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dcxdpdabbles · 5 months

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I love all your stuff! Are you planning to update Passion for Fashion, Child Support, or Congratulations It's Triplets soon? They are some of my favorites! If not, it's chill. Everything you write is kinda awesome so I look forward to anything you are willing to give

The Justice League has kept a weary eye on Danny Constantine because he is the son of one of their less than willing-to-work-in-team members and has found his way onto the youngest hero's team.

Robin, Abuse, and Superboy (the new one, not the Young Justice one) rarely went into the field. They mostly worked within Gotham, handling minor things until they got a feel for the dangers and the work of being a hero.

Bruce, assured everyone that within his city he was fairly sure he could keep them safe. (fairly because let's be honest, it is Gotham. That place was crawling with lunatics- Batman being one of them)

Clack would have preferred if Jon started in a smaller, less dangerous place, but his son has proven more than willing to sneak out to meet with Damian and Colin. It was no secret that Robin was the most trained and the most prepared to lead his team.

That didn't mean they were comfortable with three little children running around risking their lives. Phantom was the group's eldest but also the newest member of the team. He did struggle with his powers, but every day, under the careful eye of Batman's son, he grew more and more in control.

They were pleasantly surprised by how well he fit into the Super Sons. (A work-in-progress name developed when the team had only been Robin and Superboy.). The Justice League had been even more astounded by how careful Phantom was about property damage.

It's true that in a fight, they couldn't help with some damage, but Phantom always went out of his way to remind the other kids mid-battle to be careful and avoid breaking anything. He was more often than not racing after whatever car or building was thrown to faze it through other things.

He even helps the citizens take some photos for insurance purposes. It was shockingly refreshing to see someone worry about the logistics of being a hero.

When asked, Phantom would only blush in embarrassment. "My dad caused a lot of property damage when he drove. I got good at helping people file cases as an apology."

John denied it to everyone, but seeing as Danny's other father was literal Time itself, there was no way he wasn't the idiot on the road. Bruce prepared some lawyers for the people he may have hit and run.

It also helped that Danny seemed to be the new voice of reason within the Super Sons. One that wasn't convinced to try anything by Damian- --- Jon- or follow blindly behind Damian-Collin. He was respectful of Robin's role as leader but was always willing to talk him into respecting the team's suggestions and how to properly communicate. The success rates of Super Sons were skyrocketing with Danny, especially since Danny seemed to be great at PR.

Before Robin and Abuse were not as welcomed by the masses. Robin for being far more violent and rude than his pressors and Abuse for the absolute mountain of muscle that reminded people too much of Bane. Even Superboy was not as warmly noticed simply due to Gothamnics having a bitter rivalship with Metropolis City.

Phantom, on the other hand, was cheerful, helpful, and had enough of his father's sass to make even the worst of Gotham's grin. He also made time out of his day to help the community, walking people home, finding lost pets, cleaning up neighborhoods, and even appearing to clothe and feed whoever he came across.

Bruce himself claimed that a majority of the goons that Danny fought were slowly attempting to turn their life around. Danny had this strange ability to make people feel safe around him, and that let them get comfortable enough to talk about their issues.

It was hard to remember that Danny was blood-related to John Constantine out of all people. His civilian lifestyle, on the other hand, was completely different from his magical father in another way- he was a loser.

While Phantom had this glow, attention-grabbing charisma about him, Danny Constantine seemed to shrink in on himself and fumble with social interactions.

Bruce theorized that his human blood side lacked the near hypnotic attraction of Clockwork. Texts and tombs spoke of Clockwork as temptation itself, and he figured Danny had inherited that intoxicating ability.

This meant that Damian had to be worried about his teammate being bullied out of his sight.

It was displeasing to know that somewhere in the country, Danny was being made fun of, pushed around, or even attacked while he sat in the comfort of his elite school.

If there was one thing Damian Wayne could count as his flaw, it was being feireicly overprotective of those he considered his. That's why he strong-armed his father into paying for Colin to go to Gotham Academy while attempting to convince Clark to transfer Jon.

Jon himself didn't suffer from bullying, so he remained in Metropolis Middle School. His Beloved was moved to his classroom, where Damian had attached himself to his side and scared away anyone foolish enough to attempt to make Colin cry.

Beloved had awarded him with sweet kisses every time, so sometimes Damian hoped the fools of the Academy would try him more often.

Danny however, remained in some stupid school that had teenage boys bother him. John claimed he couldn't afford to send Danny anywhere better, and was seen stressing in the Watch Tower computer room looking into homeschooling.

Apparently, Danny's health depended on healthy relationships with humans. His biology literally attacked him if he couldn't be around people, and John was always pushing for Super Sons to have more meet-ups outside of suits as much as possible while trying to find a new school.

Danny has been moved to four schools already. The bullying just didn't seem to stop no matter where he went as a human.

"Father, it's important," Damian says for the fifth time. "Danny is struggling. It would be better to place him near us to provide protective support."

"Damian, I can't just pay for all your friends' education. It will get suspicious." Bruce sighs. "There are already rumors about Colin."

"But Father, you must think logically. Constantine may have sired him, but Danny is still Clockwork's son. He controls time. He is an entity we can not afford to make into an enemy. I highly doubt he will be pleased by how some mortals have been treating his son." Damian counters, ignoring the rage of the comment about his Beloved. He will find the mouths that will need to be taught to keep Beloved's name out of later. "This could stop whatever retaliation that is sure to be coming in its tracks."

Bruce considered it. "I could try to make it seem like Danny won something on his own....but I'm worried the board is starting to catch on. The other day Babs had to block an investigation of me possibly emblazing funds. "

"Father you do not understand-"

"Bruce!" Tim yelled, racing into the room, holding a laptop. "Bruce, it's Klarion! He's in Gotham."

Damian and Bruce both stiffen in horror. They dislike magic the most, seeing as it rarely follows predictable logic. Not that they couldn't eventually find the answer or the rules of whatever magic user was flowing, but it was a lot longer and headache-inducing. "Why is he here, and what does he want?"

"Well....he's not really doing anything bad?" Tim says, flipping the screen around. On it, the two Waynes can see a flouting teen snapping his fingers turning everything on the street into gold.

"If I was your husband, you would want for nothing!" Klarion cries, sinking to one knee before the startled-looking Phantom. "Oh, great heir of Clockwork, our union would be spoken for generations!"

"Lord of Choas Klarion, I am flattered by your offer but I'm not considering marriage right now." Phantom awkwardly says, rubbing his neck.

"But my young lord, Clockwork has proclaimed that your marriage partner is yours to make," Klarion says, snapping more of his fingers and turning the lined-up cars into large bouquets of roses. People scramble around from the demon, screaming as his magic nearly turns them. "Surely you see if our houses combine we would be unstoppable?"

Phantom's face hardens. "First of all, I don't date anyone for interest. Second, you're starting to bother the people of Gotham so cut it out. Third, I already said no so you-"

"Take a bloody hint and leave my boy alone!" John Constantine screams portaling into the scene with a wave of magic. He throws five powerful spells at the Witch boy who hisses back.

Hisses like a snake.

"Insolent mortal! This does not consider filth like-"

"Don't talk to my dad that way!" Phantom shouts cutting the Choas Lord off.

Klarion demonic features shrink back into a regular face as he blinks in shock. "This moral is your father?"

"Yes."

"Oh. Forgive my rude behavior, sir." Klarion's tone smooths out in an instant, snapping his figures to dust Constantine's shoulders. John frowns at him which makes the witch boy actually stumble. "Surely I can make it up to you? I am very interested in becoming your son-in-law and wouldn't want to make our relationship strain by my hasty behavior"

Bruce reaches over and closes the laptop before they can hear Constantine's response. "We are not dealing with whatever soap drama that was."

"Father!"

#dcxdpdabbles #dcxdp crossover #child support #Part 3 #Danny is dealing with many marriage propsals #He is also struggling as a human #Klarion is trying to marry up #Bruce is too tried for this #John is even more tired #Phantom has siren-like allure to humans #Clockwork is laughing his ass off somewhere #Team Super Son getting some much needed PR

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mugman64 · 1 year

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So I’ve been thinking recently, and there is no way Percy Jackson doesn’t use the gods to just cheat his way in life. Specifically I’m thinking like Percy Jackson sitting in his new car calling Zeus all the swear words under the sun, bailing out last second, and then going to collect the insurance money on his lightning struck car. Like what is the insurance agency gonna do? Claim that he summoned lightning to total a new car and get an insurance payout worth twice its value?

Hermes just gets a box from Percy with 5 Drachmas and two rats and the address of a house and silently turns the Caduceus into laser mode and takes aim.

Annabeth is PISSED when she finds out, like violently upset because WHY DIDN’T SHE THINK OF THIS FIRST!!!!! So she immediately demands Percy cause a small hurricane to take out the architecture firm she started because it’s a shithole with a big insurance policy.

