#beppo the bear

[she-karev]

Man’s Best Friend (Andrew DeLuca Dog Imagine)

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Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of Three

Fandom: Station 19

Canon Episode: Season 4 Episode 4

AN: Hey guys I’m a dog mom so I decided to give Andrew a dog. The dog of this story is based on the actor, Giacomo Gianniotti’s, IRL dog named Jazz. If you want proof just go on his Instagram page.

Summary: Andrew DeLuca tries to get back in Amber’s good graces, but she rejects him again. Meanwhile Station 19 tries to calm down a drug addict and abusive couple who have a three-legged dog that overdosed on cocaine. A concerned neighbor brings the dog to the hospital where Andrew is at the pit and revives the dog.

Words: 4023

April 8th 2020

Maya looks around the pasta hanging out to dry in her and Carina’s kitchen as well as the cheeses around the island in growing anxiety. She’s a woman who likes control especially in her own home but she knows it’s not just her home anymore it’s hers and Carina’s.

Lately Carina has been on a cooking binge and while Maya found it sexy at first now, she finds it to be an inconvenience to have ingredients for a whole party in a pandemic. She tries to hide her stress as she walks around her roommate Andy Herrera who looks more amused than Maya at the kitchen being turned into an Italian restaurant.

“I-I always dreamed of living inside a Buca di Beppo, and…and now we do.” Andy jokes.

Maya explains, “Carina is hanging all this to dry. She says that it reminds her of home.” A little of her stress shows as she asks her best friend, “What do I do with this?”

Andy smiles holding a cheese slice, “I don't know. Throw a dinner party?”

Andy sniffs and is taken back by the scent as Carina walks in with her brother behind her. Andrew DeLuca came by after making a request to Carina last night about making a dish so he can give it to Amber as a symbol of his love and an apology.

“Oh, you like that one?” Carina smiles, “It's Basilio. Pesto-flavored and made from unpasteurized sheep's milk.”

Maya looks at Andrew curiously feeling her stress grow at having guests over without her knowledge. She shoves it down, however knowing better than to antagonize her lover’s brother. Instead she asks the Italian man calmly.

“Hi, what are you doing here?”

“I’m here to get something from Carina, she said she just got it out of the oven this morning. I had to get them while they’re hot.”

Carina pulls out a small white cake box with a window showing that instead of cake it has cannoli’s instead.

Andrew gratefully takes the box, “Thank you, hopefully these will do the job.”

“What job?” Andy asks, curious about what his intentions are, and he explains.

“The job of convincing a prickly resident to love and forgive me once she sees I am serious about my mental health and my commitment to a relationship she told me is dead twice now.”

Andy hmms at that, “Most guys give flowers and chocolates.”

“Amber hates flowers.” Andrew informs her plainly, “And she says chocolate is good but sour gummy bears are her sweet tooth’s love.”

Maya chuckles, “She sounds…unique.”

Andrew sighs wistfully, “You have no idea. I better get going while these are still fresh thanks again.” Carina grins as her brother leaves, “Wish me luck!”

Andy chuckles before turning to Maya, “Uh, we're gonna be late.”

Maya nods and looks at Carina who is washing tomatoes. She caresses her back before walking away but not before shouting to Carina and the world, “I love you!”

Carina looks at Maya with an amused grin and the blonde firefighter leaves while Carina laughs.

Later

April and Amber get out of Amber’s car that she parks behind Jackson’s apartment building. Their shift ended an hour ago so April proposed they carpool together so they can save the planet one way. Amber didn’t resist, mostly because she’s too tired and worn out to object, but still.

April slings her purse over her shoulder while Amber gets her backpack from the back, “How did it go with Ian Talbert’s lawyer?”

Amber saddens reminded of her patient who died after putting her on the will. She slings her backpack and slams the door, “He was asking me questions to make sure I didn’t persuade Ian before he died. After that he left me about 50 grand from Ian’s account.”

April’s eyes widen at that amount, “Wow, he wasn’t kidding about leaving you everything.”

“Well yes and no.” Amber explains as they walk to the front entrance, “Most of his estate went to his ex-wife and a variety of military charities. Honestly, I’m glad I didn’t get everything. I wouldn’t know what to do with all of that money let alone 50 grand.”

April shrugs, “You could donate it or invest in a new place.”

“Real estate is hell right now and your neighbors are much cleaner. I’ll think of something once this whole thing is over.”

“Do you have work tomorrow?”

They turn left at the corner on the sidewalk, “I have a shift tomorrow afternoon so I’m just gonna spend the day reading trashy novels. I just hope the next patient I have in the ICU he’ll walk out with everyone clapping. God, I want someone to get a good clap out.” Amber holds the military tags in her hands as she misses Ian.

April looks at her in sympathy, “He didn’t blame you; you know that.”

“I know but that doesn’t mean I don’t blame myself.”

Amber and April finally arrive at the front entrance where Amber sees Andrew DeLuca on the bench outside. He is wearing a leather jacket, blue shirt and jeans with a black mask on his face. Amber’s shock is hidden by her red fabric mask as well as April’s who is wearing a purple mask.

Andrew stands up holding the white box and greets, “Hi I uh wanted to come by and see how you are since Grey was admitted to the ICU.”

Amber’s shock morphs to annoyance over Andrew not taking a hint and looks down on the ground with her arms crossed while April is next to her watching how the scene plays out like she’s watching medical Bridgerton.

Andrew clears his throat, “Anyways I brought you something special. It’s cannoli’s.” Amber closes her eyes at the symbol of the cannoli’s.

Story of Cannoli's Here

“I thought some sweets would help and I know how much you liked the dark chocolate chips inside the filling.”

Amber exhales annoyed as April looks at her waiting for her reaction but she stays silent while the Italian waits there with the box in his hands. The red headed doctor decides to step in desperate for this to not be awkward.

“It looks delicious Andrew.” April says for Amber who glares at her before glaring at her ex-boyfriend.

“She does not speak for me; I speak for me so I am gonna speak for me to you so you can get this through your thick skull.” Andrew frowns sensing a verbal lashing coming, “When I tell you you’re not gonna earn my forgiveness I mean it. When I tell you that I am not getting back into this crap fest of a relationship with you I mean it. This is not some high school, ‘I hate him because I love him’ crap this is me putting myself first after I made myself vulnerable for you and you hurt me in every way you knew would do the trick. And then you walked away without so much as letting me know if you were alive or not which at this point I don’t give a damn about either!”

Andrew stands there frowning while April is next to them trying to look anywhere else besides the soap opera right in front of her. Amber exhales before continuing.

“You are untrustworthy, you are unpredictable, you are unstable, and I have had enough of all of that to last all our lifetimes. I am 150 percent certain that if I give you another chance you will slip, and I will once again be forced to raise a mentally incompetent child whose main goal is to hurt me or neglect me and I am not doing that again! So I don’t want you coming to me with Italian pastries or sweet words to make me forget the hell you put me through because I don’t want to see you, I don’t want to hear from you!”

Andrew stands there with a hurt look that makes April feel sympathetic towards him. Amber growls under her breath and briskly walks away from them pushing the front door open. April gingerly approaches Andrew taking the box from him while he sighs at another brutal rejection.

“Sorry.” April says not knowing what else to do. She walks away from him and follows Amber expecting to find her in front of the elevator. But she spots Amber opening the door to the stairwell, so she runs toward her and starts walking up the stairs with Amber a flight ahead.

“Hey why are we taking the stairs? Elevators were invented, you got the memo right?”

Amber is breathing steadily as she climbs, “Your ex is taking up the gym so I gotta get my exercise somehow. Plus, the maskless Karen’s don’t take the stairs and it’s less awkward than an elevator ride with them.”

“I bet.” April begins to pant as the exertion is getting to her but she continues to talk to Amber while they climb, “Hey speaking of exes are we gonna talk about your brutal dismembering of yours five seconds ago?”

“You are my friend, not his you do not get to take his side.” Amber tells April angrily.

“I am not taking sides I am just saying maybe you could have made your point a little less viciously. Especially when he’s trying to get back in your good graces.”

“He dumped me, kicked me out and compared me to my mom.” Amber coldly reminds April who is lagging behind, “And that was just the day of the blizzard, do you want me to list all the other things that make his attempts look like trying to glue together shredded paper?”

April pants overexerted, “You need to stop.”

Amber doesn’t notice as she’s climbing the stairs without a problem unlike April, “Do not tell me what to do.”

“No, I mean stop!” Amber stops midway through the steps causing April to stop and lean against the railing clutching her chest, “I’m having a cardiac event these stairs are killing me. You have no idea how lucky you are to be 29.”

“26.” Amber corrects a heaving April who looks up annoyed, “I skipped 4th and 9th grade and finished undergrad in 3 years.”

“I hate you.” April exhales deeply as she leans against the rail to Amber’s confusion.

“Didn’t you have to do basic training in the army or something?”

April gulps, “That was a long time ago and I was a surgeon on the field not a soldier.”

“Either way we gotta keep going, do you want me to carry you soldier?” Amber asks sarcastically.

April shakes her head and stands up straight, “Let’s do this, just keep a slow pace please.”

Amber rolls her eyes but goes back to climbing at a relatively calmer pace as April walks up behind her, “I’m not trying to make this harder for you and I’m not taking sides I’m just saying maybe give the poor guy credit where credit is due.”

