#monitor duty

[evilhorse]

Gotta protect the planet. That’s what we do ‘round here.

(Green Lantern #170)

[temeyes]

haha coping

[cannotgiveafuck]

Thinking about Billy Batson and horror and the kind of emotional / psychological damage that would be wrought on a child in that genre when he’s smart and savvy and could turn into a Champion of Magic, but is still very much a vulnerable kid. More aware of the world than those his age, but sees things through a lens adults cannot. Privy to things that only show themselves to those most likely to see them.

Anyway, have a little snippet. Might pick it back up again later.

This was the fifth night in a row that Billy was getting by on little to no sleep.

Don’t get him wrong, he could go a day or two if the going gets tough. Sometimes the winters were especially cold, or the summers really hot. Sometimes the storms got so bad that his place had leaked or the wind threatening to knock everything away. And sometimes, not now, of course, but back when it happened, sometimes Uncle Ebenezer had a bad few days that made sleeping in that house neigh impossible.

So, truly, Billy was no stranger to lack of sleep. He could survive, trust him. He could survive just about anything. But five nights was pushing it, even for a fellow like him.

The first night hadn’t even been noticeable. All sorts of noises happened in the apartment he was squatting in. There was the family down the hall with the crying baby, and the couple a few doors down that had shouting arguments, an old man across from him that couldn’t hear very well so his late night television was always turned up, and Madison next door had her new boyfriend over a lot and they were quite loud. So, Billy was used to all sorts of loud noises - but, see, those were normal noises. Just as traffic outside or a car alarm or police siren were all normal.

What wasn’t normal was the silence that shrouded over the apartment the moment his clock hit midnight.

But, Billy didn’t even notice that first night. So tired from the week long mission he was away for with the Justice League, his head hit his pillow the moment he got back and while he wanted to be out like a light, he spent most of the night tossing and turning. And really, he did not notice anything the second or third nights either. Granted a few days leave from hero work, Billy spent that time doing seasonal errands around the neighborhoods and shops. He had to earn money somehow, and not a lot of tasks were out there for eleven year olds to do. Those nights, too, were of fitful bouts, his eyes closed and willing sleep to really pull him under, but true rest just out of reach.

It was that fourth night, when he was laying there, eyes opened and staring at the ceiling with its ages old stain and crack, listening to the normal noises of the apartment complex - that was the night he noticed something was off. When all that sound was just... gone.

Billy didn’t even really notice at first. Eyelids heavy with every blink, but sleep avoiding him, the ringing in his ears that only silence could make. And when he did notice it, his brows furrowed in confusion. Thought that maybe, for once, everyone finally decided night time was for rest. Wondered if everyone else was snuggling up in their beds and under their blankets with the night chill really creeping in fierce, as it does when the heat goes out or couldn’t keep up with the winter winds. And sure, it was May, but man, it really was very cold inside all of a sudden.

He pulled the covers tighter over him, burrowing into them to stave off the shivers suddenly wracking through his small body. Eyes closed, urging sleep to please, please let him rest, Billy heard the wails of a child, or maybe a baby, just down the hall. 

Billy thought, you and me both, kid...

The fifth night, the last one he had before heading back to the Watchtower, Billy couldn’t explain why he was still awake. Staring at the ceiling again, watching the reflected lights of cars go by, listening to the old man’s television play an infomercial - he thought maybe he should do more Marvel work overnight at this rate. At least he’d be doing something useful with his time instead of trying to get sleep that would never happen. At least Marvel never was bogged down by the heavy weight of human limits.

Silence fell over the apartments again.

There was that wailing child again, too.

By the time Billy started to tune into it, really listen to the sobs, he was sitting up from his mattress, gaze on his front door. The cries were right on the other side.

Logically, Billy knew that as a hero, he should be rushing toward that door. He should be pulling it open and checking on the kid who should not be wandering the hallway crying away. He should be seeing what was wrong and try to fix it, save the day as he usually did. It was what Marvel would have done.

However, Billy did not move a muscle. He stayed right there on his bed on the floor, staring at the door he knew was locked several times over. His body refused to do anything that involved getting up and opening the door. His body barely seemed to want to breathe. His mouth shut tight and his lungs taking short, quiet breaths, even as his heart jack hammered in his chest.

Something was wrong.

Something was wrong, and not with him. Billy didn’t survive the streets this long by not listening to his instincts.

And right then, as scratching and pounding started up against the door to try to get inside - Billy’s instincts told him not to move. Told him not to let that kid inside because that the thing on the other side wasn’t a kid at all. Not when its cries got loud and lower and more guttural with every shake of the doorknob.

Not when the words that seeped through sent shivers down Billy’s spine. Made him grip the blankets, almost made him call forth the power of Shazam - the shriek of: I’m hungry, let me in, let me in, I’m hungry, hungry, hungry.

[the-trans-dragon]

I dunno if it's good advice or not but

I wish I'd kept a physical record of my health history. Stuff like blood work and official diagnoses and test results.

I didn't really learn any "personal paperwork" skills, like which bills to keep and how long to save various documents. And I definitely didn't learn to keep any medical data about myself.

Idk. But if I could go back in time, I'd totally tell myself to save that stuff. I still have some old English notebooks from high school, so I know I could have saved something with medical data in it, too. I just didn't think I'd be responsible for my own medical data. I guess I thought that doctors did all that.

[mars-ipan]

WASP IN THE HOUSE D:

[noxexistant]

modern oscar, morris, and jack are definitely the three with “flight risk” marked on their foster papers

[lululeighsworld]

reasons why dawntrail fucked me up last night, a story in three parts [lvl 98 quest spoilers]:

[mlep]

sorry but i never believe in anyone being fired for anything they do off duty, idc abt companies' reputations, theyre not damn people and dont deserve to be treated as such

[jackdaw-and-hattrick]

Batman, in an act of unmitigated vengeance and violence, decided that his coworkers were in need of a breakdown of one of the most hazardous risks posed to the league; he sat them all down and gave them the sex talk

[socksual-innuendos]

Laughs in Only Enjoyed Little Kitty Big City for like 3 weeks before coping like a champ and ending it after i got that stupid fuckin cat back home.

Thats it thats the fucking game no more exploring you shit. Stay inside

[evilhorse]

Damn! Billions of credits to my name, half the galaxy knows I’m a hero—and I get stuck like this!

[ritz-writes]

born to be on monitor duty, forced to go inside and get scrap

[fuscorooni]

So help me Jesus, I haven’t read a thing about Knight Terrors, but if it’s batfam focused imma just…

I’mma…

I’m…

…

…I don’t know what I’ll do, honestly, (probably nothing), but I won’t be happy, I’ll tell you that much.

[inkblot-inc]

Okay but, Natasha and Wanda not finding out about the home made fireworks until they’re about to be set off. Like they just see Yelena off to the side with a cartoonish push lever detonator with Vision monitoring things on a little screen and jaws doing an excited little dance next to her

PFFT-

Natasha and Wanda kinda furrow their brows once they notice Jaws excitement peak after Yelena goes over to the lever detonator (how'd they even miss her bringing that in?-), but they just chalk it up to Jaws wanting to see the firework show they help put together.

*both suddenly remember not only the road trip to New Hampshire, but all the extra time Jaws spent in one of the labs with Yelena and Vision*

Nat and Wanda just standing next to each other and connecting the dots like, "...wait a damn minute!-"

[smile-dance-breathe]

having three cats has you doing things like texting your roommate asking if they could identify whose poop you just scooped out of a litter box

[mylowmilo]

You know your family is really fucked when they parentify not just the oldest daughter but the youngest kid too