Will has a whole argument with Nico because “Yes I did complain about our car not starting, but when you said you’ll take care of it I expected it to go to the mechanic not INTO A FUCKING SINKHOLE!!!!!”

The whole thing just snowballs until the Big Three kids are making random visits to parents of demigods to make their lives easier by destroying their shit with natural disasters. Eventually the gods get wind of it and almost every kid coming into camp already knows who their parent is because of the “accidents” that happen.

One daughter of Athena is entirely unsurprised because “A crate full of text books dropping from a plane onto our house is pretty heavy handed, huh Mom”

After enough pestering and a stoned promise Percy, Thalia, Grover, Rachel, and Annabeth all set up a Leverage style scam where they cause accidents to happen so corrupt millionaires file a claim and then make a trail to frame them for insurance fraud.

#pjo #percy jackon and the olympians #percy jackson #annabeth chase #thalia grace #hazel levesque #will solace #nico di angelo #solangelo #percabeth #grover underwood #rachel elizabeth dare

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theambitiouswoman · 2 years

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Basic Financial Skills Everyone Should Learn

Budgeting: Creating a budget is a crucial skill for managing personal finances. A budget helps you keep track of your income and expenses and enables you to plan and prioritize your spending.

Saving: Saving is another important financial skill. It's essential to set aside a portion of your income for emergencies, retirement, or other long-term goals.

Investing: Understanding the basics of investing can help you grow your money over time. Learning about different investment options such as stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and ETFs can help you make informed investment decisions.

Debt Management: Understanding debt and how to manage it is essential for financial stability. This includes understanding interest rates, payment schedules, and strategies for paying off debt.

Credit Scores: Your credit score is a critical component of your financial health. Understanding how credit scores work, what factors affect them, and how to improve them is vital.

Taxes: Understanding the basics of taxes, such as tax deductions, credits, and filing requirements, is essential for managing your finances.

Financial Planning: Developing a financial plan helps you achieve your financial goals by identifying your priorities, creating a budget, and determining the best investment strategies for your needs.

Understanding Interest Rates: Interest rates are an important component of many financial products, such as loans, credit cards, and savings accounts. Understanding how interest rates work, how they are calculated, and how they can impact your finances is important.

Insurance: Understanding the different types of insurance, such as health, life, and property insurance, is crucial for protecting yourself and your assets. Knowing what types of coverage you need, how to choose a policy, and how to file a claim is important.

Retirement Planning: Planning for retirement is essential for everyone, regardless of age. Knowing how much you need to save, how to invest your money, and when to start taking Social Security benefits can help you achieve a comfortable retirement.

Estate Planning: Estate planning involves creating a plan for the distribution of your assets after you die. Understanding the basics of estate planning, such as creating a will and selecting beneficiaries, can help ensure that your assets are distributed according to your wishes.

Basic Math Skills: Having a basic understanding of math, such as calculating percentages, can help you make informed financial decisions. This includes understanding how interest rates are calculated, how much you can save by making extra payments on your loans, and how much you will earn from your investments.

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astroboots · 1 year

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EVERY YOU EVERY ME #14

Pairing: Miguel O'Hara x female reader

Summary: You try to move on after the Universe has been saved.

Word count: 4,700

Warning: Angst

Series Masterlist | Spiderverse Masterlist | Astroboot’s Masterlist | thirstworldproblemss’ Masterlist

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You're standing in the middle of your old apartment.

The same apartment that had a helicopter crash into it and left nothing but rubble, ash and melted cement in its wake. Except now it's restored, like nothing ever happened.

Your rickety dining table sits in the middle of the room, propped up by a hardcover book to make up for the fact that one leg is crooked. Your tiny double bed with your lumpy mattress is pushed up against the wall. The usual piles of clean and dirty laundry indiscriminately mixed together sits unattended on top of the unmade covers.

You don't understand.

Why is it all back to normal?

You shake your head, snapping yourself out of it.

Miguel… You need to get back to him and you don't have time for this right now.

"Lyla," you summon. A warm ping vibrates against your inner wrist as Lyla appears. "Take me back to the void."

Lyla shakes her head firmly. "I'm sorry I can't do that."

"What do you mean? Of course you can, you've brought us there twice. You did it when Miguel commanded you."

She peers up at you through her pink heart-shaped glasses, with a solemn look in her holographic eyes.

"The first time was a miscalculation. The second was to eliminate the continued threat to your life."

Her words stop you cold. 'Continued threat...' Is she referring to Miguel?

"Lyla, please. Stop messing around. Take me back to Miguel."

Lyla's eyes go blank, no longer the flippant expression you are so used to seeing.

"Request denied. My programming does not allow me to expose you to danger."

"He's going to die if we don't do something Lyla!" You shout at her.

There is a tremor in your hand. Your nerves are shot, exhausted and tired from everything that has happened in the last 24 hours and you can feel the tears pushing up against your throat.

"Isn't it part of your protocol to protect him?!"

"I was built to protect you. My primary directive is to make sure you're safe above all else. That is my purpose."

She recites the words as if she's reading from a manual. It's flat and emotionless in a way you've never known Lyla to be before. Like the line is hardwired into the very core of her basic coding. There are no funny jokes. No sass.

"Lyla, please," you beg.

She doesn't answer you. That same impassive expression as before is still on her face.

"Lyla..." you try again.

You scramble to think of your options. To devise a plan B. But to your horror, you can’t think of anything.

What are you meant to do? You’re not a super genius who can build source code out of thin air that can break the laws of physics. You have no superpowers. No magic that allows you to travel to other dimensions.

The only thing you know how to do is file claim insurance applications. You’re useless.

There's nothing to be done.

It's over.

Your legs give in from the oppressive weight of your realization. You slump to the floor, unable to hold yourself together as the hard wooden floor hits your knees. You fold in two, hunched over the floor and you let the ache inside your chest break and pour over and you cry.

When you come to some time later, you find yourself curled up on the floor. You don't know how long you must've been crying for. But it must’ve been long enough for you to have cried yourself to exhaustion and slipped into unconsciousness.

Turning onto your back, you stare up at the ceiling, shivering from the cold breeze of the evening coming through the window.

Your limbs are cramping from exhaustion. You're dehydrated. Mouth dry and eyes crusted with dried tears. There's a deep-seated headache burrowing into your skull. It's a struggle for you to get up from the floor into a seated position, as you properly take in your surroundings.

At first glance, this version of your apartment looks identical to yours, but on closer inspection there are some stark differences.

By the window, there are black out curtains hanging from the ceiling to allow for sleep-ins during daylight hours.

On your bed, amongst the mountain piles of laundry strewn haphazardly, there are items you don’t recognize. Oversized hoodies that are big enough to fit a bear. Male sweatpants. Socks so big they look like they're Christmas stockings.

Walking over to the kitchen area, there's a distinct lack of coffee. It's been replaced by expired Reese's Peanut Butter cups, milk duds, and Hershey bars that fill every corner of your kitchen cupboards to the brim, stuffed haphazardly on the upper shelves that you could never reach. They have even made their way into your nightstand and stuffed and hidden between books on the bookshelf.

Lyla doesn't even have to tell you where you are. You already know.

This is your home. In your other self's dimension. It belongs to Miguel's nena.

Miguel sent you here, the closest universe he knew of that was identical to yours, so that you could live out your days in safety, without him.

Fucking idiot.

This is not what you wanted.

Days pass.

It's an odd and empty existence, you've beaten the impossible odds and won against the universe itself and made it out alive. Yet you're not sure that anything about this truly qualifies as a victory.

For all you know, the world that is your home may have been destroyed.

After all that's what Stark said: there is no guarantee that just because you left, everything would go back to normal.

And who are you to argue with the (second) smartest man on earth?

There's no way of you knowing what the outcome was, and Lyla refuses to transport you out of this current dimension.

You spend most of your days curled into a ball in bed unable to summon the strength to keep yourself upright or awake for more than an hour at a time, haunted by the knowledge that your escape from your death might have doomed trillions to theirs.

In the hours in between, when that inescapable guilt doesn't eat into your mind, the only thing you are left with is replaying the moments of your life in the past three months.

It flits through your closed eyes like an old film reel and in every one of those moments, Miguel is there, reminding you of what you have now lost.

You feel hollowed out, scraped out and empty like there's nothing inside. The only time you manage to feel anything that resembles an emotion is when you clutch onto whatever piece of oversized clothing that once belonged to Miguel. The only physical trace you have to prove to yourself that he existed and it's not just some fantastical made up story in your mind.

Miguel once told you that anyone who gets lost in the void gets erased. Their very existence scrubbed from the records of the world. Does the fact that you can still remember him mean that he's still there? And if so, how much longer will you be able to mourn him before he's faded entirely in that space. Before your very memory of him and the love you have that sits inside you with nowhere to go is gone too?

