#and b) the person who was upset with me was SUPPOSED TO TRAIN ME

[madaqueue]

i only cried once today after being yelled at/scolded for two hours straight!!!!! i would like my hug and pat on the head for being so good now please!!!!!!!

[thevoidstaredback]

Saturday's at Wayne Manor are family days. The whole weekend is reserved for the family to come and go as they please, but the biggest events are the Game Days on Saturday from 11:00 to 16:00 and Sunday Dinner at 18:00.

Every Saturday is a Game Day, but the third Saturday of each month is Competition Day. The kids all choose their favorite games, and everyone competes against each other. It's very rarely missed by anyone, but there have been times when someone has had to tap out for one reason or another. Alfred keeps track of who's missed how many days. Barbra keeps the tally of who's won what and how many times. At the end of the year, on December 31st, the scores are announced.

Sunday Dinners are sacred. No one ever misses a Sunday Dinner. The last person who did Jason is still getting subtle jabs and looks from everyone and that was a year ago and he had a very good reason, thank you very much! Everyone is always present for Sunday Dinner because everyone still has a room and the option to stay the night between the two days. Most usually take up the offer, but there have been extenuating circumstances that have pulled someone from the Manor.

No matter any of that because everyone is here and everyone is staying the night. That means everyone is patrolling Gotham tonight. Almost everyone. Batwoman has offered to take over Bludhaven for the night, so that's where she's gone.

Bruce plans to present his idea of messing with his coworkers when everyone gets back to the cave after patrol. All his kids know who they all are, having been trained by him, so there's no risk or accidental reveals on his part. In actuality, the kids thought of it like a game. They even had a folder for it on the Bat Computer and everything!

Yes, that night, after everyone returned to the Bat Cave, he would gather his Chaos Gremlins and invite them to mess with the Justice League with him. He'd also try and get Alfred in on it. Family bonding, and all that.

Though, making his kids sweat was its own form of amusement for him. It was 3:00 when everyone finally returned. They all ran their own routes, watched over by Oracle, and their own times, but everyone was always done no later than 3:00. It was a rule that the Gotham Rouges had yet to pick up on because Batman went back out until dawn more often than not.

Anyway, Bruce has been the first to get back and had put on an act of being upset. He usually kept his Batman persona with his suit, so he was rarely ever this stoic while he was Bruce Wayne. He hid his smirk as he sat at the head of the meeting table in the Cave, waiting for his children to change and sit with him. Duke normally was asleep by now, but he'd asked the boy to be there, letting him in on the harmless prank while they waited for his siblings and Stephanie to arrive.

Once everyone was seated, he waited a total of thirty seconds, meeting eyes with every one of his children, before he spoke. "I'm very disappointed."

Dick's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He'd known Bruce the longest - aside from Alfred - and had likely picked up on something the second he saw Bruce and Duke at the table. "At who?"

"The Justice League," It was amusing to watch the tension melt off of all of them when he shook his head, "We all know who all of them are, as well as everyone who trained under them, but they don't know who we are."

"Except Wonder Woman," Jason pointed out, "She figured me out when I came back."

Fair, Bruce supposed. Jason was always Diana's favorite. "I think they need some help," he said, "A push in the right direction, so to speak."

Stephanie had a smile on her face that promised mischief. "We're not telling them, right? 'Cause that'd be no fun."

"Course not!" Duke yawned, "B said we'd give them a hint."

"What did you have in mind, father?" Damian asked, stoic as always, but matching the gleam in Cass's eyes.

"We invite them to the Bat Cave," he said, "Show them around a bit. The only exits we tell them about, though, should be the Lane," How the ground vehicles get in and out. "-the Zeta Tubes," Obviously. "-and the elevator. But, we don't tell them what's upstairs."

Alfred seemed very amused from where he had taken his seat at the other end of the table.

"From there," Bruce continued, "We invite their civilian identities to the next Gala. Meet them. Hint about the Cave without actually saying anything. If I know Clark as well as I know I do, then he'll, at the very least, piece together that the Bat Cave is under Wayne Manor."

"And if we play it right?" Dick's grin was manic, "They won't connect who we are."

"Won't that be suspicious, though?" Tim spoke up for the first time, "They may not have put things together yet, but they aren't stupid. They're heroes. If we give them the pieces, they're gonna piece them together."

Damian was the one to answer him. "Batman and Bruce Wayne hate one another, though there is a grudging acknowledgement and respect."

"Give them the right pieces, with a few from the wrong puzzle, in the wrong order, we could totally have them fooled!" Jason explained.

The group shared looks between each other. Nothing needed to be said because the looks and movements said everything.

Alfred smiled and shook his head fondly. "You may plan this in the morning. For now, go to bed and get some sleep."

Part 1 Part 3

[empressgeekt]

Trolls - Branch and Keith Brothers AU

HI!!! I'm back! With more Trolls plot bunnies. This one does not take place in the Prince Char Au, or the Veneer re-carnation one. It's completely separate and closer to canon.

Pre-movie.

Keith is the little trolling who likes to watch his parents sleep, and it's clear by the reactions from his classmates that he's not the most popular kid. A bit of a odd outsider, that finds happiness in things that others don't. There's another troll in Pop village who's a bit of an outsider, our favorite grump, Branch.

Branch would be in the village market one winter day, making some rare purchases rather then getting them from the wilds, when he first comes across Keith. The trolling would've been lost, left behind by his classmates. Branch would be a little confused by the kids blankness, but he isn't going to leave a kid lost in the snow, and helps Keith get back home to his dad. One the way he asks if this, keith getting left behind, happened often. Keith would blankly gripe about it, and how he thought his friends didn't actually like him, and he didn't think he liked them. Branch says that friends should like each other.

Couple of weeks later, Branch is working on gathering supplies, and Keith appears out of no where, then continues to follow the grey troll. When Branch asks what Keith is doing. Keith says, "You said befriend people I like." "Yeah so?" "I like you."

It throws Branch off, no one liked him.

Keith would continue to find and follow Branch for the next few days, it's only after a chance run in with a predator, that the grey troll realizes this kid isn't going away, and he starts training Keith in the ways of survival. Even more shockingly Keith listens to him when he's teaching. Everyone in the village always called Branch crazy with his survival bunker and apocalypse prep, but Keith listens intently. Even if it doesn't appear like it. Branch teaches Keith about, the forest, which fruits were safe to eat and where/when they grew. How to defend yourself from different type dangerous predators. And even about some of the extra traps and defenses Branch made for the village.

Branch gets used to his new little protégée, and honestly likes being able to pass on his knowledge to someone. He eventually learns to read the subtle differences in Keith's expressionless expressions to know how the kid's mood is, whether it's happy or upset. One day, Keith comes to visit Branch upset. Seeing the kid angry makes something in Branch's stomach turn, and he has this need to fix it. He doesn't know how, he hasn't comforted someone in years. So, pulling from vague memories of Floyd helping him when Branch was upset, he asks Keith what's wrong. Keith's upset about the other kids calling his school project weird. They were supposed to make a short presentation on people, they care about and Keith chose Branch. None of the kids would listen to him and said, that Branch was weirdo, and Keith was weirdo and they deserved each other. It made Keith Mad, because, he doesn't think Branch is weird, he thinks the Grey troll is cool and he doesn't want people to be mean to him. Branch does his best to console, Keith saying that sometimes people just don't agree with you no matter how hard you try to convince them, sometimes people just can't hear you.

K: Some times it feels like no one hears me

B: Yeah, I get that. it sucks, Makes you think their something wrong with you. But there isn't. Different doesn't mean bad, it just means you see things other don't.

Keith hugs Branch, and he can't turn the kid away. It's the first person the grey troll hugs in nearly twenty years.

K: Thank you, Branch

B: No problem kid, I'm always here.

