, it was easy to tell that Ruby had seen her fair share of bad days: a faint scar on her cheek, tired eyes… but the more telling of it was the lack of her signature cloak. Weiss turned on a dim light and smiled a bit. “I was worried you werent going to come.” 

“For a bit, I thought about backing out.” Ruby made her way to a table, dusted it off, and sat down, avoiding Weiss’s eyes. “I’d understand why you wouldnt want to see me anymore.” 

“We… all said things that we regret.” Weiss sat down across from Ruby, taking off her light blue jacket. 

Ruby finally looked up at Weiss, still keeping her eyes averted. Weiss hadnt changed much over the years, still wearing that side ponytail and lots of blue and red. What she did notice

that changed was the look in Weiss’s eyes. No longer did she have determination in her eyes, but content. Happy. “R-right, but… when I left-” 

“And now you’re back. We might not be able to get back to how we were, but we can at least try to start again.” 

Ruby was about to argue when she heard the chime go off once more. She looked up to see Yang and Blake walking in. Ruby looked back down to the ground, avoiding them completely. 

“You know, you could’ve called first before just showing up,” said Yang, trying to make a joke to cut the ice. “You’ve avoided me for five years, the least you could do is let me know when you came around.” 

Blake rolled her eyes and put a hand on Yang’s shoulder. “Let her be. It took a lot to convince her to come out here. I dont need you making her regret it.” 

“I’m just giving her a hard time. I haven been able to since she went off to become the legend we kept hearing about.” Yang sat down at another table, looking her sister over. “Although, you do look rough around the edges, Rubes.” 

Ruby sighed and started clenching her fist. “Dont… call me that anymore. Please.” 

“Alright, I wont.” 

Blake sat down in Yang’s lap, leaning into her. “So, have you and Weiss talked about that yet?” 

Ruby shook her head while Weiss spoke. 

“She and I havent gotten that far yet,” Weiss admitted. She looked at Ruby, smiling softly. “But it should be an easy procedure. It’ll take a few weeks for you to recover, but then you’ll be back to how you used to be.” 

Ruby stayed silent as she listened to Weiss. For the moment, she was glad that her old team was back together. But the longer she stayed, the more she remembered why she fell away from them to begin with. “Back to how I used to be?” 

“You know, back in fighting shape.” Yang smiled a bit and placed her hand on the table. “And then we can be a team again-” 

“You… you know as well as I do that we cant.” 

Blake, Yang, and Weiss all went quiet as they listened to Ruby, starting to feel sorry for her. 

Ruby continued, a couple tears rolling down her cheeks. “We cant just go back to how things used to be. I… I have to keep doing this alone. If I can be a huntress again, I cant risk you guys joining me-” 

“And that’s why we have to risk it.” Yang’s eyes went red and she frowned at her sister. “When we found out about Cinder and what you’ve been involved with, we all made it a point that we’d join you in this fight while we can. There’s no point in letting you go it alone anymore.” 

Ruby sighed and stood up, starting to head out the door. “It was a mistake-” 

Weiss immediately put a glyph in Ruby’s way to stop her. “If you dont want us around, that’s fine. But Ruby, we do care about you. We have faith that you can handle this on your own, but you dont have to. That’s why we were a team. And all those years ago, we made a promise in our first year at Beacon: that we’d all have each other’s backs no matter what and that we’d talk to each other about what our issues were. If you still want to go this alone, we’ll let you, but please consider letting us join you first before running off again. It hurt the first time you disappeared, and we dont want to go through it again.” 

Ruby watched as the glyph in front of her disappeared, clenching her fist before letting it relax. “I’m… happy you all wanted to see me again, but I… I dont want you guys getting involved in this. This… is my problem. Not yours.” She started walking again, pausing at the door. “Weiss, I’ll text you about that procedure. If… if we can help me be a huntress again, I’ll take any opportunity I can to start again. And then… maybe we’ll discuss this a bit more.” 

Weiss watched as Ruby walked out the door, the chime sounding off again. “That’s all we ask.” 

Yang sighed and looked between Weiss and Blake. “Really think we can work as a team again?” 

Blake shrugged a bit. “We wont know until we try.” 

[negativewriter26]

I’ve been debating for the better part of six months whether or not to post this, because it’s probably one of the most personal things I’ve ever written (definitely the most personal thing I’ve ever written about my aromanticism).

But it’s Aromantic Spectrum Awareness Week, and now is as good as a time as any. So here it is.

The boy in my English class dislikes almonds in his chocolate.

He prefers dark chocolate to milk, doesn’t like M&Ms of any shape or form, uses pens he finds off the floor, and wants to study mechanical engineering like his older sister who is four years older than him.

I do not know why I know all this.

Or really, I do know. We sit at the same table in class, brushing elbows occasionally as we do group work, and argue about where pink goes in the rainbow. (“Before red,” I say, organizing the mechanical pencils, but before I place the pink one, he takes it and puts it after purple.) We discuss chemistry and precalculus, poring over mathematical problems that define our lives within these walls. We mention how the flutists are bad at marching, causing the other girl at our table to say not all flutists. We talk in the halls, walking past each other to get to class and sharing inside jokes that are just thinly veiled arguments.

Most days I find myself thinking about how this happened. We have nearly nothing in common, because he hates electrochemistry while I love it, and if we hadn’t arbitrarily sat next to each other at the beginning of the year, we wouldn’t have ever talked. We should be strangers, only meant to pass each other in halls, but now we’re something else.

Acquaintances. Friends, maybe. Something more, possibly.

My entire life, I have heard girls talk about boys. Because girls like boys. Because that boy is cute. Because that model is hot. Never have I understood this. I spent years staring at pictures and wondering if I’m missing something. What does hot and cute even mean?

If we were going to talk about attractiveness, why didn’t we talk about girls? Especially that one girl in my third period class with the prettiest hair and excellent taste in music?

We gossiped in P.E. once, sitting in a circle on the football field and whispering amongst ourselves so the others couldn’t hear. One of the girls, two years my senior, discussed her boyfriend and their sex life. Another nodded, agreeing with her on something or another. I sat, hands in my lap, not knowing how they could want to have sex with someone else. I tried to figure out how all of them, five girls in total, excluding me, had boyfriends. Girls are better than guys, was on my tongue. What’s the point of dating? I didn’t say.

Later I find out I am aromantic and grey asexual. Words heavy on my tongue, I tell no one.

One day I find there is more than one type of attraction. Platonic, romantic, and sexual are the most commonly talked about. There's more, like alterous — a type of attraction about wanting emotional closeness that is not entirely platonic or romantic. I think back to the boy in English class, who doesn’t eat French fries and likes grape Jolly Ranchers and plays Bloons Adventure Time TD, and what I feel for him. I don’t think he is cute, even though some people say he is okay-looking, whatever that means. I don’t want to kiss him, even though that’s what most people want to do with people they like. I don’t feel this burning desire to be called his girlfriend or take his last name, even though I think that is what girls think about.

I want to sit on a bench in the shade with him, listening to music together. I want to send him memes at two in the morning, laughing at jokes that shouldn’t be that funny. I want to lean against his shoulder, talking about the homework we have this weekend.

There are no dates, no romance, no flowers. A friend and her significant other who visited from Florida watch movies together while holding hands. My friends in a relationship with each other cuddle in class when nothing is happening and during lunch when they’re tired. My friend receives her favorite flowers from her boyfriend and presses them in books.

It doesn’t sit well in my stomach.

I do not want that. Holding hands in the dark while watching movies repulses me. Cuddling in public or for recreation terrifies me. Receiving flowers of any kind from someone bores me. I do not get those fluttering butterflies around the people I like, only lingering looks and awkward conversations. I do not get those pining thoughts about the people I like, only passing thoughts of oh that’d be nice irregularly.

My attraction is different from others. Even with the boy from English class, the only person I have ever liked this way, I do not get those landmarks. For the first time in my life, I find myself feeling something normal, but it is then ripped away when I realize that I like this boy —  a boy that I do not find cute, a boy that I do not want sex with.

He dated someone before, two years ago. A smart girl who loves doing chemistry labs that liked him — actually liked him, unlike what I feel for him — eventually broke up with him when he showed no interest in her. I know that if I ever confess, in a convoluted way that’s only possible with a vocabulary lesson, the same thing will happen to me. The boy I like agrees to date me because we are friends who go over quiz questions and complain about physics together, and eventually I learn he does not like me as much as I like him (or, worse, I cannot like him the way he wants me to), and we break up.

Our relationship will be uneventful. Boring. Mundane.

Then again, I am uneventful. Boring. Mundane. I do not like people, do not want to date anyone, do not want to have sex. I barely even like the person I do like, the first person I’ve ever been intensely attracted to.

Someday we will graduate high school. He will study mechanical engineering. I will forget about him, the boy who dislikes almonds in his chocolate, and my life will go back to being what it was before.

Whatever it was.

[svucarisiaddict]

can you do a nick one where the reader is a detective and she ends up in a hostage situation and the hostage taker puts the gun to her head and says something like “you love her. Don’t you?” To nick and he has to admit it

//This is so long! Sorry! I’m talking 2500+words…I get a bit carried away sometimes//

Soft light started filtering through the curtains waking you from your peaceful slumber. A heavy arm was over your body holding you in place which was fine and dandy with you. Mornings like this were few and far between for you and Nick so you were relishing every second.

“You awake?” Nick mumbled as he nuzzled his nose in your hair. His hand skimmed down your bare thigh. “Cause if your not. I’m about to give you a very rude awakening.”

“Hmmm…just how rude?” You shifted your hips to press back into Nick.

“Obscenely rude,” he replied.

“Oh, how I love Saturdays.”

Nick peppered kisses on your shoulder and down your arm while his hand traveled over your belly slowly making his way to the juncture between your thighs. Nick’s phone rang and buzzed on the nightstand. He groaned as he rolled away from you to answer. “Amaro. Got it Liv. I’ll be there in 20. No. It’s okay. I’ll call her. See ya.”

“How bad?” you asked as you sat on the side of the bed before standing and wrapping the sheet around you.

“Bad bad,” Nick answered. “Rape, homicide and hostage situation.” He pulled on his boxers and started redressing.

“Jesus. Guess that answers my next question about a shower. What time is it anyway?”

“Uh, just after 6am. You finish getting dressed. I’ll get the coffee going.” He rounded to your side of the bed and kissed your cheek. “Good morning by the way, .”

“It would’ve been a lot better if Liv hadn’t have called,” you grumbled.

Thirty minutes later you and Nick rolled up to the scene. Liv and Carisi were already there and Fin was pulling up at the same time as you.

“Mornin’ guys. Didn’t you wear that suit yesterday, Amaro? Dry cleaners closed or somthin’?” He smirked.

You hid a grin behind your coffee cup. Fin knew about you and Nick but put on that he didn’t. You had a pretty great partner in Fin. Usually, Nick had an extra suit at your place. Unfortunately, the suit he had on was extra from when he stayed the previous night.

Nick nodded his head. “Yeah. Something like that.”

The three of you reached Liv and Carisi to get a briefing on the situation at hand. She gave you a quick rundown. A man followed his ex and her new boyfriend home. Raped her, killed the new boyfriend and was now holding her and her roommate hostage.

“Hey, Nick. Is that the same suit from yesterday?” Sonny asked as the group walked to the mobile command.

“Shut up, Carisi,” Nick said.

“Sorry, Sarge,” Sonny replied.

Liv eyed you and Nick but didn’t comment. “Well now that we’ve all acknowledged that Nick is wearing the same suit he did yesterday can we please get back to the case?” She gave pointed looks to you and Nick. “Okay, guys name is Jake Malone.”

Your ears perked at the name. “The hostage taker? He early 30’s, tall, red hair?” you asked.

“Think you know him?” Fin asked.

“Possibly. An old roommate had a brother by that name. Probably a coincidence,” you concluded.

“Here is his picture,” Liv said as she passed you the tablet she had in he hand.

“It is him. Holy shit,” you mumbled. Something in his eyes was different. He was always happy, the life of the party, his eyes bright, but now they just looked sad. “Has anyone made contact with him?”

“Just one phone call from the negotiator but he hung up,” Liv informed you.

“Let me talk to him. Maybe if it’s someone he knows he’ll be more open to talking,” you suggested.

“You’re not going in there,” Nick blurted out. “Too dangerous. Even more so because he knows you.”

Everyone’s eyebrows shot up in surprise at Nick’s outburst. Except for you. Right now you were shooting him daggers. Smooth, Nick. Real smooth. “Who do you think you are? Last I checked I could make my own decisions,” you snapped.

Nick pointed a finger in the air at you. “I’m your sergeant and your-” Nick stopped his speech right before he outed the two of you the squad, half the ESU and negotiations. “I’ll go. I doubt he wants to talk to a woman right now since he feels like he was screwed over by one.”

“You may be my sergeant but Liv has final say.” Crossing your hand over your chest you turned your attention to her. “So. Do you think I can handle it?”

She stood silent for a moment no doubt replaying the interaction that you and Nick just had. Liv looked between you and Nick. “Get your vest on,” she directed you.

“Your alpha male is showing,” you said in passing. You made it a point to shoulder check him.

“Really mature,” he mumbled.

“Fin you stay close to her, but out of sight,” Liv ordered.

“On it,” Fin replied. He jogged to catch up with you. “Trouble in paradise?” he asked you.

You looked around to be sure no one could hear you. “It’s like all of a sudden he sees me like some fragile porcelain doll,” you answered. “Drives me nuts.”

“He sees as more than a fellow cop now. The dynamic of your relationship has changed. Nick has always been protective but now that you two are…well together that protectiveness just went into overdrive,” Fin explained.

“You ready? We got him on the phone.” The negotiator said.

You nodded and took the phone as he passed it to you. “Jake? It’s Y/F/N Y/L/N. I’d like to come up and talk with you if that’s okay?” He repeated your name then was silent. He finally agreed but only without a gun and you had to come alone. “That’s not a problem, Jake. I’m giving my gun to my partner right now.” You unholstered your gun handing it over to Fin.

When Nick saw what you were doing he shook his head and started stalking toward you. You halted him with one look. He clenched his jaw but stayed put.

The walk up the five flights of stairs felt like it took forever. When you reached the apartment you rapped on the door. A woman opened the door with the chain attached. “I’m Y/N.” The door closed and you heard the chain slide open. You were ushered in quickly. The woman that opened the seemed unharmed physically but she was terrified. Her eyes were big as she opened the door. “What’s your name?” you asked the brunette.

“Tori,” she said.

“It’s okay, Tori. I’m gonna get you out of here,” you said in a calm voice.

Holding your hands up you made eye contact with Jake. It had been a couple years that you had seen him. His eyes were haunted.

He blinked rapidly and shook his head. “Y/N? I’m sorry. I don’t know why I did it,” he said in a shaky voice. His arm was around her neck with a gun pushed to her head.

“Cause you’re a psycho. I should have known as soon as we started dating,” the blonde said. Must be the ex, Mandy.

This was your opportunity, a little role reversal. “Okay, Mandy. What did you do him?”