“I am not moving back in with him.” Amber emphasizes.

“I’m not saying you should I am just saying all that anger and rage you have towards him isn’t just killing him it’s killing you too.” Amber scoffs at April’s analysis, “Look the world is imploding we don’t need you blowing it up as well. Maybe you can lessen the resentment just a bit and see things from his point of view.”

Amber scoffs, “Yeah, I know his point of view, I know the stress and the crazy that filled his head for months before he came to his senses. I have had to do that with my mom and brother so I wouldn’t be so mad at them, and I have had it. I have had it with the crazy and the trust issues and being a checklist of apologies when they take their meds after a crazy spiral, I am not gonna do that again. And that scene was me making it clear, trust me he’ll thank me for getting his foot in the door and showing him there’s no future where we could possibly work.”

Later

A loud thud stops Bailey as she enters the supply closet. She sees the sound coming from Andrew DeLuca roughly organizing the supplies they have on the shelves. He puts the storage bins on the shelves with so much force they rattle. Even though he’s wearing a mask she sees in his eyes the frustration that she can tell is coming from some place other than work.

“DeLuca?” Andrew stops in place for a moment before putting another bin on the shelf with a little less force, “Is there a reason you’re organizing the closet like it’s a boxing gym?”

Andrew chuckles darkly, “Let’s see, I got saddled with a bipolar diagnosis, made an embarrassment of myself in front of the entire medical community, have to work at a hospital in the middle of a pandemic and just an hour ago the woman I love told me to fuck off when I tried to ply her with cannoli’s.” Bailey frowns at that feeling bad for him, “I’m hoping my luck will change soon and I’ll contract this virus and die inside one of those depressing cubicles.”

“That is not funny.”

“I wasn’t trying to be.” Andrew bitterly says before grabbing a bin and throwing it at the floor getting more mad at himself by the minute, “She called me another mentally incompetent child she was burdened with which you know I can take it because let’s be honest it’s more tame than the crap I said to her. It’s probably what I deserve after I stupidly destroyed the only good relationship I have even been.”

“The mental illness did that you didn’t.” Bailey tries to tell him to no avail.

“Like mental illness got her mom to neglect her and her brother to almost kill her?” Andrew asks that stops Bailey in place, “Maybe if she didn’t have so much of that crap happening to her over and over again we could be…but we can’t. She doesn’t want me because she thinks I am gonna be like her mom and my father and make false promises to get better only to keep disappointing her. And…and the thought of doing this to her again makes me sick, it makes me promise not to her but to myself that I will not go down the path of my father, that I will be better than him.”

Bailey nods and speaks again, “Have you said all of this to her?”

Andrew chuckles bitterly, “She is not reciprocal of me right now, trust me.”

“DeLuca, I separated from my husband when I was slipping too. I made him feel like it was his fault that I was on the verge of another heart attack. I made him leave and it wasn’t until I got better, I realized my life was less stressful with him in it than without.” Bailey sighs at that rough time before continuing, “Now when I came to my senses, I knew it would take more than one apology to get him to take me back. I knew I had to fight for my marriage after I almost broke it. I knew I loved him enough to show him I am not gonna run again and that I was here to stay. Can you tell me if you feel that way about Amber?”

Andrew inhales and exhales behind his mask, “I do.”

“Then tell her all of that and if she still doesn’t trust you…then find a way to live your life without her because she can’t be your salvation, you have to be that for yourself.” Bailey leaves Andrew to think over her advice.

Later

Vic and Travis enter the scene and see the pregnant woman outside her house smashing tables and chairs with a baseball bat and spouting bible verses in anger annoying her neighbors.

“Do unto your neighbors as you would have them do unto you!”

Travis and Vic start gowning before entering the yard, “Oh, fun. Church.”

Vic asks the lady from a distance, “Ma'am, are you alright? We received a call about someone being struck by a-by a baseball.”

Gina hits the chair with the bat and yells at her neighbor, “You want me to call the cops every time you get in a fight with your ugly husband, huh?!”

Travis tries to calm down the agitated woman, “Hey, ma'am! Ma'am! We're not the police.”

“I still don't want you here!”

“Okay, we're actually from the Seattle Fire Department.” Vic holds a mask to Gina, “Can you please put this on?”

“God protects us!” Gina defends.

“Yep, God protects us with masks!” Travis argues back.

Vic gets back to topic as Gina hits a beer can with the bat, “Ma'am, we got a call about a head injury. Can you tell us what happened?”

“Yeah, I got drunk nine months ago and had sеx with my loser husband! That's what happened! Eddie, try not to be such a bitch baby your whole life!”

Vic speaks to the radio, “Alright, Bishop, this is Aid Car 19. We're gonna need some backup here.” Vic sees the empty dog bowls and a dirty rope leash that was untied, “Ma’am do you have a dog? Is he violent?”

Gina sees the empty leash and growls, “Where the hell is that whining bitch! Hey!” She yells at the neighbors next door, “Which one of you stole Jazz?! I’m gonna crack your skulls if you don’t give him back!”

An Asian teenager speaks up from behind her dad, “Shut up Gina my mom’s taking him to the vet after your loser ass husband fed him drugs when he was barking!”

Travis looks at the neighbors and the angry woman in shock, “What? You…What?!”

Later

Andrew walks around the pit seeing as many patients as he can before he goes home. The pit is a welcome relief compared to the covid ICU. Suddenly an Asian woman in her early 50’s runs inside the pit carrying a three-legged black pitbull/labrador that is slowly losing consciousness in the woman’s arm who looks frantic.

“I need a doctor help!” Andrew sees her and is surprised by the dog but approaches her.

“Ma’am what is it? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

The woman shakes her head, “No it’s not me it’s the dog my neighbors they fed him drugs to shut him up and I got him untied when that cunt Gina wasn’t looking, please help him.”

The story takes Andrew by surprise and he reacts, “Okay, um get him on a bed.” The woman puts the dog on the bed where he lies on his side whining causing Andrew to feel bad, “Do you know what this dog ate? Marijuana? Coke? Heroin?”

The woman thinks, “Um coke I think or maybe it was meth I think I don’t know what my crazy ass neighbors are into the guy was always strung out of his mind and he had marks all over his arms.”

“Okay it sounds like cocaine, Narcan!” The nurse hands him the Narcan and he does the math as quickly as he can to figure out the right amount to give, “Okay he’s 20 pounds give or take, 0.4 kilograms per milligram. That’s…9.07 times 0.4 is 3.6 milligrams Narcan.” He takes a syringe and squeezes out the right amount before inserting it in the dog’s hip and pushes the plunger. He anxiously waits several moments for a reaction, “Come on buddy, come on.”

The dog suddenly barks and stands on his three legs on the bed looking around the room excitedly causing Andrew and the woman to exhale in relief. The dog whines as he looks at both of them with interest. Hunt enters the pit and is taken back by the dog in the pit so he approaches them for answers.

“Um DeLuca?”

He explains to his boss, “Dog came in from overdose apparently his owner fed it to him to shut him up. I gave him Narcan and he’s responding.”

“I brought him in, I wanted to take him to the pet emergency room, but I was afraid it was closed like everything else, so I came here.” The woman swallows the lump in her throat, “Thank god I did though, I couldn’t handle a pandemic let alone a dog who was killed by his idiot owners.”

Andrew chuckle slightly, “I think your putting those in the wrong order of horrible events.”

“I’m a dog mom so I’m really not.” The woman scratches the dog behind his ears, “Please tell me you’re not gonna discharge him back to that son of a bitch.”

Andrew straightens up and looks at the dog in sympathy as he lies down on the bed relaxing, “We need to detox his system and if what you told me is true I think a shelter is a better place for him that with those people.”

The woman nods, “Okay I should probably go and make sure my family wasn’t killed by Gina and Eddie aka Bonnie and Clyde on drugs. Plus the cops might want to know what happened assuming they get there. Those damn idiots make as much noise as this and it’s gotten worse since quarantine.”

DeLuca exhales at that, “When you put it like that a shelter might not sound so bad for this guy.” DeLuca strokes Jazz’s furry back who whines in pleasure at the attention.

Later

After hooking up Jazz to the activated charcoal via nasogastric tube and sedating him so he can lay still, DeLuca goes over the chart he made for the furry patient. He snorts thinking about the nurses and Bailey’s reaction to reading a patient chart for a dog. Vic and Warren enter the pit with Eddie handcuffed to the gurney with a facial laceration. The drug addict notices the dog and yells out.

“Hey that’s my dog!”

Vic holds an ice pack to her jaw, “Eddie stop it, don’t make things worse.”

“That’s my dog man what the hell is he doing here?” DeLuca notices and feels anger at the man for acting concerned over a dog he almost killed, “Jazz was supposed to be tied up how did he get out?”

Andrew marches over towards them with a look of fury, “Your Eddie?”

“Yeah man why is my dog here?”

“Your dog is here because your neighbor did the right thing and brought him here after you fed him coke!” Andrew says in anger over Jazz.

“Okay DeLuca that’s enough.” Vic says to ease the patient who starts to cry.

“No, I’m just getting started. If she didn’t do what she did your dog’s heart would have stopped because his owner is an evil junkie!”