K: I've always wanted a brother.

After this, Branch fully is attached. He goes all out for Keith any chance he gets. He's always there if Keith is upset, or to help with home work. Keith is one of the few people Branch allows in the Bunker. Branch makes sure, that he'd be the brother to Keith that his own were never to him. Always there.

Especially when Keith suddenly loses his dad. Branch fights and fights hard to keep Keith, knowing just how much the grief of losing a caretaker is crushing the kid. Unsurprisingly, the Pop trolls foster system fails Keith and eventually Branch gains his custody. "Let the outsider raise an outsider." Keith moves into the bunker, and Branch is with the trolling no matter what, making sure that this kid never goes Grey like he did. Though, waking up to Keith just staring at him is a little startling at first, but branch gets over it, anything to make the kid more comfortable.

By the events of the first movie, Keith has fully moved in with Branch and stays with him during the Chef's attack. And after the whole village is hidden in the bunker by Poppy, Keith pushes Branch to go after her. Peppy stepping up to watch over Keith while Branch is gone. All through out the mission Branch is thinking about Keith, worried how he's fair one his own, because while he can trust Peppy to make sure Keith doesn't die, he doesn't' trust the king to take care of Keith's mental health. They're reunion in the bergan pot is a hard one. On one hand, Branch is happy to have Keith back in sight, but on the other he feels like a failure for not being able to protect Keith from getting eaten. And When Keith goes grey in his arms...let's just say Branch isn't going down with out a fight.

I have no plans for World Tour, other then the possibility of Keith ending up captured with Poppy, and Barb mistaking Keith as her and Branch's son.

Its in Band together that things get a little more interesting...

Keith is Gristle and Bridget's ring bearer, though the rings are to big for him to hold, so he just stands inside of them to keep them from rolling away, with a very flat smile. Poppy and Branch end up dating in this two, and she does put in effort to get to know Keith, understanding that the trolling would be in branch's care for years to come. She's not as good at reading him, but she's getting better at it. And she finds Branch's caregiver side, adorable.

"Stop the Wedding!"

When John Dory shows up, Keith leaves his post, and runs to Branch after the elder troll was finished being man handled, bY JD. John is thrown off by the sight of a tiny Trolling in Branch's Arms. Seriously, when did his baby brother get a baby? Or a girlfriend? Was the kid theirs? Oh crap he missed a lot....

Keith is angry, through out the course of the third movie. Branch had already told him about their (yes, their, Keith is branch's brother now, which sadly makes him also related to these idiots) brothers, and how they all walked out on him. Keith has seen how much this hurt Branch, and how much they are hurting Branch now, he's clinging to his older brother all through out the mission.

Bruce is also shocked, and kind of feels bad, because Keith would be in Branch's hair when Bruce tossed him jostling the trolling. But he likes kids, so quickly warms up to the idea of Keith being a new baby brother. Even if he creeps Bruce out. And Keith is constantly creeping him out on purpose...thought Bruce doesn't realize it.

Keith doesn't like the hustle button.

Clay is scared of Keith. Because thanks to living with Branch the trolling can point out all of his safety measures and traps, understand how the work, and how to out smart them.

While practicing, John tries to get Keith toe join in but the trolling will only sing the words in the same flat stale note. Branch knows he's messing with john (Keith naturally sings flat but he's not that tone deaf) but doesn't say anything. Keith is hugging Branch all through out the fight, and along with poppy promises to not leave.

Floyd's too tired to really notice Keith until after he's rescued, however he's curious about the trolling. He feels proud watching Branch take care of trolling, but it also makes his stomach churn. Watching Branch with Poppy and Keith it feels like he's looking in on a family that Branch built and he missed it. Floyd would move into the bunker continuing his recovery, and during that is where he really interacting with Keith. He finds the kid adorable, not in the sparkly eyes way that Branch was but utterly adorable none the less. Keith becomes family to him too.

The fic would conclude with All the brother's accepting the fact that Branch and Keith are a package deal, and apologizing to branch for abandoning him (Keith and Poppy don't let them get away with shit). There's no long five brothers in Brozone, but six....and at least three sister-in-law...

-----

This now has a fic of the beginning

link - https://archiveofourown.org/works/55380961/chapters/140510860

[muzzlemouths]

I JSUT SAW THE DIR CUT THING EXPLODES okay okay i have so much i wanna ask(mostly related to the polls im sorry its so interesting of a mechanic) . ! - FIRST did you originally plan on the fic to be poll based or was it a later decision? - did we as a collective ever make any/a ddecision you were genuinely surprised about? any big things you had/(have? 👀) in mind only for us to totally dash your hopes and dreams? - are any of the counselors ones you're sad died? who has been the most disappointing for you so far? (who were you hoping would survive?) - if you could give us a rating 1-10 or so, how well would you say we've done so far? (personally id give it a B ish..) - Aside from Chet, could we have saved everyone? (also because im a sucker for feels, were any of the kids who died personal hits for sun/moon? any close bonds that were cut?)

⭐️ Director's Cut ask game

Did you originally plan on the fic to be poll based or was it a later decision?

I wanted it to be poll based from the start! I first came up with the idea last October, but I was originally going to do it similar to OWRF. Within that year, however, I realized that using polls would streamline the process and make it much easier on me, which is fantastic, because writing OWRF with the initial Choose Your Own Story mechanic I'd been using felt like trying to control a derailing train at all times.

Did we as a collective ever make any/a ddecision you were genuinely surprised about? any big things you had/(have? 👀) in mind only for us to totally dash your hopes and dreams?

All of them. I need y'all to understand I had to sit down and rewrite a solid chunk of my outline because I had set it up/started writing certain scenes under the assumption that that's the route/decision we'd be pursuing, but time and time again, everyone surprised me.

I wasn't expecting y'all to save Dolly (much less be so passionate about turning this into an Everyone Lives run), I wasn't expecting you to trust Moon (though in hindsight, I should have known. This is their fandom we're in after all), and I definitely wasn't expecting this last decision to be such a tight race.

Complete transparency here, I had fully anticipated that the majority vote would be to Agree(lie), and I had to scramble to rearrange some pieces of the outline when it became glaringly obvious that lying was the last thing any of you wanted to do. I'm grateful for it, though.

I said it before and I'll say it again: the y/n of this story changes with each decision made. They have some set personality traits, sure, but most of it is entirely determined by you, the readers. Seeing the votes flood in — with lying as the least popular opinion — not only surprised me but gave me a much needed reality check on where our y/n stands, which in turn allowed me to scrap the original first page of what happened next in favor of writing something that is reflective of the decision, and I am much happier with it now. Proud of you guys.

Are any of the counselors ones you're sad died? who has been the most disappointing for you so far? (who were you hoping would survive?)

Man. Man. Had you asked me my opinion on Chet at the beginning of writing this fic I'd have read the guy to filth. But now? Regretfully I am beginning to like him. I'm almost upset that I'd made the decision to make his death inevitable, but so much hinges on it, so it was a necessary sacrifice. (Also, I'm supposed to remain unbiased about these things, but if you guys get Oscar killed I will cry and cry)

If you could give us a rating 1-10 or so, how well would you say we've done so far? (personally id give it a B ish..)

Considering we're currently on what I consider the best route? I'd say you're doing pretty damn well! There hasn't been a single vote thus far that leads to the bad route, and the results of the most recent poll have officially locked us out of the bad route entirely. I am clapping and cheering for you!!!! congrats!!! 🎉

Aside from Chet, could we have saved everyone?

You could, and you still can! But Oscar isn't the only life you will need to save.

[ominoose]

Your Blue discourse is excellent! Ngl, I took that one line so differently when I saw the movie first time around.

