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bluebellthesponge · 6 months

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Hey friend! I am Rae and I followed you because this stupid troll movie resurrected my ancient NSYNC obsession and you post about them some. But, I know a lot of younger people aren't comfortable palling around with much older people, and I am literally 20 years your senior, lol. So I just wanted to reach out and say hi, but also let you know if you'd rather I not follow/interact that's totally fine too, I won't be hurt or anything.

In payment for this awkward af message, I offer you "Songbird" by Fleetwood Mac and invite you to imagine Chris singing it. :)

hey there!!! welcome to my blog, glad you followed me because of my nsync posting teheheh! and you're good! feel free to stay following my blog i am totally fine with really any people older than me following me :)) i am glad you find enjoyment with what i post! :D

happy to hear your nsync interest was reignited with the trolls movie, makes me wonder if the movie will bring back old fans and bring in new ones! which i mean i am sure it will, it does feature nsync songs (i think? i don't know how many actually, all i know is better place and i want you back for trailers lmao) so it's cool and exciting to probably see some new people around considering at least nsync tumblr is pretty much dead lol

but it's cool to probably have a movie introduce people to nsync considering i say after nsync broke up??? (question marks because the breakup date confuses me so much) i say jt's songs have been more of the standard/what people are use to rather than nsync songs which is natural lol, music moves on and nsync obvs hasn't made a new album since 2001

because personally for me, i was literally born after nsync technically died, i was more used to it just being justin and that nsync was more of a fun fact on his behalf lmao. i only knew bye bye bye, it's gonna be me and merry christmas, happy holidays and probably pop because of jimmy neutron but that was it

it wasn't until the beginning of this year that my sisters and i started watching boyband music videos on youtube because when my one older sister was younger, radio disney i guess played pop and she hated that song when she was younger, so when she saw the music video we watched it,,,and kept on watching it the next couple of weeks and then their other music videos and at first, like i am with a lot of things i realize i might start getting interested in, i was in denial being like "oh i am NOT catching myself getting into some dead 1990s/2000s boyband with fucking justin timberlake in it like nuh uh" but then oh no!!! i realize i started watching their performances by myself and by spring/summer i already am familiar with all their names and searching for "nsync as vines" videos that i know i am already too deep in

and also on the last day of school back in june, to celebrate i guess, my sisters ordered pizza for us since our mom was out of the house and we watched the lou boyband con documentary and soon we want to watch the lance and joey movie together lol

ok sorry for explaining my nsync interest origin story i just felt like it hahah. i just have a lot of thoughts on nsync in general that i can make a whole ass video essay series about them but that's a later idea to execute

personally with me on any fandoms i usually am more shy i guess lol. i am just scared to interact with others in general because i am a socially anxious guy idk dsfjlkdslkf, that's why i follow like 84 blogs dfsljdsfkdsf and from what i seen a lot of the nsync fandom are people in their 30s which is fine! that's cool considering they did grow up in that era to experience the boyband phenomena like glad they are still enjoying something they liked 20+ years ago unlike me who never grew up with that and yeah boybands like one direction and big time rush existed, but a boyband craze like nsync i never was there to experience hahaha

considering the one direction fandom still seems to be going strong in some sense, i am not surprised nsync has been as well (at least on other platforms but i don't fuck with instagram/tiktok fandoms). but anyways personally for me i feel awkward for the most part being in the nsync fandom, the fans i have met are generally very nice (like you!) but i still feel a bit odd for not being a millennial who grew up with them but instead a chronically online gen z teen who found them really because my older sister in the late '00s hated a song of theirs lol

but anyways once again i am saur sorry for that long ass answer i just have a lot of thoughts about this stupid ass band, but once again feel free to stay! you're welcomed here :D thank you so much!

and ooooh i will listen to the song soon and see hehehe! after school or so i'll do it ljdsflkdsf thanks :)

*edit: how i also knew of the other members at first was also probably silly. i probably heard of chris because he voiced chip skylark on the fairly odd parents, lance was several timez on gravity falls, and joey and jc i was not 100% of them at first/didn't have other media i could attach them to at first when i wasn't sure of their names lolll. i knew joey was on hannah montana but i never watched that show and he was on big fat greek wedding which my mom liked, but with jc literally that man fell off the face of the earth after nsync (i know that's not 100% true, but you get what i mean dsflkjdslk)

also another unnecessary thought but i kind of lowkey feel well not weird but interesting that nsync are technically around my parents' ages (at least more so around chris, jc, and joey's considering chris is only a couple months older than my mom) and it's like "huh these guys could technically be my parents...and i am just giggling and kicking my feet watching these fucking losers dance for my entertainment"

once again thank you and have a nice day!

#asks #rae-conteur

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drizzit · 10 months

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11.7 Road of The Patriach

Start: May 14th 2023 End:

Card: 3 of diamonds - It means that you should maintain keen interest in your work and your business.

Tweet: “Two pretty best friends establish a domain over the weekend, and quickly desert the plot they were squatting on when the landlord shows up with an army ; they drag their pet dwarf to calimport and destroy the temple of selune ; it ends with them breaking up.“

Notes: Hey guys I don’t really uh get it. I’m worried I didn’t read the trilogy as you. it seems like these three are super duper beloved and i just didn’t really click with it.

A lot of it seemed like there is definitely a story going on, but it isn’t happening around our main characters.

So we’re in Damara and it’s great and the citadel of assassins want to test Artemis to see if he’s a good subordinate. Artemis says no, Jarlaxle has a cool plan to get the citadel off their backs by getting the attention of the king of the place. And the king and his pussy posse also rounds up a bunch of these thieves guild guys and 💀 them right? So the plan was to kick up the dirt some and skidaddle right? but artemis is all like ‘nuh uh i hate you guys i worked with you once to get to my total rival and look where it got me i’d rather get executed sayonara losers‘ anyways so Jarlaxle goes ‘can you free my friends pweash pweash i did get unite damara and vaasa under a common enemy‘ and yea that worked.

Somewhere in the midst entreri’s gf calihye still wants revenge for parissus but shes not totally committed to the idea after artemis tells her their getting kicked out, bregan daerthe take over the citadel of assassins, and artemis plots his revenge plot and pulls it off on the guys that extorted his mom and a thousand others

Alright i get it, they’re tie ins for assets to be used later in the main series (probably?) or to look cool but eh

Praise be to Athrogate. When chattering about how he ended up there he comes off as talking about his self exiling after the attack on his clan it seems kind of brunt but it comes off as yea this guy has already dealt with the guilt and such that would come of it and he’s already complete by the time they came across him.

Did i miss something?/10

#drizzt #legend of drizzt #Forgotten Realms

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hanazou · 3 years

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Hi! Could I ask for Dazai, Ranpo, Kunikida/Atsushi with an s/o who frequently picks their skin/scabs/scalp. My psychologist, mom, and I are pretty confident that I have ASD, and it's a relatively common stim. This can also happen with ADHD, OCD, and anxiety disorders -- I'm not sure if this suggestion is too centered around a reader’s identity! (Also, it's not intentional self-harm; it relieves stress and boredom, but just happens to cause damage :/ If you're uncomfortable, I understand) Thx! <3

dazai, ranpo, and atsushi and a lover who constantly picks skin/scalp/scab.

📜 Books : Dazai | Ranpo | Atsushi

📜 Word count : 2.3k

📜 Shelf : Paperback

📜 Category : Headcanons

📜 Genre : Fluff, with a tiny hint of angst with Dazai and Atsushi

📜 Caution : Vague mentions of disorders and insecurities

📜 Note : Don't worry, @my-introvert-hideout! I'm not uncomfortable nor is this too specific. In fact, I had so much fun writing this! I chose Atsushi (because I kin him I resonate with him better), I hope this does your suggestion justice. I apologize if any of these is inaccurate.

Enjoy your books! 💛

Dazai Osamu

He's an ex Port Mafia executive and currently employed as a detective. Never doubt that he'll catch on your habit the first time you display it around him. But only when things are official between you two will he take an action about it.

With his background and quick wits, Dazai knows a lot about the quirks people can have, where they came from, and why they do it. By judging from your expression and slights of movements, he knows that it's caused by your certain conditions and nothing like deliberately inflicting pain on yourself. After all, he's well accustomed to self harm itself too, and he doesn't see it in you, not that way.

Dazai's understanding on your habit will be more personal rather than analytical--because of his self destructive tendencies. He can relate to you in this aspect, but whether this is a bad or good news is completely up to your personal interpretation.

Only after things become official between you both that he steps his feet into ‘that’ zone, deciding now he has the right to interfere. He's the type of guy that perceives intervening with issues like this requires a special established relation with you beforehand, if not, who is he to say anything?

Dazai doesn't mind that you never took the initiative to tell him first, what matters that is he knows and he has for long. He'll take his chance of intervention when you start picking yourself again, but only when it's just the two of you around. If you're with the other ADA members or within a crowd, he'll just figure out something to distract you and do it subtly.

The private moment will come sooner than you think. With a swift move that escaped your eyes, he has taken your hand hostage. "Nuh-uh," He cooed. "You're prone to injure your pretty skin."

His direct words will push you off guard. You'll notice that he knows about your quirk, maybe get a little shy from not realizing that he knows if you're the shy type of person.

Dazai is a clingy guy and even more so as a boyfriend, your habit will only give him a legitimate reason to hold your hand wherever you two go. Your hands will sweat from constantly holding his. He will definitely use it as an advantage to tease you too.

"I have to go to the bathroom, can I trust your hand or do I have to keep holding it?"

You will literally throw his hand away. "What th—Go by yourself."

Dazai has loads of tricks up his sleeve, and combined with his knowledge, he knows more than one or two or three methods to help you. Whether they are effective or not depends entirely on you and your condition. Sometimes his tricks are so subtle that you didn't even realize until you think back about it.

Assuming you're thinking of seeking help from experts, Dazai will be totally with the idea. "I can feel your earnest effort for this, I'm glad for you."

He'll take you to your appointments and wait for you, and sometimes walk you back home, which is also another trick to ditch work and piss Kunikida off. Two birds with one stone, right? :)

Expect him to shower you with loving words after every session. Maybe it will even make you feel corny. But truth be told, he'll deeply ponder about your condition, you, and himself. He's well aware of his nihilism and ponders whether the words he said are genuine or just part of the new personality he adopted when he left Port Mafia that sometimes run on autopilot.

(aka he suspects he's not being totally earnest with his sweetness)

If it's the latter, the corny lovey dovey words will double as an effort to help you and himself. Don't blame Dazai too much, he has trouble differentiating between what’s good and bad (as what was said by my man Oda), but at least he's trying hard for your sake.

When you show some progress, he will be so expressive in praising you. His self doubt or whatever it is, that can wait. His darling comes first.

Dazai will give a hug or two and other romantic stuffs like that even if you're in public. He's a tease and you know you love it. If you especially get embarrassed about it, he'll try to fluster you even more. Is it to distract you or himself? Nobody knows.

Edogawa Ranpo

This Yokohama's best detective is well versed in a lot of things, psychological conditions included. If you have any condition at all, it doesn't take him long at all to understand it. Nothing escapes his pretty green eyes.

Ranpo's approach will be the opposite of Dazai. His will be more analytical rather than emotional or personal.

In the scenario where you don't feel too confident about your condition, you might be constantly worrying Ranpo will make a blunt comment about it. But trust me, you don't have to worry anything about it with this guy. He’s straightforward, but he’s not rude.