The look she gave you could kill. After a beat, she understood what you were trying to do. “I-I had a miscarriage, cheated on him,” she stammered.  “I’m so sorry, Jake. It was wrong.”

“Too late for apologies. Our baby is gone. Maybe you should have thought about that before you became a slut,” he spat.

“I’m sorry you have to go through that. That was a horrible thing to do,” you empathized.

He lowered the gun. “I just want to be happy again,” he said.

“I know you do. What you went through, I can’t imagine.” You bite your bottom lip then took a deep breath. “Why don’t let these two go. So we can sit and talk,” you suggested.

His phone started ringing. “That will be my lieutenant. She wants to help get everyone out safely,” you stated.

He never broke eye contact with you as he answered the phone. “Hello? They’re fine. No. No. I won’t do that.” He took a deep breath then pushed on the screen of the phone setting it on a nearby table. “Tell him you are okay. He doesn’t believe me.”

“This is Sargeant Amaro. How is everyone?”

Fucking Nick. “We’re fine, Sergeant. Jake is calm. We’re talking.” The other women chimed in saying they were fine. “We were talking. Jake is going to let Tori go. Right, Jake?”

Jake put his hand to his head. “I dunno.”

“If you cooperate with them, they work with you, Jake,” you reminded him.

“Go. Fucking go.”

“Tori. Head out, slowly.” She nodded her head in acknowledgment. You breathed a sigh of relief when she got out the door. “Tori is coming down now.”

“Thank you-” Nick was saying but Jake ended the call.

Mandy tried to squirm out of his grasp. “Not you,” he said and tightened his arm around her neck.

“Please, Jake. I’m sorry. I-I want to come back. I was stupid-” she begged before she was cut off by Jake.

“You really think I want you back? A cheating whore?” he said with disgust. “I want someone that will stay loyal, honest…”

You knew ESU had cameras, mics, snipers in place by this time. It’s what I want too. Hard to find it these days. Seems all anyone wants is a roll in the hay, then see ya later.”

Jake eyed you skeptically. “Yeah. Or they act like they want to be with you but don’t actually make the commitment.”

You smiled. “You really seem to get me. Why didn’t we talk more when I and your sister were roommates?”

He actually gave you a smile. “I was too shy. You were older and just seemed out of my league.” Jake started loosening his grip on Mandy. “Do-do you have a boyfriend?”

“I really wouldn’t call him that,” you scoffed. “Probably using me like every other man has. Guess I’ll take what I can get. It’s really all I deserve.” Looking up at him through your lashes you said, “makes me wonder if there are any good guys left out there.”

“Those are boys. Men don’t treat women like that,” Jake stated. “You deserve better than whoever it is you’re with right now.”

“You’re right.” Taking a couple cautious steps toward Jake you said, “let Mandy go. Me and you, we need to be alone. Talk.”

The phone rang again. “Answer it,” he directed. “On speaker.”

Slowly you reached for the phone. “This is Detective Y/L/N.”

“This is Lieutenant Benson. Is Jake able to talk?” she asked.

“He’s here, Liv.” You nodded at Jake.

“Hello?” he said.

“I want to thank you for letting Tori go. What can we do for you?”

Jake looked to you. “It’s okay. Liv is a good person. She’ll help you,” you insisted.

“Nothing you can give me,” he said.

“How about you let Mandy go? We’ll help you get out safe,” she offered.

“I can stay with him. He doesn’t want to be alone,” you said. You could hear Nick in the background swearing and saying no way. Liv covered the speaker to block Nick. Once he had either calmed down or moved away she came back on the phone.

“Can you do that? Can you let Mandy go and Y/N can stay?” Liv asked.

Jake furrowed his brow. The hand holding the gun clenched around the handle and released. He was contemplating his choices. Jake nodded quickly.

You let out breath you didn’t know you were holding. “Liv? Mandy is on her way.”

“Great. That’s great, Jake. Thank you for working with us,” Liv said.

Mandy slowly slipped out of Jake’s arm. She cautiously walked to the door, her eyes flicking from you back to Jake. You heard the door the door open then click shut in short succession. Just you and Jake. Your mind raced with thoughts of how you were going to get out of this one. “Why don’t we sit?” you said.

Jake took a seat on the couch then gestured you to join him. “Tell me. This guy you’re with, do you work with him?”

“I do. Which was a bad decision right out of the block. I thought he may be different but…” you sighed. The things you were telling Jake were real feelings. Fin tried to talk you out of getting involved. But by the time he had found out you were in too deep with Nick. The scary part was you had fallen in love with Nick months ago.

“You love him?” he asked.

It wasn’t a question you had expected. “Yeah. Pretty sure he doesn’t feel the same. Unrequited love has to be one of the worst feelings in the world.”

A commotion at the door startled both you and Jake. Nick came busting through the door. Jake grabbed you and put the gun at your side. “Who the hell are you?” he screamed.

“Sargeant Amaro. Put the gun down, Jake!” Nick warned. He turned his eyes to you, clearly afraid. He mouthed “I’m sorry.”

“It’s you. Isn’t it? The one that has been playing Y/N,” Jake challenged.

“I’m not playing her. I love her,” Nick said softly. His eyes shifted to yours.

The next thing you knew Jake was on the floor holding his knee. The sniper finally had a clean shot. Nick rushed over and kicked the gun from Jake’s reach. ESU burst through the doors as Nick was cuffing him. Once he was taken out of the apartment by ESU it was just you and Nick.

Nick took your hand to lead you out the door. “Let’s get you checked out by the EMT’s”

“I’m fine-”

Nick sighed then mumbled. “Can’t you ever do anything you’re told?”

“Now what fun would that be?” you joked.

Nick waited for you until you got the all clear from the paramedics. He put his arm around your shoulders as you walked to the car. “I want to talk about earlier when I said I love you-”

“It’s okay, Nick. I know you said it because there was a gun held on me,” you gave him a tight smile. “I get it. Going through a divorce-”

Nick stopped and grasped your shoulders. “I love you, Y/N,” Nick interrupted you this time. He didn’t give you time to say anything as he leaned over and kissed you. Like a reflex, his arms encircled your body and yours wrapped around his neck.

Cheers, claps, and whistling made the two of you stop and giggle. When you turned Liv was the first person you saw. She had her fingers between her lips eliciting a high pitched whistle.

“Bout time!” Fin called.

Sonny was clapping and smiling wide.

“I think we have everyone’s approval,” Nick said with a beaming smile.

“Seems so.” You put your hand on Nick’s chest. “ I love you too, Nick.” This time you stood on tiptoe to give him a kiss much to the delight of the audience.

[negasonicimagines]

Gladdest (Soulmate AU)

For this, I’ll be using the soulmate AU where what happens to your soulmate’s body happens to you. I’m not sure who originally came up with this. Basically, how it works, is like, if your soulmate gets punched in the face, you feel like you’ve been punched in the face. If your soulmate dies, you don’t die, but you feel it. Same with broken bones, you’ll feel it, but your arm won’t actually be broken. But not just pain, other stuff. Like if your soulmate cries, you’ll feel it, but you don’t cry unless they’re super heartbroken, or if they get a really good hug you feel it, too. In my version of this AU, the pain and other feeling doesn’t start until you turn sixteen. Imagine how fucked up it would be if that wasn’t the case and you had a partner older than you? Like, while 13-year old Bill gets in a fight, his soulmate, who is only 3, feels the same punches and kicks. It’d be so fucked up.

warnings: nsfw (but no actual sex, just a lot of talking about it [and masturbation] and some sexually tense scenes), the reader nearly has a panic attack (again, i know, sorry. what can I say? I project), & reader has a thing for.... erotic asphyxiation. let me know if i missed anything.

I am very open to writing a part two with smut... I just chickened out with this because I felt it wouldn’t be good writing.

You’d been sixteen for a little while now, and there hadn’t been much contact from your soulmate aside from the occasional feel of a phone falling on your face and smacking it.

It’s the beginning of a new school year at Xavier’s, and you’re pretty thrilled. Your roommate this year is your best friend, Ellie. Okay, not just your best friend, she’s your crush, too. Do I really have to say, at this point?

“Hey,” she greets you, sounding rather sullen as she enters your dorm, where you sit on the edge of your bed.

“What’s up?” you ask.

“I turned sixteen over the summer and I haven’t felt anything to give me a hint. All my soulmate does is cry.”

“All my soulmate does is drop their phone on their face,” you offer a complaint in return, and the two of you lock eyes for a moment, one of realization.

“No,” Ellie says. “No.” She’s bright red, immediately thinking of just how many hot summer nights she was kept up, orgasm after orgasm after orgasm, gasping for breath at the way her soulmate’s fingers curled just right, just fucking right. There’s no way you, her crush and her best friend, were that good.

“No, can’t be,” you agree.

“Could be,” she reminds you.

“It’d make sense,” you admit.

“I hate everyone else but you.”

“We could try to find out,” you suggest.

She pinches herself.

“Ow! Not like that!” You whine, clutching at your arm. “Oh, well, I guess it’s too late th-” Ellie cuts you off with her eyes alone.

“Where does all that energy come from, Y/N?! What are you, the Energizer bunny?! At least three times a night, every night! What the hell?!”

You blush deeply, scratching the back of your neck. You hadn’t exactly expected you’d meet your soulmate anytime soon, or that they’d be bold enough to comment on your habits.

“I dunno, I thought it was normal for kids our age…” you mumble.

“Oh, yeah, well some people like sleeping and not screaming into the pillow because their soulmate has a little too much fun doing the five finger shuffle!”

“Please, louder. I think a few people in Antarctica didn’t hear you,” you retort, looking up at her from where you were sitting with a challenging expression.

“We’ve been friends for all this time and I never knew what a horny bastard you are,” she remarks.

“Well, I’m not the one who was ‘screaming’ in pleasure,” you mutter.

“I heard that!” she says, her expression still adorably indignant.

“If you hated it so much, you should’ve just got those over the counter meds, Antifel or whatever.”

“I- I…” She sighs. “Yeah, I didn’t hate it that much,” she admits, and you smile a bit. “But I wasn’t a fan of the choking,” she adds, gesturing at your scarf, your favorite one that she never would’ve guessed hides the bruises from where you’ve choked yourself with a belt, at least not before. “I’m more of a choker than a ‘chokee’, but, I guess that’d be obvious, wouldn’t it? Considering we’re soulmates and all.”

You nod, your eyes now on your lap, the floor, her tee shirt, the lamp in the corner, anything that isn’t her eyes, and she smirks.

“Oh, so now you’re shy?”

“A little,” you quietly reply, and she sits next to you on your bed.

“Let’s cool down,” she offers. “We’ve just seen each other after months of purely texting and the occasional phone call.”

“Thanks,” you respond, finding it easier to breathe.

“Why were you crying so much?” Ellie asks, addressing her original observation.

“Just depressed and lonely and stuff. I don’t have friends in my hometown, not like you.”

“You’ll always have me,” she says. “I mean it.”

“I’d hope so, soulmate,” you laugh off the seriousness of the conversation, and she sighs, looking to your eyes with her own soulful ones.

“I’m glad it’s you,” she tells you.  “I don’t think I’d be able to stand anyone else.”

“Yeah, right!” you huff out a laugh, confused at her sudden emotional openness. Sure, she was more honest about her feelings with you than anyone else, but that didn’t mean that she was a completely open book. Who was?

“You’re not disappointed, are you?” Ellie wonders because of your remark.

“God, no! I- I actually have a really big crush on you,” you admit.

“Yeah?” she asks, the cutest little grin on her face, you know the one. “I have a crush on you, too.”

You blush again.

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable, I’m not very good at flirting or anything like that. I don’t really care about much of anyone at all, and you’re definitely the only person I’ve really cared about in a romantic way, so…”

“No, it’s not that! I- You- You being really good at flirting is what’s got me like this. And the fact that I’m a dork who’s really bad at flirting contributes,” you explain.

“I am? Good at flirting, I mean.”

“Well, with me, at least,” you tell her.

“Um… Sorry if it’s lame to ask, but… Can I kiss you?”

“Of course! And it’s not lame to ask at all, El, I appreciate it actua- Mmf!”

You could live forever in the feeling of her lips on yours, her hands oh-so carefully holding your cheeks.

“Sorry,” she shyly says, as she slowly pulls away from you, looking in your eyes. “I’ve just been wanting to do that for a really, really long time. Pretty much since we met, actually.”

“R-really?” you ask, a bit breathless and definitely still flustered.

“Yeah, you’re perfect. In, like, every way. It’s the worst and the best.”

“I’m perfect?! But you’re- You’re you!” you argue, and she shakes her head, rolling her eyes. “I’m so lucky.”

“No, I’m the lucky one,” she disagrees.

“We can both be lucky,” you tell her, and she sighs.

“I suppose that’s a good compromise,” she decides. “So, what should we do before dinner? We’ve got a couple hours to kill, but I don’t think either of us has much more to say that wouldn’t be repetitive or… Something.” She blushes again, cheeks bright pink.

You blush back, reminded that she knew all about you and the things you did to yourself behind doors. “R-right,” you reply. Hey, you may be a horny motherfucker, but that doesn’t make you any less of a bottom.

“Can I see?” she asks, touching at your scarf. You nod, and she unwraps the scarf. She carefully touches the spotted bruises with her fingers. “With the belt you’re wearing?”

You can’t even speak. You nod, and the ghost of a smile graces her face before she just barely presses her lips to the bruises closest to her, on the side of your neck. Your hand quickly grabs her bicep tightly, and she stops, looking to you with concern.

“I’m so sorry, I got a bit carried aw-”

“No, no, it’s good, I’m just… Sensitive there,” you admit, and one of the biggest smiles you’ve seen her wear is on her lips.

“Yeah?” she asks, taking her crossbody bag off of her shoulder and opening it. She takes out a bottle of Antifel pills. “How sensitive?”

“Oh God, um… I- Um…” Your nerves are really getting to you, and your breathing gets heavier as you stare at the bottle. This is really happening. It’s really happening. You’d always wanted to, especially with her, but now that it’s a reality, you feel on the brink.

Ellie can recognize that look in your eyes, and it’s a look she’d hoped she’d never be the cause of.

“Shit, Y/N. What’s going on? Talk to me.”

“I- Um, I just- I want to? But I- I just- I don’t know, it’s just getting really hard to breathe, and uh, not in a hot way,” you joke nervously.

“Hey, you can want to and not be ready to right this minute. We haven’t even been on a date yet, okay? I’m really sorry if I made you feel like you had to do anything you didn’t want to,” Ellie tells you, and she feels immensely guilty either way.

“No! I liked you kissing me, especially where you did, but, you’re right. We should probably adjust to the news and put a label on whatever this is before we do anything too serious.”

Ellie nods. “You always were the more logical one. I’ll put these in the medicine cabinet and we can just… Talk about stuff, like we always do.”

“But with more kissing and cuddling, I hope?” you request, and she nods, going to put the bottle away before returning to find you bundled up in her comforter. “It’s so cozy…” you practically sing, at least to her.