Here's my thoughts: I had a headcanon/theory that orderly Blue was originally a patient, one that either a) got released wayyyyy before he was ready, b) somehow took over the place from the original head orderly and just made everybody think he was supposed to be in charge, or c) it was originally for men until one of them (Blue) got out, disposed of everyone else, and freed the rest of the patients to be his minions essentially. Overall... I've put way too much thought into this.

Another thought/hc i have, especially for that scene when he's upset over everyone else "playing with his toys" but him, he a) calls everyone 'toys' because he's been treated like one as a child or possibly because if he starts viewing them as human beings, he'll lose control over his own emotions even more, b) he actually craves something more than what he's got (maybe a fucked up version of a romantic relationship with one of his patients) because I see him as someone who if he caught feelings, he'd become the most possessive fucker there is, or c) back the the childhood trauma theory, and now it's his personal mission to never lose control over anything ever again, because he can't even get control over his own self, so he gets it over everyone else.

One more thought/hc for now for Blue's childhood, he was never loved the way he should have been, and that was out of his control. Maybe one parent was abusive to the other while the other was too distant to be there for him (why he freaks out when Babydoll goes into her mind) and now, subconsciously he craves that feeling of love that he's convinced himself he'll never get so he gets power and control over anything/everyone he can because that's what he can control. If someone did show him any willing submission I honestly think it'd probably ruin him.

I cannot describe how happy this ask makes me, I cannot explain how giddy I am getting into and dissecting this horrid mans life.

My personal little hc for his childhood is that his mother worked at the hospital and slept around a lot, he never had a real father figure. She spent most of her time at the hospital, which we know is out the way and in some woods, so with no one else to watch him he was stuck hanging around there too and seeing his mum not so subtly be passed around the men working.

He was neglected, his only example of relationships were sexual, transactional, a power play. Its likely he saw the old head orderly there, someone his mum had to suck off up to for more shifts. Somewhere along the line, when he's old enough, he just ends up working there. It's mostly cleaning or running small errands, but as he gets older the head orderly takes him under his wing a little, showing him the ropes, letting him have a proper job.

At some point his mother would die of an overdose or something, the head orderly dies or retires and Blue is left in charge. Remember at the end when he says "You're stuck here with me, in all this shit", he says it with such venom. Stuck here is such a particular phrase, like he's just as trapped as the girls staying there. I think he is, at least mentally. It's all he's ever known, he has no power outside of Lennox House, he probably lives there too, meaning any power he has is central to there. It's his to own, play with, make it how he wants. It's his prison as much as his home.

Thats also likely reflected in how he treats the girls. Jointly stemming from resentment towards his neglectful mother and from the only way he's seen women treated, his relationship with the girls is one where he feels powerful and treats them as objects. To him, they aren't anything more than an object to make money off of, sheep to be herded and trained.

Switch to the Club version of Blue, and again Oscar himself says this version of Blue is as much of how Blue see's himself, not just how Babydoll see's him. We can apply the hc backstory here too. His mother was a dancer, he spent his childhood here, he saw the women being used. The brothel owner takes him in and then Blue ends up with the business, etc, etc.

Why would Blue see himself, picture an idolized version of himself as some glamorous brothel owner? Likely because it's a world where the few skills and assets he have are more than a depressing, run down mental hospital full of depravity and hopelessness. Here, it's more than selling mentally ill girls to his fellow slimy workers, now it's having pretty girls do elaborate dances to high class clientele.

All that aside, I really love the idea that he used to be a patient that was let out early. What would he be in for? It works because he'd known the ins and outs, he'd know how shit the staff is, he'd be in with some of the worst of them. Him taking over from the head orderly is the most likely though. We know he can forge signatures and documents, would've been not too hard for him to pull the credentials needed for the job outta thin air and make up some story to sack the former head orderly.

I genuinely do think he craves a person to love him unconditionally, in his own twisted way. Someone that see's and acknowledges how deprived he is and is happily willing to put up with his abuse. He's possessive, and Club Blue likes to look his best, so why wouldn't he want someone obsessed over him?

Would he love them back? I'm not sure. I don't think he has enough control or attention to direct to a single person, but he might have favourites. Overall he would just love the feeling of someone worshiping him.

Also how did you take the line first time around?

[makesitprecious]

@the-overanalyst ah, theatre! you're thinking of the four kinds of tragedy 1) complex tragedy, made up of peripeteia and anagnorisis 2) the tragedy of suffering 😢 3) the tragedy of character 4) the tragedy of spectacle 😱. These go hand in hand with the four types of conflict: man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. self, and man vs. wild.

!! sorry to be that nerd who adjusts their glasses and says "umm, when you say literally you mean actually" but I have to point out people who are reblogging the above thinking that ideology is the same as the definition of the adjective "tragedy" and the noun "tragedy" applying to real world events are the example of how the word "tragedy" is misused. In reality and in the times when tragedy had one definition, there was: tragedy (preventable) and travesty (unpreventable). This changed with the mandala effect (a phenomenon in which a large number of people share a particular false memory) ex: thinking it's just "blood is thicker than water" when it's fully: "blood is thicker than water, but chosen relationships can be stronger than blood ties". After the ME set in, "Tragedy" took on multiple and conflicting definitions. Let's go back to the basics.

**Some travesties can be tragedies, but not all. And not all tragedies are travesties.

tragedy: (the og) a catastrophic event causing great suffering, destruction, and distress that could not have been prevented

ex: natural disasters like hurricanes and volcano eruptions (not caused by global warming), death due to old age, having/dying from an incurable yet unsolved disease like multiple sclerosis, drowning when your lungs are full of water - it's JUST going to happen, smaller animals statistically prey to larger animals -- *I'll put God/religion as a side note here (I'm not personally saying it's fact, but others believe it as such and it would be included in their full definition of tragedy) along with fate/deities/powers-that-be = out of a being's (human or otherwise) control derived from: tragic - great sadness due to death or suffering

travesty: an event causing suffering, distress, shock and upset that could have been avoided.

ex: shootings at schools, a lot less people dying on the Titanic, romeo not dying by drinking poison when he visited juliet because he saw her wake up, cancer because someone smoked for 30 years, people causing global dimming, oil spills, "b*mb" trains, people who actively choose not to evacuate dangerous zones when warned to and then dying, sunburn when you were carrying sunscreen typical definition: (n) sham, mockery, parody - YA GET IT? MAN MADE, CREATED!! A V O I D A B L E ! ! !

Brittanica almost did right by me by saying: something that is shocking, upsetting, or ridiculous because it is not what it is supposed to be,

but then the example said travesty and tragedy were the same 😑 (curse you, mandala effect)

"This shooting is a tragedy," says spokesperson, p0lice chief, news anchor ALL THE TIME. Um, no - no it was literally AND actually avoidable. Their finger was not strapped down to the trigger by an irreversible disease or hand of God that they physically could not fight at any form in any state. IT 👏 IS👏 A 👏 TRAVESTY👏 IT IS AVOIDABLE.

You drown not by falling into a river, but by staying submerged in it. - Paulo Coelho

sorry to get on an English major's soapbox on what is an eloquent post, but writers from books, shows, movies, fanfics, quotes, ads, and speeches get his wrong EVERY DANG DAY.

Jealousy/envy and tragedy/travesty and yeah I WILL throw in literally/actually have become victims of the mandala effect or meaning the exact opposite of their original definition.

Thank you for your time.

i've come to realize there are only two kinds of tragedies: preventable and inevitable. preventable tragedies are the kind where everything could have maybe worked out if only. if only romeo had gotten the second letter. if only juliet had woken up earlier. if only creon had changed his mind about antigone sooner. if only orpheus hadn't turned around.

inevitable tragedies are the kind where everything was always going to end terribly. of course macbeth gets deposed, he murdered his way to the throne. of course oedipus goes mad, he married his own mother. of course achilles dies in the war, he had to fulfill the prophecy in order to avenge his lover.

both kinds have their merits. the first is more emotionally impactful, letting the audience cling to hope until the very end, when it's snatched away all at once leaving nothing but a void. the second is more thematically resonant, tracking an inherent fatal flaw in its hero to a natural and understandable conclusion, making it abundantly clear why everything has to happen the way it does.