Even if Ranpo hasn't had any personal experiences of feeling/witnessing this sort of thing firsthand, you can count on him to be knowledgeable about it, although his words won't be exactly delicate. He knows that some people have problems if it's addressed boldly and he knows where the line for him lays.

Ranpo is the type of guy to think that if you never told him about it, then that's your decision and it's nothing to make a fuss about/make complaints for, but he's not going to pretend he doesn't notice. He doesn’t hold back his tongue.

He will treat this situation slightly akin to a case for him to solve. Why? Because first of all, he’s your boyfriend. Who else is better fitted to take care of you and analyze the root cause? Second, because of that personal attachment with you, he will feel the obligation to step in.

When nobody is in the agency office since they don't slack off like him, he'll stretch back against his chair, hands behind his back, and call out your name who stayed behind to assist and babysit him.

"Won't you hurt yourself if you keep doing that?" He asks, his sharp eyes closed. Blunt questions are his signature. You will instantly freeze, only realizing that you were going off with your habit.

You won't feel the need to explain it, because you know that he knows, and he knows that you know he knows (do I make sense? this sounds like that one Dazai and Fyodor meme)

"If you want, I know some ways to help and I'm acquainted with some experts." He says easily, stuffing his mouth with chips. After he swallows, only then his green eyes opens. "You're hurting yourself, you know that?"

I'm not going to sugar-coat his personality. If you want heartfelt, supportive, and warm words, talk to Kenji or Yosano because you won't hear it from Ranpo. But the brighter side is that Ranpo is a very good listener and offers practical suggestions that you know are fool-proof. With each word you vent to him, the more methods spring up in his head to help. Lucky of you to have him!

If you agree to seek professional help or his own, he's a different kind of romantic than Dazai who knows how to swoon you off your feet. Ranpo’s praise won’t be like Dazai’s (since receiving conventional praises is his thing), but he'll say something rather indirect like "Good for you. Nobody knows what's best for you other than yourself, not even me."

After your sessions are over for the day, Ranpo will gift you his favourite snacks. Chips, cookies, ice creams, jellies, sodas. Do you know how lucky you are if Ranpo gives you his favourite snacks? Mostly it's because he's not confident in sweet talks so he's hoping that you'll get the gist of what he's trying to do.

Heck, he'll even wait for you (partially because he doesn't know how to go home by himself, but that's not the point) quietly without whining that it's taking too long. To occupy himself, sometimes he'll bring some papers of the cases Fukuzawa gave him and solve interesting cases. But when you emerge from the door, everything is forgotten and his attention is fully back to you.

"Oh, you're finally finished!" He springs back up to his feet, arms expanded.

I encourage you to tell him about your sessions. He'll compliment you in his own ways believe me.

"My super deduction concludes that you did well." He says as you pop out the popsicle he gave, a cheeky grin on his face. Oh, you one lucky fella.

On the way back to the agency, presumably on a train, if you're getting better, Ranpo will definitely smile cheekily to himself, prideful of you and him.

"I'm always right, after all." He says. "What do you think, aren't I such a great boyfriend and detective? You're lucky to have this combination all for yourself!"

Damn right you are.

Nakajima Atsushi

This will be slightly lengthy.

In terms of discovering this quirk of yours, Atsushi's approach will be different than Dazai and Ranpo's. If anyone is insecure about this one aspect in your relationship, it will be Atsushi.

Let's be frank, Atsushi's abused background didn't let him know much about the world, disorders/special needs included. We're talking about the boy whose first idea of survival was to jump on strangers. He was thrown into the real world without any experience and minimum social skills, it's almost impossible he immediately clicks on the reason behind your habit.

Despite so, Atsushi will notice it, weretiger senses used or not. Growing up abused, he was forced to notice the microexpression changes on people’s face and their quirks/habits as a defense mechanism in case he earns someone's ire (remember about the infiltration mission with Akutagawa on Rats of the House of the Dead when he said he can hear when someone’s mind snaps). Even though he believes you will never pose a harm to him ever, he couldn't help but to overthink every single little thing you do. He just can’t help it.

Constantly picking your scalp/scab/skin makes him free fall to the assumption that you're anxious around him since he knows that people sometimes fidget when they feel unsafe. At first, he thought that you're nervous around him. Is it because he's a weretiger? Because you don't trust him? Because you think of him as a hindrance?

This sweet boy thinks a lot about you. You basically live in his head rent free, and ever since he noticed your habit, you will quickly climb up the ranks of things-Atsushi-overthinks.

He will address you about his insecure thoughts after they're brewed aka rotted his brain long enough

When you're picking your skin, Atsushi will call your name softly as he fidgets. "Are you, maybe, uncomfortable around me?"

The confusion you will feel. "What?"

The conversation will spin around how and why that thought even popped out, and because of mutual confusion, it will take a while until you're like "OH. That's why."

You will have to explain it but he's not that dense as to he'll keep asking "Huh?" As I mentioned, anxiety is his old friend. He understands very well the constant need of having to pick to ground yourself and alleviate the intruding thoughts.

He will apologise for assuming things himself, maybe overreact a little, blaming himself for thinking things are about him when it’s actually about you, and he will be very tender about it. After all that, he will do everything in his power to help with your condition.

Atsushi will keep your hands busy by holding it before you start picking yourself, gently, but firmly. He will use his heightened senses to pick on the signs before you pick your skin/scalp/scab and try to distract you by doing anything.

Remember that one scene of his entrance test where he panics, not knowing what to say to Tanizaki? yeah he will be like that.

"AAH! Look! A cat!"

Then Atsushi will get more creative. He will not hesitate to spend the money from his cute wallet to buy lotion/moisturiser for your skin that smells so good (thank you for your help to guide him pick it, Kyouka), hoping it will help you. Maybe he'll get you gloves to match his own (matching couple things are never outdated). You won't pick on your fingers that way.

If you ever want to talk about your condition, please, share it with him. I insist. He insists. It's a win-win solution for both of you. His faith that you truly treasure and believe in him will harden (helps with his self esteem), and you get to throw off the load burdening you down.

He also feels it's his responsibility, part of that is because of his Headmaster's words, but mostly because he treasures you that much. If he caught you picking again, he'll become super worried and so guilt ridden.

If you decide to seek professional help, he will be 100% supportive. I won't sugar-coat again—Atsushi will detect his disappointment at himself for not being enough to help you on his own, but at the same time he's also realistic. He knows that he doesn't have what it takes by himself.

His Headmaster's words will echo again, again, and again. "You failed to help your own lover? Have this orphanage taught you nothing—have I not taught you anything? Will you ever amount to any good?"

He will fight it back harder than usual because now, it's about you. He can't afford to fail you, especially you. If you do talk about your condition to him, it will calm him down by a lot.

In short, your condition impacts Atsushi more that you ever thought. Please support each other.

📜; like what you read? visit my bookshop!

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marisandini-chu-blog · 3 years

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Bruce Wayne is a Simp for Bad Bitch

OmG I can’t believe I’m writing the obvious but the idea is in my head and I need a place to word vomit.

Okay, so it occurred to me that Bruce has a more serious and intense relationship canonically with three women, as far as I know; Andrea Beaumont, Talia Al’ghul, and Selina Kyle. All of whom are the epitome of Bad Bitch with the capital B. (Yes, I’m ignoring Rachel Dawes from Nolanverse. The only thing I like about it is the Iconic Joker. No batman movie is good enough without the Batfam.)

Why do I raise this point, you might ask? Well, that’s because I want to rant that Bruce, my boy, my man, my childhood comfort character is actually a SIMP?!?!

Like... I’m just... urgh.... okay... I am very vocal for a healthy relationship with commitment and based on mutual love and respect. So the fact that Bruce has only bad, iffy, or casual relationships really want to tear my hair out. And why my heart don’t want to ship with any of them, even though BatCat is one of my favorite pairing!

I am a WonderBat shipper because I love watching them in JLAU as a kid and even though I’m not slash shipper unless it’s canon, SuperBat made much more sense to me. Heck even a threesome with the Trinity would have been healthier relationship rather than whatever Bruce had with the three of them and here’s why:

You might not have heard of Andrea, but she’s canon from the Timmverse movie called Batman and the Mask of Phantasm which is A REALLY GREAT MOVIE. Totally recommend. One of the best Batman movie at all times (Yes, I say Batman movies not Batman Animated movies). Has great plot twist and good pacing. so Spoiler Alert! Andrea was Bruce’s fiancé, making her possibly Bruce’s first love, before his journey and possibly could have stop him from becoming Batman (I would say he’s a simp in this case, but he would have had a much more happier, healthy household so it’s not bad thing) if she hadn’t disappear for being a Mob Boss’ Daughter!!!

I repeat, a mob boss’ daughter.

And she came back only to be a mask avenging assassin that went toe-to-toe with Batman.

And she could have choose to stay with Bruce but she didn’t because she choose vengeance over him. Like.... Bats, you should stop with the “I am Vengeance” routine you’ve got going on because she does it better than you ngl.

So she left and I cried at the end of that movie because trauma wasn’t enough, you put heartbreak after heartbreak to my boy. Thanks DC.

Then there’s Fucking Talia Al’ghul which is a no brainer why she’s not Bad but BAD. Like, Talia groom Jason, supervise Damian’s harsh, brutal, and abusive training, control Damian through the implant spine to kill Dick, orders Damian execution before regretting it, DRUG BRUCE when CONCEIVING DAMIAN!!! And that’s only the top of my head.

And if you want to blame it on Morrison’s writing, THAT’S FINE. We’ve bitched about Tom King’s writing enough to know it’s valid.

But, BUT, bUt... it needs to be address that even before Morrison, Talia CHOOSE to stay in the League of Assassin. People can tell me that she’s a complex character that’s loyal to her father but love Bruce and that her upbringing makes her complicated or whatever. Nuh-uh. You don’t get to make Talia helpless when it suited you. Talia is a fucking Bad Bitch (TM). She’s been taught to do whatever the fuck she wants according to her belief and ideal. At some point, Talia knew she wanted to be in position of power in the League rather than staying with Bruce.

But it’s canon that Talia, if I remember correctly, doesn’t like Gotham or Bruce’s mission. She thinks being a hero is beneath them or whatever. And doesn’t understand why Gotham is special to Bruce. So yeah, you might not agree how Morrisons write her. But do not fucking tell me she’s not a character who will not be willing to do what she thinks it’s necessary to get what she wants, including training her son as an assassin. I mean, she likes being the Demon’s Daughter in the league. She may not agree with her father but Talia wants to give Damien what she wants. Power.

Talia loves Bruce. That’s a fact. He’s probably the only person that makes her feel like she’s a person instead of the Demon’s Daughter. Bruce has a knack for that. To make people want to be better, even just a little. Talia could have chosen him, if she wanted to. The fact that she helps him so much when fighting against her father numerous times is proof enough.

I'm highly suspecting the reason she stays is because she knows Bruce would always forgive her (SIMP ALERT) unlike her father who would straight up stab her if she ever betrays him.

I’m not saying there’s no love for her son, I’m just saying if she even looks at the batfam funny than I will raise my flamethrower on that bitch’s face. Because you can’t rely on Bruce on that. That man would give bullshit excuse for her or want to handle her himself because your “history” with her makes you entitled.

Aaaah, don’t you just love it when there’s a great villain you can hate on so much?