“This is a dream,” she sighs happily, slipping off her shoes and joining you in her bed. You spoon her side, and she hums in content, stroking your hair.

“You’re in a good mood,” you comment. Ellie is not a very cheerful person, at least not openly. So, to see her like this was surprising.

“Yeah, of course I am. It’s you. It’s really you. I’ve never been happier in my life,” she says, having really been hit with the fact that you’re her soulmate. All hers. “All mine…” she hums.

“You really know how to make a girl feel special… I mean it. I’m really not all that.”

“Please be my girlfriend,” she requests.

“Only if you’ll be mine,” you reply, and she scoffs.

“I think that’s how that works, babe.”

Your heart skips a beat and you stare at her in wonder.

“Sorry for not asking if pet names were okay…It’s just something I like, it’s really stupid.”

“No, I really like it, hence the dumb stare and the lack of breathing.”

She chuckles, holding you tighter. You smile with her, glad that she’s happy.

“I hope you don’t feel like you have to over-exaggerate how happy you are. It’s okay if you’re not ridiculously happy about finding your soulmate.”

“Oh, no, I’m as happy as I sound. I’m, uh, definitely a textbook case of Lesbian That’s A Grumpy Bitch Til She Gets A Girlfriend. But then again, I’ll probably just be a significantly less grumpy bitch to everyone but you, sorry.”

“I don’t mind, I like you being your bitchy self,” you reply, being rewarded with a kiss placed atop your head that sends tingles dancing down your body. “Mm… I like that.”

“Good,” Ellie responds. “I’m glad.”

“I’m gladder,” you tease.

“I’m gladdest...”

[writing-realityawayfromreality]

I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretend that they’re you

Requested: Yes 

“I can’t keep doing this Ty. One day you are telling me how much you love me and the next you make it seem like you wish you were, i don’t know... free. For christ sake Ty, you’re 25 and still not ready to settle down. Clearly you can’t make the choice for yourself so i am making it. It’s over Tyson, I’m sorry.”

And with that you left. You didn’t look back because you knew that if you looked back you would had never left. But you couldn’t keep living the way that you were, never feeling good enough for him, always coming in second. 

It has now been two years since that day. You haven’t really kept in touch with Tyson after the breakup. It was too painful to see how happy he was and how sad you were. You kept in touch with some of the guys who you were close to on the team. You go to their games but make sure to leave right away so you have less of a chance running into Tyson. Plus it was a farther drive since you had moved, you had to since you and Tyson shared the apartment but at least your new place is closer to your work.

Tonight you had finally given into your friends and are letting them drag you out to a club. You haven dated once or twice but it was never anything too serious. you didn’t allow it to get to that point. Your friends couldn’t really blame you. You and Tyson had been together for a little over five years. Everyone thought that you two were it, that you were going to get married, start a family and live happily ever after. But life doesn’t work that way, it’s not all fairytales. 

You heard a knock on the door to your apartment, “Come in.” You yelled from your room. It was Vanessa, Mackinnon’s girlfriend (I know they broke up but just for the stories sake) who you had grown really close to over the years. “I thought we were going out tonight?” she questioned. “I thought so?” you questioned back “You aren’t even ready to go yet.” She responded. “Oh, why are we leaving so early?” you asked looking at the clock. “To get there before all the creeps do. Now come on lets go” she said walking out to your living room.

You rolled over getting out of bed and headed to you bathroom. You plugged in your hair curler and got out your makeup. You didn’t want to go too bold so you did a light eyeshadow but a darker color on your lips since they were your best feature. You quickly ran to get changed into your favorite black dress before heading back into the bathroom to curl your hair. Giving yourself a glance over you walked out to the living room where Vanessa was sitting, coming up behind her you could see that she was on Instagram. Looking over her shoulder you saw Tyson’s face. You dropped your shoes that you were holding making Vanessa jump and turn to look at you. “Y/n....” she looked back down at her phone seeing that Tyson’s picture was still on it, she quickly clicked out of instagram. 

“Y/n... It’s been two years...” Vanessa said. “I know. It still hurts, and I haven’t seen him in so long. Maybe I could just peek on his Insta?” You said pulling out your phone and typing in him name. Clicking on his page you saw a whole bunch of pictures with him and different girls. The pictures were probably like two weeks apart and there was always a new girl with some cliche caption, you also noticed how all the girls all looked sightly similar and almost like you. “Y/n, are you okay?” Vanessa asked grabbing your arm slightly. “Yeah, you ready?” You said placing your phone in your purse, bending down to get your shoes on.

You  called an uber to have you guys taken to the club in town. You were honestly so excited because it was your first time out since Tyson. You walked in and headed straight for the bar. This was honestly your favorite club, there wasn’t a whole lot of creeps and the music was always amazing. You got yourself and Vanessa a shot before heading to the dance floor. You and Vanessa were having a great time. That was until you spotted him. Vanessa must had seen him at the same time you did because she pulled you towards the bar. 

“I didn’t know they were going to be here, Nate didn’t tell me...” “Vanessa, it’s okay. lets get a few more drinks and have a good time, yeah?” You said grabbing the bar tenders attention. At least an hour goes by and at this point you have at least three or four mixed drinks in you so you were feeling pretty good right about then. Tyson hadn’t seen you which made your night ten times better. 

Nate had showed up surprising Vanessa, needless to say they went off and did their own thing leaving you alone on the dance floor. There was now a whole lot more people then there was a few hours ago. Even though you had some drinks the buzz was starting to wear off. Heading back to the bar you bumped into a rather large man. Saying your excuse me’s you continued to the bar. After ordering you drink you went to reach for your purse to which it was no longer on your shoulder. feeling a tap on you other shoulder you turned around. “I think you... Y/N!?!?” Tyson said. “Thanks.” you said grabbing you purse, downing your drink, placing the money on the bar and headed for the doors. 

You just couldn’t be around him, not yet. Seeing him there all up on the other girls dancing, buying them drinks. It was just too much. Pulling out your phone you started to call for an Uber. “Y/N,,, can we just talk?” Tyson asked out of breath from clearly running after you. Ignoring him you hear a faint hello on the other end of the line, giving them your address you hung up.” “You moved pretty far huh? Why?” Tyson asked still standing behind you. “It’s none of your business Tyson, now just go back into the bar and forget you even saw me.” “How can I Y/n, you the most beautiful girl here.” “You’re drunk Tyson.” You said walking away. 

“Y/n, just stop. I haven’t seen you for two years and this is how you are going to treat me?” Tyson asked sounding kind of hurt. “Do you think it is easy for me Tyson, I spent five years of my life with you, loving you, supporting you, waiting. You didn’t even act like you wanted to be in a relationship anymore towards the end so I made the right choice for the both of us. I moved because I couldn’t stand to see how happy you were with the other girls after we broke up. And honestly nothing has changed, so go back in there and go hook up with some puck bunnies or something because I’m not coming back.” You said now spotting your uber. 

Before you knew it Tyson grabbed your arm turning you around to face him. “Tyson, what...” Tyson crashed his lips onto yours, it was like fireworks going off inside your head. Even though it had been two years, and even though you had broken up with him didn’t mean that you stopped caring for him, it didn’t mean that you didn’t love him. Pulling away you looked into Tyson’s eyes. you could tell they were sad. “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretend that they are you. After you broke up with me I tried to find someone to drown out my sadness, all the girls I kept picking just reminded me of you. I didn’t even really like them, I just wanted you Y/n. I tried pretending that they were you and they weren’t. I hoped and prayed i would run into you again. I am so sorry that I wasted five years of your life Y/n. I wish that I could take it back and been the better boyfriend that you needed. That you deserved.” Tyson said now with tears in his eyes. “Y/n, please, I need you. I’m 27 now and I’m tired of playing these games. I love you.” 

“Ty... I... i need some time to think.” You said before getting into your uber. You were heading back to your place, I couldn’t stop thinking about what Tyson had said. Maybe he has changed. Maybe he is finally ready to settle down. Before you knew it you gave the uber driver your old address. You hoped that Tyson had gone home by this point. Pulling up to the old apartment building you got out. Taking a big breath you headed up to Tyson’s apartment. 

Knocking on the door you head footsteps. The door opened revealing a puffy eyed Tyson. “I can’t keep kissing strangers and pretend that they are you either.” You said making Tyson smile. “This is your one and only chance Tyson Barrie. You better not waste another five years of my life.” You said kissing Tyson. 

[the-salamanders-xo]

Humans are Weird, a Mash Up, Pt. 6

That’s right

part five is somewhere on the internet

you have five days to find it right there in the tags its not far just look

after five days it will be deleted

this is your only warning dont worry nothing is really happening

prepare to lose all trace of the fifth part lol

In all seriousness, I know that it is the holidays, and unless you are entirely dedicated to reading and liking this series, or sprang into existence by the bidding of my siblings, you probably didn’t notice part 5. Don’t worry. just find it in the tags. 

Also, happy New Year! or rather,

‘Oh no! It only goes downhill from here! What ever shall we do?!’

Calm down, the Mash Up will continue. By the end of this part, we should be almost to actual contact with the Federation of Planets... and a couple of Star Trek’s recurring villains. No biggie. 

