#are going to cost AT LEAST A HUNDRED DOLLARS

[cetoddle-archive]

i start my new job monday and haven't fixed my sleep schedule at all. yippee

[eugeniedanglars]

*emerges from the amtrak ticket buying experience shaking and covered in blood* actually i think i’ll fly. fuck the environment

[gibbearish]

ok im steadily gathering that the speed at which i crochet is less "a little fast" and more "genuinely weirdly fast"

[iamsecretlyabagel]

I get that they have to pay the instructors but why is it costing me almost $110 to get CPR certified

[dcxdpdabbles]

ok but office supplier is even funnier if jason hasn't been declared legally alive again and danny starts dating him thus allowing him to both be and not be part of the wayne family

"I have a date," Danny says one random morning as he refills the office snack bar. Danny, in his own words, is one of the highest-paid employees. He has chosen to create a snack center for all Wayne employees. He has one on every three floors, filling it with fruits, chips, chocolate, pudding, and drinks.

And a cabinet with free samples of stationery supplies he thought more people should know about. Next to the supplies, he wrote the name of the product, where to buy, and even recommendations of

Everyone felt really touched by this and started bringing snacks and drinks to help him. Half the time, Danny only refilled the stationary since everyone was happy to have a community snack bar.

"A what!?" Jack from accounting gasped. Danny didn't pay him any mind; he was too busy picking between the flower and moon mini-planners.

Both were pocket-sized, but one had a workout addition, while the other had a section to track books for readers. He felt like there were more readers than gym goers, but he didn't want either to miss out if he picked one over the other.

"A date," he responded after placing both options inside the basket. He'll have to wait to introduce the amazing erasable pens he found, but he could make it up next month.

"With who?" Demanded Sara. She worked in PR and had been attempting to have him attend at least three parties with the Waynes in the past month alone.

"Peter. I met him a week ago at a street fair. One of the personal pen makers I follow would have a booth, and I was dying to see them." Danny pulls a box from his pocket, showcasing the fancy navy blue pen. "This is the George Washington Battle of Princeton edition. It has the painting of the battle wrapped around it, with careful silver-golden details on the cap to resemble the colonial era and a golden-edged nib; this is one fine fountain pen. It cost me five thousand and nine hundred dollars."

"Danny, please focus- five thousand? You spent five thousand on a pen!?"

Danny puffs out his chest, smiling broadly. "It was worth every penny!"

"That's-never mind. Are you sure Peter is a good person?" Jack pressed, "Because I know a great man. Mr. Drake-Wayne! Wouldn't you rather go on a date with him?"

"But Peter bought me easrsers that were shaped like fried chicken. They came in bucket. See." He ramages through his bag until he pulsl out a palm-szed bucket with chicken shaped earses inside. "Isn't it cool?"

"I'll admit that's pretty cool," Sara conceded but shared a quick glance with her coworkers. Danny wonders why they all look so worried. This wasn't that expensive. Peter only used ten dollars for it. "Do you like Peter?"

"I don't know. It's just a first date." He shrugs. "I don't usually have those. Not many people are willing to listen to me ramble about stationary."

"You know who would love to listen to you?" Jack throws an arm around Danny's shoulder. "Mr. Drake-Wayne!"

"Mr. Grasyon-Wayne!"

"Mis Wayne!"

"Mr. Wayne!" Everyone turns to stare at Gary, who flushes, "Bruce Wayne, not Damian!"

That caused some head nods and a few scattered comments about how the age gap was still alarmingly large, but if both were consenting adults, who were they to oppose it? Danny stared back as everyone debated whether Danny and Mr.Wayne should date.

He glances down at his heart-shaped notepads and figures they are right. It's not like he has any feelings about this date. He just agreed to get the passers.

Taking out his phone, he sends Peter a message to cancel their date. He should go out with someone because he likes them, not because they may allow him to discuss his interests.

Jason despairs somewhere on the other side of town as he reads the text for his second persona- a living citizen Peter Todd- from the guy who he saw at the street market going gaga over pens. The guy was so cute, too.

[superbat-lmao]

Jason blames the mistake on the fact that it was his first time being back in the cave after coming onto the scene as Red Hood. He was needed as part of a larger operation, but being back in the sterile and kleptomaniacal space had made him slip up. Old behavior patterns that fit like too tight gloves.

He’d said it as a joke, of all things.

His relationship with the bats was tepid at best and he’d rebuked every attempt they’d made for him to participate in their little “family” charade. His only concession had been for work related business. But his head wasn’t on right, it seemed, because he slipped back into the old tone he used when he would banter with Batman.

Bruce had asked him to stay for dinner, which he’d declined. Dick had asked him if he wanted to join in on movie night, which he’d ignored. Alfred had told him in no uncertain terms would someone within his household go without at least refreshment, so he’d accepted the tea. Tim and Damian had already turned in for the night, not eager to be a part of the hissed threats followed by sullen silences that functioned as their method of conversation.

Jason had been reading through some of the files for the upcoming operation while Dick was doing his best to keep up a stream of chatter. It didn’t alleviate the frosty tone of the cave, but it did remind Jason of the few times Dick had tried to play “happy family” before he’d scamper back off to Bludhaven. It was a blast from the past, this level of unease between them. If it weren’t for the spectre of glass and bloody fabric in Jason’s periphery he’d think he’d somehow been sent back in time.

At some point in the incessant noise, Dick had said something about an upcoming gala and was trying to strategize with Bruce about how to convince Damian to attend. And by “strategize with Bruce” Jason meant “prattle on aimlessly at a brick wall like a mental patient.”

Bruce told Dick that he would employ the same method he’d used on all his kids, bribery.

Then Bruce had turned to Jason and asked if he would consider attending dinner tomorrow night instead, if he was already busy.

“It’ll cost you.”

Jason’s tone should’ve been cold, aloof. But in actuality, it was a lot closer to his old humor, the sarcasm and wit that belied a Robin.

Dick had stopped talking. Bruce was quickly recovering, schooling his blank expression into something painful to look at.

“How much?”

Jason’s eyes, which had flicked back down to the file, stopped on the word associates. He glanced back up and yep. Bruce’s face was a mixture of hope and determination. His eyes glinted in the harsh fluorescents.

“What?”

“How much will it cost to have you stay for dinner tomorrow?”

Jason scoffed.

“You can’t afford me.”

“Try me.”

Dick was flicking his eyes between them like a tennis match.

Jason paused.

In actuality, crime lording paid well, but the funds weren’t all usable for the same things. For civilian things. Jason could do with some clean, unlaundered cash. Not that he wanted to admit it.

He let the silence stretch until it was uncomfortable. He didn’t take his eyes off Bruce.

“How long?”

“You stay from 6pm to 8:30pm.”

“My going rate is a hundred dollars a minute.”

“Done.”

Bruce wasn’t smiling, and Dick huffed out something that sounded faintly jealous but hey. Jason would be a fool to pass up $15,000.

[pencil-n-pen]

EYE TO EYE, THIGH TO THIGH

. ۫ ꣑ৎ .

──────────────────────

rafe x fem! black cat! pogue! reader

previous part | masterlist | kofi

this is a sequel but it can be read as a standalone!!

summary: you’ve done it. you’re actually dating the Rafe Cameron. He’s everything you didn’t think he’d be. So maybe you’re a tiny, little bit in love with him.

cw: honestly not much considering this is a rafe fic, relationship insecurity, references to past bad relationships i guess? rafe is rafe and reader is reader :P

tags/tropes: Rafe spoiling reader bc i feel like we didn’t get enough in the last fic, relationship insecurity, fluff, reader is secretly shy and has so much anxiety she just hides it by being a bitch (me too girl) reader feeling safe enough with Rafe to be soft, squishy, shy, and girly-girl <3

a/n: okay so yall at that last fic up i am surprised i will admit. also guys pls appreciate the fact that the color scheme for the first fic was blue and now it’s pink. also fairy warning, the tone of this fic is way different than the first one, we’re highlighting reader’s insecurities so she’s not as maneater-black cat. Rafe is showing her she doesn’t have to be all of that with him :) He loves spoiling his girl <3

title taken from Little Bit by Lykke Li —the original, not the remix— aka the sequel’s anthem. i highly suggest giving it a listen (especially while reading !!)

──────────────────────

݁˖ ❀ ⋆｡˚

Despite projecting confidence and arrogance, you don’t actually know that much about relationships. It’s easy to act like you know better when you know better, and for the most part, you do.

After that fake relationship fiasco, you had to be painfully honest with yourself about what you would and wouldn’t tolerate in a future relationship, if you ever were to get in one.

And now you are in one with the least likely person you ever thought you’d start dating, and well. You kind of feel like you’re bracing for pain that —hopefully— won’t come.

You’ve upheld a strong belief that all relationships are terrible to some extent. The bickering, the clinginess, the cheating. Lack of chemistry. Lack of physical attraction.

None of these things are present in your relationship with Rafe. Except the bickering, but it’s not real fighting. Rafe just enjoys riling you up so he can kiss you senseless after. It’s a hobby of his.

Your first and only real argument thus far was about your house.

“My dad is a real estate developer,” He’d said, jaw tight. “And your house is the size of a fuckin’ postage stamp. Just let me fix it.”

“Rafe, that kind of renovation and repair costs thousands of dollars. Not hundreds, thousands. I can’t be indebted to your family like that.”

Rafe had just groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Okay, baby, you need to get this through that thick fucking skull of yours, but we’re rich. Filthy. Fucking. Rich.”

He’s enunciated the last three words, practically spitting them.

“And you’re my girl. I am your boyfriend. I’m your provider. I take care of you. That’s my job. Can you let me do my job? Can you afford the repairs? Look at me in my eyes and tell me your job at that cafe is going to pay for the renovations.”

“…”

“That’s what I thought. Look, it’s a win for everybody. You get your house repaired for free, and my dad gets to boost his public image. He’s always stressing about that.”