I'm not saying she can't be a good person. Pre-morisson made Talia more of an anti-hero. But I do like Talia "I'mma cut a bitch" al'ghul. It's just... I like ruthless Bad Bitch like her. Though preferably she could have balance it with more of her maternal side through Damian.

Okay, I’m getting off tangent. Now comes to my favorite girl. Catwoman. Selina Kyle. The famous ship of all Bruce’s relationship sans SuperBat.

I... am conflicted the most about this.

See, Selina is one of the few people who understands Bruce. Who was there when he needed a shoulder to rely on. Someone who doesn’t take Bruce’s shit, and one of the constant person in Bruce’s life.

But not... constant enough. Which is a theme of her, even in her fursona... I, I mean PERSONA, PERSONA!!!

Anyway, I love seeing these two broken people. One handles it with violence and vigilantism, the other through thieving with a Robinhood-esque thing going on. So of course they get each other. It always helps that they try to make each other better. Selina taught Bruce to be okay of being selfish of wanting to be happy, and Bruce believed there’s good in her that makes her feel she’s not a hopeless case, y’know? It’s even canon that in one universe, they’re married and have daughter, Helena Wayne. So... yeah? Happy end! (Until they died but that’s non issue here at the moment.)

Then Tom King (Urgh, him again) wrote Bat proposing to Cat, and by the time they’re about to be married. Selina left him at the altar.

So yeah.

But then they get metaphysically? Figuratively? married after the Flashpoint which they turn Thomas Wayne into a villain (At least make him from alternate universe instead of timeline!!!) and kill Alfred (WhYYYYYY?! Bruce suffered enough why do you go kill both his fathers dammit!!! Let the goddamn butler rest in peace). And basically Selina and Bruce promise each other forever. Which is sweet. BatCat Forever, am I right???

Yeah, here’s the problem. (And I’m just nitpicking here, okay). For all Tom King’s character assassination of Bruce, he did Selina right in one thing. Which is the fact she doesn’t like being tied down by anything.

If Talia puts importance in power. Selina puts importance in freedom and her self-independence.

I remember as a kid watching BTAS, that Selina didn’t want a relationship with batman if it meant changing who she is. So when Selina left the altar, I wasn’t surprise at the news. Then she actually agreed to marry him, only this time, she didn’t need a judge or a paper to make the marriage legit, y’know. And I thought, yeah that’s so her.

But the thing is Bruce. Accepts. Her. Every. Single. Time.

Without a single thought. She asked, “Do you still want to get married?” and he asked “When?”

Even though it’s not the first that Cat leaves him hanging.

Tell me he’s not a simp for that.

It’s great that he accepts her for everything she is. But I’m conflicted because Selina stays static. She stays with the cat theme in the fact she doesn’t want to held back by anything. She takes what she wants. She loves who she loves. And no one was gonna change her. But then where’s the character growth?

Is it regressive of me to think Selina should be ‘tied down’ or express commitment when she never has been tied down before even though she loves Bruce?

Is it not-feminist of me to think Selina has to change herself for a man?

I just don’t like the fact Bruce and Selina enables their masked persona. Their relationship is strongly base on their cat-and-mouse chase. They nicknamed each other “Bat” and “Cat” for God’s sake. Even though yes, it’s canon that “Batman” and “Catwoman” is their real selves and their civilian life is their masks. Heck, she didn’t go for the altar because she believed (though manipulated) that making Bruce happy would make Batman insufficient, or losing him entirely (Thank Tom King for that).

That would be true, and stay true if not for one thing. Which is some thing what Bruce has that Selina doesn’t:

The Batfam.

Bruce’s real identity isn’t just the Batman anymore. He has to be a single father with growing children he never plan to adopt but did anyway because they needed each other. He can��t use his batman persona to be a father at his house, but he will when training them to be his partner. His family became the strength to Bruce’s fight for Justice.

Bruce is the Batman, but he’s not everything who he is. Selina is supposed to be part of the batfamily yet sadly, I haven’t read or watch anything that has her interact with them in a positive way or actually bond with them. Heck, when Alfred inform the proposal to the batfam they were shocked and thought it was a bad idea even (And they’ve known her for almost half their life by the way.)

The fact that Tom King implied Bruce was never happy or wasn’t happy enough without marrying Cat when his Batfam should be the source of his pride and joy?! Apparently family means nothing to Batman. Woah DC, what a great message you’re sending here.

I guess that’s why, I was a bit iffy when Selina “marriage” with Bruce isn’t official. Because she commits to the man but she doesn’t say she’ll commit to the family (though I suppose it could be imply or I just forget stuff). The batkids are grown up enough that they don’t really need a maternal figure, but that doesn’t mean they don’t need more emotionally available people in the family. And that I haven’t seen much of her taking effort to bond with the people that’s the most important to Bruce.

It just makes her want to commit to Batman instead of Bruce Wayne, in my eyes I guess.

So yeah, that’s why Wonderbat and Superbat makes more sense to me. Because they’ll make an effort to be THERE for the family and they’ll be just generally be a healthier relationships because, again, emotionally available so they might talk when they have a problem instead of running off the altar when you think a Happy Batman is Bad Batman. But no, DC have to make Bruce is a simp and his life edgy.

Anyway, I might be wrong in some things because, you know. Canon becomes a blur to me after a while.

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a-lonely-tatertot · 3 years

Text

Finding Home

First / Wattpad / Ao3

A/N: EYOO BOIS! told ya id post it today once again betaed by the amazing incredible @bookwyrminspiration!

words: 4860

trigger warnings: none please tell me if you find any!

Chapter 8: Kindling

Sophie stood still as stone. She knew she was staring, how could she not stare? Her girlfriend’s twin was standing in the doorway of her once home. His hair longer than she remembered, the top gathered in a messy bun, strands framing his face. Then Sophie realized it wasn’t just his hair that was different, he was wearing glasses.

Rounded bottoms, flat tops, glass that flared in the setting sun. Tam with glasses was not something Sophie was prepared for and she only managed to gap. They were silver-framed, and sat at home perched on his nose; it made him look older, and Sophie didn't know if it was good or bad.

"What's takin' so long Tam?" Mari called out from inside the house. A second later she appeared in the doorway, a cheery smile on her face that Amelia knew would be gone the moment Mari saw her. Obviously, she was right. Mari's eyes landed on the girl in front of her and her entire body went rigid, her face going through a hundred different emotions in an instant before stopping abruptly on blank confusion.

Oh. Mari was standing right in front of her, close enough to touch. Close enough that she could smell the chocolate and the familiar scent of cinnamon and apples and freshly baked bread and cookies that would melt in your mouth. Oh, how Amilia just wanted to run into her arms and cry and apologize and beg for forgiveness until her voice was hoarse. But all she could do was stand, and stare, without the courage to even think of saying something.

None of the group had heard the footsteps approach, or the small gasp, too entrapped by their own hurricanes of emotion.

"Sophie?" a timid voice asked followed by a smaller, "Linh?"

Both girls’ heads snapped up to look at who’d broken the unforgiving silence; Sophie's eyes found Fitz's and both of their faces split into comical grins. Fitz pushed past Mari, hurried and uncoordinated, stumbling his way into Sophie's arms. A startled laugh escaped her lips as Fitz wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her into the air like she was light as a feather. Oh, how she had missed her Fitz.

Eventually, he set her down and ruffled her hair with a grin before glancing back to the group still standing in the doorway. His eyes landed on Linh who raised her hands up in surrender immediately. "Nuh-uh, nope, don't you dare try to hug me," Linh said, her tone playfully serious.

Tam and Sophie finally locked eyes and he gave her a look that clearly said, this is what I have to deal with all the time; pity me.

Sophie didn’t.

Fitz let out a laugh before grabbing Sophie's arm and practically dragging her inside. "Come on! We've got so much to talk about!"

Giving him a weak smile, Sophie glanced back at Mari. The woman's eyes narrowed, "Yes, we really do."

Sophie prayed silently to whoever was listening that she wouldn't be dead in a ditch by the end of the day.

Fitz had pushed his way through the doorway with Sophie in tow, the rest following slowly, not quite sure what to do.

It felt weird, seeing Fitz so at home in a place the exact opposite of where he grew up. But the way he smiled easily, told everyone to take a seat, talked with Linh—if Sophie didn't know any better she'd say he’d lived here his entire life.

"So," Sophie started. The living room was crammed, not meant for the five people and all of the tension. "Can we talk?" She directed the question at Fitz (and tried to ignore the flash of emotion on Mari's face).

Fitz luckily got the hint and nodded, motioning for her to follow him into the kitchen. Oh, the kitchen. She remembered the time that Mari tried to let her make pancakes on her own, which ended with her almost burning down the house. Or the time that she and Tommy got in a food fight while Mari and Angie desperately tried to salvage dinner—until Angie got a face full of mashed potato and it became a full-out war. She missed those days. Everything was so much easier. But then she had to go and mess it all up.

"Hey? You still there?" Fitz asked, yanking her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, sorry," she said hurriedly. "So how'd you end up here?" She already knew part of the story, that Fitz left and Tam tagged along.

"Mostly impulse decision. Decided I wanted to be more than 'The Next Vacker' or whatever the hell I was supposed to be. So I ended up leaving; Tam caught me at the last second and came along. We ended up in Europe, and—-after a few failed attempts—learned how to drive and made our way through the place living in this weird RV that always smelled like cheese for some reason. And then somehow we ended up on a plane here, decided more road-tripping was needed. But the car broke down and Mari ended up helping us and let us stay a couple of nights."

Sophie laughed, "Yeah, that sounds like Mari."

"Wait, so how do you know her?"

"Uh. Well, you see, I kinda lived here for a year after showing up at her diner and her taking me in," Sophie said, her hands moving as if she was trying to grasp the explanation out of the air.

"YOU'RE AMELIA?" Fitz yelled, making Sophie almost squeak. "I totally thought that she was Mari's daughter."

She paused at the words. Mari talked about her like she was her daughter? Oh. Sophie felt like she could cry. From happiness or guilt; the jury was still out.

"Well, I kinda ran away? In the middle of the night without telling her? But she caught me and we fought and haven't seen each other since," Sophie mumbled.

"You and your attachment problems."

Sophie gaped at him, "OH! I'm sorry that I got pulled into a random world at 12 and then got betrayed, hurt emotionally and physically, and had the people I cared about die!"

"Yes, but you've got to let someone closer than an arms distance away sometimes," he said with a sigh.

"I have a girlfriend; she's closer than an arms distance!"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah I noticed that, but be honest with yourself, she’s not."

Sophie only glared at him.

"Look. You've got issues to figure out with Linh and Mari but I'm not gonna make you fix 'em," Fitz said after a beat. "But Linh and Tam definitely have issues that need to be talked about or this house is going to catch on fire-"

Sophie chuckled. Ignoring her own problems to fix someone else's. She could do that.

The tension in the room couldn't get any worse. Actually, it could, but if it did the house might've blown up. Fitz, bless his soul, seemed oblivious to everything. Asking question after question, talking to Linh, asking what Sophie was studying, and so on and so on until it got frankly exhausting to answer.

The Plan—she said plan, but it was more of a vague idea and a poorly put together execution— was to get the twins to talk and be together so that at least half of the tension would go away. But no, Fitz just had to keep fucking talking. Finally, Sophie had enough. "Suggest dinner dumbass," she eloquently texted Fitz.