[ominousvirusnight]

anata wo misshitsu de torishirabe cd part 2

Here is a link to the cd

Well, now it’s your turn as an interrogator to get a feel of me. We’re still supposed to be working, so it would be good to continue the interrogation exercise, right?

So what does an interrogation start with again? An introduction, right?

Understood. I’m Nagimoto Akihisa, 30 years old. My height is 191 cm, and I weigh 59 kg. My blood type is B negative. The qualifications I have are a doctors license, drivers license, English level 2 and abacus level 3. The animals I’ve had up until now are 2 dogs, 7 cats, and one turtle.

Yeah, I’m really an animal lover, to the point I wanted to become a veterinarian. Anything else?

1:25 My hobby is cooking. Oh yeah, you should come over sometime. Between Japanese food and Italian, which do you like better?

1:39 Understood. Then when are you off next week? Ok, Wednesday around lunch, at my house. I’ll meet you at the station, ok?

What’s wrong? This isn’t an interrogation, you say?

That's because I have an older brother feel to me. Well, when it comes to changing the subject, evading questions, I have several methods, haha.

2:15 Don't complain, just try your best. Exposing me, getting to know me inside and out is an interrogator's job, right? Try to dig deeper.

Interrogation techniques? There's no need for those. I'll tell you everything you want to know.

Really, everything. Because…I want to be arrested by you. So just capture me and make me yours.

Now, capture me and tell me what my crime is.

I've been interested in you since the day we met. Right, since your new employee training.

At that time, you were overwhelmed by new things. Very serious. Not wanting to fail, you were stretched very thin.

I was very fretful wandering when you would burst out in tears.

But, that was very pretty. The you who had just had become a working member of society, everything is so confusing to you, but nevertheless you tried your best not to fail was more pretty than anything else. At some point, I found I couldn't take my eyes off of you. The way you tried your best, the way that even when you were upset from being scolded by your boss you would regain your confidence.

The way that when you came across a sad incident, even if you cried you did not avoid the job and continued to do your best.

I got to see different parts of you little by little, and every time I got the chance to meet you I would get a bit excited, glad, happy.

5:20 I fell in love with you, I realized that I really did like you.

But it's kind of embarrassing, I couldn't really muster up the courage.

Well it would startle you a bit,wouldn't it? for someone you don't really know to have an unrequited crush on you. I thought maybe I'd just bother you.

6:00 But someday I wanted to confess my feelings. If I didn't confess them now, I might never do it.

I don't mind being rejected. Just know that there is someone out there who recognizes the efforts you make. I only wanted to say that.

When things aren't going well at work and you feel down about it, I want to reassure you. If something bad happens, I want to hug you.

I want to hear your complaints, and if something goes well I want to be the first person to wish you congratulations.

I want to be the closest person to you. I like you, I really like you.

Well, I confessed everything. So please let me hear your answer. Yes, I want to hear your answer to my confession.

7:54 Oh I'm glad! I'm very happy.

Composed? Is that how I look? I'm not at all though.

Oh right, please tell me my crime. I've been arrested by you, after all, so I want to hear what I've been arrested for.

Eh? My crime is making you wait that long? Well, I guess you're right about that. You asked for me to do this interrogation.

I'm sorry for making you wait. From here on out, I will not do anything like making you wait. So will you go out with me?

Thank you! I like you.

[billconrad]

Whom Does the World Belong?

    I randomly found the article “Whom Does the World Belong?” It begins with a peculiar copyright lawsuit. In the 20s, a person (allegedly) telepathically communicated with the dead. This sparked interest, and a book of conversations was published, The Urantia Book. This popular topic led to more books in the series with additional telepathic conversations.

    In the 80s, a woman scanned in one of the books and distributed it for free, causing legal troubles. The defense argued that since the dead were speaking, their words did not belong to the author. The plaintiff could not argue against the defense without admitting the book was fiction. Brilliant! The jury agreed.

    The main article focuses on the following: Who owns artificial intelligence-generated content? It focused on two main issues. Many files, including copyrighted material, are required to train an AI model. The second issue is that the people who developed the software and paid for the computing power expect something for their efforts.

    As you can tell by my chaotic writing style and deranged content, I do not use AI to write. Writing is supposed to be fun, but auto-generating a pile of hogwash does not fit that bill. Not everybody agrees with my altruistic attitude, and AI applications like ChatGPT are now firmly in the driver’s seat of many publications, websites, and business documents.

    This invention opens new territory in legal, ethical, and story areas, leading to a massive question of ownership. Even though I am not a popular author, I am sure my limited words have been used to train at least one AI model. Unfortunately, writers cannot prevent automated systems from scoping up every internet word.

    I would be pretty upset if an AI user asked, “Develop a first-person psychological thriller story with a few intense scenes about a less-than-perfect author who is captured, forced to undergo a bizarre medical procedure, and interview his 500-year-old woman female captor.” and then the original text for my book, Interviewing Immorality, was “generated.” Alright, truth. It might be cool if my book provided 100% inspiration.

    Passing along my exact words and concepts as somebody else’s is unethical. Therefore, I feel that legislation should be enacted to prevent this. The politicians agree; some are working on new copyright laws addressing AI. The problem is that AI technology muddies the water.

    For example, anybody can copy one of my books into ChatGPT and ask it to “freshen up the story,” “change the characters,” “update the text,” or “improve the writing.” Legally, it would be difficult for me to argue with the results because, while the story would be nearly identical, the words would be different. How many romance books are out there? Boy meets girl or girl meets boy. Story bedrock is close to the surface; my book is no exception.

    Conversely, those AI programmers and companies paying for server time deserve something. Millions use ChatGPT and the generated words have value. Thus, the people who worked hard on their creation indeed have the right to own the content, just like my books belong to me. This is the present ChatGPT content agreement:

As between you and OpenAI, and to the extent permitted by applicable law, you (a) retain your ownership rights in Input and (b) own the output. We hereby assign to you all our right, title, and interest, if any, in and to output.

    For now, they offer free services and allow users to own the content. Yay? The problem is that this could change in a heartbeat, so users must check every time they use the service.

    There is an obvious solution. The first page of my book and others contains an explicit copyright notice. Interviewing Immorality belongs to me because I wrote it, and does not contain any AI-generated words. Websites like ChatGPT also have clear legal notices concerning the content they generate. Of course, people ignore this legal mumbo-jumbo. “Click if you agree.”

    Thus, if an author publishes AI-generated text, they must acknowledge generated words. Yeah, no. I have read several new publications that were clearly created with AI, but there was no warning. How do I know? ChatGPT has a distinctive writing style.

    And am I guilty of not giving credit where credit is due? I recently wrote “Are Today’s Writers Spoiled?” I included a big chunk of ChatGPT content in that article, but I prepared readers with the following statement: Alright, I’m getting lazy. “Hey ChatGPT. List the problems facing modern authors.”

    Thus, I correctly informed readers that ChatGPT generated some content. I felt the result was ethical, and no readers complained. Yet an open question remains. Who should take credit? I would argue that I was the creator, and the present ChatGPT content statement confirms this. I anticipate this will no longer be the case.

    There is no doubt that AI-generated content will be everywhere. It is so bad I predict that a document without AI content will soon be a rarity. Is a sea of AI-generated works a bleak future? As a struggling author, I wish somebody put this genie back in the bottle. As a person, I must accept an AI-generated future.