Eddie sniffles, “I just want my dog man come on.”

“Did you do that to his leg?” Andrew asks about the three-legged pet, “What did he do? Did he bark too loudly or wake you up from a hangover, so you decided to cut off his leg as punishment?”

Eddie shakes his head, “No man he came like that I felt bad for him when I saw him at the pound I wanted to help.”

“Giving him drugs is helping?” DeLuca asks in anger, “A shelter can give him better care than you ever could. And cruelty towards an animal is gonna show if you ever try to get him back. I bet you didn’t think about that when you were plying him with drugs.”

“He’s all I got left man come on.” Eddie whimpers pathetically that makes DeLuca shake his head.

“Cry me a fucking river.” Andrew coldly says before looking up at Warren and Hughes who stand there awkwardly, “Take him to Trauma 1 and get him as far away as possible from the dog until I take him to a shelter.”

The paramedics wheel a crying Eddie away while DeLuca goes over to Jazz who is sleeping. He looks down at the dog saddened by his previous living situation wondering how someone can be so cruel to their own dog.

Next Part Here

[winchester101]

I LOOOOOVE your take on Law's pokemon you opened my eyes now I see the vision I've been missing!!!! I can picture Law getting back to his crew on Zou with a new bear in tow and Beppo being like >:O (he's just jelous) <3333 Thank you for the ideas !! <3

Thank you!!! Bepo big beefing with laws other bear pokemon haha and law is so oblivious to it. All his pokemon def have him wrapped around their little fingers tho like any of his pokemon do cute eyes like bepo and law immediately folds 🤣 but I love love love pokemon so I always think of what pokemon my favs would have! Here are my other HC for law 👉👈 and I also have a whole post about what pokemon I think other one piece characters would have lol 🫣

[silvernevermind]

mine hourly comics!!! i had a lot of fun doing em i hope you like ^_^ i know this pics here are a bit shite but i plan to clean these up with a pen later

transcription of all text in image description/below cut!

-cohost.com / oh shit its hourly comic -hey i could do that! -aw fuck! / has already been awake 4 hours 4:10

-hey can i buy a custom fetish video? / yeah of course! what do you want in the vid? -fuck yes i love money! -custom video you are a pure piggy addicted to smelly sauces. 1- you need a jar of mayo spilled mayo on…" 5:00

-where is this last person? / me playing fortnite -the circle is the size of a pea… -literally a foot away / bang bang / (still won btw) 6:40

-lalalala / (dipped donuts in coffee 4 the first time yesterday and going to get more) -lalalala -wehhhhh / (donuts missing) 7:05

-today i will learn a good method of pirating kindle books -(learning IRC chat stuff) / (it was kinda scary…) -YAY!!! / douglas adams / dont panic 8:20

-animal crossing! nooks store opened! heres todays items / baby bear -shortcake shirt -twig parasol / (the only item i didnt buy) 9:20

-ive been craying spicy ramen a lot recently… -im in an online class as i draw this… / (anthropology class) -(crying cause spicy) / but as soon as class ends im eating mine ramen!!! 10:40

-i dont USUALLY like spicy instant ramen -so since i started craving it, ive been trying new ramen brands -todays was so yucky i tossed it out / bleh! / and made another that i liked 11:40

-my sleep patterns suck -usually i take 2-3 short naps a day / and when i nap is always shifting -anyways, its time for bed! / zzz 12:00

-i had a dream about Law one piece / Beppo is here too -i was debating with someone if he would kill me -now that im awake, i think he would NOT kill me cause im so nice and cute <3 / "nice nice devil fruit" 19:20

-i feel like all the hourly comics ive seen have pretty detailed scenes / wow! -empty space / i guess thats just not where my focus goes when drawing -heres my bedroom to make up for that 20:10

-joined call with friends -they have no clue im drawing this! / BITCH! -theyll find out soon though! / END 21:50

[daxdraggon]

LOVE that Beppo reuniting with Law, immediately cuddles with him and Law is just smiling away. He needed his polar bear back 😭

[fistashkaastakhovyan]

[bufftuna]

Beppo is love, Beppo is life  ~(•̀ᴗ-)✧ please do not remove my caption thank you!)

[gansey-like]

i adore one piece modern au fanfic because it's so hilarious to see authors try to explain the strawhats as friends. it's like here's an mma fighter, a world class chef, a child in med school, a professional archaeologist, a geography major, a mechanic, a musician who "looks skeletal," a...lair?? and the dude who brought us all together—a seventeen year old hot-dog eating champion who can't drive. like what? and then they'll all be at starbucks for some inexplicable reason talking to a surgeon (who somehow also works at starbucks??) and the other barista, a bear. (beppo is left unexplained most of the time idk man).

[thevindicativevordan]

any thoughts on the Super Pets!

Very much a fan of them as a concept. Always had a fondness for Krypto in particular on account of the Krypto cartoon series from way back when (can you believe Krypto got a cartoon series before Wonder Woman?).

Krypto is just a fun concept, a dog with the powers of Superman. Loads of people have dogs and this one is Superman's. Kal has to walk him around the solar system, keep him from ripping apart visitors to the Fortress of Solitude, and let him know he's the best dog a Kryptonian could ask for. Loved the direwolf Krypto look from the New 52, maybe you could reconcile that with the more "normal" Krypto by establishing that Krypto can "Hulk out" into direwolf form when he feels threatened? Don't mind him being able to pass as a regular dog either, he mirrors his master in that regard, but were I to choose a real world breed to base Krypto off of I'd go with the breed of dog Henry Cavill has: an American Akita. Akitas are big, fluffy, and cute, but they also were bred to kill bears and are one of the hardest breeds to train (while also being one of the most loyal when they are properly trained) which fits Krypto perfectly.

Not really a fan of Krypto travelling to Earth in a rocket, too similar to how Kal and Kara travel there. Morrison's idea of Krypto making it to Earth via being in the Phantom Zone works much better, especially since he can be Clark's "guardian angel" that way. Watching over him from a far and silently trying to give Clark support and encouragement when he needs it. As Clark's powers grow he should be able to almost sense that there's some being that's been following him, and it's benevolent, but not even he can pierce the barrier separating the real world from the Phantom Zone. When he finally meets Krypto in the PZ however, he immediately identifies Krypto as the presence he's sensed, and makes sure to bring Krypto back with him to reality.

As for the rest of the Super Pets, aside from a general rule that I don't think any should be Kryptonian besides Krypto:

Streaky - Streaky would work better if she (yes make her a girl cat please) was a last member of some other alien species that just so happened to look like a Earth housecat. Kara adopts her because she can see the similarities between the two of them, and they bond for life. Streaky and Krypto hate each other but will begrudgingly co-operate if the situation calls for it. Give Streaky the ability to fly, but otherwise I'd want her to have a different powerset from the other Kryptonians and Krypto.

Comet - Christ this... thing. Kara's horse who was also her boyfriend (briefly) and also apparently dated Lois too? The hell? Dare I say he's the source of the horse girl meme? Comet is one of those freaky Silver Age concepts that make you wonder what was even the point of the Comic Code when so much wild shit was still getting through! King's apparently bringing him back for Woman of Tomorrow and I can't lie, I'm fascinated to see what he does with Comet given the history between Comet and Supergirl. Otherwise he seems pointless, what good is a superhorse when Kara just gets around via flying anyway? Gail Simone did argue that having a horse would probably make Supergirl more popular however, so what the hell he can stick around I guess.

Beppo - He's dumb but he's a fun kind of dumb. Make it so he's a product of the same experiments that create Titano and he can work fine.

Cool that there's an upcoming Super Pets movie, given the popularity of superheroes and Paw Patrol (plus the talent of those involved) I hope it's great and I hope it does well. Would be nice to see the "sillier" aspects of Superman succeed on the big screen which will hopefully push DC to be less ashamed of them in the comics.

[thekytchensynk]

Ain’t No Picnic (7/9)

Summary: They were just supposed to head over to the island real quick, just to see what was going on. After all, if pirates were trying to ambush and kill the Straw Hat crew, how could Coby NOT go? And how could Helmeppo let him go alone? It should be simple enough, but nothing can be taken for granted in the New World, and when things go awry, Helmeppo finds himself separated from his captain on an island chain full of pirates who probably won’t be too happy to see a Marine if their paths cross.Oh yeah. And one of those pirates is the infamous “Surgeon of Death,” Trafalgar Law… Warnings: Occasional strong language Read it on AO3

__________

As they approached, Helmeppo heard someone shout out another line of words. This was followed a few seconds later by explosions, off to their left.

“This is a … sniper?” Helmeppo asked. It sounded more like a small artillery unit crossed with a demented gardener.

Law’s answer took so long to arrive that Helmeppo half thought the man wasn’t going to answer. “I guess maybe that’s not exactly right,” he amended. “But it’s the easiest way to put it. Let me go first.”

They stepped around a cluster of three massive leaves, Helmeppo letting Law lead the way. On the other side, they found a dark-skinned young man with a truly massive slingshot in hand. His sodden clothes and damp hair suggested he’d also taken at least one dunking today, and somewhat recently. He must have figured out the same thing Law had, then. He watched growing smoke plumes about half a mile off through a pair of goggles, a look of grim satisfaction on his face.