Nothing about this feels like a happy ending.

In the first few days, you don't leave the house. You tell yourself that it's better that way. Now that Miguel is no longer here, the idea of walking out in into open streets in broad daylight seems strange to you.

Lyla tries to tempt you with exotic holidays.

“Bali, India! The world is your oyster, we can fly out first class tonight and do an Eat Pray Love for as long as you want to!” Lyla’s voice sings in your ear. "Thailand is lovely this time of the year, barely any tycoons."

Most of the time, you ignore her presence, burying your head into the pillow, pathetically hugging onto one of the oversized shirts that’s been left behind.

Everytime you hope to catch a whiff of the remnant traces of Miguel’s presence there. But there’s nothing. It just smells of stale detergent.

After surviving the end of the world, a lot of things that used to be important seems meaningless to you now.

Alive as you may be, there’s no real purpose for you carved out in this dimension. You don't go to work in the mornings, because the you of this universe died years ago. Showing up at your office at the Chrysler building would likely induce heart attacks amongst your old co-workers.

You could scour Careerbuilder for job ads, but there's a sour pit in your stomach that hugs tightly around your guts everytime you think of the prospect of having to speak to job recruiters.

You don't think you have it in you to lie to some stranger at an interview and pretend that being in front of a white screen poring over excel sheets 8 hours a day is the way you want to spend the rest of your life until you hit retirement.

Besides, rent is not an issue anymore. Nor is money when Lyla is there to take care of you and act as your digital sugar momma. A standing order for any and all bills needed to maintain this home had already been set up long before you arrived.

You feel sorry for Lyla. She's been programmed to take care of your mental and physical well being and you know she is at wit's end with your listless behavior.

She pulls out all the stops. Lyla orders take out for you, delivered right to your door to try to get you to eat. If she had a physical body, you think she would hold you down and force feed you.

But something is wrong with you, because even though every dish is your favorite, rounded up from your favorite restaurants in the city, for the first time in your life since you were born, you no longer have much of an appetite.

You usually only manage mouthfuls just to keep Lyla from constantly nagging, before you shove the take-out box back into the fridge and then crawl back into bed.

Everything tastes bland and grey. Everything around you seems to have lost its color and shine. Was the world around you always this dull?

On the fifth day, there is a familiar baby-pink box with Gladis' logo printed on the lid arriving at your doorstep.

“Surprise!” Lyla announces. “It’s your favorite! I ordered the luxury box with the elderflower lemon flavors, as well as the lychee-raspberry jello!”

You sit down by the table, staring at the beautifully adorned cupcakes in the box. Spirals of white and pink frosting with petals of edible flowers. There's freshly cut strawberries and blackberries and chocolate shavings on op.

Picking one up, you cram the whole cupcake into your mouth, trying to cling onto the memory of that first time when the flavor of lemon zest bursting on your tongue had made you squeal with happiness.

That doesn't happen.

This time, as the sugar hits the top of your mouth, all you can think about is how much you miss him. How things will never be the same without him.

How you'll never get to have him sit next to you, smiling softly as he watches you eat. That you'll never get to see him demolish a cupcake in one bite and leave frosting on his nose.

It doesn't feel the same, you just feel hollow. Wetness spills across your cheeks, and snot clogs your nose and throat. You must look like a looney, ugly crying with your mouth stuffed full of cupcake, barely swallowing.

After that Lyla doesn’t order them for you anymore.

It's morning you think, judging from the bright sun pouring in from the blinds.

Lyla is buzzing near your ear where you've taken off the watch and placed it on the pillow next to you for company.

"You need to get out of the house. You're turning into a social recluse. It's not a good look," she says, as she peers down at you over her pink-tinted glasses.

"How about I get a date for you? Have a fab night out on the town? I have a roller-dex of the top bachelors in New York. I'm happy to hack into their calendar!"

You ignore her, burying your face deeper into the pillow, hugging Miguel's worn hoodie tighter to your chest. You pull the cover over your head, but you can still hear her babble on through the thin separation of fabric.

"What's your type? Oscar Isaac? He’s hot– No, no you're right he's happily married and we don’t wanna be homewreckers here. What about Lenny Kravitz? Doesn't get cooler than Kravitz and he’s long divorced."

"Lyla stop," you groan, poking your head back up above the covers. You just want quiet. Just want to stay here cocooned in this space that is the closest you'll ever get to Miguel for as long as you can remember him, until that too is taken away from you.

"I'm fine. I don't need a date."

"You're not fine though. You've only eaten a box of cupcakes in the last week. You haven't showered and you look like a mess. Your hair is greasier than the BP oil spill off the gulf of Mexico. My purpose is to keep you safe, and that includes your mental and emotional levels, which are... " she stops, throwing up some diagnostics boxes in floating holograms, then makes a face. "Yikes."

She’s doing this on purpose. Talking incessantly, so that she can nag you into doing what she wants. Suddenly you gain newfound sympathy for Miguel. You used to think it was funny when she nagged him and got on his nerves, but now that you're on the end of it, you see how he must’ve suffered when Lyla was in one of these moods with him.

"Will you stop if I step out of the house for a walk," you offer as an olive branch, hoping for a little peace and quiet.

"How long of a walk?"

"Five."

"Minutes?!" Lyla screeches with outrage. "The general recommendation is 150 minutes of weekly exercise, I'm going to need at least an hour's walk from you boss-girl."

"Twenty minutes."

"Forty!"

"Half an hour, or I'm going back to bed and wearing earplugs."

Lyla grins. "Deal".

The streets here look the same as the ones in your dimension, down to the Bodega owned by the old Korean couple around the corner. This version of earth is identical to yours in almost every way you know of.

Except in this New York, instead of Matthew Ellis, a man named Biden who is apparently over 100 years old (give or take a few years) is president.

In this reality, Leonardo Di Caprio apparently won an Oscar, while Amy Adams still hasn't, which is nuts to you.

The Avengers also don't seem to exist here. Though Superheroes still seem prevalent. A group of misfits that refers to themselves as the Fantastic Four seems to dominate the news cycle more often than not.

Ahead of you, the street splits into two paths and you take a corner into the smaller street that you know should cut through to a dog park.

But it doesn’t. Instead of green grass fields and park benches, you end up in a small narrow dead end of a street. Somehow you're lost. Shit. You should've paid more attention.

Looking up, you turn your head left and right to try to make sense of where you could be. You’re just about to pull up google maps, when the flickering light of the one sole streetlamp illuminating this alley catches your attention.

You're 12 blocks from Chinatown, but you recognize this alley even though it shouldn't be here.

From a distance, you spot the familiar red stall. The same small rickety table. The same red cloth draped on top. The same old lady with her abnormally large shiny head, comically large sunglasses and white-blue robe. The same giant sign spelling out: Fortune teller.

Only this time, there's only one folding chair set up in front of it.

She takes one look at you, as you sit down with a look of familiarity in her milky-white eyes.

"Your bad luck is gone," she says.

You should be more surprised that the scam fortune teller from another dimension seemingly remembers the conversation you had with her other self. But it doesn't. You've learned by now that nothing is as it seems.

Random near death accidents are not just due to bad luck. A superhero that repeatedly saves you isn’t just doing it out of sheer goodwill and duty. A starmap is not just a starmap, and you’re willing to bet your life that this fortune teller is not just a fortune teller.

“Who are you?” you ask her.

“Is that of importance to you?”

“Yes.”

She takes off her sunglasses and stares directly into your eyes. Without the obstruction of dark tinted lenses, you can see that it's not glaucoma causing the whiteness in her pupils. In her eyes, there are galaxies, millions of tiny dots of glowing stars, endless and mesmerizing as you stare back into them.

"My name is Ulana. I’m a Watcher. My role is to observe the Multiverse from the Nexus of all realities.”

There’s no longer that harmless demeanor and friendly smile that makes you drop your guard. She holds herself with reverence as she speaks, with the aura of the divine.

“Does that mean you are able to observe every reality in this moment?” you ask.

“Yes.”

The image of your New York with its pink cracked sky and the chaos you left it in crowds your vision.

"Can you tell me what happened to my old world after I left? Is it still there?"

"Your old home is intact and safe."

You let out a shaky breath you didn’t know you had been holding all this time.

Thank god.

Relieved tears spill from your cheeks. Somehow you haven't single-handedly caused the destruction and death of whole worlds and countless lives.

Even if you can never go back there, that place will always be your home, and your chest warms at the thought that even without you it will always still be there.

You take a moment to gather yourself, to wipe the errant tears that are welling up with the back of your hand.

Then you take a deep calming breath before you ask her the question that has been plaguing your mind since you arrived in this reality.

