#//it's super easy to think he's being hyperbolic or joking

[mechahero]

@viopolis asked- ❣! pros and cons of dating my muse!

pros!

Lambda is a giver. Gifts, time, food. He'll give it all to his partner and a little extra. It might not be his actual love language but it makes him feel good to give them things. It's guaranteed he'll cover whatever his partner needs. And for free too! Reality manipulation powers do come in handy that way...

cons.

If there's someone that his partner doesn't like, there's probably a chance he's going to end up killing them. That and putting a body part from them in a gift box as a gift to them. (Is this is incredibly shortsighted and bad on his end? Yes. Will he kind of regret it later? Also yes.)

[stranger-rants]

I don't want to sound like a bitch, but I never understood Max's reaction to Billy in season 4. Not because I don't understand the situation she might find herself in of distress and guilt, but because that is not what was conveyed to me on screen by the Duffers in season 3. Throughout season 3, Max did not seem traumatized, abused, or tormented by Billy. She just seemed a little annoyed as is usual between two siblings. When talking about Billy, or, for example, when explaining Billy's habits to El, she simply seemed delighted and snarky or mildly annoyed at best. Even Lucas does not seem traumatized by him. In fact, he even makes the joke that Billy never wears a shirt. This does not suggest abuse or trauma, but that he even occasionally sees him on peaceful terms enough to note that he does not wear T-shirts often. In season 3 what was presented to me on the screen was a situation that had calmed down after season 2 and everyone was living together without major problems. So from going from season 3 where there were no major issues to season 4 where all of a sudden it seemed like Max was super mega-tormented by Billy so much that she wanted him to die, it seemed very strange to me. It seems like the order of the seasons was mixed up. I don't know if it makes sense what I'm trying to explain, but that always bothered me. If season 4 had happened right after season 2 I might have believed it, but not after season 3. This lack of a consistency in the characters annoys me

She wasn’t being tormented by Billy as much as people like to argue that point, because even when Billy was “in charge” at home she repeatedly defied him without much consequence to her. I don’t think Max was trying to express that Billy was abusing her when she said Billy made her life a “living hell.” Living with an unstable family member can be tough and traumatizing even if they’re not the primary reason the family is dysfunctional. So, Billy’s behavior traumatizing her? I believe that. Billy being her “monster,” though? Absolutely not. The point of her second letter was to draw Vecna out, but I think The Duffers used it in bad faith uncaring of what it would do to Billy’s narrative (as an explicit example of someone surviving abuse) and The Antis took that and ran with it ignoring any and all context including Max’s own expressed thoughts and feelings that aren’t just “Billy is terrible.”

Also, I feel like the thoughts and feelings of these children are taken way too literally when children are notorious for being hyperbolic and clumsy with their words. Like, when Max says Billy’s going to kill them? That is hyperbole, but from then on The Antis have taken those scenes at face value claiming Billy was going to murder Lucas and Steve. (Ignoring Billy telling Lucas to stay away from her…) Also when Max says he made her life a living hell, she clearly means he wasn’t very nice nor was it easy to be around him - not that he was stalking her or beating her or worse, as some delusional folks have convinced themselves of. Max never truly wanted him to die. Vecna preyed on her anxiety over their living situation and how those negative feelings were projected into Billy, as if him leaving one way or another would fix everything. People have passing thoughts about death fixing their problems all the time. Doesn’t mean that they mean it.

Max has a lot of grief and guilt over everything, especially because yeah - maybe at one point she wanted Billy to go away, but that summer there was enough of a change in their relationship that Max mourns the fact that she could never solidify that sibling bond with Billy because he died before that could happen. The possibility was there, and the possibility was lost. However, people who do not care about nuance view Max’s second letter as empowering even though it directly resulted in Max “dying.” Talk about a lack of media literacy there, but whatever. The Duffer are only partially to blame with the way they frame things, but people outright refusing to recognize Max’s more complicated feelings about Billy… that’s their fault.

[rebeccccccaaa]

O̶l̶d̶ M̶a̶n̶ M̶o̶v̶e̶s̶

__________________________ Steve Rogers x Reader

Summary: Steve shows you a thing or two about being an old man. 

Warnings: *AGE GAP*, smut 18+ minors dni, very dark/inappropriate joke (only mentioned once but beware)

Author’s Notes: I know this isn’t the most original but hEr yA gO lol (ps this a long one but boy is it a good read #prettyproud ;) lmao) __________________________

“Hey Nat, do you know anything about World War II?” you peeked your head in her room.

“Nope, ask Steve.”

“Hey Tony, do you know anything about World War II?” you walked into the lab.

“Nope, ask Steve.”

“Hey Sam, where’s Bucky?” you walked in the kitchen.

“Mission.”

“Well, do you know anything about  World War II?”

“Nope, ask Steve,” you grunted and rolled your eyes.

“Hey Wanda, do you know anything about World War II?”

“Nope, have you asked Steve?” 

“Ugh! Everyone keeps saying that,” you flopped down on her bed.  

“And why aren't you asking him?” 

You looked at her raising an eyebrow. She was the only, well you think Nat knows but Wanda is the only person you told about your little crush on the super soldier. Upon seeing your face, Wanda chuckled humorously. One time she caught you during a meeting thinking about Steve; every part of Steve. To say you were embarrassed would be an understatement. 

“What about Bucky?”

“He’s on a mission. Hey, what are you watching?”

“Malcolm in the Middle.”

“Nice.”

You laughed at the show for a bit before grunting remembering that you had to finish the history report for your college professor who’s as old as sliced bread. Before you walked out Vision phased through the door. 

“Ooh! Vis, tell me everything about World War II!”

“No, Vis! Don’t tell her a single thing! You have to ask Steve,” she scolded. 

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Wanda,” you whined.

“I’m pretty sure he’s in his room,” she smirked.

“Please don’t make me do it,” you begged hyperbolically. 

“Then fail your report,” she smirked evilly.

“Dammit, Wanda,” you left her room hearing her snicker. 

You stomped to your room and collapsed on your bed. You sat at your computer for twenty minutes until a knock disturbed your dreadful staring. 

“Steve!” you shouted opening the door.

“Hey, Sam told me you needed help with a history report?”

“Sam told you?”

“Yeah; and Tony, and Nat, and Wanda,” Steve phoned chimed suddenly.

“Oh, uh, Buck just texted me saying Sam told him that you need help with uh, a history report,” he chuckled.

“Yeah, World War II,” you gritted.

“Well,” he stood awkwardly at your door still.

“Come in,” you moved over to let him in.

Steve walked in and sat on the edge of your bed. You scurried over and threw yourself on the bed gathering all your papers and books and your laptop. You sat criss crossed on the bed before looking up at him ready for learning, I guess.

“Ok so what exactly do you need to know?” Steve smiled.

“Oh well, uh, maybe we start with life before soldiers got drafted?” you suggested.

Steve smiled remembering tons of stories and memories of him and Bucky being teenagers in New York. You stopped caring about your report altogether and just kicked back to listen to all about Steve. The way he lit up whenever remembered something he forgot to tell you made your heart burst. 

At one point he started laughing so hard, as were you, when he slapped his hand directly on your thigh and squeezed hard from pure humor. Needless to say, you instantly stopped laughing and zeroed in on his large hand and the way it gripped your thigh. 

“Awe man, that such was a good day,” he breathed out once he cooled down.

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird,” you said, coming back to reality.

“Why’s that weird?”

“I don’t know? You’re the captain, you don’t have fun. You’re an old man,” you giggled.

“Old man? Kid, you’re hurting me,” he clutched his chest dramatically.

“Hey, I already told you to stop calling me kid. I’m twenty years old,” you crossed your arms. 

“Hey come on, I’m just joshing ya,” he smirked.

“Who the fuck says ‘joshing ya’?” you laughed.

“What, the kids don’t say that nowadays?” he laughed.

“No!” you were cracking up rolling on the bed.

“You’re supposed to be doing your history report,” he defended.

“You’re such an old man, oh god.”

“And you’re such a child,” he pinned you down on the bed.

“Ooh, someone busting out the old man moves. Get off grandpa,” you smirked.

“Make me, kid,” he emphasized ‘kid’.

You two glared at each amusingly, both trying you very best to not smile. Your shirt had ridden up your stomach and Steve could somewhat see the exposed skin. He didn't think you were a kid per say, he thought you were a very beautiful young woman; too young. He didn’t think it would be appropriate to pursue any sort of relationship with you; it’s not like you were very incognito when it came to checking him out. He knew that you liked him. 

Explains all the teasing you do too. 

The close proximity between you two make you both bothersome; Steve's muscle clenching and fighting every urge in his body to do something he might regret, or worse, something you’ll regret. Your stomach flipped and your mind wandered to what it would be like if you were in this position under different circumstances. 

In an attempt to relieve yourself without Steve knowing you clenched your thighs softly before moving your knee up. Upon moving your knee, your eyes widened and Steve instantly got off you covering his modesty with your sheet. Your face slowly turned into a mischievous smirk before raising your eyebrow at Steve, who profusely blushed under your taunting gaze. 

“Do kids turn you on?” you joked.

“Y/n!” Steve groaned at your highly inappropriate joke.

“I’m kidding!” Steve simply rolled his eyes at you.

“I’m just joshing ya,” you grinned, making Steve chuckle.

“How much of your report have you done?” Steve reached for your laptop; making you panic because you didn’t even have your name let alone a title typed out. 

“Seriously?” he looked at you like a stern father.

“Don’t look at me like that,” you said.

“You don’t even have your name,” he cracked a smile.

“Well, your stories are just too captivating; I was distracted,” you weren’t exactly lying, seeing Steve seem so relaxed and carefree thinking back on memories made you smile. 

“Distracted,” he repeated sarcastically.

“Yeah, I was,” you felt small as Steve got closer to you.

“Is this distracting now?” he mocked.

“Maybe,” you whispered.

He looked at your lips before running his nose along your cheek and your own nose. He pressed his lips too close to your lips, of which you were desperate for him to touch. Your hands grabbed at his arms that were held tightly on your waist for any sort of stability. You felt like you were going to pass out. 

“You better finish that report if you know what’s good for you,” he whispered against your lips. 

“Huh?” you breathed out seeing as Steve has stood up and made his way to your door. 

“You heard me. Come find me when you’ve been a good girl and finished that report,” he slipped out smoothly leaving you high and dry, or rather soaking in arousal. 

Your eyes were practically bulging from your head and you couldn’t believe the Steve with that gnarly stick up his ass was the same one that just easily turned you on like an easy-bake oven and called you a ‘good girl’. You immediately rushed to grab your laptop googling facts about World War II and typed faster than Usain Bolt could run.

Meanwhile Steve stood in the shower with cock in hand, his thumb rubbing over the tip leaking with precum. He ran his hand down his shaft and threw his head back at the pleasure. He moaned your name and tensed his muscles getting close to a release. 

He had to hold on to the wall to keep his knees from buckling. The sight of seeing you under him, squirming and wiggling so innocently made his cock twitch. He knew that you liked him, it wasn’t necessarily a huge secret; you weren’t desperate to hide that fact. But he knew you weren’t going around telling people so he never said anything. 

He went to your room genuinely trying to help with your college report and he got enthralled with his own memories. He didn’t exactly know when the air shifted but he realized it indefinitely when your body tensed under his hand that rested perfectly on your thigh. 

He remembers the softness of skin and remembers the way your breathing quickened. He kept the conversation going as innocently as possible but then you started teasing him about his age, about what an old fashioned sucker he was. And all he could think about in that moment was flipping you over and fucking you into the mattress you showing his “old man moves”. 

“Fuck,” he moaned to himself.

Soon enough after a couple more pumps, he painted the shower walls with his cum desperately wishing it was your stomach or even your back. He just wanted you there with him. He felt guilty thinking about you like that. He knew if he were ever to get with you he wouldn't be able to keep up. You were so spright and mischievous and beautiful and gorgeous and sexy and… wait; slow down, Steve.

He got out of the shower and cleaned himself off. He changed and just stayed in his room letting the sounds of the TV drown any thoughts he might wandered to you. A sudden knock broke the silence settled in his room and he opened the door to find his best friend. 

“Hey, man,” Bucky smiled.

“Buck, your back,” Steve opened the door further letting him come in. 

“Oh, did you get my text? About helping Y/n with her report? Heard it’s like forty percent of her grade,” he said. 

“Yeah uh, I did,” Steve said hesitantly; Bucky narrowed his eyes at him suspiciously.

“What did you do?” he asked.

“Nothing,” Steve retorted.

“I don’t believe you. Come on what happened?” Buck chuckled.

“She called me an old man,” Steve pouted.

“Haha! Seriously?”

“Yeah but jokes on her cuz I-” Steve stopped himself, what if his best friend thought he was a creep.

“Oh no, did you guys fuck?” he asked suddenly.

“Buck,” Steve groaned.

“You did, didn’t you!”

“Almost!” Steve bursted out, his eyes widening in fear.

“Hey, why are you all freaked out? I thought you liked her?” Bucky questioned.

“Yeah, but what? She’s too young. I thought you were gonna think I was a creep,” Steve was confused.

“Well, how old is she?”

“She’s uh, she’s twenty, almost twenty-one,” he muttered.

“Oh, yikes. Uh, I don’t know man. I mean you’re both adults,” Bucky said. 

“Fuck, man. I really fucked up,” Steve said making Bucky ‘language’ him of which Steve glared back.

“Did you kiss her?”

“No, almost,” Steve responded.

“Ok then what happened?”

Steve explained to Bucky what happened just hours ago and Bucky couldn’t help but laugh at his poor friend's antics.

“You’re such a fucking tease, Steve,” Bucky joked.

“Buck, you’re not helping,” Steve grunted.

“Well, either you keep your promise and fuck her good, or be that old man she called you with a stick up your ass and make her feel like shit. No pressure though. See for dinner, I’m going to beat the shit out of Sam,” Bucky stood up.

“What’d he do?”

“Nothing,” with that Bucky left. 

Steve sat there on his bed conflicted. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do. All he knows is that you’re a beautiful girl and Steve wants nothing more than to show you; he knows you'd be more than willing to let him have his way with you. But on the contrary, you are too young. There are tons of guys who would be so lucky to call you theirs; and they’re your age. 

Then again, Steve can’t even imagine another man putting his hands on you. They’d never be able to pleasure you like he could. Ugh, but you called him an old man! Fuck this, Steve thought, I’m taking a nap.

-

You sat in your room busying yourself with facts about the war. You cried about the horrid things that happened, terrified that people that live in the world. You were even more shocked that Bucky and Steve lived through that. 

You glanced at the clock noticing the many hours that had passed you. It was sundown which usually meant Wanda was going to come by any minute-

“What do you want for dinner?” There she is. 

“Uh, I’m not sure. Haven't had much time to think about it,” you said lifting your laptop.

“Did Steve come?”

“I don’t know but he came pretty close,” you said snarkily. When he left about 5 minutes after you had to change your panties because you couldn’t focus on the report with arousal dripping out of you. 

“What the hell does that mean?” Wanda sat on your bed. You told what happened when Steve came by, how innocent everything seemed until it wasn’t. Wanda was rolling on your bed in laughter, snorting at your frustration. 

“Wandaaa,” you whined. 

“Sorry, sorry. But I’m confused,” she cooled down.

“What’s there to be confused about; Steve Rogers is a fucking tease,” you grunted. 

“I thought this is what you want. He clearly seems to like you back,” she said. 

“I don’t know it’s just-”

“Just what?”

“It’s not exactly clear whether he likes me or just wants some young, fresh meat. He didn’t say he liked me back.”

“Did you say you liked him in the first place?”

“No.” Wanda sighed at your answer. Were you overreacting?

“Y/n, I’ve known Steve for a long time and he’s not that kinda guy.”

“People change.”

“Y/n-”

“I just wish it stayed like a little stupid crush, because then I wouldn’t have to worry about my heart getting broken like that; worrying whether it’s real or not. Pining hurts so good, it’s comfortable.”

“Well, on a lighter note, how’s the report?” Wanda changed the subject so you wouldn’t feel bad anymore.

“I’m almost done, I think I’m gonna skip out on dinner. I’m really close to finishing,” you told her.

“Want me to bring you a plate?” she asked.

“Yes, please.”

-

Everyone sat at the table eating silently. Sam held an ice pack to his face because Bucky accidentally threw a rock at him; seriously it was an accident. Bucky threw the rock at his groin but Sam tripped back and the rock landed on his face. There are no hard feelings though, Sam said he was gonna get him and now Bucky’s arm is disabled and limp.

Steve stared at the seat across from him, it was the seat you always took next to Wanda. You weren’t here for dinner and he was wondering if it had something to do with him. Did he make you uncomfortable enough that you never want to see him? 

“She’s finishing her report,” Wanda said, her voice echoing in Steve’s head.

“Ooh what’s the gossip?” Nat said humorously seeing as Wanda’s eyes glowed red as did Steve’s. 

“Nothing,” Steve mumbled. 

“He was wondering where Y/n was?” Wanda said making Steve shoot daggers at her. 

“You miss your little girlfriend?” Sam joked.

“Shut it,” Steve growled.

“She never misses dinner. Where the brat?” Tony asked.

“She has a history report for a college class and she told me she was almost done and that she was gonna skip dinner,” Wanda explained.

No more questions were asked and everyone ate in peace. Small talk and laughter was exchanged appropriately but Steve couldn’t help but wonder if maybe you lied to Wanda to get out of dinner. What if you hate him now? What if you were creeped out by him now? Fuck.

“Steve your plate?” Wanda asked him. 

“Oh sorry, I’m finished. Thank you,” he handed her the plate of picked food. 

“Y/n, asked me if I could bring her a plate when we were finished.”

Steve simply looked puzzled at her. 

“Take this. And don’t break her heart,” she said handing him your plate. 

“I would never,” he said.

“Don’t tell me, tell her.”

Steve walked hesitantly up to your room. He knocked careful not to disturb you. He heard you shout, giving him access to your room and he found you laying on your stomach typing away on your laptop while cartoons played lowly on the TV.

“I brought your dinner,” he said softly.

“Thank you! Ugh, I’m starving but I swear I have like two sentences.”

He smiled and placed your food on your bedside before sitting on the bed with you. He watched your face carefully memorizing the smallest things about you that he’s never really noticed before. He noticed the dryness of your lips because you bit them whenever you were immensely focused just as now. 

He admired the small creases between your eyebrows and the way you scrunched your nose. Your hair was a little crazy and he noticed you had changed since he’d last been with you. He thinks he knows why that is and if it was true, he felt a sense of pride almost. Imagine if he really got to touch the way he wants. How ruined you would be. 

“Steve?” you asked.

“I’m sorry?” he asked.

“Are you ok?” you smiled awkwardly. 

“Oh uh, yeah. I’m ok.”

You ate quietly, eyes trained on the TV and Steve felt out of place. He went to stand up but you placed your food down and called after him.

“Where are you going?” you asked.

“I didn’t think you wanted me here anymore,” he said softly. 

“But, but you said to come find you when I finish my report. You’re already here,” you said shyly.

“Sweetheart, I don’t think-”

“I was a good girl and finished,” you said innocently biting your lip.

“Y/n,” Steve sighed. 

“What?” Oh no, you guessed it. He doesn’t actually like you and he's just messing with you.