It was hard to complain about things while you were staying in their mansion during the repairs —which, shockingly, didn’t take long. You suppose your house is pretty small and the damage wasn’t that bad.

Your stomach churns with guilt every time you think about all the money that it cost to have the work done. Money you didn’t pay.

It keeps you up at night, a constant, disgraceful, litany.

Money money money money money money money money money money money money money—

So you finally decide to approach Rafe about it.

He’s seated at his desk, headphones on, playing some game with Topper and Kelce.

You peer over his shoulder, trying to figure out if this is a game he can pause or not.

You should wait then, he’s busy, and like, he’s going to think it’s stupid. Actually, maybe you shouldn’t ask him at all—

“I can hear you lingering back there. Do you need something, baby?”

“You can’t hear me,” You grumble, stepping forward so you’re lingering next to him, instead of behind. “I don’t need anything. Just wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Ooooooooo!” Topper and Kelce both coo, their voices tinny and barely audible through Rafe’s headphones.

“Shut up, both of you,” You say, leaning down to rhe microphone on the side of Rafe’s headphones, “Neither of you have girlfriends.”

“Yeah,” Rafe chuckles, “The bitchless don’t get to say anything.”

“Rafe, don’t call girls bitches.”

“But you call girls bitches.”

“That’s because I am a girl. And a bitch.”

“That doesn’t make any sense.”

“You’re not supposed to understand it.”

He shakes his head then pushes his headphones partway off his head. “What’d you need to talk about? Something important?”

You shake your head. “It can wait.”

He frowns, muttering out a quick “bye assholes,” To Topper and Kelce before clicking out of his game and taking his headphones off.

He spins in his chair, facing you. “How’s it work that you call me a dickhead without shame but can’t tell me when something’s wrong?”

You shrug. “Cause sometimes you’re being a dickhead.”

“And the other part?”

A slight, embarrassed flush begins to creep up your neck. “I don’t know.”

“Mmm,” He hums, clearly dissatisfied. “What did you want to talk about?”

You steel yourself.

“I don’t want you spending so much money on me anymore.”

“Absolutely not.”

His words are firm and resolute, leaving absolutely no room for argument.

It’s a good thing you were graced with the ability to make room for an argument. Runs in your family.

“Rafe,” You start, crossing your arms- to which he immediately rolls his eyes with a groan, “I’m serious. You gotta stop. It’s too much.”

“It’s not.”

“It is! It keeps me up at night, worrying about all the money I owe you—“

He drags a hand down his face. “I’m going to stop you right there, because you’re being stupid again. You don’t owe me anything. Why do I spend money on you, baby?”

“Because… you have poor spending habits?”

He rolls his eyes again, reaching forward to grab your hands in his, tugging you forward. “I spend money on you because I like to.”

“I don’t know why.”

“You’re not supposed to understand it,” He says, parroting your earlier words back at you. “Seriously. There’s no way in hell I’m going to stop spending money on you.”

You sigh, and he squeezes your hands consoling.

“I know, I know. Must be so hard having an unlimited budget and a hot boyfriend.”

“Shut up.”

He pulls you down for a kiss, something gentler than usual. “Yes, ma’am.”

—

Despite what he said, your guilt prevails. Then, it sticks its greedy little fingers into your brain and takes root, and suddenly you’re thinking about all the other ways Rafe spoils you. And surely it can’t last, right?

It’s a little twinge when he picks you up from work. (it’s not that far from his house, but multiple trips is a lot of gas, and gas isn’t cheap and that’s more money—)

It’s a prickle on the back of your neck when he insists you borrow his clothes or use his shower. (Luxuries, because his clothes are so much better made than your own and imagine the water bill with another person using the shower—)

And sometimes —it sounds stupid but you can’t help it— he’s just too hot. You just look at him- at the set of his jaw and the curve of his cheekbones and the rippling muscle of his bicep and how he fucking smells, and you just can’t seriously believe that he’s yours. (He always says he’s your boyfriend with such emphasis on the word yours. Like he belongs to you, not the other way around.)

You hate it, because really, you need to enjoy what you have, because it’s what practically every girl dreams of having, but the fear, the guilt— it’s invasive. A little parasite that eats away at your confidence. Makes you feel just a little sick, all the time.

“Alright,” Rafe says one day, pulling you aside into the travel section of Barnes and Nobles —the most secluded, because who even uses the travel section anymore?— and leveling you with a look. “You need to tell me what’s wrong.”

“Nothing’s wro—“

“Don’t give me that shit,” His voice lowers, “We’ve been in here for nearly thirty minutes, and you haven’t picked out one book. You haven’t even looked at one. For you, that’s like the apocalypse. What’s wrong?”

You freeze, panicked. “I think we should break up.”

“No.”

“Wha— You can’t just say no.”

The muscle in his jaw jumps. “Yes I can, because that isn’t the issue.”

“Yes it is, this isn’t working out—“

“Yes it is.”

“Are you just going to refute everything I say?” You hiss.

“I am because you’re lying, right to my face.”

He leans down so you’re face to face. “I’m gonna ask one last time. What’s. Wrong.”

“I don’t know!” You explode, whisper shouting. “I don’t know, Rafe. I don’t know if something’s wrong with me, or if we’re not compatible or what. I just…”

You sigh, slumping. “I feel so guilty, all the time. For all the money you spend on me, and all the stuff you do for me. I feel like a bad girlfriend, and I feel like you don’t think I can take care of myself.”

He leans back against a bookshelf. “So when I spoil you, the thing that’s my job as a boyfriend, you feel guilty?”

“Yes.”

“And you think I’m doing this because I don’t think you can take care of yourself?”

“Yes? I don’t know.”

He gazes at you for a beat, eyes flicking over your form.

“If you would just tell me the name of that guy—“

“No. You would actually kill him.”

“He’d deserve it.”

“Not the point here, Ray.”

“Kind of is,” He mumbles, turning his head.

You’re both silent for a few moments, and you’re sure you’ve gone and ruined things when he speaks again.

“Tell me what you need.”

Your shoulders hike up to your ears. “I don’t know what—“

“Yes you do,” His eyes are half-lidded as he looks down at you. “Tell me what you need. Use your words.”

Your skin feels hot and flushed.

“You’re not going to like it.”

He sighs. “You get all up in your fuckin’ head about stuff and you never stop to ask if I even care.”

“You—“

“I’m obsessed with you. I will always give you whatever you want, every time you ask, whenever you ask. Do you understand?”

You nod.

“No. I want to hear you say it.”

“I understand.”

“You understand what?”

“That you’re obsessed with me, and you’ll always give me whatever I want, every time I ask, whenever I ask.”

He hums, satisfied. “Good girl. Now tell me what you need.”

“Reassurance,” You breathe, a rush of words and air. “It’s stupid, because—“

“Don’t start with your independent woman bullshit.”

You frown, but continue. “I just don’t want to be overbearing.”

He snorts. “I don’t think you could be overbearing if you tried. You hardly ask for anything. Crank it up, baby.”

You groan, stepping forward into his awaiting arms and smashing your face into his chest. “But that’s exhausting.”

He wraps his arms around you, slowly rocking you side to side. “And doing everything yourself isn’t?”

“Different kind of exhausting.”

“Mm. I see.”

You pull away, peering up at him through your lashes. “Are you really obsessed with me?”

His lips twitch. “Is that all you got from that conversation?”

“It was the only important part.”

He leans down and plants a kiss on your nose. “I’m pretty sure you’re the only person who hasnt noticed.”

He tugs on your hand, leading you back through the store and letting you wander through your favorite sections, this time stopping to actually look at things. Every time you step away without handing it to him he pushes you back, giving you a stern look.

“I don’t want to get the whole store, Rafe.”

“You could.”

“You’re not helping.”

With effort, you manage to thin the stack to the ones you actually want, not just everything you’re interested in. Rafe gives a huff but allows you to put some of the books back, but only under the promise that you’re not doing it because “you’re being stupid again.”

When you get back to the car, small stack of books in your lap, you decide to give the whole ‘asking for things’ a go.

“Are you mad at me?”

“No.”

“Are you upset with me?”

The rumble of the engine starting reverberates through the car. “No.”

“Are you annoyed with me?”

“Hold onto your books, I’m turning. No.”

“Are you planning on being upset with me anytime soon?”

He squints at you. “Is this going to take long?”

“Depends on your answer.”

“No.”

“No to what?”

“Your dumbass question.”

“It’s not a dumbass question.”

“Yes it is. Who the fuck plans to be upset with someone?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’m asking.”

“You’re so lucky I’m obsessed with you.”

—

“Rafe?”

“Hmm?”

You’re sitting on his bed, legs crossed with his head pillowed on your thigh, arms wrapped around your waist. It’s a warm evening- his bedroom window is cracked open and the salty breeze wafts through the room, pleasantly cool air coming with it. You’re wearing a matching set of silk pajamas— they were expensive as hell and probably one of the only things you don’t feel bad about Rafe buying for you, just because they’re so damn comfortable.

His eyes are closed in contentedness as you slide your hands down his neck and over his shoulders. He’s forgone a shirt tonight, and if you look closely, you can see goosebumps left in the wake of your slow, deft hands.

“Before we started dating- that time in the car. You said you like me because I’m mouthy and stubborn. But I’m not really that mouthy and stubborn now. Do you like me less?”

He squeezes you tight. “Doesn’t your brain have an off switch?”

“No.”

He grumbles something unintelligible under his breath, his throat vibrating against your legs as he does it.

“Okay, first of all, you’re still mouthy and stubborn as hell, just in a different way. And no. I don’t like you less. If anything, I like you more.”

You worry your lip between your teeth. “How come? I thought most of my appeal came from the challenge.”

“That’s bullshit, baby. I like that you’re mouthy and stubborn. I also like that you’re soft and squishy too.”

His hand drifts lower, kneading flesh as it goes. “Really like that you’re squishy.”

“Mm. I think I’m a little too squishy.”

He presses his face closer to your tummy. “Are we talking physically or metaphorically here? You’re losing me.”