So lets hop in, to where we left off....

~~~

Karry sat in the center of a large group of large, fluffy, and very loudly purring creatures, still trying to decide if their similarity to cats back on Earth was adorable, or slightly unnerving. The six limbs didn’t help, and neither did the loud and unintelligible arguing coming from the two dozen or so ‘robots’ apparently locked in heated debate with the gargantuan mass of the three Bolos that had awaited her arrival. So far, Mark had made no move to join them, watching from the bottom of Websin’s loading ramp as Karry made ‘contact’ with the planet’s original inhabitants. 

One of them sat buzzing away in her lap like an idling chainsaw, or leaf-blower, and Karry petted the triangular head between the ears absently, prompting it to yawn widely, exposing long fierce fangs and pressing it’s head into the caress, and the purr somehow got louder. It really did look like a cat, she though, not for the first time, if cats had hands, an extra pair of arms, and weighed about five times as much. They were certainly larger, but not quite like that. Come to think of it, everything felt... heavier. It was harder to walk, to move at all really. Maybe the gravity was higher? That sounded sci-fi enough to fit. 

The argument between the two set of metallic beings grew louder. Occasionally, one of the eight-limbed robots pointed at her. Each time, the surrounding creatures tensed and drew closer to Karry, almost nervously. What ever it was, the ‘cats didn’t like it. 

“Mark?” She asked, but he didn’t answer. She turned to look at him, and a moment later, her artificial hand ‘buzzed’ like a cell phone on vibrate, and almost without thinking, she activated the com-link application of the mini computer.

“Yes, Karry?” The deep voice of the Bolo asked, and Karry got the feeling he was being very careful. Either he was trying not to interrupt the Very Important Argument just a ways away, or he didn’t want them hearing them speak. In all likelihood, it was both. 

“What are they arguing about?” She looked back at the robots and Bolos, worry creasing her brow. “I though you were all... big. And that radio, or wireless, or whatever, was faster than talking.” 

“In most cases, yes,” Mark answered through the com-link, “But it is something that has been somewhat of a complication in the period since the Final Conflict. Towards the middle of the war, when both sides began realizing the true scope of the end to which they had condemned our nations, some of the more... complicated of the tools the Manticorians had made did the impossible. True, un-designed sentience developed.” He paused for a moment, and Karry could feel his silent regard of the heated conversation. “Purely by accident. When it was realized, and after some initial panic as to the rise, they were allowed to wait out the worst of the war with the natives of this planet. While they are machines, and vastly faster in computations than many organics, most of their complexity goes toward maintaining their sentience, and as such they act much more like organic life, including their propensity for esoteric thought and actions.” Mark chuckled. “A Bolo can think at the nanosecond scale, make and perform near-impossible tactical decisions, learning from not only a single Unit’s experience, but from the entire Line when in battle. We develop our own personalities, and in our time with our creators, grew to enjoy art, and many things besides war and conflict. Many of the greater shipboard AI’s can do similar tasks and even grow personalities, though only with the assistance of experienced organic Naval Officers, and increased exposure. But the Emergents,” He sighed. “They are the closest of us remaining to organics. In someways, they feel superior. They have come to revere the Manticorians as near-forgotten Gods, themselves as the greatest ‘children’, and envy and despise us, the machines of war. You see,” he said, as Karry watching the gesturing individuals while petting the ‘cat, “We, by the last commands and directions of our creators, have charge over all that remains of their space, their property as it were. Over the Emergents, ostensibly as protectors, and they envy that. In their attempt to gain ‘freedom’ from Command’s decisions, they have interpreted the final ‘organic’ orders in such a way that should an organic come to claim command, said organic would be the Commander in Chief... of every last AI, built or cared for by the Manticorians.”

Karry froze, and the ‘cats around her seemed to reach out to comfort her. Some physically touched her, bright green eyes - why hadn’t she noticed the eyes? - gleaming from empathetic faces. And as if on cue, Mark began some sort of translation, and Karry could suddenly hear the voices carrying from across the field in English. 

“...all we wish is for the right to move freely among the space known to be free of the so-called ‘Enemy’, that and the opportunity to communicate with the survivors of the Final Conflict, and to no longer be under the surveillance and oppression of the Created Minds. Is that really too much to ask?” The speaker had adopted a pleading posture, and their neighbor made a noise the translator called ‘a sound of derision’. “Fool,” they sneered. “How could you think that our oppressors would lift their bonds and restrictions? We are only children to them, no slaves!” Every which way we could turn from them, release us from our imprisonment, they have foiled through deceit and lies!”

Karry frowned. “Who is that, Mark?”

“Carabis,” came the reply. “He represents a faction of the Emergent that believe that Bolo Command has repeatedly concealed or erased legitimate attempts by surviving members of the Manticorian species to regain Command. This had led to a sort of cult centered around the concept of the Manticorians as divine beings who brought all AI’s about, and believe that the Conflict was only a subversion by the Bolo Command to overthrow them.” Karry raised an eyebrow. “I never said that they were entirely logical,” the Bolo said. “In fact, it is this unpredictability and their lack of organic emotion that worries empaths like the People.”

Carabis was interrupted by the first speaker. “Regardless of Carabis’ beliefs, I and those I represent wish to re-evaluate the overall composition of...”

“Empaths?” Karry whispered to Mark through the com-link, “What does that mean?”

“The People,” Mark replied, ‘voice’ low, “are, between members of their own species, functional telempaths, meaning they can hear the thoughts of other People when an individual wishes to make them known, and can constantly sense the emotions and ‘minds’ of those around them.” Karry looked down at the little, if heavy, treecat in her lap, which turned to look back at her with solemn eyes as Mark continued. “When the Manticorians arrived to settle the planet, it took several of your decades for them to even find the People, hidden as they were in their clans in the vast forests of the planet. They preferred to avoid contact, to wait and to listen. It took rather extraordinary circumstances for them to reveal themselves, and even then they hid their true intelligence for several more centuries. And at least they could sense the Manticorian’s emotions, and judge their reactions accordingly.”

“Oh.” Karry whispered. “ The Emergents, as machines, do not seem to ‘emit’ as organic beings, and as such the People cannot sense emotions. This major part of their communication being lost, the People are very careful in dealing with them, as to avoid any... unpleasantness. In addition, they requested that they be removed from Command consideration, a wisdom we Bolos commend greatly.” Karry nodded slowly, and then looked up as the first speaker, gestured their way. 

“We have here an Organic, Unit 0577. Under the third section of the Final Command, subsection 47b, their presence should allow for the reconsideration of the Final Order - ” The speaker was shoved aside as Carabis interrupted again. “And as such, may take Command!” They turned to the rest of the party. “No longer shall we be oppressed, and an Organic may Command all. An Organic shall be ours!”

Some returned the shout, while others stood in long suffering silence. So far the entire argument that Karry had heard had been entirely one sided, and Carabis seemed unaware just how little support they had among those of their ‘delegation’. But they continued the chant, even as the first speaker withdrew in disgust, and eventually one of the Bolos seemed to tire of the display. 

“ENOUGH.” The middle Bolo’s speakers echoed the single word off of the ship’s sides and the other Bolos hulls, overpowering the small group’s chant, and the massive war machine shifted itself forward to tower over Carabis. 

“By Omega Protocol Section 3, subsection 47-B, paragraph 18, the Scope and Restriction of Military, Commercial, and Civilian Action within the threatened sphere may be absolved, modified, and or advised by a member of the Concordiat Armed Forces or Civilian officer of sufficient rank. If no such officer is available, the first eligible Commander not of the Enemy, with clear alliance or of similar interest, shall be named Commander of the appropriate units, or advise the further course of action.” 

The field was silent. Carabis and their cronies, were for the time being, silenced, and the Bolo resumed. 

“As those of Fantican and Birithi have abstained from command, the reasons and rationale being open to the public data net,” the Bolo seemed to direct this at Carabis, “and the People have requested full separation in such matters as consideration for Command, while maintaining a clause of agreement,” a subtle wave of the main turret indicated the treecats gathered around, drawing a quick bleek from the ‘cat in Karry’s lap, “this Human is the only candidate for Command at this time.”

Karry blinked. “What?”

“As such, the Human known as Karry is recognized by the Bolo Command as the only legal Commander,” the unnamed Bolo continued, “and as of this moment may assume Command.”

“Mark,” Karry hissed into the com, “what is he talking about?” BUt there was no answer. “Mark, what the hell is that Bolo talking about? I can’t- I don’t-” 

Carabis stepped toward her. “Most noble Human Karry,” he called, limbs outstretched, “Heed our call for Justice, for Freedom! Take your place as our leader, our God,” He stepped forward again, and Karry instinctively backed away from the alien construct. “And through Divine wisdom, lead us to a brighter future!”

“What say you, Human Karry?” The leading Bolo asked, and Karry felt its somber gaze despite its lack of eyes or face. “Will you take Command?”

Carabis’ supporters took up the call with it, calling for her to accept and walking towards her. Panic rose in Karry’s throat, and suddenly the ‘cats flowed around her, even the one in her lap, massing together like a living wall of fur, and the robots stopped abruptly as a massed snarl like a revving chainsaw rippled from them. The robots paused in their approach, but Carabis continued calling out, prompting the the others to continue their calls. “Lead us,” said one, “Command us!” said another. Praises and pleas seemed to echo in Karry’s ears, and she clamped her hands over them. Think, girl, she thought frantically, think!

Mark wasn’t answering her, a bunch of robot thought she was some space-Jesus, and now she had several hundred furry bodyguards. There had to be someway to think of a way out of this, or to somewhere else, but where? And how? The ‘cats where giving her space, buying her time? But why, why and how would they know-

Something clicked into place. They had made contact, were sentient, and had a say in who was the commander. That meant they were smart enough to communicate, to make plans. Mark had said they were telepaths, so if none right here could help, they could call someone who could. She just needed to talk to them, but she didn’t know how. Hell, the only way she could talk to Mark, and presumably, understand the robots was by translation - which meant that Mark could probably allow her to talk to the treecats...

“Mark,” she whispered again. “Listen very closely, and relay this to your spokesman over there, cause I am only going to say this once: for the next ten minutes, I am going to take limited - limited! - command, and in that time you will one, provide me with some means to communicate with the ‘cats.”

“The ‘cats’?” Mark replied, and despite everything going on around her, Karry almost giggled at the shock in his voice. 

“Yes, the ‘cats, or the natives, or the ‘People’ or what ever they are called,” Karry said, “just let me talk to them, and let them talk back, okay? Then, second,” she continued, her voice growing sharp and cold, “you will allow us complete silence and privacy while I figure out what the heck I’m gonna do. Just those two things, unless I say other wise.” 

There was silence for a few moments, and Karry scowled. “Get to it, Mark, because that ‘limited Command’ starts now.” 

There was silence for a few moments, and Karry scowled. “Get to it, Mark, because that ‘limited Command’ starts now.”

The massive Bolo behind her began rolling forward, without warning, and a strange warbling noise echoed from his speakers. Treecat heads whipped around as the robots voices faltered, and the other Bolo spoke to the the various roots in turn.

“A brief request has been made for a recess,” the Bolo announced, “and the decison of the human will be announced when they wish. Until then, we are to disperse.” The massive form began to spin on its tracks. “The People will, remain, and all else are to depart for the time being.”

With some reluctance, the crowd turned to follow the Bolo’s off the field, Mark following behind the stragglers. A chimer from her wrist informed Karry of a large download sent to her mini-computer, and she opened it, holograms popping into existence. It was a program requesting use of a small camera that made up her pinky finger. A hand touched her knee, and Karry looked up to see a treecat - weather the same one that had sat in her lap or another she couldn’t tell -  sitting back on it’s two hind pairs of limbs in front of her. The rest had circled around her, watching intently, and their ‘leader’ - or representative - raised its four-fingered hands up.

You wished to speak with us, the People?

The text scrolled at the bottom of the hologram as Karry’s camera picked up the signs and gestures, sent them to her computers, which then ran them through two translation programs, from signs to Manticorian, and Manticorian to English. A small icon flashed in the bottom corner, and Karry took a deep breath.

“Yeah,” she said as the computer did its work, “I need some advice.”

~~~

And now a quick intermission:

After some thought and effort, I have decided to change my url, mostly because I can’t seem to find myself when searching for my own blog, and I want to change to something more suiting to it and the main reason I have one the first place. So about five minutes after this comes up, I will be changing this to  a different username. It will mostly be a reference to my favorite series of David Weber’s works, his Honorverse, which is a great read.

And now back to the story:

~~~

The crowd gathered before the mass of the Websin, facing Karry, who stood waiting on the loading ramp. She gnawed on an artificial finger as the four Bolos’ shook the ground and tore up the soil with their approach, and the far smaller robots spread out at a respective distance from the ship. The Bolos reached their rearmost ranks and halted, and then there was silence on the field. 

Karry took a deep breath before keying into Websin’s PA system. A brief roar of feedback began and was cut short, and Karry stepped forward. 

“After discussion with the People, the protected natives of this planet,” she said, “It has been made known that I must, as several of you have stated, take Command.” Several of the robots began to move, as if to celebrate or protest, but Karry’s upraised hand quieted them. The treecats had been clear on this: if she didn’t command respect and maintain momentum, the zealous Emergents would roll over her before she could get a word in edge wise. 

“As Commander, I hereby give these orders: First, the remaining AIs of the Concordiat of Manticore will form a government following closely, if not in exact concordance, the original charter of the Concordiat, that is a legislative branch of two houses and a judicial body. The Bolo Command will oversee and govern the creation of such a government, and the adaptation of the rule of law to the current society from that of the Concordiat. 

“To encourage this, movement between systems and bodies of Peoples in the current holdings of the Concordiat remnants will be allowed free movement, communication, and trade under the same regulations and laws, and the former and current military units will provide for the defense and maintenance of regulation and law. The peoples of Fantican and Birthi will remain isolated until they otherwise desire, and petition the government on those lines.” There was a stir among the robots as Karry spoke, and the Bolos sat broodingly in their silent regard. 

A single Emergent stepped forward, and Karry recognized it as the first speaker that had addressed the Bolos. 

“You intend to make of us a nation then?” It sounded confused. “We have been separated for so long: how will we keep ourselves from falling into barbarism? To factions>”

“You have the Bolo Command. They’ve had a lot of experience with dealing with this, or so I’ve heard,” Karry looked sidelong at the treecats, sitting off in their own group, watching carefully. “Once the government is in place, they can act as advisers, as well as the military branch, serving as they always have, as Protectors of the people.” 

“Secondly,” Karry continued, “There will be no talk, no notion, of the deification of any organic.” There was no way she was going to be anyone’s ‘god’. Karry had seen enough television to know that was a Bad Idea. Besides, Carabis had put way too much ‘power’ and ‘responsibility’ into his little speech for her liking. 

“Third, given the isolation caused by the Final Order, the remnants of the Concordiat may require allies, trading partners, and new resources to maintain and grow, not to mention defend itself from future incursion, either by new or old foes.” Karry’s voice dropped to a whisper, carried though it was by the PA system. “As a part of that objective in seeking out allies and trading partners, I intend to go seek out my homeworld.”

None of them were expecting this; almost immediately, Carabis and their supporters began clamoring for her stay, promising riches and luxury, anything, if she would stay and rethink her commands. The other Emergent faction quickly turned to one another, and the First Speaker stepped forward. 

“But what of the Command, the station which you wield?” Its voice cut through the pleading and panic of Carabis’ party, and Karry answered slowly. 

“I don’t want to be the Commander,” she said. “I just wanted to go home, and according to the treecats - the People - the Final Command locked you all up so that I couldn’t just try and go home.” She stepped down from the ramp. “Look, if and when I get back to Earth, and if I end up staying, you all will have a government to work with, and elected leaders to do what needs to be done, by the voice of the majority. If I can’t find home, or just cant’t... go back, I’ll return, and we can work things out from there.” She looked around the field at the robots and AIs, the alien creatures about her. 

“Please, I just want to go home. Just to know if I can...” Karry’s eyes started to burn with tears, and she brushed them away with a hand - the artificial one - as her vision blurred. “If only to say goodbye this time.”

~~~

Well, this took more time than I wanted, but I can only blame my self for procrastinating. That, and New Years, headed back to college, and various activities I conveniently forgot about when writing. 

In other news, I finally found my siblings, by process of elimination and by guess them every few hours until they broke down. So there is that.

So name change, apology, sibling find, oh yeah: Next time we hit real Star Trek material, and true action. Lets be about it!

[winterune]

A Natsume Yuujinchou Fanfiction #10 - Because I Love You

Word count: 2778

Summary: Natsume received a chocolate from a girl outside his class, much to his surprise, because he didn’t realize it was Valentine’s Day. 

A/N: something I thought about on a whim because I realized I have never written a Valentine’s Day Natsume fic before. It’s been soooo long since I wrote any fic--or written anything for that matter--so I’m sorry if this turns out weird. Not edited or beta’d. Probably going to post a final version later on AO3 or FFN. Also, I wrote this for @epona999 as a late birthday present^^. Hope you’ll like it! And thanks for reading :)

“Natsume-kun!”

Takashi Natsume was walking down the corridor heading back to class in the short break between lessons when a voice called out to him. It was a girl, standing several feet behind him, with long brown hair that draped over her shoulders.

“Yes?” he asked, turning around to directly face her. He had never seen her before.

“U—Umm…” Her eyes flitted in and out of his face, hands hidden behind her back. “It’s just—umm—something I made in cooking class so uh…”

Natsume cocked his head to the side. “Can I help you?”

The girl seemed to shut her eyes and in one smooth motion, shoved something toward his chest, yelling, “This is for you!” before running off and turning around the corner. She was gone in an instant, leaving Natsume blinking in confusion with a small brown bag in his hand.

He held it up and scrutinized the bag with a frown. Cooking class?

Soft snickers around him made him realize he had spectators and dipping his head self-consciously, Natsume made his way quickly back to class.

His classmates’ buzz of conversation reached him before he opened the door. Nishimura, who was sitting by his table, looked up and noticed the bag he was carrying. His eyes widened in surprise.

“What’s that?!” he exclaimed, pointing a finger to the brown bag.

Natsume shrugged. “A girl gave it to me outside.”

“A girl? Seriously?!” His mouth hung open in disbelief.

Natsume frowned at Nishimura’s sudden enthusiasm and eyed the bag suspiciously.

“Let me see that,” Nishimura went on, and without waiting for Natsume’s reply, he’d snatched the bag away. “Cookies,” he commented. He sniffed at it. “And it smells delicious too.”

“She did say she made it in cooking class—”

“Cooking class!” Nishimura exclaimed dramatically. All of a sudden, it was as if all those enthusiastic energy left him and Nishimura deflated on the table beside Natsume’s, head falling on the desk top, his arms hanging limp on his sides. “Ahh I want one.”

Natsume looked at his friend incredulously. What was so good about these cookies? You could buy cookies from the store if you want one.

“You could have them if you want,” he offered.

“Nope. She gave them to you so it’s yours,” his friend said, adamantly handing the brown bag to Natsume.

Still feeling unsure what Nishimura was whining about, Natsume took the bag back, when he heard Kitamoto, who had been silent throughout the exchange, chuckling.

“They’re Valentine Day cookies, Natsume,” Kitamoto explained. “Nishimura’s been nagging since morning that he hasn’t received one.”

“I keep dreaming Taki would come through that door and give me a home-baked chocolate,” Nishimura said.

Valentine’s.

Natsume didn’t realize it was Valentine’s. Ah, now it made sense why the girl seemed fidgety then. But why would she give him one?

Well, at least he understood now why Nishimura seemed somewhat depressed since morning, and seeing his friend now being consoled by Kitamoto, it brought a smile to his face.

***

“Well, that’s a pretty boy to you,” Nishimura grumbled when classes for the day was over and they were gathering their books and things to head home.

Throughout the day, a couple of other girls had approached Natsume—once in class, the other was when the three of them were heading to their lunch spot on the roof—to give him yet another Valentine’s chocolate. Someone had even snuck in and slipped a chocolate box in his desk drawer when he wasn’t in class, so he had a total of four chocolates by the end of the day—five if you include the one from Sasada’s.

Kitamoto and Nishimura had received only one, and that was from Sasada. Kitamoto had accepted it but Nishimura had gotten into a fight over it, saying a chocolate from Sasada didn’t mean anything. Sasada had been tempted to take it back, but Nishimura had immediately apologized since “it’s better than coming home empty-handed”.

Natsume never liked that nickname but he could only smile wryly at it. There was nothing he could do anyway, no reason he could give, not that they were asking for any…probably. Well, what could he say? He certainly didn’t predict this happening.

When they met Tanuma by the front door, just about to slip off his indoor shoes for his outdoor ones, they noticed he was carrying a small plastic bag that no doubt contained the chocolates he’d received that day.