    You’re the best -Bill

    January 15, 2025

    Hey, book lovers, I published four. Please check them out:

   Interviewing Immortality. A dramatic first-person psychological thriller that weaves a tale of intrigue, suspense, and self-confrontation.

    Pushed to the Edge of Survival. A drama, romance, and science fiction story about two unlikely people surviving a shipwreck and living with the consequences.

    Cable Ties. A slow-burn political thriller that reflects the realities of modern intelligence, law enforcement, department cooperation, and international politics.

    Saving Immortality. Continuing in the first-person psychological thriller genre, James Kimble searches for his former captor to answer his life’s questions.

    These books are available in softcover on Amazon and in eBook format everywhere.

[dearonewayinternet]

The weight on my ...

I'm trying to understand if I'm only lying to myself or are things just a manifestation of my own insecurity that I am putting on my boyfriend, and I'm pinning it down to specific memories that trigger those.

For instance, let's say: I want to lose weight. To be specific, I want to lose my hanging belly fat. The only non-invasive way to do this is to totally lose body fat as a whole. I'm currently exercising (resistance training, doing 15k steps more or less with my dog on a daily basis) and I eat a pretty balanced meal. But I have suddenly hit a plateau and some hormonal issues (which I am getting addressed next week).

Put that note aside and commit to memory.

Here's another memory. I once confronted my boyfriend if he would still love me if I gain weight. He answered, very carefully this time and said ... "I think I would still love you, but I know honestly that maybe I won't be as attracted or it would be harder to feel attracted" and I get that. Most girls would probably be upset and say "NO, if HE REALLY LOVES YOU, HE WILL ACCEPT YOU NO MATTER WHAT SIZE YOU ARE" and that is still true. And even if we spin it the other way around, I too would find it hard to be attracted to him if he ballooned and let himself go.

Put that note aside and commit to memory.

Part 3, after coming back from the holidays, I said I want to look good for February (we're going to his friend's wedding). These people know his ex and the competitive part of me ignited my insecurity. So now, i am doing extreme calorie deficit for two reasons: 1) I'm at a plateau about this weight loss and 2) a part of me wants to impress these people. I know that he wants to impress these people too, because other than his career he's honestly mentioned to me before that "i know it's shallow and I find you absolutely great as it is in everything, it's just I want that trophy girlfriend. Like no one can say anything about her. Like she's talented, smart, beautiful and sexy. Great body. And i know I could be flaky sometimes about working out or my diet but for 70-80% of it, I show up.

I have been good for like 4 days. Yesterday, I had to meet up with my friend who's come from Europe. She only comes every 2 years or so when she wishes, so I thought I'd go do some activity with her and perhaps skip dinner so I can stay on track of my diet. But obviously, that's not going to happen. So I told my boyfriend, that I will join dinner and I promised I would just eat meats. Well I, in fact did, with the exception of some bean curd skin, a little bit of meepok. BUT MOSTLY meat. I was sooo full. We reached home to have some wine and I have this nagging feeling of disappointment from him. Went to be bed as soon as they left and I asked him if he was mad at me. He said no. A part of me, or most of me doesn't believe that.

Put that note aside and commit to memory.

There was a time when we were still dating and he was mad at me for eating a hazelnut tart before dinner. Like just angry at the idea of indulging.

And that's why I think I don't believe that he's not mad at me. That I was undoing hard work that could've brought me closer to his dream. It disappoints him that I can't give him that, that I don't try. It sounds like I'm failing him.

The past few days, I've allowed myself to be more honest with him. I was planning on NOT telling him about me hanging out with my friends because he knows my friends know no limits. Or at least their limits go beyond mine. I suppose it's the same as him drinking with his friends. I don't like it when he comes home late, but I am understanding and I show him that. I guess I just want that same assurance so that I don't go thinking about so many things.

Because if not, i will go down harder on myself. I see it as punishment. I start going back at it again like "I didn't want this" or that "i don't have to suffer like this, I'm a good person" or that "why do I have to change myself, I was like this when he met me". But I suppose, it's not about that isn't it. Why I'm on a diet or that I have to suffer, I blame it on him. I guess when you cut out a certain portion of my meal, it cuts out all the fun I have with my friends. It cuts out a significant portion of what brings me joy. And then I blame him and I cry.

[ltsaradharkness]

All right so rambly talk to text rant. So this morning I asked my nana if she wants me to drive her to Walmart because we have to go won't go to Walmart up the road right now because the road closures and everything so that's what we're doing well she's like no I can drive or if Papa can drive it's fine blah blah so while they're doing their morning stuff and getting ready and everything Darlene hands mom her phone and it's like read this well apparently it's a whole series of text messages about how to get all this money and blah blah blah it's a scam it's a scam it's a common scam where people like contact you and they're like I got millions of dollars for you blah blah blah just send me this that and the other thing and I'm like okay I didn't know what the text messages said until Papa she had Papa read it and Papa was talking about it and then I was like oh okay so she's trying to lose the rest of the money she doesn't have only for her to be like but look at these videos blah blah I'm like it's some Foreigner who is just talking into a camera you can say whatever you want into a camera literally that doesn't mean that somebody sent him 1.2 million dollars like literally that is not how it works but apparently she can't be told anything because literally she has in the past lost money to scams because she thought they were going to give her a vehicle or send her lots of money and stuff she like lost all of the money in her account which is part of the reason she doesn't have any money because she thought people were going to send her free stuff like oh my God have y'all not done like have y'all tried not tried showing her like training videos and stuff and she's like no you can't tell her anything I'm not I'm not saying tell her I'm saying have her why don't y'all watch things on how not to get scammed like instead of just watching the news and some b******* program why don't y'all just casually watch shows on what it looks like when old people get scammed in this that and the other thing she's not paying attention to the TV but sometimes she is so and then well Nana goes yeah but whatever you can't ever say anything to her and everything she gets all upset at us about it and then if you said anything about it she would be even more upset and I'm like why because I have a brain in my head to know she's stupid she's dumb ass rocks and I'm like to find out that she's even dumber than I thought that she's even more ridiculous it's like oh my God so the the weird stories and lies that she tells is probably something she actually believes someone did for her I'm like I cannot I can't I can't with this I cannot believe she is really this stupid I'm just oh my God

I'd love to know how you're supposed to respect somebody who's literally acts like a 6-year-old throws a 10 for tantrum and literally cries anytime she's told she's wrong or proven she's wrong or not gets her exactly her way nana and papa just let her act like she's the boss because otherwise he f****** upsets her it upsets me the way she treats y'all and the way y'all just let her get away with it like I can't believe that y'all don't see it and then y'all let her treat y'all like that and then expect me to let her treat me like that b**** nah that ain't even going to happen I am a grown ass woman I know what I'm doing I know how not to get scammed most of the time and literally I would never be in a situation as she claims to be drugged and poisoned by someone else to the point that I have a criminal record for drugs in my system for drugs on my person for drugs in my vehicle that I am driving that is in my name and not leave the first time anything of that nature happened to me I would be gone if I got a vehicle s*** would be cleaned out stuff would be turned into the cops and I would be dust I would be three states away I'd be f****** gone none of these people that supposedly were my friends were you know my lovers or what not nah I would be gone there would not be a situation where I am f****** just dealing with this s*** for 10 years or 8 years or whatever like no amount of whatever I think I am entitled to after a relationship like that you drug me you poison me nah you are not my friend anymore if I suspected somebody of doing something like that there would not be a oh but well no it f****** done I would be done.

So literally for her to tell me that she is owns and it is tight entitled to like 80% of this home and this that and the other thing like I don't believe you because this is some fantasy that you have made up just like everything else and if it is true good for you but I entirely doubt it.