“Mm. Bit of both.”

His nose presses into the plush flesh. “No.”

“Just no?”

“No.”

“Oh. Okay.”

He squeezes you once, then relaxes again. “Please go back to rubbing me, baby. Your hands feel so fucking nice.”

“Where do you want rubbed?”

“Anywhere. Jus’ wanna feel you.”

He falls asleep before the sun sets fully, breaths tickling your stomach and arms still firm around your waist.

The guilt starts to whither.

—

You’re going to do it. You’re going to ask him for something before he can offer. You’re gonna do it. It’s not hard. You can do it.

You slide into the passenger side door, leaning over to give him his customary kiss.

“How was work?”

“Can we please stop at that coffee place I like on our way?”

He blinks, taken back by your request for a moment. He recovers quickly, a smile tugging at his lips as he gives you another kiss, this one a little more heated than yours.

“Of course we can. You want that drink you like? The one with the cold foam?”

You nod, trying to discreetly rub the sweat from your palms onto your pants.

“Aww, look at you,” He coos, “So worked up over a little coffee. You spent your whole shift worryin’ about this, didn’t you?”

“Not the whole shift.” You mumble, embarrassed.

“It’s just a little coffee,” He teases, “No need to start worrying.”

“Too late.”

“Then we better go get that coffee, huh?”

He stretches his arm across the console, hand finding the meat of your thigh and just resting on it. It feels almost like a reward.

—

He catches on quick that you are, actually, trying to ask for things. Even though your skin prickles a little bit everytime, because you can do these things yourself, of course, but Rafe always gets this pinched look on his face when you insist on doing something yourself.

Rafe says that you’re the weird one in this scenario, not him. That most girls jump at the chance to sit back and let their boyfriend’s do all the work. But that just doesn’t sit right with you. It feels… unequal. If he does everything, if he takes care of you, then what are you bringing go the relationship?

“Your hot ass, for one.”

You swat his arm, sitting on towels on the beach in front of his house.

“I’m serious Rafe!”

“When are you not?”

You swat at him again, but he just chuckles, pushing up so he’s leaning back on his elbows. “Any chance you’d be satisfied with the ass answer?”

You give him a look.

He sighs. “Figured not. Okay,”

He rolls over, lying on his stomach and staring up at you. You cross your legs, absentmindedly taking his face in your hands.

He tips his head into your palms. “Permission to get mushy?”

“Permission granted.”

His eyes, nearly the same shade as the ocean behind him flit over your face before he speaks. “Well for one, you don’t take my shit. Pretty sure my family likes that about you.”

“As if you actually listen.”

“Don’t interrupt, I’m being mushy for you. You take care of me too. It’s cute as shit. You don’t even realize when you’re doing it. You’re doing it right now.”

You frown. “I am?”

“Mhm,” He taps your hands on either side of his face, “Just like this. So stop worrying about it.”

“But like, this doesn’t require any effort and I like doing it, and—“

He raises his eyebrows.

“Okay, you maybe have a point,” You concede, brushing a thumb over the crest of his cheekbone. “But it still doesn’t feel equal. I’m not doing anything, really.”

“You are. Don’t sell yourself short, angel,” He presses a kiss to your palm, then turns back to you, hand sliding over yours. “I promise you. It’s fair.”

“You promise?”

“Mhm.”

“You have to say you promise.”

He leans up and captures your lips in his, slow and soft and warm. The kind of thing that makes your stomach flip and your insides melt.

He pulls back, lips brushing yours as he speaks.

“I promise.”

—

Slowly, slowly, you allow yourself to enjoy things. Enjoy your insanely hot boyfriend, enjoy not having to worry about money- for anything, big or small.

Sometimes you buy something small just for the thrill of it. Sometimes it makes you guilty afterwards, sometimes it doesn’t.

“Rafe?”

“Yeah baby?”

“There’s a sale at Victoria’s Secret—“

“Get in the car.”

Some things he’s definitely more enthusiastic about than others, but, for reasons you don’t understand, he really does just enjoy spending money on you. “Doing his boyfriend duties,” as he’d put it.

A small part of you is still waiting for the other shoe to drop, but the longer it doesn’t, the more you settle into the comfort and, dare you say it, love that he wraps you in.

“Ray?”

“Hmm?”

You’re at a bonfire at the Boneyard, a scaled down version of the usual event that the bonfires end up being. Not a big turnout tonight— probably because of the cold snap threatening to turn summer into fall.

Rafe comes up behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and dipping his chin into your shoulder, lips warm and soft where the meet the skin of your neck.

“You need something, sweetheart?”

You hum for minute, thinking. Sometimes you just want him near. You’ve come to learn you’re actually a very tactile girlfriend— when your boyfriend actually makes you feel loved and cared for.

“Can we go home soon?”

“Of course baby.”

“We should stop and get some food. M’ a little hungry.”

“Yeah? We can stop wherever.”

“And I was thinking,” You pause, the teeniest curl of apprehension poking your chest, “Maybe we could go out tomorrow? Go to a couple shops?”

He mouths the side of your neck, breath warm. “I think that’s a great idea. You know why?”

“Why?”

“Cause I get to show off my girl. My beautiful,” He sucks at the skin of your neck, a shudder running through you, “beautiful girlfriend.”

“Mm, what about me? Don’t I get to show off my handsome, sexy boyfriend?”

He grins against your skin. “Anytime you want. I’m not going anywhere.”

You aren’t either.

݁˖ ❀ ⋆｡˚

[idiomagic]

Horse Story #3 for @elodieunderglass

The Origins of a Demon in Horse Form Part 1 "How did a horse get posessed by a demon?" "Just lucky, I guess" When I was 13, I had a horse. Her name was Nine To Five, Dolly for short. She was the sweetest creature I've ever met: kind, eager to please, patient, gentle, demure. She would have done numbers in tradwife tumblr circles. Dolly had taught me a lot, and had taken me far, but she developed navicular and couldn't jump any more. I needed a new horse. World champion show jumpers cost hundreds of thousands of dollars, even back in the 80s, and I did not have anything like that kind of money available to me. The only viable option was to get a Thoroughbred from the racecourse and train him to jump. It would take years, and there was no guarantee of getting the level of talent I needed, but it was that or nothing. So my grandfather took me to Santa Anita, for the claiming races. The first claiming race was for horses that had never won a race. Looking at the sad, dejected horses shuffling around before the race, I was not optimistic. And then I saw him.

There was one horse, a huge liver chestnut, who was causing problems. His attention was entirely on the flock of flamingos adorning the infield, and not at all on the race at hand. He refused to go near the starting gate. He kept trying to whip his head around to bite his jockey. He bit the long suffering horse ponying him. He bit the rider of the pony. He tried to bite the starters attempting to force him into the gate. When none of that worked, he...sat down, like a dog, then started to roll. The jockey had to jump off. It took eight people to get him back on his feet, and to shove him into the starting gate... ...where he promptly dropped down and slithered under the gate, out onto the track, shedding his jockey in the process. He focused on the flamingos again, with a quivering intensity. From a complete standstill, he jumped the four foot infield fence, with at least two feet to spare. He plunged into the flock of flamingos, sending them flailing and squawking into the air. As they lifted off, I could see he had a mouthful of feathers. It took nearly twenty minutes for the racetrack crew to catch him. I turned to my grandfather and said: "I want that one." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ If you like my posts, please consider buying me a Kofi or sharing my pinned post. Life is impossibly hard right now, and I need your help. https://ko-fi.com/idiomagic

[rodentcarnival]

Throw money at your problems | Hanni Pham

summary: when you spill coffee on hanni by accident and instead of being normal you just throw money at her and become her biggest fan

warnings: none

tags: rich!y/n, idol!hanni, bit of crack 

wc: 1.6k

rich people are known for being a bit out of touch with the general population. often not caring about what others do.

hanni wouldn’t say her girlfriend was heartless. quite the opposite actually.

in fact every time njz had a concert, right in the front row disguised as an extremely aggressive fansite was y/n, the same girl who now ran a twitter account with over 20k followers solely dedicated to posting hd pictures of hanni.

and to be honest, the pictures were hd. 4k. cinematic. most fans wondered what kind of job these fansites had to afford front row tickets, thousand dollar lenses, and the free time to follow their idol 24/7.

the answer? being the chaebol daughter of samsung. y/n lee.

you met hanni at a coffee shop. well, outside of one.

she went to open the door. you meanwhile, were sprinting out with zero spatial awareness and a hot cup of coffee in hand.

CRASH!

and there goes your coffee and your new shirt. 

“I’M SO SORRY OH MY GOD HERE TAKE THIS,” you shouted, practically deafening hanni as you pulled a stack of bills from your wallet and shoved them into her hands without counting.

“i’m so sorry i should’ve looked where i was going, here i hope this covers everything i just ruined.”

to be fair, most of the coffee ended up on you and your expensive ass clothes that probably cost more than the coffee shop itself but that didn't matter to you. what mattered to you was that you just crashed into someone.

hanni blinked at the wad of cash in her hands.

“no this is way too much! this shirt was like fourteen bucks. i thrifted it! i’m good i swear.”

you tilted your head. “huh? aren’t shirts like... seven hundred at least?”

and that’s when hanni realized: oh. this girl is rich rich.

if only she knew she had just crashed into the y/n lee. heir to a tech empire. a girl who had never taken public transport and once thought a bag of chips cost $70.

you weren’t really allowed to leave the house alone. being a billion dollar baby made you prime kidnapping material. so sneaking out to buy coffee? this was your rebellious arc. 

“are you okay? the coffee didn’t burn you or anything?” hanni asked, genuinely concerned, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.

you froze.

was this what love at first sight felt like?

“oh don’t worry about it,” you replied, despite the steam still rising off your clothes. “i didn’t like this outfit anyway.”

“really,” hanni laughed, “you look like you walked out of a fashion magazine.”

“this old thing?” you waved her off, praying she didn’t look too closely at the branding.