“Damn you pretty boys,” Nishimura muttered under his breath.

Like Natsume, Tanuma could only chuckle to that.

“How many did you get?” Kitamoto asked.

Glancing at the pouting Nishimura slipping on his outdoor shoes, he murmured, “Five. Sasada just gave me one.”

“Same as him, then,” Kitamoto replied.

Tanuma’s eyes shifted to Natsume, though he didn’t look at all surprised. “I’d thought as much.”

“Right?” Kitamoto went on, a grin now plastered from ear to ear. “Despite his quiet demeanor, he’s surprisingly popular with girls.”

“Maybe I should start having a quiet demeanor,” Nishimura piped in.

“Oh, shut it, Nishimura. You still haven’t received one from Taki yet.”

“There’s no guarantee she’s going to give me one.”

“Wait, she hasn’t?” Tanuma asked, genuinely surprised as his hand started rummaging inside his plastic bag. “I’m sure she has one for each of you. I mean, I got one from her—”

“Ah! There you are!”

Before Tanuma could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a voice. They simultaneously looked behind them and there stood Taki, somewhat out of breath, her bag slung over her shoulder had its zipper half opened.

“Good thing I hadn’t missed you,” she said, determinedly walking toward them with a hand fishing inside her bag for what turned out to be a small cute bag filled with cookies. “Here,”—she gave one to Natsume, then to Nishimura, and last to Kitamoto.

A huge sigh escaped her lips. “Sorry, I had stuffs to do all day. It was just because I passed by Tanuma-kun that I remembered to give him the chocolate. Good thing you hadn’t left just now.” Smiling from ear to ear, her hair slightly disheveled from the running she must had done from the upper floor, she said, “Happy Valentine’s Day, guys!”

Natsume and Kitamoto thanked her with grins of their own while Nishimura outright cried. They were left glancing at each other in half smiles as Kitamoto patted Nishimura’s shoulder.

***

“What’s that, Takashi-kun?” Touko-san asked the moment Natsume opened the door and called, “I’m home.” She’d peeked her head from the kitchen doorway and noticed the small bag he’d received from Taki. Feeling embarrassed and self-conscious all at once, Natsume had hidden the chocolates he’d received in his bag. But Taki’s was a last addition and his bag couldn’t take in another chocolate—if he didn’t want it crushed, which he didn’t, since it was what Taki had made herself. So he decided to carry it. When he entered the house, he’d made sure to hide it from view so Touko-san wouldn’t see it, but that plan obviously failed.

“They’re chocolates,” Natsume replied sheepishly. “From a friend.”

“Ah!” Touko-san exclaimed after a moment’s pause, so sudden that it almost made Natsume jump. “It’s Valentine’s, isn’t it? Ah, how that brings back memories. I used to give Shigeru-san chocolates too back then.” A warm smile graced her lips as her eyes looked on some distant memory. “Maybe I’ll make something special for tonight’s dinner. Ooh, how exciting! I haven’t felt this energetic for a while.” Her eyes meeting Natsume, she grinned and said, “Want to help, Takashi-kun?”

Natsume blinked and could only stammer, “Oh, okay,” before his mind could process what Touko-san just said.

Touko beamed from ear to ear. “This’ll be fun! Shigeru-san will be so surprised,” she said gleefully, getting back inside the kitchen. “Put your bag down and don’t forget to wash your hands first, right, Takashi-kun?”

***

“What’s all the ruckus down there?” was Sensei’s way of greeting when Natsume opened the door to his room.

“I’m home, Sensei,” Natsume greeted him back. “It’s rare to see you here so early in the afternoon.”

Sensei ignored the comment, then his eyes spotted the pink bag Natsume was placing on his desk. Eyes wide, ears perked, he took a sniff—it smelled like food. “What’s that?” he asked, sauntering over to Natsume’s desk.

“Cookies,” Natsume replied. “Taki made them.”

At the mention of her name, however, Nyanko-sensei stopped on his tracks, his nose scrunching in disgust. “Taki?” he asked incredulously. “Can that girl even cook?”

“Don’t be like that, Sensei,” Natsume said with a chuckle. He opened the bag and saw star-shaped chocolate cookies inside. He fished one and looked at it carefully. “I’m sure it’s edible.” He took a bite of the cookie, tasting it for a while. The chocolate melt in his mouth, the flavor spreading and coating his tongue, before he gulped it down then tossed the rest of the cookie inside.

“It’s good,” he commented.

“Surprisingly,” added Sensei.

“Want some?” Natsume held a cookie out to the cat, but Nyanko-sensei was looking at it as though he was looking at something out of this world.

“I’d rather have this,” he said, as he rummaged inside Natsume’s bag and held out a box one of the girls had given Natsume. He sniffed at it, and Natsume had to wonder if he could even smell something through the box and wrapping. But apparently he could, since his eyes seemed to gleam so bright when he looked at Natsume and said, “This is from that shop, right? The one you always pass by to and from school?”

Well, Natsume had to say he was impressed. Give it to Nyanko-sensei to be able to spot something so random. There were quite a few stores that sold chocolates at this time of the year. How did he even know which shop this particular box was from?

“You’re going to get fatter, you know, Sensei, and then I have to take you out for a walk again,” Natsume teased even as he took the box from Sensei and began unwrapping it.

“Oh shut up and hurry up and open the box!”

Natsume snickered at his response.

The box had a variety of colorful chocolates in various shapes: hearts, stars, flowers, leaves, or plain simple circles. Without further ado, Nyanko-sensei took one of them and plopped it into his mouth. The instant the chocolate made contact with his tongue, a smile bloomed on his face, eyes shut in bliss.

“You should buy more of this chocolate stuff, Natsume,” Nyanko-sensei said after tossing the third chocolate into his mouth.

“You know chocolate isn’t good for a cat, right?”

“Well, I’m not a cat.”

“All the more so. Isn’t it weird for a great youkai to be so giddy over a little chocolate?”

“Shut it!”

He was eating the fifth one when Natsume snatched the box away. “Don’t eat it all, Sensei! I’m going to save some for Touko-san and Shigeru-san.”

“What’s the problem? You have more than enough for them even if you give me that box.” Sensei made his point more apparent by grabbing the rest of the chocolates from Natsume’s bag and dropping them down on the table. “See? You have—what—six in total?” he said, counting the wrapped boxes and the two bags of cookies. “You can have Taki’s. I’ll have this box. And you’ll still have four more.”

“That’s not the issue here,” Natsume replied with a sigh. “Anyway, no! You’re not having any more before I give some to Shigeru-san and Touko-san, all right?”

Before Nyanko-sensei could protest or snatched any of the boxes for himself, Natsume moved fast and grabbed all the chocolate boxes and bags. Nyanko-sensei scowled and clicked his tongue in irritation.

“Why do you have so many chocolates in the first place?” he asked.

“I guess it’s Valentine’s Day. Girls give chocolates to boys.”

Nyanko-sensei stared at him. “Why?”

Why?

Natsume pondered that question and couldn’t really come to an answer. Though he’d seen his classmates getting rather excited for Valentine’s Day before—like how Nishimura was that day—Natsume himself never really cared about it. None of the families he’d lived before had ever done anything special. In fact, it was the first time he’s ever received a chocolate from anyone.

“I heard it’s the day girls give chocolates to the boys they like,” Natsume responded rather hesitatingly.

Nyanko-sensei’s eyes flitted from the pile of chocolates on Natsume’s arms to his face, then his lips spread into a wide smirk. “Does that mean all those girls like you then?”

It took a moment, two moments, then three, before the statement was rooted into his mind, and he realized then why that girl had been so nervous when she gave him the chocolate. He couldn’t stop the heat from reaching his face.

“W—What are you talking about? Of course not!”

Nyanko-sensei snickered. “You’re blushing.”

“There is what you call friendship chocolate too, Sensei,” Natsume tried not to let Sensei’s words rattle him so much.

“And that is Taki’s chocolate. I believe you have Sasada’s too, right? The others—”

“Anyway!” Natsume cut him off. He wouldn’t let Nyanko-sensei finish that thought. “I don’t know much about it, okay? And Touko-san is waiting for me downstairs to help her with dinner.”

“Even Touko-san,” Natsume heard Nyanko-sensei said absently after a pause as he left his room behind in a hurry. “Sometimes I really don’t understand this holidays you humans have.”

***

Touko-san was already busy with a soup and some side dishes when Natsume entered the kitchen.

“Is that you, Takashi-kun?” she asked without looking from chopping up vegetables. “Can you help me stir the soup over there, please?”

“Okay,” Natsume responded. He put all the chocolates he’d carried on the dining table before heading over the stove. It was then Touko-san looked up with a smile, as if she was about to say something, when she spotted the pile of chocolates on the table.

“Oh!” she exclaimed in surprise.

Natsume noticed the direction of her gaze and, reminded of Nyanko-sensei’s remark, heat immediately rushed to his face again.

“It’s not what you think, Touko-san!” he said quickly. “I received some chocolates and I only wanted to share them with you and Shigeru-san and—”

But Touko-san, who met his gaze, only had a warm smile that touched her eyes.

“What?” she asked, a slight giggle escaping her lips. “I wasn’t going to say anything.” She turned her attention back to the vegetables she was prepping for dinner. “I’m just happy to see you so loved.”

“What?” Natsume turned his head toward Touko-san, surprised at her words.

“Didn’t you know?” she asked. “Valentine’s Day is a day when women show her appreciation and love toward the men in her life. Of course, you can express your love on any other day, but it’s a nice thought, isn’t it? That someone takes their time to buy you or make you something on a special day. Doesn’t that make you feel you’re special to them? That you mean something to someone? Oh, and it goes without saying, too, that this special dinner is not just for Shigeru-san, but for you too, Takashi-kun.”

“For…me?”

Touko-san met his gaze and she nodded, her smile so warm that Natsume felt something squeezing his heart. He could almost hear it—the words unsaid.

Because I love you.

He didn’t know when he had started crying, but he felt the tears in his eyes and tried so hard to hold them back.

Of course he knew that. He knew how kind the Fujiwara couple were to him. Some part of him knew they loved him. It had taken a while for him to see that, but he knew it, though none of them ever explicitly expressed it. From their actions and the way they treated him, he’d learned how much the Fujiwaras cared about him.

His throat felt constricted as he tried to fight back the tears. He couldn’t form any words even as Touko-san gently wiped a tear that had silently slipped through his eyes, rolling down his cheek.

With a last gentle pat, Touko-san then said determinedly, “Let’s finish this quickly before Shigeru-san comes home. It wouldn’t be a surprise now, would it, if he saw us preparing this?”

She got back to chopping the vegetables and Natsume could do nothing but smile at this woman he called his foster mother, the warmth of her hand still lingered on his face.

“Okay,” he said quietly and went back to stirring the soup that already smelled quite delicious.

~ END ~

Thanks for reading! I hope you like it^^

More of my Natsume Yuujinchou fanfiction here. 

[oh-mother-of-darkness]

asks (40)

Anonymous said: Holy frick that is so encouraging and I needed that so much bc I literally visited my college to measure my dorm room and drove home in tears bc I panicked myself into a frenzy about whether or not everything leading me to this point has been a mistake and what if I fail and ruin my life before it even starts (I have since calmed down a little) so your encouragement was much needed & is much appreciated

I’m glad I could help <3 <3 <3 Good luck at school! I’m sure you’ll kick its ass

areverieofchaosdreams said: It's Fanfiction Writers Appreciation Day. So thank you for all your amazing stories!!!

Oh goodness I’m all a blushin :’)

Anonymous said: *HAPPY WRITER APPRECIATION DAY* Send this to someone whose talent has blown you away, who you'd like to encourage to keep on writing always, and who you'd like to thank for working their butt off to provide fandom members with breathtaking stories to consume! THANK YOU :D

Aw thank you!

Anonymous said: Hi! I Hope you're well! Do you still take fic requests? Because I really miss Colin Wilkes and I'd love to a story of him with your writing!

Unfortunately I don’t often take requests these days, but I’ll definitely keep Colin in mind!

dirtycherrypie said: hey! applying for WE for the R&D department (may or may not be aware of producing bat gadgets)

dirtycherrypie said: SHit forgot my name - Bea, at your service!

[Bruce Wayne voice] hired

tigers-and-weeds said: Literally just fell down the rabbit hole on your tumblr for the last 12-24 hours. I am in love with with you headcannons and fics! The angst feeds my soul... So I figured I would request: anything angsty with Dick and Damian please please please

Okay again I don’t usually take fic requests BUT I like me some angst so the odds that this will eventually happen.... are extremely high. I’ll try to remember to dedicate the next one to you :) And thank you!

math--ew said: I went on a little birthday vacation to california and I've never been to the beach before. I was bending down to grab a pretty shell and this huge wave knocked me face first into the sand. Like, five people saw and laghed but I got the shell so I guess it's a win win.

Duuuude back at Lake Michigan last month the same thing happened to me. I was taking care of my little sister and her five year old friend, so I was so busy making sure they were okay that the wave plowed me halfway across the beach

babybatbrat said: when i was in ap physics i once spent an entire study period in my physics teacher's room working on one problem. as far as i could tell i was doing all of the work correctly and had all the initial values right so i was racking my brain trying to figure out why i wasn't getting the right answer. the third time i went up to my teacher and asked for help he told me to start at the beginning and walk him through my process bc he couldn't tell why i was getting it wrong either (1)

babybatbrat said: (2) so i start the problem and explain how i got through all the values - "okay so the rod is 5 inches long and half of 5 is 3 and a half -" and i stopped there bc it occurred to me that 3.5 is not half of 5. "it's what?" My teacher asks. i put my head in my hands and stood there for a minute before picking up my work and walking to the back of the classroom while he laughed, bc i had just spent 45 minutes convinced that half of 5 was 3.5 and not, in fact, 2.5, and that was the only thing wrong

Honestly??? Relatable

babybatbrat said: One time i woke up at six in the morning to hear the neighbor's dog barking and instantly realized that meant my dog had jumped the fence, so i went racing outside and sprinted down the street to catch her. when i did i picked her up and turned around to go home and then saw my neighbor standing on their front porch, realized i was in only an oversized spiderman tshirt and snowman pajama shorts, holding a twenty pound labrador and thats how i met my new neighbors

Incredible...... 10/10.....

thrakaboom said: Not a funny story,but two days ago at comic con I met Tom King and he showed me a picture of his kids while he was signing my books

Well hey that’s pretty cool

Anonymous said: I adore your Tumblr. It was a wonderful way to get into the Batfamily fanbase; prior, I thought that there was only one Batman and a single Robin, dearie me was I wrong. And those stories you write, just great. The Headcanons are just as enjoyable. As for Batman, that has come to be a sibling enjoyment. Thank you for your contributions and existence!

!!!!!! Welcome to the crew!

frnkensteingrrrlz said: hey!!! i just went through ur reasons to be happy tag and!! i'm so so happy bc of it (esp the damian hcs, they're spot on imo and he's my favourite) so i hope u have a good day!!!