“Hey look at me,” Steve grabbed your chin softly. You didn’t want to but you ultimately did.

“I want nothing more than to reward you for being a good girl but I can’t,” he said sadly.

“It's because I’m too young, isn’t it,” you whined. 

“I can’t do that to you. You have your whole life ahead of you, sweetheart. An old man like me shouldn’t keep you back like this,” he said.

“You’re not keeping anywhere, I’m an Avenger just like you. I don’t have anybody else. I’m only going to college because Tony’s paying for it and I took this stupid histroy class because I wanted to know more about what life was like for you. Because I like you,” you said. 

“Y/n, you can have anyone and you’re choosing me?” he chuckled.

“Yes, guys my age don’t even know where the clit is!” you shouted exasperated.

“Show them,” he said stupidly.

“Ah, yes. Because a twenty-two year old college frat boy is gonna wanna listen to you tell him how to have sex,” you said squinting your eyes, making Steve chuckle.

“I don’t want a guy my age, I want you.”

Steve cupped your face softly and you leaned into his hand with a childish pout. Steve smiled at you and your pout turned into a smile too. 

“You’re gonna be the death of me, babygirl,” he sighed, pushing you down to lay on the bed.

“Not if you die from a stroke first old man,” you cracked. 

Steve wrapped his large hand around your neck bringing his face dangerously close yours.

“Smart mouth, and to think I was about to reward you.”

His voice gave you chills and you audibly whimpered under him. Steve pressed his leg between your thighs and your body shudder feeling his muscular thigh firmly pressed against your core.

“Fuck,” your voice shook.

“Does that feel good?” he asked mockingly, he knows what he’s doing.

“Yes, Stevie,” you whimpered.

“Fuck, you sound sweet whimpering and shaking under me. Almost feel kinda bad.”

His hand squeezed a bit harder and your body melted into the bed. He leaned down and kissed for the first time. Your eyes opened wide before fluttering closed again wallowing in his kiss. Your hand moved from his forearm to his face cupping it gently and your lips moved against his impeccably. 

His lips faltered and trailed down your throat, his hand pulling your hair gently to move your head back to give him more room. He nipped and bit at your throat hungrily before soothing his marks with his tongue. His hands sneaked up your shirt, his fingertips grazing the skin under your breasts. He could feel the chills that rose all over your skin and he chuckled darkly in your ear. 

“Is this ok?” he asked softly tugging the waistband of your shorts. 

“Yes, please,” you moaned. 

Steve pulled them down little by little pressing kisses to every new part of exposed skin. He littered your hip bones and thighs with light bruises and bites. You were practically dripping in arousal, toes curling under themselves anticipating Steve’s next move.

He stood up at the edge of the bed keeping his eyes trained on yours, slowly unbuckling his belt. He pulled his pants down showing off his very impressive length. He gripped with his hand pumping it softly. He grabbed your ankle with his other hand and pulled you close to the edge of the bed.

“Lay on your stomach, babygirl,” Steve directed.

You eagerly flipped over, pushing your ass up to the air. Steve smiled at your ambition and gently rubbed your cheeks you put up for him. He pumped his cock a few times before lining himself up with you. 

“Fuck, you gonna be my good girl?” he asked seductively.

“Yeah, fuck. Stevie, fuck me good,” you moaned. 

“Open up those pretty legs for me, will ya?” Steve smirked. You spread your legs wider and arched your back more. When Steve finally pushed past your entrance, you felt so full. 

“You gotta breathe baby,” Steve soothed. 

“Sorry, you’re just… so big,” you whimpered.

“I know baby but you're taking my cock so well, you're being such a good fucking girl.”

“Steve!” you squeaked. 

Steve snapped his hips in and out of you rapidly and you couldn’t help the high-pitched moans that escaped your mouth. Steve gripped your hips harshly, forming littles red and purple marks on your hip bones that you’ll have to admire tomorrow morning. 

You gasped and moaned at the feeling of Steve’s cock driving into you and you couldn’t hold back any longer. 

“Stevie, I’m gonna come! Fuck, I can’t hold it. Please daddy let me come!”

“Come on pretty baby, come for daddy. Make a mess all over my cock like a good girl,” he groaned above you.

Your body trembled and your arms fell forward as you nearly screamed Steve’s name in pure ecstasy. You breathed heavily but Steve wasn’t done with you yet. He pulled his still ever hard dick out of you momentarily to rid his shirt. He walked to the side of the bed and sat comfortably with his back against the headboard. 

“Come here baby girl. I know you’re tired but I think you pull one more for me, yeah?” his voice was silky. 

You whimpered and tried your best to sit up all the way, crawling desperately over to Steve. He kissed you softly before slowly pulling the hem of your shirt over your head to expose your breasts fully to him. 

“Fuck, you are just too beautiful, sweetheart,” he whispered in your ear, his voice raspy making your body shudder above him. 

His hands roamed your body; smoothing over your ribs, your hips to your thighs, back to hips against pulling you impossibly closer to him. His lips again just as before nipped and pecked the skin along your neck and collarbones and you could resist the small whimpers you made. 

“Steve,” you moaned.

“I got ya, baby. I’m right here.”

You looked into his lust blown eyes before kissing him messily. Your age divulges your experience but Steve couldn't care less. You lifted your hips for him and he lined himself once again to your entrance. 

Your arousal made it easier this time around and you were able to fully bask in the feeling and pleasure from Steve’s length. You hastily moved your hips around, back and forth, the position completely new to you. You felt erotic and confident and Steve’s kisses and praises did nothing but egg you on. 

“You're doing so good, my love. God, you keep clenching me like that and I’m gonna blow,” he moaned.

“Please, Stevie. I want to make you feel good,” you encouraged.

“You already are, don’t even worry about that,” he smirked.

Your hands gripped at his shoulders hard, nails digging into his pale skin. Your clit rubbed against his pelvis and soon enough you felt another orgasm approaching quickly. As you grew tired, Steve’s hands went to your cheeks and aided you in moving back and forth.

Your arms gave out again and you fell against Steve's torso still thrusting your hips back and forth with his help. The pressure built rapidly in your lower stomach and you couldn’t hold it again. 

“Steve,” you moaned. 

“I know, just hold on, please. I wanna come with you; I’m almost there,” he gasped. 

You held back as long as you but soon enough your body shook against Steve, desperate to release everything you have in you. In an attempt to distract yourself momentarily, you treated Steve the same by nipping and kissing the skin of his neck and shoulder. Your hands combing into his hair, tugging on his short blonde hair. 

“Ok, go ahead babygirl,” he grunted, “Fuck!”

“Ugh, Steve!” you couldn’t help but sink your teeth into his shoulder. Ecstasy waved over you and you feel euphoric. Your body trembled from intensity and Steve whispered soft praises in your ear. His words soothed you and your eyes felt heavy. Steve tracing little patterns on the small of your back did not help your tired case. 

“I gotta clean you up, sweetheart,” Steve whispered, you could hear the smile in his voice.

“No, stay with me, please,” you whined. 

“I promise I’ll be back,” he chuckled.

“Hm,” you huffed.

You slowly rolled off of Steve and he practically ran to your bathroom emerging with a warm wet towel in hand. You laid limply on the bed, your breathing slowly returning to normal. Steve kissed your stomach and hips softly as he cleaned between your thighs gently. He went back to the bathroom and cleaned himself up as well.

“Come back,” you whined, making him chuckle.

“Yay,” you cheered softly when he did.

“Are you ok, sweetheart?” 

“Mh-hm,” you nodded tiredly.

“I freaking love you,” you said, hiking your leg over to lay on top of him again. You nuzzled your nose in the crook of his neck.

“You do?”

“Yeah.” There was a slight moment of pause.

“Do you love me?” your voice crack and tears brimmed your eyes.

“I shouldn’t…” he started. His heart nearly broke when you looked up at him with teary eyes; afraid he would say he didn’t and you fell in love just to get your heart broken.

“But I do,” he finally said.

“Thanks,” you sniffled, making Steve smile.

“I love you, sweetheart,” he kissed the top of your head. 

“I love you too, old man.”

-

The next morning, Steve slipped out of bed while you were still asleep, you looked so beautiful and peaceful. It took everything in him not to just crawl back into bed with you but Steve had a couple things to do and it was already past eight. He promised to himself that he was gonna come back before you wake up.

So he softly closed the door before immediately running around the compound filing paperwork, directing agents and trainees, meeting with Nick Fury, and lastly making breakfast for you and him. Wanda, Bucky, and Sam all sat at the counter eating bowls of cereal watching Steve frantically run around the kitchen making breakfast. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Bucky spoke up. 

“I’m making breakfast,” Steve momentarily stopped to say. 

“Ok, but why are you freaking out like that? You’re running around like a crazy person.”

“I have to make it before-” Steve stopped himself. He didn't know whether or not he should say anything, whether you were comfortable with others knowing yet. 

“What did you do?” Wanda said, smiling like an idiot.

“Nothing, I’m just really hungry and I need to make breakfast before I starve,” he said.

“Really?”  Bucky said.

“Yeah.”

“Where’s Y/n?”

“She’s aslee-” Steve stopped himself again.

The three at the counter bursted into a fit of laughter at Steve’s slip up and he just simply rolled his eyes before finally plating the food and running upstairs. Not without flipping the three still laughing off. 

He slowly opened the door finding you still asleep in bed. He smiled at your beautiful form illuminated by the golden rays of the sun peeking through the curtains. He placed the food on your table before sitting on the bed, his hands softly running up and down your side to slowly wake you. 

Your eyes fluttered open and upon seeing Steve’s gorgeous face you smiled. 

“Good morning, old man,” you grinned cheekily. 

“When are you let that go?” he shook his head.

“Never,” you winked.

“I brought you food, pretty girl.”

“Thank you,” you sat up covering yourself. You ate the food he made for you and made grabby hands for him to cuddle you. He laughed before crawling back into bed with you. You made a face though before he got fully under the covers and he gave a puzzled look.

“What?”

“Why are you all dressed?”

“I had a couple things to do this morning and then I made you breakfast. I couldn’t walk around in my birthday suit,” he laughed.

“Hm, fine. I’ll give you a pass,” you said making him chuckle, “Can you at least take your shirt off again?”

He smiled cheekily before getting up and taking his shirt and pants off leaving him in his boxers. You cheered making him laugh even harder before he dived into bed cuddling you extra close. His strong arms wrapping safely around you and his legs entangling themselves with yours. 

You kissed him one last time before grabbing your TV remote and turning on the TV to watch cartoons.

“You know sometimes you really are a kid,” Steve snickered.

“Yeah grandpa? What about this,” you fluffed his beard that specks of grey hairs.

“Do I need to show my old man moves again?” he smirked.

“Yeah, I think you oughta,” you winked before Steve threw the covers kissing your stomach all the way to your core. You gotta admit, the old man’s got some moves. 

==================

ᴛᴀɢʟɪsᴛ: (For all my work)

@mathletemadison​

@buckybarnes101​

@l-sofiamia-l 

[divineluce]

Let’s Marvin Gaye and Get These Lizards Out || Rosalyn & Luce

Timing: Backdated to April 21st, 2021

Tagging: @truecolorcollector & @divineluce

Location: Rosalyn’s Apartment

Description: Rosalyn needs help evicting some unexpected roommates, Luce offers a hand. Chaos ensues.

Was Luce the most in touch with nature? Not really. Not in the conventional sense, at least. She hiked, she’d lived in the woods, she felt more comfortable out in her cabin surrounded by the sounds of the forest than she did other places. But she wasn’t a tree hugging hippy or deluded enough into thinking that nature was all sunshine and rainbows. She’d been chased down by too many monsters in the woods to think that. Either way, it didn’t really matter if she was some nature girl or not-- she knew fire salamanders. And more importantly, she was still fireproof. Her flames might have left her, but at least she still had that. Grabbing the hamster cage from her passenger seat, Luce made her way to the apartment building and texted the number to let the woman know she was here. As the door swung open, Luce held up the cage and nodded, “Someone looking for lizard removal?”

Rosalyn had been eating lunch at her small dining room table when she saw something skitter across the floor out of the corner of her eye, nearly making her choke on her sandwich. Her first instinct was to grab her glass of water to chuck it at the creature. Luckily for it, it managed to quickly scramble under a large cardboard box and Rosalyn stopped herself before she could dump water all over her stuff. Then the text came in, as if on queue, and Rosalyn rushed downstairs

“Perfect timing!” Rosalyn said slightly frazzled from running to get the door. “And I’m not being hyperbolic. I actually managed to see where one of them went.” With that, she motioned for Luce to follow and made her way up the steps to her apartment.

The apartment was nice, if a bit cluttered, a good portion of the large living area taken up by an L-shaped work desk and large shelves packed with boxes and other containers. Not to mention several moving boxes still strewn about.

“Sorry, that wasn’t really a proper greeting.” Even as Rosalyn spoke she was scanning the room for signs of any other lizards. “Rosalyn Holt. And you’re Luce?”

A blonde woman who Luce didn’t recognize opened the door and ushered her in quickly. “Oh hey, lucky me.” Luce said as she looked around the apartment, taking in the moving boxes and slight disarray of the space. No wonder she didn’t look familiar-- this lady must have just moved into town. And already her place was infested with fire salamanders? Christ, that sucked. Not everyone had fireproof houses like she did. Looking around, Luce could already spot a few places that Iggy would love if he was here. A bunch of crumpled up packing paper, perfect kindling for a nice warm fire. Some flattened cardboard boxes that would be excellent material to chew on. Setting down the cage, Luce held out a hand, “Yep. Luce Vural, unofficial sa-- specialty lizard wrangler.” She said with a nod. “Seems like White Crest is giving you a nice warm welcome with these guys.”

Surveying the area, she asked, “Do you have a fireplace? Lizards. They like warmth-- starting a fire could draw them out.” Yeah, it’d sure as hell draw them out, they’d want to get it on in the coals. _

As Roslyn shook the woman’s hand she tried not to get distracted by the mirage-like purple shimmer rising off of Luce like heat off of blacktop. In her rush upstairs she hadn’t even noticed until, not until they were standing in the living room with Luce looking around. So this woman was a spellcaster? That was promising.

“Go figure the landlord wouldn’t mention the springtime roommates I’d be getting. And I’ve got-” Rosalyn looked towards her kitchen with a sigh. “An oven. And matches. Not sure if that works for whatever you're planning but I’m not exactly eager to set my fire alarms off if we can avoid it.”

As she finished speaking a rustling sound came from near one of the shelves, close to where she saw the lizard duck under the box. She pointed. “Oh right. Lucky me, one of them decided to get into my supplies. Anything else that draws them out? Food? What do those things even eat?” The rustling grew louder and Rosalyn furrowed her brow. They better not have a taste for jewelry supplies and werewolf fur, otherwise this was about to turn into a much more expensive problem.

“If it makes you feel better, this sorta thing doesn’t happen often. It’s like cicadas. Some springs they’re super active and other times no dice. Guess you just happened to move in during a bad year.” Luce said, not entirely sure if what she was saying was true or not. Iggy was being a little more antsy than normal, trying to get free from his terrarium more than he usually did. But, Bea’s house had wards around it that made the bracelet around her wrist ping when people came or left, so she’d always been able to scoop him back up when he’d scuttled off the property line.  “Hm. In the interest of not blowing both our ears out, I think I’ll try something different.” She said, rummaging around in the cage for the paper bag she’d shoved in there.

“I’ve got something that might work. It could lure them out.” Luce said. Iggy, like most growing fire salamanders, shed his scales. And Luce didn’t know much about animals, but hey. Maybe the smell of a fire salamander in the prime of his life would lure out some of the lady salamanders? Who the fuck knew. Worst came to worst, she’d just shake the boxes and try to grab them. But, as luck would have it, before she even had a chance to shake some of the scales out into the cage, Rosalyn had pointed out a rustle of movement. Setting the cage down, Luce began to poke around the boxes, eyes focused on any kind of movement. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a tell-tale glimmer of scales and she darted forward, hand closing around a squirming, scaly body. “Gotcha! Hey! Knock it off!” She gasped as the fire salamander’s scales glowed the color of coals. If she was a normal human, it would have burnt her skin, but all she felt was a light warmth. The fire salamander stared at her as though it was startled she wasn’t hopping up and down in pain. “I’ve got one. Can you grab the cage for me?”

“So just something that I’ll keep having to deal with every couple of years, that sounds lovely.” Rosalyn's tone was joking but she certainly hoped that one lizard extraction was all she would need. As Luce pulled out a paper bag she quirked up an eyebrow, curious. “What’s in there?”

But before she could find out there was more rustling and Luce was off to search the area. The sight of her grabbing the glowing creature in her hands made Rosalyn flinch before she realized that Luce wasn’t smoking or shouting in pain. “So they really are fiery...” I mean, there were clearly signs that they weren’t some normal pest before this, but seeing the unnatural glow up close made it clear. Rosalyn watched the squirming creature curiously. It was rare that she got to see supernatural animals up close.

“Is that thing not as hot as it seems, or do you just have some tricks up your sleeve?” Rosalyn shot Luce a knowing look as she brought the cage over. Well that was one down. Hopefully just one more to go. She didn’t want to think about the idea of any more than two hidden around her place.

“Only if you’re unlucky. These guys don’t usually hang out in this part of town.” Luce said as she kept her hand clamped around the squirming salamander in her hand. She could tell that they weren’t exactly to have their time interrupted. She couldn’t blame the salamander-- she wouldn’t exactly be thrilled if someone barged into her room when she was trying to get it on. But, this was better than Rosalyn accidentally murdering two horny salamanders with a hose. “Fiery? Nah… Just, uh,” Luce looked again at the angry glow of the salamander’s body, the red and orange pulsing like the coals of a fire. “Trick of the light.” She said before gently sticking the salamander into the cage.

Opening up the bag of shed scales, Luce dumped some into her palm before scattering them on the ground. “Scales, from the same kind of lizard. They release a kind of pheromone when they’re trying to hook up, so I figure this might lure the other one out.” She said before glancing over at the other woman and holding up her hands, arms bare in her tank top. “No sleeves and no tricks either.” She said with a neutral tone. “I’m just good with lizards.”

“Do tricks of the light normally smell like burning?” Rosalyn asked with a quirked eyebrow. At least she could trust it wasn’t that hot, or the cage Luce was holding would be having a much worse time. Then again, she knew little about what this creature was capable of, or Luce for that matter.

“So you’ve had your own infestation before?” Rosalyn asked before grimacing as the scales fell against her hardwood floors. She hoped Luce didn’t expect her to pick that up herself. Then again... “Are these creatures rare? Or their scales at least? Just asking since you seem to know a lot about them.” Right now they seemed just like little black specks, but she wondered how easy it would be to get them to glow like the angry one in Luce’s hand had been. But if they were worth something Rosalyn couldn’t imagine a spellcaster just scattering them around for bait.

Well, Rosalyn had a point there. Luce shrugged, knowing when she was caught in a lie. No point trying to pretend like shit wasn’t magical as hell when this lady didn’t seem all that bothered by it. “Touché.” She said as she looked around the house, waiting to see where the next salamander might pop out from. “Nope, never dealt with an infestation before, I have one myself.” Luce said as she nudged some cardboard boxes aside, looking around for the other salamander. At the question of rarity, Luce cocked an eyebrow. “Why do you ask?” They weren’t rare at all-- the salamanders, or their scales, but it was a weird question all the same. All signs were pointing to the fact that this lady was in the know with the supernatural. Which, cool. Good for her. Luce just couldn’t help but wonder what brand of strange she was. She looked human, but pretty much everyone did under the right circumstances.