"Is Miguel still alive in the void?" you ask her.

"Your husband is still alive. But he doesn't have much time left. He's fading."

Your fingers curl into fists on top of your knees, "How do I save him?"

"I couldn't tell you.” She shakes her head sadly. "My kind is not allowed to intervene. We are only meant to observe the ongoings of the universes. I've already meddled too much.”

Ducking down, she reaches under her desk, sorting through the pile of junk paper, before she leans back up over the table.

"This is the only help I can give you," she says, reaching over to place something into your hands.

You look down to see a familiar bright yellow Star Map.

"He'll be home this time," she tells you.

You're standing on the doorsteps of the old brownstone on 177A Bleecker Street, staring up at the old ornate wooden front doors.

Unlike last time you were here, there's no hesitation in you anymore. It doesn't matter that you've come alone with no other superhero to validate your mad and fantastical story about the Cosmos that was out to kill you.

You don't care if Strange thinks you're a random crazy from the streets.

If he doesn't believe you, then you'll make him believe you. If he tries to have you hauled out, you'll kick and drag and scream at the top of your lungs, and chain yourself to his front door if that's what it takes.

You bring your hand to the door knocker and tap it three times. Then you wait.

Nothing.

Didn't the fortune teller say he was going to be home this time?

Goddamnit, was she a scam after all? What kind of name is Ulana for a celestial being anyhow? Did you end up wasting another ten dollars?

You grit your teeth and step forward again, grabbing the door knocker to pound it down against the front door, even harder this time and you don’t stop at one or two, you keep slamming it down fervently.

Mid-knock, the door creaks, swinging open, as an exasperated voice greets you.

"Yes, yes, yes. I'm coming. There's no need to knock that aggressively, I'm not going to come to the door any fast–"

He stops mid-sentence as he looks at you. For a man you've never met, Dr. Strange's eyes go wide at the sight of you standing on his doorsteps. His eyes are filled with the disbelief of a man who's seen a ghost.

"You're alive," he says.

“Sit down and make yourself comfortable,” Strange says as he hurriedly pulls out a chair by the old oak table in his dining room.

“I’ll make us some tea,” he says.

He waves his cape with a dramatic flare in the empty space, and from a distance you hear a small click, before you realize that he must’ve used magic to put on the kettle.

For someone that’s supposed to be a sorcerer, you don’t know why the hell he bothers having a kettle. Seems a bit redundant, couldn’t he just use magic to instantly heat water?

You sit down as instructed, hands folded in your lap as you try not to fidget.

There’s a prolonged and uncomfortable silence as you both wait for the water to boil.

Strange opens then closes his mouth, as if he’s unsure of who should speak first. In the end though, he doesn’t say anything at all, he just drums his fingers impatiently on the wooden surface as he smiles politely but awkwardly at you. Across the room, the water starts simmering to a boil.

This wasn’t what you had expected. You had counted on him to try to kick you out and you having to make a passionate plea for him to listen to you. Instead he’d opened the door and insisted on inviting you in and now the two of you are drowning in a sea of uncomfortable silence.

There’s a tinny whistle from the kettle, and Strange darts up from the chair, as if the interruption was a godsend. He rushes over to pick it up, before walking back to the table with it at a much slower pace.

Then he stands next to you, tilting the snout of the kettle into your small tea cup.

Strange stares intently at your face as he pours the boiling water into the cup. So focused on you that he doesn't pay any attention to the level of the hot water, until it spills over the rim and onto the table surface below. Then he seemingly snaps himself out of it.

"Shit! Sorry," Strange begins. He wipes up the spillage with his robe, even though there are perfectly good paper towels behind him, even though he could’ve just used magic to make it vanish in the blink of an eye.

"You look exactly like her," he says, then he stops himself.

Strange considers the statement and does a curt little nod at himself as if berating himself for how stupid that comment sounded. "Which of course you do. You are her, just… from another dimension."

From your time with Miguel, you’ve been able to glean from his childish rants about the man’s “ugly” and “useless” and “impractical” cape that there’s a hostility there towards Strange that goes beyond just Miguel being Miguel.

Judging from the guilt in this man’s eyes as he looks at you from across the table, you can guess that there is a complicated history between Strange and Miguel and you.

“Did you know me?” you ask.

“Yeah, we were friends. Good friends,” Strange corrects himself. Then a sadness seeps into his eyes as he stops wiping the table and pulls back his robe close to his body. “Although I supposed I wasn’t a great friend to you near the end of things.”

He places the cup down on the table in front of you, the rising steam wafts through the air, smelling of mint and honey as he drags out the chair and sits himself next to you.

"Why don't you tell me everything from the start," Strange asks you.

So you do. You tell him of that first day when you fell out of the Chrysler building and was saved by Miguel. Tell him about how Miguel saved you again and again and how you tried to trap him with cookies and how you fell out of the Chrysler building a second time on purpose, which makes Strange laugh that sounds fond and warm.

You tell him of the void, the fortune teller, the Avengers and everything in between, and how despite surviving all of that Miguel had exiled himself to the void and sent you here by yourself, with each event you tell him his eyes grow sadder.

When you're done, Strange nods solemnly. He picks up his cup and takes a small sip of his tea to buy himself time to gather his thoughts. Then he finally speaks again. "What can I do to help?"

"Miguel is still in the void. I need your help to send me there so I can get him back."

Strange frowns, then goes entirely quiet as he stares out of the window in deliberation. It takes several moments before he speaks again.

"The void is a dangerous place, stay too long and you will be erased from existence. If you go in you may not be able to find your way out and I wouldn’t be able to help you from here."

“That’s fine, I just need your help to get there” you say.

He sets down his cup as he continues. "I can’t in good conscience send you back out there. I've already broken my promise to keep you safe once."

Frustration brims in your chest. As flattered as you are over Strange’s concern over your safety, you bristle at the fact that there seems to be none extended to Miguel’s. Every second you spend here is another second wasted.

“Miguel is there. If I don’t save him, he’s going to be erased from existence.”

That doesn’t seem to move the doctor in the slightest.

“For Miguel, his own life is a small price to pay in exchange for yours. He’d sacrifice the whole world for you to live.”

“That’s not a choice for him to make.”

Strange scratches his thumb over his bearded jaw, as if he's trying to figure out how to solve a puzzle, before speaking again.

"Right now with Miguel gone, the volatile cosmic energy surrounding you is stabilized. The version of you in this universe died and is viewing your presence as an equivalent exchange. You could stay here. You'd be safe. Miguel would've known that. That's probably why he sent you here.”

"I don't want to stay here if Miguel isn't here," you counter.

Leaning back in his chair, Strange up at the ceiling in deep thought.

"It's risky, if I sent you there, you may not even be able to find him. He might not even have his physical shape anymore, he’s been there too long by now."

His head ducks back down as he looks at your face, observing you for long moments.

You don't know what it is he sees, but a small amused smile quirks at his lip as he shakes his head again.

"But... I think you already know the risks and nothing I can say will dissuade you will it?" he says.

You nod.

It's not that you've stopped being scared of the void. It's not that the very thought of it doesn't fill your stomach with a cold dread. It's that Miguel is there, and there is no risk you're not willing to take to have the chance to see him again.

You square your chest and confidence swells inside you with your answer.

"Send me there."

~ Next Issue

Credit and Dedication: We're almost there guys! Next issue is going to be the final one. Thanks to everyone who has been with me on this ride! I cannot wait to share the final conclusion with you all.

Special thank you (as always) go out to my bestie: @thirstworldproblemss who is a big reason this story even lifted off the ground in the first place.

Big BIG BIGGEST thanks to my muse @guruan who has gifted me with so much inspiration be it thirsty twitter art of our favorite rude spider or her own insanely gorgeous art. Have you seen this heartbreaking beauty?!

I don’t have a tag list but please follow me on astroboots-writes and turn on notifications to be notified when I post something new!

#miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o'hara x you #miguel o'hara fi #miguel o'hara fic #miguel o'hara fanfic #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara fanfiction #spiderverse #oscar isaac #across the spiderverse fanfiction #across the spiderverse #marvel mcu #marvel #miguel ohara fic #miguel ohara #miguel ohara x reader #miguel ohara x you #spiderverse fanfiction

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beardedmrbean · 8 months

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FRANKFORT – Potential mothers could claim child support during pregnancy under a new proposal before the Kentucky legislature.

House Bill 243, filed by Republican Reps. Amy Neighbors of Edmonton and Stephanie Dietz of Edgewood, would change Kentucky law to claim child support "at any time following conception."

The bill is designed to support pregnant mothers, Neighbors said.

"There are a lot of costs associated with a pregnancy and basically getting ready for baby," Neighbors said, pointing to car seats, other needed supplies and lost work time when a pregnant mother has to attend doctor appointments.