“Nose-ya,” Law said as he approached. His voice startled the sniper, who hopped in surprise and whirled on the pair. “Where is he?”

The sniper’s face told a whole story -- from relief at seeing it was someone he recognized to surprise at seeing a second person behind Law, to a searching glance away from them, off in the direction of the smoke plumes, as he considered the question. Whatever their relationship, apparently the guy trusted that if Helmeppo were a problem, Law wouldn’t have allowed him over here. Which … fair. So rather than asking the obvious question himself, he just said, “A little under a mile that way. I don’t know what exactly is going on, but I think they could use you.”

“Something wrong?”

“Maybe. Something’s going on near her tank. Everything I try gets intercepted. And Luffy should have already ended this. For some reason they can’t get to her and it’s hamstringing them.” Frustration weighed down his words. His attention kept going to the horizon, though there was too much distance and foliage for him to be seeing a mile off clearly. Haki. Definitely.

“And everyone else?”

The sniper looked like he wanted to protest the query, then thought the better of it. “Beppo was over there last I knew.” he pointed at about two o’clock from where he’d said Luffy was. “Shachi, Penguin, Franky and a couple others went back to protect the ships, in case they got rushed. Brook is with Luffy. Nami and Robin are with Chopper on one of the other islands.” He idly pointed in the direction of the stormclouds. “Zoro and Sanji both keep moving. For different reasons I assume.” He added the last partly under his breath.

Helmeppo couldn’t help it. “And Coby?”

For the first time, the sniper looked directly at Helmeppo, studying his bedraggled state. Then his eyes slid over toward Law, asking a question he didn’t want heard.

“That guy who showed up right before the island swallowed everyone,” Law clarified.

“Ah.” He looked off toward the battle’s center again, then back to Helmeppo. “Can’t be sure, but I think he’s up there too. Not too many people just hopping around in the sky, and I know the other one.”

Some internal spring that had been wound so tight for so long that Helmeppo had stopped even noticing it relaxed at that. So he’s still alive and fighting. He’s OK.

“Thanks,” he said, trying to pass it off as nonchalant. But this close, he could see the guy’s eyes through the lenses of his goggles. And in those eyes, he saw two things. First, the sniper was not buying his tone.

And second, the guy understood. Understood the relief of knowing a friend was safe, and understood the need to pretend that things were otherwise.

So- “Thanks,” Helmeppo said again, and this time it sounded like he meant it.

“I’ll cover you guys if you’re going in,” the sniper said. “Oh, and here.” He tossed something small, one to Law and then, after a brief hesitation, one to Helmeppo. Helmeppo glanced at the item -- a clear capsule with something green inside. Green and squirming. “Snap it if you need to get some distance. And cover your ears, I haven’t had much of a chance to test them yet.” He grinned.

Helmeppo pocketed the item, still a little unnerved that the guy was just accepting his presence -- and honestly still weirded out that Law hadn’t just ditched him once they got back here. Grateful, sure, but also very weirded out.

The pair moved through the ruined undergrowth in the rough direction of the first battlefield. The fighting must have been intense, and the ammunition types the Straw Hat sniper -- God Usopp, wasn’t it? -- used were doing it no favors. Large patches were open all the way down to the dark water,the surface littered with little torn bits of plant material. Massive leaves had been knocked over, letting the sun beat down on their path. Unconscious pirates lay here and there, often with no visible damage. Helmeppo tried not to be too impressed with the pirate, and maybe it was the stress of the day or the heat of the sun, but he was finding it difficult once again.

Despite the story not getting out to the public at large, Helmeppo had heard a fair amount from gossip around headquarters. Of a guy using a slingshot to out-shoot the crew’s guns from the top of one of the towers. If this was him -- the guy who’d shot the World Government flag, the one with apparently superhuman range as he protected Nico Robin -- well, he was glad they were on the same side for now.

Now and then, something would go whizzing past them, close but not too close, and something would explode or erupt ahead of them, and dismayed pirate voices would shout. And thus, Law and Helmeppo made it to the main battlefield without actually having to fight anyone else. Helmeppo wasn’t about to look a gift horse in the mouth.

The battlefield featured far fewer combatants than it had earlier, but that just made the specific clashes easier to see. There seemed to be two big knots -- one by the mermaid’s tank, which still stood where it had been before and one all the way across the clear area. Like the last time he’d arrived on this battlefield, the guy he was following didn’t even hesitate, and that left Helmeppo trying very hard to keep up while attempting to even begin formulating a plan.

Coby was indeed on the battlefield, engaged with a wiry-looking fighter with bright red hair wearing loose, flowing clothing. They were darting around the space, clashing and parting and clashing again. Helmeppo could see the grim focus on his captain’s face. The other man said something, distance rendering it just movement for Helmeppo, but it led Coby to swing hard at the guy’s face.

It was a clean hit.

It should have been a clean hit.

It was a miss.

Helmeppo’s pace lagged as he tried to make sense of what he’d seen. The guy hadn’t moved. Coby’s punch should have caught him square in the jaw, but somehow slid off target, ruffling the ends of the guy’s red hair but causing no damage. The guy laughed, then countered, but Coby slid under his return strike.

Despite wanting to help, Helmeppo forced his attention away from that. He’d only be a distraction. Coby could take care of that guy, no problem, as long as he could focus.

Law was going to help out at the mermaid’s tank, where a press of people stood guard still, mostly watching the other fights. Though now, one or two had noticed Law’s approach and were pointing him out to the others.

Guess that’s the right place to go, Helmeppo thought, adjusting his angle.

From behind them, he heard another of the sniper’s projectiles whining across the island, growing closer. It shot overhead, on the dead-on course for the area near the Mermaid’s container.

Until it wasn’t.

At the last second, the projectile took a hard turn, veering into the undergrowth and exploding out of sight.

Law stopped at that, whirling to look back the way they’d come from, then toward the thin plume of smoke coming from, presumably, the impact site. Helmeppo stopped as well. What had the sniper said? Everything I try gets intercepted. That push and pull power -- was this related to that? That might also explain the weird difficulty Coby was having with his opponent.

“Hey.” Law’s voice cut through his thoughts. Helmeppo looked at the pirate, who gestured toward thesmoke with a tilt of his head. “The person who did that should be near the impact site. Can you take care of them?”

How was he supposed to know? But the guy did seem to have a quick mind for figuring things out. Would he ask if he thought the answer was no? And it might be the place he could be most useful.

“Sure.”

“Then go.”

He said it as though giving Helmeppo orders were an everyday thing. Maybe it was just a captain thing? Well, whatever. He wanted to watch Coby’s back, but maybe the best way would be to figure out what was going on. Law certainly seemed to have a better grasp on this situation than he did. So he only hesitated for a moment before changing his bearing yet again.

Ahead of him, a couple pirates moved to intercept him, though most eyes were still on other folks on the battlefield. Helmeppo pulled his weapons free, ready to cut his way through.

Then they were gone.

No. He was in a whole different place.

Slowing, he glanced over his shoulder to see those two pirates looking around, as confused as he felt. He’d been moved from there to … here. Near the edge of the clearing.

Well, that was unsettling. But again, he wasn’t going to let the moment escape. He shoved aside a leaf taller than he was and pushed into the dense vegetation yet again.

He wasn’t moving very quietly, but luckily the island was alive with massive noises -- shouts and explosions and the susurration of wind in the leaves. So he didn’t worry too much about it as he headed for the thin plume of smoke that indicated where the sniper’s attack had ultimately hit.

He wasn’t far from the battlefield when he caught sight of movement.

Slowing his pace, Helmeppo crept closer. Up ahead, a small cluster of pirates stood a little ways from a charred leaf stump. Smoke trailed from its sizzling ends in a thin line.

“I’m telling you, it’s not working,” one of them was saying as he got in earshot. “We lost the element of surprise. We need to run. And now that other pirate’s there!”

“No. Not yet,” another said. “We still have both twins. They’ll be calling him in any moment, as soon as someone takes care of that sniper. They still don’t really understand what they’re in for. We have to take this opportunity.”

“It’s not worth it. We’re going to lose!”

A slap echoed around the area, accompanied by a shocked sound from the first speaker. Helmeppo peered through a fan of long, grass-like leaves, trying to ignore that he’d stepped in something super oozy.

“You want to run, run Darvell,” the second person said. Helmeppo could see it was an older man, hair going salt and pepper, with a build and skin color that suggested there was shark fishman somewhere in his blood. Captain Darvell, presumably, stood a few feet away from him, one hand on his cheek, eyes furious. The captain wore a flamboyant coat over plain clothing. All looked dry.

“I just want us to be reasonable,” Darvell replied, voice tight and careful, enunciating every word. “Sure, Straw Hat killed the slave trade, but ain’t much revenge if you let the guy who ruined your life take it as well.”

“He ain’t taking anything yet,” the second man said.

In addition to the two arguing pirates, Helmeppo saw three others -- A woman in tight clothes and wearing two crossed belts full of little knives watching the pair with narrowed eyes, a scrawny young man with bright red hair who was looking up at the sky and a massive, older man with short hair with his back to everyone, talking to what Helmeppo assumed was a den den mushi in his hand.

Any further squabbling got cut off as the scrawny young man tilted his head and said, “Someone’s trying again. Watch out.”