Out of the corner of her eye, Luce caught sight of some of the boxes rustling and she grinned. Nice, looked like the scales had worked. “Come here little guy,” She said, shifting the boxes out of the way. As she pulled the last one back, Luce blinked as she was face to face with a spitting, sparking salamander, the frill around its throat puffed out and a deep scarlet color, “Ah shit…” She muttered as the salamander burnt a hole straight through the cardboard boxes and began to skitter across the floor in a trail of sparks and sputtering flames.

“So...as a pet?” Rosalyn didn’t like to judge (okay she did sometimes) but a flaming lizard seemed like a less than ideal pet. She was about to answer Luce’s question to her when nearby rustling distracted both of them. While Luce pushed around the boxes Rosalyn picked up a bit of scale from the floor and looked it over. But she barely had time to inspect it before she heard cursing and smelled smoke.

Rosalyn's first instinct was to rush toward the now on fire boxes. Or try to at least. But before she could even move a streak of black and orange rushed across the floor towards her feet. Rosalyn shrieked as she stumbled back, nearly falling as the creature hissed and charged towards the nearby kitchen.

A slew of curses came out of Rosalyn’s mouth as she watched the thing leave singe marks in its wake. But her attention quickly turned back towards the boxes. In any other moment Rosalyn would have been fully aware of how dumb it was to try to kick out the flames. But the moment she smelt burning hair she knew the fire was spreading to the bottom shelf and panic took over. “Fire extinguisher! Under the sink!” She shouted to Luce. Rosalyn would grab it herself if she wasn’t too busy pulling boxes from the shelf before they could catch and stomping on embers. A few burns were worth not losing her entire stock.

As much as Luce would have liked to correct Rosalyn on the fact that no, it wasn’t like a pet at all, she was a bit preoccupied. The fire salamander was hissing and spitting,hell bent on tearing up the apartment as it ran along the floors. Sparks filled the air as the lizard made a break for the kitchen. Staring at the boxes that had caught on fire, Luce’s eyes widened. Shit. She was pretty fireproof, but with her magic being what it was… she didn’t want to risk trying to smother the flames with her hands. Taking a deep breath in, she tried to pull the fire to her will, tried to focus on the magic within her. But, the magical flames lay dormant, unmoving. Cold. Fuck.

“Fire extinguisher, okay!” Luce called out, following the salamander into the kitchen. The creature had climbed up onto the countertop via a dish towel that had been hanging from the oven. The fabric was already in flames and Luce let out a startled yelp as the fire leaped to a nearby roll of paper towels. Jesus fucking christ, was this what normal people dealt with? Shit just bursting into flames? Running to the sink, Luce grabbed the fire extinguisher from underneath. She pulled the pin from the neck and aimed the nozzle at the ball of flaming paper towels before tossing the dish towel on the ground and stomping it out with her foot. The salamander, seeing the flames going out, let out a frightened shriek and its frills shrank back into its neck. “I’m not trying to hurt you! Get back--” Luce said as the salamander made a bee-line back to the living room, towards Rosalyn. Even from here, Luce could smell the acrid scent of burning hair filling the room. Jesus, why the fuck did this lady have hair in the boxes?

Pulling what she could from the lower levels of the shelf was only going to help Rosalyn so much if the fire kept spreading. She turned to shout at Luce to hurry, but as she looked towards the kitchen she could see the woman shooting the fire extinguisher at even more flames. Not even a few weeks into moving to White Crest and was she already going to have her entire apartment burn down?

It was at this point that the fire alarm started blaring above them. Rosalyn wasn’t sure if it was a blessing or curse that this apartment didn’t have built in sprinklers. She kicked the still burning boxes across the floor, away from where all her creature parts and craft items were being stored. As she did she could hear Luce attempting to reason with the creature, and then moments later Rosalyn was again being charged by the fiery monster.

No way in hell she was grabbing that thing the way that Luce had. In panic Rosalyn grabbed one of the shoebox sized plastic containers she kept jewelry pliers and other small tools in and flipped it over onto the creature. She crouched on the floor, putting her weight on the plastic box as she heard the creature hiss and felt it ram itself against the plastic sides. The plastic was partially opaque, but she could still see the glowing orange of the creature inside. And feel the box start to heat up as whiffs of melting plastic started to hit her nose.

“Can’t you just dump water on it!”

A fire witch using a fucking fire extinguisher, Jesus. And, even as she was putting out the last of the flaming dish rag, Luce could hear the fire alarms begin to blare in her ears. Great, more chaos. Looking around the kitchen, Luce saw a glass pitcher of water resting on counter as Rosalyn shouted at her. “Water kills them! I’m not killing him for wanting to get it on!” Luce shouted back at the woman. But… the pitcher. Hm. Grabbing the pitcher, she dumped the water down the sink and raced back into the other room. It looked even more like a disaster zone, with tools flung over the place and boxes still burning. But, she needed to focus on the source of the fire, where was-- her eyes fell on the woman struggling on top of a rapidly melting plastic tub.

“Here,” Luce set the fire extinguisher next to the woman, “For the boxes. Take the tub off him and back up. Don’t. Spray. The salamander. I’m going to stick him in this.” She said, holding up the glass pitcher. “They have a hard time climbing out of glass and it’s not that easy to melt through it. Just let him out and I’ll grab him.”

“He is burning my apartment down!” Yes, Rosalyn would shame this stupid lizard for being horny if it meant her entire livelihood was set ablaze because of it. Not to mention the danger her and Luce were in if this got more out of hand. Luckily Luce seemed to have a plan. For a moment Rosalyn glanced between the pitcher and the plastic container under her, debating whether she trusted Luce to scoop it up in time before the creature ran off to another part of her home to cause chaos. But with a quick nod to Luce she pulled the tub off of the lizard and grabbed the extinguisher instead.

As soon as she did Rosalyn started spraying the boxes, and the bottom shelf for good measure. Did fire extinguisher foam mess with the magic properties of werewolf and bugbear fur? Who fucking knew but it didn’t matter at this point. As the flames were put out Rosalyn glanced back towards the other woman, praying she wouldn’t see her chasing the thing around again.

Rosalyn had a point there. God, was this what being a normal human in White Crest was like? Having to worry about shit like fires burning down your home? But, Luce didn’t have much time to dwell on that because the tub had been pulled off the salamander and suddenly she was face to face with an angry salamander, frills puffed out and a vibrant red. Before he could run away, Luce grabbed the squirming creature in her hand and shoved it into the bottom of the pitcher. Fingers smoking slightly, Luce shook out her hand as she watched the salamander scrabble against the side of the pitcher. But, just like she’d guessed-- because it really was a fucking guess, she wasn’t an expert-- he was unable to get any traction. Exhausted, the salamander slumped in the bottom of the glass, leftover droplets of water sizzling against his scales as he stared angrily at her with beedy, orange eyes.

Letting out a sigh, Luce held up the pitcher. “Got him! Sorry about,” She glanced around at the smoke filled apartment, the fire alarms still blaring, extinguisher foam coating at least a quarter of this woman’s apartment. “All of that. You’re okay though, right?”

Rosalyn let out a sigh of relief when she heard Luce shout that she got him. Placing the used up extinguisher on the ground (great, now she would need to buy a new one) she ran her hands down her face, giving herself a moment to just breathe and not look at the utter mess in front of her.

“I’m fine. I think I might have burned my hands a little but-” Rosalyn could see a few blisters forming along her palm and fingertips. Nothing that wouldn’t heal with time but something that would make picking up everything and crafting a pain in the ass for a while. “I’m fine. But you wouldn’t happen to have-” Healing magic. She wanted to ask about healing magic but she tried to be careful about outing people’s powers on the spot. Then again, they were both past the point of dealing with anything a normal person should be handling.

“Magic. Do you have anything that can heal? Your hands seemed pretty protected and,” Rosalyn waved vaguely at the shimmering purple around Luce that only she could see. “I can tell. Don’t worry, I’m used to spellcasters.”

The salamander continued to skitter up the side of the pitcher, but the sloping sides were too steep and he eventually gave up and curled into glowing ball of orange and red in the bottom of the glass. Luce lowered the pitcher carefully, watching to see how the female salamander in the cage might react. The creature blinked at her with interest, but didn’t show any of the aggression the male had. Good. Turning to Rosalyn, Luce grimaced at the sight of the woman’s hands. “Ouch. Sorry about that.” She said with a shrug as she picked up the cage in her free hand. “Aloe might help. Burn cream too.” That was what people said, right?

But, at the mention of magic, Luce nearly dropped the cage. “Siktir,” She swore quietly, catching the cage before the salamander could break free. “Uh. No. I don’t. And that’s not me pretending that I’m not a witch.” She said, shrugging. “You saw me pick them up. But, no, I don’t have anything that can heal burns.” All her life, her mother had been the one to patch her up, to fix her scrapes and bruises. But she didn’t have that card in her back pocket anymore. At least… She didn’t. This lady, if she knew about spellcasters, she’d probably be alright. Right? And she’d gotten hurt because Luce hadn’t been careful enough. “I know someone who would be able to help you, though. Her name’s Nisa Vural. You might have seen ads about her acupuncture clinic. She does magical healing stuff too. Tell her a friend in silver sent you. And,” Luce said, her voice taking on a more serious tone, “Don’t, don’t tell her that I sent you.

“Mhhm.” If she wanted to lie to Rosalyn about having magic she certainly could. Maybe people in White Crest were a bit more cagey than she was used to back home. Not that the spellcasters she met in the city weren’t, but most wouldn’t try to hide what they were if they were willing to do magical stuff in the same room as her.

“Nisa Vural, a friend in silver, got it.” Rosalyn smiled. “Don’t worry, I'm good with discretion.” Maybe not the best statement to make after calling out the woman’s aura but it was true. She wasn’t one to go around telling others things they didn’t need to know. Not unless there was a good reason for it. If anyone asked, Luce was a normal person who had definitely not told her about possible healing magic.

Rosalyn glanced around at the destruction but quickly stopped herself. If she took stock now she was going to want to pull her hair out and Luce didn’t need to see her freaking out over the state of the apartment. “Thanks for the help. Do you have a plan for what to do with them?” she asked, motioning toward the cage.

“Appreciate it. A little bit of discretion goes a long way in this town.” Luce said with a firm nod. It was true. As often as weird shit happened here, they all had to just go along pretending like White Crest was just a quirky little town. “But yeah. She’ll be able to get you fixed up no problem.” She repeated, though the words made her ache. It had been over six months since she and her sisters had been excommunicated, banished from their coven and blotted out from their own family. And even though she’d seen her mother, had tested the bond of mother and child over duty and oaths to the coven… Luce didn’t want to push it. The less Nisa knew about what was going on in her life, the better.

Seeing how Rosalyn was looking around the apartment, Luce winced. Her place looked like… well, it looked like shit. Burnt boxes, dissolving foam leaving smears of chalky white against the floor, and the alarms still screeching overhead. “I’m going to release them in the woods, I know a place that should be safe for them.” A gully at the end of a creek that ran through the outskirts, a nice damp spot that would be perfect for the lovebugs.

“I’d offer to stick around and help clean up, but I get the feeling you want these guys outta here right now.” She said and shrugged. “Let me know if you ever need help again. I know a thing or two about stuff here, I can lend a hand if you need it.” With that, Luce headed out the door of the apartment, fire salamanders in tow. She couldn’t help but wonder how the woman had clocked her as a witch, but… it didn’t matter right now. The cage in her hand rattled as the female salamander sent a wave of sparks in the air. “If you light my Jeep on fire, you’ll wish I let that lady dump water on you guys.” She warned before sticking the salamanders in her car and speeding off.

[boficionado-a2]

So something that’s consistently haunted me with most Donnies is the concept of Lost Child syndrome, common in kids who are in the middle of multi-child households of more than three kids. Depending on the dynamic (Rise switches it by making Leo the other middle child, but he takes on some of Raph’s usual middle child activities, like acting out for any attention he can get, whether it’s positive or negative).

Donnie, on the other hand, tends to fall into the Lost Child archetype no matter what continuity he’s in. Even Rise Donnie shows signs of it.

not much family connection.

feels lonely.

poor communication and relationship skills.

feels unimportant.

disappears from family activities.

seldom considered in family decisions.

quietly lives on the edge of the family.

While Rise Donnie acts out a bit more than his counterparts and tends to get in trouble, he still fills a lot of the hallmarks pretty readily. And when thinking on it, it genuinely makes a lot of sense, especially considering that all of these boys have genius level intellects with IQ’s probably reaching for 200 (2003 said he had an IQ of 600-some but I think that was hyperbole; not to say he’s not equally as smart as his counterparts but still). Either way, these are super smart kids.

So you have Splinter, a single dad with no support network no matter the continuity. He’s got three sons who are... mostly easy-ish to deal with. They’re more or less like normal kids, being mutant turtles aside... and then there’s that one. He was reading at a high school level while his brothers were on Dr. Seuss. He was breezing through trig while they were learning subtraction. Impossible to keep books in his hands, because he devoured any and all knowledge he came across voraciously.  By the time he was ten, he was reading quantum physics books and building his own supercomputers out of scrap.

(This is waived a bit for IDW Donnie, since they all mutated in at 15 instead of growing up with Splinter, but the hallmarks remain the same so he’s left in the equation here for the sake of it still fitting him despite the lack of the upbringing... just kind of popped into existence solving nuclear fission.)

At any rate, that can’t have been easy for Splinter to grapple with, and more than that? He would’ve had no idea how to connect with or teach a child like that. So more or less, unless he was helping his brothers with their reading, writing, math, or science, he was just... left to his own devices. We see very little of their actual growth beyond occasional glimpses into early childhood but judging by his behavior as a teenager it’s hard to think that he got a lot of attention for his intellect. Every last one of them seek that validation and praise for their hard work. They’re naturally intelligent but they still had to work to gain the skills to apply it... and not a one of them really receives much gratitude or praise in the long run. That can really mess with a kid developmentally, and it makes a lot of Donnie’s behaviors make a lot more sense.

He disappears into the background, getting involved because he wants to be there. Hell, in Rise, a running joke is talking about replacing Donnie... and it’s joked about more than once. (Mikey specifically states “we like New Donnie better” and sure he’s thirteen and probably doesn’t realize how that could hurt, but christ kids lighten up a little.)

Anyway tl;dr no matter what universe he’s in (excepting maybe 1987) Donnie is the archetype of the Lost Child to Leo/Raph’s Good Boy, Leo/Raph’s Rebel, and Mikey’s Mascot.

ETA: It’s worth noting that Rise Donnie shows less of the behaviors than his counterparts (he’s more forceful about carving out his spot even when he doesn’t seem to feel or be wanted), but a lot of them are still there. He always feels like he’s a bit on the outside looking in.

[thefloatingstone]

Would you please make me a list of your rcommended comics(books or web-series any genre original content or fanworks)

Oh that’s a god one! Thank you so very much 💙 Let me see what I have on my shelf and on my hard drive. (I don’t know if I’ve ever made a list of my favourite comics before or not here on tumblr?)

in no particular order;

1: Usagi Yojimbo by Stan Sakai

I dunno if it ever really shows or not, but Japanese historical settings are something I’m really into! I think it’s one of those dormant interests that flares up every now and then. Anyway. Usagi Yojimbo has basically been tied for my favourite comic for over 10 years now. It’s a series of stories, both short and with longer arcs, following the character of Miyamoto Usagi (roughly based on Miyamoto Musashi) travelling around the country of Japan in the early 1600s as a Ronin after the lord he served was defeated and killed in battle. Usagi, being one of his samurai, is not killed in the same battle which, considering his lord was killed, is a massive disgrace in historical Japanese culture. Basically along the thought of “If your lord died and you didn’t you must not have fought hard enough to protect him.”

Anyway, the comic is both a history lesson on Edo period Japan, a travel diary, a slice of life comic, a Chanbara, an action comic, some times even a horror or ghost story, a tragedy involving unfulfilled love and lost families, a lesson on traditional Japanese Yokai and other mythology, and now and then high fantasy.

10/10. HIGHLY recommend. The author Stan Sakai is also a wonderful person I’ve had the pleasure to meet a few times at Comic Con. And considering he like... remembers who I AM despite being an extremely famous comic artist... I dunno. I have endless respect for the man and he’s shown me great kindness in the past.

Also you know... black and white comics. They’re my jam, yo!

2: Bone by Jeff Smith

I have no idea if I even have to say anything because Bone might just, without hyperbole, be the greatest comic ever drawn.

At 1300+ pages drawn over the course of 10 years, the story starts out as a cartoon, full of hijinks and fun adventures and jokes and very slowly, reality starts setting in, things get more dangerous, the stakes get higher, the bad guys much darker. And by the time you reach book 3 of the 9 book story, you’re suddenly in a story of the “epic” variety. Not in the internet slang term but in the actual definition of the word.

You have massive wars between men and monsters, you have clashing cultures and ideologies, conflicting motivations and goals, and of course saving the world.

And it manages to do so without you EVER feeling “Excuse me but this was a cartoon book about funny jokes. This shift in tone is really weird and doesn’t work with the cartoony characters.”

It just blends and grows beautifully. And has remained as my favourite comic for... *counts* lord... 14 years now.

The book was recently released in a new colour version in case you prefer hat, but I honestly recommend “The Brick” single volume black and white version. It’s cheaper, first of all, but also I cannot express how masterful the blacks and whites of Bone are. They’re essentially Watterson level.

(also Jeff Smith is ANOTHER comic artist who is just like... the nicest person. Like REALLY nice. He’s been kind to me on occasions in that “you really didn’t have to be that nice” kind of way)

3: The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck by Don Rosa

It’s published by Disney officially... but the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is essentially a fancomic. The only reason its not is because Don Rosa became SO GOOD at making duck comics Disney hired him to make them officially and he was SO GOOD at it became one of the most important Duck artists just after Carl Barks (the creator of Scrooge) himself.

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a comprehensive biography of Scrooge McDuck’s life, not just made up by Don Rosa, but pieced together from Carl Barks’ own comics where he would have Scrooge make passing mention to events in his past or people he met. Don Rosa essentially took all these passing remarks and mentions and drew out a timeline, starting with Scrooge age 13 leading all the way up to his reunion with his family when Donald as an adult met up with him again.

It starts with Scrooge, from a poor family in Glasgow in 1877, boarding a ship for America to seek his fortune. We follow him through the years as with each chapter, he comes close to being rich and successful, only for it to fail or fall apart at the last minute, until, eventually, we see him catch his break and become the obscenely rich and successful person he’s fought and worked and bled so hard to be.

...and then the comic continues. And we see him lose himself. Greed, the constant need for MORE money and MORE success keeps going. The need to show HOW rich and successful he is takes over, until we see him and his family fall apart. And the comic echoes Citizen Kane as Scrooge realises the best time of his life was when he was seeking riches, not after he finally succeeded.

And then Donald and his nephews appear, and Scrooge’s life gets a second wind. His lust for adventure flares up again, his need to seek fortunes and treasures burns as strong as ever. And he keeps going.