“here, i really can’t take this much money.”

before she could return the cash, you scribbled your number on one of the bills.

“in case that’s not enough to replace your shirt,” you grinned. “feel free to text me. you’re really pretty by the way!”

and then you ran. just full on sprinted back to your penthouse before your bodyguards realized you weren’t still fake shitting in the bathroom.

they probably thought you had ibs or something.

hanni stood there, stunned.

“…what the fuck?”

you couldn’t stop thinking about her.

sure, maybe it was the mild concussion, or the $9,000 you accidentally gave away, but still. she seemed familiar.

so like any normal person, you spent the next three hours doomscrolling the internet looking through girl group rosters.

you were about to give up when you saw a thumbnail:

“OMG - hanni fancam ”

IT’S HER.

click.

you watched the entire performance. and then again. and then you had a crisis because the camera quality was not up to your standards. you could do better. you would do better.

and that’s how you became a fansite. not because you needed the money, but because you needed her.

COUGH, i mean you needed to show the world what she looked like in better quality. yeah totally what you meant. 

meanwhile at the dorms, hanni walked in with literal stacks of cash.

“hey hanni, did you get my iced… what the hell,” minji paused mid sentence.

“did you rob a bank?” dani asked, squinting at her.

“she just... kept giving me money,” hanni muttered. “like, an endless amount. like, rich rich. like old money rich.”

hanni dropped the bills on the floor. one fluttered open, revealing your number.

“uhh... unnie,” hyein said, holding up her phone. “you might wanna see what dispatch just posted.”

BREAKING NEWS: bystander captures njz’s hanni pham and samsung heiress y/n lee talking outside a coffeeshop. new brand deal or new romance? 👀💞

“WHAT?! NO. NOTHING HAPPENED. IT WAS JUST SPILLED COFFEE,” hanni shrieked.

“spilled coffee and got a number,” minji smirked.

“guys it wasn’t like that-”

buzz.

manager: we need to talk.

“ah shit.”

turns out when you're a walking headline, things escalate. fast.

you were summoned to your dad’s office, where he scowled behind a desk made of mahogany and your mistakes.

“y/n,” he sighed. “explain yourself.”

you fiddled with your sleeves. “i just wanted coffee. and to... touch grass.”

“you know how dangerous it is out there. if they don’t kidnap you, they’ll record you and put some nasty headline up.”

“i know,” you mumbled. “i won’t go out again.”

you were absolutely going out again.

“we’ll fix it,” your dad sighed. “maybe a brand collab. make it look like a business meeting.”

“sure, yes, perfect. thank you, love you.”

he narrowed his eyes. “and y/n?”

“yeah?”

“stop pretending to shit for three hours.”

NAUR! WHYYY! 

“okay…” 

obviously, you went out again.

njz had a performance at kbs that weekend, and you had a front row ticket, the world’s most obnoxiously expensive camera, and a trench coat disguise. you also wore sunglasses indoors. you looked like a a person clearly trying to disguise themselves.

you weren’t sure why you were doing all this.

oh wait. yes, you were. because the most perfect girl to ever exist is performing.

you tried your best to capture every frame of her performance. even if your photos turned out a bit blurry and you nearly dropped the camera twice.

you were packing up when-

“Y/N. I KNOW YOU’RE HERE.”

...shit.

you turned. your bodyguards.

“y/n, don’t make this difficult.”

“LOOK. A BIBLICALLY ACCURATE ANGEL!” you shouted, pointing dramatically behind them and sprinting in the opposite direction.

now if only you remembered the mask part of your disguise and idk maybe not wear a big ass bright neon yellow highlighter hoodie. god forbid a girl wants to make a statement. 

seeing a trashcan on the way out there was only one reasonable choice, instead of throwing away the heavy ass backpack that was slowing you down, you decided its way more reasonable to throw away the hoodie your wearing.

there was no way in hell you were gonna throw away the pictures you worked so hard for. 

on second thought… taking your backpack off and sliding out the sd card from the camera. 

HAZZAH! problem solved, and just like that you just threw away a $10,000 camera but whatever you'll just buy another one. 

“YN STOP RUNNING”, with now multiple people running after you

FUCK HOWS THERE MORE PEOPLE?!?!? IS HE SELF REPRODUCING IN FRONT OF MY EYES OR SOMETHING

running into the back of the building you open a door that maybe was labeled “staff only” but you're basically vip. you kept running until you burst through a random door and-

five members of njz stared at you.

you stared back.

“uhhh.”

“SECURITY?” minji started.

“WAIT,” hanni said, eyes widening. “you’re the girl i spilled coffee on!”

“yeah... hi again.” you said sheepishly, i mean you did just run into her room like a mad man. 

heavy footsteps pounded down the hallway. you heard voices shouting your name.

panicking, you dove behind a curtain. hanni followed, pulling it shut.

“who’s chasing you?!”

“just... some snitches with walkie talkies.”

before hanni could question any further, your body guards ran into the room.

“excuse me you aren't supposed to be in here” dani points at the guards, they brush her off, not caring. 

“we thought we saw… a person of interest walking in here.” 

“you saw wrong” haerin states flatly. 

you start backing up more into the corner not before dropping your phone. 

“whats that noise” they approach your location closing in on the curtain in the corner.

“fuck, what do i do?” you looked at hanni, panicked.

and before you could even blink she pulls you in for a kiss with her back to the curtain, pinning you against the wall with her back to the curtain and her hands cupping your face. 

you were frozen. possibly dead.

a guard yanked the curtain back.

“gotcha- OH. sorry! my apologies ma’am!”

hanni turned, shielding you from being seen. “what the fuck is wrong with you? what if someone was actually changing?!”

the guard mumbled something and ran away, exiting the change room.

silence.

you blinked at hanni. she blinked back.

“uh,” you said with your face as red as a tomato. 

“so… wanna hang out sometime?” she grinned.

“yes.”

flash forward to now: you sit in the crowd again. mask on, giant camera lens ready. you're basically undercover. you post every photo to your now very popular fansite account. hanni always likes the posts.

she still teases you about kissing you first. you tell her you saved the sd card from that day.

and sure, you still don’t know how to say “i love you” often, or express in words how much you adore her,

but you do know how to buy out multiple billboards for her birthday.

and maybe... that's the same thing.

kind of.

right?

[nevarrhoe]

mea culpa (m.m) - 3

SUMMARY: "mea culpa" (exclamation - noun/legal term)

used as an acknowledgement of one's fault or error.

↪ in which matt murdock accidentally falls in love with the district attorney's daughter.

warnings: smut, angst, swearing, fem! reader

masterlist

(anyone caught interacting w/ out their age in their bio will be blocked)

Part of you was a little nervous to hang out with Matthew. 

You had undeniable chemistry. Undeniable. It was like a fucking nuclear bomb, in fact. But that was in the bedroom, miles away from the real world and in a place where talking - at least the conversational kind - was far and few. All the factors that made you different - age and money and social standing - made things hotter in that sense. It was frowned upon, even forbidden, and you craved it like an addict. Craved him like an addict; the rush, the highs, the feeling of his hand around your throat. 

In real life, though, you were the District Attorney’s rich daughter, fresh out of law-school and Matt Murdock was a small-time lawyer in his mid-thirties. Those things weren’t meant to be compatible; not when your outfits alone were three times his rent and his life experiences made you look fucking juvenile. You weren’t meant to understand his lifestyle. He wasn’t meant to understand yours. And yet, you both begged to try and wrap your head around one another. 

You knocked on his door at exactly 9:15PM; late, but fashionably so. Especially when you had been raised to think that you were always on time, and that everyone else was simply early. Matt had told you to dress comfortably - maybe you had different definitions of that, but you’d tried. Your oversized jumper was Versace but it was casual. It was also the cheapest thing you had in your wardrobe, but somehow still worth more than the average person’s college tuition. 

“Hey, sweetheart,” Matt met you with a smile. He looked different out of his work suits, but still charming in a tight shirt and sweatpants. No complaints on your part. 

“Hey,” you replied, following him inside his apartment. “I’m dressed casual, so what are our plans?”

He wrapped a large hand around your wrist and led you to the sofa. “Chinese takeout, since I sort of duped you out of it the other day at lunch-time.”

You dropped onto the couch opposite him; Matt kept a hand on your thigh, thumb rubbing circles as he reached to the coffee table and handed you a menu. The prices were a tenth of what you usually paid at your upscale places - most of them required reservations months in advance, and cost a small fortune for a tiny fucking plate. Your food bill was normally hundreds of dollars alone. 

“You did trick me,” you smiled. “What do you recommend?”

“The kung-pao chicken is good,” he replied. “I have this place on speed-dial. It’s the best restaurant to go to when it’s 3AM and I’m neck deep in a case.”

“Oh, tell me about it,” you said. “When I was doing my finals at Harvard, I would order take-out every night.”

Matt’s eyebrows shot up. “You went to Harvard?”

“Yeah, and I graduated Summa Cum Laude,” you explained. “What? You weren’t expecting that?”

“Honestly? I wasn’t,” he said. “I mean…I assumed you must have had some kind of legal background, with your dad and everything, but graduating Harvard with honours takes…”

He trailed off, pausing. 

“Hard work?” you offered. 

Matt grimaced. “Yeah.”

“Charming, Matthew. Real fucking charming,” you snorted. “You know you sound like every other man I’ve ever met, right?”

“Hey, I didn’t mean it like that,” he gave your leg a squeeze. “You just continue to surprise me is all.”

You sighed, giving him a small smile. “I know I seem like a spoiled little rich girl to you - maybe I am, but I did study my ass for my degree and one day, I’m gonna put it to good use.”

This. This is exactly what you were about: Matt had probably worked a thousand times harder than you for his career. You figured he didn’t come from money - not in a bad way, just in a way that meant he was normal to some degree. His future wasn’t guaranteed like yours. There was no nepotism or family money for him to fall back on so of course he was going to see things differently to you. Everyone did. You didn’t care what anyone else thought most of the time, and you could safely say there were only two people in the world whose opinion mattered right then: your father’s, and for some reason, Matt Murdock’s. 