He said it nonchalantly, as though commenting on the weather, while he walked toward the sizzling stump. The rest of the group shifted subtly away from the spot. The scrawny guy tilted his head the other way, then reached up into the air with both hands, closed his fingers as though grabbing the sky itself, and pulled.

As he did, Helmeppo heard it -- the whistling sound of another of the sniper’s shots, coming closer. The scrawny guy scampered away as something came hurtling out of the sky. On impact it unfolded into a series of vines -- not the same sort as had grabbed Helmeppo earlier, but clearly looking to do something similar. With no one close enough, they just waggled about impotently.

“He’s persistent,” the graying man said as the lady wandered over to peer at the vines from a safe distance.

“They all are,” the scrawny guy replied, looking at the sky once more. The others mirrored the movement. “We can’t let our guard down while we wait for the call.”

So, as if the hair wasn’t proof enough, that guy was the other twin. He didn’t understand the power, but figured that guy was the most important out of this group here. He felt like anyone else with the sort of power to match the Straw Hats would be out there fighting. So maybe they were here as a privilege of position or as a token defense force for that guy until he went to the battle? They definitely looked stronger than the ones from the cave, but he saw no guns and there were fewer of them. The power user looked like a kitten might be able to knock him over. Helmeppo thought he could take them.

Probably.

Assuming they didn’t have anything hidden up their sleeves.

At the very least, five on one wasn’t the worst odds he’d faced today.

He shifted his fingers, changing his grip until the kukri sat comfortably in his hands. The scrawny guy could use a pulling power, so he might lose his weapons fairly early. That meant he needed to move quick, get at least one of them out of the way very fast. If he went for the devil fruit user right away, they’d just gang up, and at this point, he didn’t want to deal with that. But if he took one out, that would mean fewer attackers and the others might hesitate.

He decided on the maybe-fishman first. He looked strongest of the four nearby pirates, and was the closest. Plus, he didn’t see a weapon, which might give Helmeppo a slight reach advantage. After that, he’d need to go for the power user. Either the woman or Darvell could be dangerous, but hopefully if they were, they’d display their strength quickly.

What was it people said? No plan survives contact with the enemy? No point in overthinking it. He focused on the fishman and rushed forward.

His target was caught off guard, eyes still turned toward the sky instead of the surroundings, but he recovered fast, crossing his arms to block Helmeppo’s strike. The blades bit in about half an inch, drawing blood and leaving a pair of long slices down his gray forearms.

“Attacker!” the guy shouted, pivoting and striking out at Helmeppo, who narrowly dodged. He could feel the strength of the punch as it split the air by his face.

Ok. This would need to end quickly.

Planting one foot, he spun and put the speed of that move into the next strike.

“Ren, duck!” Darvell shouted.

The shout disrupted them both. Helmeppo lost focus on where he intended to strike. As he was turning, the man started to duck, more out of knee-jerk reaction to the shouted suggestion than because he planned to. So what was intended to be two strikes near his elbow, to hopefully render it temporarily useless, turned into one knife into the shoulder.

And one in the neck.

Helmeppo froze as the fishman stumbled back away from him, one hand clapping to his wound. Blood spilled -- not to where Helmeppo thought he’d hit an artery, but enough. A lot.

“Shit. Get back to the ship, Ren! We’ll handle him,” the woman barked, casting a murderous look at Darvell, who shrank from her. The fishman backed off a few more steps, then turned and ran, presumably to do as she said.

Okay, four on one… wait, where had the one with the den den mushi gone?

No time to think about it. He’d take the better odds.

The woman had begun moving toward him, maybe angry about what he’d done to her friend. He considered just fighting her next. In all honesty, she looked stronger than Darvell, and her eyes showed more intensity than his. So while the man in the ridiculous coat was still closer, Helmeppo ignored that and eyed her.

Nope. Don’t draw this out. You have something to do.

He whirled toward the scrawny guy, blades ready. The man looked not at Helmeppo, but at the woman -- for orders? No matter. Helmeppo felt sure he could get to that guy before she could stop him. So he charged, trying to bypass her entirely.

The woman seemed ready for it, pulling one of the small knives from her belt and throwing it, not at him, but angled behind him.. To Darvell? But that man had a sword already, and the little knives didn’t even really have a handle -- they were meant for throwing, so-

He realized belatedly what might be happening, but understanding came at the same time as a sharp pain, lancing through him from a point low on the left side of his back. He stopped, startled, and reached back to yank the item free. The knife. Blood warned his fingertips and made a spot on the hilt of his kukri sticky. Looking up he saw the red-haired man’s hands balled into fists in front of him, not as though ready to hit him, but like he was holding something.

Fantastic. The guy had pulled that sniper's attack toward himself earlier, yanking it out of the sky. He’d realized he might lose his kukri to it. He’d had all the information he needed to realize that the guy could do the same thing with a tiny knife, he’d just been an idiot and not thought about it.

The woman already had another pair of the little weapons between her fingers. His understanding of the situation must have made its way to his face, because she grinned at him.

“Still time to run,” she said.

Not a bad idea.

So he did.

“Hey, hey!” the devil fruit user shouted, falling back a step as he saw Helmeppo again pounding in his direction. The guy almost bolted, then something caught his attention. He reached out, grabbing at the air.

Helmeppo threw himself to the left before the guy pulled. A knife soared by Helmeppo, flying straight toward the devil fruit user, who shrieked in an undignified manner and tried to dodge, but coordination didn’t seem to be a strong suit. He turned more than actually moving. The knife sunk into his left bicep. Then Helmeppo was there, channeling his first fight with Butterfingers.

At least this time, it only took one solid strike to the temple to put the guy out. Or maybe he wasn’t pulling his punches this time. With the water right there, he caught the guy by one limp arm and lowered him to the ground.

Jeeze, with the way this fight was going, maybe he could understand why these folks had been left out of the big fight.

If Darvell had kept his mouth shut, the blind-side attack he tried next might have actually hit home. Fortunately for Helmeppo, the guy let out a loud shout as before swinging at his back. There wasn’t enough time to move, but he did swing a weapon up and across his back before the sword struck home. The strike carried incredible weight, forcing his arm to an awkward angle and pushing the blunt side of Helmeppo’s weapon against his back hard enough that he felt sure he’d have a bruise across his shoulders later. Better than being split down the spine, he thought.

“Darvell, we’re getting beat by some sort of castaway,” the woman shouted in frustration. He thought she sounded closer. “Stop screwing around!”

The pressure on his blade let up enough that Helmeppo could shove it away and turn to face the two remaining fighters. “You should leave,” he said, both blades up in a ready stance as he tried to keep both of them in sight. “The Straw Hats and their allies are back together. They’re going to be cleaning up the ringleaders soon.”

The woman held fast, but Darvell had been primed for this. At Helmeppo’s words, he stepped back a few paces, glancing over at his sole remaining teammate. “Anne, I told you guys-”

“He’s trying to scare us off because we still have him outnumbered,” she replied with a patience that suggested this sort of dialogue was common between them. “We can take him if we just treat it like always. You always overreact.”

“Then where did Cap go?” Darvell said. “He was getting the reports from the guys with the mermaid. He booked it. Maybe this guy’s right.”

Anne’s eyes slid from her teammate to Helmeppo’s ready form. “Well if that’s the case, let’s kill him first. Maybe give us more time. Plus I’m mad now.”

As they discussed, Helmeppo took stock of his situation. Coming for the devil fruit user had put him at the edge of the huge hole in the lilypad -- not a great place to be, especially with the memory of those vines still fairly fresh. Plus, he wasn't exactly in great shape anymore. He didn’t have the free hand to check the wound in his back, but it definitely still hurt, and he could feel his clothes sticking to him worse where the blood soaked them. He didn’t fancy getting another dozen or so of those in him. He’d taken out the devil fruit user. Was that enough? If so, maybe a retreat of his own was in order. Maybe he could even draw them after him, so they couldn’t wake the guy back up.

Carefully, he side-stepped around the devil fruit user, edging toward the long, concealing leaves of the nearby forest. “Actually,” he said, “Maybe I’ll just go call one or two of them over here.” Come on, come on...

“Stop!” Anne shouted.

He pivoted and ran for cover, feeling a sense of relief as the plants closed around him.

Then something stepped into his path, too quick for Helmeppo to stop. The collision didn’t move the thing, but sent him rebounding back a step, caught entirely off guard. Before he could properly register what it was, a powerful kick slammed into his midsection, driving his breath from him and forcing him back out into the open. He tried to keep his balance, but the uneven ground tangled his feet and he fell backward to the ground.

“Cap!” Anne said. “Finally. Where did you go?”

“I was making sure this Marine didn’t run for help,” growled a voice.

“Marine?” Darvell sounded scandalized.

On the ground Helmeppo had released one of his weapons to wrap an arm around his chest. Oh boy. Something had definitely broken with that kick. Breathing in too deeply sent pain radiating from the center-right part of his torso. Got to get up,” he thought, pressing the knuckles of his other hand shakily to the ground. Got to get up now

“One of the two who showed up uninvited,” the new voice continued. “Weren’t you idiots paying attention to anything?”

The figure stepped out of the underbrush. In a petulant voice, Darvell said, “We had other things on our mind, Cap. You remember -- everyone getting dumped in the water?”