But abortion-rights advocates see the bill as part of an attempt to advance an anti-abortion agenda by laying the groundwork for fetal personhood under Kentucky law.

Bills based on the idea that a fetus is a person have been filed across the country after the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.

Neighbors said her decision to introduce the bill was not directly influenced by Kentucky's ban on most abortions but rather by a desire to support women during pregnancy.

The measure also would allow paternity testing prior to birth, as long as it's safe to do so, Neighbors said.

The bill was sent to the Committee on Committees on Jan. 11. Neighbors said she believes HB 243 will have widespread support from House Republicans.

Critics see bill as attempt at fetal personhood

Abortion-rights advocates told The Courier Journal the measure is an attempt to cement into law the belief that life begins at conception.

Rep. Lisa Willner, D-Louisville, said the measure would create a "slippery slope" for pregnant people.

"What the bill would do would be to grant full personhood to an embryo from the moment of conception," Willner said. "These so-called personhood laws could result in a pregnant woman facing child abuse charges and even incarceration if she seeks treatment for drug or alcohol abuse.”

“The legislature should instead focus on bolstering actual support for pregnancy, such as ensuring insurance access, covering doula and midwifery services, and expanding mental health supports," Willner said.

"This bill is an underhanded attempt to advance an anti-abortion agenda and lay the groundwork for fetal personhood in state law by allowing people to seek child support for a fetus," said Tamarra Wieder, Kentucky state director for the Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates.

Wieder is also concerned the bill would open the door for surveillance of pregnant people because it would require the state to verify their eligibility for child support. She agreed with Willner that the legislature should focus on health care during pregnancy.

Planned Parenthood will ask its supporters to call legislators and express their opposition, Wieder said.

"We may actually be able to stop this because Kentuckians don't want more restrictions to abortion, and this is another abortion restriction that would be codified in law," Wieder said.

But when asked when asked about the comments from abortions-rights supporters, Neighbors said, "I can’t stress enough that my goal is to simply be supportive of mothers, children, and families."

National trend

The bill is the first Kentucky measure Willner has seen that creates a potential personhood definition for a fetus, she said.

But other states and Congress have considered, and in some cases adopted, similar bills around child support.

In 2021, Utah adopted a measure that requires fathers to pay 50% of the mother's pregnancy expenses. Indiana's legislature last year expanded the list of childbirth-related expenses fathers could be held responsible for paying, though the legislature stopped short of categorizing those payments as child support.

Georgia's abortion law applies the state's child support rules to any fetus "with a detectable heartbeat."

Washington Republicans have introduced bills similar to the current proposal in Kentucky. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, in December introduced in their respective chambers the "Supporting Healthy Pregnancy Act," which would require biological fathers to pay child support for medical expenses during pregnancy.

"These bills are often introduced by folks who are pro-life or anti-abortion who believe that a fetus or unborn child is a rights-holding person," said Mary Ziegler, a law professor at the University of California-Davis. She is writing a book about the fetal personhood movement.

"The strategy behind them is to set a precedent that, you know, that life in the womb has rights essentially, which would obviously have extensions to abortion too," Ziegler said. "Essentially it would mean liberal abortion laws would be unconstitutional."

A separate Kentucky bill introduced by Sen. David Yates, D-Louisville, would add exceptions for rape, incest, maternal health, and lethal fetal anomalies to Kentucky's near-total ban on abortions. __________________

I thought this was what they wanted, people keep going after pro life people for fetal child support and now that it's on the docket they're mad for some reason.

#nunyas news

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champstorymedia · 3 days

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From Health to Home: The Different Types of Insurance Coverage Explained

Introduction: Insurance coverage plays a vital role in protecting individuals and their assets from unforeseen events. From health insurance to home insurance, there are various types of insurance policies available to suit different needs. In this comprehensive guide, we will explore the different types of insurance coverage, explaining what each type entails and how it can benefit you. Health…

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sophieinwonderland · 15 days

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I want to start with: people are not their disorders. Disorders are not identities. They are intended for clinicians and insurance companies and for treatment. They are clusters of symptoms. And they are faulty and honestly a poor piss always of describing people. All psychiatric disorders contain overlap. Personality disorders especially contain overlapping symptoms. Rarely does a person exactly fit one PD. Dissociation can be a symptom of PDs. Dissociating is not necessarily indicative of a dissociative disorder. Also, there is nothing wrong with being diagnosed with a PD. It doesn’t mean that person is a bad person. A PD is diagnosed when a person exhibits a pattern of certain behaviors over a long period of time, usually start in adolescence. PDs are often difficult to treat because those diagnosed often do not see any problem with their behavior, and therefore often do not actively try to change. PDs are incredibly sad, for both the person who likely experiences much unhappiness but can’t see why and for those around them.

I imagine that patient’s doctors knew her very well before coming to their diagnosis. It is very possible they observed manipulative behavior in her regularly. She may have believed she had DID as it would have been a convenient excuse to continue her manipulative behaviors. Often, people do not want to take responsibility for their harmful behavior. Could you imagine if everyone could just blame bad behavior on a dissociative disorder? It sounds like she just pointed to the dissociative disorder as an excuse, rather than feeling actual remorse or regret for her actions. Therein lies the difference. Again, does this make her a bad person? No. She clearly had a hard life that shaped her into who she was. However, it is important to diagnose correctly. Treatment changes depending on the diagnosis. Honestly, this is why I personally believe diagnoses should be withheld. Rather than viewing themselves as a whole person, patients may often overly identify with the diagnosis which can also hinder recovery (i.e. getting the patient to a place where they no longer feel the need to use maladaptive coping strategies; more ideally, getting them to a place where they can thrive rather than only survive).

Regardless, that is one anecdote. My point remains that it does happen that one is introduced with the concept of alters and then they suddenly have alters, not because they have DID, but again, because they have high suggestibility, prone to fantasy, etc. And that is ok! That doesn’t make them liars or bad people. It just doesn’t necessarily mean they have DID and therefore treatment used for DID may not be effective for them. More likely they’re young, still figuring out their identity, confused, etc. Clinicians need to be careful when a new client comes in claiming alters as having the wrong diagnosis can, again, hinder recovery, and with DID being all over social media nowadays, this is becoming more common.

I imagine that patient’s doctors knew her very well before coming to their diagnosis.

She had initially been diagnosed with DID.

Then she was sent to the clinic that conducted this study who suspected she didn't have real DID as soon as she was admitted to their department.

Honestly, this is why I personally believe diagnoses should be withheld.

You mean you shouldn't tell the patients what they're diagnosed with?

That's a terrible idea! Just imagine all the patients put on who knows how many different types of medications without being told what the meds are even treating! Unless you just mean for DID specifically, but then why single that out?

However, it is important to diagnose correctly.

I agree. It is very important to diagnose correctly. But the reasoning for her not having DID is weak. By all counts, it sounds like she fit the criteria. If not for DID then at least for OSDD.

Let me put this a different way.

These doctors had a problem. There were lawsuits being filed against psychiatrists for alleged misdiagnoses. To protect themselves and other doctors from such suits, they needed a defense.

They created a theory of "imitated DID" as a solution to this problem. A super hard-to-detect condition where people just enacted the symptoms of DID, that doctors couldn't possibly be held liable for because of how hard it is to detect.

To back up this theory, well, they needed case studies to use as examples. Which meant identifying people to have their made-up condition.

Regardless, that is one anecdote.

It's THE FIRST anecdote. This, and the other case studies presented, were what was used as justification to create Imitated DID as a concept!

Before this paper, there was malingering which was intentionally lying to gain some type of benefit. But there was no real concept of people gaining or imitating DID-like symptoms unconsciously.

In the end, this alleged condition of "imitated DID" has no scientific basis. The theory is not driven by science, but money. It was made up to protect doctors from legal liability.

My point remains that it does happen that one is introduced with the concept of alters and then they suddenly have alters, not because they have DID, but again, because they have high suggestibility, prone to fantasy, etc.

And my point is that evidence for this claim is lacking.

Many people don't just form alters after learning that DID exists. But sure, when people learn about plurality, if they are already plural, there is a tendency for them to realize that they already had headmates afterwards. But those headmates didn't just come into existence. It's just that the system didn't have words to describe their experiences before.

I will give you that, because of rampant system medicalism, many of these may be non-disordered systems will wrongfully self-diagnose as disordered systems. This is a reason we need more education on systems of all kinds.

But that's still not imitated DID. It's not created to copy DID experiences. They're just using the closest thing they know about to define the experience of being multiple that they already have.

Clinicians need to be careful when a new client comes in claiming alters as having the wrong diagnosis can, again, hinder recovery, and with DID being all over social media nowadays, this is becoming more common.