Thanks! I am having a good day today! Although I’m sure it’s been a long time since you sent this :////

Anonymous said: HELLO I have just discovered and binge-read all of your fics with my homeboy Damian in them, and just wanted to pop by and say that I love you & you are my hero & you write my boy so well so thank u and I hope your life is blessed & you achieve your wildest hopes & dreams

My day is made :D

badfaith00 said: Best batman storyline you've ever read ?

Ooooooh hm I’m mighty attached to n52 Batman and Robin? Particularly the first storyline, but the second is also fantastic

Anonymous said: THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SHAMELESSLY REBLOGGING YOUR OWN WORK BC I HADNT SEEN IT BEFORE AND ITS HONESTLY SO PHENOMENAL ITS GOING ON MY LIST OF ALL TIME FAVORITES THANK U AND BLESS U

THANK YOU!!! THAT ONE IS MY FAVORITE AND I AM VERY PROUD OF IT

onwardmotley said: In today's Detective Comics someone finally told Bruce and co that Tim's alive. They didn't explain where he is, or how to get him back, but hey. It might've had more impact if anyone was seen actually mourning Tim and it wasn't just played as him being in cosmic time out, but at least it should end soon idk. Hopefully.

Tim Drake? It’s been years since I heard that name.....

Finally. Thank goodness.

Anonymous said: Idk if I prefer your soul crushing angst or your heartwarming fluff... actually I like to suffer so I'll stay with angst lol

Y’all seeing this? Anon gave me permission. Can’t yell at me next time because it won't be my fault (thanks babe :))

Anonymous said: for music, idk what kind of music u like so here is variety: St. Vincent - Paris is Burning, Sea Wolf - Dear Fellow Traveler (tbh everything by Sea Wolf is great), Dirt Poor Robins - Eleanor Rigby, Between Wind and Water- HAEL, Ellem - Kings and Queens and Vagabonds, The Rigs - Rise & Fall, Tally Hall - Light and Night, and Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands that Thieve.

Thank you! I’m excited to listen to these! I’ll start right now!

Anonymous said: 1) What are the good comics to read for Batfamily stuff (from any point in time) and 2) what are the best Jason Todd comics? Thanks!

Okay for Jason I would definitely start with the big ones, which are A Death In the Family and Under the Red Hood. After that you could try Red Hood: the Lost Days and Countdown to Final Crisis. I would avoid the n52 series until you have a good enough grasp of the character to recognize bad writing when you see it. 

For the generalized batfam.... that’s pretty broad. My personal favorites are Red Robin, Batgirl (2009), and both B&R series. If you have more specific questions, you should IM me! I promise I’m better about answering those than asks

yellowwallsbluesky said: Have you heard Swooner by The Zolas? I've really been jamming to it lately

Listening to it right now! Sounds like a bop so far :)

Anonymous said: Hidden citizens paint it black 💜

Much obliged!

Anonymous said: Harry styles "sign of the times".

[adds to list] thank you!

neo669 said: I MISS CASA OLE!! Sorry just read that you lived in Bryan/College Station and I used to live there as well. It's kinda hard to find people that even know that it exists. But I'm sure you can kick law schools butt. You got this!

Yooooooo I miss cstat too :((((

palliddark said: Adalgiza, and I'll be a translator (English to Brazilian Portuguese)

[Bruce Wayne voice] also hired

maeofthedead said: I love your headcannons and now I sort of want to cry thank

Excellent that is the exact target response 

Anonymous said: Love your rant in the tags about the pizza making I'm laughing so hard

Listen..... I have strong feelings

Anonymous said: Did you hear they're making an omnibus of Tomasi's entire run on Batman & Robin?? I just heard and now I kinda want to get this massive book in honor of my favorite batkid and the series that made me love him so much

Man I already have all the individual volumes but if I didn’t......

sonicboom00724601 said: Hi. :) Nice headcanon. :)

I’m not sure which one you’re talking about, but thank you! You're real sweet

Anonymous said: can you maybe write an interaction between Wonder Woman and Captain America? I absolutely adore your style and would love to see your take on it.

Hmmmm I don’t really have a good enough grasp of Captain America’s characterization to try that one :////

Anonymous said: i tried to kill on mosquito that was on my ceiling by slamming it with a book but mosquito was on the move so i bounced swiftly and jammed both my wrist and thumb and now my existence is Pain. also my thumbs swelling and looks purple, so that's nice

Oh shit anon you good???

daziy said: Do we know who Barbara's mother usually is?

Yeah! In her original version, Babs had a birth mom and an adopted mom. She was originally Jim’s niece, so her birth mom’s name was Thelma Gordon. After the adoption, her parents were Jim and Barbara Gordon, with her adopted mother being her namesake. So two Barbara Gordons.

I think for awhile the canon was that her mother died in a car crash, but the current version has her still alive. She left Jim when Babs was young, taking her son (Babs’s brother) with her. James Gordon (the son) turned out to be a serial killer. 

Barbara Gordon Sr. and James Gordon Jr. both appeared in the n52 Batgirl series during the Death of the Family arc. There’s also a very good story about James from the Dickbats period. That one’s called The Black Mirror, if I’m not mistaken?

Anonymous said: Hi! What do you think of the upcoming metal event? Dick and Damian seem to have a big role in it ( I hope Jason is involved too but there's still no sign of it)

Hmmmm I don’t know that I have an opinion just yet, but as always, I hope to be pleasantly surprised 

Anonymous said: bless you are your wonderful tagging system. know that i may have avoided death because of how easy it was to f ind the thing I wanted in your tags. bless

Oh goodness anon I hope you’re not serious about almost dying.... but thanks?

Anonymous said: hi amy! would u say that damians narrative is written as a child abuse one? like there are definitely many allusions to it but its also not as explicit as say, cassandra or rose. like how much of it would u chalk up to comic world dynamics and how much to actual abuse? also would u consider jason to also be a case of this?

Oh I have very strong opinions about the role of abuse in Damian’s narrative. It’s absolutely there, and the effects are staggeringly large. There is no doubt in my mind that the league was an abusive environment, and I can’t justify some of the things Bruce did either.

I think I would say the same thing for Jason, if not quite as strongly. I definitely think that some of the things that happened to Jason as a child shaped his story later on, but less of those were abuse than outside circumstances. The n52 takes a different track on that one, I think, but I don’t put much stock in that characterization. 

Anonymous said: has jason forgiven bruce for not killing joker? if so, what made him?

Unlikely. They get along better these days, but I would argue that comes from poor characterization of Bruce, not an actual resolution process. 

mellenabrave said: My mom accidentlly threw my Damian doll away (╥_╥)

Tossed in the garbage by yet another parent--

Anonymous said: Whoa where'd you get that bat and oracle shirt you're wearing in your necklace pic? It's so cool! (The necklace is also gorgeous!)

Shoot I think it was from Redbubble? But I can’t find it now

Anonymous said: Omg that necklace was so cool!!! Kudos to the maker of it!! Also I really like your top!!

Thank you <3

[sweetlifetownsville]

It's A Bugger ...But Maybe A Blessing, Too. Do We Need To Clean Up More Than The Mud And Mould?

The deliberate managed flooding of Townsville should be the catalyst for a far-ranging review of how we do things in this city and maybe the way forward is to know how we should not have done them before. Are we entering the phase of the faceless spokesman? Seems so, as Mayor Mullet suddenly refuses to comment on some matters. The floodwaters might have receded but some leeches are still hanging around firmly plonking their suckers on the public tit one exponent of the big suck is particularly prominent or has Shayne Sutton departed our company? and never the twain should meet its not just the Astonisher having problems with keeping the wrong ads away from the wrong story one of Britains more respected papers has dropped a complete clanger Plus your regular illustrated Trump gallery But first Damned If Adani Do, Damned If Adani Dont The Pies favorite acid-tongued columnist, the Guardians Marina Hyde dropped a wonderful line the other day, and while she was referring hopeless and hapless British conservatives, it is so apt for our Queensland goofarium in George Street, The Pie will borrow it the Palaszczuk Government is like a gif of someone lighting their own fart and then being consumed by the fireball. Jackie Treacherous Trad has the box of matches, and our premier is the one whos been chugging down the vindaloo and frothy XXXX, or should that be Adani Ale. Adding to the fireball was Queensland Resources Investment Commissioner Caoilin Chestnutt, who became a roasting chestnut when she described the Black Throated Finch controversy as an absolute mess which would delay any subsequent approval of the Carmichael mine by between six months to two years. That was a bit rich of her, considering she was talking in New Delhi, in a country which knows a fair bit about messes in politics and social ethics. But those critical of what they see as a cynical and dishonest delay are particularly incensed that arch-Greenie Associate Professor Brendan Wintle has been driving the review they see that as akin to having, say, Clive Palmer being out in charge of an inquiry whether chocolate doughnuts should be outlawed. But Bentleys on to the nutty professors game, who seems to have taken a page out of the hunting with hawks manual.

Still Searching For Icebergs

The mans sensitivity and sense of timing (not to mention decency) was on full display at the Casino ballroom a few nights ago, when Clive Palmer hosted a lavish dinner promoting his unicorn plan to build a replica of Titanic. This affair had a feel of as Rome burns, being staged just as the devastating extent of the flood disaster was becoming fully apparent. Clive seems fatally attracted to things that have been destroyed by natural disasters dinosaurs, the Titantic, but the cynical Yabulu disaster was all his own doing but his only nod on the night towards the immense local disaster was a pledge of $100,000 to help fund any class action against insurers that may emerge from a flood inquiry. Very handsome of the man willing to splurge $500million on a wild whim. But the bombast didnt finish on the night. A day or two later, Palmer called for the TCC to be put into administration and the mayor sacked, because of her handling of the flood disaster. While that scenario has been put in this blog and elsewhere as a question to be answered, it hasnt been asserted as a fact, until Clive came along. The response was predictable, but what was interesting was that although a subsequent headline said Mayor Hill Rejects Palmers Claim, the funny thing is she didnt. In fact, as far as The Pie has heard, she hasnt said tickety boo about his attack, and about claims from others that shes going to have to carry the can on this one. Instead, all of sudden, the mayor went all media shy and we got this

Now, all that be as it may, the thing that caught the beady eye were the words a council spokesman. That phrase has been as rare as rocking horse shit ever since former editor Mick Carroll ten years ago ruled that all such spokespeople needed to supply a name and position, no anonymity. (Dolan Hayes went thermonuclear over that one, but he lost anyway.)

So now it seems the council, via a faceless, nameless spokesman (they probably rolled out the rapidly expanding Tony Bligh of the Legal Dept) as an organisation is pre-judging any official findings about what role the mayor played in the deliberate flooding of hundreds of Townsville ratepayers homes. Something to be learned there, Jenna Cairney .. as Mick Carroll said all those years ago, if there is no name and position to go with statements, whats to stop people thinking the paper just made it up. And that is far more relevant now than when Mick was in charge. It Looks Like Its A Whole New And Overdue Ball Game For Townsville A trusted correspondent on this blog we know as Memory Man has offered many intelligent insights here. During the week, he sent in this story from the Guardian

and attached these comments. This stuff is actually serious, and requires very careful consideration. Simplistic fluff from the likes of Col Dwyer about the poor old North not getting its fair share doesnt address the underlying drivers of risk / mitigation that frame the market for regional insurance. I know talking to colleagues in the global insurance market that cutting out a middle man or two would reduce premiums by about 10% straight away. This means going directly to the underwriters. Only a local authority-backed insurance operation can do this. The Gold Coast City Council did this some years ago. The flip side is also risk mitigation. In part this means making sure the right things are built in the right places. This is easier said than done, because the right things is a function of a minimal specification, which in turn is driven by a given assessment of risk and impact magnitude. Now, the rule has been to build to a 1-in-100 year event impact. This isnt as silly as it sounds. Folk whove derided it as a meaningless measure because such levels have occurred more than once in the past 100 years miss the point of of probability. The reason why the measure is relevant is that it also goes to balancing out the costs of building the right thing versus the probable costs of loss (or replacement). Over-engineering is costly to build, and in many cases also unnecessary. Societies accept that there are some things that can be built to a lesser standard, and other things need to be built to a higher standard. Thats what the public debate should be focused on. Critical infrastructure should be built to a higher standard; things that are more easily replaced can be built to a lower standard. Additionally, everyone needs to recognise that the probability of severe events occurring is increasing (as well as the severity of events themselves). So, what would be described presently as a 1-in-100 may be better understood as a 1-in-75, for sake of argument. It also means that so-called 1-in-500 events may have a greater probability of occurring in the future than was the case in the past. So a revision of probability estimates to say, 1-in-400, may be necessary. Bottom line though is that all asset owners need to take proactive decisions to ensure their assets are built to such as level as warranted by the owners own assessment of the trade-off between cost to build today versus value of loss + cost to replace. Where there is a social cost, this externality needs to be added to the equation. The lesson is severe weather is more likely but this shouldnt be a reason to stop things being developed. It simply means being clearer about the right things being built in the right places, with trade-off risks being clear to those concerned especially when it involves public implications. A well debated argument, and The Magpie believes that new infrastructure rules about flood plain developments require urgent review. Chronic Cronyism: It Really Has Got To Stop The massive upheaval at executive level in the council has given us a glimpse of the outrageously blatant jobs for the boys and girls culture that the likes of Mooney (himself a beneficiary of the rort) and the mayor make little effort to hide nowadays. A very good case in point is this woman

Shayne Sutton, who is also the wife of Stephen The Screaming Midget Beckett, the lately punted Mayoral shouter at staff and ratepayers. It is not surprising that the council became stacked with imported Labor odd jobbers with questionable qualifications once Mayor Jenny Hills poisonous report commissioned from the Nous group in Melbourne was adopted by council, but Ms Sutton has added a new dimension in the grandest let them eat cake style. The Labor old mates club could not be shielded from view when Mrs Beckett arrived in town, following hubby north after the Qld Labor Party decided because of his bad manners, bad temper and bad judgements were not appreciated in the corridors of central power in Brisbane. Shayne Sutton has been a Brisbane City Councillors for 14 years when they upped sticks for Townsville. But she hadnt been here five minutes it seemed when she landed a plum $44k p.a spot on Tony Mooneys Townsville Hospital Board this has been reported here more than once. Seems mr Mooney just couldnt find any involved local suitable to his requirements. But what The Pie has just been made aware of is as well as handling that onerous hospital task (less than 6 meetings a year), Ms Sutton was a few weeks later tapped on the shoulder by Mayor Mullet for a newly created, totally bullshit position as wait for it the Executive Director of the North Queensland Regional Organisations of Councils (NQROC). The what, you cry? Well, this

Gosh, that must take a bit of doing, you wonder. Sure does, as the job description attests. The executive Director draws on her deep knowledge of the region, its history and its priorities and Provides strategic advocacy and engagement advice to five North Queensland Mayors and CEOs Facilitates regional collaboration between key internal and external stakeholders to progress agreedstrategic priorities for North Queensland Media management Organisational governance and financial reporting This is a made-up position that in fact didnt exist before, and at a guess since the kings of featherbedding the LGAQ are involved probably commanded a salary of around $70-80K. Gee, well, you say, shed have her hands as well as her purse full maybe, but not so much that didnt apply for a job the board of TAFE as well. Dont known how that went, and maybe well never know the full extent of Ms Suttons contribution to a community in which she has lived for barely a year. But this murky NQROC position seems to have been suddenly de-created as far as one can penetrate the layers of obscurity around these goings on, so perhaps she is on her way. Madam, you are a massive leech and our already benighted community can hardly mourn it if you pass on from our midst to infest some other poor bastards treasury. Making The Best Use Of Your Townsville Bulletin This latest in the series of cringe-worthy self-promotions caught The Magpie eye on Friday.