“So we should definitely kill him,” Anne mused.

Helmeppo looked up, gritting his teeth against the pain -- and stopped. His breath knotted in his throat for a second.

No.

The figure stopped just beyond the edge of the undergrowth, arms crossed. Helmeppo had to force his gaze up to the man’s face, just to confirm what he already knew in just those few words and that posture. The newcomer gazed down with a glower, all irritation and impatience, at the injured Marine. There was nothing like recognition there, and nothing like pity. But Helmeppo couldn’t stop one word from slipping past his lips.

“Dad?”

[secretlives]

ANIMAL LOVER

Along with married women and young boys, Byron loved animals. At times his menagerie included horses, geese, monkeys, a badger, a fox, a parrot, an eagle, a crow, a heron, a falcon, a crocodile, five peacocks, two guinea hens, and an Egyptian crane. While a student at Cambridge, Byron kept a pet bear as a cheeky protest against university rules prohibiting dogs in the dormitories. In one of his letters, he even went so far as to suggest that his ursine companion “sit for a fellowship.”

Byron also kept more conventional pets. He traveled with five cats, including one named Beppo (also the title of one of his poems). Perhaps the best known of Byron’s animal pals is his Newfoundland, Boatswain, who died of rabies in 1808, at age five. In “Epitaph to a Dog,” Byron immortalized Boatswain in verse and erected a monument to him in the family burial vault that is larger than Byron’s own.

Lady Byron did not share her husband’s love of fauna. After they split, she wrote pointedly that “the reason why some tyrannical characters have been fond of animals and humane to them is because they have no exercise of reason and could not condemn the wickedness of their master.”

[misfits1a]

I'm just going to answer these bc I want to & I know no one will actually ask😂

1. I had a pretty good relationship w my mom before she passed away (1971-2014); we had our arguments but in the end, I knew she loved me unconditionally and without restraint, and I loved her the same way. My dad on the other hand is still alive & can choke on the contents of his next meal.

2. Pretty sure it was @tiny-tate xx I tell her I love her every day, all the time.

3. I'm sure like most people who have loved ones who have passed away, I regret all the petty arguments I had with my mom.

4. "Am I iNsEcUrE??" Yes. Yes, I am.

5. In love xx uwu

6. If I could choose my method of death, I'd say in my sleep, of natural causes.

7. Jimmy John's Turkey Tom

8. Outside of Phy. Ed units, none. Lately I've been wishing I did though.

9. Not frequently or out of habit; I only bite them if I don't have nail clippers nearby and my nails are bugging me

10. Oh dear, even I can't remember when that was... Maybe I was fourteen. It definitely would have been with my brother; we used to physically fight all the time before my mother passed.

11. I don't like someone; I love someone. She's the most beautiful, amazing, intelligent, funniest person I've ever known♡

12. Ope!! The longest I've stayed up was 32 hours, and I lost my sanity pretty quickly. I promised myself I'd never do that again. The longest I stayed up after that was 26 hours.

13. "I have decided to stick to love. Hate is too great a burden to bear." (Y'all, if you asked me a year ago if I hated anybody, I'd say, "yes, I hate my father." Nowadays, I still don't talk to him much or ever see him, but I don't hate him anymore. I get disappointed in people, but I don't hate them). Scratch that; I hate rapists and murderers and dictators.

14. I miss my mom every day. I miss the love of my life. I miss ny best friends.

15. No pets specificay mine, but there is a cat in the household I live in.

16. Eh. Not really feeling anything specific or strongly currently. Just some soreness in my jaw.

17. ..... no

18. Depends on the situation and the size of the spider. If it's larger than my pinky nail, I'm recruiting someone else to kill it (if no one's around, I'll probably beat it with the bottom of a lantern- true story, bro).

19. I think I would go back in time if given the chance. If to a specific time, the 1920s.

20. What matters is the next time I snog someone, it will be someplace in the UK, with the love of my life who I've been waiting for forever xx

21. Moping abt bc my cousins went to AZ for spring break; chores; crying over my stupid car who needs repairs that I can't afford

22. At least four. Ideally, two boys & two girls.

23. I just have standard lobe piercings. One day hope to get my second piercings and if I ever lose the weight, a belly button piercing.

24. My best subject was always English.

25. I miss my best friend from 3rd grade, Alejandra. I moved away after the school year was over and we never kept in touch but I do still think about her & hope she's doing well.

26. Buca di Beppo

27. To my knowledge, I have never broken a heart

28. I HAVE been cheated on! Fun stuff, really. I was bitter about it for dayss.

29. Regretably, yes. I have made the loml cry, & I don't plan on doing anything to hurt her like that again. Next time she cries bc of me will be bc of my vows and after that, maybe I did something super unexpected and appreciated for an anniversary...? Point being, I only want to make her cry happy tears.

30. My jaw's been aching for no reason. Also, my car is a pos.

31. Yes, somebody does love me.

32. Turqouise & yellow

33. I probably do have trust issues, but I'm not exactly sure....

34. It was about the Umbrella Academy. Super whack.

35. Rachel & Angie

36. It depends on the person. If my ex came back, I'd shut that ish down real quick. On the other hand, I've given a friend of mine four different chances.

37. It's easier to forgive, for me.

38. Shaping up to be :)

39. 5, if a peck on the lips under the jungle gym counts

40. Oh dear God, no.

41 - 50: { m i s s i n g }

51. I'm going to be quite basic with you, it's spaghetti.

52. I do believe everything happens for a reason, yes.

53. I prayed.

54. Cheating while in a relationship? No, never. Cheating in a card/board game? Alright, pass. Cheating in school? If you're desperate, I don't care; cheating on essays, though- never.

55. I think I can be UNintentionally mean from time to time, but never am I purposefully going out to hurt other people.

56. One. Only ever my brother.

57. Of course I do. In fact, I've experienced it; am experiencing it; hopefully will be forever in it.

58. Mid-Spring/Early Autumn

59. I actually HATE the snow. Minnesota does that to you, smdh

60. I do want to get married, but only to one specific person & if I can't marry her then no thanks.

61. If it's a significant other, yes. Even possibly a close friend. Stranger, however? Pass.

62. @tiny-tate @just-daniza @anything-and-everything-20 / @anything-and-everything20, bees, watching movies/shows that I love, reading, writing, drinking hot cocoa, being w family, when my brother & I get along, seeing my little cousins, working w kids, flowers, the first snow (only time I like snow), the holiday season, Christmas

63. Nope. My dad gave it to me, but my mom liked it enough to agree to give me the name and she's the one who said it all my life. I just think it wouldn't be fair to her. & even though people always pronounce it wrong, I still like my name. I don't think anything else would fit me, honestly.

64. Oh f yeah, hard AND disgusting!!

65. Shut them down gently. Tell them if they think it's going to affect our friendship, to take some time to themselves.

66. In fact I do, he's been my Qwueen since '11

67. My Qwueen; real name: Keith

68. My best friend Mel, probs....

69. How can I not when I know I have one??

70. There is a whole mf list of people I would give my life for

70 horrible questions ... Fuck it

01: Do you have a good relationship with your parents? 02: Who did you last say “I love you” to? 03: Do you regret anything? 04: Are you insecure? 05: What is your relationship status? 06: How do you want to die? 07: What did you last eat? 08: Played any sports? 09: Do you bite your nails? 10: When was your last physical fight? 11: Do you like someone? 12: Have you ever stayed up 48 hours? 13: Do you hate anyone at the moment? 14: Do you miss someone? 15: Have any pets? 16: How exactly are you feeling at the moment? 17: Ever made out in the bathroom? 18: Are you scared of spiders? 19: Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? 20: Where was the last place you snogged someone? 21: What are your plans for this weekend? 22: Do you want to have kids? How many? 23: Do you have piercings? How many? 24: What is/are/were your best subject(s)? 25: Do you miss anyone from your past? 26: What are you craving right now? 27: Have you ever broken someone’s heart? 28: Have you ever been cheated on? 29: Have you made a boyfriend/girlfriend cry? 30: What’s irritating you right now? 31: Does somebody love you? 32: What is your favourite color? 33: Do you have trust issues? 34: Who/what was your last dream about? 35: Who was the last person you cried in front of? 36: Do you give out second chances too easily? 37: Is it easier to forgive or forget? 38: Is this year the best year of your life? 39: How old were you when you had your first kiss? 40: Have you ever walked outside completely naked? 51: Favourite food? 52: Do you believe everything happens for a reason? 53: What is the last thing you did before you went to bed last night? 54: Is cheating ever okay? 55: Are you mean? 56: How many people have you fist fought? 57: Do you believe in true love? 58: Favourite weather? 59: Do you like the snow? 60: Do you wanna get married? 61: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you baby? 62: What makes you happy? 63: Would you change your name? 64: Would it be hard to kiss the last person you kissed? 65: Your best friend of the opposite sex likes you, what do you do? 66: Do you have a friend of the opposite sex who you can act your complete self around? 67: Who was the last person of the opposite sex you talked to? 68: Who’s the last person you had a deep conversation with? 69: Do you believe in soulmates? 70: Is there anyone you would die for?

[sebeth]

Super-Sons Annual #1

Warning, Spoilers Ahead….