When his phone went off he only rolled his eyes in her general direction.

"Why don't I make some dinner?" Fitz asked, getting murmurs of agreement that sounded like music to Sophie's ears.

"I'll help!" Sophie suggested, and Mari's face twisted into poorly concealed horror as she definitely remembered how it went the last time Sophie was in the kitchen unsupervised.

"Nuh-uh," Mari shook her head. "I'm going with; I do not trust you in there." Sophie only smiled innocently; it was all going according to plan. The twins, in almost unison, glanced at each other and back at the three, trying to find a way out. Sophie went over and kissed Linh on the cheek, squeezing her shoulder.

"Don't worry, it won’t be long and I'll come back if you need me," she whispered, trying to ignore the confused looks Tam was giving her.

"You better," Linh muttered back. Sophie gave her a reassuring smile before heading into the kitchen where Mari and Fitz were discussing what to make.

"We are not having breakfast for dinner just because it’s the only thing you know how to make!" Fitz argued playfully.

"It is not the only thing I know how to make; it’s just easy!" Mari retorted. Sophie watched the exchange as they went back and forth, finally deciding on chicken and waffles ‘cause it was sort of both; though, Sophie knew that Mari had really won the argument.

When both Mari and Fitz were distracted getting things out of pantries and cupboards, Sophie secretly reached out to Linh's familiar mind.

Yes, it was wrong; Sophie knew this, but she needed to make sure that Linh was going to be okay. Sophie needed to make sure she was going to be okay. What would happen if something happened and Sophie didn't react fast enough? What if Linh needed her and she didn't know? She said she would be there if she needed her and this was her way of being there for her.

Sophie distractedly did as she was instructed, doing the small tasks like cracking eggs and grabbing ingredients. She was not permitted, unless the world was ending, to touch the stove. Sophie only laughed, knowing that Mari was being paranoid, but it was something she had learned Mari was good at. Being paranoid gave her control, gave her all the angles, even if one of them was outrageous. Sophie tried not to think about the fact that she may have added to her paranoia with her run-away-in-the-middle-of-the-night stunt.

Quickly banishing the thought from her mind she focused on Linh's thoughts. Nothing had happened, there was a tension to Linh, a million thoughts a mile an hour running through her mind, what if after what if and quite a few cuss words.

"Soo..." Tam said.

"So," Linh responded, her tone flat, clearly guarded, but her mind was whirling like a tornado.

"We should talk." Linh internally scoffed at that.

"What's there to talk about?" Tam gave her a look of disbelief.

"There's everything to talk about!"

"You left."

Tam huffed, "You told me to!" Linh stayed quiet, and Tam stared at his hands. "You made it clear as day you didn't want me there; you still don’t want me. What the hell did I do wrong, Bubbles?"

Linh let out a heavy sigh. "That’s the problem," she whispered. "You didn't do anything. You were perfectly fine. You were fine doing the same thing for eternity. You were happy. And I went and fucked it up just because I couldn't stand it. I couldn't stand being there, being so lonely-"

What are you doing, Fitz's voice rang in her head and she stumbled out of Linh's mind.

Sophie's face steeled. None of your business.

Fitz let out a huff of annoyance, similar to Tam's (she wondered if they were rubbing off on each other), but ultimately went back to work. Mari didn't question the weird interaction, but Sophie got the feeling she would be interrogated later by them separately. God, she did not need an adult, a sister, and a Fitz on her back. Couldn't she just make bad decisions in peace?

Sophie was grateful for them though. The pestering of Amy keeping her in check, in the right mind, the hugs from Fitz that seemed to never stop, and the way that Mari looked at her now, conflicted between holding her and never letting go and opening the gates that kept her anger behind bars. Sophie didn't know what she did to deserve them, especially after she fucked up time and time again, but she was grateful nonetheless.

They finished dinner in silence, except for the occasional "Can you pass me that?" or "Here let me show you how to do it." It was eerily domestic and made Sophie's heart clench, even making her forget about the tense conversation happening a wall over. But she didn't dare listen in again with Fitz watching her like a hawk, annoying in his way of knowing exactly what she was thinking and doing.

Eventually, the food was placed on platters, and Sophie used her waitress skills from many long days wasting away carrying plates and large orders to customers and brought all of the food out to the dining room.

Tam and Linh had kept their distance, the tension only a little bit more breathable. At least they weren't glaring daggers, now they were just ignoring the others’ existence. Baby steps. Fitz tailed behind her, setting the table as she carefully placed the food.

They soon all sat at the table, quietly serving themselves, not quite sure what to do with everyone else. Fitz and Tam kept on sharing glances, seeming to have a silent conversation that really got on Sophie's nerves. Sophie sat on the opposite end of the table from Mari, ignoring her prodding stares. "So," Linh cleared her throat, "what have you guys been doing since you got here?"

"Oh, nothing much," Tam responded, a harsh edge to his words.

Linh leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. "Oh come on. It’s been forever since I saw you last; you had to do something."

Sophie, for one, was not liking where this was going. The annoyed tone, the poking, the insistence, it was suffocating. She could tell, glancing at Fitz and Mari, that she wasn't the only one.

Tam gave a curt laugh. "Well, we did do a lot, I just didn't know if you would want to hear about how much, mmh what’s the word, better it was without you."

That hit a nerve.

Sophie watched in horror as Linh's face hardened and the water in her glass started to shake. Desperately, Sophie reached for her girlfriend's hand, only for it to be pushed away as Linh stood, startling the rest of the table—except for Tam? who looked like he was getting exactly what he wanted.

"You liar," Linh spat.

Tam stood up to meet her, a glint in his eyes as the setting sun's light hit his glasses, "How would you know I'm a liar, Linh? You told me you wanted to go, so I went. You disappeared at night, and you came back looking like shit. But you told me not to ask, and you said you didn't need me. And guess what? I fucking listened, cause that's what good siblings do: they listen. So when you told me to leave, I left and caught a ride with Fitz. And he did a better job at being a brother than you ever did as my sister!"

Fitz looked like he wanted to melt into a puddle. "Guys-" he tried, but when both Linh and Tam sent him a withering look he stopped. Sophie didn't know what to do; she didn't know who to help or even if she could. It was all too much.

"Fitz isn't your goddamn brother, he didn't go through the shit we did," Linh snapped.

Tam huffed, "Linh, when is it going to get through your thick skull? I'm not replacing you, I couldn't do that even if I tried. I'm waiting, I'm waiting for you to realize you're not okay, and I'm waiting for you to ask for help instead of waiting for it to fall apart in front of you." The looking on Tam's face and the way Linh's posture sagged made Sophie feel horribly out of place. That the moment was too intimate for her to see. Granted, that hadn't stopped her before, but that wasn’t the point. The point was Linh's face going through a hundred different emotions before she walked out the door without another word.

Sophie went to stand up, to go after her, to make sure she was okay—until she felt Tam's hand on her shoulder. He shook his head and smiled softly. "Let me talk to her," he said, and suddenly he looked too old to be the person she once knew. But she stayed where she was and let Tam go out the still-open door without an argument.

"What the hell was that?" Mari asked as soon as Tam left.

"They're twins," Fitz supplied.

"With emotional trauma and attachment issues," Sophie added. Mari only nodded and left it at that. The three finished up dinner without another word.

Light buzzes against Sophie's hand woke her up. She groaned in annoyance as the bright screen displayed Amy's name, knowing this was a call she shouldn't ignore. Slowly she found her way out of bed and Linh's arms, fumbling to answer the phone, anything to keep it from waking Linh up. She tiptoed down the hall, subconsciously taking the familiar path. Putting the phone to her ear, Amy's voice shrieked through the phone.

"HIII!" Amy screamed.

"You are way too awake at one in the morning," Sophie grumbled.

"I had a coffee around twelve in the morning, another an hour ago, and just chugged a Redbull," Amy explained as if nothing about this extreme amount of caffeine was concerning.

"And why, pray tell, did you do this?"

"Midterms." That explained everything perfectly. Amy was silent for a moment and Sophie spun around the room, eyes raking over the familiar scene she found herself in. A nightstand cluttered with chargers and books and random trinkets, a dresser void of any clothes, and a desk with the all too familiar pens she had collected and doodles she had etched into the smooth frame. On the bed, she found a familiar book that made her breath hitch and everything in her freeze. Against her will she was drawn towards it, opening the frayed frame displayed the first page of the scrapbook, a picture of Angie, Mari, Tommy, and Amilia outside of the diner.

Angie had given her the book the first and only Hanukkah she was there. It was during the middle of dinner, Amilia had her face stuffed with sufganiyot, and Tommy had come over. It was really a present to the both of them, knowing that neither would be getting anything from their respective families and a reminder that they would always have the home they had built. It was that night Amilia realized she had built herself a family, she had gained a brother and mothers. Her own makeshift family. But that had scared her to her core, being a part of something again. So she started to plan, and she gave into that horrible urge to run.

"Soph? Sophie are you okay?" Amy's voice tore through her thoughts like a light in the darkness.

"What if I fuck it all up again?" Sophie asks, her words shake, and she realizes her cheeks are wet from tears that had spilled over without her permission.

"You won’t."

"How do you know? What do I do when Linh finds out I've seen things I shouldn't have? That I've been keeping it from her? What do I do when Mari asks about who I was? What-"

"Stop." She stopped. "I need you to breathe," Amy spoke softly like Sophie was some wild animal. Over the next minute Amy counted while Sophie breathed, it was a routine at this point. Too many times had Amy walked in on Sophie barely holding herself. Eventually, Sophie's breathing calmed and so did the horrible buzzing of adrenaline in her system.

"I know that you're scared and that you have every right to be," Amy said finally into the empty silence. "But no matter what I will always be here with you okay? As you do everything I'm going to be here for you. No matter how much of a dumbass you are sometimes."

Sophie laughed dryly, "Thank you." She ignored how much it mirrored Linh's words on the bus.

They talked for a long time after, about anything and everything. About their friends at university to what Sophie's going to do about the boys. "It's weird, isn't it?" Sophie asked, watching the moon rise from the window from above her old bed.

"What's weird?"

"That we found each other so quickly that we all just seemed to be in the right place at the right time."

Amy was quiet for a minute, nothing but the sound of papers rustling to remind Sophie that she was still there. "Yeah, I guess it could be seen as weird. Maybe the universe was tired of seeing you guys dance around each other."

Sophie chuckled lightly and they left it at that as they jumped onto the next train of thought.

Sophie stepped out into the cold. Amy had hung up thirty minutes prior, leaving her in the dark next to Linh feeling ever so alone. She hadn't told her sister about the eavesdropping; she already knew what Amy would say. Sophie didn't need another lecture; it was too damn late for that. She ignored the guilt that had evidently arisen with the thoughts and had quietly snuck out of the living room, through the kitchen, and out the door. Eerily similar to the way she had the night she left, her brain unhelpfully reminded her. She winced at the steel in Mari’s voice, as she had told her not to be a coward stabbed deep in her heart.

She sat on the swinging bench outside, gently rocking herself back and forth on it. Her mind wandered, from how Mari did after she left, if she tried to go after her, she thought of Tommy and how he reacted, if he expected her to leave like the mystery boy he had fallen for. She sat and marveled at the stars and how clear they were. She thought of how the night, no matter how dark, never seemed to swallow her up, just sat like an old friend waiting.

Her thoughts surrounded her, infusing her so deeply she didn't hear the door creak open as Mari stepped through and cleared her throat, “Is this spot taken?”