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck is a story about looking for your place in the world and fighting to create it with your own two hands, but it’s also about how you should think hard where you place your value in life, and it’s never too late to re-direct course and try again.

There is also “The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Companion” which is a collection of stories that didn’t fit in with the original comic and would have disrupted flow. Basically like how a fanfic will have oneshots related to a larger story

Also, the producer of the band “Nightwish” created a soundtrack to accompany the original comic as a sort of “What If” in what he imagined the story would sound like if it was made into a movie

4: Cucumber Quest by Gigi D.G. ( @ggdgart )

A newer comic I stumbled upon which has skyrocketed into being a fave and I can already tell, that’s not a position it’s gonna relinquish. Cucumber Quest is a more cartoony and comedic story than the previous comics on this list. But that by no means makes it of any less value or dulls the moments that this comic decides to punch you in the gut with emotions HARD.

The art and colours are glorious and something I hope to study so I can better my own art hopefully, and the writing and humour is of a calibre that I just know I could not replicate it if I even tried. Full of puns, absurdism, awkward jokes and a whole lot of FEELINGS, It manages to make me both laugh myself into a coughing fit as often as it makes me yell “OH NOOOO!!!” when something dramatic happens.

The story follows our main character Cucumber, a put-upon out-of-his-depth wizard-to-be who is tasked with saving the world from the evil Nightmare Knight who has been summoned from his thousand year slumber by an evil sorcerer who wants to take over the world (as you do). With him is his little sister, the sword wielding Almond, who is WAY more into this “being a hero” thing than he is (and probably better at it too) as the duo make friends and travel to the various kingdoms to defeat the Nightmare Knight’s lackeys, working their way up to fighting the Nightmare Knight himself and sealing him away once more!

That all sounds.... really straightforward, doesn’t it? Well... that’s what everybody else in the comic thinks too. ...Shame that real life is never easy and straightforward.

From evil henchmen that start crushing on cool “Good Guys” with cool swords, good guys who don’t REALLY want to hurt the bad guys because they don’t seem so bad? To cool good guys with cool swords suddenly learning that being in danger is not as much fun as it sounded when they started this. To big evil final boss bad guys who are just tired of all of this...

What’s also awesome is the entire comic... all OVER 800 PAGES OF IT... is completely free to read online! But you can also buy physical copies of the first 4 volumes in book form to support the author! 

http://cucumber.gigidigi.com/cq/page-1/

I HIGHLY recommend this one too! It has canon LGBT characters! It has found family plots! It has scary bad guys that just need a hug! It has magical girl transformations! Literally anything you could want is in this comic. Including emotional wrecking angst! Did I mention FEELINGS???

(I couldn’t pick a single page so here are 3 random ones without context. Seriously almost EVERY page is so good I struggled very hard to choose)

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5: The Property of Hate by @modmad

Hey. Do you like fantasy worlds made of imagination? How about protagonists with grey morality who act like super primand proper gentlemen when they’re actually huge nerds? How about reluctant “Well I guess I’ve ADOPTED you now you annoying gremlin” adult-kid relationships? How about puns? How about abstract and colourfull character designs? Or saving the world?

The Property of Hate is Modmad’s original comic that they’ve been working on a few years now. it follows our lead character, RGB or “Problematic Mary Poppins” as I like to think of him, as he asks a young child if she’d like to be a hero and help him save his world? When she agrees, he takes her to a fantasy land... completely NOT preparing her for what she’s signed up for. The story then follows the duo through the abstract and shifting world as RGB slowly divulges information on what exactly our Hero has to do to save the world. It turns out it’s a lot more complicated and messy than merely “beat the bad guy” or anything like that.

Not to mention it seems this fantasy world has its own rules of reality and dangers. Emotions and abstract thoughts have real physical form here, and something like an “idea” can quite literally run around and create havoc, while something like dreams can fuel or destroy, and emotions like grief can cause irreparable damage.

Our Hero also learns RGB himself is a lot more complex and messy than he first appears. Seeming to be a good person trying to do good things (despite being a little stand offish and rude at times) but seems to also be carrying a past and the weight of having done some very very bad things “for the greater good”. And our Hero, as well as we, the readers, start wondering how much we should trust him, even though, just like our Hero, deep deep down we just know we WANT to trust him. And maybe he needs saving just as much as the world itself does. Even when he’s at his scariest and... not quite himself.

The Property of Hate is also available online completely for free. Modmad does have books for sale but I believe it’s on-demand or something along those lines. Please feel free to message them here on tumblr and they are happy to chat to their readers and interact.

http://thepropertyofhate.com/TPoH/The%20Hook/1

I think I’ll leave it there despite meaning to do 10 at first because this is already EXTREMELY long.

Hopefully you found something that seems interesting! Let me know if you decide to check any of these out and whether you ended up liking them or not! I’d love to hear your opinions.

And thank you for indulging me <3

(I’m trying to remember to add my ko-fi link to all longer posts like this I make. Especially since I keep forgetting ☕️Buy me a Ko-fi ☕️ )

[wonderfulworldofmichaelford]

Michael in the Mainstream: The Nostalgia Critic

I have been a fan of the Nostalgia Critic for years now. That’s a rather controversial stance to take nowdays, especially in light of recent controversies; first was the big #ChangeTheChannel movement which had the entire site sans Brad Jones performing a mass exodus elsewhere with some even going so far as to brutally cut ties with Doug for his and managements failings (with Alison Pregler, AKA Obscurus Lupa offering some especially harsh words). Then was this year’s review of The Wall, where he utilized his divisive clipless style and his complete lack of a good singing voice to create what is hands down one of the worst videos – not even just review, VIDEOS – on YouTube. But even with those two things aside, I do think there is some value to the work of Doug Walker. He became popular for a reason, right? So what is that reason? Where did he go wrong?

Doug Walker began doing his Nostalgia Critic schtick in the wake of James Rolfe’s Angry Video Game Nerd becoming an internet icon, and he quickly became one of the bigger faces in the wake of imitators Rolfe spawned. The conceit of his show is rather simple – he reviews nostalgic movies, mostly stuff from the 80s or 90s, with occasional forays into the 2000s – all while parodying the typical internet film critic much as Rolfe parodied the typical nerd gamer. The Critic, you see, is not necessarily Doug, but instead a hyperactive psychotic manchild version of himself who screeches, shoots, and curses up a storm while reviewing movies. It wasn’t too different from other review shows at the time, really, but Doug had a sort of corny charm that really worked.

As time went on, production values slowly increased, Doug’s humor sharpened, and eventually actual thoughtful film analysis crept in, especially in the post-reboot episodes. In fact, that is something I generally like about Doug’s work, and why I even bother with him still: the man clearly has an understanding of film theory, he knows what he’s talking about, and when he takes the time to sit down and actually talk about movies he’s actually pretty insightful. I think of his reviews of stuff like Ghostbusters 2,where he actually gave a genuinely great alternate plotline for the film that would have better utilized the concepts and characters, or any of his numerous video essays on film issues like whitewashing. When it’s Doug just sitting down and talking about a film while cracking jokes here and there, it tends to be really good.

However, Doug has increasingly wanted to add some spice to his reviews in the forms of skits. And it’s not like there never were bits in his reviews back in the day, but post-revival He ramped up the amount of skits, utilizing a cast of friends, with the current mainstays being Malcolm Ray and Tamara Chambers. I do sort of like the weird cast of characters the show has amassed, and I think they really help give the show an identity to set it apart from other review shows. Malcolm and Tamara are honestly, genuinely funny and enjoyable, though the writing doesn’t always play to their skills and can sometimes be a bit obnoxious. I think I’d have to say Malcolm is probably my favorite of the bunch, as he has the wackiest roster of amusing characters, with roles such as Satan, Black Willy Wonka, and good ol’ Bill. And some of his best reviews have crazy skits. His Moulin Rouge review is a standout example; even if I don’t agree with his opinions, he manages to make the musical interludes fun, funny, and actually filled with some sort of commentary relating to the film.

I think the real issues with the skits is they sometimes bog down the reviews or go on for a bit too long.  Some of them also just plain aren’t funny at all, or they use really bottom of the barrel cringeworthy comedy that the Critic himself has criticized in his reviews. Of course, the pinnacle of these problems are his clipless reviews, which are basically just Doug and pals reenacting whatever movie he’s reviewing. On paper, this seems like a fun and amusing idea, but the execution is often extremely poor. See, the thing about the Nostalgia Critic is that you’re ostensibly going to him to see criticism and see if something is worth watching; the thing with his clipless reviews is that they require intimate familiarity with the source material for you to even get half of the jokes he’s making, which kind of defeats the point. This is one of the reasons his review of The Wall is so terrible; he’s taking a film that is incomprehensible and surreal and parodying it without explaining the context, so anyone unfamiliar with the movie will be lost.

And even if you are familiar, a lot of the parody can come off as mean-spirited or even filled with blatant lies. Doug has a tendency to overexaggerate and be hyperbolic when he’s in-character, so if he finds a serious flaw in the movie he’ll blow it up in his parody. His reviews of the It films really showcase this, as he sort of nitpicks things that really aren’t as big a deal as he makes them out to be, which has the unfortunate side effect of making his legitimate criticisms look a bit weaker. In fact, a lot of the time Doug comes off as genuinely hypocritical, mocking tropes and tools he himself frequently utilizes in his own reviews. It’s so weird, because despite all this as well as the cheap special effects and production values that Doug is clearly putting a lot of effort into acting out all these wacky parodies, but he just can’t act and criticize at the same time. At the very least, his clipless reviews lend themselves well to unintentionally hilarious, so bad it’s good territory.

I think a lot of why the clipless reviews and skits don’t work is because of Doug’s lingering resentment over the failure of Demo Reel, which was him trying to branch out after he retired the Critic. Of course had to fall back on the Critic; Demo Reel was not very popular, and people just wanted more of what Made Doug famous. I do like that he did try stuff to spice his show up to make it enjoyable for him again, but it’s still hard not to get the sense that Doug is still bitterly lashing out with his skits at the people who wouldn’t accept him branching out into attempts at legitimate acting. As such, they just feel like empty, over the top garbage that Doug is pushing out because he really wants to act, but he feels like he can’t because what people want is more Critic.

I guess in general it doesn’t help that Doug is just not a great actor. Just look at his performances in the anniversary movies, which horribly clash with the whiny manchild the Critic is portrayed as in the main show, orr even during some of the commercial skits he does, where he tends to overact or just get too childish and hammy. It’s so obvious to me that Doug really wants to be a legitimate actor but he just doesn’t seem to have the aptitude for it. He’s a lot better at comedy and criticism than he is at acting. Of course, that’s not to say he’s incapable of doing anything good; his review of that 3D Nutcracker movie, and in fact a lot of his more modern Christmas-related reviews, have some genuinely touching and heartfelt moments, and when Doug is staying true to the goofy, idiotic character of the Critic he can be really fun.

The Nostalgia Critic is not really a show I think I can recommend to most people. Hell, sometimes I feel like I only watch it because of, ahem, nostalgia. I definitely don’t think the show is void of good content, but when Doug drops something like The Wall, it makes me wonder… Still, I like to stick around, because when Doug hits it, he hits it out of the park. The problem is when he fails, he tends to fail in the most epic manner possible. He’s like that one bat in EarthBound which is super powerful but misses a lot, but when it hits, your opponent is pretty sure to get knocked out. I think a lot of Doug’s failings are carried by his supporting cast, and the flaws in his writing are only easy to swallow because of the genuine insights he offers. There’s just a lot to take into consideration when it comes to the Critic, it’s really hard to say if he’s good or bad. He just… is.

I definitely think some of what Doug does is bad and cringeworthy (I really can’t defend those sketches in the Deadpool 2 review or those awful Kermit puppets), but I think beneath the cringiness, beneath the overdone acting, and beneath the flaws, there are some good insights to be found about films and why they do and don’t work. I of course don’t agree with everything Doug says, but there is still genuine thought and effort. I don’t really know if I can say he’s worth going out of your way to watch, but popping in now and then to check out what Doug has to say isn’t a bad thing. I kind of wish he would go back to doing those video essays again, because I think that was some of his best work, or maybe stick to only reviewing stuff that he has some sort of genuine connection with. When he is really passionate about something, it really shows, because he puts care and effort into the analysis and is able to tell some genuinely good jokes in between snarking at the film. When he just doesn’t care… you get The Wall review. Yeah, that’s pretty much my go-to for awful Doug reviews, becauseit is emblematic of every single problem that has come to plague his worst efforts: lack of care, bad writing, crappy production values, overdone and overacted skits, manipulative editing, and zero insight into the film.

Still, as cringeworthy as he can get these days… I’ll take this version of Doug over the Bat Credit Card/Chuck Norris/Burger King “elephant”/forced meme version of Doug from his early days.

I’m Michael Ford. I remember the Nostalgia Critic so you don’t have to.

[duhragonball]

Dragon Ball Z 261

Last time, Gotenks and Piccolo escaped the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but not soon enough to prevent Majin Buu from turning everyone on the Lookout into chocolate and eating them.    Gotenks, now a Super Saiyan 3, is determined to avenge his mother(s), so you’d think he’d finally make some headway in this fight.  But not really.  He seems to be able to go toe-to-toe with Buu this way, but he’s not exactly dominating the guy.

At this point in the battle, Buu is using his elastic body to stretch and contort himself out of the path of Gotenks’ blows.   The first time I saw this, I wondered why he hadn’t done anything like this before, but now it’s clear to me that Buu never needed to before.   Until now, Gotenks’ punches and kicks weren’t even hurting the guy, so there was no need to dodge him at all.   The only thing SSJ1 Gotenks did that hurt Super Buu was the Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack, and even that wasn’t enough to put the guy down.  

Even now, I doubt Buu really needs to bother with this.  He’s just toying with Gotenks here.

Then Buu swings him down through the Lookout, and chases him through the hole he just made. 

Buu follows Gotenks to a lake on the Earth’s surface, and somehow Gotenks manages to sneak up on him, commando-style, which seems kind of odd considering how much power he must be putting out just to maintain SSJ3.

Then he busts out a new move: Brain Crush Hammer.   

This... cuts Buu in half, which is pretty cool, except it doesn’t exactly live up to the name “Brain Crush Hammer”.

Gotenks blasts both pieces with the “Finish Flash”, which I guess is like the Final Flash only he keeps his hands apart and fires in two different directions.  

From the Supreme Kai Planet, Goku, Kibito, and the Supreme Kai watch the battle in a crystal ball, and they’re all pleased with Gotenks’ performance.  Goku’s so high on the job he’s doing that he’s beginning to think Buu will be defeated before Gohan even gets a chance to fight.

This is especially frustrating to Gohan, because he has to sit here for 20 hours as part of the Elder Kai’s power-up spell, or whatever it’s called.   He’s got to be at like 19:57 by now, but he can’t watch the battle with his dad, and if he gets distracted, it’ll just take that much longer to finish the work.   On top of that, even the Elder Kai isn’t required to focus on this.   He’s been reading comic books this whole time.

Stop me if you’ve heard this one, but Gotenks did this big flashy move on Majin Buu, and he thought he had this in the bag, only for Buu to reassemble himself and turn the tables on him.  This is pretty much every fight Buu has been in.   The only difference is that stronger characters just manage to last longer, but the results don’t really change.

I think that’s kind of a problem with this guy.    It’s not as bad as Frieza, where people knew he was invincible, attacked him anyway, and then they were all surprised to see that he wasn’t even scratched.  It got old really fast, and that’s why I always get bored watching the Frieza Saga up to the part where Goku turns Super Saiyan.  

I’d suggest that this is part of the reason why I like the Saiyans and Androids better as villains.   We know the Saiyans are beatable, because Goku’s a Saiyan and he could be beaten, provided his opponent is strong enough.  The androids were presented as invincible, but #19 is the first one we see in action, and he gets beaten without a lot of trouble, so it offers a glimmer of hope that the stronger androids that follow have their own weaknesses.   

What makes Cell so awesome is that he’s eminently vulnerable.   He needs to feed on humans to get stronger, and then he’s dependent upon the androids to achieve his final form.  Even in his ultimate form, he still takes all sorts of hits, if only to show off his regeneration powers. He’s a daunting challenge, but there’s still lots of ways to attack him. 

WIth Buu, I think the idea is that no one really knows what they’re getting into when they fight this guy.   Dabura thought he was a joke, and even Babidi was worried when Dabura ran him through with a spear.  Except Buu could just regenerate and turn Dabura into a cookie.   Vegeta seemed to do better against Buu, almost lulling you into thinking he had a chance, but really, that fight was just a repeat of Dabura’s effort.  Vegeta could damage Buu, but Buu would just pull himself back together and keep fighting.  

This move right here that Gotenks is using is called the “Super Balloon Bomber”, but it’s basically just more exploding ghosts.   The SBB is simply Gotenks making thirteen ghosts all at once instead of making ten ghosts one at a time.  Also, he says these ghosts pack a bigger wallop when they blow up, which makes sense, considering Gotenks is at Super Saiyan 3 this time.   

And Buu can’t dodge these guys as easily as the last set, so maybe these ghosts are faster too.    Makes sense.

But the outcome is basically the same.    Buu gets blown up, but he can still pull himself back together.  

It irritates him whenever he has to do that, so I don’t know, maybe this is draining his stamina every time, but it sure doesn’t seem like it.   No one ever observes that Buu ki is getting slightly weaker.

And Gotenks is lulled into this false sense of security, because he did an impressive move on Buu, and even Buu is upset about it.  He thinks he’s winning, but when you get down to it, what did the Super Baloon Bomber accomplish that the Finish Flash didn’t? 

And this is why I have my doubts that Goku ever really stood a chance against Fat Buu back in episode 245.  He only thinks he might have been able to beat him, but all he really proved was that he could last longer against Buu than Vegeta did.   Just like Gotenks is proving that he can last longer than either of them.   But it doesn’t do any good to last longer if you can’t put the guy away.

Now, I’m pretty sure the whole fight down on Earth was filler.   If I recall correctly, Buu and Gotenks stayed on the Lookout the whole time until it was destroyed, but in the anime, Buu knocks him down to the ground, they fight there for a while, and then Buu shoots him back up to the Lookout, and they resume there.  But it’s hard for me to tell the difference, because the filler parts of the battle scenes fit almost seamlessly with the ones adapted from the manga.   It’s a simple formula. Hero does a big move, Buu either no-sells it or recovers a few seconds later.

Meanwhile, Piccolo’s been having a nervous breakdown over the Lookout getting destroyed by all this fighting.   It’s easy to lose sight of this, what with everything else getting trashed.   The world below is nearly deserted, most of the main cast is dead, and there’s really nothing stopping Buu from just blowing up the whole planet if he wants.   But the Lookout has been an institution on this show for years.    It’s pretty wild watching it get smashed to pieces like this.  It’s like Toriyama decided he would use the Buu arc to just tear down the entire world he had built over the past decade, and it’s awesome to watch it all fall apart.  Z stands for the end.

Meanwhile, Mr. Satan and Bee are still trudging through the wasteland.   Satan seems to think there should be people here, which I don’t understand, since this place looks like it would be deserted even before Buu showed up. 

Then they spot a city, and that boosts Mr. Satan’s spirits somewhat.    Surely, there must be survivors there.  