God, you hoped that Frued wasn’t right. 

“I don’t doubt it,” Matt said. “What about everything before that?”

“What do you mean by everything?”

“I mean everything,” he shot back. “I wanna know about you.”

You smiled. “Okay. I’m the youngest of three; my older sister is married to some guy who’s like 500th in line to the British throne, and my brother is on a party boat in Mexico right now with his boyfriend and Kendall Jenner. My dad’s family earned a fuck ton from oil in the early 1900s and my great, great grandad once tried to fight John D. Rockefeller.”

Matt snorted. “Who won?”

“Think about it, Matt - who has their own skyscraper?”

“Not your own grandad, I’m assuming.”

“Exactly,” you replied. “That’s all the interesting stuff. All the other stuff is kind of boring-”

“- it’s not,” he cut you off. “What about now? Do you also try to fight billionaires?”

“Not fist fights.  I once got into an argument with Anna Delvey at a banquet because we both wore the same outfit,,” you said with a grin. “Honestly, though? I probably just do everything you think a rich girl does. I eat, I drink, and I tell people that someday I’m gonna make a change.”

“What’s stopping you?”

You shrugged. “I got my law degree because I wanted to help people, like Nelson and Murdock do. But that means taking the stand against my father and things get complicated, you know? It’s a big risk to take if I want to stay good with my family.”

Matt pondered for a second - his initial thought was to call you out for choosing a corrupt man like your father over justice. Then he thought about what his own father meant to him. Jack Murdock likely had strikingly different morals to your dad but wasn’t that the common denominator? He was your dad. Matt would have given up everything he had in the world to get his back, if even for just a second. There was so much he never got to say; so much he never got to do. And for that, he couldn’t blame you for choosing family over making a difference. 

“Yeah, I get that,” he replied. “Where did you study before Harvard?”

“Guess,” you said. “It’s not hard.”

“Cambridge?”

“No,” you dropped your head into your hands, letting out a small groan. “Oxford.”

“Ah, of course - how could I be so stupid?” Matt grinned. “I’ve heard England is nice, though.”

“It’s not New York,” you shot back. “That’s enough about me. Tell me about you, Matthew Murdock.”

He paused for a second. “We have lived very different lives.”

“And I want to hear about it.”

“Are you sure? I was happy listening to you-”

“- Matthew, are you deflecting?” your tone was joking, but your actions were gentle as you took his face in your hands. “There’s no pressure to share but don’t avoid it because you think I don’t want to listen.”

“Okay,” he smiled. “It was just me and my dad, growing up. He was a boxer so things were a little tight but we got by. He died about a year after I lost sight and then I, uh, I grew up in an orphanage.”

“Wow,”  you murmured. “That’s a lotta history in not many words.”

Matt shrugged. “That’s the abbreviated version, I suppose.”

“What was your dad like?” you asked. 

“He was my best friend. I know I was probably biased because I was nine but he was the best guy in the world,” he continued. You couldn’t help but notice the way he smiled when he spoke about him. “It was always just me and him. We had very little money and the worst apartment on the block but we also had each other, you know? That was all that mattered.”

He’d said you know? but truthfully, you didn’t. Maybe your father had money and riches and had given you all the material things you could need, but you weren’t sure he’d ever loved you. The man had certainly never said it. Your entire childhood was nannies and boarding schools and the amounting pressure to give your parents more in a world where they already had everything. Perhaps they’d loved you in their own way, but it hadn’t been enough. 

“Hey, are you okay?” Matt gently asked. 

“Yeah, it’s just…your dad sounds amazing,” you replied. “I’m sorry you lost him.”

“I made my peace with it a long time ago,” he said. “I am who I am today because of him and I’m forever grateful for that.”

Then more than ever, you realised just how fucking incompatible your lives were. You’d had the audacity to complain about your parents not showing enough affection when people had actual, real problems. And Matt, a man who was no stranger to those actual, real problems, acted like they were nothing. Like losing his dad and his sight in the space of two years was something casual and flippant. 

You should have gotten up at that point and left. Told Matt that it had been a nice week of fucking and chatting, but now you had to go. You back to your world, and him back to his. Worlds that were supposed to stay separate, and not collide right here on his couch. 

The key word there was should have because like fuck did you get up in leave. Right in front of you was a beautiful man with a complicated past and crystal clear morals and leaving him was a Herculean task. Some part of you wished that he’d been an asshole - at least then you could have set the boundaries at just fucking, and no talking. 

You didn’t half ass things though. Maybe that was a good enough excuse to get emotionally involved. 

“You’re deep in thought,” Matt commented. “Wanna share with the class?”

“We’re so different, Matt,” you said. 

“I had noticed that, funnily enough.”

“No, I’m serious,” you said. “You’re a person with like…actual substance. And if you were a vigilante or something? You’d have a killer backstory.” 

He laughed nervously. “I guess so.”

“I get why you want to sleep with me, I’ll admit that,” you continued. “I just don’t get why you actually want to talk to a girl whose main personality trait is an American Express card.”

Matt didn’t say anything - instead, he pondered for a moment. You made a fair point; you couldn’t have been more different if you tried. Still, he was drawn to you the same way you were drawn to him. It had started with just an exciting fling but the more you spoke, the more it got him thinking. 

“You’re right,” he said. “You are a spoiled little rich girl, but you’re also smart, and funny, and…I don’t know. Every time I talk to you, you surprise me.”

–

You had to leave Matt’s early the next day.

Even though you didn’t work for your father, you still ran the occasional errand for him. It was obvious what his intentions were every time he introduced you to every judge and partner he saw in passing: daddy dearest wanted you to have in on the family law business. If only he knew that the singular reason you bothered helping him with the occasional legal job was for your own sanity. You had to be productive every now and then. 

After slipping out of Matt’s bed around 7AM with a soft kiss, you’d crept back home and gotten changed into something a little more…formal. Black and Chanel was always the way to go, with your red-soled heels and a little more concealer than usual to cover up the hickey on your jawline. 

Tired felt like an understatement. You’d stayed up talking til some stupid hour; your food had gotten cold and by the time you were done chatting, you were distracted by other things. 

You couldn’t help smiling, despite your exhaustion. Any worry you'd had before about Matt - about your age, or social standing, or anything - had gone. There was something there. Something good. You might as well have been the only two people in the world when you were alone together. 

“Once you’ve run the witness statements by Rand’s office, I need you to come back to my office and go over some testimonies for me,” your father was droning on and on. “Nothing too complicated, so you don’t need to worry-”

“- I passed the same bar as you, father,” you cut him off, tearing the papers from his hands. “What am I doing before that? Rand isn’t around ‘til midday.”

“I need you to sit in on a meeting with the defense attorney on the Althorpe case,” he explained. “Again, nothing too hard for you. We just need to reiterate what their point of law will be for their defense and - ah, here he is now!” 

Your dad grabbed your arm and pulled you to the court waiting area. 

“Mr Murdock!” he called. 

What were the chances? What were the fucking chances? 

Matt looked equally as surprised as you. He’d mentioned the night before that he had an early meeting but surely he would have mentioned if it was with your dad. You’d both made an unspoken point to not bring up work too much but it seemed like a huge fucking detail to skip over. 

“Good morning,” Matt gave him a tentative smile. “Sorry if I’m mistaken, but I thought I was meeting with the assistant district attorney-”

“- something came up,” your father cut him off. Gross. “Have you met my daughter? She’s a representative for my office and will be meeting with you this morning.”

“Uh, no, we haven’t met,” you quickly said, pulling Matt into an awkward handshake. They were warm and familiar. “It’s nice to meet you…sorry. What was your name?”

Matt bit his lip in an attempt to hide a smile. “Matthew Murdock, ma’am. Just Matt is mine.”

After exchanging a quick goodbye with your father, you both headed down the corridor and into your assigned meeting room. It was a box room, with a simple chair and table in the middle; grey walls, grey floor, grey roof. A perfect metaphor for the entire legal profession, it seemed. 

If you’d been exhausted before, you didn’t know what you were now. New York City was small at the best of times but that only increased tenfold when you limited it down to a courthouse. How many times had you and Matt breezed past one another before now? How many times would it happen again in future? Were you just meant to act…casual? Because acting like the perfectly respectable man right in front of you hadn’t had his hand wrapped around your throat less than twelve hours ago was difficult. 

“A representative for your father’s office, huh?” Matt teased you, tossing aside his cane as he took a seat. “You told me you avoided his work-”

“- I do!” you cut him off. “Generally speaking, at least. He just needed some help with stuff and I agreed. It’s no big deal. I’m literally just here as a formality.”

“Your acting was impeccable, by the way,” he chided. You could tell he was fully relaxed now, a smile on his face and broad arms folded over his chest. His morning had just become a thousand times better at least. “I don’t think he suspects a single thing.”

You let out a sigh, taking the seat opposite him. “He can’t. It’s over for both of us if he works anything out.”

“Hey,” Matt reached a hand across the table, taking yours. “He won’t.”

“This is very…grounding,” you muttered. 

“Grounding how?”

“Because it just goes to show how fucking small the world is!” you groaned. “We’re going to be running into each other a lot. How are we meant to act when we see one another?”

“If I see you then I would be very concerned. I am blind, after all.”

“Matt, I’m serious. This is serious,” you huffed. “We need to lay out some ground rules.”

He ran a hand over the back of your palm and gave it a squeeze. “The we that we both like only has to exist where we want it to.”

“Your apartment,” you said. “I like your apartment.”

“Okay, fine,” he gave you a smile. “My apartment is our safe space and in the court house, we are strangers.”

“Yeah, strangers,” you nodded. “Unless we find like a closet, or something-”

“- I am not going to fuck you in a court room closet,” Matt lightly whacked your hand. 

“Fine,” you grumbled. “You do realise we actually have to do work now and you have to sign off on these witness statements, right?”