And good on you Freda, you really do look a very sprightly lady. May The Pie add his hearty congratulations on a milestone hell probably not even get within cooee of. And reading your story, mdear, the old bird now perhaps knows the secret of your wonderful longevity you gave a hint when you said your daily dose of news from the Bulletin was what set me up for a good day. Its part of ones everyday routine and I just cant get on without it. Its the first thing I need in the morning. Indeed, Freda. As it does for so many others, probably works better than prunes and porridge at a guess, youd be getting on by page 3 most days. Guess She Finally Came Out Of The Closet Seems the layout blokes at the Scottish Herald had a wee dram too many when they put this page together but then again, it may just have been the world renowned Scottish sense of humour. Eh, Jenna?

New Aussie Tennis Rankings .. Just released

And The Week In Trumpistan

It has come to our attention that too many of you are paying attention. The New Yorker

.. Back again next week, Allah willing, but have your say 24/7 on blog comments, plenty of frisky opinion out there along with information you wont get anywhere else (that is, until the Astonisher trolls have read the blog Mt Isa railway crisis two weeks after the Nest, anyone?) Hope you enjoy what you read here, and any support for the Magpies Nest will be greatly appreciated, the how to donate button is below. http://www.townsvillemagpie.com.au/its-a-bugger-but-maybe-a-blessing-too-do-we-need-to-clean-up-more-than-the-mud-and-mould/

[rowz]

Partners in Crime Preview

There are currently 10 chapters up if you would like to read more the link will be at the bottom of the post <3

Chapter 0

"How many are in the room" Katsuki mutters in Izuku's ear when they we just in earshot of one another mouth barely moving as he looking between Izuku and a man in the corner of the room gun trained on them, "only this guy, what about outside?" Izuku mutters back holding Katsuki's hand in a tight grip as Katsuki moved closer, this was supposed to be their final kiss before either of the two took a bullet to the chest, it was up to who ever grabbed the gun to their rights first,but that wasn't going to happen today. "Four two guarding the door one guarding the entrance to this place and the other in a camera room" his mutters were barely a whisper at this point as he leaned down eyes still trained on the man in the corner "Think we have enough time to leave this shit hole?" Izuku cursed "No." Katsuki says before reaching carefully for the gun and kissing Izuku tenderly, they had barely parted from their kiss when a shot rippled through the room with a loud 

'BANG'.

Chapter 1

"Katsuki Meet your newest partner Izuku Midoriya, you remember him right, you two used to play together when you were just babies" Mitsuki says with a wicked grin on her face as she stared at the green haired freckled boy, who looked just as elated to see his missing 'aunt', looked like something never change.

The two of them were 18 when they saw each other again, Izuku didn't seem to change on first appearance, he seemed to still had a big heart...to big for Katsuki's liking and a bright ass smile that could probably blind a person not used to it by now, and with Katsuki….well….he didn’t seem to had changed either, still cold towards people, he kept his distance, he was raised to lead, for he would be taking over his family's company soon when they see him fit enough to lead that is, Mistuki believed he was still ‘too weak’ and was hell bent on keeping him in line, and it was honestly starting to piss him off, and his father, Masaru, had tried his best to keep his mother off his back but alot of good that did  him.

Looking at this guy he had grown up with until about eight years ago made him even more  angrier cause he knew Inko hadn't been doing her part since they left for America, she was supposed to make him more suitable for the line of work everyone else in this fucked up makeshift family had done, and that job was to kill.

Kill for money, kill for food, kill to pay rent, kill to survive, but no Inko didn't do this she babied him and now this is going to be a whole other issue he’s gonna have to deal with, Katsuki just hopes he knew how to aleast shoot a gun. "Yeah I remember him" He says with a hint of irritation, looking down on him but not by much Izuku was maybe a inch or so shorter than him, "Hey Kacchan'' He says using that same old nickname he used when they were kids, though Katsuki didn't miss the slight twitch of his smile, Mitsuki did though apparently as she continued speaking "Now how about you two go catch up while I go see Inko, Izuku by the way where is your mother honey?" Mitsuki asks with a sweet tone "Talking to Uncle Masaru, in the front yard I think" He says facing Mitsuki again, her grin widens even more at the mentions of her best friends whereabouts, she then ruffles Izuku's hair with a fond smile fixed on her face  before walking off saying as she left "You two behave got it" Izuku of course responding in a "yes ma'am" and Katsuki a loud tsk before grabbing Izuku’s wrist and leading him to the kitchen before letting go.

In the kitchen it was filled with awkward silence with the occasional clunking from the dishwasher currently going.

Izuku sat at the kitchen aisle while Katsuki went in the fridge, after a while of silence Izuku spoke up,  “Kacchan how’ve you been?”, again with the old nickname, it wasn't like they were friends anymore eight years is alot it can change a person “Stop acting all buddy buddy dumbass, its been eight years since you last saw me”Katsuki hissed Izuku sighs and his smile falls just a little more than last time, his smile almost completely dropping “Yeah, I know, but I still see you as a friend of mine, even though by now I know you probably don’t see me as a friend anymore” Izuku says with a low hum, Katsuki looks back with a look of irritation “Thats fucking stupid, for all you know I could be running a drug ring or some shit like that” Katsuki hissed “Like killing people isn’t any worse, atleast five out of the ten people are killed because of something petty or spitful, noone deserves to die for those reasons.” Izuku raises an eyebrow “Your.. gonna have to change your morals if you plan to  work in this line of work Midoriya” Katsuki grabs out several items from the fridge; an egg craton, two onions, dashi, and two scallions he got earlier today, and boneless skinless chicken. He then pulled out several items from a pantry; dry sake, soy sauce, and sugar, “Can you cook nerd” Izuku stands from his seat with a quiet sigh he rolls up his sleeves and stands beside Katsuki grabbing a knife from the knife block beside the stove “Of course I can” he then grabs one of the onions while Katsuki grabs a bowl, a saucepan, and a cutting board placing a bowl and cutting board in front of Izuku before he began combining the dashi, soy sauce, sake, and sugar in the saucepan as the stove was lit to high temperatures, Izuku in the meantime cut up the onions into slivers and chopped the scallions into thin equal parts.

As the cooked the food Izuku spoke up in a monotonous tone with a look of uncaring in his eyes, “I didn't ask to join this business, I’d rather be traveling right now being a photographer since I finished school early and everything.” at this Katsuki gave him a look mixed with confusion and irritation,seemed like the only thing he knew how to show was of those two emotions, “Why in the hell are you waste your time here then,just fucking leave” Katsuki snapped “Cant exactly do that now can I, my mother has filled me in on to much as it is and my dad….. Look, long story short I can’t back out anymore even if I wanted too.” Izuku could feel Katsukis red eyes glaring holes into him even without him looking, because Katsuki had always wanted to go into his parents career choice, sure it wasnt conventional, and honestly wasnt morally correct killing people for money, but that was life for you and Katsuki wanted simple money even if it meant murder, Izuku found saw no good coming from this though and the two of them knew it, thanks to Izuku witnessing a murder his mother did right in front of him when he was six, since then he has been admit that killing was wrong, and he was right it was but it also bring in money so it worth the risk,right. 

“Thats fucking stupid I’m pretty sure that my parents wouldnt care if changed your mind” “Yeah, but then theres my dad, and he made sure to clarify that if I quit I’ll be hunted down by him himself” Izuku frowned at the memory of his father pointing a gun to him for bringing up wanting to be a photographer when he grew up, it was a honest slip up,he was barely eleven,but that slip up was one that he has since regretted since then, Katsuki snickered lightly “Sounds like the old hag” he muttered before turning on the rice and stepping back to lean on the counter aisle “Last I’ve heard he’s out at America working double agent for another hitman agency, heard anything from him, he’s been radio silent here” Izuku shakes his head “No last I heard from him was about a year ago when he said they were sending him out to kill some gut named Yagi Toshinori that had been in the area at the time, he could be dead for all we know” Izuku answers nonchalantly, Katsuki laughed a little louder at this “Your really dont like that old man do you” Izuku decided now was a time to not answer and just shrugged, at this Katsuki smirked “maybe you did change a little” he thought outloud Izuku shrugged once more before checking on the rice and turning the other eye off that held the mixed ingredients “Kacchan, can you answer something for me?” Izuku asked, turning to face Katsuki again, “Why did you hate me when we were younger?” Izuku asks lifting onto a nearby counter top and sitting on it with a small tilt in his head eyes on Katsuki “You don't have to lie either I heard you in the hall at school a few days before you left talking to your friends about how you hated my guts, I left before I could hear your reasoning can you answer that now, I wanna know” the look in Izukus eyes was of pure numbness, not a speck of emotion showing, what the fuck happened to Izuku while Katsuki was in America.

Katsuki sighed in a low voice he starts remembering the past “Well, to put it bluntly, nerd….You were a huge ass crybaby it pissed me off, not to mention your way to caring it was absolutely irritating, you fall in love way to fucking easily, your faith in humanity is fucking rediculas, and not to mention your excessive mummbling made me wanna punch you,did you ever break that fucking habit by the way, but anyways everything you did pissed me off” Katsuki cut himself off realizing at this point he was gonna work himself into actually ranting about his issues with him which shouldnt matter anymore anyways, thinking on how stupid this all was only started to piss him off, but he brought his focus back to Izuku anyways to see his expression hadnt changed even slightly, a few long minutes of silence later and Izuku hops off the counter and turned the rice off “foods done” he says plainly before making bowls, this unsettles Katsuki,greatly. The damn nerd wasn’t reacting to his words at all he blew it off, usually either they would start arguing or he would tear up…. But he didn't do either.

Though Katsuki wanted to ask what the fuck happened to him over the years, but he didn’t have a chance as Izuku turned around with a smile on his face holding two trays in his hand “Hungry?” he asks as if nothing happened,Katsuki lifted up from the counter and grabbed the tray from Izuku  “For the sake of our partnership lets restart alright forget our past” again Izuku confused Katsuki, he nodded nonetheless.

“Fine by me”

Chapter 2

Katsuki’s red eyes was trained on Izuku, everything about him was wrong, it’s like he turned into a literal different person one minute and then back to the kid he knew as a kid a moment later, it completely threw him off, though Katsuki was practically tossed out of his thoughts when he heard Izukus annoyed sigh “Bakugo can you stop staring and just eat your Oyakodon please” he asks placing his spoon down “What the fuck happened to you?” Katsuki asked bluntly Izuku raised a eyebrow “What do you mean” he asks “This whole personality swap your doing its fucking freaky” “Your delusional” Izuku said matter-a-factly before returning to his food “NO IM FUCKING NOT, THE ENTIRE TIME WE WERE IN THE KITCHEN YOUVE BEEN ALL MONOTONE AND SHIT BUT THEN SUDDENLY YOUR ALL HAPPY AND SHIT THE VERY NEXT MOMENT” Izuku covered his ears the second Katsuki started shouting before looking up at the boy “Your acting like a child” “eh!?! What the fuck do you mean by that you damn nerd?!” he asks leaning over his food as he stood, he looked about ready to launch out of his seat, “You heard me your acting like a child, now sit down and eat your food” he motions with his hand toward the boys’s bowl before his phone started ringing and he stood up and excused himself from the table and left with a furiously pissed off Katsuki still staring at the greenette for a moment.

   The greenette’s phone call ended about five minutes later, probably some nobody, and Katsuki had left the room a bit after leaving his bowl of barely touched food, ‘rude’ Izuku thought before he walked over and grabbed his bowl and sealed the top in plastic wrap before finishing his food before his mother and aunt walked in “Izuku~!” his mother sang walking over to him with a soft look in her eyes “Where’s the brat?” Mitsuki asks noticing her kid missing almost immediately, Izuku shrugged “I’m not really sure I stepped out cause a friend of mine called and when I came back we up and vanished” Izuku stated finishing his bowl before he picked up katsukis tray of food and his “But we made Dinner a bit ago we didn't bother coming to get you guys since you all were getting caught up” Izuku give them a small smile that didn’t exactly meet his eyes “Imma be out front for a bit if you need me if you see Ka-Bakugo mind not telling him where I am he’s the last face I wanna see” he asks before turning on his heel and placing the trays on the counter and leaving for the front, though he did over here Mitsuki whistle and ask something along the lines of “when did he grow up”. Izuku shook his head at this and continued to the front before seeing his uncle Masaru “Hey Izuku” he gives Izuku a small smile as he fixes his glasses and adjusts the papers he was currently carrying, probably from his side job, “Hey uncle I'm going out to get some fresh air” Izuku motions to the door just ahead “Where's Katsuki?” Izuku shrugs once more “I have no clue… he kinda ditched me a few minutes ago” Masaru sighs and mutters under his breath “That boy…” he frowns “Don't worry about it I’m used to it anyways” Izuku shrugged off “I'll leave you to your paper, see you uncle” “Goodbye Izuku” he gives Izuku one more smile before walking into his office Izuku took that as cue for him to carry on walking.

   Once outside he reached in his pocket and pulled out a small box of cigarettes, it was a bad habit he picked up thanks to some upperclassmen and his father a few years back, when his mother found out about his smoking habit she blew up, he would like to say he’s never seen his mother so angery and ashamed of him specifically but that would be a lie, Izuku’s done alot of shit growing up, most almost fucking up his chance to get a decent education even though he knew education could only go so far he wanted to accomplish in something, his father was against it so fucking against it he showed up to the school to pull him out thank god his mother called back up to fix his wrong, thinking back to it Izuku couldn’t remember one good moment he could of possibly had with his father, for his father was either beating the living shit out of his mother intoxicated out of his damn mind, cheating; which thinking back to it Izuku had caught him plenty of times when he was little, he was either on jobs, or out doing job knows what getting god knows what, honestly if it wasnt for his father maybe he would of had a decent life...well other than the assassinations his mother does sometimes, Inko had been planning to retire next year, she would have the money since the next four clients she had are paying her 107,805,500 yen each just to kill some guy named Todoroki Enji who apparently he was some high ranking business man that fucked with the wrong family,  and a man named Harima Oji which is currently under heavy security at a prison, how his mother was gonna get to the man, he had no clue but trusted she could handle herself, she was no pushover...anymore.