But no, this town might have been spared from Fat Buu, but Super Buu wiped out the population with the Human Extinction Attack.   Mr. Satan doesn’t realize that, because even though he saw the attack like everyone else, he never got hit, and he never saw anyone else get hit, so he doesn’t realize what it was intended to do.  

There’s something very tragic about how he calls out for a hero’s welcome.  We’ve seen before how much Mr. Satan’s self-esteem depends on his fame and celebrity.   He was terrified of being the runner-up in the 25th Budokai, for goodness’ sake.   Jewel was the runner-up in the 24th Budokai, and everyone seemed to love that dude, but it’s not enough for Mr. Satan.  Now, he’s stuck in a world where he can’t call upon his fame because all his fans are dead.  

But at least there’s food and water.   Satan loots a grocery store and gives Bee a dish of milk.  Not sure that’s good for dogs, but this is Dragon Ball Z, so who cares?   All those pterosaurs in this show have big fat bodies and tiny li’l wings and they can still fly.    Dogs drink milk here.

Satan still can’t figure any of this out.  He knows Buu was a decent person at heart, and yet he’s destoryed the entire world.    Why? It just doesn’t make sense.

Then they move on, and Satan sees Fat Buu in the clouds.   I don’t really buy into Satan/Buu slash, but I get why people do.  You could write a gay romance story about Batman wondering why Superman turned evil, and it would look a lot like this. 

Yeah, yeah, the Lookout’s destroyed.   I already covered that.    Why do some of the pieces float in mid-air, while others lie on the surface of the big piece that’s left?    How does anything in this world work?   Let’s move on.

Buu does this thing where he bends over backwards and grabs his ankles to make a ball, and then he starts crashing into the Lookout multiple times.  He’s supposed to be trying to hit Gotenks, but I think he’s more interested in breaking he Lookout down to pebbles. 

But that sets him up for Gotenks’ next move, which is...

OH COME ON, PICCOLO.   Do you really have to touch your forehead to do Special Beam Cannon?   You know how this works, so shut up and let him do his thing.

So Gotenks does “Continuous Super Donuts”, which is basically the same as the “Cosmic Halo” from a few episodes back, which made a ring around Buu that closed in on him.  Only this time, Gotenks makes multiple rings, which seal Buu up in a ball of ki energy.   But Gotenks knows he could bust out of this, so he plans to follow up with another move....

ULTRA BUU-BUU VOLLEYBALL.   Now, I know what you’re thinking, this is a lot like Tien’s Volleyball fist from the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai.  We’ll you’re wrong, because...

DAMMIT PICCOLO STOP WHIMPERING ABOUT THE LOOKOUT AND HELP.

GOTENKS IS GOING TO PASS IT TO YOU, BECAUSE IT’S A TEAM ATTACK.   THERE’S NO “I” IN TEAM PICCOLO.   YES, THERE’S A “ME”, WE ALL HEARD THE TAYLOR SWIFT SONG, BUT THIS IS NO TIME TO BE TALKING ABOUT THAT.

LOOK, GOTENKS CAN ONLY STAY IN THIS FORM FOR A FEW MINUTES, AND IF BUU GETS OUT HE’LL KILL US ALL, PICCOLO.   WOULD YOU STOP THINKING ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT FOR LIKE TWO SECONDS AND SAY YOUR LINE?

YES FINALLY THAT TOOK FOREVER WHAT ARE YOU DOING OUT HERE?

All right, so Piccolo sets the ball, and Gotenks spikes it down in to the earth, where it explodes and makes a huge hole.   That might have killed Buu, except Piccolo screwed up the timing so it was only 99.2% effective.

Piccolo yells at Gotenks to quit screwing around.  Yeah, you’re one to talk.

So Gotenks knows Buu survived that, and he taunts for him to come out and continue fighting.  He even says that he can’t stay in this form much longer, and it’ll take him an hour to re-fuse and do this again.  Why would you tell him that?

But Buu doesn’t show himself, and Gotenks wonders if that last attack really did finish him off.

I blame Piccolo for this.

[thestupidhelmet]

I’m trying and failing to write T7S fanfic :(( I feel like I don’t capture the characters voices, you know? Imo you capture them spot on, do you have any tips to do so? Especially for JH, but tips for the other main characters would also be nice...

First, thank you for the compliment! It’s one of the best a fanfic writer can receive. 😊

On your own, you can watch some significant, character-developing episodes for each character and take notes about the kind of language they use when they’re under stress (e.g., angry, sad, frustrated, etc.) or happy. But I’ll give you insight into how I approach each character’s voice.

Hyde

He rarely expresses his emotions verbally without some kind of deflection, misdirection, or concealment. In “Eric’s False Alarm” (4x25), for example, Eric calls Hyde on being the one who stopped Donna and Casey from potentially having sex. He also calls Hyde on one of his true motives. Hyde claims, however, that he “didn’t do it to be nice. I did it because I always wanted to commit a felony. Misdemeanors just ain’t the rush they used to be.”

Eric’s responds, “Well, all I hear is, ‘I love you, I love you, I love you.’”

Hyde is almost all subtext. That is the key to his character. If he does express his feelings directly, it’s very hard for him. It’s like being constipated but emotionally (sorry for the gross analogy, but it’s apt). He’ll have trouble looking the person in the eye or scratch the back of his neck. Or he’ll stick a curse or two while being sincere.

Hyde doesn’t tend to give long speeches. Usually, he’ll say a sentence or two before another character talks or he does some action to break up his dialogue.

He often uses humor, often sarcastic and sometimes cruel, to defuse a tense situation.

He uses the word, “man” at the beginning or end of certain sentences. Don’t do it too much, though, or it’ll feel forced.

Speaking of word choice, this is a key to capturing a character’s voice. For instance, Hyde has never – and would never – say, “Anyways,” with an S. Whenever I read a fic where Hyde says that, I hear the author’s voice, not Hyde’s.

Hyde-specific words include swell and super (when he’s being sarcastic), freakin’ and damn it when he’s pissed or frustrated. He’ll say ain’t instead of isn’t sometimes. He’s called testicles both ‘nads and stones.

Jackie

Jackie is the opposite to Hyde in terms of expressing her emotions verbally. When she feels something, she’s vocal about it. That’s not to say she can’t keep her feelings to herself. She does so when she’s significantly afraid of rejection.

I interpret Jackie’s character as being really insightful beneath her superficiality. Enough episodes depict her this way to support that interpretation, but other episodes depict her superficiality as being more than skin-deep. That’s up to the individual fanfic writer to decide which characterization to go with.

But with mine, I intersperse her insight with moments of egoism and vanity. A prime example of this on the show is from “Jackie Bags Hyde” (3x08). In the midst of offering Hyde a compassionate, accurate analysis of his childhood wounding, she compliments her own beauty.

She often makes analogies when giving advice (to Hyde, to Donna, to whomever). These analogies are created from her own experiences and interests (e.g., styling her hair, having a pet rat, etc.), but they’re apt, nevertheless.

She has a generally romantic view of life, which influences her language, but she also has a more down-to-earth side. So she’ll say both, “Make love,” and, “Doing it,” when describing sex, for example. 

Unlike Hyde, Jackie has said, “Anyways,” with an S, but she mostly says, “Anyway” without the S. She doesn’t curse all that much. When she does curse, she really means it.

Unfortunately, she uses a lot of slut-shaming language. Most of the characters on T7S do. That’s a consequence of T7S’s writers finding that humor funny. I try not to have the characters speak that way unless it’s going to be called out by another character or in a character’s thoughts.

Jackie probably thinks a mile a minute, which sometimes leads her to digress from her main topic while speaking.

Eric

Eric expresses his feelings pretty easily, but he can be hyperbolic. Examples: “This is the worst day ever.” “This is the [FILL IN THE BLANK] in the history of time.”

Like Hyde, he’s sarcastic. According to Red, he’s a smart mouth. Kitty has called him a porky mouth on more than one occasion. In “Burning Down the House” (2x15), for instance, he says about Jackie’s party, “You know what might make this party a little more fun? Sweet death.”

Depending on his mood and whom he’s with, his dialogue can either be compassionate or insensitive and sometimes a bit cruel. Sometimes his wit his biting. Others, it’s corny. E.g., he doesn’t like and resents Hyde’s girlfriend, Jill, in “The Third Wheel” (4x11) and calls her both Terri Tube Top and Yoko.

But he can also be nervous and lack confidence, which will make him hem and haw while talking. He’ll interrupt his speech using, “You know,” several times in one sentence or pauses. E.g., “We … barely knew.”

He sometimes uses antiquated language like m’lady and ‘tis I.

He makes quite a few Star Wars and comic book references.

Topher Grace’s comedic timing and line delivery adds a lot to his dialogue, and it’s possible to emulate that in prose. Again, watch some significant episodes for Eric and take note of his speech patterns and word choices.

Donna

Donna has a quick temper, but she also usually recognizes and owns her mistakes quickly. She has an easy time expressing her anger and frustration, as well as more loving and affectionate feelings. But she’s not a crier. She often expresses her sadness through frustration or anger. Not always, though.

She has a very playful and silly side. She can be as witty as Eric, but in anger she can make some odd metaphors. E.g., “He’s an ass, and you’re an ass – ‘cause the ass doesn’t fall far from the ass tree!” (From “Jackie Bags Hyde”.)

Dillhole and get bent are part of her idiolect. She also peppers her sentences with the filler word like (which should be set off by commas).

Kelso

Kelso’s language is dictated by his impulses, what he’s interested in at that very moment, and his unique POV about the world. He’s very excitable, which leads him to expressing himself as efficiently as possible – in terms of language, not ideas. . E.g., “You gotta see this!” not “You’ve got to see this!”

He comes up with bizarre scenarios and ideas, which is usually adds humor to an episode.

His egoism and narcissism color his dialogue. E.g., “You know what your problem is? I’m too good-looking.”

He’s emotionally immature for his age, and he often speaks like he’s thirteen, not eighteen. (Sorry to the mature thirteen-year-olds out there; I know there’s plenty of you.)

Fez

Fez alternates between using contractions and not using them. E.g., “I do not think you should do that,” vs. “I don’t think you should do that.”

He’ll express his emotions melodramatically. Even when he’s trying to “keep it all inside,” he’s over the top while explaining that this is what he’s doing.

He’ll say, “Ai,” when he’s upset or hurt or worried. I chose the Ai spelling instead of Ay because Fez’s native language isn’t Spanish, despite Wilmer Valderrama being the one portraying him. Just like Jackie’s eyes are brown, despite Mila Kunis’s eyes – at the time of T7S – being two different colors.

On the show, Fez’s dialogue is often used to break the tension with humor.

“You sonuvabitch!” and “Good day. I said good day!” are two of his catchphrases.

He’ll talk about his country, and what it’s like there, without every saying where he’s actually from.

His characterization varies, depending on the season. I’m not a fan of his post-Rhonda personality. In the early seasons, he isn’t a perv so much as someone who doesn’t know how far to push a joke. He’s trying to fit in with his friends, and the cultural differences cause him confusion.  

He can be poetic and romantic.

Red

Red is similar to Hyde and Donna. He doesn’t express his feelings easily, save anger and frustration. To Kitty, however, he can be very sweet. To Hyde, he’ll dispense wisdom (and he practically cried in “Hyde’s Father” [3x03] when telling Hyde he’ll always have a place in his house, etc.). To Eric – well, that is one contentious relationship. 

He was in the navy during World War II and the Korean War, and that colors his POV. He’s not politically correct, but writing that aspect of him … it’s a fine line. He’s not racist so much as xenophobic, which stems from his experiences in the navy and his somewhat extreme patriotism.

Honestly, watch pretty much any episode of his from seasons 2-4, and you’ll understand his voice quickly. The Red of season 1 is quite different, more nuanced  – and I actually prefer it, but alas. That Red makes a guest appearance in “Hyde’s Birthday” (4x23), but he’s more of a hardass post-S1. After season 4, his character begins to become even less nuanced. And during season 7, he’s sometimes very OOC.

Kitty

She’s compassionate and a little cartoony. She’s wise in certain areas and naive in others. She’s smart and savvy – until the show devolves her in the later seasons.

To get her speech pattern and idiolect, “Vanstock” (2x06), “Kitty and Eric’s Night Out” (2x18), ,“Red Sees Red” (3x01), and “Kitty’s Birthday” (3x17) are good episodes to watch.

I hope this helps! :D

[doctorstarinken]

One Time For TeedaMac

Troye,

I’ll never forget the day we met. I pulled up to the studio at CalArts not expecting much to be honest. Nikko had told me he was going to bring a rapper and I my general attitude was “Yea, okay. Sure.” 

You were a big dude, man. But you were a different big dude. Kind of like a Patrice O’Neal, Shaq, Biggie kind of big dude. Physically big, huge personality, big laugh, and more importantly you had a huge heart. There was a quiet confidence you displayed while you patiently waited your turn to hop on the mic that evening. Most people get -- myself included -- don’t really know how to act inside a studio. I’ve learned to tame that part of myself by being really, really enthusiastic and be really encouraging of everyone’s creative process. You’re not like that though. You just sat back patiently, cracked jokes, and picked our brains on our collective views on music. 

That’s the other thing that won me over. I could sense that you were just a big music lover and music nerd. You asked me my views on trap, and I gave you some bullshit generic response to which you replied, “That doesn’t really tell me your opinion though.” I respected that. Before you even knew me, you had a charming gall to you to say what needed to be said. 

Fast forward to when you got behind the mic.

Man... there are a few musical moments I remember vividly. The first time I conducted an orchestra, my undergraduate audition, my first day as a contracted/hired songwriter in a large studio, the first rehearsal I ever had with the lady who later become my wife, and the first time I heard you jump behind that Neumann. 

Everything about your performance that evening was so flawless. Your voice, the lyrics, the flow, content, vibe, et al. You just had everything, man. And the best thing about it, you were fucking cooler than ice cold, bruh. You can spot talent by how hard -- or in this case, how not hard-- someone is working. There has always been such an ease in your delivery. Even when you fucked up, it was done with grace. 

__

Just as I’ll never forget the evening we met, I’ll never forget the day Nikko called me to deliver the bad news. I was in Honolulu teaching underprivileged high-school students how to film score using affordable software and was lucky enough to work in a truly world-class studio. The folks who contracted me were also kind enough to allow me to use the studio to work on whatever projects I wanted to work on as long as I had finished working on the student projects beforehand. 

It was exciting. I was flown out to Hawaii, was given a ridiculous per diem, didn’t have to pay out of pocket for lodging, and more importantly, I was working in the same studio that where a lot of my favorite records were made. 

The plan was to get a lot of post-production out of the way for our project. Seemed like the perfect situation. Get flown out, work in a dope studio, and work on your own personal projects after-hours. What could possibly go wrong?

Just like I’ll never forget the evening that I first heard you rap, I’ll never be able to shake the feeling I got when Nikko called me and told me you were diagnosed with cancer. 

__

I gotta be honest. I still can’t believe you were diagnosed with cancer. I still can’t believe you didn’t beat it. I still can’t believe you’re gone.

Intellectually speaking, I know you’re not here. What I mean to say is that, I recall visiting you before you got transferred to Keck and that I recall driving up to Fresno to see you for the first time since I got the news. I remember the day you called me and told me you were in a hospital in LA and that I could come visit you. I remember the weekends I’d spend with you kicking your ass on 2k and saying something along the lines of “Son, even if your make-a-wish was to get better at 2k, I’d still kick your ass. Fuck you. Guard this money ass three pointer.” I remember making jokes about how I preferred when you were incapacitated because at least you didn’t talk back. Honestly I think the nurses were a bit shocked, but we just had that relationship. We could say the most fucked up things to each and laugh about it. 

During the day of your memorial, your pastor said that you fought. You fought everyday to survive and you battled this bullshit disease until you couldn’t and that the rest of us in the memorial should do the same. That is to fight everyday for life. 

Truthfully, I haven’t fought everyday since you passed. It’s difficult. In my own selfish understanding, it wasn’t just that I lost a friend and a brother, I lost my fucking career. I poured everything I had into our record and while it’s very painful for me to listen back to it, I know it’s fucking good. It’s one of those things where I actually don’t care for people’s opinions about this record because I know it’s good and if someone doesn’t like it, it’s not for them. We made this record for us and we were about ready to usher in a new paradigm shift in hip-hop.

I know that probably sounds hyperbolic as fuck, but what good does believing in a record I can no longer perform in public do for me? Whether we were actually as good as I think we are is irrelevant, I knew we were going to the very top because I finally had a proper MC in my corner who saw eye-to-eye with me and an MC who could body any piece of music I gave them. 

You elevated what I wrote. Without you, everything I wrote were just these bland academic exercises in showing people how well I can music. You gave my work heart and soul and turned it into art. 

But now you’re gone and you have been since October. And as much as I’d love to fondly look back at our short time together and as much as I like to imagine of what we were both robbed of, I don’t think it’s really healthy for me to do so anymore. 

__

I’ve always wondered about the human soul since I was a child. My grandfather died when I was very young, followed by my uncle, and during my teenage years my other uncle quite literally died in my arms. I’m not a stranger to death. I grew up christian so every Sunday I was reminded of the death and resurrection of Christ. 

But for whatever reason, your passing really hit me hard. I wish I could say that I’d see you again some day, but I really don’t know where we go when our time on Earth is done and I think that’s what scares me the most. The idea that all I’ll ever have are the memories I shared with you is the scariest part. We didn’t know each other that long, but we grew close. You got to know me and I got to know you through our shared work. The music I presented to you was a tangible representation of my best self as expressed through sound. In turn, you gave me the best representation of yourself through your lyrics. 

Collaboration is a sacred bond. My friend, Max, who I so wish you got to meet, told me that when he got on the phone with me to console me after he had learned I was grieving your loss. While there are a lot of things I don’t know about the nature of reality, I can say with full confidence that my favorite thing about being an artist is the communion that occurs where people are in a room trying to create something out of nothing. While I don’t know where we go after we die, I do believe in the divine because I have experienced with when working with talented people like yourself. There is a quiet agreement that we are all trying transcend our current situation and hopefully share that with the world. 

Teeda, you were more than a friend and collaborator. You were my brother. I didn’t grow up with biological brothers, but there is an old adage that goes “you don’t have to be blood to be brothers.” While blood is thicker than water, the frequencies we pushed out into existence is the only connection I need to call you family. 

While I wish I could wipe you from my memory as having to live with the fact that one of the most beautiful humans I’ve ever known has left at such a young age is too painful, I know that your spirit will always live on. I see your face in Alonzo’s and I’m always so hyped whenever Joss shares pictures of your son on her IG.  

I wish it had worked out differently. I wish you had beat cancer and that we had gone on the road and fucking killed stages from here all the way to Manila. I wish we had more time to make more music and that we could have made your wildest dreams come true. I wish you could have shown your mom just how ridiculously talented her son is. (She shared me that story on how she asked her A&R friend to talk you out of rapping only for him to be like “Yo, he’s actually super dope. He’s a little raw, but if he keeps at it he can be something.”) I’m not sure if you heard, but at the end of your days at City of Hope, your mom would play our song all the time and the nurses and medical staff would always look in amazement that it was our song playing. One dude even said that you sound like J. Cole. I mean... I’m not the biggest J. Cole fan, but I know you loved him and thought he was better than Kendrick. I still think that opinion is mad trash, but you’re dead now so I guess you literally took that stance to your grave. Respect. 