And yet, false diagnosis of DID is a non-issue. In a later study, Suzette Boon, who invented the concept of imitated DID, discussed how only 6 out of the 85 patients in that study were misdiagnosed with DID. In the same paper, she mentions how other studies have shown 26-40% of DID patients will be diagnosed with schizophrenia long before they get a correct diagnosis of DID. And that's just schizophrenia alone, never mind other psychotic disorders, BPD and similar disorders that are often confused with DID.

There is no epidemic of people getting falsely diagnosed with DID.

But there is an epidemic of people with DID and other dissociative disorders being wrongfully diagnosed with other conditions.

Why then, aren't we calling for clinicians to show the same care when diagnosing schizophrenia that we are with them diagnosing DID?

Oh wait, I just thought of 16 billion reasons.

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bittersweetarts · 11 months

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How to Disappear - Chapter 3

Soldier Boy (The Boys) x OC

Word count: 4220 words

Summary: Eden Reid can't help her curiosity, and Soldier Boy can't help but take advantage of that curiosity.

WARNINGS: Cursing, substance abuse, minor violence

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - AO3 Page

Chapter 3: Out of the Woods

What Ben – correction, Soldier Boy – did to Eden, really was a pain in the ass. A real fucking pain in the ass, and Eden will never forgive him for it.

Running away from a woman’s home after having sex with her, before she is even awake, hurts.

But what hurts more is forcing said woman into a situation where she has to lie to some jackass insurance agents about how she was somehow robbed while asleep, and the thieves in question only decided to steal her little old Mazda, which she had bought almost a decade ago, and now consisted of so many spare parts that it might as well be Frankenstein. On top of that, some officers from the local station had to inspect her home to file the report, and no matter how much Eden tried to clean, the smell of dope still lingered, which was humiliating.

It was a small miracle that her claim was actually approved.

Turns out in the case of theft, insurers will only cut a check for the current value of the car, regardless of how comprehensive the insurance is, and how much of a premium Eden paid for it. And unfortunately for Eden, her Mazda was not really worth all that much.

Motherfucker.

In the weeks that passed, Eden found herself cursing Soldier Boy for the mess he’d made for her. But as angry as she was at the ex-hero, she was angrier at herself, for getting herself into such a mess.

She decided to help a Supe and she had only herself to blame, and worst of all, she knew better, for that was the very reason that she dropped out of college and decided not to pursue a career as a Supe herself.

Eden only got angrier when their last moments together came to mind. The feeling of his warm skin against hers, the sweet nothings he spoke into her ears, the way he filled her up whole. Fuck him. Eden now absolutely despised him, for the way he makes her feel, and for inconveniencing her life.

Who the fuck steals nowadays.

And so, after dipping into her meager savings and taking some PTO (not that she had any other choice, as she literally could not go to her workplace), Eden became the proud owner of yet another Mazda, this time an even older second-hand model in a navy color, and after a week of lots of walking and terrible public transport, Eden was finally able to return to work, where she was greeted by the ire of her co-workers (Matt was not happy by the increased workload on his plate due to her absence), and the bitching of her manager, Leslie, who went on and on about how he had mistakenly thought Eden was more of a team player. Fuck them too.

Work itself continued on as normal.

Eden worked in a private IVF Clinic in East Brunswick, and during her nine-to-five, she pretty much only greets patients and their partners, handles the telephone whilst managing records and accounts. A normal job for a normal person, that’s all Eden was looking for.

Eden also liked that her job was not strenuous or intense, and as the weeks passed, and December neared, Eden slowly started to forget about Soldier Boy. Work and her now tight budget distracted her, and Eden hated to admit it, but the car payments she had to deal with on top of constantly rising fuel prices and bills were starting to get to her, in a way they didn’t before.

Eden never had many good friends, because to Supes, friends are just tools to be used and discarded, and since moving to Jersey, Eden never tried to make any. But now, she wished she had someone to talk to, because the stress of life was getting to her. She woke up feeling exhausted, food made her feel nauseous, and every time she used her new car, a new problem seemed to arise.

The car seemed to use more fuel than her old one, the radiator started leaking, the sensors began to malfunction. Eden now visited the mechanics at least once a week, because her new car was a gift that just kept on giving.

The young brunette was not having a good time. And not that Eden would ever admit it, but the man she provided refuge for woke up something in her that was dormant before, the part of her that craved the affection and company of another.

Maybe that’s why when Felix, one of the younger mechanics from the Royal Auto Service Centre, asked her out on a date, Eden said yes without a second thought.

And maybe that’s why after a couple glasses of wine their dinner at a restaurant by the Raritan River, Eden found herself in his studio apartment in the city, under his sheets with him.

Felix was from Jersey and worked in the Centre with his cousins and guys he grew up with on the block. Unlike Soldier Boy, his hair and eyes were dark, and he spoiled her from the very start. At first, it was discounts for the work done on her car.

“Consider it the friends and family discount.”

“So, I’m your friend.”

“Maybe you can be something a little more.”

And it didn’t stop there. Felix would bring coffee to Eden during her lunch break, never let her pay for anything, and though a little corny, Felix never failed to compliment her.

“You look so beautiful.” “I love your smile.” “Your hair looks great today.”

The compliments were never ending. Eden was never insecure about her appearance, but he did make her feel good. He always looked out for her, and whenever she felt faint or ill, he never failed to take care of her, making them stay in and take it easy after work.

However, Eden did wonder if they were moving too fast. Barely three weeks into their relationship, and Eden was staying more nights in his studio than in her own bed. She had already met his friends and sister, Maria, and saw him practically every day.

And no matter how wonderful he was to her, Eden couldn’t help but compare him to Soldier Boy and even her only ex, Alex, who she tried to forget. Felix was not as well-built and sensual as Soldier Boy, but he cared more about her pleasure in bed, and actually, he reminded her of Alex before they broke up years ago.

Felix was nice, he was good to her, so why couldn’t Eden stop comparing him to the others.

It was near midnight on a Saturday, while Eden was with Felix in a noisy bar downtown, when she received a call from an unknown caller. Eden had cut contact with her family and anyone else she knew before dropping out of college, so getting calls to her personal number was abnormal for Eden.

“Be right back babe.”

Eden excused herself from the table where she and Felix sat, along with his co-workers, Jared and Rafael, and their wives, Lisa and Elena. As she stood up, Eden showed Felix her phone, to show she was going to be answering a call, before kissing Felix’s cheek and leaving traces of her rosy lipstick on his skin. Eden could feel judgmental eyes on her, but tried to ignore it as she stood, pulling down her dress and grabbing the coat on her chair, before heading out of the bar, to the smoking area.

A part of Eden was happy to have an excuse to leave the group and have a moment to herself.

The group have known each other for over a decade, and the couples there were high school sweethearts, and as far as Eden could tell, completely normal. Eden had gone out with them before, but she had never been entirely at ease. She got along with Jared and Rafael well enough, and they worked in the Centre as mechanics with Felix, and had the joy of working on her car (which was only a joy because they got to mock her for it).

Lisa and Elena, on the other hand, were not so friendly with her, often excluding her from conversation, and Eden could not do anything about it. Felix tried to reassure her, telling her that they probably didn’t trust her yet, and to give it some time.

With a small smile, Eden stepped into the freezing cold, which was only bearable because of the red wine in her system. The young brunette was met with the stench of cigarettes and a bunch of smokers, who glanced in her direction before continuing with their own conversations.

At first, Eden let the call pass, having not reached outside before the ringing ended. But the unknown caller called again, and this time, Eden managed picked up the phone.

“Hi sweetheart, it’s me.”

A cocky, self-assured voice that Eden remembered all too well spoke into her ear, and Eden’s smile suddenly dropped. The young brunette was silent for a heartbeat, before she impulsively responded, tone full of spite.

“Fuck you.” Eden heard a deep chuckle on the other side of the line, which only infuriated her even more.

“Don’t break my heart and tell me you forgot already. You already fucked me, doll.”

“And holy fucking Christ, why did I? You are literally a hundred and something year old and still act like a fucking man-child.”

To Eden’s irritation, her insults make Soldier Boy laugh even more.

“That’s not very nice to say. You used to be so sweet to me, doll. What happened?”

Eden’s eyes widened at his shamelessness, and as her voice raised, the spectators around her started to pay attention, reveling in the drama that was unfolding before them. Eden spat practically each and every syllable, but Soldier Boy only found amusement in her reaction.

“I don’t know, maybe I’m annoyed because some fucked-up bastard stole my fucking car. Oh wait, that was you, you fucking prick. You make me sick to my stomach.”

“I sure do.” Soldier Boy responded still laughing, words slightly slurring into one another. “Don’t worry sweetheart, I'm just borrowing. You’ll get a replacement later.”