Startled, Sophie shook her head, and her eyes found the plate that she was holding. It held her favorite dessert that Mari would make: a mini upside-down pineapple chocolate cake that never failed to make Sophie feel better.

They sat in heavy silence, staring off, avoiding looking at each other, instead of staring off into the trees, eating their respective mini cakes. Sophie didn't know how long it had been when Mari finally cleared her throat.

"I kept the stuff you left," she whispered.

"I- thank you," Sophie said even though she already knew because nothing else seemed to fit. A beat passed where Sophie grasped for something, anything to say to the woman next to her. Instead, she tore out an eyelash, reveling in the stab of pain she had become numb to.

"I thought you were done with that habit," Mari stated. So did Sophie. Until Linh showed up until the world decided to hate her once more.

"Old habits die hard," she shrugged.

Mari nodded, clearly having more important questions on her mind, "So...they call you Sophie, huh?"

Sophie's breath hitched. "Um yea," she stumbled. "It's a long story."

"We've got all night." And at that Sophie knew what the rest of the night was going to be, her spilling her guts about every fucked up thing that happened when she was a kid. She didn't even know how many laws she would break telling Mari everything but fuck it. Mari deserved to know.

"When I was five, I started to read minds," Sophie started softly. Mari didn't react, staying quiet for her to continue. So she did, and she told her everything. From before Fitz found her to when she left.

Mari was quiet the entire time Sophie talked, her face set in a mask, betraying none of her emotions, which made Sophie's entire stomach twist. By the time Sophie finished, fireflies had risen around the trees and grass around them. Their flickering lights were majestic, and Sophie wondered what it would be like to be a firefly. How simple it would be to be just one light in a million. She mulled over their similarities to stars, yet she remembered learning once how very far away each star was from another, what a lonely existence it must be.

They sat, Sophie still as a statue, Mari probably deciding that this random girl and her group of people were very very crazy. Finally, Mari cleared her throat, "You know I won't believe you without proof."

Sophie let out a harsh laugh, "If you did I would honestly be concerned about your sanity." Mari smiled small. Sophie cleared her throat, "So, uh what do you wanna see first?"

"Telepathy?" Mari asked, her face falling back into that mask counseling her. Sophie took a breath and closed her eyes.

She opened her mind to the world and reached forward for Mari. "Hello," Sophie transmitted and opened her eyes. Mari's eyes were blown wide and her mouth hung open slightly, her mask nowhere to be found. Sophie pulled out of her mind, closing her walls against the bombarding thoughts, and the world was quiet again.

"What the fuck," Mari breathed.

Sophie laughed, giggled more like. Maybe she was tired, maybe it was Mari's face, maybe she had hit her limit. She giggled till she was breathlessly holding her stomach. Mari only stared at her silently trying to gauge who the hell this kid was sitting next to her.

Arms were around Sophie before she knew what was happening, holding her, encasing her, like they were trying to protect her from the rest of the world. "What is this for?" Sophie whispered. It wasn't like she didn't appreciate it, honestly, she loved it, she missed motherly hugs and the way that Edaline would hold her at night when she couldn't sleep. Burying her head into Mari's shoulder, breathing in the smell of pineapple and chocolate and a home she missed so much.

"I am so sorry," Mari said. "For what they did to you, Soybean."

Sophie's eyes teared up at the name. She remembered when Mari told her about the nickname, they were in the diner closing up when Angie brought up the topic . For the next half an hour she’d smothered Mari in random nicknames, each one getting worse as the time went by. They were walking back when Mari asked her, and she said she was once called Soybean when the world was much easier.

They stayed there for who knows how long, in the cold, a thousand fireflies shining, and the warmth of a home Sophie always wanted around her.

"Sophie," a sing-song voice forced its way through her dreams, earning a grumble in return.

"She is impossible to wake up in the morning," another voice said.

"Hey, at least she sleeps," voice number three said.

"Sophiieeee, if you don’t wake up I am going to be forced to give you affection," the first voice spoke again; it was Linh, the more awake part of her brain supplied. Sophie only grumbled again, trying to bury herself under the covers once more. But in a blink of an eye the blanket was gone and she was curling around nothing, as hands were placed on her sides and kisses attacked her face. The fingers on her sides started to move and suddenly a bubble in her stomach popped and she was rolling with laughter trying to escape her girlfriend's tickles and kisses.

"I'm- I'm awake!" Sophie breathed between giggles.

Dimly, she registered who she thought was Amy say, "I think I'm going to barf," and Fitz agreeing with her while Mari ushered them out of the room with a fond look on her face.

Eventually, the torture stopped and both girls were breathless, but in the best way possible. "It's too early for this," Sophie said, flopping back down onto the bed. Linh giggled and the sound did something to Sophie's insides. Maybe it was love, she thought as she fought the shame that came from the secrets she kept (it’s not and she knows this, but maybe if she pretends it is, then it will be, then she'll be enough).

"Come on, love," Linh whispered, something in her eyes shining that Sophie didn't want to know. It would hurt too much to know.

Breakfast was a small affair; the tension had lessened. Much less like a nuke about to go off and more like a small bomb that would blow with the slightest move. Sophie and Mari's talk helped, and so did Amy's presence distracting the twins from each other.

It was nice, sitting, talking, fighting with no malice in their words. For once, Sophie felt like she was home. Sure it still needed healing, and work, and help, but it was still her home.

#weeeeee #kotlc #keeper of the lost cities #sophie foster #amy foster #linh song #tam song #fitz vacker #kotlc fic #fanfic #tater writes #finding home

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areyoureadyforsomemeatballz · 6 years

Text

Exit Strategy

Summary: Bucky learns that he should not leave mission planning up to you, because you will do whatever is necessary to be successful.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader

Word Count: 1900

Warnings: Some swearing, botched mission plans, slight sexual references.

A/N: This is my submission for @ruckystarnes Rae’s Summer of Satire Challenge. This is the first writing challenge that I have participated in, so I’m super excited for you all to read this! Please go check out her account and the other awesome entries. As always let me know what you think, it means so much to me to interact with all you lovelies (even especially the nonsensical keyboard smashing!). My prompt is in bold.

This mission had been a shit show since your boots had hit the ground. It was supposed to be a simple reconnaissance and retrieval mission. With only half of your normal team backing you, you should have expected things to get a bit hairy. Apart from you, the team was made up of Bucky, Tony, Thor, Clint, and Bruce. It had started out normal enough but it got very weird fairly quickly.

******

“Relax, baby, this is going to be a breeze,” you say winking at Bucky.

Bucky slings his arm around your waist and beams down at you. “I’m sure it will be, darlin’. We’ve got the makings of the Avengers A-team here.”

“Hey! Nuh-uh, Robocop. No cutesy couple shit, this is a serious mission,” Tony calls out. “Get your pretty asses over here and help strategize, we're going to need both of your expertise.”

“Damn it, Tony I was enjoying that. It was making me feel all sorts of ways,” Clint says as he approaches the huddle.

Bucky glares at the man, and you slap your hand over his mouth before he can say anything. “Gross, Clint. Remind me to never touch my boyfriend around you again,” you say sarcastically while grinning at him.

“Guys, can we please focus? The sooner we get this done, the sooner Clint can be gross alone, far away from us decent folk,” Bruce adds.

“As per usual, Brucie is right. Let’s get this show on the road, A-team,” Tony says as he pulls up a holographic display of the building you all need to infiltrate.

“Are we going by the A-team, because that was totally Bucky’s suggestion,” you say to Tony in a singsong voice.

“Lady Y/N, would you care to partner up? We do work well together and we’ve been sparring lately,” Thor asks innocently as Tony and Bruce argue about schematics.

Bucky’s eyes widen comically. “I was planning on sticking with my girl, Thor. I think you’re stuck with Clint on this one.”

Clint loops his arm through Thor’s and leans his head against him. “You hear that? We’re so going to be the power couple of this mission! I can see it now-”

“Sorry, big guy,” You grimace.

“Not to worry, Clint and I are also a suitable pair. He also has the tendency to make things enjoyable, no offense to you,” Thor responds with a smile as he squeezes Clint’s hand.

“Okay, kiddos, now that we’ve done the schoolyard pick it’s time to go in with guns blazing!” Tony says excitedly.

“No, You and Bruce will patrol here and protect our perimeter. Clint and Thor should attack from the west and we’ll take the east. We’ll do a sweep and take out any militants along the way. The payload is our priority,” You say eyeing the hologram.

“It gets me all hot and bothered when you take control, sweet thing,” Clint says, his fingers interlaced with Thor’s. “I’m sure Bucky-bear agrees.”

Bucky wraps his fingers around yours and stomps toward the building. “And break,” Tony shouts from behind you. “Comms are on, use them, people. Go A-team!”

******

Sweat pours down your skin as you and Bucky push through hallway after hallway. You haven’t run into any hostiles yet, but the sheer heat in this building is threatening to kill you.

“Why is there no A.C. in this shit-hole,” You whine quietly.

Bucky turns to you and wipes your forehead off with the palm of his hand. “Babydoll, we're almost done. Then we can go home and cool down.”

Through the comm, Clint sounds off. “Can Thor and I join? I promise it’ll be good for all of us, and it’ll promote team bonding.” You can hear Thor giggling in the background.

“Clinton, I am going to kick the sass out of you,” You hiss at him. It was too hot to put up with the jabs of the archer. “Where did they hide this fucking thing?”

Suddenly, there are sounds of fighting coming over the comm. You and Bucky spring into action, ready to race off to lend assistance. “Thor’s been hit, Y/N you guys need to stay put and retrieve the payload. I’m trying to pick off these bastards. Bruce and Tony, they may be headed your way. I’m thinking code green.”

“Clint, I am not hulking out-”

Bruce’s voice cuts off and static fills your ears. “Looks like they blew our communication,” Bucky looks at you and pulls the earpiece out. “It’s just you and me, doll.”

“It was starting to feel like too much of a boys club anyway. We’ve gotta be getting close.”

You hear footsteps approaching and quickly pull Bucky through the door at the end of the hall. “Hey, Bucks, it’s got to be our lucky day or something,” you murmur as you point to what you had been searching for. He grins at you as you slip the payload into an inner pocket of your uniform.

There are voices outside the room and you make the snap decision to pull Bucky into the steel cabinet at the back of the room. It was a tight squeeze, the two of you were wrapped around each other. You inhale Bucky’s rich scent to calm yourself.

“I told you nobody came this way!” someone says from the other side of the door.

“Whatever, it’s better safe than sorry,” another voice answers. “Let’s keep going, I’m sure they’re here somewhere.”

“What’s the plan, baby girl?” Bucky whispers into your ear.

You shake your head at him and maneuver your finger to your lips, urging him to be quiet. You hear the door swing closed and you breathe out a sigh of relief. You had thought for sure they would do a sweep of the room and find the two of you in the cabinet.

“Y/N, what’s our exit strategy?” Bucky asks as he helps you out.

You look up at him sheepishly. “Our what?”

“Oh my god,” he exclaims running a hand through his hair as the two of you step back into the hallway cautiously. “We’re all going to die!”

“I wasn’t thinking that far ahead! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but nothing is going according to plan. I’m flying by the seat of my pants, so if you have some brilliant idea now is your time to shine.”

“We really are going to die.”

There’s a commotion behind the two of you and you take off running to the exit glancing over your shoulder. “You’re looking at my exit strategy, Barnes.”