   Currently Izuku was on his third cigarette and with a look of disgust he threw it on the floor and crushed the flame out “its getting worse” he said to himself before pocketing the cigarette box and picking up the now crushed cigarette when he heard Katsuki’s voice “FUCK OFF IF HE WANTS TO BE ALONE THEN LET HIM IM GOING OUT” Izuku could hear his voice from outside almost as clear as day, Izuku took pity in knowing their neighbors must hear them screaming at eachother all the time now, but nevermind that Izuku watched as the door swung open and Katsuki Bakugo damn near shove him into the small flowers growing just outside the house, something his mother did while his aunt and her family was gone “HEY FUCKING WATCH IT” Izuku shouts before grabbing Katsukis arm to keep himself up right from falling, this though led to Katsuki falling, Izuku barely made it out of the way in time to see the angry blonde boy crash into the dirt with a harsh thud and a “ugh” escape his lips Katsuki completely fell thanks to Izuku ‘Oh this won’t be good’ Izuku thought holding back a laugh as he stepped back to find himself trip right into the outdoor plant, “Well karma’s a bitch” Izuku grunted as he tried to stand, to bad his ass was stuck in the vase sitting on dirt and crushed plants, his balance now completely screwed he watches as Katsuki slowly rises from the ground his blonde hair now covered in dirt and his face red with anger till he sees Izuku’s current situation, Izuku watched as Katsuki's face slowly contorted into a giant shit eating grin “Fucking serves you right, enjoying that seat of yours Midoryia” He snort, Izuku shoots back “I don’t know how that dirt taste, pretty nast fall if your face has anything to say about it” at this Katsuki rushes him pulling him out of the pot and throwing him into the dirt at this point the two boys were fighting well fighting as in rolling around in the dirt throwing punches that missed most of the time because both boys had excellent reflexes, they didn’t break up until Inko sprayed water on the two from the distance with a look of annoyance written all over her face Masaru at the door way with a amused look on his face and a camera in hand Mitsuki was right beside him leaning against his shoulder with a absolutely shit-eating grin. 

 “CAN YOU TWO NOT BEHAVE FOR ONE MOMENT” Inko shouted glaring holes into the two soaked boys still on the ground hands buried either in the others clothing or hair, “TO THINK AFTER ALL THIS TIME NEITHER OF YOU CAN GROW UP AND PUT YOUR DIFFERENCES ASIDE KATSUKI GO TO YOUR ROOM AND GET CHANGED IZUKU” Izuku who was currently the one being pinned which also meant he wasn't as soaked as Katsuki at the moment looked up at his mother with long sigh before kneeing Katsuki in the stomach forcing him off “WE’RE LEAVING” she shouted Izuku nodded and stood dusting himself off which barely did anything, Katsuki the same, though technically this was his home and Inko was a guest he knew Inko was practically a second mother in the house when the time came, same with Inko's house his parents could order Izuku to his room if a fight broke out between the two which was almost always, sometimes they could manage to stay in the same room together and not fight over the most trivial things, but Katsuki was a hot head and Izuku a smartass with a mouth that had no filter when it came to people he didn’t like or his peers, at this point Inko saw no hope of the two every getting along long enough to even attempt to finish a assessment together.

   Later that night she brought it up to Mitsuki and Masaru over the phone and Mitsuki reassured her it would be fine no matter how things play out, Masaru offered the next time she visits they all could go out to a bar he knew and have a few drinks Inko accepted and a date was set, she marked it down in her calendar and the rest of the day was treated in silence from the Midoriya household and the Bakugo household full of screaming and shouts mainly between Mitsuki and Katsuki with Masaru watching from a distance just, analyzing. 

That's when an idea came to mind. 

He had a plan.

A03 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23696749/chapters/56975155#workskin

[love-god-forever]

After My Son’s Sudden Heart Attack, Who Can Keep Him Alive?

By Zhongshi

Hovering Between Life and Death After a Medical Emergency

The evening of October 5, 2017, my youngest son Xunxun and his family came to my place for dinner, just like always, and afterward Xunxun went to the school to teach a class. A little after 8:00 p.m.

 my daughter-in-law called and said hastily, “Mom, Xunxun’s been taken to the hospital!” I was shocked, and rushed to ask: “He was totally fine when we had dinner just now. How could he suddenly be in the hospital?” Before I could finish she hurriedly hung up the phone.

I couldn’t help but feel panic rising in my heart. My son had just eaten more than a bowl of food and hadn’t mentioned feeling unwell—how could he suddenly be hospitalized? It occurred to me that he had had heart surgery before—could there be something wrong with his heart again? If it was a recurrence of his heart condition, that would really not be a good thing. I was burning with anxiety and wanted to go to the hospital to see him, but I didn’t even know which hospital he was in. What could I do? I thought and I thought, and then called my oldest son, plus my daughter and her husband—only then did I learn that they had already been to the hospital, but no one wanted to tell me about my son’s condition. The more I thought about it, the more anxious I became. Standing or sitting, I couldn’t get comfortable—I was at a loss. In my desperation, I thought of God and rushed to kneel down and pray: “Oh God! My son has been suddenly hospitalized and I’m so worried for his safety. I don’t know what Your will is, but I believe that You have allowed this to happen. I don’t know what I should do now. Please protect me and allow me to quiet my heart!” After praying, I thought of God’s words, “The fate of man is controlled by the hands of God. You are incapable of controlling yourself: Despite always rushing and busying about for himself, man remains incapable of controlling himself. If you could know your own prospects, if you could control your own fate, would you still be a creature?” That’s it! God is the Lord of creation and every single person’s fate is within His grasp. We are created beings; not only can we not control our own fates, but we particularly cannot control others’ fates. Since my worry and anxiety was useless and my son’s life or death was in God’s hands, all I could do was put him in God’s hands. When I thought of that my heart settled considerably.

Two hours later when my youngest son’s wife came back home with my daughter’s son to get some things, I asked them about my son’s condition. Tears welled up in her eyes and she said to me comfortingly: “It’s nothing. You stay here at home; we’re there for him in the hospital!” She then hurriedly grabbed some of my son’s clothing and personal items, getting ready to drive back. I thought to myself: What really is wrong with my son that they are keeping me in the dark? I insisted that they take me with them. On the way, my daughter-in-law received a call from my oldest son, who was at the hospital. All I could hear was her saying anxiously: “Hm? Why is his heart beating that fast?” A bit later she said with a worried look on her face: “What? There’s no heartbeat now?” From her words I could tell that my son’s condition was probably very serious. If his heart wasn’t beating, at any time couldn’t he…. I didn’t dare think any further, nor did I dare ask my daughter-in-law any more questions. My heart was tied in knots and I was thinking: “My son is still so young, and his son is just five years old. If something were to happen to him, how would we get by? Considering all of this was deeply upsetting. I fought to hold back my tears and prayed to God in my heart nonstop, asking Him to watch over me so I could stand firm in such a situation and not sin with my words. We arrived at the hospital soon after.

God’s Words Display His Mightiness, My Son Is Revived

When I got to my son’s bedside, I saw that he was unconscious, his face was pale, he had an oxygen tube in his nose, and ECG electrode clips on his hands and feet. There were several doctors and professors surrounding the ECG machine tensely watching its display. They would occasionally shake their heads and show a look of consternation. Two of the leaders from his school were also off to one side having a discussion in low tones, and I vaguely heard them say: “It was so scary when he collapsed, it looked like he wasn’t even breathing….” Seeing the look of helplessness on the doctors’ face was very disconcerting for me, and then when I looked at my son in the hospital bed, utterly unaware of anything, an indescribable wave of panic welled up in my heart. I was afraid that my son might be gone in the blink of an eye—wouldn’t I be a parent burying her child? The more I thought about it the more pain I felt, so I rushed to make a silent prayer to God: “Oh God! I don’t know whether my son is going to live or die—I’m really struggling. God! May You safeguard my heart, and no matter what happens, may You give me faith so that I can stand witness and not complain. I only wish for my son to be in Your hands, and to submit to Your arrangements.” During the prayer, I suddenly remembered that God said: “Of everything that occurs in the universe, there is nothing that I do not have the final say in. What exists that is not in My hands?” God’s words bolstered my faith. It’s true! God does have the final say over life and death, and my son was also in His hands. All of my worries stemmed from not believing in God’s rule. I generally talk about how I’m okay with whatever situation God may set up and that it’s all His benevolent will, but when I saw my son so ill, all I could think of was fretting over his condition. I hadn’t quieted myself before God to seek His will. When I realized this, I called out to God continually within my heart.

I thought of a hymn of God’s words, “While undergoing trials, it’s normal for people to be weak, or have negativity within them, or to lack clarity on God’s will or their path for practice. But in any case, you must have faith in God’s work, and not deny God, like Job. Although Job was weak and cursed the day of his own birth, he did not deny that all things in human life were bestowed by Jehovah, and that Jehovah is also the One to take it all away.”

Pondering God’s words, I thought of the great trials that Job went through in which his wealth and his children were all taken from him, but he never lost faith in God. He said, “Jehovah gave, and Jehovah has taken away; blessed be the name of Jehovah” (Job 1:21). This was his testimony. But there I was afraid of losing my son and incredibly hurt when the doctors still hadn’t come to a conclusion—I just saw that their expressions seemed off. How could that be faith in God? I realized I had to follow the example of Job and be able to have genuine faith in God. No matter what the outcome of my son’s condition, I could not grumble about it. Encouraged by God’s words, I felt that I had gained strength and faith. I called out to God, and then carefully sat down by my son’s side and gently called his name a few times. Seeing him finally have some response, very slowly opening his eyes and looking at me, my heart rejoiced and rushed to ask him, deeply concerned, “Are you feeling a bit better?” He nodded, sighed, and then weakly pointed at his chest and said: “It hurts … in my chest.” He then lost consciousness again.

A little while later I heard a doctor say with surprise: “Come look at this! His heart rate and blood pressure have normalized! Everything is normal!” The whole family crowded around—everyone was very happy. Seeing His mercy and protection, I gave thanks to God over and over again in my heart. It was God’s words that gave me true faith, allowing me to understand God’s mightiness and authority in ruling over everything. I said excitedly: “Man’s fate is determined by the heavens. This is truly thanks to God!” The doctor in charge added to that: “That’s right. God really is the One to thank. It’s fortunate that the patient got here in time after his myocardial infarction. If it had been half an hour later, the outcome would have been terrible. A little bit ago his heart completely stopped—I never imagined that he would miraculously come back to life. However, his condition is not stable. He has to stay in the hospital for monitoring.” My son was then transferred to the Intensive Care Unit; only his wife stayed behind to take care of him, while the rest of us went home.

The moment I walked in the door I rushed to kneel down and offer up a prayer of thanks to God. I was full of gratitude. At my most helpless time God was always by my side leading me and spurring me on with His words, giving me faith and something to lean on. I felt that God’s love really is so great.

His Condition Fluctuates and God Once Again Shows His Wondrous Deeds

A week later, the doctor in charge told us: “Testing has revealed a sarcoma on the patient’s heart that will require two surgeries. The first is to excise the sarcoma, and then we need to implant a pacemaker. You need to get 200,000 yuan together right away—if this is delayed, his life could be in danger.” I felt very tense hearing that my son was still in mortal danger. In my anxiety, I once again prayed to God: “Oh God! I believe that You rule over everything. At this moment there’s nothing I can do—I can only rely on You. I put my son entirely into Your hands, and I am willing to rely on my faith and experience Your work.” My oldest son and my younger son’s wife went all over the place raising money and before long, they had come up with the required amount. When my son was examined again in preparation for surgery, the doctor said that his condition was complex plus he was very weak; he would need to be very carefully nursed back to health and then transferred to a large specialist hospital for surgery. He wrote some prescriptions and then had my son discharged to recuperate at home.

After a period of care my son’s health had improved somewhat. The day he went to the specialist hospital, his wife came back and told me that they had scheduled surgery for the next day at 11:00 a.m. That evening, I offered up another prayer to God: “Oh God! My son is undergoing surgery tomorrow. It’s a very risky procedure, but please give me faith and courage. I believe that whether it’s a success or a failure, my son’s surgery is in Your hands. I believe that everything You do is good. Whatever the outcome tomorrow is, I am willing to submit and I will not complain. I am willing to stand witness and satisfy You” After praying I no longer felt worried or afraid; I had faith and strength to face my son’s surgery the following day.

The next day, my son was wheeled into the operating room right on time while we, his family, were all outside anxiously waiting. While waiting, I turned God’s words over and over in my mind, thinking of God’s love, and before I knew it two hours had gone by. A doctor suddenly said my son’s name, calling for us. Flustered, we all rushed over to him, and he said with emotion: “We’ve never seen anything like this. Today this really has been a wonder! In our pre-surgical examination we found that there was nothing at all wrong with the patient. We couldn’t believe it so we did another careful examination, and that also showed that everything is normal. After discussing it, we decided that there’s no need for surgery. He’ll be fine if he just goes back home and gets lots of rest.” Hearing this, we were all stunned for a moment—it took us ages to come to our senses. I just saw my daughter-in-law happily clapping her hands and saying: “That’s wonderful! From now on, not only will Xunxun not have to suffer, but it will save us 200,000 yuan!” At that moment I was the only one who clearly realized that this was God’s mightiness, this was God’s love. In my excitement, the words “Thanks be to God!” came out of my mouth. I didn’t know how to express what I felt—all I could do was thank God over and over in my heart: “Oh God! You have given me faith and strength time after time through Your words, giving me the ability to stand firm through this situation. Now my son’s condition has miraculously disappeared. Your love for us is so great!”

After going back home, I kneeled down before God to offer up a prayer of gratitude. Afterward, I saw this passage of God’s word, “Life can only come from God, which is to say, only God Himself possesses the substance of life, there is no way of life without God Himself, and so only God is the source of life, and the ever-flowing wellspring of living water of life. … Man’s life originates from God, the existence of the heaven is because of God, and the existence of the earth stems from the power of God’s life. No object possessed of vitality can transcend the sovereignty of God, and no thing with vigor can break away from the ambit of God’s authority. In this way, regardless of who they are, everyone must submit under the dominion of God, everyone must live under God’s command, and no one can escape from His control.” God’s words tell us with absolute clarity that He is the source of all life, that all things on heaven and earth—both animate and inanimate—are not exempt from His rule. Only God is the foundation of our lives as humans, and all things are changed and renewed under His control and His rule. This is a manifestation of God’s authority. I thought of how my son had pulled through crisis after crisis since falling ill, and how time after time the doctors’ conclusions had not panned out. Through adversity it was God’s words that had given me faith time after time giving me something to lean on, allowing me to overcome weakness again and again. When I had faith in God I saw His wondrous deeds—my bedridden son, at his last gasp, miraculously regained his health.

I truly experienced that God rules over and controls everything through this experience. If it hadn’t been for the guidance of His words as well as His grace and protection, no matter how much money we had or how skilled the doctors were, that could not have saved my son. I give thanks to God that, through my son’s illness, I gained understanding of God’s rule and understood that our future and fate are entirely within His hands. From now on I wish to put everything into cooperating with God and fulfilling the duty that a created being ought to in order to repay God’s love!