I had so many plans for us. I really did believe we could have done whatever the fuck we wanted to. You made us that good. But I have to let those plans go as I have to let you go. I wish I didn’t have to, but I gotta do like you and fight for my life everyday that I’m on this planet.

Working with you to craft the songs we have crafted will always be one of the highest honors I will ever undertaken in my life. Knowing that someone as talented as you considered me a friend, brother, and a collaborator will always be one of the highest compliments that anyone can ever bestow upon me. 

Rest easy, OG. I truly hope we can chop it up in another dimension when my time here is through. I’ll keep a lookout on Zo for you. I promise. 

-DMR

[flickwatches]

M-V-P!

I’m going to be listing (ranking?) the MVPs for each team regardless of there League MVP potential.  Some teams have multiple players and I’ll be lucky to find at least 1 for some teams so lets go. 

20. Florida Mayhem

Hagopeun

Most consistent player on the roster.  The support back line for this team is pretty strong considering how bad the front line has been all season.  They have one of the worst Dva players in the league in my opinion.  

19. Washington Justice 

Corey

Not many good things to pull from this team but Corey has shown some strong flashes all season.  If anyone else could be mentioned it would be Ark.  Corey is easily the best player for the Justice this season. 

18. Houston Outlaws

Muma and Danteh 

Its hard to pick a player for this team considering how inconsistent the team and the players have been. Muma had strong flashes early in the season while Danteh struggled early on with his new team.  Could even argue Jake or Rawkus.  There all so evenly under performing to be honest. 

17.  Los Angeles Valiant 

Space and Kariv 

I’m not a big believer in Space but his talent can’t be denied.  He’s been playing strong all season.  Kariv hasn’t played for parts of the season so I didn’t want to include him but he is hard carrying lately.  Valiant could sneak into the season playoffs on a hot streak. 

16. Atlanta Reign 

Dafran

Pokpo and Massa

The most consistent parts of the Reign this season.  The glue that’s been holding this roster together in game.  Hopefully we get to see the power of Erster soon as DPS start to sneak back into the meta. 

15. Guangzhou Charge

Shu

With a better record we would easily be talking him as one of the best flex supports this season.  Each of the DPS have been popping off this season but Shu has been consistent and strong all season.  His front line needs to start performing better so he can shine.  

14. Boston Uprising

Fusions

This one is easy.  Was an MVP candidate till stage 3.  Right now he’s looking mortal but what he did the first 2 stages can’t be denied. One of the best Reinhardt players in the league. 

13. Paris Eternal 

Greyy and Nicogdh

Hard to judge such an under performing roster.  But Greyy and Nicogdh have been as consistent as possible.  Players like Danye, Finnsi, and Lhcloudy have been playing well at times thru out this poor season. 

12. Toronto Defiant

None

11. Chengdu Hunters

Ameng

1 trick.  Ball superstar.  Savior of the season.  We all know about his abilities on Hammond.  But the fact he played the other main tanks well is what gave Chengdu so many chances to win games.   Has been doing all he is capable of this season. 

Yveltal

Support god.  The mercy player challenging Neptuno.  This boy don’t care about no DPS players and is out gunning them down. 

Jinmu

Craziest DPS player.  He doesn’t do crazy flanks or overly aggressive pushes.  He just explodes at random during fights and finds huge amounts of value.  People question Chengdu in a pure DPS meta but I’m confident Jinmu would hold his own and than some. 

10. Dallas Fuel

None

Joking Joking.

OGE AKM

Consistent and strong.  This is honestly the strongest meta for a player like OGE but I feel like there must be an issue with coms for him not to be able to play well.  Either he isn’t comming strong or his team won’t let him.  AKM continues to have a strong season on a bad team.  Dallas has a lot of strong players not to mention Unkoe.  I can see why there fans are upset with them.  

9. Seoul Dynasty

Ryujehong

Well this one is stupid hard considering they play all 12 players.  They’ve all been playing well.  Marve1 has had a strong season also.  Both the lucio players have been consistent.  Wish they would of let some players become specialists and played a more solid group of players instead of 2 teams. 

8. Philadelphia Fusion

Carpe

Carpe at 50% power is still the best part of this team.  The longer this season has lasted the lower his play has gotten.  He tried to keep up his mentality in stage 1.  But you can tell he’s telegraphing his play in goats meta at this point. 

7. Shanghai Dragons

Gamsu

Everyone will want to talk about the DPS. And everyone will want to talk about the Supports.  But this team doesn’t have the record and the chance to make the playoffs it does without Gamsu.  He should be considered an MVP candicate after the Shock and Titan players. 

6. Hangzhou Spark

Guxue and IDK

IDK is one of the Lucio players that should be considered a real MVP candidate in my opinion.  Guxue has been strong and consistent since the middle of stage 1.  Could mention Adora but I feel like these 2 are the strongest part of this team so far this season.  

5. London Spitfire

Gesture and Fury 

Somehow still underrated in season 2.  Gesture if one of the best main tanks in OWL and possibly the best outside of goats.  Fury has been strong even on different roles this season.  I would be scared of these 2 late season as goats starts losing power.   

4. Los Angeles Gladiators

Hydration and Shaz and Biggoose 

Of all the DPS players the Gladiators could of showcased this season I did not expect it to be Hydration.  Has been strong inside and outside of goats.  The support back line has been strong and consistent as always. Its so easy to overlook them because they rarely make mistakes.  One of the best support duos in the league without a doubt. 

3. New York Excelsior 

Nenne

A lot of people would want to mention Jjonak and Meko.  But I would want to focus on the fact Nenne is the best player on this team RIGHT NOW.  Jjonak is Jjonak and Meko was a monster in parts of stage 1.  But Nenne is getting better every stage and been placed into a hyperbolic time chamber while being on the same team as all these world class DPS players.  As soon as he’s let off of Zarya you’re going to see the league’s strongest DPS player.  Watch out for stage 4 McCree meta. 

2. San Francisco Shock

Sinatraa and Moth and Super and Viol2t 

Crazy how each of these 4 players could win league MVP.   I think Sinatraa is blinding some people because he does that Sinatraa thing where he builds ults in 10 seconds.  And Super is the unmovable front line for this team.  But Moth is fucking crazy with his positioning how much he outperforms the opposing Lucio.  The power of the Shock is the support back line that out frags, builds ults faster, and just has better position than the opposing supports.  Viol2t is has been starting to hard frag since the end of stage 2.  

1. Vancouver Titans

Twilight and JJanu and Slime

All 3 are MVP candidates.  I really hope we don’t get stage 4 of DPS and have MVP voting for the entire season ruined by 7 games of what some popular player did.  Twilight is the top of the flex support players right now but he’s being followed hard by rest of the top players.  Slime and Moth are the 2 best Lucio players in the league without a doubt.   JJanu has been a super strong off tank player. Once Vancouver and San Francisco learn how to play off of goats and when to swap back to goats they won’t another game unless its against each other.  The kings won’t soon be dethroned.  

[mammamialetmegooo]

My Thomas Sanders Post (or Why I Think Thomas Sanders Is An Incredible Human)

I often get asked the following question by my friends: “Mia, why do you like Thomas Sanders so much?” My reply is usually something like, “I could write a thesis paper on why I love him so much. There are just too many reasons,” which is my way of using a bit of hyperbole to say “that’s too complex of a subject for me to just casually talk about right now.” 

However, in this current moment I’m doing nothing except listening to music so I figured this would be the perfect time for me to get into this complex and beautiful subject matter and provide an answer for anybody who may have been curious. 

Disclaimer: I’ve never actually met Thomas (sadly). Every thing I’m going to say here is based simply on what I’ve observed through his presence online (his videos, tweets, instagram posts etc.) 

Now let’s begin...

Reason #1: He is incredibly selfless. He seldom lets the spotlight be solely on him. In regards to content, every video or project he comes out with he makes sure his audience is aware of all the other people who worked on it besides himself. He constantly praises the hard work of those around him who have worked hard to help him in creating content because he knows they deserve just as much, if not more praise than him for the work that was done. Go to his instagram and twitter and look at the countless kind things he’s said about the people who work with him. When he’s not busy giving credit where credit is due, he is saying kind things to his followers online. If you do follow him on twitter, then you know how frequently he spends time thanking his followers for any messages of praise or artwork/tributes people have spent time on for him. I will touch on this more in the next reason, but I wanted to bring it up here because of one twitter exchange I noticed at the end of Decemeber (Dec. 28, 2018). In short, twitter user @/abigaylexxxdawn sent a video to Thomas asking if he could contribute a video message to a gift they were making for their friend. The video was for their friend to watch when they feel like “nobody cares.” Thomas not only obliged to do this, but the message he sent was incredibly moving. Instead of saying something like “Hey friend, I’m here to tell you things are okay because I say so and I love you (you get what I mean,)” he chose to instead focus on how kind the twitter user was for going to all the effort they went to making this video gift for them. To quote Thomas in the video: “There are plenty of people in your life who care about you and what you want to do for the future. I hope that you care about you and what you do in the future because that’s just as important, but at the very least, just think back to that your friend went out of her way to create these videos for you in order to make you feel better when you needed it.” He didn’t have to do this at all, but he did and he never once makes the video about him or his own struggles when he very easily could have. It’s easy for any person of notoriety to record a video saying “Hey, you’ll be okay. Life get’s better because I say so and I’m super popular so it must be true,” (again, you know what trying to say) but that’s not what Thomas is doing here at all. He took time out of his night when he was already tired to think of something thoughtful and important that this girl could give to her friend and that act alone says so much about the kind of person he is. 

Reason #2: He’s grateful for the position he is in. Let’s go back to what I was saying earlier about thanking his followers online. About once every day (often times more than that), Thomas takes some time to look through his various online platforms (twitter, tumblr, instagram etc) and talk to people who send him messages. He thanks people who write him kind words or do cosplays based on the many characters he’s created online. He does Fan Art Friday (Super Art Saturday/Sunday if he’s busy or forgets) to showcase tons of the awesome fan art he gets tagged in every single week. Even when he’s not shouting out anyone specific, he will often tweet about his gratitude for all the people who have supported his online journey over the years. He makes it clear that he knows none of this would be possible without all the online support he’s gotten and says thank you for it at any given opportunity. 

Reason #3: How much he loves his friends. This kind of hits on some of the stuff I talked about in reason one, but I think it’s important to give this it’s own point because it’s a very important reason for me. So as I said earlier, Thomas is not afraid to give his friends credit for all the hard work they do in helping him with content. He is also not shy in talking about how TALENTED his friends are, and he has a valid point! Whether they’re actors, singers, dancers, artists, costume makers etc...Thomas is surrounded by some INSANELY talented people and he wants the world to know it! The reason this is so important for me to bring up is that for most of my young life (so far anyway, I’m only 21) I never had anyone like this in my life. I didn’t know what a true friend was until I got to college a few years ago, so when I see Thomas constantly supporting his friends and singing their praises, it really warms my heart. It makes me wish there were more people like him in the world, so that no kid ever has to be lonely like I was for so long. 

Reason #4: He keeps his content accessible and inclusive for all. If you watch his content, then you’ll know Thomas seldom ever curses or talks about troubling topics. He has said time and time again that the goal with his content is to make people smile and by keeping his channel open for all kinds of audiences, he has certainly been able to do that. Besides his language, he also uses his platform to talk about important issues. He has made videos about Black History (2), Women’s History, Asian Pacific American Heritage, the LGBTQ+, community and Autism Awareness (each videos features people of their respective minority/group). A cis white male like Thomas using his platform to spread awareness about minority groups is SO IMPORTANT, especially in today’s society where everything can often seem so oppressing and negative. Thomas also combats this on his channel with his “Reasons to Smile” video series. These videos are a compilation of random and wonderful facts about the world, dad jokes and messages of inspiration for those who may be feeling down. The goal with this series is to provide some light for those who may be experiencing some mental health troubles. Thomas has also used his popular “Sanders Sides” series to tackle different mental health issues as well, “Accepting Anxiety” (two parts) and “Learning New Things About Ourselves” being some of the most notable videos in the series that tackle this issue. This representation and accessibility are inspiring not only to people who can identify with any of these issues, but to people who can’t identify with them as well. I, a cis white female have learned so much from the videos about Black & APA Heritage and even Women’s history too! As someone who questions their sexual identity constantly, the Pride video was really helpful to me when I was wondering what I was supposed to label myself as (I’ve since learned I don’t have to give myself a label at all and neither does anyone else!) AND as somebody who struggles with anxiety/panic attacks and just a general bad state of mental health (though I’ve been a lot better recently) I’ve found A LOT of relief in Thomas’ content, especially the Sanders Sides videos. If I, just one person, can be affected by ALL of that incredible content, then I’m sure others have been as well.  

Reason #5: Miscellaneous. There are SO MANY OTHER reasons to love Thomas Sanders, but this post is already pretty long and if I were to keep going in so much depth you’d be reading this forever, so let me speed things up....He has the voice of an angel. He creates genuinely funny content that doesn’t make fun of anyone (except maybe himself, but that’s rarely ever). His selfie game is S T R O N G. Actually, he’s very photogenic no matter what kind of photo he’s taking. According to many reports online, he gives really really great hugs. His smile could warm the coldest of hearts. Speaking of hearts, his is really good...I just know it. 

So there you go. It might not be a thesis paper, but I think I proved my point. Again, I don’t know him personally all of this is based on what I’ve observed online, but I think anyone who displays so much positivity and goodness online has to be even better in person, right? 

In conclusion, thank you @thatsthat24 for being a wonderful person. Keep spreading your light and keep being you. I promise, it’s paying off. ❤️❤️❤️

[kingphifesblog]

So many people often look at Depression as a disability, as if those who suffer aren’t normal people and deserve to be looked at as the outcasts of society. Often we look down on people who have low energy or appear to be in a bad mood. What’s wrong with them? “I hate people who act like this way, they are not all there ‘upstairs'”, some may think.

It’s so hard for many to see any positive benefit at all in living with any mood disorder, depression or anxiety. I have found out that there are “gifts” in many so called disabilities and strengths in weakness.

The stigma of depression and mood disorder is one that stops people from getting help, it needs to stop! Most people are uneducated or misinformed and what follows is a misplaced label that society will place upon us for years to come. For years I imagine many in the gay community felt the same way, perhaps it even lead to more depression and discomfort. Fear to come out and be honest about who we are and the challenges we face will not empower us.

I want to start explaining why depression does not deserve the labels it gets and how for some its actually an amazing gift, but first I should give a few disclosures…

1. I’ve been a superhero fan since I was very little, not comic book nerd, but someone who loved the characters and really got involved with the story behind the Superhero and their powers. (Rip Stan Lee) 2. I’m not attempting to paint any mental illness as an easy road or something that I would wish on anyone. I simply want to give the world another way to look at things and hope that those struggling will relate in a positive way and seek the help that they really need to not feel ashamed. 3. Im a poet! I write in creative ways and use allegory and hyperbole to impress and exaggerate important ideas. So don’t take it as gospel but just be encouraged and enjoy the ride, because depression can certainly be a superpower…

OK with that out of the way, let’s get started!

I’ve recently been watching the DareDevil series on Netflix. For those not familiar with the character, I’ll give you a brief character summary as to how it relates to our discussion. DareDevil went blind at the age of 6 due to an accident. His father was a legendary boxer, and his mother, well, watch the series to learn more. Needless to say he turned his love of fighting and his passion for justice into a successful law firm to help the poor that were being taken advantage of by the system. He realizes very early on that he cannot solve all the problems thru the justice system and slowly but surely turns into a vigilante. Now the coolest thing about DareDevil, is although he is blind he has developed his other senses to other-worldly perceptions. He can hear blocks away, smell what someone had for lunch at dinner time, and tell if someone is lying by the rhythm of their heartbeat. Now throughout the years I’ve been able to accomplish some pretty amazing things, none of them include the list I just mention, but still quite amazing indeed.

Just like Daredevil when we look at our limitations as potential ability and work to develop and discover our new power and potential, truly amazing things can happen! Daredevil never wishes he can see again, he embraces his disability and it makes him stronger. Oftentimes, when our bodies lose one sense the body seeks equilibrium by chemically enhancing another one. The tricky thing about depression is it has ups and downs and can be hard to know when one ability kicks in and another weakens. Paying close attention to our inner self and not being impatient is the key to discovering our superpower.

When I allow my energy to flow and pay close attention to where my focus and attention are I become more in tune with different aspects of my abilities. Some of these abilities are more powerful and prevalent at certain times. As a matter of fact when I come out of a depression I find myself being extremely caring and gentle and ultra intuitive, it’s almost like I hear people’s thoughts. I’m only joking… or am I?

At other times before a depression sets in I have an other-worldly sense of creativity and spontaneity, I can do almost anything I can dream of. I’ve learned to taper this feeling and ability, because if used too much or pushed to far, it will cause me to be extremely tired and lethargic for weeks after. Sometimes I use it to its capacity, my wife has dubbed it “Lion Mode”, because I’m literally unstoppable. (For all the Kobe fans I’d prefer to call it “Black Mamba mode”.Go Lakers! ) Anyhow, Finding your superhuman powers within your depression and learning how to work with them and not against them is key.

Another one of my favorite superhero shows over the years has been the X-men. The mutants are looked down upon by society and only a select few have been strong enough mentally and emotionally to think of the mutation as a gift. Many mutants struggle with the fact that they are different from others, some have even gone to great lengths to try to get rid of their powers. Some of their powers are more noticeable than others and make it very hard for them to fit in.

I’ve always identified with this on a deeply personal level. It can be hard for many with very severe depression and anxiety to fit in to society, they are noticeably different from others. The pressure to experiment with medications or drugs and alcohol to escape can be quite tempting! Trust me I’ve been there, but it only made coping unbearable and clouded my ability to really perceive whats important. I needed to just meditate and concentrate on what was really going on with me. I discovered some amazing things about how I got here and what was really happening to me. All of which I plan to discuss right here on this blog.

I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention one of the most recent and very relatable series on the CW, Black Lightning. While so much could be said about the show in regards to social, economic, racial and relationship issues I’ll stay on topic. I really love, amongst other things, how the show can give us so much insight as to the support role played by family members who help our Mental Health Superheros. The mother, Lynn, in the show, played by Christine Adams, although not a superhero plays a huge role in the support and guidance of the main characters. There are times when her lack of support is clear evidence of the reason why the superheros become unbalanced and make poor decisions. It’s almost equally as tough on her to try and maintain a relationship, career, and get what she needs in life to support her emotionally. She struggles with internal battle of wanting to live her own life separate of the superhero drama, but also remain loyal to a cause and commitment she knows can make change for the better. I can hear supporters of those afflicted by mental health and depression saying, Amen! It can be so hard to live your life in the shadows of someone else’s curse and gift. Especially when the family and you feel obligated, but all the while helpless. In the Black Lighting series Lynn’s daughter ends up getting super powers. In the 1st episode of season 2 we see Lynn wanting to get counseling for her daughter as she is in desperation for normalcy. This is also very relatable for supporters. I will be very soon writing an article on how supporters can remain healthy while supporting the ebbs and flows of a loved one with Depression.