His brain quickly catches up and he tears down the hallway after you, shooting behind him like a madman as he goes. He scoops you over his shoulder and you position yourself on his back so that you are able to aim at the men chasing after you.

“Run, baby!”

“What do you think I’m doing, woman? This is my top speed!”

You take one of the assailants down, hitting him at least six times in the chest. The other ducks behind the door frame as you and Bucky exit the building. You’re almost to safety, you can practically taste the perimeter surrounding the base that Tony and Bruce had set. Hell, you can see Thor sitting on the ground just ahead.

Bucky grunts beneath you and you see color bloom across his back. He takes you in his arms and catapults you through the air before he falls onto his stomach. You roll to the ground and are back on your feet, running as fast as you possibly can. You feel something wrap around your feet and you dive to reach your base.

“The Avengers A-Team have successfully retrieved Sam and the Falconettes flag and have won the simulation,” F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s Irish lilt fills the area.

You breathe out a sigh of relief and try to stand. You realize that Peter has shot webs around your ankles. “Come on, Pete! We all agreed on no powers!” You shout as he comes out from behind a tree, Vision following behind him.

He blushes at you and helps remove them. “Sorry, Y/N I didn’t mean too. You were just about to win and I was out of paintballs, it was an instinct thing.”

“My apologies, miss. I did try to stop him,” Vision says to you shooting Peter a pointed look.

“Don’t let anyone else know that you tried cheating, Tony takes simulations very seriously,” you say as you ruffle his hair.

“Mr. Stark’s going to be mad isn’t-”

Tony appears and he and Bruce pull Thor to his feet, his entire front covered in black and pink paint. “It’s alright, kid, we crushed you anyway,” Tony says gleefully.

Natasha and Wanda approach the group arm in arm, their guns slung across their backs. “Clint hit me and Nat and has been hiding in the trees ever since,” Wanda states.

“He’s scared because he got paint in my hair,” Natasha smiles wide. “I swear I’m not going to hurt him, this was my idea.”

“But it was perfectly executed by moi,” Tony says. “And my state of the art training facility.”

“Not all of us can be billionaires, Tony,” Bruce says.

“Think we can work on the air-conditioning next time? Because that was brutal,” you say playfully.

You go turn from the group and head to Bucky, where he is lying in the dirt and stoop to help him up. “Hi, baby. Nice throw back there.”

He grins and pulls you into a searing kiss. “That tuck and roll was one of the hottest things I’ve ever seen. You drive me completely wild.”

“Could you two heathens try and keep it family friendly? There is a child present,” Sam calls out as him and Steve approach. “That was cold, Y/N, leaving your boy out in the middle of the forest to die.”

“Shut it, birdbrain, you’re the one that shot him. Nice team name by the way.”

“I had to try and stop you guys after you unloaded your entire gun on poor Steve. What Can I say, I’m full of good ideas. We almost beat your sorry asses.”

“So close, Sammy-boy, but me and my girl are the dream team,” Bucky brags.

You take in Steve’s paint covered appearance, greatful that the paintballs couldn’t hurt him too much trough his uniform. “Sorry, Stevie. Me and Bucks couldn’t bear to listen to Sam gloat if he won again.”

He smiles at you. “It’s alright. ‘Sides that shooting was pretty impressive, with you on Bucky’s back and all.”

You and Bucky shared a smile and he wrapped his arm over your shoulders and presses a kiss to your head. “That’s my girl.”

“Y/N, you were shooting from Bucky’s back?” Natasha asks impressed.

“Hey, I mean you took out our comms, Natty. That was insane, especially with the limited tools we had,” you say back.

Tony winks at the two of you. “That’s it, everybody go and wash up, family dinner at six and we can watch today’s highlight reel.”

“You still wanna cool off, doll?” Bucky hums quietly into your ear. His tone sends shivers down your spine.

“Can we still join?” Clint calls from somewhere above you, high in the trees. Thor’s booming laugh follows after you, as you run off with Bucky.

“We might be a bit late for dinner,” Bucky shouts over his shoulder and he nestles you into his arms for the second time that day, laughing without a care in the world. “Start without us!”

#summerofsatire2018 #bucky x reader #bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky imagine #marvel fanfiction #reader insert #avengers imagine #everyone is happy #exit strategy

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redheadedwhat · 7 years

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I Bless the Rains Down at Sanctuary

I got this idea from @embracetheapocalypsewithme and her story A Slippery Situation. Thanks to @lucifers-trash-stash for looking this over for me!

Title: I Bless the Rains Down at Sanctuary

Pairing: Negan x OFC, Negan x Wives

Rating: Eh, SFW-ish? Mature? (Language, Nudity, Sexual situations)

‘Uh oh’ was generally not something one wanted to hear while living in the apocalypse where any small slip-up was life or death, but that is exactly what Tallulah overheard as she walked into the wives parlor that morning.

“What happened?” she asked, heading over to the floor-to-ceiling windows where the other two wives, Sherry and Yvonne, were looking out at the courtyard below.

“The trucks are back,” Yvonne answered, her curls bouncing around her face as she turned to her fellow wife. “And look at what they’re bringing in.”

Tallulah stepped between the other two women and looked outside, but saw nothing that would cause alarm. Clothes, medicine, food, some crates filled with glass bottles, and what looked like bags of seeds. “I’m not seeing anything out of the ordinary,” she shrugged.

“She wasn’t here last time, remember?” Sherry reminded Yvonne with a bit of a laugh. “She has no idea what’s coming.”

“What?” Tallulah asked, looking between the two women for some sort of answer. “What’s coming?”

“Oh, yeah!” Yvonne smiled at Sherry, but completely ignored Tallulah’s questions. “That was whatsherface, wasn’t it?”

There used to be a fourth wife, but she left before Tallulah had arrived. Her former boyfriend had shown up one day alive and well and when she decided she wanted to be with him Negan had let her go. He didn’t want anyone here that didn’t want to be here.

“If you guys are gonna keep being cryptic then I’m just going back to bed.” Tallulah said, preparing to turn around and leave.

“No, no, no, no!” Sherry and Yvonne grabbed an arm on either side of her. “We apologize, Lulu.” Sherry smiled and pet her hair while Yvonne pointed to something down below.

“You see those crates down there?” Yvonne asked and when Tallulah nodded she continued, “They’re filled with booze. It looks like the Saviors raided a bar or a liquor store or something.”

“What’s so bad about booze?” Tallulah wondered aloud.

“The booze itself is fine.” Sherry answered, going over to the bar that was set up in the corner and pouring herself a drink. “It’s the amount that they found that’s the problem.”

“They’re gonna celebrate.” Yvonne elaborated. “Last time they brought home that much alcohol Negan and the rest of the guys got wasted.”

“Really?” Tallulah asked, somewhat surprised. “Negan?” It’s not like he didn’t have a drink here or there, but he never let himself get impaired. He seemed to like control too much to get totally wasted.

“He was so drunk last time he threw up on me!” Yvonne grimaced. “That’s why I am out. You two can deal with him.”

“Oh come on, you aren’t going to help us at all?” Sherry complained. “At least help us get him into bed. He’s heavy and handsy and impossible to maneuver.”

“Nope.” Yvonne answered easily, moving away from the windows to sit on the couch. “You promised last time.”

Sherry sighed, but didn’t argue any further. “I guess it’s just you and me tonight, Lulu.”

“How bad could he possibly get?” Tallulah shrugged, seemingly unconcerned. “I’ve handled drunk dudes before.”

————

“MEET YOU ALL THE WAY! ROSEANNNNAAAAAAA, YEAH!”

Loud, obnoxious singing was the first sign that Negan had left the Savior's celebration and was heading back to the parlor and his living quarters.

“I’m gonna get my fuckin dick wet,” he could be heard boasting outside the door. “I’ll see you assholes in the morning.” With that the door was dramatically kicked open and Negan sauntered inside, a wide grin on his face.

“Good evening, ladies,” he said while executing a somewhat unsteady bow. “Who wants to fuckin dance with me?” he grabbed Sherry without waiting for an answer and started enthusiastically twirling her around.

“Negan!” Sherry scolded him halfheartedly. “There’s no music.”

“That’s okay,” he replied, completely unconcerned. “I’ll sing. Lulu, sing with me!”

Tallulah watched on as he continued to belt out ‘Roseanna’ while dancing with Sherry. This was not as bad as the others had insisted. In fact, it was extremely amusing.

“All I wanna tell you is now you’ll nuh nuh nah duh da something something…ROSEANNA!” he sang enthusiastically, missing most of the words but not letting it slow him down. “Lulu, why aren’t you singing with me?” he pouted as Sherry finally wriggled away from him and his exuberant dance moves.

Tallulah was having more fun than she’d had in quite awhile, so she ignored Sherry’s attempts to get her attention and kept her focus on Negan. “I don’t know the words,” she shrugged.

“What?!” he asked, absolutely appalled. “But, it’s fucking Toto!” Negan grew quiet for a moment. “Do you think the members of Toto are still alive?”

“I’m sure they’re fine, Negan.” Sherry replied immediately. “Why don’t we get you into bed? Have you had anything to eat or did you guys just drink all night?”

Tallulah followed as Sherry steered Negan into his bedroom. She still didn’t quite understand why this was a two-person job, but it wasn’t like she had anything better to do.

“They’re fucking dead,” Negan sighed mournfully. “Everyone is fucking dead.”

“Not everyone,” Tallulah reminded him with an amused smile. “We’re okay. So maybe Toto is fine, too.”

This cheered Negan up considerably. “You’re fuckin right, Lulu. They were fuckin badass, I’m sure they’re fine.” He plopped down on his bed at Sherry’s insistence and allowed her to remove his boots while he struggled to take off his leather jacket. “Are you trying to take ad-fucking-vantage of my inebriated state, Sher-bear?”

Sherry tossed Negan’s boots to the ground with a huff and turned to look at Tallulah. “Are you gonna help at all?”

Tallulah wasn’t exactly sure what she was supposed to be doing, but she went to help Negan remove his jacket. “Oh, now the fucking both of you are getting in on it,” he leered. “Just because I didn’t say ‘no’ does not mean I said ‘yes’!”

Sherry pulled Tallulah aside once Negan’s jacket, boots, and socks were removed. “I’m gonna get some water and crackers. Just don’t let him wander off or drink any more.”

“We’ll be fine.” Tallulah insisted with a roll of her eyes.

Behind her Negan had moved on to a different Toto song and was now happily butchering the words to ‘Africa’. Sherry gave Tallulah a look that said that she didn’t really believe her, but turned around and left anyway.

“There’s nothing that a something something ever dooooo! I BLESS the rains down in AAAAAFRICAAAA!” Negan sang as he started undoing his belt and trying to take off his pants. “Lulu, are there zombies in Africa?” he asked, looking at her as if she knew all the answers.

“Probably,” she answered honestly and went to go help him with his pants. His moods when drunk were quite mercurial, quickly jumping from joyous and singing to melancholy and introspective.

Negan pulled Tallulah onto the bed with him while she was still working on his pants. “We should have a fucking benefit concert,” he announced, ignoring the fact that his pants were still around his knees. “You used to sing, right? You could be the fucking headliner. I know how fucking talented you are at head…lining.” He then laughed uproariously, letting go of Tallulah long enough for her to finally get his pants off. “Head. I made a joke about you sucking my dick.”