I also will never believe that she wasn't the one actively taking drugs and part of that is because I've seen her smoke pot I've seen her drink two excess and drive I was in the car more than once when I was 19 she almost killed us drinking and driving and deciding to get into the back seat while on a mountain road that was the last time I ever hung out with her ever and that was 10 or 12 years before she had a f****** stroke and destroyed her brain she had cocaine alcohol and other drugs in her system when she had the stroke and ended up in the coma I was there I heard what they said I was living with it on Papa at the time I know what they said and as much as I hate my mother as much as I don't trust 90% of what comes out of her mouth as much as I think she's probably making s*** up about Darlene and exaggerating and I know for a fact Eddie's making s*** up and exaggerating there are situations where I have been living with her for a year I know this s*** probably happened to some extent the f****** s*** I've seen in the last year.

The fact that she thinks she's entitled to anything ever that she's entitled to be tired of doing something that is a task she ultimately gave herself and then decided that she was the only one doing it right well b**** if you're the only one doing it right you're the only one doing it because I'm not going to do it wrong and then get fussed at I'm not going to do it wrong and then have you bitching about it you either do it or you don't do it but I'm not doing it and getting fussed at you're not my mother f*** I don't even talk to my mother so don't even at me you are not in charge of me you are not my boss you do not pay me I do not have to do anything you say ever I literally have not punched her in the face or b**** slapped her or snatched her up by her hair will burn her with her cigarette after she burned me with it only out of respect for my grandparents that is the literal respect I have that is it because otherwise I don't wear by at least a hundred pounds and I would snap her like a twig.

It's funny when my brother was here with us for four days not only did like it was he having other problems at the time but Darlene was absolutely driving him crazy every minute he was here every minute he was here and he's like I don't know how you put up with this everyday and I'm like I don't either because I think if I didn't work as much as I do and I didn't have supportive people both in my regular life and at work I would not be putting up with it but with the way the world is right now with the way my situation is right now both financially and you know with everything else now going on we'll see how things go after New Year's but with the way everything is going right now I literally don't think I even will be able to get a place of my own anytime soon and unfortunately that's just kind of the reality of the situation because like I owe people money people owe me money and like the rent I pay right now isn't half of what it would cost me in rent and utilities to live somewhere else trying to get other assistance for things is like so difficult the fact that people think that people are just out here living on welfare and s*** like b**** living on welfare is a f****** job. So like yeah I cannot fathom the depths of stupidity that mean that your health choices about like weight and stuff like that or literally stuck in the 90s that you're literal you think people are just literally giving away millions of dollars to individuals and that somebody's just going to give you a car over the Internet some random number contacted you like if I were in on mobile I would have her phone on like restriction this is some s*** man. And what's even funnier is Darlene is a classic case of youngest child like and blonde cheerleader who thinks she's not the bully but is actually not a good person and is also not as smart as she thinks she is here's the thing too if in 2018 the first time she moved in with us or in 2019 the second time she moved in with us if she had actually stayed with us gotten help gotten therapy and not just like she wouldn't not just like psychological therapy but like actual you know physical therapy of the mind sort of thing where like they help you get back to being closer to who you used to be as far as your intellect is concerned I don't remember what it's called besides therapy but if she had stayed she would probably be on her own right now she would be somewhere else instead she's been living with us for a year she doesn't have a job she doesn't have money which I just found out she scammed it all away she doesn't have any jobs prospects because she doesn't have any ability to use computers and if she can't recognize a scam off the bat she sure as hell can't work at Dollar general because have the phone calls and Dollar general are a scam. And if she can't even operate her phone and she can't even operate her TV or the TV at the house or the DVR box how does she actually expect to work in a world where everything is computerized everything even doing like inventory in most places is a hand device that's basically a phone.

[onmymasa22]

So this is the time in this apartment. Its been a ride. Year one of waking up to go to sculture class in my pajamas, changing to go to work, then 1am car rides with people till like 4am all to wake up at 8am the next day. Breaking my face on the door in apartment 3. Hanging out in the "lobby", doing schoolwork there. Moving to apartment 5 and spending most of my time on that balcony. apartment 4 which i wasnt supposed to be but we all became a family. Then back to apartment 5, most of us stayed together. Sleeping in the lobby, sleeping everywhere, dealing with crazy ppl, enjoying the year, food runs, shared dinners, coffee dates, going to restaurants. We were really a family at this apartment. Helping eachother through dates, lying on the carpet. Watching tv, ice cream in our coffee. When theres no light or hotwatwr in the bathroom so u put spamusic on ur phone and pretend ur in a cold water spa bath. This building, although it sucks and the people who run it suck, it made the last three years of college entertaining, and it brought me to live with people i really love.

Last night in the building I've lived in for the past three years... started here not knowing if I was meant to be in art school.

This is it. My last noght in the building ive lived in for the past three years of college life/art school. It's been a ride. From apartment 3 where i was working 6 shifts a week and going to school,

So i think i had a magical date with zev.

We took the train and had dinner and wine, then went out fir drinks, then watched a movie ahd cuddled. So jm thinking a out him alot lately. And hes texting me so its not just me. So i love everything abd my feet r pretty

So i went to yaakovs to see him before i leave. But i fekt weird. Chz im w him but fir some reason im thinking aboht zev. How i dont wanna kiss anyone else since we kissed. Like im interested in him, so i dont want to do the sane things with anyone else.

Im ok. All this stuff is replacable. I can 100% buy stuff before i need to be back

Someone asked me what i feel about finding someone. So i said my grandmother has told me since i was five ur pretty, ull never have to worry about boys liking u, u just work on ur insides. And so thats what ive been doing. Ill find the right person when im supposed to. Until then, im just trying to b a goood person, a decent human.

Is it weird that im not upset that druze kids were killed. Like let their nation mourn for them. I have too many jews in hospitals and dying to care about that. Anyone who isnt a jew, i just dont care if they die in this war.

I want a home where everything in the fridge belongs to everyone. If something runs out, let them just make more. I might tell my kids who want something to leave some for me, or that its their responsibility to make more that night. Which is fine. But they should live in a house where its not my food versus not my food. Its everyones food, everyone can take anything. If im home, whatever is in the kitchen i can use. Im supposed to clean it and im supposed to make it, but im not gonna get yelled at for taking something. Its all everyones.

[tennesseewalkinghorse]

posting about getting hurt by a friend on sideblog because i am like deeply wounded and don't feel like i have a right to be and don't want to hurt her so i can't talk to her lol

i feel really awful because one of my best friends really hurt me without really directly meaning to and i feel like i don't have a right to be upset but i'm like. really wounded and heartbroken. like in a way that makes it worse? short version is friend and i have been planning to watch glee together for like. literal years. like i'm a media sociologist who does a lot of research on that time period of tv and part of that is my attachment to blaine specifically. and for years i've said if you watch season one i will jump in at never been kissed because that's where i start so you should start and stop there. and she's always been like yes i will do this.

so this friend started watching season one with me and i was like you can keep going with your other friend (staying with her rn) until you get to [episodes in late season one]. she watches the first episode and i go ok well she'll probably stop before the second one. i go away on a trip. i come back and say lets pick the show up again. turns out she's gotten halfway into season 2 without me and WITH THE OTHER FRIEND. WHO HASN'T SEEN THE SHOW AND HAS NO ATTACHMENT TO IT.

and so i feel like essentially what's happened is one of my best friends has taken this experience that is not only like, intimately personal to me because of how that season affected me personally, but something we have talked about doing together for ages, and gave it to someone else who it literally doesn't matter to out of ?? convenience?? callousness?