Just think, Isaac Newton, Bruce Lee, Albert Einstein, Abraham Lincoln, Vincent Van Gogh, and even modern examples such as Heath Ledger, Dwayne Johnson, Jim Carey, Ellen DeGeneres, and Michael Phelps all suffered from Bipolar Disorder or Depression. Definitely a list of super-humans who although struggled though their journey at times learned the power it gave them and how to harness it for good.

“I’m constantly working on my abilities so I don’t harm myself or others. Looking at it like a gift instead of a curse can help a lot in recovery and acceptance of yourself.”

So enroll in the ‘school for mutants’, support a fellow superhero and help us to give others the help and support they need. Go to our Join CB🔆 community link and drop us a line to help encourage someone or simply provide us feedback so that we can better help our supporters and readers.

While you’re there, let us know what superhero you are….

R.I.P Legendary Stan Lee, you’ve inspired me and helped me grow…..

HOLLYWOOD, CA – JUNE 28: Stan Lee attends the premiere of Columbia Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Homecoming” at TCL Chinese Theatre on June 28, 2017 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images)

Your friendly neighborhood Awareness Guru

CB🔆

My Superpower is Depression So many people often look at Depression as a disability, as if those who suffer aren't normal people and deserve to be looked at as the outcasts of society.

[junker-town]

5 winners and 3 losers from Week 4 in the NFL

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

This version of the Cardinals is different, and very special.

I’m drinking the Cardinals Kool-Aid, big time. I’ve been warned against falling for its intoxicating scent. Given reason not to give in to its sweet promises. But dammit, at this point I’m willing to take a big swig, even if it kills me.

After the first week of the season I noticed this was a very, very different Cardinals team to the past. There have been established expectations for Arizona that existed long before the Kliff Kingsbury era. They established themselves as a team that lived or died by the pass, with almost nothing else to show for it. There are times this approach has worked well, like the 2008 team that made the Super Bowl — but what is often forgotten about that team is just how average they were.

Kurt Warner having one last run made for a heck of a story, but this was a really bad team propped up by a hell of a playoff run. The Cardinals went 9-7, in the regular season, had the worst rushing attack in the NFL, and a defense that was in the bottom third of every statistical area. The narrow loss to Pittsburgh for the Lombardi Trophy was the absolute maximum juice that could ever be squeezed out of that orange.

We know that Kingsbury’s approach was bold. He was taking the Air Raid offense and porting it over to the NFL, and for a while it seemed destined to follow in the path of other bold offensive choices that flourished, before fizzling and failing.

Now in 2021 it’s working, or it would be if this was a true Air Raid. Calling what Arizona is doing by any label would be inaccurate, because they’re absolutely unique. Sure, the bread-and-butter of the offense is overwhelming teams through the air with a host of weapons, but the running game has increasingly become a focal point — and it’s been trending this way for a couple of years.

The concept that the Cardinals are marked by Kyler Murray throwing 50 times a game is definitely true at times, but not in 2021. Rather, they’ve been remarkably balanced. Murray has thrown the ball 134 times this season, while the team has run the ball 114 times. This near-parity has positioned Arizona as 19th in the NFL in passing attempts, and 11th in rushing attempts.

This offensively balance was on full display against the Rams, who really didn’t have an answer defensively for the Kingsbury approach. Now with a 1-2 punch of Chase Edmonds and James Conner at running back as their shifty and power back respectively, there are just infinite ways this Arizona offense can attack you — and this season they’ve finally found a defense that’s good enough to get the job done as well.

A win over the Rams is of extra significance to Cardinals fans, who have seen this team struggle so much against Los Angeles in recent years that it’s their Moby Dick. Entering the game on Sunday Arizona had never beaten the Sean McVay led Rams, with an 0-8 record against them. Now sure, 1-8 isn’t much better — but that’s a very important symbol. In doing so it’s also catapulted Murray into potential MVP conversation, even though the season is young.

In four games Murray has been, well, incredible. He’s thrown for 1,273 yards, which projects to well over 5,000 on the year. While his 9 TD to 4 INT ratio is good, but perhaps not incredible — it’s really two other statistics that jump out to me. Murray is completing a ludicrous 76.1 percent of his passes, while converting at yard-per-attempt of 9.5. Keep in mind that averaging over 8.0 is normally a sign of an elite quarterback, and this number is just astonishingly good.

Oh, have we mentioned he can run too? 109 rushing yards for three touchdowns this season. Nothing to exactly write home about, but he’s also been incredibly efficient on the ground when needed — averaging 4.7 yard-per-carry.

What this means in totality is that Murray makes everyone’s life so much easier because he’s locking down an entire phase of the game. It’s meant that the defense doesn’t need to be in world-beating form, just enough of a speed bump that it’s impossible to hang with a team averaging 35 points a game and succeeding against everyone they’ve faced.

Now at 4-0 and coming off a big divisional win over Los Angeles I’m ready to double down on the Cardinals this season. They are that damn good, and this could be their best season ever.

Winner: Dallas Cowboys

It’s not like beating the Panthers is some huge statement game that solidifies the Cowboys in the NFL elite, but there’s a trend to this 3-1 team that’s worth following: Their offense is extremely good, and very difficult for teams to manage. Dallas hasn’t really had an easy “gimme” game this season so far, and they’re still on the right side of the ledger.

Time will tell whether their offensive explosion against Carolina is an indictment of their defense just not being as good as we thought, or if it’s a case of how good the Cowboys’ offense is — but either way this was an important win to take a grip on the NFC East.

In the next four weeks Dallas plays the Giants, Patriots, Vikings and Cowboys — which could absolutely position them at 7-1 as they reach the halfway point in the season.

Loser: Tennessee Titans

If you lose to the Jets you’re a loser of the week. I don’t make the rules around here, I just enforce them.

Winner: The Panthers and Broncos

This was a major statement week for both teams who entered Sunday at 3-0, but neither of whom really had an actual test. When the dust settles I think fans of both teams should remain pretty excited about their teams.

Carolina definitely made mistakes on Sunday, and their defense was exposed by Ezekiel Elliott — but without Christian McCaffery on offense the team still made this a one score game. Assuming McCaffery isn’t out too long there’s every chance this team can get back on track and continue to surprise this season.

Meanwhile the Broncos deserve plenty of props too. The scoreboard might not appear too favorable, but Denver was able to hang very close to Baltimore up until Teddy Bridgewater was forced out with a concussion. The game got away from them after that point, and it became clear a comeback wasn’t in the cards, because Drew Lock is terrible, but this is another case where I think Denver can move past this and put together a good season.

Even if 2021 isn’t the year in Carolina or Denver, both teams are showing that they’re trending in the right direction.

Loser: Urban Meyer

‘Nuff said really. You can find the video, I’m sure.

Winner: Patrick Mahomes

The Chiefs are a bit of a mess this season if we’re all being honest. Defensively Kansas City has been one of the worst teams in the NFL, and when that side of the ball is so bad that Mahomes can’t bail you out, well, you know there’s trouble.

That aside, we can’t just ignore a player throwing five touchdowns — even if it meant just a 12 point win over the Eagles, who are lost and confused this season.

I don’t think the Chiefs have it in 2021. There are just too many issues on defense to imagine this team making a playoff run in a division with the Raiders, Chargers and Broncos (who are better than expected), and I just realized that’s an actual sentence that I said, and not as a joke.

This is all so wild. This season rules.

Loser: Everyone who sat through the Patriots vs. Buccaneers broadcast

The game between Tampa Bay and New England was fantastic. Easily one of the best of the weekend — and it was absolutely ruined by how far the hyperbole in this match was pushed.

Every Patriots series we heard Cris Collinsworth talk about what a win over Tom Brady would mean to Mac Jones. Whenever Brady made a throw there was a cut away to show him warming up before the game, walking into the stadium or hugging Robert Kraft.

Then, just when you thought “this game is so great we don’t need to rely on Jones vs. Brady being a thing,” NBC played this video of Patriots fans leaving voicemails about Brady like it was call in radio, and it was awful. People saying they felt like Tom betrayed them, others saying watching him win a ring in Tampa was tantamount to seeing an ex get married.

Jesus Christ people, dude gave you unparalleled success for 20 damn years. Chill maybe.

Anyway, Mac Jones was good. The Patriots have a solid foundation, the Buccaneers are still the dangerous — and we just didn’t need any of this.

[fight-me-boi]

This Could Be The Start of Something Greater.

~Short character drabbles about the twenty six members of the team. Takes place at different times through out he yj!universe. For @runningwitches . Happy Holidays. There’s a little under 4700 words tucked under the read more. I’m sorry this is so late I restarted this several times and still wasn’t satisfied, and then I got sick. Anyway. Again, I’m sorry it’s late.~

B01-Nightwing

Dick loved the circus, he was taught by his mom and his aunt with his friends. John kept calling him squirt. His dad kept saying John’s attitude would keep him that height forever. The center pole was the second best place to be in the world, following the air. He was Robin. He was destined to fly.

And nothing was better than hearing the crowd’s oh’s and ah’s of the crowd as he flipped through the air and performed. Nothing beat that feeling, he was loved by his family and by the crowd. He wouldn’t give anything to change it, they weren’t rich in possession but they were rich where it mattered.

“Oh, do be careful, Robin.” Mary said loud enough for her voice to carry through the tent, she was watching her son on the trapeze with her brother in law. Dick waved down at her as John put an arm around her comfortingly.

“Come on Mary, Rich wouldn’t drop him.” John’s easy grin dropped for a second,”At least, I don’t think.”

Mary glared at him,”Don’t even joke about that Giovanni. He is little. I know you and your brother have some twisted sense of humor but if he drops our son I drop him. Understand?”

John looked nervous but nodded enthusiastically,”Yes, ma’am.”

Jack walked up beside his adopted son,”Did your wife just threaten to knock your brother out?”

“Yep,” John shot Jack a mischievous grin,” What a woman.”

“With any luck John, Dick won’t inherit Mary’s temper, or he’ll at least have your smile to hide it behind.”

Dick shot down the ladder into his dad’s arms,”Didya see? Was I good?”

John lifted his son up in front of him,”Amazing, spectacular. You might be the best out of us one day, Dick.”

Dick laughed and hugged his dad.

B02-Aqualad

Kaldur knew he was one of the best fighters in his rank, if not the best. Even his magic was weapons based. His water bearers could become sabers, a mace a sledge hammer. He was proud of the fact that he was elected leader of the team, Robin would have become a good leader but he was too young, not used to working in a group compared to working with Batman.

He was heartbroken when Tula died, and when Garth went back to Atlantis. Nightwing had barely finished his undercover mission, had barely started grieving for his brother. But Nightwing was ready to be the leader, Kaldur was going to step away but finding out that his father was Black Manta meant that he needed not just time to think but time didn’t grant him that. He decided to go undercover instead giving himself a polite amount of distance from the team but able to watch over them and see them work well under Nightwing, help the “chess pieces” move to their proper location.

B03-Kid Flash

He officially had the coolest uncle ever. Not only did he fight crime as a CSI, he was the Flash. How many people could say that. He had to be his uncle’s partner. Batman had Robin, and Green Arrow had Speedy the Flash needed a sidekick, and what better than his nephew?

What’s the worst that could happen, he was a chemistry genius, and had access to all the chemicals and his uncles meticulous notes. He could recreate the experiment and then Uncle Barry would have to take him on, he’d have super powers too.

B04-Superboy

Connor loved the farm. He could lay in the sun for hours. He couldn’t fly, but it wasn’t that great and Clark wouldn’t admit it but Connor was capable of beating him. He didn’t want to be Superman anymore, and he couldn’t be a normal guy, constantly looking 16. He only looked like Clark from a distance as well. He couldn’t be Superman.

Connor liked not having to worry about missions of helping his parents around the farm,”Pa? Anything else you’d like me to do before I head back to Happy Harbor?”

“No, just enjoy yourself and give Megan a kiss from me and your ma.”

Connor laughed,”Will do. She’ll want to stop by to cook for you guys and get some more recipes from Ma.”

“She’s always welcomed.”

B05-Miss Martian

She didn’t understand what Connor’s issue was, they were bad guys. They had made their decision to be bad and they needed the information for the mission. It didn’t matter.

Connor wasn’t going to tell she had faith in him, if they had all the information Troia would be here, Jason and Tula would be alive and Garth and Kaldur wouldn’t have left the team.

She didn’t like what she was doing but she was doing it for the betterment of the world, doing the hard work to make the defensive look in Nightwing’s eyes to disappear. She’d be willing to lose some sleep to make sure they all lived to see another day. She’d be willing to compromise her ideals to help the team, it was worth it for them.

B06-Red Arrow

Roy liked the kid, he was hilarious. The jokes were stupid but the timing was impeccable. Gotham sucked ass and he was definantly going to kill Oliver for leaving him here even if it was for a day, why did Gotham’s arsonist have to fly. Robin was sitting next to him, surrounded by smoldering debris, giggling,”Cash is going to lose his mind.”

“Why?” Roy said pulling Robin to his feet.

The police car turned the corner and a man emerged from the cop car,”Why does our arsonist have to fly?“

“Because Gotham hates you, Cash.”

“Robin, any idea where he or Batman went?”

“No, Lynns bolted and Bats went after him. Our plan kinda went up in flames.” Roy snorted as Robin was staring at Cash with a shit eating grin, and Cash looked like he’d rather be dealing with Batman himself instead of the sidekicks.

B07-Artemis

Artemis belonged on the team, she didn’t care what Roy said. He was barely even there most of the time. He did not get to say what she was capable of or what her place on the team actually was. She spent her whole life fighting, fighting Jade, her father, the bad guys before she joined the team and the new bad guys with the team and Green Arrow. She belonged on this team she earned her damn spot, she wasn’t going to let some pompous brat who wore tights and a Robin Hood hat tell her that she didn’t belong. She got enough  of that crap at school without  him weighing in.

Her Dad couldn’t be more wrong the rest  of the team liked her, who cared what Wally thought she sure as hell didn’t. He was  just mad that she apparently scared off Red Arrow but if his masculinity was so fragile that he couldn’t handle a girl taking the place of the archer on the team, he wouldn’t be able to handle being a hero. She couldn’t understand what her sister saw in Roy he was a stubborn hardass, but then again Jade was most likely certifiable.

The team didn’t care who she was related to in the long term. Right?

B08-Zatanna

Zatanna missed her father, there was no other way of putting it. She wanted her dad back. There was that British Warlock that she met while traveling that said there might have been a way to get the Helmet of Fate. She didn’t give up on saving him when she found out what removing the helmet from her father would entail, she just accepted that maybe she couldn’t. Constantine was right most of the time but she wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

She didn’t know why Dick wanted to stay with the team even though they were all offered spots on the Justice League. But then again people rarely knew what ran through a Bat’s brain. She decided to join the league because she didn’t want to operate from the shadows forever, she wanted to be able to help more people then she could on the team. She’d always have a soft spot for the team and would be willing to help in whatever manner they needed. But a physical glamour charm was a strange request who wore a mask or sunglasses so much she almost forgot that he had blue eyes.

B09-Rocket

Amistad loved Lian, he was a little upset that he was no longer the baby, but he took to being Lian’s “big brother” quite well.

He was often seen trying to make Lian smile, or trying to be helpful around the Watchtower. He was only three years old and kept trying to help Batman fix the tech around the tower. The team adored the unofficial team mascots and protected them.

Hell their babysitter was basically a guarantee that Deathstroke wouldn’t mess with them unless he was hired to and even then Jericho has some stories about what happens if you messed with someone under Deathstroke’s protection.

B10-Tempest

He couldn’t be there anymore, he had to leave. Nightwing And Troia left after Robin died. He got to leave, he needed to go back to Atlantis on find himself again away from the team, away from the surface. Away from everyone, even King Orin and Queen Mera.

The woman he loved died, sacrificed herself to save the world. He got to be angry about that, because if he wasn’t where would he be? Like Nightwing who went disappeared for a year and then never got closer because he’d come back and Robin had been replaced? Troia who ran back to Themyscira after Jason died and wasn’t coming back? He was going to rejoin the team, he just needed a little time to himself and that wasn’t such a bad thing.

B11-Aquagirl

Tula understood why Kaldur loved the surface world and the people who dwelled on it, they were resilient and capable of so much on their own. Curious as well. The little Robin would stare when she, Garth and Kaldur would use their water magic, utterly fascinated with how it worked.

Tula never regretted joining the team, learning about the world, the culture, the different types of magic. She was the most talented in that aspect out of the three of them and studying surface world magic helped grow her abilities.

Queen Mera was often adamant that all stories of the gods had grains of truth within them and you had to be able to divine the truth from fiction, from hyperbole. This story about the alien Tiamat and the Babylonian demigod Marduk was interesting but it felt like something was missing, the fact that Marduk was introduced to the pantheon of gods posthumously promoted more research. She would ask John Constantine or the Lord of Order, Nabu, about it.

B12-Troia

Troia couldn’t handle being on the team after Robin died. Before then it felt like a game, in the back of her mind she knew it wasn’t but after seeing Jason’s body the gravity of what they did, what they were doing became much more real and all she wanted to do was go home to her mom. She loved Jason as if he was her own flesh and blood, she was his big sister and Dick was her best friend. She felt awful about leaving him but she couldn’t work above a memorial to her baby, she knew Dick understood when he left as well.

When she returned to Themyscira she practically threw herself back into her mother’s arms crying about him. Diana talked about humans being good and just. Where was the goodness in that? The justness? The man that killed him could barely be called a man. Jason was a child, he didn’t deserve that.

B13-Robin II

Jason hated the pitying and distrustful looks from the league and the team. They weren’t from Gotham, none of them have been the little guy, no one had know what he’d seen. Batman didn’t live in Gotham he spent the day in his mansion, Superman was a pompous goody two shoes from Kansas, he wouldn’t know how to Gotham. Crime Alley, Jason did. He stole the wheels of the Batmobile. He survived Crime Alley by himself for years before Bruce came along, he just had his wits, no armour, no training from around the world, no tech, just him. Jason did just fine without anyone. He didn’t need the team, or Nightwing, or Batman, you can’t count on anybody.

“Jason, you can do better. Dick does this easily. He doesn’t need to hit as hard.” Bruce said watching Jason hit the mannequin hard enough to snap bone.

“I’m not him, Okay!” Jason said snapped at Bruce,”I’ve done pretty well by myself, I sure as hell don’t need you to tell me what I am doing wrong.”

Jason stormed out of the Batcave and hunkered down against the wind, it was a long walk back to Gotham. He couldn’t be there anymore, the manor wasn’t his home.

B14-Lieutenant Marvel

It was odd being able to walk again. Especially knowing the cost, his grandfather comatose, and him a superhero. He got along well with Billy, the guy was his best friend but god was this stressful.

He didn’t want to worry about coming home alive every time he went on a mission maybe Billy thought he was indestructible and that was well and good but Freddy has had his back broken and been helpless and he doesn’t want to go back to that ever.

B15-Sergeant Marvel

She didn’t get why Billy liked this, it was dangerous and scary and she didn’t like the fact that there was the chance that one of them wouldn’t come home. She was 13 she couldn’t handle the responsibility of the team on her shoulders.

She hated abandoning the team but she wanted to come back when she was older, more responsible, more capable of losing someone. According to the young Robin, he was her age, how cool was that? Anyway she was getting side tracked, he said that losing people didn’t get easier. It didn’t matter if you were 7 and it was your mom or if you were an adult and lost your friend. Losing people sucked and Mary wasn’t prepared for that.