“Forget it, I don’t need a fucking thing from you. Do me a favor and never contact me again, because trust me, hell will freeze ten times over before I have the remotest desire to hear from you again. As far as I’m concerned, your jackass is dead to me. In fact, we’ve never fucking met.”

Eden heard a clicking sound from the other line, as though Soldier Boy’s amusement had worn off and he was scolding her, like a parent does to a child, clicking their tongue against the roof of their mouth.

“Are you done with your tantrum, doll?”

Eden’s eyes widened in infuriation, and she ended the call without second thought. The young brunette could feel eyes staring at her, and as her phone rang again, she looked up and glared at the first person her eyes met; a blonde girl who barely looked legal, stood with a couple men, who looked twice her age. Eden couldn’t help but snap at them.

“Are you all entertained? Mind your own fucking business.”

Eden’s ringtone still dominated the acoustics of the smoking area, the sound of which made Eden want to smash her phone into the exposed brick wall behind her. Instead, Eden declined the call, swiftly blocked the number, before switching off her phone.

Try fucking calling me now, asshole.

From the corner of the eye, a lit cigarette was offered in her direction, and looking up, Eden saw it was the blonde girl she snapped at mere minutes ago, who had walked up to her, to offer some emotional support. Although Eden wasn’t a smoker, she still enjoyed the occasional cigarette, and it was very much needed now, so she took the cigarette, offering a grateful smile.

“Tough breakup?”

As Eden inhaled the cigarette, she choked, not because she wasn’t a smoker, but at the notion of her and Soldier Boy sharing anything like a relationship. Before answering though, Eden deeply inhaled the cigarette she held again

“A breakup would imply that we were together. Which we weren’t.” The blonde girl charismatically laughed, her blue eyes looking at hers in understanding.

“Been there, done that. You’re better off without him girl.”

“I definitely am.”

Eden responded in agreement, hugging herself to provide some relief from the cold, as she answered. Right on cue, she saw Felix walk up to them, smiling and flushed from his drinking. As he saw the cigarette in her hand, his smile faltered and brows slightly furrowed.

“Everything alright babe?”

“Yeah, all’s good.”

Eden nodded, before dropping the cigarette and stamping on it with her boot. She started to feel lightheaded, but tried to not let it show. Looking back at the young blonde girl, Eden mustered up a smile.

“Thanks for the cig. Have a good night.”

“You too, take care of yourself.”

The girl responded, smiling knowingly as her eyes darted between Eden and Felix, before walking back to her group.

“What took you so long? Who called?” Felix asked inquisitively, as he wrapped an arm around Eden, his warm body providing refuge from the cold as he guided her back into the bar. Eden couldn’t tell him the full truth, but she also didn’t have to completely lie, yet she did so anyway, without remorse.

“Wrong number. Don’t know how, but I ended up chatting with that girl, and lost track of time I guess.”

As Eden finished with her weak lie, in front of the bar, she turned to face Felix and gently tugged at his wrists, pulling him in for a kiss, to which he happily obliged. The kiss was deep, and though the bar was crowded, Eden felt like she was being watched, just as she had been in the smoking area.

Dismissing her paranoia, which was probably spurned by that prick, Eden tugged Felix until there was no space between them, making him laugh at her affection, and Eden laugh in return as well.

Mondays are always rough, but this Monday was particularly cruel to Eden.

In between the freezing cold, feeling weak and nauseous and dealing with a shitty work environment, Eden was clearly having a wonderful workday. And to make the day even better, Dr Andrews called in sick right at opening time, so Eden had the pleasure of dealing with cancellations, rescheduling, and angry clients who were tired of waiting for their delayed appointments with a now different doctor. Oh, and her only co-worker, Matt, decided to skip work that day as well.

“My appointment was at one, but it’s already half past two.”

“This is ridiculous, we have known Dr Patel for years, just let him know Nina and Christopher here.”

“I have waited for over an hour, this is unacceptable, and you’re not helping. Where is your manager?”

The complaints kept going, the phones just kept ringing, and Eden was struggling to handle it all. She even missed her lunch hour, as the clinic did not close for the hour, and Eden was running on no fuel, as she felt too nauseous to eat breakfast in the morning.

Eden was strong though, that is literally her ability, so she willed herself to persevere. Some days are more challenging than others, but they’re not impossible, or that’s what Eden tried to remind herself.

But it was during emergency broadcast being played on the TV in the lobby, Eden lost it.

It was the late afternoon, the lobby was finally emptying out, and Eden was busy dealing with the final clients of the day, exhausted, when an emergency broadcast by the Vought News Network captured the attention of everyone in the lobby.

“Good evening, thank you for joining us. Breaking news out of the capital today, only hours ago. Deadly blast outside of Ford's Theatre, killing at least 14, injuring at least 29. Police are still investigating the incident, but the leading theory is that it is an unfortunate pipeline accident. We turn now to Vought News Network’s Chief Domestic Correspondent, Bradley Hunter – Bradley.”

“Liam, it was during the afternoon performance of A Christmas Carol, when during the closing act, a huge explosion went off. Officials are still investigating the source of the explosion, but it is assumed that due to the building being old, it was an unfortunate gas pipe accident, but this will take time to investigate as the site has been severely impacted.”

The reporter stopped speaking for a moment, and Eden, who’s eyes were glued onto the TV along with the handful of people in the lobby, were met with screenshots of a well-built man in blurry video, and the figure was a very familiar one to Eden.

Eden’s heart dropped and stomach churned as a high-definition image of a well-built brown-haired man, dressed in his famous Supe costume, appeared on the screen.

“There have been videos circulating across the Internet of what appears to be a now-not deceased Soldier Boy, who we know in the past had gained the ability to self-explode due to dangerous Soviet experimentation, but we at the Vought News Network need to clarify that this is fake news. Our tech and video verification analysts have been able to confirm that the video involves AI-generated content, so Soldier Boy…”

As the supposedly fake video of Soldier Boy leaving the burned down theatre started playing on the TV screen, Eden’s head started uncontrollably spinning, and quickly, the TV and lobby noises started fading away.

Bright lights blinded Eden, and as she forced open her eyes, she was met with the concerned look of a blonde man in scrubs in front of her, who then proceeded to smile.

“Ah, finally you’re awake. You had us worried. Miss Reid, can you please open your mouth for a moment.”

Disorientated, Eden did as she was asked, and a quick checkup of her state was done by the man. “My name is Dr Williams, and I’ll try to be quick.”

Eden, sat in a bed, realized she was in the emergency room, as fluorescent lighting shone on her, and a makeshift curtain-walls surrounded her, and the man in front of her, Dr Smith, read his clipboard as he spoke.

“About twenty-five minutes ago, you were brought here from your workplace, from a fainting spell. You had lost consciousness, and it was unclear whether you had hit your head on anything. Upon the examination by the EMTs and myself, we have determined it unlikely, as we do not see any point of impact, and your cognition appears to be in normal condition.”

The blonde doctor pauses for a moment and meets her eyes.

“Have you had any fainting symptoms earlier today or this week? This could include any dizziness, light-headedness, nausea, and/or heightened stress levels.”

“Well, for the past three-to-four weeks, I, uh.” Eden pauses for a moment, feeling unfamiliar nerves kick in. “I’ve been feeling weak, light-headed, and uh, nauseous. But I assumed that I caught a bug or something.”

“It says here on your file that you are Super-abled, and that you have increased strength which reflects onto your immunity. When was the last time you were ill?” Eden furrowed her brows at this.

“I’m not sure, it’s been a long time.” Eden genuinely could not remember and was starting to feel worried. To this, Dr Williams hummed before responding with another question.

“Forgive me, I do not mean to be intrusive. When was the last time you had your period?” Eden quickly realized where this was going, and started to feel worried.

“More than a month ago – but I have an IUD, and my menstrual cycle hasn’t been regular in years. And my partner always wears protection.” Dr Williams hummed again, before finally responding.

“Well, it doesn’t hurt to check. We will get some blood sample analysis completed, and conduct a standard pregnancy test just to make sure, as there is still the possibility of pregnancy even with an IUD. Do you have someone you can call, maybe your partner?”

“Are you sure you want to be alone tonight, babe?”

Eden was sat in Felix’s pickup truck, parked in front of her cabin. The moment her boyfriend had heard that she was in the ER, he had practically sprinted their himself, and did everything to make her feel better. According to him, he felt guilty for not noticing that she was unwell to begin with, and he had even gotten Rafael and Jared to bring her Mazda to her cabin while she was at the hospital.

It was dark, past nine PM, and Eden felt depleted. After waiting for the test results, and having one final consultation with Dr Williams, Eden felt like she was living outside of her body, and even the extortionate hospital bills haven’t affected her, because in her bag, she had pamphlets which made her want to faint all over again.

Shaking her head and leaning over to the driver’s seat, Eden kissed Felix, before responding, while putting on her coat.