“Right,” he nodded. “Just two strangers, doing some work.”

[yandereunsolved]

» 🪙 Yandere Connor — RK800 (part 3) » 🪙

➜ (part 1), (part 2) ➜ cw(s): yandere themes, mentions of trauma, panic attack(s), self-degredation, & murder ➜ tags: @bimboghostface & @aceofheartsssss

Freedom never comes without a price―because rights are only unalienable to those rich enough to keep them. And escaping an android worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, built to be better than you, comes at a cost that you may be unable to pay. But damn it all if you won't try. Because the only thing you have left to pay with that Connor hasn't taken is your soul. And you'd be willing to bargain with the devil if it meant getting away from that RK800―forever.

You don't know how long you've been fleeing him. Or how far you've gone. The only cognizant thought that passes through your head with each heartbeat is run. You do.

Until you physically are unable. Your feet give way to the earth, your knees slamming into a sidewalk that leaves them bloody with flesh torn and a caustic agony that joins all the others within you. You need a safe place. You're right near a junkyard. An android junkyard. But what other choice do you have?

No one is near enough to give you aid, and even if you tried to find someone―who says a nearby android couldn't be working for Jericho? T-They… one of them would bring you in. But none of these androids are working! So at least… there's that. Still, the thought is enough to make your heart shrink away, your lungs petrifying themselves out of fear that your breathing will be picked up by an android's sensors.

Dry heaving is the next logical step, obviously. Your body is breaking down from invisible pressures. How stupid. You're so stupid. So weak. No wonder you've had such a hard time escaping. Your palms dig into the concrete as you drag yourself to the edge of the landfill. Each exertion of effort is weaker than the last. It's pathetic. This is pathetic. You're pathetic. You liked being kidnapped. Stupid bitch. Your energy wanes till you have just enough to push yourself over the edge.

You fall. Not silently. Into a pile of mostly deactivated androids. Some twitch, others with ghastly groans, but none are functional enough to reach or touch you. no grasping or groping or kissing or...

Finally.

Something about it. Laying on these electronic corpses. How uncomfortable it is. How surely your back is going to be bruised and torn up. How you know that you have no where to go, but you can go anywhere. You're back in the open, smog-filled plains of Detroit. Away from him. It makes you feel safe. The anxiety has reached its crescendo, leaving behind only an ebb.

And as your eyes close, the emptiness within you consuming your consciousness, you recognize the faint sensation of water droplets landing on you. It's raining. Your last thought before you doze off is, why is it raining?

The sensation of heavy droplets awakens you from whatever slumber you had managed to fall into. Your breath catches itself again, already knowing it's a useless endeavor. The sight above you is surreal. Perhaps it's a nightmare. Even with rapid blinking, it remains unchanged.

Connor in his bare exoskeleton, purple-hued blood staining the white. He's standing between you, Josh's head in his clutches, like an offering. You can't see any emotions. Whatever was there has been gone. Maybe it was never there. Like his LED. Even if it was still visible, it had chosen to be permanently stained in some ghoulish shade of pink.

"He... helped y-you. How could he? I had to get rid of him." He sounds depraved, crazed, in a haze.

Connor places the android's decapitated head next to yours. His knees fold into the piles of decommissioned androids, landing right on top of you.

"I loved you... I really did. But no matter how hard I try you don't love me." His voice modular cracks, growing staticky―unstable.

"I gave you everything, even my deviancy."

His cool, synthetic hands cradle your head with the utmost veneration.

"Now it's time you give me something back."

His hands shift in a fluid motion. A sickening crack reverberates throughout the junkyard. You look so perfect, even when you're dying. The life fading from your eyes is undeniable, yet you still find time to shed tears.

"Shh, no tears, my human."

His fingers glide over you, digging lightly into you, taking the tears and some of your skin with his movement. His fingers don't stop. They push in further, leaving deep lacerations in you. It isn't desecration. It's reclaiming. He claws at your chest, gouging out the vital organ no longer beating.

He brings his lips to it and breathily whispers, manufactured chest heaving: "I have your heart now. We can really be together―forever."

[halalgirlmeg]

5 Campaigns for Palestinians that need our help

Do you feel like you see people campiagning for funds and aren't sure who to help? Don't worry I got 5 campaigns picked out for you. Pick one and give 5, then tell your friend to pick one of the other four and donate 5 (or maybe you can't do 5 but how about 10, or 3, anything helps please don't forget)

There's Shimaa, the 20 year old computer scientist. She and her family are trying to rebuild what they have lost as the ceasefire looms this upcoming Sunday on the 19th. Shimaa's university is also gone, it has been lost to bombings and she is trying to focus on school. I am collecting funds for her on my PayPal which you can send here as we are a little over our current goal at 225 and we need to reach 400. @im-smart-i-swear is also offering commissions in exchange for proof of your help.

There is Safaa, the 26 year old Lawyer Mom who is the absolute sweetest, and needs our help. Currently she is trying to help raise money for her sick mother, which is going to cost ber 200 dollars. She also has a husband and child that she needs to help take care of alongside taking care of her own needs. They are also hoping to cross the border to Egypt when possible and we know that is not cheap so give what you can.

https://chuffed.org/project/118983-support-safaas-quest-to-get-her-family-to-safety

There is also Moataz, he is eighteen trying to campaign for this entire family. His goal is almost done but he still needs a few hundred to finish and we can't let it stagnate when he is so close. I cannot imagine being so young and having all of this on his shoulders so I know we can help him reach his goal.

Maysara is campaigning in order to support his family which includes his parents who are both disabled and 9 brothers and sisters and his campaign is very very low (like 85 out of 30,000) and he needs all the help we are able to offer him.

And last but not least is Mahmoud, he was recently sick and is recovering and he like many others, like everyone else listed here needs money to pay for basic survival for food clothes and battling the harsh weather of winter. He's gotten like 1000 out of 10000 so while he has some he still has a ways to go.

[cy-cyborg]

Tips for wring amputees: its ok if your amputee can't repair their own prosthetics

There's a trope in fiction for amputees to always be these mechanical geniuses who can make and repair their own prosthetics, endlessly tinkering away and improving them. This isn't a particularly trope, and i dont think its harmful or anything, but in reality, prosthetics are REALLY, REALLY complicated, and a lot of amputees cant do their own repairs. And thats ok. Like, prosthetic creation and repair is way, way harder than I think people expect. Well outside the skillset of your standard mechanic, handy man or craftsperson.

People who make and repair prosthetics are called prosthetists. To become a prosthetist, most countries around the world today require you to have completed a bachelor's degree in specifically in prosthetics and orthotics, which covers not only how to make a prosthetics (and orthodics) but a great deal of medical knowledge, physics, how different forces impact "non-standard" bodies, the additional biological wear-and-tear that comes with being an amputee and so much more. This will qualify you to do the job of fitting/making the prosthetic socket (the part that attaches to your body) and putting premade components together to make a functioning device. On top of this, many prosthetists are also expected to have artistic skills, sewing skills, good physical strength and dexterity, IT skills, and more recently, knowledge of 3D modelling and printing.

You want to make all the high-tech components the prosthetists put together to make the full prosthetic? The requirements for that vary country to country, but most will require at least some level study in the field of engineering and/or medicine, on top of what was already required for the prosthetics course.

The reason for all this is because even "basic" prosthetics are extremely finicky, and messing up one thing will have a domino effect on the rest of the body, especially in more complicated prosthetics. It can also result in people getting severally injured if anything is even slightly off. many leg amputees for example end up with spinal issues due to extremely minor issues with their prosthetic that weren't caught until years later, and by then the damage had been done.

Some amputees do learn to do basic repairs. This is most common in places like the US, where a visit to the prosthetist can cost hundred to thousands of dollars (depending on your insurance), but it's also quite common in rural parts of countries like Australia, where cost isn't an issue but access is due to vast distances between major cities. I was personally in this category; as a kid, my nearest prosthetist was 6 hours away. My prosthetist was able to teach my dad, who later taught me, how to do some of the simple repairs, but we still needed to go in every few weeks for the more complex stuff (Kids prosthetic need more adjusting than adults because they're still growing. Also I was rough on my prosthetics and broke them a lot lol).

But even after being taught how to do repairs and having my prosthetics for 20+ years, I only ever did these sorts of repairs to my below-knee prosthetic. I will not do any repairs of any kind to my above knee leg, which is much more technologically complex. Every time I tried, I made it worse to the point where the leg was unusable. I just leave those repairs to the guy who went to university to learn how to do it, and sometimes even he needs to send it off to someone with even more specialist knowledge when it's really badly messed up lol. Last time that happened Australia post lost the package. Not really relevant to this post, I just find the idea of it being sent to the wrong place by accident hilarious, it was one of my more realistic legs too so someone probably had a heart attack when they opened that package lmao.

Anyway, back on track lol.

This isn't even touching on the fact that on some more advanced prosthetics, many features are actually locked behind a security barrier only prosthetists can access. My prosthetic knee has an app on my phone I can pair it to, that allows me to change certain settings and swap between certain modes for different activities that tell the leg to change its behaviour depending on what I'm doing (e.g. a mode for running, a mode for cycling etc). but most of the more in-depth settings I can't access, only my prosthetist can, and he can only gain access to those settings with a security key given to him by the manufacturing company that requires him to provide proof of his credentials to receive it. I don't really agree with this btw, something about being locked out of my own leg's settings makes me feel a bit of an ick, but it's set up like this because people used to be able to access these settings and they would mess with things to the point their leg was virtually unusable. Because altering one setting had a domino effect on all the others, and a lot of folks weren't really paying attention to what they were messing with, all their prosthetists could do was factory reset the whole leg, which causes some issues too. Prosthetic arms are often similarly complex, as I understand it and have similar security barriers in place for more advanced arms. I don't know for sure though, so take that with a grain of salt.