B16-Batgirl

Barbara knew that her dad didn’t necessarily approve of her being on the team, but after realizing grounding her wasn’t going to work, he decided that Batman did a nice job of protecting her since she started. He still thought that dating Dick was the dumbest thing she could do, but he wasn’t home half the time and she was an adult.

She was still mad at Dick for lying to her about Artemis, about Kaldur. What she didn’t expect was for Dick to drunk dial her secure line from his phone and explain everything. That he was going to go back undercover, fake his death let Azrael be Batman for a bit, help Kaldur, keep Artemis and Wally out of it. She was supposed to be his contact. Artemis decided to go after knocking some sense into him.

”She, she said it’d be less painful. We couldn’t lose another-” Dick already sounded near tears as his breath hitched but his voice now made Barbara’s heart clench,”Jason. We couldn’t lose a bat. She’d retired it wouldn’t be as painful for the new members, and Tim he’d be alone. No Robins.”

His voice sounded like cracking ice,”You should delete my number. I understand if you never want to see me again.”

Barbara didn’t delete his number but stopped by his apartment and unlocked the door, coughing reflexively from the dust that had gathered over the 6 months that he was Batman, Nightwing and team leader. She didn’t stay very long but rearranged his photos so the photo of Catherine was no longer next to the Graysons but next to Jason like she was looking at him, the photo of her and her dad was switched with the photo of a blonde boy with a mass of curly hair and an Asian girl with silver hair with their arms around Dick smiling.

B17-Bumblebee

One of her best friends was superhero. That was so cool. And she got offered an internship under Dr. Raymond Palmer! The Atom! She would get to be a superhero and study under one of the best minds in molecular physics. She was so excited. She couldn’t wait. But for a superhero uniform, like that Nightwing guy said, go with your gut. It’s usually right.

Bumblebee wasn’t a bad idea, she’d been playing with the idea since Dr. Palmer offered to teach her. Wings, the independent mobility would help when she was smaller. The energy pulses or “stingers” could be used offensively and being able to shrink would help with espionage like the team was meant to do.

B18-Lagoon Boy

La'gaan didn’t know how to feel on the team, he was the only Atlantean on the team. Kaldur left, he was a regular fish out of water. He needed to prove himself. Show them that he was better than Kaldur, not a replacement. Especially Miss Martian. She was really pretty, and had a nice laugh.

The more time La’gaan spent on the surface world the more he felt out of place. He couldn’t spend time with the team without hiding how he looked he didn’t blend in as easily as Kaldur did or was able to shapeshift like Miss Martian or Garfield could. He just was there, and it was trying hard to find his place on his team besides just the water guy.

B19-Beast Boy

M’gann was really upset about something and she wasn’t talking to him about it. Maybe it was something to do with getting kidnapped by Deathstroke and he was a lot scarier than Sportsmaster. La'gaan said he was a lot faster than Sportsmaster and stronger too. When M’gann got kidnapped and La’gaan broke his leg. Lagaan said that Deathstroke said something more chilling then Sportsmaster ever could,”Now I hate to see any poor animal in pain, but you aren’t on the Light’s list. How about a little anesthetic for the pain?”

Nightwing, Dick, said he was lucky to be alive and to just have a broken leg with a few bruises. La’gaan kept arguing with Nightwing about going to save M’gann, while Nightwing remained adamant about doing things his way, Gar couldn’t help but to agree with La’gaan, that was his sister, and he needed to get her back safely.

B20-Robin III

Nightwing and Robin were gone, Jason died. Tim knew that much, it was all over the news. Bruce Wayne’s ward Jason Todd murdered in Ethiopia by the Joker. Nightwing stopped patrol with Batman after that and Dick stopped going outside, stopped being seen around Gotham altogether. People at Gotham Academy said that he had a mental breakdown or tried to kill himself. Tim knew better, knew that Nightwing, Dick, left for a reason he wouldn’t just abandon Batman.

So Tim waited for months but he watched as Batman began to deteriorate. Read the stories about the criminals begging to be takening straight to Blackgate just don’t let Batman get at them. Then Tim had to act, Batman was going to kill someone or get himself killed. So Tim broke into the batcave, and offered to make himself Robin, he was denied. Then he followed Batman in a homemade Robin costume, telling Batman he needed a Robin and Tim was willing to fill that role for the time being, just until Nightwing came back.

B21-Wonder Girl

She was on the team! How cool was that! Nightwing was her boss, and he was so nice. A little sad and guilty but really nice. Anyway, back to the real point, she was related to Wonder woman, not like cousins or her mom married Wonder Woman’s brother or something. Her dad was Zeus, making her Wonder Woman’s little sister.

Kiran was going to be so jealous when she heard about it. She got to fight bad guys while her mother explored ruins. She met Superman. This is officially the best day ever. And Batgirl. The Batgirl, the only way this could get any better is if she met Robin. The first sidekick, the best one in her opinion.

B22-Blue Beetle III

Jaime thought the team was so cool, real live super heroes to help him use his powers. He was a little disappointed that he didn’t have someone familiar with the scarab like the previous Blue Beetle.

Everyone on the team was really nice but it felt like the senior members where hiding something. Besides the whole secret identity thing. Khaji Da said that you could tell what people were hiding by cold reading them but to Jaime that seemed like a bigger invasion of privacy then having an annoying bug trapped to your spine. “Jaime Reyes, our partnership can be seen as symbiotic.”

“Yes, because I have an annoying little voice second guessing my every move.”

“I do not second guess, I analyze and offer alternative courses of action. Take another look at the Red Arrow and the Nightwing. They seem to be arguing something.”

Nightwing seemed to be switching apathy and frustration, Red Arrow seemed to be concerned and had Nightwing sort of boxed in, he wasn't touching the younger vigilante but he wasn’t letting him escape either. Nightwing eventually pushed Red Arrow away from him, and Jaime caught the last part of the conversation,”I feel bad because of what I did not who it was done too. Batman should have left it alone, it’s my guilty conscience not his.”

B23-Impulse/Kid Flash II

It was terrible, the future, having to scavenge for parts, for food. One of the reasons he talked so much was because the two men that he worked with bordered nonverbal. The blonde was mute due to the large scar that crossed his throat, the one who wore a helmet would speak but hated to show his face so he wore a mask of poly-carbonate. They were built by the Hood when he saw that Bart was having trouble using his speed, so he based them off Kid Flash’s old lenses. Bart was going to go back to the past before the Reach invaded to prevent this future, his grandfather dying started this whole mess. If he saved Barry Allen he saved the world. Neutron was the chronal expert in the operation. The Hood was the engineer and tactician. The mute guy was the best scavenger and could find out any information you wanted, no one knew how or wanted to know how.

Hood looked up from the meal he scavenged for Bart,”You sure about this, kid? If what Nathaniel says is true. You won’t be coming back. If you are successful this time line will cease.”

The mute came back carrying the pieces of what’s going to be the time machine’s energy source, and looked at Bart expectantly,”I’m fine with it. This really isn’t a future worth coming back to.”

“Ain’t that the truth?” Hood let out a hysterical laugh,”Hey, Jericho you got some blood on your collar.”

The mute made some motions with his hands, the Hood’s tone was mocking,”Oh, it’s not yours. That’s reassuring. Well it was a pleasure working with ya.”

Jericho motioned to Hood, his version of agreeing, Bart shook their hands,”May we meet again in the past. In the future and the life after that.”

B24-Guardian

Mal finally understood what Nightwing meant. The rush, the feeling of adrenaline coursing through your veins, the feeling that you were doing good. It was addicting.

When he first joined the team he wasn’t wearing the Guardian helm, he helped Nightwing run missions and coordinate communications between the team members. Finding out that the guy with the big blue bird on his chest was the first Robin, the first sidekick. The reason there was a team.

If it wasn’t for him who knew what would have happened, the team might not have existed. Connor might not have come to Rhode Island, he wouldn’t know about M’gann. He may not have been still together with Karen.

Mal didn’t have many regrets since he met Connor and M’gann but one of them was not picking up a suit sooner.

B25-Arsenal

The audacity of Nightwing to kick him off the team after he rescued everybody. He's just so infuriating, he belonged on that team his clone was placed n that team. He earned his spot, more than the rogue Blue Beetle did, or the time traveler impulse. Where did Nightwing get the authority of telling him what to do? He was just one of Batman’s apprentices. Hell Robin had been in the game longer then he had, and yet there he was differing to him, like NIghtwing was the alpha dog.

“I can’t believe him.” Arsenal said storming into Red arrow’s apartment.

“Can’t believe who?” Red Arrow looked up from holding Lian in a Nightwing onesie, Arsenal could not escape the guy. What made him so great anyway?

“Nightwing, he kicked me off the team.”

Red Arrow sighed,”What happened?”

“Blue Beetle turned on us so I opened the airlock, and he started to take us out. Superboy provided a distraction so I could escape.” Arsenal sat down on the couch as Red shifted Lian so she was laying on his chest,”What’s his deal anyway? He seems to have it out for me after we went to Smallville.”

Roy pursed his lips,”Was Robin in any danger on the Warworld? In Smallville?”

“No, I had it under control.” Arsenal said crossing his arm.

Roy rolled his eyes at the moody teenager on his couch, he knew why Nightwing kicked him off the team. He didn’t want to get Tim killed like Jason, even though the only person you could blame for Jason’s death was the Joker, ”Nightwing’s brother died. He blames himself. He doesn’t let Robin be put in danger and when he is, he’ll remove that threat or protect Robin anyway possible.”

“Robin’s been around for 10 years, he can handle himself. Nightwing doesn't need to interfere.”

“Nightwing’s nineteen and buried his brother before he could vote, hell the Robin you know is the third one. Nightwing was the first. Part of him will always be that scared little kid, he didn’t mean any harm by it. He's trying to protect his family.”

“I didn’t know.” Arsenal said, feeling a little sorry.

“Most people don’t. They think there were only two, and it’s gotten to the point where it’s easier for Nightwing not to mention the second one. He’ll come around just let him mellow out.”

B26-Static

Virgil joined the team because what else would he do with his powers. Black Lightning offered to train him and he was excited about that. This team was full of skilled people who would have his back at the expense of him having theirs.

He liked the team, sure he was a little bristly toward Nightwing after he fired Arsenal but he hung out with the older vigilante and he was always willing to give advice or training, and Arsenal said he was Robin, the first Robin. How cool was that?

“Hey Nightwing?” Nightwing looked up from his tablet and Nightwing did not look thrilled at what was going on on the screen,”Oh am I bugging you?”

“Nah just discussing how to best piss off an assassin, what’s up?” Nightwing said turning the tablet off.

“You think you could teach me how to fight?” Virgil saw how Nightwing fought he had a lot of skills, and if he was Robin he was used to fighting people bigger and more dangerous than him.

“Of course, lesson 1. There is no dirty tricks.” Nightwing stood up and stretched,”Lesson 2 and Robin taught me this, if someone is bigger than you hit fast. You hit hard. Then run as far away as you can.”

“Wait, Robin who’s dating Cassie?”

Nightwing’s easygoing grin faltered, but then he shrugged,”Could have been Troia, black hair pain in my side. Who knows?”

[omglr]

kids need to figure this shit out

You're now chatting with a random stranger. Say hi!

You both like socialism, and feminism.

You: hi

Stranger: hey

Stranger: so when are you implementing socialism

You: it's an ongoing process

You: how's yours coming along?

Stranger: i’m not a socialist

You: oh dang

Stranger: yea

You: gave up to quick i suppose

Stranger: too*

Stranger: i guess

You: well, maybe try to work with some friends on it?

You: it's hard to do it on your own

Stranger: i’m more of a fascist type

Stranger: i kill and best of socialists

You: oh so you don't have any friends

Stranger: i do. only people who agree with me

You: pretty edgy dude

Stranger: not edgy at all

Stranger: did you ever hear about that antifa member that got shot?

Stranger: at the recent rally?

You: how old are you?

Stranger: 19

You: yikes

Stranger: okay

Stranger: hey we can still be friends as long as you don’t do stupid shit

You: so you have like no real life experience then

Stranger: no drugs or anything like that

You: no problems with employment?

Stranger: for me?

Stranger: no

You: no kids to feed?

Stranger: nope

You: no rent to pay?

Stranger: i do pay rent

Stranger: i live on my own

You: any problems with the landlords?

Stranger: nope

Stranger: just gotta pay your bills on time

Stranger: and keep the noise down

Stranger: simple

You: is there rent control in your city?

Stranger: no

Stranger: i negotiate on my own

You: any chance your landlords gonna raise the rent, double the rent?

Stranger: nope

Stranger: we have an agreement

You: like a lease?

Stranger: no, we have a fixed price

Stranger: it stays there no matter what

You: and you negotiated that on your own?

Stranger: yes

You: cool

Stranger: it’s not particularly difficult

Stranger: you just have to be likable and easy to get along with

Stranger: and actually state what you want and come to an agreement

You: cool, sounds like anarcho-socialism

Stranger: nope

Stranger: sounds like you don’t know anything

You: sure sure

You: the landlords aren't your parents are they?

Stranger: no

Stranger: are you larping?

You: ha

You: no just trying to get a sense of your lack of hardships

Stranger: ah right

You: how you feel about global warming?

Stranger: it’s real

Stranger: i believe it’s called climate change

You: sure

You: do you believe the stuff about needing to take dramatic action in the next 12 years?

Stranger: i believe that if all we have is 12 years, we’re fucked anyway so i wouldn’t care

Stranger: i’m not willing to drastically change the lives of everybody in this country, when the rest of the world wouldn’t go along with it

Stranger: that’s the ironic part

You: so you'ld rather spend the next few years larping nazism?

Stranger: i’m not a nazi but okay

You: killing brown people?

Stranger: i’m a fascist libertarian, which may sound like a contradiction but i make it work

You: i am picturing that old dude from fury road

Stranger: okay

You: cool look i guess

Stranger: plus if you or anybody thinks that what’s being proposed can actually be done in 12 years, you’re crazy

Stranger: it’s not possible

Stranger: literally

Stranger: and as i said, no other country would go along with it so it wouldn’t actually matter

You: canada would

Stranger: china doesn’t give a fuck, india doesn’t give a fuck, etc...

Stranger: what makes you think that

You: NDP has a good shot at the next election

Stranger: we’ll see

Stranger: and either way it’s not that simple. winning an election doesn’t ensure you get what you want

You: if they were working with someone who didn't have a goldfish brain and actually wanted to do something good, they could work together

Stranger: once again, winning an election doesn’t ensure you get what you want

You: sure, that's were direct action helps

Stranger: plus you don’t seem to understand how impossible what is being proposed is

Stranger: i would be interested in hearing the way you think the green new deal would go about being implemented

Stranger: if you’ve given it that much though

Stranger: thought*

You: i think it will be hard, and sure not everything will get done in the 12 years, but it's probably worth trying

Stranger: what kind of attitude is that?

You: the not letting us all die kind?

Stranger: it’s plain ignorance

Stranger: listen to yourself

Stranger: no other countries would be willing to undergo the radical changes that are being proposed

Stranger: simply based off of that, we will not be able to make a significant dent in the timeline

Stranger: it’s full blown stupidity

Stranger: plus if you think people are going to hand over their buildings to the government, you’re crazy

Stranger: this is actually something that could start a legitimate civil war

You: isn't that what you want?

Stranger: no

Stranger: why would i want that

Stranger: i’m a libertarian fundamentally

You: cause you said you wanted to kill people

Stranger: i’m fascistic in the sense that i will not allow people to impose their beliefs on me

Stranger: i have no problem fighting back with violence

Stranger: mercilessly

You: ok, but what would you be fighting for?

You: do you have any real capital?

Stranger: that’s not relevant, i will fight in principle

You: you rent your apartment?

You: where do you work?

Stranger: why would i tell you where i work

You: like in the abstract

Stranger: people like you seem to think that others are okay with allowing the government to take more control over them

Stranger: the government is inherently an oppressive body

You: that's where the democratic socialism comes in dude, it's people running the company, not bosses

Stranger: right and how do you propose we get to that point

Stranger: is love to hear this

You: unionize probably

Stranger: i’d*

Stranger: and what about when businesses owners refuse to give up their life’s work

You: i mean if you work for the mob and your job is busting up unions, then yeah, you might not want to unionize

You: but yeah, even then i'd probably suggest starting a union

You: when the boss doesn't want to give up their lifes work exploiting labour from their workers the workers strike

Stranger: and what makes you think that the vast majority of workers agree with your perspective? if you go on strike, the businesses will simply use cheaper labor (ie. illegal immigrants)

Stranger: there are 700 million people and you think that any significant amount agree with your idea that private businesses owners don’t have a right to decide how they run their companies?

Stranger: it’s a joke of an idea to begin with

You: i realize i'm talking to a teenager in a country that has been actively anti union for half a century

Stranger: sure insult my age, why don’t you talk about the points and try to make a valid argument

You: i am saying, spend a few more years getting exploited

Stranger: also your idea of exploitation is a joke. most people don’t view it as exploitation

Stranger: not only that, there will always be someone to take your place

You: and instead of thinking, fuck, i wanna kill poor people so bad, think, hey why am i not getting paid the ammount my labour is worth

Stranger: i don’t inherently want to kill people

Stranger: you’re making a straw man

Stranger: and burning it so that you don’t have to argue with me

You: i mean, you said it early in the chat

Stranger: i actually didn’t, that was hyperbole to show my dislike for socialism

Stranger: but i understand how it could be misconstrued

Stranger: so that’s fair

You: ok, well what i was saying is that you are a teenager in a country that is super anti-union, that has been brainwashing people to act against their own interest for a very long time

Stranger: and hey here’s an idea, instead of continuously working at minimum wage jobs where it is easy to be replaced, work at a job that you can’t be easily replaced with. thus you can ask for a wage and use your leverage

You: so like yeah, its gonna be hard to change minds

You: ha ha, what?

Stranger: the problem is that you feel entitled. you’re not entitled to someone else’s money. it’s an agreement that you have to come to with someone else

Stranger: if you don’t like the fact that you don’t get a raise, stop working in a line of work where you can be easily replaced

You: dude, you got it upside down

Stranger: no i don’t. i’ve argued with people like you many a time

Stranger: you’re all the same

Stranger: despite what you think

Stranger: because you all think highly of yourselves

Stranger: if decide to start a business and risk my economic well being, you are not entitled to an equal share of said business simply because you are employed by me

Stranger: i took the risk

You: but probably not

Stranger: and just for the record, i do believe the minimum wage should be raised

You: like, most business owners come from inherited wealth

Stranger: anywhere between $10-$12

Stranger: that’s not relevant, that’s just you showing your jealousy

Stranger: and that’s not true either

You: i think it is relevant

You: the financial risk of business owners who have inherited wealth is very minimal

Stranger: what evidence do you have that “most” businesses owners come from inhereted wealth

You: scratch the most

Stranger: my father was raised in cuba

You: do you think the Walton's of walmart deserve their money at this point?

Stranger: he came over and started a business with $0 of inherited wealth

Stranger: you are not entitled to an equal part of that business

Stranger: in any way

You: do you think walmart workers don't deserve a living wage?

Stranger has disconnected.