“It’s okay, I don’t want to burden you. Lab results say it’s just iron deficiency, but to be safe, I’ll take a day or two off to recover. The doctor prescribed bed rest, but with you around, I won’t be able to get any of that.”

This made Felix grin and shake his head, before pulling Eden into another passionate kiss, with a grip so strong that Eden had to use a little bit of her Supe-strength to pull away, surprising him.

“I’ll be fine on my own, you don’t have to worry about me.” Eden said, before quickly opening the door and leaving the car, not giving her partner the time to respond. And as she stood on her front porch, waving goodbye at him, it took everything in her not to throw up.

This time though, Eden knew that she needed to throw up not because of nerves, but because somehow, she managed to be the less than one percent of people with an IUD, who had managed to get pregnant.

And in her bag, there were countless pamphlets, about every fucking topic possible with regards to pregnancies. Prenatal nutrition, exercise during pregnancy, managing pregnancy discomforts, preparing for labor and deliver, abortion clinics in the area.

Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.

The thoughts run rampant in Eden’s head, so much so that as she entered the cabin and switched on the lights in her home, heading straight to the kitchen, she failed to notice a large, bearded man sitting on her living room sofa.

“Ahem.”

Eden’s heart practically jumped out of her throat as she dropped her bag, its contents spilling out, and when she quickly turned to face the source of the sound, she was met with a man who literally scared the living shits out of her. She screamed almost immediately.

“Jesus, get out!”

Eden immediately grabbed the kitchen knife that was in its holder on the counter, and watched as the man stood there, not affected whatsoever by her screaming and threatening gesture. Instead, he started to speak theatrically, in an over-the-top Australian accent which made Eden even more disorientated.

“Now calm down, love. We are civilized folk after all. I just want to have a little conversation you, and then I can be off on my merry-way.”

As he spoke, the man slowly stepped closer to Eden, almost cornering her, which made her feel more frantic and fearful. Eden said nothing, and stepped back towards the hallway as he approached, still waving the knife in her hands in the air.

“Who the fuck are you! Why the fuck are you in my house?”

Eden’s focus was entirely on the man before her, who now started smiling at her.

“Who I am is not important, but I do need to ask. How does a nice girl living in the woods and working as a receptionist get tied up with a grizzled cunt like Soldier Boy?”

At the mention of Soldier Boy, Eden immediately lunges at her intruder, knife in hand, but he quickly knocks it out of her hand, and the knife skids to the other end of the living room. Eden didn’t let it affect her, as she immediately punched the man in his stomach, and immediately he falls to the ground groaning.

Eden wasn’t an idiot and told no one about Soldier Boy. She knew it was not a good thing that the man before her came to ask her about him. And he seemed crazy, especially at that very moment, when he started talking loudly, as though to someone else.

“Alright then, I fucking tried. Now can we wrap this up before she breaks my fucking ribs.”

In the blink of an eye, Eden felt herself tackled to the ground by someone much stronger than she was, and a rag was violently pressed against her face, and no matter how hard she thrashed and tried to push herself off, she was unable to.

As she faded out of consciousness, the intruder and another man stood above her, moving their lips, but Eden couldn’t hear or understand anything.

Author's Note: I wrote this chapter in a day and my brain is now frazzled - Hope you enjoy! As usual, feedback and comments are appreciated <3

– Chapter 4

#soldier boy #fanfiction #jensen ackles #soldier boy ben #soldier boy x oc #soldier boy x original character #the boys #the boys amazon #the boys tv #hotd #butcher #billy butcher #soldier boy fanfiction #soldier boy x reader #soldier boy x you #gen v 1x06 #fanfic

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hillbillyoracle · 2 years

Text

What To Do In Tornados

I’ve lived in tornado country pretty much my whole life and to be honest they still freak me out. I also remember how anxiety inducing it was when I first moved out and had to deal with them on my own. So like a message in a bottle to my former self, I wanted to compile what I’ve learned over the years in a skimmable format in case there’s anyone else out there today who could use it.

Difference between a watch and a warning?

Tornado watch means you have time; think of a wrist watch. Tornado warning means one is incoming, no more time. This is the one I use to remember it.

Or if you prefer the Weather Channels very memeable explanation - tornado watch means you have taco (tornado) ingredients - picture a taco bar. Tornado warning means you have a fully assembled taco (tornado). This is what my partner uses.

So there are possible tornados in the forecast:

Make a plan about where you’ll go if you get a warning. It should be the most interior room in your house, well away from any windows. Here we have a walkout basement and I go to the most interior part of it. When I was in an apartment, the most interior room happened to be my bathroom and hallway. If you live in a dorm or other communal setting, they should have a plan in place so make sure to find out what it is.

Take pictures of your rooms and car in the event you need to file an insurance claim. Having pictures of what you own, it’s condition is helpful for filing insurance claims if you need to. Especially if you’re a renter. This is easiest to do when there’s no storms in your area so you aren’t nervous or pressed for time.

Make a power outage plan. A lot of the threat that comes with tornados is not from the tornados themselves but the damaging straight line winds around the tornado. Whenever there’s high winds, there’s a chance to lose power. Consider how you’d eat, drink, go to the bathroom, and stay warm in the event of a power outage. Less necessary but still helpful - consider how you’ll entertain yourself, especially if cell towers go down or you need to conserve your phone battery. Consider what chores - like laundry or dishes - would be good to have out of the way before hand.

Grab snacks and food that doesn’t need refrigeration. If you’re able to make a grocery store run, grab some food you can eat that is shelf stable and doesn’t require cooking. A good rule of thumb in my experience is three days worth. Most power outages I’ve been through have been fixed in that time and you can more safely evacuate then if you need to go somewhere with power. If you’re like me and have a lot of food allergies (gluten, dairy, soy) - consider baking items ahead of time that can keep well at room temperature like cookies, scones, and breads.

So you’ve been issued a Tornado Watch:

Check the forecast; you might have lots of time before the storms will be in your area or you might have very little.

Make a plan if you haven’t already. Or check your building’s plan if you live in a dorm or communal setting.

Make sure everyone involved knows the plan. Don’t assume people you’re with know. I have made that mistake before.

Charge your phone and electronics. If you don’t currently have a thunderstorm in your area, go ahead and charge your phone, power bank, flashlights, and anything else you’ll want to take with you your safe spot.

Gather supplies to take with you to your safe spot

Minimum:

Shoes

Phone

Form of ID*

Leash/Harness/Cage for pets

Explanation of minimum:

Shoes are important because if you need to evacuate, there’s likely broken glass and other things on the floor that can injure you. If you can’t safely move through it, then people will have to come escort you out which means waiting longer + more risk.

Phone is important for calling for help and receiving alerts. Also many can double as a flashlight in a pinch.

*ID is helpful accessing emergency housing and medical services if you have to leave your home. If your ID doesn’t list your residence or you don’t have/want to have ID documents on you for safety reasons, consider grabbing a copy of your lease or some mail addressed to you there. You can still access services without this, it just helps speed stuff up.

Keeping pets on a leash or cage helps keep them safe in the event you need to evacuate with them.

If you can:

Tote bag

Helmet

Flashlight

Power bank + cord

Weather radio

Water bottles

Some pet food + bowl

Snacks

I put all my supplies in a little tote bag. It’s my storm tote (conference bag I’m never gonna use for anything else).

Helmet is pretty self explanatory. One more way to keep your head safe in case anything falls on you.

Flashlights help you move around your house if it’s safe to stay in if the power goes out. In the event your house is unsafe, it helps you safely evacuate. If you’re trapped, it helps you signal for help.

Power bank + cord helps you recharge your phone if the power goes out. When you’re checking alerts and watching streams, the battery can deplete quickly.

Weather radios of any kind is helpful. Cell service often goes out so the way you’ll get your information then will be primarily through radio. If you’re reading this not in a watch and want to get one, look for ones that will wake you up if there’s a warning in your area. Midland has several. I have a small Sony radio I take with me to my safe spot.

Water bottles are helpful because they’re highly portable and in the unlikely event you get trapped in your house, you’ll have water to keep you hydrated while help gets to you.

Pet food is so you can feed your animal without leaving your safe spot since warnings can last a long time. I’ve seen some areas be warned for 1-2 hours before if a storm is slow moving enough. But it’s also so you’ll have some food for them in the event you need to evacuate.

Snacks are similar to pet food. It’s you food. Just helps you shelter in place.

So you’ve been issued a Tornado Warning:

Put on your shoes

Put pets on harnesses and a leash or in a cage

Go to your safe spot and don’t come out until the warning has expired

Especially if the warning is PDS or has some other enhanced tag, try to bring something to cover your head and body with - like a mattress. A thick blanket is better than nothing in a pinch.

#tornado #wx #weather #tornado warning #tornado watch #prepping #safety

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