“You sure did, Negan.” Tallulah smiled at him indulgently. He was like a big, perverted child when he was drunk.

“I will, of course, be the motherfucking MC because I am such a fucking great public speaker,” Negan decided, really getting into the idea. “No matter what my college debate teacher used to say. So what, I called the other guy a cocksucker? He was a fucking cocksucker! It was a fucking compliment! It’s not a bad thing! Unless you’re a fucking prude with a stick up their ass.” he continued to grumble, “Gave me a fucking F and where are you now Mr. Grayden? Probably didn’t make it past day fucking one.”

Tallulah listened to his ramblings with an amused grin. Only Negan would argue that he meant ‘cocksucker’ as a compliment. He didn’t talk about his past too often, but it was nice to hear that no matter what Negan was always Negan.

“We could have Toto play, since they’re still fucking living,” he continued. “Maybe there’s people here that can play instruments. You need a fucking back-up band.”

“We’ll ask around.” she agreed. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything?”

“I need a fucking beer and you on my fucking cock.” he answered, reaching out to grab her and pull her onto his lap. “And I need to see your titties. Can you take your fucking shirt off for me, Lulu?”

“Not right now, Negan.” Tallulah slipped out of his grasp easily and set herself down next to him. “And no beer or Sherry will kill me!”

“Sherry is a party pooper,” he grumbled and pulled off his shirt, getting his head stuck until Tallulah freed him. “Just because I threw up that one time.”

“Are you gonna throw up this time?” she asked him, but he was no longer paying attention to her. Negan had shoved his boxers down far enough to pull his dick out and was now concentrating on it intently.

“My fucking cock is broken!” he mournfully wailed before flopping onto his back. “It won’t get hard! I have three fucking hot wives and a broken dick!” Tallulah was surprised to see that he was literally close to tears. “Lulu, will you still be my wife if I can’t fuck anymore?”

“Yes, Negan.” she answered, watching him kick his boxers to the floor and frown down at his penis. “I’m sure your dick will be fine, it’s just the alcohol.”

“Maybe if you take your shirt off it will wake up?” he suggested hopefully.

“Not until you tell me if you think you’re gonna be sick tonight,” she tried bargaining with him.

“How am I supposed to know?” he groaned. “I’m not a fucking mind-reader!” He reached out for Tallulah blindly and she swatted his hands away, making him pout even more.

“Well, how do you feel?” she continued, not letting herself be deterred. “Do you feel sick?”

“No!” he grunted out his answer, frustrated with the line of questioning. “I threw up once and now I can never live it down!” He turned to look at Tallulah, his dick in his hand, “I answered your question, now I get boobies. You fucking promised!”

She sighed and pulled her breasts out of the top of her tank top.

“What the hell are you doing?” Sherry asked, choosing that moment to return with food and water for their drunken husband. “And why is he naked?”

“It just sort of happened.” Tallulah shrugged, swatting at Negan’s hands yet again as he reached for her exposed breasts. “He said he doesn’t feel like he’s going to be sick.”

“That’s what he always says.” Sherry replied wearily. “Here,” she shoved a bottled of water at Negan, who let go of his penis to grab it. “Drink.”

He complied surprisingly easily, taking a few mouthfuls and then handing the bottle back. “Sherry, we’re starting a fucking band for the benefit concert,” he informed her with a smile. “Do you play any instruments? Other than the skin flute?” He laughed at his own joke and turned to Tallulah, “see, I made another joke about sucking dick. I’m on fucking fire tonight!”

Sherry just ignored what he was saying and handed him some crackers to eat. When he ate a couple she made him drink a few more sips of water and then put the bottle on his nightstand. “Do you need anything else? Are you going to be okay if we leave you to get some sleep?”

“Don’t fucking leave.” Negan whined. “I need sex. I told everyone I was going to get laid and I can’t be a fucking liar now, can I? What kind of leader would I be if I just sat around lying all the fuckity fucking time?”

Sherry glanced down at Negan’s flaccid penis and then back up to his face pointedly. “Oh, yeah.” he sighed, resigned to a broken dick for the rest of his life.

“Good night, Negan.” Sherry pulled a sheet over him and walked over to the door. “If you need anything one of us will be outside.”

“Wait,” he called out, looking like a kicked puppy. “Lulu, can you come here for a second?”

Tallulah leaned over to see what he needed, brushing the hair back from his forehead as she waited for him to speak.

Quicker than a drunk man should be able to move he grabbed Tallulah’s breasts and squeezed them. “Honk honk!” he laughed, looking quite proud of himself.

She rolled her eyes and moved over to the door with Sherry. “Goodnight, Negan.” she said, leaving him still laughing in his bed.

When Sherry and Tallulah went back to the parlor Yvonne had reemerged from her room where she had be avoiding Negan’s drunken antics. “A bit handsy, was he?” she asked Tallulah.

“How’d you guess?” she replied dryly.

Yvonne smirked and looked pointedly at Tallulah’s chest. “Your breasts are hanging out of your top.”

Tallulah sighed and looked down. Yup, there they were. She had forgotten they were even out. She pushed them back into her shirt while taking a seat on the couch next to Yvonne. “Honestly, he was a bit much, but it wasn’t as bad as the two of you made it seem.”

“Oh, that wasn’t the bad part,” Sherry answered. “He’s a little extra annoying when he first comes in, but he’ll probably be passed out in ten minutes.”

“The bad part,” Yvonne picked up where Sherry left off. “is when he wakes up every two hours during the night either needing to pee or throw up or complain about wanting more to drink.”

“And worst of all,” Sherry added, “is when he finally wakes up for the morning with a hangover and snaps and complains about every little thing. The sun is too bright, his coffee is too cold, his eggs are too egg-y.”

“Oh,” Tallulah gulped, looking quite a bit more worried than she was before. That did not sound like fun and they were guaranteed to end up dealing with the hurt feelings of whoever ran afoul of Negan while he was in a mood. No one in the Sanctuary would be outwardly rude to them for fear of it getting back to Negan, but that didn’t stop people from saying stuff behind their backs and trying to get in a few petty slights. Then there were the people that seemed to view the wives as Negan’s secretaries, or as an extension of Negan. They complained to them if they couldn’t get to the boss man himself and there was bound to be plenty of complaining going on tomorrow.

“You can have first shift, Lulu.” Sherry clapped the younger woman on the shoulders and gave her a smile. “Just stay in the parlor and wait for him to yell.” she instructed. “I’ll be by later to relieve you and then you better get some sleep because we have quite the day ahead of us tomorrow.”

-----

Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave comments/questions/etc.

@negans-network

#negan x ofc #comicnegan>#negan x reader #negan fanfiction #the walking dead fanfiction #Negan's thirst squad #the walking dead negan

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deltaengineering · 7 years

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spring anime 2017 part 2: girlfriendship is magic

I can’t believe Maidragon was so powerful it brought the entire 90s back.

See also:

• spring anime 2017 part 1: woke up late

• spring anime 2017 part 3: comfy and easy to wear

• spring anime 2017 bonus round: things you already knew were good

Clockwork Planet

Yes, forecasts this season predict heavy showers of magical girlfriends.This time the dude afflicted by this sudden precipitation is a clockwork nerd, who gets a clockwork gothloli dropped on him. This may be less of a coincidence than it sounds because for spurious reasons the entire planet has been replaced by clockwork – if you thought this show was mentally capable of having a metaphorical title, I have bad news. So basically this is teen schmuck + robot superweapon having fights in a city that looks like a lazy steampunk cosplayer’s top hat, in between erotic misunderstandings. I’m regretting that I called Macchiavellism’s fights bad because a couple good action cuts are already a lot to ask for, as evidenced here: It looks just terrible, and obviously the content itself is even worse. Nuh-uh.

Eromanga-sensei

I love Hiro Kanzaki’s character designs. There, I said it. I just wish they weren’t attached to bullshit like OreImo or Eromanga-sensei, which, being by the same author and all, is more or less the same thing. It’s pretty bad when the implied incest fantasy is the least revolting thing about your celebration of otaku shittery: So a schlubby light novel protagonist who also writes light novels (and who happens to be surrounded by hot bitches that just love people who write light novels because that’s so cool) finds out that the mysterious porn artist he’s collaborating with over the internet is actually his hikkikomori little sister, who reacts to this revelation like any girl would: being tsundere. This means it’s full of mildly self-deprecating nerd humor, the infuriating kind that makes it abundantly clear that if the author meant any of it, he wouldn’t write this crap. Even worse is that the sibling relationship is played for sappy family feels, which I would be more willing to give the benefit of the doubt to if this wasn’t OreImo 2: The Sequel To OreImo. And the main guy can’t keep his eyes from wandering anyway, so it’s not like there’s a mystery here. I’ll say it looks real good, obviously there’s money in the OreImo market and it’s well made as a result, plus the aforementioned character designs. But if I want more Hiro Kanzaki I’d rather watch Go! Go! 575 again.

Hinako Note

There’s actually no Manga Time Kirara adaptation this season, but worry not, Hinako Note is indistinguishable from one of those (that one being GochiUsa). So it’s Kirara at it’s most basic too: 5 girls with mild, generic quirks hang out and cute things take place. You get your shy one, you get your hungry one, you get your tiny maid one, etc. Ostensibly this is theater-themed, but as of episode 1 it’s less about theater than K-ON is about music, and that’s saying something. Now, these shows are always extremely inoffensive by design, and if they do nothing fundamentally wrong they just come across as dull. Since this does nothing fundamentally wrong, it just comes across as dull. Congratulations, Hinako Note, you pulled it off even while being born in the wrong magazine.

Kabukibu!

The easy hook when writing about Kabukibu is that it’s another DEEN show about a classic Japanese performance artform, but it’s blindingly obvious right away that Kabukibu is no Rakugo Shinjuu – it being about a school club is right in the title after all, and it has the requisite spurious punctuation too, so everything else falls into place from there. The main innovation is that this is about cute guys doing cute kabuki. As always, our main dude has to gather the five members to bring the school club back to life first. So it’s unimaginative and honestly rather bad, but I still like it. For starters there’s the bit where our lead is such a nerd that he spends every conversation clearing up common misconceptions about kabuki, which is hilarious, since it resembles weeaboo Richard Stallman wanting to interject for a second over and over again. Secondly, the comical cast of misfits does seem to have potential, with a rock singer that can’t sing, an obvious woman that is actually a woman, and so on. Overall it reminds me of Cheer Danshi, an obvious C-list production that gets by by being earnest. If I can learn to not be annoyed at the yodelling kabuki inflection, I might actually watch this for a lark.

The King’s Avatar

This may be completely outside the “Japanese cartoon” purview of this post since it’s 100% Chinese and doesn’t even have a Japanese dub like the Haoliners productions, but it’s on MAL so it counts I suppose. Also, it’s rather... good? The King’s Avatar is about a legendary MMO pro gamer who gets kicked off his team and has to give up his account, which afflicts him with a multitude of sads. After a bit of soul-searching he starts playing the game again on a new server, starting from level 1. What makes this not as bad as it sounds is that it’s not an isekai bonanza, but a sports show where the sport happens to be visually interesting, and it’s a slow and contemplative sports show at that. The whole “starting from level 1" thing is a topical twist on the sports comeback story, and it looks fairly nice too, a few bits of unfortunate CG aside (but that’s common, so whatever). Yeah, I like this, and if fansubs turn out to not be a huge hassle to get hold of I’ll give it a try.