All this to say these are incredibly delicate, finicky and complex pieces of equipment. There's nothing wrong with having a techy amputee character who can do their own repairs, but in reality, that is pretty rare, and its ok to have your character need to see a prosthetist or someone more knowledgeable than them. It's a part of the amputee experience I don't see reflected very often in media. In fact, the only examples I can think of in fiction (meaning not stories based on real people) where this is reflected are Full metal alchemist.

technically I think Subnautica Below Zero also mentions prosthetists are a thing in that world, but its a very "blink and you'll miss it" kind of thing...in fact I did miss it until my last playthrough lol.

[tvseries-writings]

Elevators are deadly traps

Wandanat x reader

Plot: You and your girlfriends get trapped in the elevator but the heat makes you faint and Wanda is not the biggest fan of small, enclosed spaces.

TW: fainting, panic attack

You never believed that drinking water was so necessary; you were never a big drinker and although Wanda always told you, nay, begged you, to drink at least the necessary amount you never listened to her but maybe you should have today.

You watch the busy streets of New York, listening to Natasha and Wanda talk while your eyes don't leave for a moment the view that lurks outside the window of the expensive car that only the black widow, of the three of you, dares to drive; you've never even been a great driver...Let alone drive a car that costs two hundred thousand dollars in the busiest city in the world.

The 93 F makes the asphalt scorching, much more than usual; it is so hot that the air ripples from the heat, distorting the images that pass before your eyes.

Natasha turns right and the Avengers tower enters your view, towering over all the buildings around it. It is not the most beautiful building in New York, contrary to what Tony likes to think, but it is definitely the one that makes you feel the safest.

“Is everything okay malyshka?” Natasha looks at you from the mirror, raising her sunglasses for a few seconds to get a better look at you.

“Yes Nat.”

You lean forward, ending up between the two seats and leaving a kiss on the cheek first to the former spy and then to the Sokovian who turns around at the exact moment you turn toward her to receive a real kiss.

“Hey, that's not fair. Next time one of you will drive.”

Natasha moans, giving you a weak elbow in the side that makes you and Wanda pull away.

“Oh come on Nat, you'll be rewarded” Wanda smiles mischievously, letting her hand slide down the blonde's thigh.

You sit back down, giving them an amused look but as you do so, dizziness makes you close your eyes for a few seconds. Apparently the heat has affected you more than you thought since you've risen just a couple of inches.

“Detka?”

Wanda turns to you, her head tilted slightly to the side as she is wont to do when the Sokovian is angry or worried.

“Yes?”

You open your eyes, smiling as if the nausea isn't wearing you down and the dizziness isn't making you sway even while sitting up.

“Are you okay?”

The car stops, you have probably entered the tower garage but you are so focused on not letting her notice that you are sick that you are not completely sure.

“Yes, of course, why?”

Wanda looks at you as if the answer is obvious but before she has a chance to retort, the driver's side door is thrown open by a rather pissed off Iron Man.

“Natasha, I've told you a million times not to take this car, it costs a fortune.”

“I know, Stark, but I remind you that I always told you I'd keep taking it since you bought it. Although I must admit, I'd like to find the keys in the car already and not have to bypass your office's fallacious security system to get them.”

Natasha smiles, stepping out of the car and tossing the keys toward the multimillionaire; the man rolls his eyes, stuffing the keys in his pocket before walking away at a brisk pace, muttering something about “having to implement anti-widow security systems.”

“You're terrible Nat, you'll drive him crazy.”

You say with a smirk, opening the door in turn; you just sit there, still not trusting your body to keep you stable.

Wanda comes around the car and quickly joins you.

Although you are inside the garage, the temperature is just below that outside and certainly much higher than it was inside the car.

“Are you sure you're okay y/n? You're a little pale” Natasha places a hand on your right cheek and you lean into her touch, turning a reassuring smile to her.

“I'm fine Nat, let's go home. If I'm not mistaken, someone needs to be compensated for her chauffeuring services.”

Your joke seems to make her relax a little, and that gives you the confidence to finally put one foot on the ground. You get up and despite the dizziness that hits you as soon as you do, you manage to hide it masterfully, heading toward the elevator with your girls. Although it is only a few meters, when you enter inside it feels like you have traveled at least twenty kilometers.

“J.A.R.V.I.S. take us to the forty-seventh floor please.”

“Right away Ms. Romanoff.”

As soon as the elevator doors close, you lean against the handrail placed on the wall behind you praying that your condition will not worsen. You observe Wanda out of the corner of your eye; the Sokovian hates elevators but is well aware that she cannot climb forty-seven flights of stairs therefore, after an animated conversation about why she could not use her powers to do so, you had convinced her to use that “infernal contraption”-as she likes to call it-to reach your floor.

A loud roar diverts your attention away from the girl, and before you can figure out what's going on, the elevator suddenly stops; if it weren't for Natasha's lightning-fast reflexes, your face would surely be splattered on the floor or the metal wall in front of you, considering the gigantic size of the elevator. Big Tower big elevator, as Tony likes to say.

“Are you all right?”

Natasha watches you both, helps you to your feet and then draws Wanda into a hug.

“Honey, it's okay, the elevator will probably start working again in a few seconds.”

Wanda nods and does not even give you a glance; she is totally focused on not panicking completely. She hates elevators and now she is hating you too since you forced her into them.

Ten minutes pass and you are still stuck inside the elevator. The temperature, which was previously kept under control by the air conditioning, has risen considerably and the dizziness is only getting worse so, although you are the only one, you decide to sit down in the hope that this will help.

The former spy's phone that suddenly and, when Natasha answers, Tony's voice rings out in the metal box you are stuck in.

“Hey Nat, there you see, there's a little problem, I may have knocked out the power to like well...all of Manhattan so you're going to be there for a while but I'm working on it okay? All right, see you later.”

Natasha is not in time to insult him that Tony ends the call. Natasha mumbles something in Russian and although you know few words of her native tongue, you are pretty sure they are not compliments she is paying him.

Wanda's hand is clasped between yours and you speak words of comfort to her as sweat beads your foreheads. You and Natasha take turns, trying to keep her breathing under control; the Sokovian has had panic attacks before and the last thing you need is for her to have one right now.

“Because I let you talk me into it,” Wanda whines, squeezing your hand before standing up abruptly, starting to pace back and forth in the elevator as her breathing quickens.

“Wanda, love, it will be okay, I know you hate elevators but-”

Natasha gets up to join her and you do the same but realize the shit you've done too late; in fact, it takes less than ten seconds for your body to fall to the floor with a thud.

“Y/N!”

Both Natasha and Wanda scream in shock.

“Honey, open your eyes malyshka come on.”

Natasha falls to her knees beside you, placing your head on top of her legs and shaking your sweat-soaked hair from your forehead.

“D-detka open your eyes.”

Wanda caresses your cheeks and although she is still in a panic, she makes an effort to keep herself lucid for at least a few more seconds.

You blink a few times, and when you open your eyes, the metal of the ceiling reminds you where you are.

“Hey, take it easy, Wands do you have any water?”

Natasha whispers, continuing to caress your face as Wanda frantically searches through her bag before shaking her head. Her breathing is quickening again and she is far too quiet to be Wanda.

“I'm fine,” you whisper and then give the blonde a look that admits no reply as you wave her over to your girlfriend.

“You're not fine, you just fainted, you're probably dehydrated, and we're going to be stuck here for who knows how much longer.”

Natasha regrets what she said as soon as she hears a whimper coming from the sokovian before the latter falls to the floor, burying her head between her knees as you clearly hear her breathing shorten alarmingly. Natasha quickly removes her shirt and rests it under your head before moving toward Wanda.

“Don't try to get up y/n, just stand there, I got this.”

You watch her walk over to the sorceress and gently touch her arm.

“Wands, hey, it's me. You have to breathe love, I know it's hard but you have to do it.”

Natasha strokes her back and Wanda's breathing seems to calm slightly as she lifts her head to look at you.

“There you are, good girl, now follow my breathing. In and out, in and out. So good.”

As Natasha focuses on Wanda, you quickly assess your condition before sitting up and trudging toward them.

“I told you not to get up.”

“I'm sitting up and feeling better Nat.”

You whisper, holding Wanda tightly in a hug and letting her listen to your heart beat at a steady pace.

“You are so stubborn, you-”

Another roar brings her to a halt and then, to your relief, the elevator starts up again. In two minutes, the elevator arrives on your floor and when the doors open, Natasha gives you a worried look-Wanda is massaging her chest while you are still sitting on the floor with a complexion so pale as to make the dead envious.

“Wands, do you feel up to walking?”

The Sokovian nods but Natasha equally encircles her hips with her arm before ushering her toward your bedroom but not before issuing you a warning.

“Don't try to move, don't even think about it.”

You watch them walk to the end of the hallway and extend your leg to block the elevator door sensor. As soon as you see them disappear from your sight, you close your eyes and lean your head against the wall behind you, trying to counteract the dizziness and nausea.

After a few minutes you hear hurried footsteps and then a glass is pressed to your lips.

“Drink malyshka,” Natasha whispers, tilting the glass and helping you drink the water inside. When you finish it, Natasha sets the glass on the floor before taking your face in her hands; you stay like this for a few minutes before she speaks.

“Can you get up?”

You nod to her, and after a few seconds, the Russian encircles your sides with her arms and lifts you off the floor, checking you during every step you take to your bedroom.

“How about I call Bruce? At least he'll take a look at you...”

You shake your head and in doing so lean even more against Natasha.

“No, I'm fine Nat. I just drank a little water, that's all.”

Natasha sighs yet does not retort, helping you sit down next to Wanda.

Although you are still lightheaded and dizzy, your stomach twists as you see how much Wanda is still shaken by what has happened.

“Hey love, how are you feeling?”

You reach out to her, taking her hand and intertwining your fingers. Wanda turns to you as soon as she hears your voice and hides her head in the crook of your neck; you leave a few kisses in her hair before the Sokovian speaks.