like a friend who i've always trusted to be there for me for the first time actively chose someone else in something that is supposed to be about me sharing a part of myself i can't often articulate without like, blaine anderson doing it for me, with this friend. and that's not something you can really get on a rewatch because by then you've already had your first impressions, and further when you've watched it with someone else you've had THEIR first impressions. and so this friend is like we can rewatch it and you can tell me all the lore but i feel like. physically ill when i think about that and also just very upset at how she's misunderstood why it's so important to me. it's not about the lore it's about me.

i'm never really the kind of person who likes to ruffle feathers, and i'm more often than not the kind of person who will say something isn't a big deal and take it in stride (this is horse training in action lol). but i'm honestly so brokenhearted about this, like i've been crying on and off since this happened yesterday and i can't think about this friend or that show without feeling like crushingly depressed. but i know this friend is having a hard time right now and i don't want to pile on to that, because if someone did that to me i'd never get out of that headspace. there's also the fact that even if i did explain to her why i'm feeling so awful like, it might feel better to be understood, but the damage is done she can't unwatch it with the other friend. so all i'd be doing is making her feel worse. and then there's a part of me that goes well good! she should feel as bad as you do! but like, that's not a part of me i want to drive the bus.

then of course there's the way in which i'm disenfranchising the whole thing because like it SHOULDN'T be a big deal. it's a fucking b rated tv show. but it is. like it feels so so awful. i don't know what to do except give it time, but i don't want to give it so much time my friend thinks i hate her.

[poorsapadvocate]

Look obviously I'm upset about now it due to stuff going on in my own life but companies are going to need to start reevaluating their hiring policies real quick because this shit aint sustainable. I can't count how many jobs I've applied to without even a stock rejection letter. I've made it to a few interviews where they told me they'll make a decision next week and then just. never heard from them again. If I do get rejection letters, they're 4 months after I applied and got my hopes up on it. I've even gotten one rejection letter that was 2 sentences long and had a typo in it. And that was a state job paid for with my tax dollars!! I'm at least worth a callback for all of these jobs. Not even getting around to rejecting me properly is just such a sign of distespect.

I was told I wasn't hired for this job despite a) being recommended by the person leaving, b) already being trained for it, and c) absolutely crushing it in the interview because I "didn't have enough experience." But if nobody's willing to give experience, then what the hell am I supposed to do? What's going to happen in 10-20 years when the people who already had experience get to retire and the only people left are the ones who weren't given a chance to gain experience?

[thewitchandtheassassin]

Hidden Sparks (Kate Bishop x Reader)

Summary: Kate has had enough.

Words: 1347

Warnings: Language, the team being kinda judgy.

A/N: First story for Kate. We’ll see how I feel about her after this.

Taglist: @natasharomanoffswife​ @natasha-danvers​ @aaron-despair​ @username23345 @xjiasx​ @nowthisisliving27 @higherfurther-romanova​ @summergeezburr @imnotasuperhero @miscmarvelwritings @captain-josslett @onlyafewfindtheway @hayleyokami @b-5by5  @evilcr0ne​  @everything201197​  @lostandsearching​ @marvels-writings​​

-X-

Becoming an apprentice with the Avengers – with the Hawkeye – had been Kate’s dream for longer than she was willing to acknowledge

(Because, you know, she wasn’t a creep, they were just all so super impressive and to train with the man himself? It wouldn’t look good to tell him she often dreamed about him. Not in a weird way! But getting to learn from him and everyone else. Not that he wasn’t handsome! But he wasn’t her type. And…wow, she even rambled in her brain. That’s sad.)

“Yes, you do,” Wanda joked as she passed her a plate of food, bringing Kate back into the present. “Quite loudly, in fact.”

Kate’s face went hot, staring at the delicious meal and wishing it would swallow her whole or become a portal to another planet. Whichever was the fastest option to wipe away her embarrassment.

“Be glad (Y/N) cannot read minds or your little secret would be out already.” Wanda’s tone remained teasing but the affectionate undercurrent was obvious as she chuckled at Kate’s pained groan, her powers sliding the plate away seconds before the younger woman’s head hit the counter with an audible thump.

“How long have you known?” Kate’s question was muffled but Wanda heard it clear as day.

“Since your first day at the Compound. Clint was showing you around. She exploded the punching bag in the training room and -”

“Oh god, please stop.” Kate could easily remember what thought had crossed her mind at the overly attractive display. She didn’t need the pretty, sweet witch repeating her thoughts. Especially out loud.

Wanda smirked. What Kate didn’t know was that your little display of power had been a complete accident. You’d been distracted by her appearance and lost control for a split second, sending your heated fist through the material like it was nothing.

It was also the reason you were under orders to stay away from the new apprentice. The amount of distrust directed at you by most of the team was disheartening. Wanda had once been in your shoes and she hated how little you were given still.

“Don’t give up on her,” Wanda advised after a moment of silence, voice softening noticeably.

“She hates me,” Kate whined. “I’ve been training with everyone for months except her. The longest conversation we’ve ever had was her asking if I was going up or down in the elevator, pressing the button, and then leaving to take the stairs. Like, who does that? We were going to the same floor!”

Wanda sighed heavily and Kate’s head rose, brow arching as she scrutinized the youngest Avenger.

“What was that? What do you know?” Kate inquired deliberately, gaze narrowing into a pointed stare. If there was something she didn’t know, she deserved to be in on the secret. Especially if it involved her.

Glancing away, the Sokovian chewed her lip as she considered her options. Telling Kate could be disastrous but she hated how badly the team treated you, isolating you despite the expectation that you were supposed to have their backs if something were to happen. The only person who truly spent any time with you was Bucky, which only served to garner more scrutiny from the others – aside from herself and Steve.

“Seriously, Wanda, do you know why she runs away from me like I have the bubonic plague or something? Did I do something? Or offend her? Because I know I talk a lot and I don’t always think before I speak but I never meant to upset her,” Kate babbled, her hands flailing as she grew more animated and concerned. “If you know, then maybe I can apologize for it…”

A calming hand wrapped around Kate’s wrist and Wanda squeezed reassuringly. “It wasn’t you, Kate.”

Freezing, the younger woman peered up in confusion at the redhead. “Then why?”

“Clint told her to stay away from you. Both he and Natasha threatened to speak with Fury about kicking her from the program if she dared to venture too close to you. The others either backed the threat or kept quiet, so now she –”

“What?!” Kate trembled with fury at the thought of you so lonely and defeated, staying away from her to keep your place among the Avengers. “Are you serious? And no one stopped this? Even you?”

Bowing her head shamefully, Wanda released her quaking wrist and clasped her hands together, fingers caressing her thumb ring. “I was in her shoes not too long ago. If it wasn’t for Vision, they would probably still look at me the same. I tried asking Vis to help her but he said she was too dangerous. I try but there isn’t much I can do. Her friendship with Bucky has only made her seem less than favorable in their eyes, but they have an understanding.”

Shoving up from the table, Kate’s body vibrated with unbridled anger as it washed over her in never-ending waves. She wanted to be furious with the chagrined witch but she couldn’t blame her for the position she’d been forced into.

She could blame everyone else though.

-X-

It didn’t take much to find Clint sparring on the mats with Natasha, briefly spotting you tucked in the corner of the room with the fireproofed punching bag Banner had crafted. It was apparent you’d seen her but you couldn’t escape without passing her, which kept you essentially trapped for the impending show.

Good.

“Morning, Bishop,” Natasha greeted, her smile fading at the stern expression the younger woman wore, reminding her vaguely of Yelena. “What’s wrong?”

“You two have some nerve,” Kate snarled, glancing between the former assassins expectantly. “I will have you both know that I am not a child and you have no right to threaten someone away from me! Yes, I’m younger and you seem to think I’m a naïve kid but you never should’ve endangered (Y/N)’s place on this team. She’s saved both of your asses so many times – and that’s just what I’ve seen! That’s really shitty and honestly, I had expected better from you.”