Love Kome - We Love Rice

Back in Japan, please enjoy this short comedy about rice crop gijinka, boyband edition. It has atrocious character designs and is painfully unfunny. So nothing new there.

Re:Creators

Girlfriends keep falling in my lap, and that might mean my eyes will soon be turning red. Hey, this is the old “reverse isekai”, where some nerd gets to live with a bunch of characters from his favorite anime that inexplicably became real. Brace for domestic hijinks and fish-out-of-water comedy - and a lot of action, because this is Ei Aoki working with offbrand Fate material. He may be this show’s saving grace, because I’m willing to forgive dumb action anime a lot if it at least manages to have some actual fucking action in it. The idea that these anime characters think they’re in the “realm of the gods” (i.e., their creators, you see) also has some storytelling potential, if it doesn’t get buried under stuff blowing up and comedic trips to the konbini. And it doesn’t have a “walking in on the girl naked” scene, which probably counts as “classy” in this field. I don’t know, it sure is stupid as hell but it might be a good time. We’ll see.

Renai Boukun

Renai Boukun is a comedy’s comedy about a very silly cupid that ships people, and herself. As a real anime comedy, it is of course chock full of people acting wacky followed by reaction faces, which is my kryptonite. I do have to admit that this show at least goes all out with it, it’s fast and furious and never lets up. Some of the jokes are even okay (mostly the more absurd ones like the unsettlingly bizarre cat with a human face), though most are just repetitive, like the yandere girl being constantly jealous. Yeah, this is just totally not my thing, but if I give it any amount of praise that probably means it’s a good one?

Seikaisuru Kado

Never say that bureaucrats don’t get no respect, because this is the second season in a row where we get an anime about pencilpushers being totally awesome. The main difference between this and ACCA is that ACCA was roughly 80% style, and Seikaisuru Kado has no style. It makes up for it with conviction, because this is a show where some desk jockey assigned to wind down an electroplating business spends a night googling, with the result being him developing a new electroplating procedure that saves the company and impresses physics professors – and that is the intro before the science fiction aspect comes into play. Oh yeah, there’s a science fiction aspect. So after a job well done, Super Bureaucrat Man is taking a flight from Haneda airport when a Borg cube unceremoniously drops on the plane. The rest of the episode is spent with scientists trying to figure out what happened, mostly by shooting tank shells at the cube and so on. Guess they just aren’t bureaucratic enough, because by the end our hero emerges from the cube, having apparently come to an agreement with the proprietor. Uh. Yes, this is an extreme amount of nonsense, and I have no idea where this is supposed to be going. With the amount of military hardware on display, it makes me think “GATE, but not for total assholes”, but who knows. It looks very weird too, it’s a CG show that cuts a lot of corners by using 2D animation (I know, right?). Usually CG characters are good when you have a lot of action because it enables a fluid camera, but this has no action and they still could have done their special effects in CG like everyone else. So it ends up as an anime where the important characters look worse than the unimportant ones they couldn’t be bothered to build a CG model for. The whole thing is bizarre enough to be intriguing, but I don’t have high hopes for it, especially since the slots for shows I actually want to watch are now filling up.

Tsuki ga Kirei

Case in point: Tsuki ga Kirei is a romance about a bookish nerd dude who loves to quote Dazai at his most morose, and a neurotic girl. Needless to say, it is very awkward, but also kind of cute. This may seem like a slim synopsis, but that’s pretty much it: Tsuki ga Kirei is the sort of show that has the potential to be great if it pays off, but just becomes boring to infuriating Mari Okada clone #3879435 if it doesn’t. So it’s a risky proposition, and not one you can call based on the first episode. On the execution level it seems to do it right so far, it’s well directed, sticks to its slow, sensitive tone and looks pleasant and detailed – the only distracting thing are regrettable and robotic CG background characters all over the place. Overall, this is a show that demands at least three episodes, which it will get from me. Ask again later.

Twin Angel BREAK

Finally, if you’re looking for some basic-ass mahou shoujo shit, here’s the new Twin Angel spinoff. It’s indeed some basic-ass mahou shoujo shit (two-girl team aka PreCure version). The genki red one and the reserved blue one go around fighting evil by the moonlight or whatever, while being cheered on by their one-gimmick-each friends. I somehow doubt this thing is setting itself up for a subversion of any kind, so yeah. What you see is what you get. The only memorable thing is that the action is more than merely bad here, it’s comically bad. Seriously, it’s somewhere between Astro Fighter Sunred and Ninja Slayer. Too bad the rest of the show is just unambitiously competent, so watching it for production pratfalls seems like it’s not worth it either.

#anime #impressions #spring2017 #Clockwork Planet #eromanga-sensei #hinako note #kabukibu #the king's avatar #love kome #re:creators #renai boukun #seikaisuru kado #tsuki ga kirei #twin angel break

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gordonwilliamsweb · 4 years

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Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes

The Friday Breeze

Newsletter editor Brianna Labuskes, who reads everything on health care to compile our daily Morning Briefing, offers the best and most provocative stories for the weekend.

Happy Friday! In things I’ve learned today that I can’t stop thinking about: We apparently carry fat in our tongues? And you can lose it like any other fat on your body. This feels like something I should have known as a human, and yet I somehow managed 30-plus years without this information. Anyway, now that everyone is thinking too much about their tongues, let’s head to the news.

Democrats have asked the Supreme Court to expedite the case on the constitutionality of the health law, pushing for a ruling on the case during this term. This might seem paradoxical — as the lower courts have ruled against the ACA — but, as you Breeze readers know, the move is politically savvy. The health law is more popular than ever, and Democrats have been owning that advantage. If they can keep the Republicans’ attack on the legislation in the front of voters’ minds heading into the 2020 elections, there could be a repeat of the blue-wave midterms.

SCOTUS gave the Trump administration and Republicans until today to respond. (As of press time, they haven’t yet.)

The New York Times: Democrats Ask Supreme Court for Quick Decision on Obamacare

The Friday Breeze

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In a pretty harsh reality check, a new study this week found that a popular idea for cutting health spending doesn’t pan out when you look at the data. The strategy is based on identifying the hardest-to-treat, most expensive patients and better coordinating their care. But, despite the hype, the method didn’t cut hospital readmissions for those patients. The study highlights once again what we all know: Health care is complicated. And hyped-up promises to cut costs that sound too good to be true too often are.

Kudos to the evangelists of the method, though, for acknowledging it doesn’t work. “We could have coasted on the publicity we were getting,” said Dr. Jeffrey Brenner, a family physician in New Jersey who founded the program that was studied. “It’s my life’s work. So, of course, you’re upset and sad.”

The New York Times: These Patients Are Hard to Treat

The administrative costs of running a single-payer system in Canada come in at $551 per person per year. That seems like a lot, right? That’s what I thought, too, until I saw the total for Americans, which is *drum roll* $2,497 per year.

Los Angeles Times: U.S. Health System Costs Four Times More to Run Than Canada’s

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has proposed that California get into the drug-selling business — generic drugs, that is. The theory behind it is to increase competition and drive down prices. But despite generics accounting for 90% of the prescriptions filled in the country, they aren’t really the problem when talking high drug prices. It’s uncommon for those types of meds to only have one player in the marketplace, so pricing already tends to be competitive. For the average person, Newsom’s plan wouldn’t make much of a dent.

Los Angeles Times: Q&A: What You Need to Know About Gov. Newsom’s Drug Plan for California

But a strategy some people are hoping would make a difference is the VA model. The troubled federal agency might not have many bright spots these days, but patients who get prescriptions through Veterans Affairs are less likely than other insured Americans to skip doses and less likely to delay filling prescriptions because they were unable to afford them. What’s more, the program seems to curb racial disparities in accessing meds.

Stat: The VA Approach to Buying Drugs Means Patients Are Less Likely to Skip Medications Due to Cost

Mark your calendar: The annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference runs through next week, and, as it nears, Stat looks back at the past 20 years of the event and how it has shaped the health care world. What emerges is a story of heroes and villains, booms and busts, sensational scandals, drinks and deals, flaring tempers and foolish predictions, and far more drama than anyone could expect from health care industry executives.

Stat: The Ghosts of JPMs Past: How 20 Years of Deals Have Shaped Health Care

In the latest sign that red-state resistance against Medicaid expansion is fading, Kansas Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly fulfilled a campaign promise by reaching a deal with Kansas Senate Republican Leader Jim Denning after a years-long impasse between the state’s two parties. Denning is eyeing a tough reelection race for next year — which could make the decision all the more notable.

The Wichita Eagle: Kansas Governor Kelly, Senate GOP Leader Reach Medicaid Deal

In a rare glimpse of good news, cancer death rates plummeted dramatically over a one-year period in the largest drop ever seen in national cancer statistics dating to 1930. The reason? Advancements in lung cancer treatments.

The Associated Press: Cancer Group Finds Biggest One-Year Drop in U.S. Death Rate

The back-and-forth over whether baby powder can be linked to ovarian cancer is the debate that launched 1,000 lawsuits (plus a couple of thousand more). A big study, however, tries to put the matter to rest. Research — that was deemed “overall reassuring” — now shows there is no strong connection between the two.

The Associated Press: Big Study Finds No Strong Sign Linking Baby Powder & Cancer

In the never-ending finger-pointing game that signals a reckoning in the opioid crisis, major drugstore chains like CVS and Walgreens are saying, “Nuh-uh, not our fault!” Instead, they say, doctors are to blame. Who are pharmacists to question doctors’ orders? The counter-argument, of course, is that when you’re filling prescriptions that equate to thousands of pain pills per person in a town you’re serving, it might be expected that someone would raise a red flag. Just maybe.

Experts say that by bringing up the doctors and providers, the drugstore chains could also be trying to complicate the case further, in hopes of mitigating some damage to themselves.

The Washington Post: Major Drugstore Chains Sue Doctors in Sprawling Federal Opioid Case

In the miscellaneous file for the week:

— You’ve heard of ambulance-chasing lawyers, but what about ambulance-chasing doctors? It’s becoming a growing practice for doctors to promise plaintiffs in personal-injury cases free upfront care with the hope of cashing in when the settlement comes. While the strategy is legal and doesn’t technically violate any ethical rules, it still seems a little off — and can also leave patients with big bills if their lawsuits don’t go as planned.

The Wall Street Journal: Who Wins in a Personal-Injury Lawsuit? It Can Be the Doctor

— Public health experts are warily watching the development of a pneumonia-like illness in China, with echoes of the SARS outbreak not distant enough not to draw comparison and concern.

The New York Times: China Identifies New Virus Causing Pneumonia-Like Illness

— As we continue to watch suicide rates skyrocket, experts scramble to figure out what can be done to halt the disturbing rise. Now, research suggests hope could come from an interesting strategy: raising the minimum wage by just $1.

NPR: For Suicide Prevention, Try Raising the Minimum Wage, Research Suggests

— A truism that has emerged for me over my decade-plus in journalism is that where there’s a catastrophe or disaster, there is someone who stands to gain something. In this case, it’s the windfall that will come to hospitals if the flu season is as bad as predicted.

Bloomberg: Record 2019-2020 Flu Season May Be Good for Hospitals

On that cheerful note, that’s it from me. Have a great weekend!

Must-Reads Of The Week From Brianna Labuskes published first on https://nootropicspowdersupplier.tumblr.com/

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stephenmccull · 4 years