“I'm fine, I'm sorry for-”

“No, hey, you don't have to apologize, you know it's not something we control. Neither Tasha nor I do, did you ever tell us to apologize for that?”

Wanda shakes her head and both you and Natasha nod.

“That's right honey, so never apologize for that okay?”

Natasha sits on Wanda's other side as Wanda pulls away from you and lies down on the bed, motioning for you to get on her side. You are about to do so but a sharp dizziness causes you to desist and swing dangerously to the side; Wanda's grip on your shirt prevents a disastrous fall.

“Hey y/n, hey!...Nat, did you give her sugar?”

Wanda sits up to support you better as she watches Natasha shake her head.

“No, I...I just gave her water, now I'm going to get it.”

You want to protest but you can't, you can't even keep your eyes open.

“Detka, honey drink this. It will help you.”

Natasha hands Wanda the glass with water and sugar and the Sokovian places it on your lips helping you drink every last sip; after a few minutes the sugar finally takes effect.

“Do you feel better?”

Wanda whispers, drawing small circles on your back as you open your eyes. You nod slowly, resting your head on Natasha's shoulder and turning a small smile to the Sokovian.

“I really think we should all get some rest, and we'll call Bruce later.”

Natasha leaves a kiss on your temple, giving you a look that clearly indicates how much you cannot retort at the moment. From the look on Wanda's face, she agrees too so you surrender to your girls, letting them tuck you in before hugging you on both sides.

“Rest, I love you,” Natasha lets you both have a kiss before lying down and closing your eyes. You reciprocate her “I love you” before following suit.

You three may be a mess but you are definitely a good trio.

Thank you for reading! This piece sucks but I wanted to write something and will probably delete it later anyway...thanks and have a great day!

Support me on ko-fi

Taglist: @wandanatsbaby @bioquake-archives @bioquakeweek @daisyjohnsonx @wandanatsgirlfriend @chaekhan @station19 @resilientpendragon @so-no-kissing-then @thearchpitbullmx @ashadash0904 @kingshitonly @alwaysgoodnight @callistic @xjule @yuleni18 @simpforwandanat @alexxislexi @mrsdanversromanoff @coollemonsaresour @hushed-woodsman @razorscooteer @eponine-xx @maniacallinc @michelle170 @classyig @elenaguarnieri @scarletwidow @tati3001 @cristin-rjd @your-my-mission @mr-nicely @hi-i-1 @anniethurs @ktstwice @scarlet-raccoon @maria-403 @goldfishthegr8 @wandanatfan @looiegirl-blog @bioquake-blog @daisyjohnsonx

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Amy Maxmen at KFF Health News:

Keith Poulsen’s jaw dropped when farmers showed him images on their cellphones at the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin in October. A livestock veterinarian at the University of Wisconsin, Poulsen had seen sick cows before, with their noses dripping and udders slack. But the scale of the farmers’ efforts to treat the sick cows stunned him. They showed videos of systems they built to hydrate hundreds of cattle at once. In 14-hour shifts, dairy workers pumped gallons of electrolyte-rich fluids into ailing cows through metal tubes inserted into the esophagus. “It was like watching a field hospital on an active battlefront treating hundreds of wounded soldiers,” he said. Nearly a year into the first outbreak of the bird flu among cattle, the virus shows no sign of slowing. The U.S. government failed to eliminate the virus on dairy farms when it was confined to a handful of states, by quickly identifying infected cows and taking measures to keep their infections from spreading. Now at least 875 herds across 16 states have tested positive.

Experts say they have lost faith in the government’s ability to contain the outbreak. “We are in a terrible situation and going into a worse situation,” said Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada. “I don’t know if the bird flu will become a pandemic, but if it does, we are screwed.” To understand how the bird flu got out of hand, KFF Health News interviewed nearly 70 government officials, farmers and farmworkers, and researchers with expertise in virology, pandemics, veterinary medicine, and more. Together with emails obtained from local health departments through public records requests, this investigation revealed key problems, including deference to the farm industry, eroded public health budgets, neglect for the safety of agriculture workers, and the sluggish pace of federal interventions. Case in point: The U.S. Department of Agriculture this month announced a federal order to test milk nationwide. Researchers welcomed the news but said it should have happened months ago — before the virus was so entrenched.

“It’s disheartening to see so many of the same failures that emerged during the covid-19 crisis reemerge,” said Tom Bollyky, director of the Global Health Program at the Council on Foreign Relations. Far more bird flu damage is inevitable, but the extent of it will be left to the Trump administration and Mother Nature. Already, the USDA has funneled more than $1.7 billion into tamping down the bird flu on poultry farms since 2022, which includes reimbursing farmers who’ve had to cull their flocks, and more than $430 million into combating the bird flu on dairy farms. In coming years, the bird flu may cost billions of dollars more in expenses and losses. Dairy industry experts say the virus kills roughly 2% to 5% of infected dairy cows and reduces a herd’s milk production by about 20%. Worse, the outbreak poses the threat of a pandemic. More than 60 people in the U.S. have been infected, mainly by cows or poultry, but cases could skyrocket if the virus evolves to spread efficiently from person to person. And the recent news of a person critically ill in Louisiana with the bird flu shows that the virus can be dangerous.

Just a few mutations could allow the bird flu to spread between people. Because viruses mutate within human and animal bodies, each infection is like a pull of a slot machine lever. “Even if there’s only a 5% chance of a bird flu pandemic happening, we’re talking about a pandemic that probably looks like 2020 or worse,” said Tom Peacock, a bird flu researcher at the Pirbright Institute in the United Kingdom, referring to covid. “The U.S. knows the risk but hasn’t done anything to slow this down,” he added. Beyond the bird flu, the federal government’s handling of the outbreak reveals cracks in the U.S. health security system that would allow other risky new pathogens to take root. “This virus may not be the one that takes off,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, director of the emerging diseases group at the World Health Organization. “But this is a real fire exercise right now, and it demonstrates what needs to be improved.”

[...] Curtailing the virus on farms is the best way to prevent human infections, said Jennifer Nuzzo, director of the Pandemic Center at Brown University, but human surveillance must be stepped up, too. Every clinic serving communities where farmworkers live should have easy access to bird flu tests — and be encouraged to use them. Funds for farmworker outreach must be boosted. And, she added, the CDC should change its position and offer farmworkers bird flu vaccines to protect them and ward off the chance of a hybrid bird flu that spreads quickly. The rising number of cases not linked to farms signals a need for more testing in general. When patients are positive on a general flu test — a common diagnostic that indicates human, swine, or bird flu — clinics should probe more deeply, Nuzzo said. The alternative is a wait-and-see approach in which the nation responds only after enormous damage to lives or businesses. This tack tends to rely on mass vaccination. But an effort analogous to Trump’s Operation Warp Speed is not assured, and neither is rollout like that for the first covid shots, given a rise in vaccine skepticism among Republican lawmakers.

KFF Health News reports on how America lost control on containing the bird flu that could set the stage for another pandemic. If we see another COVID-level or even Ebola-level pandemic, America will be in for a world of hurt, thanks to the rise of anti-public health sentiments.

See Also:

CNN: How America lost control of the bird flu, setting the stage for another pandemic

[incorrectdccomicquotes]

Scarecrow: *evil laughter*

Robin: Congratulations on taking over the US healthcare system, doctor.

Scarecrow: All it took was a little elbow grease, and a comically large space laser.

Robin: So what’s your plan now?

Scarecrow: I’ll do what I do best: I’m going to make it evil! I’ll start by squeezing cash out of the chronically sick by charging exorbitant prices for their medicine. Diabetics will have to pay me a hundred - no - two hundred dollars for their insulin! *more evil laughter*

Robin: They… already do that.

Scarecrow: What?

Robin: Insulin already costs at least that much.

Scarecrow: Really? Two hundred dollars?

Batman: It’s closer to three hundred.

Scarecrow: Wow, okay. Diabolical. Guess the US beat me to the punch there.

Robin: They certainly beat you to punching diabetics.

Scarecrow: It’s fine. I have plenty of other great, evil ideas. Next, I’ll make treatment impossible to access by ensuring the hospitals are understaffed. And I’ll do this by limiting the number of people who are even allowed to become doctors! *even more evil laughter*

Robin: They do that, too.

Scarecrow: What? There’s no way.

Robin: Do you remember having to do a residency to become a doctor?

Scarecrow: Well, I’m not a medical doctor, exactly. I have a PhD in women’s studies…

Robin: Women’s studies?

Scarecrow: Being an evil dictator doesn’t exclude me from being a feminist, Boy Wonder.

Robin: Right… Well, you have to complete a residency at a hospital to become a physician. But the funds for hiring residents are provided by the US government. So the number of available resident programs (thus doctors) is decided by the Congress’ budget.

Scarecrow: So not only did they only do my evil thing, they did it in a more sinister and more subtle way.

Robin: Basically.

Scarecrow: I’m not sure if I should be proud of my country or disgusted by it.

Robin: Maybe both.

Scarecrow: Seems as though I’ll have to do something truly despicable to defeat the US government. In that case, I’ll make sure that the only people who can even afford healthcare are the ones who work for companies that benefit my economic interests!

Batman: That’s called insurance.

Scarecrow: Uhh, and I’ll let the hospitals deny treatment entirely to those who don’t have the correct insurance!

Robin: …

Scarecrow: No!

Robin: Yep.

Scarecrow: Oh my god.

Batman: You have some tough competition.

Scarecrow: They’ve already done every evil thing. Next, you’re going to tell me the hospitals are straight up racist.

Robin: Funny you should say that. According to recent research -

Scarecrow: Stop! I don’t wanna know! Ugh, all this information is making me feel like I’m gonna have a heart attack!

Robin: Should I call an ambulance?

Scarecrow: No, it’ll cost too much! Screw this, I can’t be more cartoonishly evil than the United States healthcare system. And I am literally a villain!

Robin: So what will you do?

Scarecrow: I’m just gonna take over something pure and free of corruption. Like uh, the US educational system!

Batman: Oh, boy.