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 Super Sons Annual #1 by Peter J. Tomasi and Paul Pelletier

“Make Way For Krypto and Titus – the Super-Pets!”

 We open with an unknown person kidnapping a dog from Gotham City.

We switch to New York City where Damian and Jon capture a group of bank robbers.

A grateful food vendor offers veggie kebabs to the duo.

“Thanks! And my friend’s name is Batboy.  Make sure to spread that around.”

“Batboy.  Got it.”

Jon requests a high five: “C’mon.  Up high.”

“I.  Do.  Not. High.  Five.”

“Fist bump.”

“My fists are used for hitting, not bumping.”

“Cut back on drinking so much idiot juice why don’t’cha?”

Why so serious, Damian? Have some fun!

Damian is driving an adorable Robin-copter – it could have come straight out of the Batman 60’s show.

Jon returns home.  The inside of his closet door contains multiple newspaper articles.  Damian has a Batcave and Jon has a super-closet?

Jon decides to tackle the missing animals the next day: “Do a little good each day.  That’s my motto.”

Jon is too precious but it’s a great motto to live by.

Krypto decides to investigate the missing animals.  He flies to Wayne Manor to recruit his fellow Super Pets teammates – Titus the Bat-Hound and Bat-Cow!

Bat-Cow remains at the Manor but the hounds head to DC Investigations run by Detective Chimp.

Detective Chimp is still recovering from from a fight with the Brotherhood of Evil: “Doesn’t Monsieur Mallah know ape shall not fight ape – or chimpanzee for that matter?”

Yeah, where’s the simian loyalty?

Chimps asks if the Super-Pets are getting back together: “You we’re a helluva team, it’s true.  Never seen a finer force of fur.

We see the roster of the Super-Pets consists of: Flexi, the Plastic Bird, Bat-Hound, Clay Critter, Krypto, Bat-Cow, and Streaky.

Krypto and Streaky were members of the original, Silver Age Super-Pets. Bat-Cow replaces Comet, the Super-Horse and Clay Critter steps in for Proty.  Ace was the original Bat-Hound.  Flexi, the Plastic Bird replaces Beppo, the Super-Monkey.

Flexi appears to be Plastic Man’s pet based on his colors and abilities.  Clay Critter has to be an escaped part of Clayface.

Detective Chimp warns the hounds that Streaky won’t be happen to see the duo after “what you lost on that last mission”.

Streaky attacks the hounds as we receive a flashback to the “last mission”: Clay Critter is killed by Dex-Star and Harley Quinn’s hyenas.

Flexi joins the brawl as Titus makes peace among the former teammates.

The Super-Pets free the dogs from the kidnapper.  The dogs were kept in what appears to be an alien spaceship.

The freed dog chase Flexi until he turns into a bear.

The kidnapper returns with more captured dogs and is defeated by the Super-Pets including a newly arrived Bat-Cow!

Jon arrives at Wayne Manor in the early morning.  He’s wearing a robe over his costume and Flexi on his head.  Too cute!

Damian asks what took Jon so long to arrive.

Jon responds: “I flew over as soon as I got your freaked-out call.  Which you didn’t even need to do since this weird pigeon thing you sent was bugging me until I came over here.”

Damian drags Jon to the back yard where dozens of dogs lay.

Damian informs Jon that it is his responsibility to return the dogs to their owners.

“Me? We’re a team!”

“My mission is the night, corn-cob! This is day!”

“Okay, how about I knock you into tomorrow night, Batboy?!”

The Super-Sons argue as Krypto and Titus paw-bump in the background.

Super-cute issue with a definite Silver Age feel.  I wish we could have seen Bruce and Alfred’s reactions to the dogs in the backyard.  I’m sure Alfred wouldn’t have been looking forward to the mess that many dogs could cause.

[moviesbi]

beppo and history of a six weeks' tour ✨ love u xx

beppo: who do you miss most? can u miss someone u have never met??

history of a six weeks’ tour: you choose three people to accompany you on a desert island. who are they? bear grylls to survive, adam from mythbusters cause he would be able to make some crazy shit for us to live with, and harry styles cause if he went missing there would be a massive search party for him and i would be found pretty quickly

[possiblyimbiassed]

Maggie, Mary and Moriarty – like ghosts from ze past…

There are indeed lots of recurring themes in BBC Sherlock, like for example suicide or codes and ciphers or ghosts.

But one of the recurring themes is more specific, in the sense that it’s about a person who has lived in the real world – and a powerful one to boot: Margaret Thatcher. This former British prime minister is mentioned repeatedly in the show, but in different ways. So – why this obsession with Thatcher? Is it some sort of clue? Let’s have a closer look; I’ll try to account for all the occurrences here in chronological order and analyze their possible meaning (a warning: this might be a bit lengthy, so please bear with me):

1. The first time Thatcher is mentioned is in John Watson’s blog, at about the time of ASiB. The entry is called “The Six Thatchers” (which most certainly is a reference to ACD Canon’s case The Six Napoleons):

Sally Barnicot contacted Sherlock about the murder of her art-student friend Pietro Venucci, who was found stabbed in the pottery room. His boyfriend Beppo Rovito told the police he had discovered the body. Sally accused Beppo of murder, but there was no evidence.

Sherlock discovered a series of burglaries at other houses related to the university and the victim. John went there in disguise and found that Pietro had made six pottery figures of Maggie Thatcher with devil horns, which had been sold to all the burglary victims. Apparently the figures were meant as satire of Thatcher. Nothing else was taken during the break-ins.

Sherlock and John visited the houses of the two remaining figures. John watched Beppo breaking in, heard glass shattering and saw him finding the figure on the mantlepiece.

They followed him outside, watched him smash the figure and caught him picking up a penknife from inside the figure, which had his initials on it.

Beppo confessed that he and Pietro had an argument and, in a struggle, Beppo had stabbed him. He'd seen the figures going into the oven and pushed the knife into the clay. He'd then smashed a window to make it look like there'd been a break-in.

Observations: a) We never get to know the actual motive for Beppo stabbing his boyfriend.

b) In this blog entry there’s a picture of Sherlock wearing the ‘funny hat’ (deerstalker), which has often been interpreted as his ‘public image’ in spite of him not liking it at all; a Persona he is forced into by others.

c) John believed Sally had been in love with the victim, which could be a sign of a triangle drama of some sort.

2. In The Hounds of Baskerville, Sherlock tries to figure out the password to Major Barrymore’s online info about the secret CIA project H.O.U.N.D. Since the Major is strict, conservative and has five biographies of Margaret Thatcher in his book shelf, Sherlock deduces the password: “Maggie”. He finds out that this project has produced a drug as a secret chemical weapon. The online text mentions things like ‘Paranoia,’ ‘Severe frontal lobe damage,’ and ‘Multiple homicide,’ in association with this drug. Sherlock explains it: “ …a new deliriant drug which rendered its users incredibly suggestible. They wanted to use it as an anti-personnel weapon to totally disorientate the enemy using fear and stimulus…”

Observations: a) One of the five project leaders, whose family names form the acronym HOUND, is named Mary Uslowski. Mary Watson was also part of a group with an acronym made from the group members’ names; AGRA.

b) In this scene Thatcher’s name is associated with a poison that brings hallucinations, paranoia and fear to its victims.

3. In the episode The Six Thatchers in Series 4, there are six plaster busts of Margaret Thatcher owned by five different people. There are also a series of burglaries where someone systematically smashes the busts, but doesn’t take anything. The importance of the Thatcher busts is emphasized not only in the episode title, but within the story as well:

Sherlock seems obsessed with finding out how Margaret Thatcher might be connected to James Moriarty:

But he doesn’t have a spelled-out theory; it rather seems based on intuition...

...and the surroundings go spooky and bluish...

However, in spite of Sherlock being called back from his fatal mission in Eastern Europe specifically to deal with Moriarty’s supposed return, he fails miserably to track Moriarty down. In fact, there is basically nothing more revealed in this episode about Jim Moriarty or his possible connection to Thatcher. Mycroft believes that Moriarty is after a certain Black Pearl of the Borgias, but Sherlock doesn’t find the pearl either. (And in the following episode Jim seems totally forgotten).

Instead, the evidence hidden inside the last of the Thatcher busts leads directly to Mary Watson, and her background as member of the contract killer group A.G.R.A.

At first, ‘Mary’ isn’t directly participating when Sherlock investigates the case that leads him to the first Thatcher bust; she is merely seen curiously waiting in the background.

However, when two more Thatcher busts are smashed and they do get in focus, ‘Mary’ - for some odd reason - suddenly gets involved in Sherlock’s search:

It’s a bit strange; ‘Mary’ has never been a part of Sherlock’s cases until now, so it’s unclear why her presence is suddenly so important - especially since her ‘help’ doesn’t lead to any improvement of the case whatsoever:

And still she gets to participate as some kind of expert. It almost seems like Sherlock deliberately lets ‘Mary’ come between him and John, even when they’re working together.

At the end of the episode ‘Mary’ dies from a gunshot (in an extremely unrealistic and overly dramatic way) and her death seems to damage John’s and Sherlock’s friendship when John blames Sherlock for the incident. The interesting thing is, that from now on we get Mary’s ghost as a transmitter of Moriarty’s eternal “miss me?” message:

Associated with one of the Thatcher burglaries is the mysterious death of a young man, Charlie Welsborough, who wanted to surprise his father on his 50:th birthday by pretending to be a car seat and then suddenly drop the disguise. But the guy dies of some sort of seizure and never gets to surprise his father. His body is discovered a week later when the parked car accidentally gets hit by another car and explodes.