Clint’s cheeks went red while Natasha glanced away, unaccustomed to such passionate dressing-downs from someone other than Fury.

“I had to find out from someone else why she hides from me! I thought it was something I had done, but no. It was you. All of you. You trust her to keep you alive, so maybe you should trust her to be a part of this team! God!” she shouted, shaking her head in absolute disgust. “The next person I’m scheduled to train with better be (Y/N) or so help me, you’ll really find out how good my shot is now.”

Nodding his head meekly, Kate could see the silent apology shining in his eyes – the same look he often offered his children when he broke another promise – but she wasn’t the person he should be apologizing to and they both knew it.

Stomping over to you, still tucked awkwardly in the corner, Kate stopped inches from you. Arms crossed and a fire in her eye, you stared fearfully at her, awaiting her wrath.

“And you! You should’ve told me about all of this nonsense.” Her features softened slightly, gaze tracing the quiver of your lips and the worry glistening in your eyes. “You’re going to make this up to me. Starting with a date to that fancy ice cream shop a few blocks away. Understood?”

You nodded dumbly. “R-right now?”

Her silence was deafening as she playfully considered her answer. “Yes. Right now. Go shower and I’ll see you in the living room in an hour. Deal?”

“Uh huh,” you mumbled, wiping away the sweat lingering at your brow. “I’ll uh… go do that.”

Scrambling out of the room, you refused to look at the assassins as you stalked past. You couldn’t bear to see the judgment in their eyes anymore, knowing they’d probably kill you if the situation was different. But you also couldn’t stop grinning, a little bounce added to your steps as you realized something spectacular.

You had a date.

[mod2amaryllis]

just gonna sliiide into your inbox to be like. got any complicated relationship with motherhood recs?? cause I'm👀

👁️👁️ b i s c i a.

the first rec is always for all time The Broken Earth trilogy by NK Jemisin

talk about books that changed my brain chemistry and boosted my writing, especially the fifth season, which pulls a narrative trick with its 3 main character perspectives that still has me reeling and makes me resent the fact that not every protagonist is an exhausted middle aged mother who's haunted by choices and horrors of her own making!!

The Devourers by Indra Das

a take on werewolves that's at times genuinely sickening to read, esp for my body-horror-scawy ass. lot of upsetting themes fyi, like. all the themes. are upsetting. but i was left feeling like I'd just gotten the world's most dire hug. also trans allegory out the wazoo.

i feel like this one is really obligatory like yeah no shit Beloved by Toni Morrison but still: Beloved by Toni Morrison

I've never felt smart enough for this book but i think about it constantly, not just because the contents are so traumatic but the way it's written..... even now i feel like such a dunce trying to say anything about it but it's like. it broke rules in my brain about how books are supposed to be structured and understood. there's a chapter that ends in a stream of thought that's borderline incomprehensible and it's in my head forever.

ok little different now and largely positive mushy gushy mom stuff, but a lot of Brandi Carlile's songs, especially The Mother:

and her whole In These Silent Days album. particularly it's celebrating lesbian motherhood. Mama Werewolf is awesome and introduces that complication that makes me ravenous, but my favorite is her love song to her wife, You And Me On The Rock

there's a song exploder podcast episode about it. she talks about how it's an homage to her good friend Joni Mitchell, how it's about this very feminine love she shares with her wife and daughter (and now also her son) and how she spent some of her youth grappling with that femininity.

speaking of song exploder!!!!!! the episode for Song For Our Daughter by Laura Marling

Laura Marling and her partner don't have children. this song is a hypothetical about the trauma of being a girl and having your boundaries crossed when you're young. but what absolutely destroys me is that there's a string section, which was written by a violinist to whom she gave creative liberty, and in his strings he says, "i wrote this to be the character of The Daughter, so she's here in the song soaring over everything" and it just. hearing the context and then listening to the song........i show this episode to anyone who's stuck in a car with me 25 minutes.

on the subject of music, of course there's Florence + The Machine's 2022 album Dance Fever, particularly King

like hell yeah let's get primal with it

and ok this is gonna clock my grew up as a theatre kid ass but still, to this day, Next To Normal.

listening to this show as a teenager who was just starting to hate my (wonderful awesome love her) mom was like......hoooooo. it blew open the my-parents-are-human empathy. idc about like whether or not this musical lives up to the insane hype it got in the late 2000s it just meant a lot to me personally.

also there's movies i guess! but if you're not already on the Everything Everywhere All At Once train idk what we're doing

then my oldest mom-centric media of all, so old that I'm not even sure how well it holds up to my current person sensibilities, Fruits Basket

the way her death is the inciting incident for everything that happens after, and how she's a ghost that haunts the rest of the story, at times a protective spirit and at other times a traumatic poltergeist, is like. i thought i was a 13yo reading a magical high school romance what's happening to me.

then of course the current rec, Priestdaddy by Patricia Lockwood

Lockwood is a poet and this is her memoir about growing up with a Catholic priest for a dad, something that in itself seems contradictory. it's phenomenal. i can't believe someone exists who's this good at writing. her relationship with her mother is hilariously, tenderly depicted and it's questioning and resentful and loving and there's a chapter about them called the cum queens of the hyatt palace and it's the funniest thing I've ever read

oops too many words

motherhood in media borders on fixation for me lol i don't always seek it out but when it's there I'm like AAAAAAAAH, AAAAAAAH AAAAAAAAAAAAH AAAAAH IS ANYONE ELSE SEEING THIS GRAAAAAHHHH!!!!

........oh and undertale. how could i forget Undertale.

[nobodyfamousposts]

Who's a character you feel that Canon Miraculous Ladybug does the most disservice to? How would you fix it?

You ready for this?

It's not going to be who you think.

(Takes a breath)

Sabrina.

She's essentially Chloe's minion and canon keeps zig zagging back and forth on whether this is supposed to be a bad thing or not. Canon also can't seem to make up its mind on whether they're actually friends given how Chloe laments that she has no friends and nobody likes her while ignoring Sabrina crying over her leaving and getting upset enough to become akumatized when they have a fight. But it will sure go out of its way to force things back to that status quo where Sabrina is subservient to Chloe and Chloe is outright abusive to her. And no, it isn't funny nor does it give me any warm feeling seeing Sabrina be "accepted" back as Chloe's underling in Evilustrator or Antibug.

It also says something when out of all the classmates, she is the only one who didn't get an akuma episode that was fully her own. Her first akumatization, Vanisher, was just a lead up to Chloe's own akumatization in the episode "Antibug". And her second akumatization in "Miraculer" only happened because Hawk Moth tried to target and akumatize Chloe.

Sabrina clearly has no life that isn't centered around Chloe, and it's either played for laughs or portrayed as a GOOD thing by the other characters around her and in the show itself. In "Star Train", Sabrina was shown carrying luggage for Chloe including things for a spa treatment, and her own FATHER not only was aware of this, but encouraged it. This kind of feeds all the more into the issue that the adults of this show are incredibly stupid and useless.

She gets no personal focus. Whatever focus she DOES get is usually secondary to Chloe's issues of the day. Plus her subservience to Chloe is treated as a joke rather than an actual problem that should be addressed. Which is par from the course with how Chloe get away with everything in the show itself, but I digress. Sabrina is a lot of potential that much like everything else in this show, goes nowhere.

Evilustrator remains one of my least favorite episodes precisely because of how they did the B plot with Sabrina. It was the one time the series gave her focus and it gave some insight into the issues that Sabrina has, but rather than DO anything with that, it was played for laughs and ultimately went nowhere except right back to where things were at the start of the episode.

It kind of goes in lines with how the series itself never allows continuity, personal growth, or deviation from the status quo. It's also part of the reason there's a problem with Marinette being the only one to have to learn lessons.

Sabrina deserves better.