Observations: a) This whole Six Thatchers case seems extremely similar to the earlier case on John’s blog; there are the same number of Thatcher images (although this time with no devil’s horns, thus worshipped rather than mocked), they are all smashed and there is important evidence hidden inside one of them at the pottery, with someone’s initials on it (but this time information rather than a weapon).

b) This time Sherlock actually seems happy about the busts being destroyed. Charlie Welsborough’s father has images of Thatcher as a shrine placed on a prominent place in the living room, while the photos of his dead son only appear on a side table.  Sherlock pretends to not recognize the importance of Thatcher, and he almost expresses sympathy with the burglar:

And Sherlock is not alone; even his mostly very formal and polite civil servant of a brother is critical:

As the smashing continue, Sherlock is not exactly worried…

:) Actually, I believe he’s encouraging people to vote against Thatcherism:

And Sherlock even gets to smash the last Thatcher bust himself:

c) The young Charlie Welsborough seems queer- or trans-coded in the subtext, since

i) Sherlock mis-genders Charlie by referring to him as the Welsboroughs’ daughter:

ii) There’s an 18th or 19th century painting in his parents’ house with a little girl with a drum – hardly a common toy for girls in those times:

iii) There’s a Blue Power Ranger figure attached to the front of Charlie’s car, associating to the TV series with the same name, which is shown melting when the car explodes:

David Yost, the actor who played the Blue Power Ranger ‘Billy Cranston’, has stated he had “walked off the show --- due to repeated and ongoing homophobic slurs by the creators, producers, directors, and writers of the series” (X).

Even Charlie is associated with ghosts in this episode; John mentions that he’s going to call this case “The Ghost Driver” on his blog.

So maybe Charlie’s death is also significant; he died while trying to make himself invisible to his father-the-Thatcher-lover by resembling a car seat, possibly due to fear that his father would disapprove of his sexual orientation or trans-gender identity.

d) Whenever Thatcher is in focus in this episode, weird things happen; the surroundings become spooky and bluish…

…and/or watery…

… or Sherlock gets the imprint of Maggie projected on his face:

5: Right before one of the bust smashings, parting from the scene in Mycroft’s office where Sherlock wants to know how Moriarty is connected to Thatcher, there’s a glass being shattered:

The same thing happened earlier, in John’s blog case The Six Thatchers, when Beppo was discovered at a crime scene. And later in the show, inside Sherlock’s mind palace in TAB, John and Sherlock also heard the sound of glass shattering. At the time they thought it was a window shattering while someone was breaking in, but it turned out that the object broken was a mirror used to produce the illusion of a ghost:

To summarise: We have these three ghosts casting their shadows over the show from TAB to TFP, and maybe even earlier: Maggie Thatcher, James Moriarty and Mary Watson. But in TAB Sherlock insists to John: “You may, however, rest assured there are no ghosts in this world… save those we make for ourselves”.

So my guess is that these are ghosts that Sherlock has created in his mind palace. The blog case and also Major Barrymore’s fondness of Thatcher in THoB might be ‘real’, but Series 4 seems to be Sherlock’s rehashing of past events in new ways inside his mind palace (EMP theory). In THoB Barrymore’s secret info accessible with the password “Maggie” is about a drug that instils fear in the victims, confuses them and makes them hallucinate. Maybe this drug is also involved with all the weird things Sherlock experiences in Series 4.

The shattering of glass in the two Six Thatchers cases, as well as in the ghost case in TAB, seem to alert the audience to pay attention, and to realize the fact that this ghost imagery is all fake; there’s no reason for us to believe in these ghosts or obey their messages, since they all belong to the past and do not actually exist except in people’s heads. 

But I do think each one of the ghosts represents something in this story on a metaphorical level, for Sherlock, for John and for society as a whole, which I’ve been trying to show here:  (X, X, X, X) . In ‘Mary’s case I think it’s heteronormativity and in Moriarty’s it’s homophobia. They’re the villains of the story; they’re the issues that are keeping Sherlock and John from openly becoming who they really are. 

But what about ‘Maggie’ – why this massive emphasis on a PM from the eighties and people smashing images of her? Well, I suspect it’s because she’s been infamous for her homophobic conduct as a Prime minister in that period. Some of the best-known examples:

Quote from Margaret Thatcher’s speech to Conservative Party Conference October 9, 1987 (X):  ”Children who need to be taught to respect traditional moral values are being taught that they have an inalienable right to be gay. - - - All of those children are being cheated of a sound start in life - yes cheated.”

In 1988 Thatcher’s government legislated Britain’s first new anti-gay law in 100 years; Section 28, which stated that a local authority "shall not intentionally promote homosexuality or publish material with the intention of promoting homosexuality" or "promote the teaching in any maintained school of the acceptability of homosexuality as a pretended family relationship" (X)

Thatcher tried to block public health warnings about Aids in the eighties. Allegedly she feared teenagers would be “harmed" by an Aids awareness campaign about how the disease spread. (X) (X)  

My conclusion: Maggie, Mary and Moriarty are connected in this show, they take turns to represent what’s literally killing Sherlock, John and their relationship: homophobia and heteronormativity. And in the case of Thatcher it’s connected to the official power – a prevailing viewpoint that totally dominated society in the Victorian times when ACD’s Canon was written, and that still has a lot of influence. The six Thatchers are all smashed in the show, but Mary and Moriarty still linger as ghosts until the end of TFP. Let’s hope there actually will be a fifth series some time, where we can finally get rid of these ghosts once and for all.

[theliterateape]

Thanksgiving: It’s All About Football and Farts, Bro

By Brett Dworski

The following essay was originally written and performed for BUGHOUSE! in Chicago on November 4, 2019. The topic of debate was Thanksgiving: It’s All about Gratitude, Kem-oh sah-bee or It’s All About Football and Farts, Bro. Brett Dworski went up against Joe Janes. Dworksi was determined the winner by our judge.

My family’s not big on Thanksgiving. Despite it being a secular holiday, my mother often says it’s “Just not something us Jews get into.” So instead of feasting on turkey and stuffing and cranberry sauce and collard greens everything else people eat on Thanksgiving, my family usually reserves a table somewhere—usually Buca Di Beppo—for the six of us: me, Mom, Dad, Jordan, Uncle Neal, and my Evil Aunt Barbara. We only see her a couple times a year, and every time we do, I swear she’s on drugs. But isn’t being around family members who you loathe part of the giving thanks? I’m not sure. But that’s how Thanksgiving has always been, and that’s how it’ll continue to be. It’s just… eh. I’m fine with it.

But Thanksgiving morning—oof. That’s the best. Since I was in third grade, every Thanksgiving morning, my childhood friends and I play seven-on-seven football. It’s the best. We freeze our nuts off at Willow Stream Park and all pretend we’re the next Tom Brady. You know, the Jewish one. Some of us don’t give a shit about the game and smoke doobies on the sideline, while others get overly competitive and call plays like the Annexation of Puerto Rico. We come home with chapped lips, bruised elbows, muddy clothes, and churning stomachs. Turkey Bowl is the most fun I have every November. Not because of the game itself, though, but because I get to see friends who’ve moved to San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Seattle, and even Beijing. Our annual game is my real Thanksgiving celebration—and I’m thankful for it.

And the football action doesn’t stop after he game. After mom yells at me to strip naked in the garage so I don’t get schmutz all over her floor, I park my (now clothed) ass on the couch to watch the NFL with my dad until, and then after dinner. Growing up, Dad and I always loved watching football together on Sundays, but now that I (thankfully) don’t live at home anymore, Thanksgiving games make the occasion even better. We’ve even been lucky to catch some Thanksgiving Bears games over the years, and even though they usually suck ass, Dad and I love it. It’s special father–son time—and I’m thankful for it.

But am I really only supposed to be thankful for Turkey Bowl, watching games with Dad and all the other goodies in my life one day a year? Hell no. I’m thankful every single day for the great things I have. Including:

• That my loved ones are alive and healthy • That I have a 401k • In-unit laundry • Poo-Pourri • The dollar section at Target. • Almond milk • Advil Sinus Relief • Clean underwear • Spoons • Birth control • Elevators • Direct deposit • Jeni’s goat cheese & cherry ice cream • That the lump on my testicle I found during college was merely an inflammation of my epididymis • Craft beer • Dishwashers • Mel Brooks and Robert De Niro • Pickled vegetables • Spell-check • And wool socks

I’m all about having a holiday where we eat like pigs and watch football and kibbitz with family and friends. But devoting a day to being thankful is bullshit if you ask me. If that’s the case, Thanksgiving should be three hundred-sixty-five days a year. We need to be thankful for these things every day, all the time, no matter if it’s a holiday or a shitty Monday morning.

So, screw The Day of Thanks. We have all the time in the world to be thankful. Thanksgiving is all about football and farts, bro.

[jaydahlly]

Happy birthday to the first ever boobie bear. You're old nealers, I love you! 😘 (at Buca di Beppo)